Dead World 3, page 6
You tried to frame his friend for murder and would’ve killed her given half the chance. Did you really think that he could care for you after that? Your own parents didn’t want you. Why would he?
Chaos looked away when her eyes burned. She wouldn’t turn him in for kidnapping no matter how tempting the thought. She’d go back to IPTT headquarters and do damage control. While she was there, she’d check on Bannon Richards. He’d been with her when Roark Montgomery gassed them. Perhaps he was suffering the ill effects of the influ-gas, too.
She had gone with Raphael and the Nurian Tactical Team to help break Gina Santiago and Morgan Hunter out of Roark’s secret cell below his office. Not that Chaos had had much choice at the time. Raphael had made it abundantly clear she had to go. Partly so he could keep an eye on her and partly to pay for the lives she’d taken while under the gas’s influence.
Chaos hadn’t seen the filth, but she’d heard the cell described by the other men. She shuddered at the thought of being locked away without a fair tribunal hearing. She’d watched the history vids. It had taken place in the past, but Chaos had thought that the dead world had moved beyond that stage in its evolution.
“Are you going to get dressed or am I going to have to dress you?” Raphael asked. The bite in his tone caught her off guard.
What was he mad about? Chaos had given him her word last night that she wouldn’t have him arrested.
“I can do it myself,” she said. “Just give me time to use the cleansing unit.”
“Don’t take too long or you may find yourself walking. I’ve asked Jim Thornton to take you and I’m not sure how long he’ll wait.”
Chaos stopped halfway to the cleansing unit door. She’d thought when he’d said he was letting her go that Raphael meant he’d be taking her back. “You’re not coming,” she said, confused and more than a little disappointed.
Disappointed? She should be happy. She’d be out of here soon. Isn’t that what she wanted all along?
Raphael’s harsh expression softened a fraction. “I have to go find my brother. He works for Roark and I haven’t been able to contact him.”
She bit her lip. “Do you think what Morgan and Red said about the A.I. chip was true?”
“I don’t know and I won’t know until I talk to him. Their word combined with your experience with the influ-gas has given me many reasons to be concerned.”
Chaos ached for him, but she wasn’t about to let Raphael know. She didn’t think he’d believe her after everything they’d been through. She walked into the cleansing unit. For over a week, all Chaos had wanted was to see the backside of him, but now that the time had come to leave, she didn’t want to go.
Maybe she’d developed Stockholm syndrome. Could great sex cause that?
She didn’t really have a point of reference. She’d had decent sex in the past, but nothing like what she’d experienced with Raphael. Chaos wasn’t sure what she was more surprised about, the sex or the fact that she’d stumbled upon a town full of Others.
She’d never met anyone like herself. Not that she was like Raphael or the men and women she’d encountered here. Her ability to disorient and disrupt human thought was rare even for this town. She wasn’t an Other—at least she didn’t think she was. There was no way to know for sure.
But Chaos definitely understood the need for discretion. She had spent her entire adult life hiding her powers and running from a past that she neither understood nor cared to explore.
She showered quickly and got dressed. Chaos didn’t think Raphael would change his mind about releasing her, but she didn’t want to take the chance that he might.
When she opened the door he was gone. Her belongings had been placed on a chair in the corner. The same one he’d tied her to right before bringing her pleasure that she’d never known existed.
Chaos could still smell sex and his manly scent wafting in the air, but the musk was fading quickly. She inhaled, trying to store the memory.
You’re pathetic.
She shook her head in disgust, angry she was even thinking about what they’d shared. There was something seriously wrong with her if she believed there was more to their romp than manipulation.
“He’s moved on already. Deal with it,” she muttered under her breath.
The door to the room was no longer locked. Chaos opened it and poked her head out to look around. The yellow hall with flowers painted on the walls was empty. The ache inside her grew.
She stepped out and shut the door behind her. All the other doors remained closed as she picked her way down the hall, her footfalls silent on the fur-covered floor.
Raphael waited at the water trader bar with a portly redheaded man whose thick glasses made his brown eyes look enormous. He motioned for her to come over when her foot hit the bottom step.
“Catherine, this is Jim Thornton. He’s the director of the local dissecting lab,” Raphael said. He sounded so normal. Nothing like the man who’d had her stripped bare an hour ago and crying out for release.
“Nice to meet you.” Chaos forced a smile.
Raphael placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezed. “Jim is going to take you back to IPTT.”
Jim eyes widened and his gaze shot to Raphael, who casually released him. His attention turned back to her and he smiled broadly. “It’ll be my pleasure, my dear.”
“Thanks.” Chaos opened her mouth to ask Raphael if she could have a word with him, but he beat her to the punch.
“I’d better get going,” he said. “Like you, I have a long ride ahead of me.” Raphael barely glanced at her before he strode toward the door.
Chaos stared at Raphael’s retreating form. He put his sunshades on at the door and slipped out into the early morning light. She waited to see if he’d look back. Just one glance to confirm that last night—and all the other nights that came before it—weren’t just another blip on his sexual radar, but he didn’t. The rejection sliced her deep, but she refused to reveal her pain.
Instead, she turned back to the man who was going to give her a ride. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting long,” she said.
Sympathy filled his gaze as Jim adjusted the thick glasses perched on his nose. “Not at all. I like to start my patrols early. Got to get to the bodies while they’re still fresh and recyclable.”
Chaos inwardly grimaced, then gave the water trader one more look around before heading out the door. There was a very good chance she wouldn’t be back. Nuria held too many memories. Many of which she’d rather forget.
Raphael stayed in the shadows and watched Catherine and Jim climb into the hydrogen car. Her head was down and she looked determined, if not a little lost. Other than a few covert glances out the window, Catherine showed no emotion whatsoever.
What did you expect? You’ve been holding her against her will. Not exactly the way to a woman’s heart.
His body shook as Raphael forced himself to remain rooted where he stood. Every fiber of his being wanted to go after her. Stop her. Keep her.
The last thought brought Raphael up short. He didn’t keep women. He bedded them and then he moved on. If they were donors, then he’d visit them a few times, but he always broke it off before an emotional attachment could form. It had been easy. An ingrained habit that was second nature...that was until Catherine came along.
The closest he’d come to breaking his self-imposed rule was with Red, but Raphael realized that what he’d felt for Red was nothing compared to the riot of emotions raging through him now. And it was all due to a short, voluptuous redhead who’d tried to kill him. Life did have its surprises.
Raphael could still taste her essence on his tongue, feel the squeeze of her body as she gripped him, milking him until he’d collapsed on top of her. He’d loved every inch of her compact frame, but her mind truly fascinated him. Raphael had never encountered anyone who could do the things she could.
Michael’s powers were the closest, but even he couldn’t cause the confusion and memory loss Catherine was capable of. Raphael was going to miss his little Chaos. The question was, now that he’d finally released her, would she ever return?
The thought of never seeing her or touching her again made him edgy. If Catherine didn’t come back, would he be man enough to accept her wishes and walk away?
8
Chaos waved good-bye to Jim Thornton as he drove off. He’d left her at the entrance to the International Police Tactical Team Headquarters, a pyramid-shaped structure built to withstand bomb blasts.
Jim was a pleasant enough man, if you could get past the hours of dissection lab shoptalk. At least she’d been able to tune him out long enough to formulate a plan.
She’d made up her mind to keep her word, even though Raphael had coerced her into doing so. She would help him find proof that Red and Morgan were innocent, if proof existed. He may not believe in keeping his word, but she did.
Chaos had been betrayed many times throughout her short life by people who promised one thing and delivered another that she never gave her word lightly. She also wasn’t stupid enough to believe that everyone else in the world felt the same.
If Raphael decided to go back on his word and turn her in for her crimes, Chaos hoped by then she would have a get-out-of-trouble-free card she could play. She prayed it didn’t come to that, since it would mean choosing between her freedom and her job.
Chaos cursed the sexy vampire under her breath. It was his fault she was in this mess. It was easier to put the blame on him than to look too deeply in the mirror at the real culprit.
Somehow she had to garner the commander’s cooperation without exposing her secrets. Chaos didn’t want to lose her job. It was all she had, but there was no way the commander could let her keep it if the truth about her nocturnal activities in the town of Nuria came out. Even he couldn’t look the other way when it came to murder.
She could only think of one way to do that. Chaos had to convince the commander that she believed in Gina Santiago’s innocence. She didn’t, not entirely. The evidence of her guilt was overwhelming. They had her on video visiting Morgan at the Taos Detention Center minutes before he broke out.
But she supposed it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that Red had been framed given what Roark had done to her in one office visit. Ultimately, it didn’t matter what Chaos believed.
All that mattered was that the commander be convinced of her sincerity by the time she left his office. That way she’d cover her butt and keep her word to Raphael.
Chaos rolled her shoulders and groaned at the stiffness, then glanced at her watch. She had time to go back to the dorm and grab some shut-eye before heading to the commander’s office. Chaos wanted to be sharp when she presented her highly unethical and slightly illegal proposition to Red’s grandfather.
If all went well, she would secure her job, garner her get-out-of-trouble-free card, and not have to worry about the deaths in Nuria coming back to bite her. The last thought caused a tingle in her neck that was answered by one on her thigh.
For a moment, Chaos could swear she felt Raphael’s lips glide over her taut skin. The sensation made her body flood with heat. She shivered and touched the side of her neck.
“Get your head in the game,” she muttered under her breath. “Stop mooning over the vampire. He doesn’t give dung about you. He just wanted to get his way. Now pull it together and look out for yourself.”
A few hours later, Chaos walked into the main building of headquarters. Sunshine filtered through the sloped windows as she approached the security checkpoint. She was quickly scanned for contaminants and explosives, then ushered forward.
She’d managed to get a few hours of sleep, so her head wasn’t quite so fuzzy. She was as prepared to talk to the commander as she’d ever be.
Chaos walked deeper into the building and noticed Bannon Richards sitting at his metal desk. His shoulders were hunched and he appeared to be writing reports.
He glanced at her, then looked back at the compunit screen as if she hadn’t been missing for a week. Strange. Chaos diverted from her course and stopped in front of his desk.
Bannon didn’t immediately acknowledge her. He kept his blond head down, focused on his work.
Chaos cleared her throat.
“It’s about time you graced us with your presence.” Bannon glanced at her. “I thought I was going to have to report you for being AWOL.”
She bristled. “I’ve been on the job for the past week. You were there. You know that.”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure you have. It’s protocol for team members to put in their time without checking in regularly.”
“Roark ordered me to seek out enemies, while you were strong-arming Gina Santiago. You didn’t notice because you were too busy getting your rocks off.”
His blue gaze darkened. “Watch your tone, Private, or you may just find your bags packed with a one-way ticket home.”
She flinched at the threat. Chaos had no place to go. Her parents had dumped her on the steps of a cloning lab as an infant. She had no family to speak of. No home. No one. Raphael’s handsome face flashed in her mind.
Chaos pushed it aside and checked her temper, before trying to speak again. “I’m not here to fight. I stopped by to ask how you’re feeling.”
“What are you talking about?” Bannon’s face flushed. His eyes dropped away for a second, unable to meet her gaze. “I’m fine. Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?”
Chaos studied his expression. He didn’t seem fine, if the sudden tremor in his hand was any indication. And why was he getting so defensive? She’d asked a simple question.
Maybe like her, Bannon had experienced bouts of missing time. If she’d been sent to kill strangers, what had Roark ordered him to do?
Unease set in. Bannon was constantly around headquarters and the commander. He had unfettered access to everyone and everything.
Chaos opened her mouth to ask him about missing time, but closed it as his expression turned murderous. Screw him. She didn’t have time to worry about Bannon. He could take care of himself.
“Just curious,” she said instead. “Thought I’d come down with a bug after leaving Roark Montgomery’s office. The illness left me a little confused. But if you’re fine, I guess I caught it somewhere else. Probably just something going around.”
For a second, fear flashed in Bannon’s ice-blue eyes, but he quickly extinguished it. He leaned back, angling his body away from her. “If you’re sick, don’t give it to me.” He covered his nose and mouth with a beefy hand.
Chaos leaned over his desk and coughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, then strolled away as he muttered something under his breath about crazy rookies.
She continued on until she reached Commander Robert Santiago’s office. Chaos pressed her eye against the optical scanner and waited. A moment passed, then the wooden door slid open.
“What can I do for you, Private?” he asked.
She started to answer, but stopped short when she took in his appearance. His white hair was disheveled as if he’d been running his hands through it repeatedly. His normally sharp eyes were bloodshot and his chin held growth that hadn’t seen a razor in at least a couple of days.
“Sir?”
“Are you going to stand in the doorway or are you going to come inside?” he asked, his impatience clear.
Chaos stepped into the room and waited for the door to close behind her. She’d only been in the commander’s office once before and not much had changed.
It was still filled with creepy holograms of dead species and musty old books—made out of paper of all things. The odor of the books alone would suffocate her if she had to stay in here all day.
“I won’t keep you long, sir.” She tried to avoid looking at the holographic animals. Their hungry eyes followed her no matter where she stood in the room.
“Are you here to give me your report on Nuria?” He looked up from the synth-documents in front of him.
“No, sir. There’s nothing to report,” she said unable to meet his all too knowing gaze.
“You’ve been gone over a week, Private. What have you been doing all this time?” Robert Santiago asked.
Chaos blushed to the roots of her red hair as she pictured Raphael and all the carnal things they’d done. There was no way she’d discuss that with the commander.
“I’ve been searching the Nurian water trader depot and the town, sir.” It was almost the truth. She had searched Raphael’s room, when he’d stepped out to get her food. “I have reason to believe that Gina Santiago is innocent.”
“What brought you to that conclusion?” he asked calmly, but his gaze had sharpened.
“New evidence has come to light, sir. Evidence I want to keep to myself until I’ve verified it. In the meantime, I’m here to make you an offer.”
His white brows shot up. “Exactly what kind of proposal do you have in mind?” The commander sat back in his chair and placed his hands casually over his firm abdomen, but his expression remained leery.
“I’d like permission to seek more proof of her innocence and retrieve her for you,” Chaos added quickly, expecting him to toss her out of his office and off the tactical team at any moment.
His red eyes narrowed. “Why would you want to do such a thing? What’s in it for you?” He watched her closely. “Are you looking for a promotion in rank? Or are you after something else?”
Chaos shook her head. “Not rank, sir. I know it has to be earned. No one on the team will respect you if you’re bumped without putting in your time.”
She thought carefully about what to say next. Chaos did not want to upset him before he agreed to her terms. She didn’t know if it would be enough to keep her job in the end, but it was a better chance than she had at present if the truth came to light.
