Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

“But it wasn’t the clone I talked to in the warehouse. That was you.” She paused. “Were you the one who shot the clone in the leg?”

“Yes. I had to make you think it was me.”

And she had, even if she’d registered the oddities in the back of her mind. “And what about the other clones?”

He raised his eyebrows. “What other clones?”

“Wetherton, for a start.”

“And why would you think Wetherton is a clone?”

“Hard to think otherwise once I’d stumbled across his dead body.” The fact that it had been Gabriel who’d discovered Wetherton’s body was something Jack didn’t need to know. Unless, of course, he’d been involved in Wetherton’s death and Gabriel’s subsequent kidnapping.

He smiled his cold smile. “Which would explain why orders to get rid of Wetherton have come down from the top. I’m afraid he’s about to have a horrible car accident. There won’t be enough DNA left to investigate.”

“Why make someone like Wetherton a clone, anyway? He was on his way down the ranks, not up.”

“Because he’s still a government minister, and there are certain things only a government minister has access to.”

“Like what?”

He raised an eyebrow. “So full of questions today, aren’t you?”

And while he was answering them, she was going to keep on asking. “So where does Suzy fit into all this?”

His gaze narrowed. “She’s my wife.”

And a shifter. She blinked. Was Suzy the shifter taking Lyssa’s place? It was more than possible, given the odd sense of familiarity she’d been getting from the woman. It also begged the question—whose child was she actually carrying? Jack’s, or Stephan’s?

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Why is this Sethanon so interested in stopping my quest to find out who I am? And if he fears me so much, why not just kill me?”

Jack smiled. “Maybe those are questions you should ask him.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know, do you?”

He crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. “You will help me, you know, and I don’t care if it’s willingly or unwillingly.”

She let her gaze drop to the paper in front of him, considering it for a minute. “Was I ever anything more than a job to you? Did you ever even consider me a friend?”

He returned her gaze and smiled. For just a moment, there was something more than a chill in his eyes. But that brief moment of sadness was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. “You stand before me unchained and free of drugs. I’m giving you the choice to join me willingly. Friendship, Samantha, nothing else.”

She looked at her toes and blinked back the sudden sting of tears. He was rotten to the core, but he was still her friend. Her only friend. Damn, she hated life sometimes.

“I can’t make the decision right now, Jack. I need time to think.” Time to plot an escape. She hesitated, looking at the paper again. How could she leave this room without knowing what was on it?

She couldn’t. With a sigh of defeat, she walked over and picked it up. Jack laughed softly, a sound full of victory. At that moment, she didn’t care.

The paper was a birth certificate. Her birth certificate, but not the one she’d seen—not the one State held. This one had four names on her father’s side, and four on her mother’s.

She frowned up at Jack. “This makes no sense. How can I have four of each parent?”

His expression was filled with gloating. “The answers, dear friend, will come when I have your answer. A simple yes or no is all I need.”

“I need time to think,” she repeated. She carefully folded the certificate and shoved it inside her pocket. Amusement flared in his eyes. He thought he had her. Thought he could reel her in as simply as that, which proved he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did.

“You have until tomorrow morning to make your decision. After that, I’m afraid I’ll have to try other methods.”

She had no desire to find out what those other methods were. She knew Jack too well. They wouldn’t be pleasant. The door behind her swished open.