Who had the power to erase people? Only one of the CORE Elite, probably someone from the Regulator’s office who controlled matters of population and gave out birth orders. There was always the possibility of someone with more skills than Hammer hacking in, but the motivation for doing so escaped him. When his mind finally stopped running in circles, sleep began to steal over Jaxon. He willingly gave in to the sensation.
Sometime later, a soft, high-pitched whine whispered through his mind. He came awake instantly, holding still as his training wiped the sleep from his brain. The sound was coming not from the kitchen or bedroom, but from the glass door leading to the balcony. Reaching for his gun, he rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled around the edge of the couch, eyes straining in the darkness.
Silhouetted against the lights of the city, a dark, compact shape crouched outside the glass. The whine continued, the pitch undulating but never stopping. Then with a rather loud crack! the sound ended and a breeze caressed his skin. He could see the figure moving, twisting, and now a large circular portion of the glass door no longer reflected the outside lights.
Someone’s cut a hole, he thought. The alarms should be ringing but weren’t.
After a moment of absolute silence, the dark figure moved forward past the rest of the glass. First a leg followed by a torso and a head. Jaxon brought up his gun, thinking to wound the person, but only wounding would be dangerous if they were armed. He watched as the figure stood, and the hands at the intruder’s sides didn’t seem to be holding a gun. Jaxon eased off the trigger.
The figure stopped moving, listening for a long time, or perhaps allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark. Still no alarm. If this person could bypass that, he was smart or had help. Either option was disturbing.
The intruder seemed satisfied with the silence and began moving in the direction of the bedroom. Jaxon exploded forward, tackling the figure, taking him off guard. They bounced off the glass door, tumbled down the single carpeted step into the living room, and slammed into the back of the couch. The intruder bucked and tried to slither away on his knees. Jaxon tightened his hold over the mound of clothing worn by the figure, in very real danger of having him slip away.
A fist flailed backward at his face. A foot gouged his stomach. But the strength behind these was more wild than concentrated. Jaxon held back on his next punch, stifling irritation. How had this inept person even made it up to the balcony? Another kick nearly hit his groin. A knife came out, slashing wildly at him.
This needed to end now.
He chopped at the hand with the knife, sending it flying. Grabbing the mound of long, stringy hair, he yanked the person from his knees onto his back and pinned his arms to the floor with his legs. He jabbed the barrel of his gun against the intruder’s chest.
“Stop moving,” he growled.
“Jaxon? What’s going on?” Reese’s voice.
“We have an uninvited guest.”
“Lights,” she said. Brightness flooded the room.
He caught a glimpse of Reese in a tank top and shorts, her dark hair spilling around her bare shoulders, her gun drawn. He tore his gaze from her and glared at the intruder beneath him. Wide frightened eyes stared back.
“Oh, for CORE’s sake,” Jaxon muttered.
He sat astride a thin girl, who was drowning in dark curly hair and an oversized black sweater. Not just any girl, but the girl from Reese’s sketchbook.
Chapter 11
LYSSA SLOAN WAS relieved when they arrived at the sitter’s and Tamsin greeted her with a hug. “Mommy!” The extra bit of gladness Tamsin reserved only for her radiated in her voice.
“Hi, baby.” Lyssa hugged her tightly. So much she’d given up for this child—including the right to tell anyone Tamsin was really her daughter and not Lyra’s—but every bit of effort and deception was worth it in moments like these.
“Looks like someone’s happy to see Mom tonight,” said Rebecca, their sitter.
“Sorry for asking you to keep her later,” Lyssa told her, untangling Tamsin’s skinny brown arms from around her neck. “My sister and I both had to attend the meeting.”
“It wasn’t long, and we had fun learning about animals on the Teev.” Rebecca tilted her graying head, the long strands of her sparse hair catching on her sweater as they shifted with the movement.
“Well, thank you again. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Lyra. Bye, Tamsin.”
“Bye.” Lyssa smiled at Rebecca as Tamsin grabbed her backpack and took her hand. Lyssa was used to responding when anyone associated with Tamsin called her Lyra, although ten years ago doing so had taken concentration.
Together, Lyssa and Tamsin ran down the three flights of stairs. “I’m so glad you came,” Tamsin said. “I was getting tired of watching those animals. It’s so sad they’re almost all dead. Rebecca said there is a zoo in Estlantic. We should have gone before we moved.”
“I did take you. You just don’t remember.” Actually, it had been Lyra who’d taken her, because Lyssa’s boss had made her work at the last minute, but Lyssa had been along for part of the trip, “traveling” during her breaks. “We’ll make another trip soon.”
Lyra was waiting inside the shuttle she’d arranged while Lyssa went in for Tamsin. “Hi, sweetie,” she hugged Tamsin, who hugged her back with real affection. Lyssa felt a little twinge of jealousy, but she crushed it instantly. Tamsin was only alive because of Lyra’s sacrifice.
“Why did you both come?” Tamsin asked, settling back in the seat. “And why are we taking a shuttle?”
Lyssa was tempted to laugh the question aside, but a look from Lyra stopped her. “It’s just . . . there’s been some . . . things happening at work, and nothing’s wrong, but we’re taking precautions, is all. We’ll be using a shuttle all the time now.”
Tamsin frowned. “Ah, saca. I like the sky train better.”
“Watch your language,” Lyssa and Lyra said together.
Tamsin rolled her eyes. “Not fair to have two people bossing me—three with Dad. All the other kids say it.”
“You’re not like other children,” Lyra said. “You’re our kid.”
Tamsin squeezed her hand. “I love you, too. You’re the best aunt ever.”
“She sure is,” Lyssa said.
Tamsin began to regale them with her day at school, and Lyssa was glad her exuberance masked their reserve. Lyra met her eyes more than once, and those eyes that Lyssa knew as well as her own registered contentment at the chatter.
Her sister was a more generous person than Lyssa could ever be. Lyra had stepped up and taken responsibility for Tamsin when Lyssa had been facing mandatory abortion or sentencing to a colony for an illegal birth. Instead, Lyra and Kansas had fast-tracked their wedding plans and used his family influence to get a birth order. Lyssa had effectually stepped into Lyra’s life until Tamsin had been born.
Officially to the world, Tamsin was Lyra and Kansas’s child, and Lyssa was just the aunt who happened to share their home. They had their separate jobs and different friends. But at home they switched places, Lyssa pretending to be Lyra, married to Kansas, so her daughter wouldn’t accidentally spill the secret and get them all sent to a colony.
It was more than Lyssa had hoped for. More, perhaps, than she deserved, but the duplicitous life involved more sacrifice than any of them had foreseen.
The least of which was the fact that Lyssa was in love with her sister’s husband. Sometimes that made her want to take Tamsin and run away, but Kansas was the perfect father, and he adored Tamsin as much as the child adored him. Looking back, Lyssa knew it should have been her who had stepped out of the picture and Tamsin’s life, allowing her to be raised with no complicity by two parents who loved her. But she hadn’t been able to think about doing that, not from the moment they placed the wrinkled, squalling baby in her arms.
Lyra’s hand reached out to her, caressing it gently. She shook her head back and forth. “Don’t,” she mouthed.
Lyssa nodded, smoothing her features instantly. She was getting better at hiding her emotions from her sister, but sometimes she let her guard down. “Thank you,” she mouthed back. It didn’t matter how many times she said it, it would never be enough.
Lyra smiled and asked Tamsin a question about the story she was retelling for the third time.
When they arrived at their apartment high rise, Kansas was outside waiting for them, his dark face eager and welcoming. “Daddy! Daddy!” Tamsin shouted, throwing herself from the shuttle. Kansas swooped her up in his strong arms and twirled her around.
Gorgeously bronze and every bit man, Kansas Bateman made all the others Lyssa dated pale in comparison. Lyssa bit her lip, hating her weakness and the tears that came to her eyes.
Kansas put Tamsin down, and the child grabbed Lyssa’s hand, pulling her forward. “Mom’s turn for kisses.”
Kansas kissed Lyssa on the cheek, his arm going around her in a too-brief squeeze. He smelled like spice and a hint of musk, and his curly dark hair tickled her face. “Hi, honey,” he said. “I missed you.” He might be speaking to Lyssa, but she knew his words were for Lyra.
“It’s only been since this morning,” Lyra answered with a slight hint of irritation. Kansas’s eyes fell on her—and stayed. He was every bit as much in love with her as he had been back in Virginia where they had met eighteen years ago. But Lyra was cool toward him these days, and it drove Lyssa crazy.
They went into the apartment building, taking the elevator to the ninth floor. Inside their apartment walls, they lived their “fake” life for Tamsin. Unfortunately, the pretense had awakened feelings Lyssa hadn’t wanted and had placed a wedge between Lyra and her husband.
Kansas and Lyssa helped Tamsin with her studies as Lyra heated readymeals. They watched one of the new children’s shows on the Teev, and then Lyssa went to tuck Tamsin in bed, which finally left Lyra and Kansas alone.
What did they do when Lyssa and Tamsin weren’t around—kiss madly and talk about their day? Lyssa hoped so.
Kansas would come in soon to say goodnight to Tamsin, strumming a guitar and singing her a lullaby before retiring to his own room at the far end of the hall, which was next door to Lyra’s room and across from the bathroom. In Estlantic, Kansas and Lyra’s rooms had shared an interior door, but they didn’t have that setup here. Lyssa had slept in the same room as Tamsin in their old place, but now her room was opposite Lyra’s and next to her daughter’s. Tamsin had never questioned why her “parents” didn’t share a bedroom, but Lyssa supposed the time wouldn’t be far off. Maybe then they could tell her the truth, and they could all stop pretending.
“Mommy?” Tamsin asked as she put her arms around Lyssa’s neck for a goodnight hug.
“Yeah?”
“Why isn’t Aunt Lyssa married? I mean, she’s your twin so she’s as beautiful as you are. Just quieter.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want a husband,” Lyssa said, because she didn’t. She could never marry until Tamsin grew up. Lyssa couldn’t leave her daughter now—or take her from Kansas. “Maybe she’s just waiting.”
“She really is the best aunt.”
Someday, Tamsin would know just how great Lyra was.
Kansas tapped on the door before opening it. “Time for a song?”
“Yes!” Tamsin bounced on her bed with excitement, holding out her arms.
Lyssa gave her daughter a kiss. “See you in the morning, sweetheart. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
As Lyssa passed Kansas, his hand shot out to grab her. A shudder of heat sped up her arm and clogged her throat. “Yes?” she asked.
“She told me about the meeting.” His voice was low, a whisper that wouldn’t carry to the child in the bed. “You two need to be careful. I’ll be sending shuttles for you every day. Just let me know if you have schedule changes.”
She met his eyes, deep brown and endless. Filled with concern for Lyra and Tamsin especially, but for her too, because she was important to them. But Lyssa had no doubts about where they stood. He’d asked her to leave three weeks after she’d brought Tamsin home, to allow them to raise the baby as their own. She hadn’t believed him when he’d said it would be better for all of them. So she hadn’t gone, and now they were still living this life of half-truths and pretense.
“Of course,” she said. “Thank you.”
He nodded, his eyes pulling away, the emotion in them now shuttered.
Lyra had already gone to bed, so Lyssa made herself a cup of tea and watched the late news on the Teev. There was nothing but a brief mention of the body found at the Fountain, and no hint of a possible connection with the six others who were missing. Working in communications, Lyssa heard more than most, but with tonight’s revelations about the deaths related to the Coop, she had begun to wonder how much of the truth anyone knew. Maybe it was all a pretense, like her life in this apartment.
She was heading from the kitchen to her bedroom sometime later when she saw Kansas slipping into Lyra’s room. Something crashed inside and then all was quiet. Lyssa pushed back her sleepiness and returned to the kitchen, all thoughts of going to bed fleeing from her mind. If she fell asleep now, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from traveling to her sister’s awareness, and she knew from experience that seeing Kansas make love to Lyra would only increase her longing for what she couldn’t have. Not an accident she wanted to repeat.
The iTeev inside her pocket buzzed, and she put it on to answer, not really caring who it was but grateful for the distraction. “Hello?”
A holo shimmered into life in front of her. “Lyssa?” It was Ty Bissett from personnel. His dark hair was a little too short for her taste, and he was too quiet, but she otherwise found him attractive. It wasn’t his fault that Kansas was the only man she thought about.
By long habit, she glanced around for Tamsin before saying, “Yeah, what’s up, Ty?”
“Hey, it’s just . . . well, I was talking to Jaxon, and he said he would mention to you the possibility of . . . I was just wondering if you’d like to get drinks sometime.”
“Drinks?” What a wonderful distraction, and he had shown initiative by calling her. “Sure. How about now?” It was late by her standards, but that was only because she lived a “married” life. By single standards, eleven meant the night was still young—especially a Friday night.
“Now?” Ty was trying to hide his surprise, which Lyssa found strangely endearing.
“That’s okay if tonight doesn’t work,” she said.
“No, it’s just when I talked to Jaxon last, he hadn’t talked to you yet and—”
“You don’t need Jaxon to talk to me.” Too late she remembered that Jaxon had specifically ask her not to go out with Ty yet, and that doing so might put him in danger. But if they met at a crowded bar, it would be too busy for anyone to take notice of them, and she’d make sure she wasn’t followed there.
“Let’s do it. Should I come to your place to pick you up?” He was grinning so hard she felt a little sorry for him that she wasn’t doing this because she wanted to be with him but because she could never have the man she loved.
“Let’s meet at that bar south of division, okay? Say in twenty or thirty minutes? Can you make it that fast?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great. See you in a few.”
Lyssa ran for her bedroom, already unbuttoning her blouse. She’d wear the pink tube dress that made the best of her flat stomach and showed off enough leg to make men look twice. She was opening her door when Kansas emerged from Lyra’s room, wearing only sweat pants and a furious expression. His muscles rippled under his dark skin, begging to be touched.
He stopped short when he saw her, his eyes dipping to the cleavage exposed by her open buttons. Desire clouded his eyes, but she knew it wasn’t for her—and even if it was, she would never betray her sister that way. She might not be able to control how she felt, but she sure as Breakdown could control her body.
Thre
e more heartbeats passed, and then they turned away simultaneously, Lyssa going into her room and Kansas stalking down the hall to his own. Lyssa closed the door and rested her back against it, her heart pounding. What had just happened? And why was Kansas coming out of Lyra’s room instead of staying all night as he usually did?
Whatever was going on between them, she needed to be more careful with her state of dress around him. She eyed her bed longingly, wishing she could jump under the covers and disappear. Why had she arranged to meet Ty?
Because she was young and single and starved for male attention. Probably not a good combination. But she was still going. It was only drinks—she’d make sure of that. She’d also make sure that she didn’t get him in trouble with anyone who might be after her.
As she slipped into the basement parking where Kansas’s car was parked, she wished she didn’t work only for dispatch and had been issued a real weapon. All she had was a lousy temper laser that she’d had to attend three months of classes to qualify for. She pressed her thumb on the fingerprint reader, and the armed light turned on. Better to have it ready than to be sorry.
Chapter 12
“YOU CAN GET off her now,” Reese said, lowering her gun. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“She broke in,” he said to Reese, a flush appearing on his cheeks, a sure sign that he was not comfortable with his awkward perch on top of the intruder.
A smile tugged on her mouth, but she tried not to give into it because his being here exactly when an intruder decided to break into her apartment was a little too convenient. If he’d known this would happen—if he’d received one of his premonitions of the future—they were going to have a serious discussion about her expectations of disclosure. “Is that why you stayed? Did you have a hunch?”
“No. I just got lucky.”
“Yeah, lucky.” Reese didn’t take her eyes off the girl as Jaxon climbed to his feet, but she rotated to their other side, finger still on the trigger, in order to determine why a cool breeze was seeping into her apartment. Great, the child had used a glass cutter on the door. One more thing to have to trust the management to take care of. And she had no idea what else might be out there waiting to burst in through the hole.
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