Читать книгу Reid's Deliverance - Nina Crespo - Страница 10

Reid paced the short living room in the sparsely furnished, rented apartment. Afternoon sun peeked through the closed blinds, illuminating worn patches on the brown couch. The floor, covered in beige carpeting, creaked under his black high-tops. Cheap rent, unfriendly neighbors, and a location near the mall made the two-bedroom space an ideal command central. Strange how his apartment was located twenty minutes away, but now, two years in the future, someone else occupied it. The tapping of computer keys broke up the silence. Mace sat in the kitchenette area working on a laptop. He bopped to the blues guitar riffs playing faintly from the speakers. His muscular body dwarfed the ladder-back chair and four-seat table.

Two flat screens on the wall streamed multiple views of Thane tailing Xenia Allen through the shopping mall. The scientist’s lunch date with Jeff Miller continued with a stroll through stores instead of making the exchange. Jeff didn’t have the motive or the cash. Someone was using him as the go-between. Dalir’s supernatural insight revealed they couldn’t just snag the virus. They needed to take down the buyer.

“I want another look at the files.” Thane’s frustration came through in Reid’s earpiece.

If Thane believed the intel was lacking, it probably was overlooked. Reid picked up a canned energy drink from the faux wood coffee table. A news magazine from months in the future slid out from a pile of papers and dropped to the floor. The cover showed a devastated couple who’d lost both their children under the headline “Major Tragedy.” They couldn’t fail in stopping the virus from reaching the black market.

He tossed the magazine back on the table and gulped the last swallow from the can. “Mace, pull up what we got on Xenia. We need to comb through it again for subversive activity.”

“How deep?” Mace’s raised brow rippled the front of his brown, shaved head.

“If she tweeted a rant about her neighbor’s dog pissing on her lawn, investigate it.”

Mace rubbed his hands on his black cargo pants and rolled up the sleeves of his dark, button-down shirt. As he peered at the screen, he cracked his knuckles. “On it.”

On screen, Xenia’s companion stumbled. She led Jeff to a bench in the middle of the mall corridor. Then she left her shopping bag with him and hurried into the ladies’ room.

Reid studied the split views. The vials were in the shopping bag. Was this the drop that closed the deal? “What’s going on?”

“Don’t know.” Thane stepped out of foot traffic nearer the stores. “Get Mace down here. I—”

A dark haired woman approached Thane.

“Thane.” Reid looked closely at the screen. “Are you okay? Talk to me.”

“Yeah, I need a minute.”

In the midst of a mission, he needed a minute? Who was she? He grabbed the toggle and tightened the view. Damn. Blind spot.

On the other screen, Jeff stumbled around in circles screaming.

Thane broke off from his conversation with the mystery woman and ran toward the commotion.

Some of the shoppers stared at the spectacle. Others smartly backed away as the situation grew more out of control.

“Fuck. Me. What the hell? This bastard has lost his fucking mind.” Reid grabbed his semiautomatic pistol and tucked it into the holster clipped to the waistband of his black jeans.

Mace stood. “Need backup?”

“Negative. Grab Xenia. She went to the ladies’ room.” Reid called up his phase energy. It erupted over him and shimmered like thousands of tiny crystals infused with sunlight. A golden tunnel of light appeared in his vision, and he surged into it. Seconds later, he stood next to Thane. “We gotta get a handle on this guy.”

Jeff pulled a gun.

Reid tugged up the hem of his T-shirt and instinctually calmed his heart rate. Rules of the mission—only engage if directly fired upon and leave no random casualties behind.

Shots rang out as Jeff fired his weapon into the crowd. Commotion erupted into chaos.

Thane’s hard gaze met his. “Get the bags out of here!”

Reid flew into a quick phase and snatched the bags in midflight. As he zipped away from the mall, a whisper of cold energy brushed his shoulder and momentarily knocked him off course. What was that? Probably adrenaline. It could trigger a lot of things, including mistakes. No time for those. He materialized in the apartment and set the bags on the couch. He put on gloves and locked the vials in a small, foam-padded metal case. If he didn’t hear from Thane or Mace in the next fifteen minutes, the abort mission protocol kicked in. Leave no one from the team or any unnecessary things behind. Aside from cleaning up here, they had to warn Colby. He was monitoring the pandemic eight months ahead of them. They’d scoop him up and fall back to the beach house in the present.

He grabbed the backpack and stuffed in laptops, disks, and files. Identification, handwritten notes, a stray hair in the sink would vanish once they phased. He hurried to the coffee table and tossed papers aside. The magazine. He couldn’t find it. Move on. Not a major breech if it got left behind. A publication proclaiming a pandemic in the future would raise questions but offer zero answers. Their shady landlord would probably sell the flat screens and dump the rest anyway.

A sliver of golden light expanded in the living room. Mace appeared. He shook his head as if to clear it. “That was a rough ride. Where’s Thane?”

“Not here. Did he phase?”

“Yeah.” Mace’s mouth flattened with a grim expression. “But he got hit. Of all people for him to see.”

“Who?”

“It was Celine. She was there. He took a bullet for her.”

Shit. He’d just talked to Thane about getting Celine out of his system. He’d come into the mission distracted. “But you’re sure he phased.”

Mace’s wide shoulders stiffened. “You know I am.”

None of them would intentionally leave the other behind, but he had to ask. “What about Xenia and Jeff?”

“The police took him down. I couldn’t find Xenia. The authorities cleared out the mall. She probably blended in with the crowd and left. What about the vials? Do you have them?”

“Already packed.” They’d covered the bases, but Thane not showing nagged his gut.

Mace’s brown eyes narrowed. “You gettin’ the same feeling about something not being right?”

Distracted or not, Thane wouldn’t break from the plan. Unless he couldn’t get to them. Was he already at the beach house? “Abort mission. I’ll make one last sweep here. You grab Colby.”

Mace left.

Reid took one last look around, then he phased. The same cold brushes of energy he’d encountered earlier swept in. Time fractured into a jumbled pattern. He tumbled, losing control. Time literally flew by him as he drifted faster and further from the right timeline. An unbroken stream raced by. He propelled himself forward and leapt into it, manipulating months, weeks, seconds like puzzle pieces with his mind to reach the present.

Finally, he appeared in the living room of the beach house. His heart and mind slowed to the easy rhythm of the surf as he fought to catch his breath. He laid the backpack on the coffee table. The clean, professionally decorated space housing blue upholstered furniture, bright and modern beachscape paintings, and his baby grand was a huge switch from the cheap apartment.

A crackle of energy exploded into light. Colby and Mace materialized, breathing as if they’d run a race.

Colby combed back his mussed blond hair. “What’s up with the time stream?”

“Tell me about it.” Mace wiped his brow. “I barely controlled the phase.

“Not sure, but the entire mission jumped off course.”

“What happened?” Colby’s mustache and beard framed a scowl. “The pandemic dropped from the radar in the future, but I thought Dalir said we had to nail the buyer.”

“He did. I’m thinking all that unexpected shit that happened at the mall changed something.” On impulse, Reid opened the case.

Mace gave him a what-the-hell look. “I thought you had the vials.”

“I did.” Reid reined in the urge to punch a wall. They always expected the unexpected. Thane and the vials gone, and a fucked up time stream equaled too much of a coincidence. “Get West down here. No one goes anywhere until Thane or I give the all clear. Go through the files I brought back. I want an updated profile on Xenia. Now. I’m going to talk to Dalir.”

He jumped into a phase but not the normal time stream. He flowed smoothly to The Drift. The last fallback Thane would go to if all hell broke loose. A new dimension where time moved at its own slow pace. He landed near a dark, solid oak coffee table. Prickles traveled over him from the abrupt change from air conditioning to intense heat. Flames popped and flickered in a fireplace centered in a stonework dark wall. The acrid, sweet scent of burning logs hovered. A large couch upholstered in brown, velvet-like fabric and two forest green side chairs sat empty.

Dynamic energy also saturated the air. Alluring, intoxicating, it molded the entire space, house and landscape, seamlessly together into perfection. He hustled past a glass wall, showcasing sun beaming out of a deep blue sky. The rolling green grass, trees, and snowcapped mountains appeared endless. They resembled the splendor of the Blue Ridge landscape, but the one hill in the distance reminded him of the one in the sketch of Mazree.

Lauren.

What if she had been at the mall with Celine? Wait. Why would he think of that now? See? Prime reason why they couldn’t let a woman occupy headspace.

As he jogged down the gleaming wood floor in the hallway, power grew stronger. It seeped through his pores. It became so palpable he could taste it, like honey flowing over his tongue. He passed a sunroom filled with shelves of books and turned. Four closed doors, two on each side, lined the next hall. At the end, a door stood open. Apprehension built.

Thane lay facedown on a dark wood double bed, the only furnishing in the room. Sheer curtains softened the sunlight to an ethereal glow.

Tightness gripped Reid’s throat. The light beige sheet had more color than Thane did.

“How is he?”

Dalir cleaned blood from mottled bullet holes on Thane’s back. More of it streaked the ancient’s gray thermal shirt and dark jeans. “Healing, but he’s not in the clear.” A hint of a Mediterranean-like accent flowed into his words. “He let me into his mind. I saw what happened.” Dalir dropped the blood-soaked cloth in a bowl sitting on the bed. A crimson drop landed on the sheet and widened in the fabric. “We have the virus?”

“Not anymore. They disappeared on the way back to the present, and the time stream has gone to shit. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Dalir placed bandages over the fading wounds on Thane’s back.

The ancient’s calmness grated on his nerves. How could Dalir not know? He saw the future. Thane believed Dalir was holding something back from them. He’d let it slide because it didn’t interfere with the mission. Thane should have brought it up. He could have died. Hell, they could have lost half the team. “Care to explain why not?”

Energy swelled and receded like an echo. Dalir met his gaze. “Stop wasting time and get to the point.”

Tired of keeping anger in check, Reid unshielded his mind from Dalir. His thoughts and emotions rolled out with his words. “You sent us into a clusterfuck and you don’t seem to give a damn.”

“My focus is on Thane.”

“Now it’s on Thane? It should have been on all of us before we started running the operation. You should have seen this coming. We went out based on your intel. Don’t blow me off like Thane getting shot and a botched mission are no big deals. We deserve answers.”

Ancient power filled with skill and reckoning swirled in the room. The curtains blew upward. The sun dimmed.

Hairs raised on Reid’s arms.

Dalir’s eyes turned a steely dark gray. “You deserve what I grant you, and I’ve given you more than enough.”

Thane’s groans interrupted them. “Where is she…Celine?” His confused gaze searched the room as he tried to push up.

“Stop.” Reid grasped his arm. “You’re hurt.”

Thane struggled. Blood seeped from open wounds. “I have to get to her.”

“You did.” Reid wrestled him down. “She’s fine.”

“You have to make sure she’s safe.” Thane looked at Reid. “Find her. Promise me.”

“Okay. I will. Shut up and stay still.”

Compassion flitted into Dalir’s expression. He firmly grasped Thane’s shoulder. “Rest.” The word whispered through the room.

Thane collapsed on the bed, knocked out by the single command.

Full sun returned. The curtains fluttered down.

When Dalir looked at Reid, his gaze no longer held compassion. “I’m busy. You’re not needed. Go back.”

“That’s it? You don’t have anything else to say?”

A silvery gold mist swirled up from Dalir’s feet. His clothing morphed into tall black boots with dark pants tucked into them. Leather-like armor molded to his torso. “No one leaves the present. No one phases anywhere until I return.”

“No. You need to—”

A whiplash of energy hit Reid in the chest. He materialized in the upstairs living room of the beach house. His breastbone stung. A mere tap of Dalir’s power. The ancient could cause much worse. During urban warfare training, he’d try to hack into their minds. If he succeeded, he’d mercilessly slash into their thoughts. Distort their memories. The result brought them painfully to their knees.

Mace and West sat on the couch, leaning over their laptops on the coffee table. They stopped typing. Colby quit pacing and looked from his computer tablet. Their gazes reflected the question they all wanted to know. Thane wouldn’t tolerate the guys worrying about him or losing faith in Dalir. He lived by mission first, and that included keeping the team focused on solving the problem.

“He’s at The Drift. He’ll be back as soon as he’s healed up. Give me a sit rep.”

“You’re not going to like it.” West sat up. “Xenia Allen is gone.”

“She’s in hiding now? Why?”

“No. I mean she’s really gone. She doesn’t exist. No birth records, work history. Even her husband’s life has changed. He’s living in Modesto married to some other woman with two kids. From his Facebook page he’s a hell of a lot happier, too.”

Mace shook his head. “Our missions have disappeared a few things, but someone’s life? That’s a big switch.”

“I’m not crying over it.” Colby laid the tablet on a glass side table. “I saw with my own eyes what her fucked up agenda caused. If she’s gone, the pandemic never happened, and the world’s a better place.”

Or worse.

“West, keep digging. Make sure her existence is really wiped out. Colby, find Jeff Miller. I want to know who he’s connected to in this time. West, look into all the research the Xenia Allen we know conducted. Just because she’s not around doesn’t mean it’s over. Someone else could have the same agenda and the pandemic could pop up all over again.”

Colby crossed his arms. “Are we headed back to the future?”

“Not yet. Until Dalir gives us the all clear, we’re staying put.” And the way the ancient was acting, who knew when that would happen. Or when Thane would return.

Find her.

Like he had time to worry about Celine. With all that had happened, why was Thane worried about a woman he’d just met? He snagged his keys from a bowl on the side table. But he’d promised. As a team, if they couldn’t trust each other to keep their word, they had nothing. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I need to check on something.”

* * * *

Reid followed Celine into the Cuban restaurant and got in line behind her at the host stand.

He’d tracked her down at her store near the beach. She’d moved to the mall sometime in the future. How screwed up was that? If she would have stayed put, Thane wouldn’t have taken a bullet for her.

She requested a table for two, and the hostess led her to one by the window.

Bitterness rose in his throat. Great. She was out on a date. Now he had to watch some guy make a move on the girl who’d caused his best friend to get shot.

“Table or booth?” the hostess asked.

“Table.” He plastered on a smile that always got the job done. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to sit over there.”

The cute forty-something hostess smiled back. They walked past potted miniature palms nested in corners and hollowed out niches on the way to the table.

She sat him in the center of the intimate space decorated with photos and nostalgic posters of Cuba on yellow and blue walls. A strategic spot with the perfect eye line to Celine’s table.

Celine ordered wine. As she waited, she scrolled and tapped on the screen of her cell.

Reid flipped to the camera app on his phone and laid it on the table. He’d take a picture of the happy couple. Once Thane saw the truth, he’d put this nonsense behind him, and they could get back on task.

More patrons filed in for dinner, but she remained alone.

The server brought him a beer and his appetizer of fried plantains. He randomly ordered a chicken dish from the menu.

In between sips from her glass, Celine glanced wistfully at the door.

Was the dude standing her up? Why did some guys do that? Just cancel or don’t make the date at all if you’re not sure you’re interested. Shit. Thane wouldn’t want him to let her hang. He should probably go talk to her. Make her feel better. Strictly platonic to ease the sting.

He scooted his chair back from the table.

The door to the restaurant jingled open.

Reid’s heart jolted.

Lauren strode in, embodying sophistication in a blue, tailored pantsuit and pumps.

A hug and an apologetic smile to Celine spelled out the situation. She was the dinner companion and something had held her up. She lowered into the seat. Without bothering to open the menu, she smiled at the server and ordered.

Her laugh floated over to him and goose bumps raised on his arms. As she flipped her hair over her shoulder, it was as if he could smell her perfume, soft, feminine, like flowers in summer.

Lauren tore a piece from a roll and ate it. She captured stray crumbs with her tongue.

His chest tingled just as it had when she’d nipped him with her teeth.

She sat back and crossed her legs.

Reid’s gut pulled tight with the recollection of them wrapped around his waist.

Damn. He was getting a hard-on like a high school freshman hot for a senior cheerleader.

If she were sitting across from him right now, they wouldn’t only enjoy a meal. He’d ask her about her day and let her vent about what had gotten on her nerves. They’d talk about things they’d read or heard about. He’d find out what she enjoyed doing in her spare time. They’d probably make plans for after dinner. Where would they go? The movies? The Song for drinks and dancing? Afterward, they’d go to her place or maybe his and—.

Pull it together.

He shot up, grabbed his phone, and tossed bills on the table. He’d checked on Celine. She was fine. End of story. Thane could put his worries to rest and focus on healing.

As he walked past Lauren, she glanced up and gave him a subtle once-over. Her gaze narrowed with a pensive stare.

What if she did remember? What if she called him by name?

He slowed down.

Celine caught her attention, and she looked away.

A strange discomfort gathered in his chest. Reid stalked out of the restaurant. What was he doing? They’d shared physical chemistry. Big deal. He jumped in his truck and sped off. He wasn’t infatuated with a woman he couldn’t have. He wasn’t like Thane.