The Drafter
Page 142
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Sniffling, she wiped a hand under her nose. It was post-fragment blues. Shed get over it.
But her heart jumped when a dark shadow sat up in the backseat.
Hi, babe, Jack said, and she touched the brakes, head jerking forward and back.
Damn it! Peri shouted, checking her mirrors to see if anyone had noticed. I want you to leave. Leave me alone! It hadnt worked. He was still there in her head!
Alone? Jack snickered. Thats the last thing you will ever be. Just keep driving.
He leaned over the back of the seat, arms draped along it, and her shock turned to anger.
Where am I going, Jack? she said bitterly. I have a past that I dont remember. Not just one, but two. I have people telling me theyre my friends, but the only friends I remember are corrupt Opti agents. I am a corrupt Opti agent, but Im also an alliance officer with a military retirement plan I dont remember setting up! Where am I going, Jack? Where?
He tightened his tie and fixed his hair in the rearview mirror, almost laughing at her. Wherever you want, babe. Youre the one calling the shots. On one side you have a well-funded, poorly organized do-gooder organization destined for failure. On the other, you have massive political pull, an almost godlike authority, the ability to make real change and me. He smiled in a way shed once found charming, and her stomach churned. Id take the latter if I were you. Its more fun.
Jaw clenched, she looked at him through the rearview mirror. Silass efforts hadnt worked. This thing was still with her. Allen, she remembered suddenly, had always been better at destroying memories. Good God. I can even smell him, she thought, his aftershave pinging on a hundred lost memories.
I talked to Bill, Jack said, his breath coming and going on her neck. Agents are coming in, finding him, looking for answers. Opti isnt dead, not by a long shot. I told him you might still come home. You know Opti is where you belong. Its why youre out here driving with no destination. If you were alliance, you wouldnt have walked away. You would have told the alliance that you have a chemical tag in you. We can go back to the way it was, only I wont have to lie to you anymore. We were good together, werent we?
Peris lips parted when he touched the back of her neck to move a strand of her hair. His lips met her neck, wet and warm, and tingles spread in a wave when he pulled on her skin, sucking, promising more.
Holy shit, hes real!
CHAPTER
FORTY
Shocked, Peri yanked the car to the left, careening into an empty parking lot where the ferry docked. Jack cried out in surprise as he was flung against the door. Heart pounding, she stomped on the brakes and he hit the back of her seat,swearing. Keys still in the ignition, Peri lurched out of the car, heart pounding.
Feeling unreal, she paced back and forth between the car and the dock. Jack was in Allens car. Hes in Allens car!
She froze when the back door opened and Jack got out. Her injured leg hurt, and she felt her empty pockets. She had no phone, no knife, nothing.
I shot you , she said, then went colder yet when he stretched, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. He was alive. What are you doing in Allens car?
I was going to kill him. A little payback between him and me. This is better.
She began pacing again, trying to figure this out. Damn it, Jack. How long have you been watching me? she asked. She hadnt killed him. He was there. Alive.
Shoulders rising and falling, he leaned against the car. His fair hair fluttered in the wind off the river when he turned to look up the road the way theyd come. Not long. Its amazing what you can come back from. Sandy kept me alive until the ambulance got there. Three weeks in intensive care, and then Bill had me in the hole after that, hoping Id tell him where the chip was with the list. He touched his chest, smiling. I never told him, Peri, because I love you, even if you shot me. I did shoot you first, after all. Its still in your damn knitting needle.
Her eyes flicked to his, reading the lie about love, but the truth in where the chip was. My needles? she thought, seeing how the Opti-approved stress relief might have survived to stick with her. Her project bag was with her cat at Allens.
Bill let me out after you pulled that tracker out of your ass and started complaining about Allen. It wasnt until yesterday that he needed me, though. Needed us. He chuckled, head shaking in mock dismay. What an epic failure, losing most of his force and all his credibility. Not to mention his free movement. He smiled, confident and full of himself. Its good to be needed. Bill says you talked to me when you were alone. Thats sweet. I knew you loved me.
Damn it all to hell, she whispered, cold. She had loved him, loved the way he made her feel, but everything was tied to a past that was wrong.
I missed you, babe, but I knew youd come back. The alliance is a joke, and youre better than them. Opti is power.
He flicked the top of Allens carnice, but nothing like the sleek icons of power shed always hadthe best of everything, and when it wasnt, they got on a plane and found it. Bill might have lost a lot yesterday, but his house was now spotlessly clean and he was already setting up shop again, this time unburdened by government guidelines and the illusion of legitimacy. And he wants me to come back.
But her heart jumped when a dark shadow sat up in the backseat.
Hi, babe, Jack said, and she touched the brakes, head jerking forward and back.
Damn it! Peri shouted, checking her mirrors to see if anyone had noticed. I want you to leave. Leave me alone! It hadnt worked. He was still there in her head!
Alone? Jack snickered. Thats the last thing you will ever be. Just keep driving.
He leaned over the back of the seat, arms draped along it, and her shock turned to anger.
Where am I going, Jack? she said bitterly. I have a past that I dont remember. Not just one, but two. I have people telling me theyre my friends, but the only friends I remember are corrupt Opti agents. I am a corrupt Opti agent, but Im also an alliance officer with a military retirement plan I dont remember setting up! Where am I going, Jack? Where?
He tightened his tie and fixed his hair in the rearview mirror, almost laughing at her. Wherever you want, babe. Youre the one calling the shots. On one side you have a well-funded, poorly organized do-gooder organization destined for failure. On the other, you have massive political pull, an almost godlike authority, the ability to make real change and me. He smiled in a way shed once found charming, and her stomach churned. Id take the latter if I were you. Its more fun.
Jaw clenched, she looked at him through the rearview mirror. Silass efforts hadnt worked. This thing was still with her. Allen, she remembered suddenly, had always been better at destroying memories. Good God. I can even smell him, she thought, his aftershave pinging on a hundred lost memories.
I talked to Bill, Jack said, his breath coming and going on her neck. Agents are coming in, finding him, looking for answers. Opti isnt dead, not by a long shot. I told him you might still come home. You know Opti is where you belong. Its why youre out here driving with no destination. If you were alliance, you wouldnt have walked away. You would have told the alliance that you have a chemical tag in you. We can go back to the way it was, only I wont have to lie to you anymore. We were good together, werent we?
Peris lips parted when he touched the back of her neck to move a strand of her hair. His lips met her neck, wet and warm, and tingles spread in a wave when he pulled on her skin, sucking, promising more.
Holy shit, hes real!
CHAPTER
FORTY
Shocked, Peri yanked the car to the left, careening into an empty parking lot where the ferry docked. Jack cried out in surprise as he was flung against the door. Heart pounding, she stomped on the brakes and he hit the back of her seat,swearing. Keys still in the ignition, Peri lurched out of the car, heart pounding.
Feeling unreal, she paced back and forth between the car and the dock. Jack was in Allens car. Hes in Allens car!
She froze when the back door opened and Jack got out. Her injured leg hurt, and she felt her empty pockets. She had no phone, no knife, nothing.
I shot you , she said, then went colder yet when he stretched, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. He was alive. What are you doing in Allens car?
I was going to kill him. A little payback between him and me. This is better.
She began pacing again, trying to figure this out. Damn it, Jack. How long have you been watching me? she asked. She hadnt killed him. He was there. Alive.
Shoulders rising and falling, he leaned against the car. His fair hair fluttered in the wind off the river when he turned to look up the road the way theyd come. Not long. Its amazing what you can come back from. Sandy kept me alive until the ambulance got there. Three weeks in intensive care, and then Bill had me in the hole after that, hoping Id tell him where the chip was with the list. He touched his chest, smiling. I never told him, Peri, because I love you, even if you shot me. I did shoot you first, after all. Its still in your damn knitting needle.
Her eyes flicked to his, reading the lie about love, but the truth in where the chip was. My needles? she thought, seeing how the Opti-approved stress relief might have survived to stick with her. Her project bag was with her cat at Allens.
Bill let me out after you pulled that tracker out of your ass and started complaining about Allen. It wasnt until yesterday that he needed me, though. Needed us. He chuckled, head shaking in mock dismay. What an epic failure, losing most of his force and all his credibility. Not to mention his free movement. He smiled, confident and full of himself. Its good to be needed. Bill says you talked to me when you were alone. Thats sweet. I knew you loved me.
Damn it all to hell, she whispered, cold. She had loved him, loved the way he made her feel, but everything was tied to a past that was wrong.
I missed you, babe, but I knew youd come back. The alliance is a joke, and youre better than them. Opti is power.
He flicked the top of Allens carnice, but nothing like the sleek icons of power shed always hadthe best of everything, and when it wasnt, they got on a plane and found it. Bill might have lost a lot yesterday, but his house was now spotlessly clean and he was already setting up shop again, this time unburdened by government guidelines and the illusion of legitimacy. And he wants me to come back.
