The Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance (Mammoth Books)

by Trisha Telep

  Jim was relieved his only idea had worked, when Zach beamed and ran back to his puzzle. But the horror on Lorine’s face told him he wouldn’t sleep anytime soon. Resigned, he nudged her out of the day care and back to the elevator. He was starting to wonder if he should take her up to the infirmary when she finally spoke.

  “What was that? He can’t possibly know what ‘leave’ is.”

  Jim agreed, but he didn’t have an explanation that would make her feel better. “That’s pretty much what happened last night. Only he did a perfect about-face and went right back to bed.”

  “No way!”

  Thinking back, it had been a cute maneuver in those footie pajamas.

  “Wipe that grin off your face,” Lorine snapped. “This isn’t funny.”

  No, it really wasn’t.

  “He’s a little boy, not a toy soldier.” Her voice caught on unshed tears.

  “I know that.” He guided her off the elevator and toward her apartment. “Why don’t you catch a couple more hours of sleep and we’ll discuss it after lunch?”

  “But—”

  He shook his head. “Lorine, he’s safe.” For now. “You should know better than anyone the value of a well-rested mind.”

  “Of course.”

  “Then we’ll pick this up in a few hours.”

  He swiped his master key card to unlock her door. Her gasp only made him more aware of his own tired thought processes.

  “Think, Lorine. You had to know I have access to all the suites.” The dark circles under her eyes made him feel worse. “It’s a safety issue. The boss would boot my ass if I ever abused my authority.”

  “You’re right.” She rubbed at the tension lining her forehead. “I’m being ridiculous. You’re system is one of the reasons I’ve stayed this long.” She looked up, their eyes locked, and something inside him stirred. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to analyze it.

  “Get some rest.”

  “We’re having pancakes for lunch. Zach’s favorite. Why don’t you join us, and we can talk about the move. Please?”

  He had the time and she was officially his priority until they flushed out whoever wanted the boy. “Sure.”

  Her pleased expression carried him back to his own apartment where he sent an email to Micky. Maybe knowing Zach’s reactions would help the boss interpret the rumors and threats against Lorine and the boy.

  When he finally hit the bed, sleep came easy, but the dreams were hard.

  Lorine took extra care as she dressed. She styled her hair and pinned it up and took time with her make-up. She wanted a casual effect, but something more than the bare minimum of mascara and lip gloss. Not for Jim, for her. She needed the confidence of her best jeans and a holiday sweater in a bold red.

  Wringing out every possible minute of sleep, she’d asked Annie to walk Zach back to the apartment while she prepped for the pancake lunch. It wasn’t just about the meal, it was making a little time for the research, too.

  She wanted to believe Zach’s behavior was only a matter of his observant nature and imagination, but her intuition said she needed to face the possibility of dear old nasty uncle Kristoff’s tricks. He’d been on the cutting edge of genetic research, and a master manipulator of people. Her research had turned up anonymous video accounts of soldiers responding to a superior officer much as Zach had done.

  Damned juice. But Zach had never been juiced. What had set off this behavior? Had her uncle gotten to him after all?

  She took it out on the eggs, whipping them to a point better suited for waffles. Luckily Zach wasn’t picky as long as there was syrup.

  But a man like Jim didn’t maintain that kind of build on refined carbs alone. And she had no business thinking of his build. On a wistful sigh, she pulled out more eggs and found a container of bacon in the freezer.

  She heard the hiss and click of the front door. Jim called out, and she was startled to hear his deep voice rather than Annie’s. Glancing up, her breath caught as she saw Jim filling the doorway, her giggling son tucked under his arm.

  “This urchin says you’ll vouch for him.”

  “Really? I don’t know any urchins.”

  “Momma, it’s me!” Zach shrieked between giggles.

  Jim and Zach exchanged a look. In a blink, Jim was holding a delighted Zach upside down by the ankles. “How about now?”

  “Hmm. He’s vaguely familiar.” She walked over and gave his feet a tickle. “Does it like waffles?”

  “Yes!” Zach squealed.

  “Then it can stay, I suppose.”

  Her heart skipped a beat when Jim pretended to drop Zach, then simply melted when Jim set her son down with a gentleness that belied his size and toughness.

  It pleased her to watch both man and boy stuff themselves with syrup-drenched waffles, eggs, and the last of her bacon. She lingered over her coffee, listening to her son chatter, putting off the inevitable conversation.

  “I was against the move,” Jim said when she’d washed the remnants of syrup off Zach’s face and hands and sent him off to play.

  “After last night you must be eager to get rid of us both.”

  He shrugged.

  Clearly he didn’t want to discuss last night, but she needed answers to protect Zach. Topping up his coffee, she wondered how to breach a topic most retired soldiers found uncomfortable at best. “You were juiced during your service.”

  “Yes.”

  She met his wary gaze with a smile. “I’ve been thinking and researching,” she admitted. “Last night was probably a result of juicing.”

  “I’ve been clean— ”

  “You wouldn’t be at my table otherwise,” she said with enough force to shut him up. “I’ve seen footage of soldiers behaving just as Zach did with you.”

  “Juiced soldiers,” Jim muttered.

  “Zach’s father, Derrick Simmons, was a juiced soldier. I think it’s safe to say we don’t know all the ramifications or variations of Kristoff’s experiment.”

  “I’ve never heard of any juicing effect passing to the next generation. Most juicers are thought to be sterile.”

  “True. Yet Zach is here. I imagine there’s much about juicing we haven’t learned. I ended the relationship when I realized Derrick was particularly close to Dr Kristoff.” What had happened last night had raised her fears that she’d been used by her uncle. “Regardless, something in my son automatically responded to something in you.”

  She saw the hesitation again and pushed this time. “You obviously have an opinion, Jim. I’m not too fragile to hear it.”

  “I’ve seen that auto-response first-hand, but I’ve never triggered it. Seeing it in Zach lends weight to your theory.”

  She ran her finger around the rim of the coffee cup. “How did juicing change you?”

  As a researcher she’d only been able to expose the most consistent damages resulting from her uncle’s awful “advancements”. It would be impossible to help all the men in Jim’s situation. If they even wanted help.

  “I’ve got a sixth sense about danger.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Think of it like an early warning system. I don’t always know where or how, but I can sense a threat. Best lead time is about two days out. I went by the day care to see if I could get a reading on the threat to Zach.”

  She would not panic. When Slick Micky had assigned Jim to her relocation, warning bells had gone off in her head. Why send the best security when she only needed a bit of muscle?

  “And?”

  He shrugged those wide shoulders. “Nothing. Except the toy-soldier thing.”

  “Why did you try?”

  “The boss heard a few things on the street.”

  A chill raced down her spine. “What do you know?”

  “Not enough.” He shifted and his warm palm covered her fisted hand. Instead of comfort, his touch sent a new awareness shimmering through her. “Micky heard there’s a hit on you, but the goal is to take Zach alive.”

  Her he
art leaped into her throat. “Who?”

  “We only know you’re the first target. It looks like when Zach’s in the warehouse he’s safe, but based on what happened with me, I think when he’s out of the warehouse, any juiced soldier could find him pretty easily.”

  The room took a long, sickening spin. Without Jim’s warm hand as a touchstone, she might have slid to the floor. “I bought a little farm. It was going to be a quiet, normal life.”

  “Not for long,” Jim said. He gave her hand a squeeze. “We weren’t going to leave you out there alone.”

  Well, that was something.

  “Lorine, you can postpone the move.”

  She glanced over at her son playing with his trucks. “But if we don’t flush the threat out now he’ll never have a normal life.”

  Jim scowled as he nodded the affirmative. “The boss thinks if I’m with you, I’ll be able to get a read on the threat. Then we can take action.”

  Restless, Lorine tugged her hand free and went to clean up the kitchen.

  “Let me.”

  He was behind her, crowding her. Rather than threatened, she felt a jolt of desire stronger than any full-caff coffee could provide. “No, thank you. I need to stay busy while I think this through.”

  “Can you at least think out loud?”

  “Sure.” She loaded dishes into the sanitizer and pressed “start”. “A blood test would be a good beginning. I can compare your blood with his. When Zach was born I did a full panel, looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Smart.”

  She smiled. “That baseline will tell me if anything has changed recently.”

  “You mean, changed when he reacted to me?”

  Lorine stopped puttering and studied him. His pensive frown, the sincere concern in his quiet brown eyes, had her feeling more affection than was wise. “Jim.” She didn’t know what to do with her hands, and crossed her arms to keep them still. When he met her gaze, she continued. “None of this is your fault. If anything, you revealed a problem I needed to know about.”

  His gaze slid back to Zach. “Is his father alive?”

  “I doubt it. He was loyal to Kristoff beyond all reason. Though the official reports are vague, I’m sure he died trying to protect Kristoff. He wouldn’t have been anywhere else.”

  “Who else would want the boy?”

  “Considering all of this, no one with good intentions,” she said with a sigh. “If Kristoff manipulated his father somehow to test-drive something new, the only way to know for sure is to give the remainder of his team a chance at Zach.”

  She watched Jim lean back on the counter. It was a struggle, here in the safety of her small kitchen, to keep her mind focused on the dangers waiting for them, rather than on the man who was igniting feelings she couldn’t afford to indulge.

  “You’re awfully calm about this.”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “You’re awfully good at security.” And awfully good with my son. “I suppose you have other things to do today?”

  “A few details to deal with,” he agreed. “Thanks for lunch.”

  Lorine walked him to the door, and Zach joined them, bouncing up and down until Jim scooped him up for a hug.

  When Jim was safely on the other side of the door, Lorine indulged in a moment’s enjoyment of the girlish butterflies he sent winging in her tummy. The attraction was misplaced, ill-timed, and likely one-sided. But it was nice to know she could still experience it.

  Three

  Jim stalked down to Micky’s office in a foul mood about the whole mess. When she wasn’t angry at him, Lorine tempted him to all sorts of insanity. After his juiced days with the Army, he hadn’t thought to be close to anyone for longer than a one- or two-night stand.

  Respecting the house rules, he didn’t look for partners among the girls who ran contraband. They were family. Practically sisters. Keeping Lorine in that tidy box was becoming a serious challenge. Because she accepted him, or because she needed him?

  Hell, they all needed him.

  Good thing she and that cute kid of hers were moving away. Once they were safe, he’d count it a job well done.

  With a curt nod for the guard posted outside Micky’s office, he rapped on the door. The permission was instant, and Jim walked in, closing the door behind him.

  Without a word, he reached for Micky’s keyboard and took the office off the surveillance grid. He wanted complete privacy for this conversation.

  “You’re in a mood.”

  Jim ignored that. “Do you know who’s been hired to take the kid?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Did you see my message? Have you found any leads?”

  “Not yet.” Micky shook his head. “You look rough around the edges. What’s going on?”

  “I’ve got an idea.” He gave Micky an overview of Lorine’s theory and the first of a couple options he’d thrown together. “I could take the two of them out on the town for a couple hours. The aquarium would work.”

  “Just a happy family outing?”

  Jim rolled his eyes. The boss had romance on the brain since finding Trina. “Just a casual, covert exercise.”

  “No.”

  “I’ll rig a jammer for the kid to wear.” Jim sat back, not bothering to hide his frustration. “Whoever is after her knows she’s in Chicago, and they assume the kid is with her.”

  “Agreed.”

  “How about a little recon?” He patted his pocket. “I’ve got a few strands of the kid’s hair. If they’ve managed some sort of genetic trace, this might be enough to draw them out. Trina can use her powers to cast a mental illusion and make it look good.”

  “Only if she knows where to cast it.” Micky sipped his coffee. “How about this? You take Lorine out tonight. Zach stays here. Keep the hair sample on you. Trina and I will tail you.”

  “What about the warehouse?”

  “Got a feeling?”

  Jim grumbled. “I hate it when you ask that.”

  Micky grinned. “I know. So do we have a plan?”

  He hesitated, wondering how Lorine would react. “Double up security teams at the el and the street entrances and you’ve got a deal.”

  “No one’s ever followed her as far as the el, but consider it done. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a double date,” Micky added.

  Jim didn’t care for the smug expression. “A date would break protocol,” Jim said, feeling more regret than he should.

  “Nah. As of last night, Lorine’s officially off my payroll. She’s fair game.”

  They’d known each other for too long for Jim to take the bait. While he might admit to himself he was attracted to a woman who didn’t hate him for the lasting side effects of juicing, he wouldn’t admit that to the boss.

  He messaged Lorine, and got an affirmative on the date, once she was assured of Zach’s safety.

  After making a dinner reservation, he modified a couple of security bracelets to block any signal transmissions. It was a quick job and not fully tested, but he expected them to work short-term.

  Armed with a brief list of names and faces after digging through classified reports of Kristoff’s death, Jim felt prepared for everything but the “date” itself.

  “It’s not a damned date,” he muttered, staring at his closet, but the reservation required more than jeans and a button-down shirt.

  He cursed Micky to hell and back because the date idea still rolled around in his head half an hour later when Lorine opened her door. She was an absolute knockout in a low-cut emerald dress that flowed over her curves, and heels that boosted her to nearly his eye level. She’d piled her hair up, so that all he could think about was setting his mouth to the delicate creamy skin at her nape. He’d bet a week’s salary the pendant resting over her heart was a genuine emerald.

  The simple bracelet he’d modified would look out of place. He left it in his pocket and convinced himself she’d never leave his sight.

  “Can you run in those shoes?” With the
tangle of desire and concern in his head, it was the safest phrase he could offer as they moved down the hall.

  “Oh, I can hold my own.” She winked at him and kicked up a spiked heel. “At a pinch they are excellent weapons.”

  “Good to know,” he said, as they took the elevator to the garage level. “The risk doesn’t bother you?” He recognized the signs of anticipation. The sparks she gave off weren’t from jewelry or make-up.

  “Surprisingly, no. I feel so ready for this.” The elevator opened and she stepped out, glancing around the garage. “Where’s our backup?”

  He ignored the sway of her hips. “Probably out there already,” he replied, leading her to the waiting car and opening her door. The only two-seater in Slick Micky’s fleet, the modifications guaranteed a quick getaway if things went bad.

  “You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”

  “Not a bit.”

  “Let’s hope this doesn’t change that.”

  He’d known she was strong and brave, just by making the choices that had brought her to Slick Micky’s family. But this was a whole new side of Lorine, a side that made him want more than he knew he could have. Tonight marked the first step in making sure her plans for her son’s future succeeded. With renewed focus on the “mission”, he eased the car out of the garage and into the tunnel.

  When they emerged, he smiled at her small gasp. This time of year, the city sparkled with lights and the darkness hid the worst of the decay.

  He drove through the city, hoping they’d pick up a tail. As their reservation time neared, he took a detour down Lakeshore Drive, not quite ready to put her on display.

  “Anything?”

  “No.” His sixth sense wasn’t firing either. He glanced over, his breath catching at the sight of her skirt riding high on her legs. Maybe he was too distracted for his radar to function properly. “We’ll see how dinner goes.”

  “You’re sure whoever is after me will find me at a ritzy place downtown?”

  “I’m not sure of anything other than someone wants you out of the way so they can get to Zach.” He should tell her he’d brought Zach’s hair. “If we’re dealing with genetic tracking anything is possible.”