Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

“I don’t know what happened,” Mace said in his ear, bringing his attention back to the phone conversation.

“Enforcement should have followed you two, not us.”

He peered out of the window as he spoke. The street was quiet. “Did anyone chase you?”

“A couple of units. It took about ten minutes before we realized we didn’t have everyone’s full attention. By the time we’d doubled back, the tunnel was gone. Glad you made it out, man. You had us worried for a minute there.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Sandi shouted in the background, making him smile.

His second-in-command huffed. “The more-human member of this duo was worried.”

With a shake of his head, Striker interrupted, otherwise the siblings would fight all night. “When things settle, we need to look into why the stairs didn’t blow.”

There was silence for a beat. “Seriously? You’re telling me that plume of smoke wasn’t from the charges we laid?”

“Nope.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I blew up a couple of Enforcement vests.”

“Fuck, Sergeant.”

“Thanks for the offer, but you don’t float my boat.”

“Where are you now?”

“Holed up in an empty house in South Munroe. We can’t stay here.” He watched Friday as she pulled herself to her feet, rolled up her pants, and started dabbing at the scrapes on her legs with a wet cloth.

“We’ll get a transport to you asap. I’ll text when we’re close and need more specific directions.” There was a pause. “You don’t think she lied about taking Interferan-X, do you? They could be tracking her. That would explain why they found you so fast.”

The siblings had been his backup in the bar during his meeting with Friday and had monitored everything that was said. But Mace hadn’t been able to see her face. The woman couldn’t lie worth a damn. There was no way she was an Enforcement mole.

“I’ll talk to her. But I don’t think she’s lying.”

There was a heavy sigh. “I’ll get the rest of the team onto this. See what we can dig up. We’ll bring your transport.”

“Make it fast. The clock’s ticking here.”

“Yeah. I heard. It’s gonna be tight getting to La Paz on time. I hope you know what you’re doing, man.”

“So do I, but we need answers, and the little scientist may be able to provide them. It’s a chance we have to take.”

“If we can get her out of this alive.”

“Yeah, there is that.” He hung up and stared out into the night as he tucked the old phone back into his pocket. It was a relic. Just like him.

Rubbing a hand over his bald head, he turned back to his latest job. Friday had found some new-skin spray and was dousing her scrapes. He strode over to her and took the spray from her hand.

“Let me.” He crouched in front of her, spraying the cuts she’d missed, watching in fascination as skin-colored patches appeared where the abrasions used to be. “This stuff still blows my mind. It’s like magic.”

He grinned up at her, and her brow puckered—a clear sign she was thinking. Again. The woman spent a whole lot of time thinking.

“It isn’t magic.” She held out her hand for him to spray the palm. “The new-skin adheres to my skin and is gently absorbed into my epidermis over the time it takes for the wound to heal. While that’s happening, it transmits sensation as though it were actually part of my skin.”

“So, if I were to do this?” He traced a finger over the palm of her hand in the spot he’d just sprayed.

She shivered and cleared her throat. “Then I’d feel it the same way I’d feel it if you touched me somewhere else.”

Her cheeks flushed, and he wondered if she was imagining all the other places he could touch. He sure as hell was. The little scientist was far too much temptation

for her own good. He’d be wise to put some distance between them, before he forgot their deal was only for her brain and not for the rest of her.