SECRET IDENTITY

by Linda Mooney

  “Show me some more of your ‘A plus’ loving,” he begged. Lorne Palmer. Superpowered Defender. Begging for sex. With Brenda? You’re damn right.

  He suckled gently on the velvety lobe again. When she didn’t respond, either physically or verbally, Lorne opened his eyes to see her staring at nothing in particular. Her gaze was turned inward. She was thinking. Hard.

  “I definitely have to work on my technique,” he commented.

  Brenda blinked and focused on him. “Lo, you remember those yearly evals I mentioned?”

  “The ones you bombed? What about them?” He propped his arm on the mattress and held his head with his hand to show her she had his full attention. But to remind her that he was ready for another lusty round, he moved his hips, shoving his thickness a little further inside her. He got a little wriggle of anticipation in response.

  “I remember when Mr. Gorrani told me that if my performance reviews didn’t improve, I could be let go,” she managed to say.

  “Go on. I’m listening.” He moved again, sliding another inch inside her. He could grow to like this game very quickly.

  “Lorne, I can’t think when you’re doing that. I meant to say that two weeks later, I got bumped up to acquisitions. In fact, my new boss, Mr. Wagner, told me that the reason I’d been promoted was because of my excellent job record.”

  Lorne paused as the implication of what she was telling him finally seeped into his sex-sodden brain. “And you didn’t find that odd at the time?”

  She sighed. “I was afraid he’d made a mistake, and if I said something, I could lose the position. I needed that job, Lo. I figured I could work my tail off, and then if it ever came to light, I’d have my current work record to back me.”

  It made sense. Plus, he could understand her reluctance. The business world was very cutthroat. Brenda knew it would be a struggle, and Lorne couldn’t fault her for her actions.

  “I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong,” he told her. “I think anyone in your shoes would have done the same thing you did. Stay silent and do your damnedest to make good on the job. Have you had another evaluation since that promotion?”

  “No, and that’s another thing that puzzles me, now that I think of it.”

  “Which is?”

  “Promotions don’t come until after the yearly evals are finished, which is usually around August or September, at the latest. But I received another promotion a couple of months ago, just prior to the opening of the new factory in Fullerton.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. At least, not right now.” He smiled as she wriggled her beautiful ass against his groin. She curled forward, giving him better access to her from the rear.

  When he had initially heard about her sudden climb up the corporate ladder, at first he hadn’t thought much about it. Brenda often emailed them to let them know how she was doing. Newsy little bits and pieces about her life and what she was up to in the big city. But now that he was hearing more details about it, Lorne wondered if her success may have pissed off a rival worker enough to arrange for her to take the fall for the explosion.

  For that matter, could this unknown person be responsible for the explosion in the first place?

  He was on the verge of breaking his self-imposed communications ban with Luke when Lorne felt her hand reaching between her legs to grab his balls and massage them playfully. All thought of contacting his big brother to let him know what he had discovered went out the window. Growling softly, he threw a leg over hers to pin her down.

  Yes, there would be no sleep for either of them tonight because there were countless empty nights they first had to make up for.

  Chapter 26

  Phone

  He was caught deep in sleep’s clutches when he heard a familiar jingling sound. After hours of muffled silence, where even the rolling hush of the waves hitting the beach could barely be heard, the sound was able to break through his unconsciousness.

  Lorne forced himself to open his eyes. His body refused to move. His muscles remained adhered to the sheets where he had melted after their sexual marathon.

  Three. Four. Five. Six.

  Silence.

  Sighing, he closed his eyes and started to sink back into sleep when the ringing began again. It had the classic sound of an old-fashioned telephone. He had no idea what time it was, but very little light was seeping through the cracks around the edges of the boarded windows. It was either dawn, or about to be.

  “Bren.” He gave her a little shake where she lay sprawled next to him, legs entangled. His hand found a breast, automatically gave it a squeeze, then moved up to her shoulder to give her another shake. “Bren, your phone’s ringing.”

  She mumbled, moving slightly in her sleep.

  Lorne debated whether he should answer it for her before dismissing the thought. But it had to be answered. After cycling twice to voice mail, the phone was ringing again. Whoever was calling was either persistent, or there was an urgent reason behind the call.

  “Brenda.” He gave her another shake, harder this time. She moaned and tried to brush away his hand.

  “What?”

  “Your phone’s ringing. This is the third time.”

  She blearily opened her eyes, listening. “No. That’s not my phone,” she announced and rolled over to cuddle next to him.

  Lorne chuckled, pulling her away. He could already feel a steady pounding in his groin, signaling to his dick that sleep time was over. It was time for some more sex.

  “Brenda, I left my cell in the car. Are you sure it’s not yours?”

  She slowly sat up, her hair cascading over her shoulders in a tousled but very erotic way.

  “All right. Let me go check. But I swear it’s not my default ring,” she told him and crawled off the bed.

  “Maybe it’s a ring you set for a particular number.”

  She shook her head. “Nope. I don’t remember even having that ring in my selection.”

  Lorne ran a hand over his face as he watched her amble toward the front room. Luke? You there, bro?

  Ah! The self-imposed cone of silence has been lifted, his brother’s sardonic sense of humor answered.

  Your jealousy is showing, Lorne responded, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Listen, Brenda’s phone is ringing. Can you—

  Way ahead of you, Lo.

  He followed Brenda into the front room and propped open one of the boarded windows to give them light. She dug through her purse until she found the phone, and held it up with a look of surprise.

  “What?”

  “This isn’t…” She glanced over at him. “This isn’t my phone.”

  Lo. I just checked Brenda’s phone. It’s not in service at the moment, Luke informed him.

  “Then whose is it?”

  It began to ring again for the fourth time. Brenda flipped open the lid. Lorne caught a glimpse of the number on the display when the smell hit him with its stomach-churning memory.

  Unguindene.

  Don’t answer it!

  Luke’s mental yell came at the same moment he screamed and leaped toward her. His powers blazed forth, locking his body into Defender mode. Brenda pressed the answer button with her thumb a microsecond before he knocked the cell out of her hand. The phone sailed upward as he jerked her against him and threw his protective shield between them and the cell.

  The explosion hit them with the force of a F5 tornado. Lorne remained hunched over Brenda, keeping his back to the blast as the cabin erupted into a million deadly slivers of wood. Shards zipped past them, some striking the shield and ricocheting off harmlessly. The world around them turned fiery red as the old timber caught fire, and the little beach cabin went up in a ball of flame. The sound nearly burst his eardrums.

  Lorne felt the floor crumble and disappear beneath them. Still clutching her tightly, he kept them suspended in midair as the cabin around them vanished in smoke and heat. He didn’t dare lower his shield until the last of the nearly invisible splinters st
opped raining down on them. Only then did he gently and carefully float to a landing amid the debris-littered sand.

  “Brenda?” He gave her a little shake, but her head lolled against his shoulder. She was unconscious. A quick examination didn’t reveal any signs of injury, which gave him some relief. The percussive effect of the blast must have knocked her out. Still, he’d feel a lot better if he had a hospital check her out to be sure there were no internal injuries.

  Across the bay the sun had just cleared the horizon, giving the water and the waves a beautiful golden glow. But the beach house was a complete loss. The car also appeared to have suffered major damage. One of the pier beams lay diagonally across its roof. In the distance, Lorne could see the leg of a chair sticking up from the top of a sand dune nearly a hundred yards away.

  “Lo!”

  The sound was muffled, as if his ears were stuffed with cotton. Hopefully his hearing would soon clear up.

  Lorne cradled Brenda in his arms and turned to see Lee still wearing his Defender costume running toward him. Neither Lee nor Luke had inherited their father’s ability to fly, but neither could they explain how they managed to have the powers they did. Lorne seemed to be the only son who got the majority of Infinity’s super abilities.

  Lee paused a few feet away and stared at his brother. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

  Lorne glanced down again at the woman draped across his arms, and realized they were both naked, but there was no time to worry about that. He had to get her to the hospital and checked out as soon as possible. With her safely out of the way, he could search for the person who had put the booby trap in Brenda’s purse.

  “Strip! Hurry! I need my uniform,” Lorne ordered his brother, brushing the sand at his feet clear of any dangerous shards, and laying her there for the moment. “At some point while Brenda was in jail, someone swapped her cell phone for one containing unguindene.”

  “Any idea who?” Lee asked, handing over the jacket and pants.

  “Not yet.” He started to slip on his gloves, when he noticed a familiar looking piece of black material lying in a heap a few feet away. Three long strides found him picking up his black t-shirt with the Fender guitar on the front. The shirt had been his father’s, and it was one of Lorne’s most prized possessions. Lorne gave a little sigh of happiness to know it had managed to survive the explosion, albeit with a couple of minor puncture holes caused by needlelike wooden shrapnel. He gave it a shake to rid it of grit and sand, and carried the shirt back over to where he’d left Brenda, slipping it over her to give her a modicum of protection against the cold. Lifting her into his arms, he turned back to where his brother stood looking over the remains of their family vacation site.

  “I’m taking her directly to Ocean General Hospital.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Lee said with evident sadness. “I’ll see if I can get the jalopy running. It doesn’t look like the engine’s suffered any damage, but the cabin…”

  Lorne nodded, understanding what his younger brother was feeling, and flew up into the new morning sky, angling back toward the city and the nearest hospital.

  Chapter 27

  Guilty

  It was quiet. She was lying flat on her back, and she was comfortable.

  Someone came in. Brenda smiled. Lorne must have gotten up to use the toilet. She waited for him to return to the bed, when she heard water rushing into a sink. At the same time, a machine clicked on, and intense pressure began to circle her upper arm.

  Brenda opened her eyes in confusion. The nurse who had washed her hands noticed she was awake, and smiled.

  “Hello! How do you feel?”

  “Where am I? Is this a hospital?”

  “Yep. Ocean City General.”

  The woman walked around the foot of the bed to check the monitor on the other side. Brenda turned her head to follow, and saw an IV pump with a line going into her arm. A nearly empty bag of saline solution hung from overhead.

  “What happened? How did I get here?” In the next instant, she became panicked. “Lorne! What happened to Lorne? Is he here?”

  The nurse smiled and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. “Let me get Dr. Wyche. She’ll be able to answer your questions better than I can.” She reached down along the edge of the bed and pressed a button on the side of the railing.

  “Yes?”

  “Please inform Dr. Wyche that the patient in 303 is awake.”

  “Will do,” the voice replied.

  “How long have I been here?” Brenda insisted. “Can you at least tell me that much?”

  The nurse smiled again. “Not long. You were brought in early this morning.”

  “What time is it now?”

  The woman checked her watch. “Ten past two. They finally brought you up from the emergency room about an hour ago.”

  Emergency room? Brenda started to ask more, but the woman disappeared out the door, leaving her alone again.

  The last thing she could recall was lying in Lorne’s arms back at the beach house. She could remember how exhausted they were, and how he had kissed her after murmuring, “Sweet dreams.” At the memory of their lovemaking, she blushed. She now understood what an incredible feeling it was to have sex with someone she truly loved, as opposed to infatuation, or to scratch an itch. There was all the difference in the world.

  The door swung open, and a woman in a long white lab coat entered the room. She had a small laptop computer under her arm, which she placed on tray table next to the bed. After glancing at Brenda’s patient wristband, she gave her a smile.

  “I’m Dr. Wyche. How are you feeling?”

  “Tired, but I don’t hurt anywhere. What happened? Oh! Can you tell me if Lorne Palmer is here?”

  The doctor frowned as she opened up the laptop and accessed Brenda’s records. “I don’t recall the name but I can check. Was he with you when the explosion occurred?”

  Explosion?

  Like a tidal wave, the rest of it suddenly came back to her in a rush. The phone call. Lorne yelling. The white-hot sound.

  Oh, please, God, let Lorne still be alive!

  A wave of dizziness washed over her. Fortunately the physician was checking the stats on the IV monitor and didn’t notice.

  “How did I get here?” Brenda finally managed to ask. She fought back tears as she silently continued to pray.

  “The Defender brought you,” Dr. Wyche said.

  “Did he bring anyone else?”

  “Not as far as I know. Would that be the gentleman you’re asking about?”

  The doctor leaned over the bed and inspected Brenda’s eyes, shining a small penlight into them.

  “When you came in, The Defender mentioned you had been caught on the periphery of an explosion. We ran some tests on you, but as far as we can tell, you didn’t suffer any internal injuries.” The physician straightened up. “Still, I’d like for you to stay overnight, just for observation.”

  “But you said you didn’t find anything wrong with me.”

  The doctor shook her head. “We didn’t find anything internally wrong,” she repeated, “but you were knocked unconscious by the blast, and you were out for several hours. There could be some bruising up here that hasn’t shown up yet.” She tapped the side of her own head for emphasis.

  Sighing, Brenda laid back on her pillow and silently watched the physician check her legs and arms. The woman made a few more notations on the computer, then closed the lid.

  “Hungry?”

  Brenda realized with a start that she was famished. In fact, she was having a hard time remembering when she last ate. “Yeah.”

  “It’s long past lunchtime, but I’ll have a nurse see if the kitchen can’t send up something to tide you over until dinner. It may only be soup and a sandwich.” Dr. Wyche slid the laptop under her arm.

  “That would be great.” Brenda managed to smile in thanks. “What about my friend?”

  “What was the name again?”

  �
��Lorne Palmer. L-O-R-N-E.”

  “I’ll have a nurse check on it when I leave here,” the doctor promised. “Meanwhile, I want you to rest, and let the nurse know if you start to feel any pain, especially a headache or dizziness.”

  Brenda kept her mouth shut to prevent herself from blurting out about her momentary bout a minute ago. Once she reassured the physician she would let them know, she waited for the doctor to leave. As soon as the door closed, Brenda sat up and reached for the phone. If she couldn’t find out anything here, she knew Luke would tell her where Lorne was, and how he was doing.

  She dialed for an outside line, but met a brick wall when she learned she couldn’t make a long-distance call. Irritated, she hung up. Maybe it was for the better. She didn’t know Lorne’s cell phone number, or Lee’s or Luke’s for that matter. The cell Luke had given her was with The Defender. And chances were their home phone number she’d called countless times when she was growing up had been disconnected.

  Phone number.

  Brenda paused. She knew she wouldn’t have answered that strange phone she’d found in her purse, except for the fact that she’d recognized the number showing on the display screen.

  Wilson Wagner.

  The rigged phone had deliberately been put in her purse. She was supposed to press the answer button so that it would blow up. She was supposed to have died in that explosion. It had been planned that way. Just like it had been planned for her to take the fall for the factory explosion, and God knew how many other things she didn’t know about.