Adrenaline Heat

by Carolyn Reilly

  Luna’s pulse sped up. She always felt uncomfortable around firearms. Oliver had taken her to the shooting range a couple of times, but she was and would always be an office girl. “What’s going on?”

  Oliver stowed the weapon and grabbed the removable lower legs of the blue-gray cargo shorts he wore from his travel bag before he stuffed them into the pack as well. “Tyler’s back at the sugar cane factory. He found an office where an online auction is running on the computer, and he needs backup. Apparently, there’s nobody on the premises right now.” After he tossed her a dark look, he added, “At least nobody who is still breathing. But he’s not sure if he triggered a security system, and he’ll need more time to copy all the data he found there.”

  He stalked out on the balcony and took a quick look down at the terrace restaurant before he returned inside and cursed. “I need to slip out of here without Lewis noticing.”

  Luna wiggled into her flip-flops. “Go. I’ll come with you downstairs. You can slip out the lobby while I distract him, if necessary.”

  After Oliver had managed to leave the resort without Lewis noticing, she accompanied the deputy director to his table, explaining that Oliver was still resting.

  Lewis put a hand around her shoulders and tucked her closer, and a wave of disgust nauseated her as he spoke. “I’m sure he will join us later, though. Right?”

  Luna knew this tone of voice all too well. He wouldn’t accept no for an answer. “Of course. He’ll come down later.”

  Satisfied, Lewis patted her shoulder several times as he led her toward the buffet. “I’m quite impressed how well you handle your… ahem… husband. I had my suspicions things might have gone awry between the two of you.”

  Luna shook her head and tried to steer the conversation away from Oliver. “I told you everything was fine. Now, can I see my sister when we return to GovCorp City tomorrow?”

  Lewis finally removed his arm from her shoulder, and she had to force herself not to rub where his sweaty hands had touched her skin. Without gracing her with an answer, he started a conversation with a scientist to his left.

  Dismissed, she joined the line at the buffet and placed a stuffed tomato and some leafy greens on her plate. The food smelled mouthwatering, but she was too worried to be able to eat much. Dangerous missions were the norm for Oliver, and she knew he excelled at his job, but he was injured, and there was a lot on the line tonight.

  As the evening progressed, the colleague she’d been drinking with before had joined her with a pitcher of strawberry daiquiris in hand. But this time Luna held back and stayed sober, only taking tiny sips of the one drink she allowed herself to relax a little. This time she’d even gotten the colleagues name.

  Zoe was already on her second pitcher as she started oversharing about her latest tumble with a college boy she’d picked up at a sports bar. Unfortunately, the young man had left her a little itchy gift as Zoe phrased it, pointing not so subtly at her crotch area.

  Luna blinked, unsure how to react.

  But her colleague didn’t seem to expect a reply. She raised her glass to Luna and giggled. “It must be nice not having to worry about catching something nasty. Or getting pregnant.” She was apparently referring to Oliver’s superior immune system. GVs didn't catch or transmit diseases, which were a plus, but GovCorp had also seen to it that GVs couldn't procreate, making sure their scientists were in full control of the GV population.

  “Oh, I can’t believe I said that.” Zoe slapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, it’s probably not so nice if you want kids.”

  Luna tilted her head. “Don’t worry about it.” Oliver had been pretty concerned that she might want to have children, but she knew she could be happy without kids of her own. She couldn't imagine being happy without him though.

  And she’d practically raised Lexi. The thought of her little sister still at the mercy of GovCorp made her stomach turn. She pushed her drink aside and checked the display of her phone, but there was no message. She could only hope Oliver would return soon—before Lewis started asking about him again.

  Even if Oliver hadn't followed Tyler’s GPS coordinates, he would have found him without problems. Inside the old factory, a trail of crumpled bodies led Oliver straight to the small hatch and wooden staircase Tyler had mentioned in his directions. After Oliver climbed down, he found himself in a spacious basement office. Two more men in security uniforms lay dead on the concrete floor between multiple rows of beat-up metal desks and modern workstations.

  Tyler had been swift—and brutal, judging from the distorted angles of the bodies.

  Oliver himself had no qualms dealing with enemies, but even he had to swallow seeing what Tyler had accomplished all on his own.

  His indifferent partner of the day followed Oliver’s gaze. “Yeah, I guess I did trigger an alarm.” He just shrugged it off and stepped closer to the monitor that displayed the black auction he’d mentioned in his phone call. “Take a look.”

  Oliver’s jaw dropped. The screen displayed all kinds of formulas and genetic codes, a counter that showed only thirty-two minutes remained, and a current bid amount of a whopping eighty billion credits.

  “I sent a screenshot to Derek.” Tyler pointed to the row of workstations. “I tried to copy the files on those computers, but I lucked out. I’m not fully up-to-speed with current tech yet.”

  Oliver tore his gaze from the auction site. “Too long behind bars?” He couldn’t quite keep the sarcasm from his voice.

  Tyler scowled at him. “I guess.”

  Oliver briefly wondered how long Tyler had been locked away. He seemed to be in his midtwenties like Oliver and Luna. Taking in the bloody bodies on the floor, Oliver had a pretty good idea why Tyler might have ended up in a cell.

  Oliver approached the first workstation, trying some alternative ways to copy the files to his phone. At the third attempt, the device started displaying rapidly growing green bars. “Okay. I think something’s happening.” He didn’t get too excited about it though. The fact that he was able to clone the files with his phone meant either there was nothing of importance in them or they were encrypted to the max.

  Oliver moved from workstation to workstation to copy whatever files he could get while Tyler went through all the desk’s drawers, but so far most of them were empty or didn’t contain anything of interest.

  A faint, rustling noise sounded from upstairs, and Tyler paused rummaging through his current drawer. “Someone’s in the building.”

  “I’m almost done here.” Oliver still needed the data from one more workstation as his phone vibrated and Luna’s name came up on the display.

  As soon as he answered the call, she blurted. “Lewis is making one phone call after the other. He seems frantic. Are you guys okay?”

  “Yes, but I think we got company. I’ll call you back.”

  Eyes dark, Tyler pointed to the last remaining workstation. “Finish whatever you have to do. I’ll take care of them.” He jogged to the stairway and pounded up the stairs, apparently unconcerned that his loud thuds would give him away.

  Oliver’s blood pressure rose. The guy didn’t seem to care about his safety, which was his prerogative, but Oliver still valued his own life. He made a mental note to make sure he never had to work with Tyler again if they got out of there unharmed.

  Gunshots sounded off upstairs, followed by a series of heavy thuds that prompted Oliver’s adrenaline to kick in.

  Finally, the phone beeped next to the workstation, indicating that all the files from the last computer had been cloned. Pushing the phone back into his cargoes’ front pocket and pulling his SIG from his holster, he crossed the room and headed upstairs.

  Weapon drawn, Oliver edged around the corner. Tyler was in a fistfight with a security guard. After one blow, the guard went down, and Tyler knocked his opponent’s head into the brick wall with his knee hard enough that Oliver could hear the skull crack. At the same time, another guard skidded around the corner at the far end of
the hallway, aiming his weapon at Tyler’s back.

  Oliver took aim and pulled the trigger. The young guard groaned as a bloodstain spread across his shoulder, and then he keeled over and fell to the ground, his weapon cluttering out of his reach.

  Brow furrowed, Tyler swiveled. After a quick look at the injured guard, he gave Oliver a chin nod. “About time we get out of here.”

  On their way out, Oliver stepped over the body of the downed guard, then kicked the man’s weapon, so it slid down the hallway, far out of his reach.

  But Tyler who’d meanwhile retrieved his own SIG from the floor lifted his weapon and shot the man twice in the chest in passing, never taking his eyes off the exit.

  Oliver blinked at his partner’s coarseness. He too had killed without mercy, but contrary to Tyler, he’d been drugged and brainwashed. “That wasn’t necessary.”

  “Cute. A GV telling me not to kill.” Tyler pulled a small nano drone container from his cargoes’ side pocket. “Never leave loose ends, it’ll bite you in the ass,” he grunted while sending off two housefly-sized drones to scan the premises. “That’s it for me here. Got to get back to Trinidad.”

  Oliver held in the lashing response on his tongue as they strode toward the factory’s rusty gates. There was no use getting upset about Tyler. Instead, he held out his weapon and holster to him. “Can you take that with you again? I’d rather not bring it back into the hotel.”

  As their ways parted, a nod in each other’s general direction was their only farewell. Sighing, Oliver got back in the autonomous cab that had been waiting for him while Tyler hopped into his rental. Oliver wouldn’t miss him. Not at all.

  On the ride back, he spoke to Derek briefly before he returned Luna’s call and summarized what had happened at the factory.

  She sucked in a breath. “And what about the auction? Will the Committee be able to stop it?”

  “No. Derek said the auction site is buried too deep in the darknet. There’s not enough time. There’s nothing we can do but watch and try to trace the winning bidder.”

  She groaned. “Oh, no. And the genetic codes? Do we know what they are?”

  “According to Bergmann, they are similar to GV DNA but different. More sophisticated, something he’s never seen before.” He pressed a hand in his lower back, beneath his aching kidney. “I’m heading back to the hotel now. What about Lewis? You said he acted weird?”

  “Thank God.” Luna released a sound of relief. “And, yes. He was frantic half an hour ago. Making phone calls, almost shouting at people. I tried to get close enough to understand what it was all about, but I couldn’t. I could swear though that the name Mercer fell.”

  “As in Senator Mercer?”

  “I guess. And now he keeps asking when you’ll join us.”

  “I’ll be back. Fifteen minutes tops. See to it that he isn’t in the lobby when I return.”

  Meandering among fragrant flowering bushes and puffball trees in the resort’s tropical gardens, Luna’s hopes of evading Lewis quickly evaporated as a heavy hand weighed down on her shoulder.

  “Is he still feeling bad?” Lewis’s all too familiar voice boomed. “Maybe I should go and pay him a visit?”

  A group of colleagues from accounting passed them by, buying Luna precious seconds to come up with a believable answer.

  She hooked her arm under Lewis’s and whispered, “No, that would be too suspicious. He’ll be down here soon. As a matter of fact, I just looked after him. He’s taking a shower, and then he’ll come down.”

  Exchanging hellos with another accountant, she led Lewis to a section of the terrace from where they had no view of the lobby and entrance area. “Last time we talked, you didn’t answer my question. Will you let me see Lexi when we return?”

  Lewis sat down on a wicker bench and patted the place next to him. “As far as I know, you still haven’t delivered any intel on the Committee yet.”

  Reluctantly, Luna sank down next to him. “I just convinced Oliver to move to the compound. It would be too suspicious to start sniffing around so soon.”

  Lewis took a small, clear box from his immaculately white shirt’s pocket. He popped two breath mints into his mouth and threw the empty container in the trash can next to the bench. “You’re giving me the runaround, and I don’t like it.”

  His words filled her chest with dread. Did Lewis know Oliver wasn’t here? Or did he refer to her not providing viable intel on the Committee? Trying hard to paste a confident expression on her face, she replied, “I’m not, but I can’t work magic. And not letting me see my sister is not very motivating. I’m doing all this to save her, but right now, I don’t even know if she’s still alive.” Her throat closed up as soon as the words came out. Her dismay was real. She wasn’t acting.

  Lewis gave her the side-eye. “Don’t indulge in histrionics. She is alive and well.”

  “Then let me see her. Where’s the harm?”

  “You bring me intel, I let you see her.” Ignoring her plea, he got up and rubbed his sweaty hands on his navy shorts. “Now, where is your husband?”

  Luna fell in step as he made his way back toward the lobby, frantically trying to come up with a reason to steer him away from the entrance area. “Mr. Lewis—”

  Lewis’s jovial exclamation interrupted her. “Ah, there he is.”

  Anxiety fled her system as Oliver walked straight toward them, clad in a fresh blue shirt and a pair of board shorts in the same hue as Lewis’s. Water dripped from his hair onto her shoulder as he pulled her into a stiff hug for show. Raw and desperate after her conversation with Lewis, she relished the forced contact anyway. It was almost pathetic to what extent she craved every fake smile and forced laugh that fell from Oliver’s lips while he exchanged a few words with Lewis about his healing kidney and the beautiful weather. But she couldn’t help it.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Lewis finally excused himself.

  Unwilling to lose contact yet, she touched Oliver’s wrist. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Did Lewis get suspicious?”

  She nodded. “He wanted to visit you in the suite. And he said I won’t get to see Lexi until I get him good Committee intel.”

  Cursing softly, Oliver put an arm around her. “I’m sure Derek can fabricate some fake intel.”

  Luna’s elation plummeted as Lewis and his assistant walked toward them again.

  Oliver scoffed. “If I have to exchange one more word with him today, I might end up choking him again.”

  Planting his lips on hers, he walked her backward until she connected with the smooth bark of a palm tree. Lewis and his assistant passed them by as Oliver took the kiss deeper and Luna got lost in the sensations as their tongues touched and his embrace tightened around her.

  The following morning, as GovCorp’s plane cut through the clouds on their way back to GovCorp City, Luna drank in Oliver’s profile as he rested with his eyes shut in the seat next to hers. She dreaded the moment the plane would land. But he probably couldn’t wait to get back home where he wouldn’t have to see her anymore.

  The events of the previous evening circled through her mind as she let her gaze travel along Oliver’s relaxed features. She could still taste his last kiss on her lips—the kiss that was only meant to evade Lewis but had turned into so much more. They'd been like tectonic plates moving against each other, the friction causing miniquakes all over her body as he let his control slip for a moment, pulling her deeper in the shadows of the palm trees lining the terrace. But not much later, in the privacy of their suite, each of them lay on the far side of the huge king-size bed, and they could just as well have been islands separated by a vast, stormy ocean. Incommunicado.

  A poke at Luna’s shoulder tore her out of her memories. She turned in her seat and her previous drinking buddy Zoe was standing in the empty row behind them.

  After a quick look at Oliver who still kept his eyes closed, she leaned over Luna’s backrest and whispered, “Have you heard? That gangly lab
assistant of Fry’s drowned last night.”

  The skin on Luna’s back turned hot and cold. “I’m not sure who you mean.”

  Zoe lifted her hands. “I don’t know his name, but you and Oliver drank with him at the bar two nights ago.”

  The seat belt signs lit up, and a flight attendant asked Zoe to return to her seat.

  As soon as she was out of sight, Luna nudged Oliver with her elbow.

  He cracked open his lids. “Yeah. I heard what she said. Definitely something the Committee should look into.”

  Luna slumped back into her seat and buckled in. Another suspicious death related to GovCorp—and maybe even related to Oliver and her. This could be bad. Really bad.

  Crisp cold pinched Luna’s cheeks, and she huddled deeper into her coat, stepping out of the small building that belonged to GovCorp’s private airstrip. She and Oliver followed Lewis, his assistant, and the bodyguard out into the parking lot. While the majority of GovCorp’s employees boarded shuttle buses, Derek had arranged for a Committee driver to pick up Oliver and Luna. She should be relieved they made it through the retreat, but it also meant Oliver and she would part ways. It had been torture sharing a bed with him, knowing that he’d rather be anywhere else. But the thought of being without him gave her shivers, and not the right kind.

  Lewis’s own black limousine came to a halt in front of them, blocking their way. Some photographers and people from the press shouted Lewis’s name to get his attention. They wanted a short statement regarding GovCorp’s anniversary.

  Lewis lifted a finger. “Just one second.” He turned toward Luna, and she stepped closer. With a sarcastic undertone, he whispered, “Please give my cousin Derek my sincerest regards when you return to—”

  It happened fast. People screamed and scrambled, fireballs blazed through Luna’s vision, and glass shattered in front of her. Someone yelling, “Fronter attack,” was the last thing she heard.