Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

“Oh, I think he will. Especially if you tell him that I have the disks.”

Suzy’s gaze narrowed. There was nothing pretty about her face now. In fact, she looked like the harridan Sam had always thought her. “That’s theft, Officer. Those disks belong to me.”

Suzy didn’t ask which disks, Sam noted. “So report me.”

Suzy didn’t respond to that, and Sam half smiled as she added, “Just give Jack the message.”

“Why, so you can kill him all over again?”

“If it’s another clone rather than the real Jack, most certainly. And if it’s not the real Jack, the disks are history.”

“He’ll kill you, you know.”

The venom in Suzy’s rich voice sent a shiver down her spine. “If he tries, I’ll shoot his brains out. Again.”

One of the vampires on the floor moved. Though it wasn’t much more than a fingertip, it was warning enough that the painful effects of the wound were starting to wear off. She backed toward the door. There was no way in hell she wanted to be around when those two got mobile. She might still have the laser, but they were both pretty pissed off, and she’d lost the element of surprise. Plus, there was Suzy. Three against one weren’t good odds, whether or not she was armed.

“It was such a pleasure to see you again, Suz.”

Suzy didn’t reply. Grinning slightly, Sam backed out the door. And realized about a heartbeat too late that someone was standing behind her.

HER REACTIONS, GABRIEL THOUGHT, WERE almost too fast to be human. Though he hadn’t spoken, much less made a sound, she seemed to sense his presence behind her. She leapt away with almost vampiric speed and spun, her left hand raising so fast it seemed to blur.

It was then that he saw the deadly Holcroft laser clenched between her fingers.

“Whoa. I’m on your side, remember?” He raised his hands and watched her blue eyes. With most people, the pupil dilated a little before the trigger was pulled—not much of a warning, but generally, it was the difference between life and death. Of course, as he was beginning to discover, she wasn’t most people.

Luckily, it was recognition, not the need to kill, that sparked in the depths of her eyes. She lowered the laser but didn’t entirely relax. Neither did he.

“How did you find me so quickly?” Despite her question, she didn’t really seem all that surprised to see him there.

He shrugged. “It wasn’t all that hard to guess where you might go.” He hesitated, hearing movement inside the house. Footsteps, receding slightly. “Suzy’s obviously home.”

She grimaced. “Yeah. And she’s not alone. Can we get out of here?”

“Why? What have you done now?” From inside the house came an odd sound—like someone was scuffling around on the floor. He glanced down at the weapon in her hand. Obviously, she’d used it to incapacitate one of Suzy’s companions.

“They attacked me. I defended myself.” She hesitated, her bright gaze searching his face, lingering a little on the side that held the bruises. “You can’t go in there.”

“Why not?” Given that he was supposed to be in charge of the investigation against her, he was duty bound to go inside. Of course, he and duty weren’t often the companions they were supposed to be—not that she knew that.

She hesitated. Deciding, he guessed, whether or not he could be trusted. Something he had a feeling wouldn’t happen fully unless he reciprocated. And that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Hell, the only people he completely trusted were his twin and the rest of his immediate family.

“I’ve asked Suzy to arrange a meeting with Jack. If either of them suspects your mob is involved, they won’t come.”

By “your mob” she obviously meant the SIU rather than the Federation, as very few people knew of his involvement with the latter. But such a meeting could prove very interesting indeed. At the very least, it might just prove how much Kazdan, and ultimately Sethanon, knew about the Federation’s infiltration of the SIU.

“Kazdan’s smart enough to realize the SIU would have to be involved. He’d be more suspicious if I wasn’t there.”

She tilted her head slightly, her expression a mix of curiosity and dislike. “You don’t like him.”

And that was obviously a bad mark in her books, despite the fact that Jack had tried to kill her. “No, I don’t,” he said, a little sharper than intended.

She raised a pale eyebrow. He rubbed a hand across his rough jaw, wondering where the sudden rush of anger had come from. “Look, I’ve got a cab waiting out front.” He’d arranged for one to be here so she wouldn’t question how he’d arrived. “I think we need to go somewhere and talk.”

She nodded. “Preferably somewhere with food. I’m starved.”

If she thought it strange that he was using a cab rather than an official car, she certainly didn’t mention it. “Fine. But first, tell me who’s in there with Suzy.”