Page 28 of Agent Zero
“Yeah.Look, Holly...”He sank down on the bed beside her.“You’re going to have a little trouble with this.”
“With what?”She tested her arms and legs, warily.They worked.Not the best they ever had, but still functional.She wasn’t in a hospital, so she hadn’t collapsed.Which meant there were things to be done.Had she passed out at their coffee date, or?—
Figure that out later.Right now, get up and get dressed.“I...oh, God, what day is it?I’ve got to get to work.”
His mouth firmed up, became a straight line.“You can’t go back there.”
“Iwhat?”A husky near-shout.Great, Holly.Start screaming.That’ll work wonders.
“It’s dangerous.They had a file on you?—”
“A file?Dangerous?What?”She pushed herself up on her elbows and froze.
There was nothing on under her T-shirt, she was in a bed, and the only person around was him.
Reese didn’t seem to notice her sudden stillness.“I told you I was in security.Which is sort of true.I work for some dangerous people, you could say.They tried to kill me.”
“Uh.”Her brain worked this around a little bit.“What?”
“They scooped you off the street, drugged you, and probably questioned you about me.You didn’t know anything, but I guess I’ve hung around you once too often.”
“Hung around...oh, damn, I knew it.Iknewit.”She flopped back down on the bed.The pillows were squooshed and slightly damp.How much had she sweated?“I knew those tips weren’t for real!”
“I’m sorry.They...these people don’t play nice, Holly.I’m not sure why they wanted to retire me, but?—”
Oh,hellno.“Retire you?What exactly do you do for a living, Reese with a first name nobody uses, huh?”
He was looking at her oddly, one eyebrow lifted, somewhere between puzzled and unsurprised.“Holly?—”
“Get away from me.I’m calling the cops.”She lunged for the bedside, but his hand closed around her wrist.
He pushed her back down, and she was either painfully weak or he was freakishly strong.“You want them to find you?Want to get scooped up and drugged again, or just shot?Those guys in your apartment were going to suffocate you on your little futon there, and you wouldn’t have put up any fight.It would’ve been easy with the drugs in your system.”
Drugs?Futon?How does he know I...She stared at him.His fingers were warm, oddly familiar.
“You want to call the cops?Fine.The instant you do, I’m gone, and I’m your best chance of staying alive.”Reese reached over to the night table.Under the fugly 1970s amber-glass lamp, there was a chunky, cheap plastic motel phone and two manila folders.“But look at these first.They’re target files.One’s for you.”He took a deep breath.“The other’s for me.Look at them, and if you still want to call the cops, fine.”The bed squeaked as he levered himself up, and he tossed the folders into her lap.“We’re safe here for probably another twelve hours.If you’re with me, I’ll keep you alive.I suggest you do some reading and then take a shower.”
Holly realized her mouth was hanging open, fit to catch flies.She looked down at the folders.
Embossed on the covers, down on the lower right corner, was something she’d seen a million times on all Dad’s paperwork—even the refusals for treatment, and the settlement papers, saying they didn’t believe the wartime chemicals had given him the big C.
PROPERTY OF US ARMY.
And there was another stamp, this one full of terrifying meaning to any military kid.
CLASSIFIED.
Her heart started to hammer.Her palms were wet.
Dear God.What the hell is happening to me?
NINETEEN
She openedthe first folder with tentative fingers, and something inside Reese relaxed a fraction.Not very much, because he’d expected her to have trouble believing him.He was a man, a virtual stranger, and he’d just told her something off the unbelievable charts.Not to mention she was recovering from a benzo overdose—and how could he tell her that?
I can lick your sweat and taste the drug in it.I can hear your heartbeat.I can go straight up a brick wall if I have to, and your entire life has exploded because I thought you smelled good.Better than good, and you’re the last person to deserve anything like this.
Goddamn it.
