Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

So Jack had no obvious intention of harming them. He just wanted them out of the way. She glanced at Karl’s wife—Jan, if she remembered correctly. “How long have you been here?”

“Just a day.”

Snatching her had to have been a last-minute plan—maybe a result of Sam unexpectedly finding the disks. And if Jack knew Gabriel was close to Karl, it would be an easy enough guess that, sooner or later, he would take her there.

She looked at Lyssa. “They haven’t said anything to you, in the six months you’ve been here?”

“No.” Lyssa hesitated, her hand drifting down to her stomach. It was only then that Sam noticed the telltale rounding. “I fear my child will be born with Stephan never knowing.”

She obviously didn’t know about the shapeshifter taking her place—and didn’t know that that shifter was also pregnant. Nor was it really the time to tell her. “Believe me, I fully intend to get us all out of this before that ever happens.”

But first, she had to find out what Jack was up to. She bent down and picked up the ropes. “I’m going to have to lock you back in for now. Jack obviously has no intention of harming either of you, and until I know what he’s up to, and where exactly we are, I don’t want to do anything that may jeopardize that situation.”

The two women nodded. She spun and walked out of their cell, carefully locking the door again. Then she made her way back to her own cell. Retrieving her boot, she slipped it on, then shoved the decoder back. The ropes she flung under the bed, just in case she needed them later. Then she sat on the bed and waited.

The sun was well on the way to setting by the time the two men came back. They glanced at her hands and feet, then at each other, surprise evident in their expressions. One stepped back and pulled out a gun, motioning her to follow the other man.

She climbed off the bed and followed the taller of the two men. He led her up the stairs, then down a long corridor remarkable only for its antiseptic whiteness. A door swooshed open at the far end, revealing yet another corridor. Their footsteps echoed hollowly, as if the surface were metal flooring hung in space rather than anchored to the ground. Another door opened and they finally entered a room.

It was sparsely furnished—containing only a white desk and two cheap-looking chairs. Her escorts stopped and motioned her to sit. She chose the chair in the farthest corner and watched the first man walk round the desk to the com-screen.

“She’s here.”

“Send her in. I want you and Roston to remain outside.”

Roston. The man with the Irish brogue—the man who’d called Jack several times in the week before he disappeared. He had blond hair, a scraggly ginger beard, and green eyes that were feral and full of anger. A wolf shapechanger, she thought, and one not in full control of his other nature.

The door behind the desk slid open. Beyond it, she saw warm amber walls and a tapestry depicting two knights at battle, one dark, one light. Oddly fitting, given the situation. Jack had often considered himself something of a dark knight. But was she the light? Or something else entirely?

Roston motioned her into the room. She rose and entered. Jack stood at the far end of the room, hands behind his back, staring at another picture rather than facing her. The door slid shut and the lock clicked home, trapping her in the room with a probable madman. She looked quickly around. No windows through which to escape, and very little in the way of loose furnishings to grab as a weapon—which certainly was deliberate.

Jack finally turned around to face her. He looked no different from the last time she’d seen him. No different from the clone she’d shot. Only his gaze gave the game away. It held a coldness that went beyond anything she’d ever seen before.

He was a vampire with an agenda all his own. Not her partner. Not her friend.

“How nice of you to join me,” he said.

Her smile was thin. “Why? Were you falling apart?”

“Still seeking sanctuary in humor when faced with tough situations, I see.” He motioned her to a chair that was firmly bolted to the floor. “Please, sit down.”

“Thanks, but I prefer to stand.” At least she could run if he tried to jump her for a little sunset refreshment. “Why aren’t you in the land of nod, like all good little vampires should be at this hour?”

He smiled. There was nothing nice about that smile. “Sunshine may be dangerous to a vampire’s health, but that doesn’t mean we can’t move around during the daylight hours.” He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Have you learned nothing in the years we’ve been together?”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. “I’ve learned that friends can’t be trusted.”

“Ah.” He gave a small smile, swiveled his chair around and sat down. “Come and sit. I promise not to jump you.”

She remained exactly where she was. A small vein near his temple pulsed slightly in response.

“If I wanted to harm you, I could have well and truly done it before now.”

“But you didn’t want me harmed. You wanted me scared.” As Gabriel had suggested. Her gaze roamed the features that were so familiar, and yet somehow so foreign. “Why, Jack?”

Surprise flared in his eyes and just as quickly died. He leaned back in his chair. “You never were a fool.”

Yes, she was. She’d called this man her friend. Had trusted him beyond common sense. “Just answer the question.”