Memory Zero (Spook Squad 1)

Stephan nodded and moved away a few steps, drawing Lyssa with him. Gabriel watched him for a minute longer, and then rose stiffly to his feet. Three black squad cars swept up the driveway, headlights spearing the darkness, targeting them in brightness.

“Now the fun begins,” Sam murmured.

He glanced at her. Her face was still pale, and her eyes were ringed by shadows of gray. She looked exhausted, beaten, yet her gaze held an edge of steel that told him she would battle on until she got the answers she needed. Kazdan certainly didn’t deserve the loyalty she gave him.

He held out a hand to help her up, and after a moment, she accepted it. Her fingers were like ice against his own. He shrugged out of his dinner jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

“Thanks.”

He nodded. “Let’s go face your fellow officers.”

She drew the coat tight across her chest, a gesture that was defensive more than an attempt to keep out the chill wind. “Only if we must.”

He could understand her reluctance—especially with the specter of Jack’s death still hanging over her head. But regardless of what happened, regardless of whether he eventually cleared her of blame, the fact was that she’d shot the man she thought was her partner. And they would always judge her by that one action. She could either live with it or quit.

He hoped it was the former. A recent survey by State showed that many disgraced officers spiraled down a self-destructive path. Sam, like those others, appeared to have nothing but her job in her life. He’d hate to see her step onto that same path.

“We must,” he replied softly.

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Then she nodded and walked forward, her body a slender shadow against the brightness of the lights.

Martyn cleared his throat. Gabriel looked back at him.

“Don’t trust her,” Martyn warned in a low voice. “Just … watch it. She’s been Kazdan’s partner for five years. She might be a whole lot more.”

This coming from someone who’d long been infatuated with the woman who may have just tried to blow them all to bits. Gabriel studied Mary for a moment, and then nodded. Because in truth, he was worried about the depth of Sam’s determination to find out what her partner was up to. She might not love Kazdan, and she might well have shot him to save herself, but she certainly still cared about him. Who knew what would happen if Kazdan ever tried to subvert those feelings?

“Just get Mary to that safe house and keep a watch on her. Then you’d better send out a warning to our other operatives.” And he’d do the same with the SIU. This might be the first of another round of retaliations against both organizations.

Martyn nodded. “I’ll be in contact once we’ve settled.”

He nodded, and then he turned and followed Sam to the squad cars.

SAM LEANED A SHOULDER AGAINST the roughened trunk of an old silky oak and watched Gabriel walk toward her. His pace was loose-limbed and graceful. Powerful, and yet oddly sexy. She frowned at the thought, wondering where her mind was at, and thrust it away.

He’d spent the last hour or so speaking to various levels of officialdom and, for the most part, had managed to keep her out of it. Which she sure as hell didn’t mind. The lieutenant who’d briefly interviewed her had made his opinion of her quite clear. She’d shot her partner. She deserved to be lying in bits, not sitting in a squad car sipping lukewarm coffee. Not long after that pleasant experience, she’d abandoned the car, and her coffee, and retreated to the shelter of the silky oak. At least trees didn’t judge.

“You okay?” Gabriel stopped, and held out a steaming mug of coffee.

Sam accepted it gratefully. “Once I warm up a little, I will be.” She wrapped her fingers round the plastic mug and studied the black-clad figures swarming the crater. “Are they going to let us go anytime soon?”

“We can go whenever we please. I’m just waiting for SIU to deliver another car. Not much left of the old one, I’m afraid.”

She nodded. She’d noted one of the doors wrapped around the trunk of a sugar gum earlier. Who knew where the rest of the vehicle was? “What’s the plan when we get the car?”

His hazel eyes were suddenly enigmatic. “We visit Jack’s apartment.”

She frowned. “Is that wise? He might be home. And if he isn’t, he sure as hell will have the place alarmed.”

“He’s a vampire. He won’t be home at this hour of the night. Alarms I can get around.”

Maybe normal alarms he could. But he didn’t know Jack, didn’t know how devious he could be. “That end of the central business district tends to be high security. We may not even get in.”

His sudden smile held a cynical edge. “I’m SIU. I can get in anywhere.” His gaze ran past her. “Car’s here.”

She glanced over her shoulder. Two gray Fords were pulling to a halt near the black squad cars. “I really don’t think raiding Jack’s is a good idea.”

“Is that a professional or personal opinion?”