The Touch (7 page)

Surprise filtered through his gaze. “What
about us?”

The heat in her face was so intense she
thought she’d burn up. “We were… God, Wade, this is
embarrassing.”

“We were fucking.” His statement was so blunt
that all she could do was nod. He gave her that sexy grin that made
her want to melt all over again. “I would say that was an excellent
vision.”

“It was so intense.” Still a little
embarrassed, she a hard time keeping her eyes focused on him. “So
real. And when you touched my hand there was no pain at all—just a
sort of connection with you.”

He caught her face in his hands and leaned
forward to press his lips to her forehead. When he drew back he
released her and Chandra ducked her head and found the last piece
of glass in her other palm.

“After the bastards shot the door lock and I
grabbed your hand and dragged you into the closet, you had visions
of what was happening,” he stated.

“Yes.” Chandra used the tweezers to dispose
of the shard in the waste can. She started working on her knees and
he remained silent as she picked out the remaining pieces.

“I saw what they were doing at that very
moment,” she continued. “That’s never happened to me before.
Usually I only see the future. Then when you fell and I grabbed
your hand intentionally, it was instinct. I saw what you wanted me
to do—that I needed to push that button.”

While she reached into the first aid kit, she
visualized the shadow falling and then suddenly Wade was on his
back on the floor. It had to have been a trick of the lighting.

Chandra pulled out a piece of cloth and
poured disinfectant on it before using the cloth to clean her palms
and knees. She hissed from the slight pain before wiping the blood
that had trickled from her knees to her ankles.

She tossed the cloth into the garbage and
looked up at him. “There’s a connection between us,” she said
softly. “I don’t understand or know why and that scares me.”

He smiled and caressed her cheek with his
knuckles. “We’ll figure this out together.”

Chandra couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“Yeah. We will.” But she hardened her expression. “Your turn.”

Wade’s attention jerked to the monitors and
he swore beneath his breath, “About damned time.” He breathed an
obvious sigh of relief. “Mike Fields is here with backup. They’re
sweeping the place, probably looking for me.” He caught her cheek
in his hand. “At least we had our time together.”

“You’re not getting off that easy,” she said
as she put the bottle of disinfectant with the medical supplies
before following Wade across the cool linoleum floor. “When we’re
out of here and we’re alone, you
are
going to tell me what’s
going on.”

He merely grunted as he grabbed his gun from
where it had fallen on the floor and stuffed it in the back of his
pants, beneath his over-shirt.

A sudden gut-clenching sensation told Chandra
to touch Wade’s hand. Pain shot through her head as if in warning
before she grabbed him. At the same time he hit the button to open
the trapdoor.

A vision slammed into her so hard she almost
fell.

“No!” she shouted. “Close it! Close the
door!”

He threw a look at her over his shoulder and
started to hit the button again.

It was too late. The trapdoor was completely
open.

Weapons thrust up through the opening.

Rifles were trained on both Chandra and
Wade.

***

Relief swept through Wade. Chandra’s shout
about not opening the trapdoor had sent an alarm through his gut
until he saw officers he recognized when he looked down.

Two of the men with weapons trained on them
were agents he knew well and he was certain they were simply
prepared in case someone was holding him hostage. He didn’t
recognize the two women who also pointed rifles at them, which was
odd.

“What in the hell took you so long?” Wade
shook his hand from Chandra’s. He felt the hard press of his gun
against his spine as he grasped the handrail of the metal ladder to
start climbing down, but the men and women said nothing. They kept
their weapons focused on him and Chandra.

He stopped, stone cold. Instinct told him
something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

“Come on down, Branson,” came a familiar
voice.

Wade let out a breath as he recognized Mike’s
voice, but that sensation of something being off swept over him
again.

“It’s a trap,” Chandra whispered behind him,
anger in her voice.

He quickly assessed the situation. If Chandra
was right, they needed to remain in the shelter. But it wasn’t
possible with the trapdoor completely open and weapons aimed at
both of them.

Wade cast a look over his shoulder that he
hoped was reassuring. Chandra’s features told him she believed in
her vision—that they were in some deep shit.

His gut was telling him the same thing.

“If something’s wrong, I’ll get us out of
it,” he said low enough that only Chandra could hear.

“Come on, Branson,” came Mike’s voice again.
“What in the hell are you waiting for?”

Wade’s gut clenched as he climbed down the
metal ladder, his boot steps ringing in the unnatural silence. When
he reached the bottom, the two men backed up, their
rifles—M14’s—still aimed at him. The women had AK-47’s pointed at
Chandra.

Oh, yeah, something was wrong when these men
and women were wielding that kind of firepower.

The room-sized closet was crowded and he
didn’t have the space to reach for his Glock and take them down if
it came to it.

He frowned and looked at the two agents he
knew. “Valdez? Richmond?”

Rick merely motioned with his gun for Wade to
step away from the trapdoor and toward the entryway of the closet,
but Wade didn’t move.

“Get the woman, too.”

Mike’s voice caused Wade to swing around.
Mike’s sharp jaw was tense, his blue eyes icy cold, his blond hair
free of a stocking cap, unlike the men and women around them.

“The bitch stays with you.” Mike had his
Beretta trained on Wade. “Raise your hands and lock your fingers
behind your head. Valdez, check for weapons.”

Fury burned through Wade, hot and swift as he
slowly did what Mike told him and laced his fingers at the back of
his head. “What in the hell is going on, Fields?” he asked as
Valdez patted him down for weapons and removed the handgun from his
waistband.

Mike kept his features impassive as he looked
past Wade. “Get the woman,” he said. “Now.”

One agent’s rifle clicked as she cocked it.
“Get your ass down here,” she said to Chandra.

Wade ground his teeth as he heard the soft
sound of Chandra’s bare feet on the ladder. Fingers still laced
behind his head, he turned just enough to see her climb down from
the attic’s trapdoor. When she was finally in the large closet, she
wrapped her arms around herself, holding her un-buttoned shirt
tight to her.

“Pat the woman down,” Mike said with a smile
that looked as if he were amused.

Wade clenched his fingers tighter behind his
head. It would take only one punch to deck the bastard—if there
weren’t so many weapons and Chandra wasn’t in danger. He could
shadow shift and they’d never be able to stop him. But Chandra…

Mike continued, “Wouldn’t want to take the
chance she’s hiding any weapons.”

Wade growled low in his throat as Valdez
moved his hands slowly over Chandra’s curves, front and back,
obviously taking his time and enjoying touching her which only made
Wade want to kill him twice as bad. Valdez’s hand brushed Chandra’s
fingers. She shuddered and winced as if she felt pain and that only
made him angrier.

After Chandra was checked for weapons, Mike
forced them to walk out of the closet while he backed up, staying
in front of them, never removing his handgun or his gaze from Wade
who still had his hands behind his head.

When he and Chandra walked into his bedroom,
Wade scanned the room to see that another two women he didn’t
recognize were there with high-powered rifles.
Shit.

Chandra reached Wade, her arms still wrapped
around her belly to hold her shirt together, and she looked at him
with eyes that seemed to say, “What now?”

Mike waited until Wade and Chandra were in
the center of the circle of the seven men and women. All wore black
shirts, pants and boots like Wade normally wore when he was on a
night mission.

Wade turned back to Mike. “Why don’t you tell
me what the hell is going on here, Fields?”

Mike looked calmly at Wade. “Where is
it?”

With that one question, Wade knew exactly
what it was Mike was looking for.

#

Heat washed over Chandra.
The
microchip
. That had to be what these people wanted. She’d had
the vision to take it in order to protect it from these people and
to help Wade. Every bone in her body told her she was right.

The pendant burned hot against her bare
chest. There was no way in the world she was going to let them know
she had it.

When the man called Valdez had run his palms
over her body, taking advantage of his opportunity to touch her,
she had been repulsed and it had taken incredible effort to keep a
rein on her defensive arts training. She’d wanted to take him down
so badly her teeth ached. No doubt his training outmatched
hers…

The moment he’d brushed his hand over hers it
had nearly made her pass out. She’d seen exactly what his future
held.

He had none. He would die soon. How or when
she didn’t know—not yet.

Wade still hadn’t answered Mike’s question.
Wade simply stared at the man holding the gun on him.

A muscle ticked in Mike’s jaw. “Where have
you hidden it?”

Chandra looked from one man to the other. Did
Wade think it was on the back of that painting?

When Wade didn’t respond again, Mike stepped
forward, grabbed Chandra’s hand and jerked her toward him.

The pain from the cuts on her palm were
nothing compared to the pain from the Touch. It was so intense it
nearly drove her to her knees. She saw that Mike was definitely
looking for the microchip that held key information. But what?

Her mind whirled as another possibility hit
her. Had Wade stolen the chip to begin with?

No. Everything within her told her he was
protecting it, not stealing it.

Shadows and death also swirled through her
head, but she didn’t know whose death, or what the shadows were
about.

In the seconds that it took for Mike to jerk
her to him with her hand in his strong grip, she saw all that and
more. Images spilled through her mind, so fast she almost couldn’t
keep track of them.

Fighting, blood, death.

Some of the pain in her head subsided when
Mike released her hand. The Touch had been almost crippling that
time, and she could barely stand. Yet what she’d seen…

He put his arms around her shoulders, held
her to him, and her shirt fell open to expose her naked breasts.
Her face warmed at the same time he pressed the mouth of his
handgun to the bottom of her chin. She swallowed and the metal
pressed deeper into her flesh. He smelled of sweat and a metallic
scent.

Heated embarrassment flooded her this time
when Mike cupped one of her breasts in his free hand and pinched
her nipple. “Maybe we should all take turns fucking your squeeze
toy. Is she a good lay, Branson?”

Wade’s gaze met Chandra’s. She saw a world of
fury in his dark eyes, yet concern for her at the same time. “It’ll
be delivered first thing in the morning,” Wade finally said, anger
in his voice as his gaze cut back to Mike’s.

Mike dropped the gun from Chandra’s chin and
she looked up at him to see an incredulous look on his lean face.
“You don’t have the fucking chip?”

“Like I said,” Wade’s jaw worked as if he was
grinding his teeth, “I arranged for delivery in the morning.”

“You’re lying,” Mike growled. He tightened
his arm around Chandra so hard he squeezed her breasts. “You’re
supposed to have it here, tonight. Then take it to PIA headquarters
in the morning.”

“Exactly. That’s why we made the change, in
case the original plans leaked out.” Wade started to lower his arms
and Mike didn’t stop him. “One of our operatives has it hidden
safely.”

Chandra swallowed. If anyone in this room
knew she had the chip, she was positive she and Wade were as good
as dead.

When Wade’s arms were down he added, “You
know the agent won’t pass over the chip unless I’m here to take
it.”

“Fuck.” Mike pushed the barrel of his
Berretta against Chandra’s chin so hard she flinched. Her eyes
watered and she swallowed hard.

“Why are you doing this?” Wade asked as he
fisted his hands at his sides.

This got a grin out of Mike and he let the
barrel fall away from her chin. When she glanced up at him, he
actually looked handsome.

“Why else?” he asked. “You’re not possibly
that dense. A hell of a lot of money from the sale of that
microchip will be mine.” He glanced at the men and women
surrounding them. “Ours.”

“Do you really think it’s worth it?” Wade
said quietly. “You won’t be able to return to the States. You’ll be
hunted, always having to watch your back.”

Mike smiled and Chandra couldn’t believe how
normal he looked, as if he was having a pleasant everyday
conversation with a friend, instead of threatening to kill them as
well as steal the chip.

“You’re going to be blamed, friend.” He drew
Chandra near him again and kissed the side of her face. She
couldn’t suppress a shudder. “As far as the PIA will know, you and
your woman stole it and sold it before we could stop you. A
shitload of money has already been pumped into your account to show
that you were getting an advance on delivery.”