Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

She shifted in front of him, and his mind went blank again. She had a way of doing that, of stealing his thoughts and focusing his attention solely on her.

“Meanwhile, under the layer of new-skin, the product is working to speed up healing in the damaged areas.” She blinked down at him as he crouched in front of her, her hand resting in his. “It increases the healing rate by roughly seventy percent.”

“And in the meantime, it feels exactly like normal skin.”

“Exactly.” She swallowed hard enough for him to see.

“Are you sure about that, bébé? Have you tested the hypothesis?”

“I don’t need to test it. I’m familiar with the research.”

“Mm, I always find that doing your own research is the best way to be certain.” He looked up at her. “Close your eyes.”

Her eyes actually got wider, making him chuckle. “Close your eyes. See if you can tell the difference.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Remember our deal, chère. What I want, when I want it.”

She sucked in a breath. Fear and irritation flashed in her eyes before she did as she was told and her lashes fluttered shut. Her breathing sped up, and her cheeks were flushed. She almost killed him when she licked her dry lips. He traced a circle in the middle of her palm with his index finger. Her whole body became taut, waiting for his next touch. He took her other hand, the one that wasn’t damaged, and drew another circle in the exact same spot. She shivered.

“Well?” he murmured, his voice suddenly hoarse.

She trembled as he moved closer to her, but her eyes stayed closed, as though she’d forgotten she could open them.

“The same.” The words were a croak. She cleared her throat. “The same. It felt the same.”

“What about here?” He trailed his fingers over the inside of her wrist, first on her left arm, then her right.

She gasped. Her eyes flew open, and dark pupils looked down at him. “There isn’t any new-skin there.”

“You sure? Maybe I should do it again. Just to make certain.”

She snatched her hands away, slid to the side and out of the kitchen, away from him. But not before he’s spotted more than a hint of curiosity, and heat, in her gaze. Seemed he wasn’t the only one to feel the burn when they touched.

Standing, he rooted around in the pantry and came out with two meal replacement bars. Strawberry sundae flavored. He shuddered. He’d rather have a real sundae. No matter how many vitamins and minerals these things had added to them, they still tasted like flavored cardboard. What happened to normal food? The kind that didn’t come pre-wrapped. He handed a bar to his pretty little client, who perched against the arm of a chair in the dark living room.

“Thanks.” She took the bar, unwrapped it, and bit into it without once looking him in the eye.

Everything about her was fascinating, even the way she ate. He was losing his mind around her and needed to focus. “We need to talk about what happened. The Enforcement agency knew where we were. I have to ask, are you sure you’re cut off from your implants?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I took Interferan-X.”

“Would that affect a tracker that’s been placed under your skin? One that wasn’t an official implant?”

Her head snapped up. She frowned. Thinking again. “You’re suggesting I’ve been tagged without my knowledge?”

“It happens.” It was a lot more common than most people thought.

“Even if I had been tagged, it wouldn’t work. Interferan-X works a little like a gel. It finds the implants, or in this case any tech parts under my skin, and surrounds them, essentially cutting them off from the outside world and from my neural network. The tech still works, but it’s been isolated. It no longer records, it can’t be accessed remotely, and it doesn’t communicate with me.”

“There’s no way any tracking device in your body would work.”

“No.”

“What about your clothes? Could they be bugged?”

She glanced down at her regulation jumpsuit, one he’d seen on thousands of busy little worker bees going to and from the companies.

“I changed clothes as soon as I knew I was coming after you. I don’t have anything on me, or with me, that I owned while working at CommTECH. I bought this and changed in the store. I picked a small store on the outskirts of Houston and left all my old clothes there.”

“Okay, it isn’t you. Did you tell anyone where you were going? Who you planned to meet?”