Page 28 of Dark Flame

“Damn!” cursed Flip. “What about the rest of us?”

“I think we have everyone pass beneath my hands and Fiona’s. If it’s there, we’ll see it now that we know what we’re looking for.”

“Then what?” asked Kane.

“Then we remove them all. My guess is anyone wounded in the military probably had it removed there. I would bet the doctors thought it was shrapnel. But let’s be sure.”

For two days, Fiona and Adam scanned every member of the team. In the end, Adam was right. Spook, Flip, and Kane all had wounds from their service days. The device was removed along with what the medics thought was shrapnel. Nash, Garrett, and Gable were the same. All of the others still had their chips.

Adam carefully removed each of them, laying them out on a tray for all to see. Walking up to see the devices, Nat raised her hands.

“Can I?” she asked, allowing the flames to flicker at her fingertips.

“I think it seems a fitting end,” grinned Kane.

Flames licked her fingertips and then the metal discs. With heat unimaginable, the metal curved and melted before their eyes. As if on cue, Nash doused the flames to reveal only a melted ball of nothing.

“Well done, baby,” said Flip, pulling Nat close. She winced slightly at the pull of the sutures on her back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Pain or no, a hug from you is always welcome.” She reached up to kiss his cheek, and the whole team gave a big ‘awww.’ Flip did what he was good at. He flipped them all off.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Someone’s trying to contact us,” said Spook.

His eyes darted back and forth across the landscape, searching for the digital signal he’d seen only seconds before. It didn’t make a sound that anyone would hear. It was more light and white noise that scrambled in Spook’s head and came out audibly intelligible. It wasn’t anything that someone would understand, no matter how hard he tried to explain it. It only made him appear insane.

Adam, Kane, and Flip knew enough to say nothing. The others, watching their leader, followed suit. Spook’s eyes were moving rapidly in their sockets, his head tilting slightly from one angle to another.

“It’s Groome,” he said calmly. “He’s actually sending a message to the old e-mail address for Uri. He says he knew it wouldn’t go through but hoped I would see it. He knows I’m looking. He’s on the run. Viskoff found him. She’s changed her look, dark hair, nose job. Everything is different. Beware. He doesn’t have much time.”

Kane sucked in a long breath waiting for the communication to come in completely. Spook was quiet for a long time and then spoke.

“She found him. Prepare,” he shook his head. “That’s it. He deleted the message after he sent it, but I got the feeling she got to him.”

“What now?” asked Nat. “Should we go after her?”

“And start where?” said Kane. “We’re not risking lives to chase down someone we can’t even identify any longer. If what Groome says is right, she’s had reconstructive surgery. We’ll have trouble identifying her.”

“I’ll be able to feel her,” said Spook. “I know her signal, for lack of a better word.”

“I would know as well,” said Aislinn from behind the men. “I know her evil. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it. Kane? Kane, you would know as well. Her looks might change, but her DNA hasn’t.”

“Yea, but that means we have to get close, and we’re not risking anyone’s life.”

“I’ll feel the hate,” said Valentina softly. “No one can hate the way she does. I’ve felt it before. It’s all-consuming. It seeps into your soul, into your bones. It tastes… it tastes like the bitterest thing ever.”

She looked away, and Spook eyed the violet-eyed beauty. Her chestnut-colored hair, cut short at her shoulders, bounced in the wind. He felt himself literally drowning in those pools of violet.

“Did she hurt you?” asked Spook protectively. Valentina looked up at the auburn-haired man, his blue eyes drilling into her, and gave a shaky smile.

“It was a long time ago,” she whispered, placing her palm flat against Spook’s chest. “Let’s just say she left her mark, but I got away.”

He nodded and laid his own hand over hers. The others watched, grinning at the simple act of Spook connecting with and touching another. It was difficult for him because he could hear all the noise. All the electronic noise of the world and touching someone meant that he was touching their electronic signal through their lifetime. The amount of data he must feel with Valentina could be crippling for him.

“Is that…” started Flip.

“Don’t ruin the moment,” said Nat. “Let things happen as they should or shouldn’t.”

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