Page 36 of Agent Zero
Now that he was bathing in it, the smell was intensely comforting.Soothing, even as it revved his hormones up.He checked his speed again, glanced once more at the rearview.Something about the cop car was off.
Sun broke through low-hanging clouds, misty spots of flung road-damp collecting on the windshield’s outer surface.Just when he was beginning to get a little concerned, the cop behind him lit up like a Christmas tree.A cold wave passed down Reese’s entire body.
I haven’t even prepped her for casual interrogation yet.Dammit.Too busy being careful, trying not to upset her even more.
The cruiser leaped forward, a shark in the shoal of suburban traffic...and passed by as Reese hit the turn signal and slowed.John Q.Law whooshed past, and Reese was suddenly aware of a slight groaning sound as his tension communicated itself through the steering wheel.
Don’t ruin the car, idiot.
Still, it was a comfort.Dodged a bullet and found out he was still enhanced.The longer he went without losing function, the better he felt about the whole damn thing.
Of course, would he be able to tell if he was losing the cognitive benefits?Nowtherewas a riddle.
Traffic decreased, another set of city limits left in the dust.The road went through a couple long, shallow curves, then straightened.By the time Holly made a small murmuring sound, dreaming about something—hope it’s pleasant, honey—he had taken the peel-off to the other south-going interstate he wanted, and even turned the radio on, very low.Just enough to keep him alert as the scenery changed to rural and the miles slipped away under the tires.
* * *
She woke up just past dawn in a motel over the state line.Immediately, the questions began afresh.
Reese set another plastic bag down carefully on the bed’s foot, hoping to tempt her.More apples, more bagels, more cheese.He’d have to get her something more substantial in a bit.
“I passed out again?”Holly, rumpled and pleasantly flushed, accepted the latte in its white paper cup with a yawn turned into a sigh of gratitude.“Oh, God, you’re an angel.So, who exactly are we running from?I might as well know.”
“Bad people.”He tried not to look at her bare shoulder, pale and fascinating; sometime during the night she’d wriggled out of both T-shirt and bra.Those baby blues were wide and impossibly pretty—it wasn’t goddamn fair for her to look so good first thing in the morning, for God’s sake.Or to be so cheerful and uncomplaining.
The tired smudges under her eyes were gone.Of course, she’d gotten some solid rest, even if she was too thin.Her collarbones stood out, starkly.She pulled the covers higher, a modest little princes, and propped her back on the pillows.If her expression hadn’t been so plainly unsatisfied it might have been one of his little dreams come true.
As it was, he’d slept on the floor and could tell there was something brewing in her tangled, pretty head.
“Government.”Clearly the drugs were gone, she was right as rain—but so thin.“Those files, they were stamped by the Army.Right?Andclassified—I was a military brat.I know what that really means.”
Anything from “above your pay grade” to “they’ll chop your fingers off if they find you peeking.”Reese strangled the urge to sigh.“I’m property of the US Army, yes; technically on loan to the program, codename Division.At least, that’s what they call it.The medical stuff, the poking and prodding, the experiments.”He exhaled, sharply, and dug in the bag for an apple.He’d want a protein load later, but he didn’t want to take her to a restaurant just yet.It was probably good her father had been in the service—she’d take to him a little easier.“You should have some breakfast.Checkout time’s coming up.”
“Is that another euphemism?”
What?“No.”Although if you want me to, I can come up with a few.Starting with that lovely little mouth of yours.
Said mouth pursed a little, and she took a sip of too-hot latte, grimacing slightly.“Are we going to keep living in hotels, or...?”
“There’s a destination.Until then, yeah.”Trying not to think of how delicious she looked wasn’t working.
“Ooh, a destination.”Maybe she didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but he didn’t think so.“And that would be?”
Not yet, cutie.“Settle down and decide what you want to know first.”
“How about who’s trying to kill me?”
“Who’s trying to killus.”The sooner he could get her thinking of them as a unit, the better.“There’s a list.”
“Just like Christmas.”
Reese decided that particular brand of irony wasn’t good for either of them.“Where the present is a bullet in your brain, sure.The Army probably doesn’t want me dead outright, because I’m a significant investment of resources, but orders are orders.The program?Same thing, probably, unless there was something in my bloodwork or psych evals that changed the ground.Which leaves the hush-hush, the intelligence agencies that don’t have initials in public.They’ve got the clout to give the other two orders, and they could have decided to close up shop.Because agents like me, well.You train us to go dig and nose around, then you find out maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.Because we do what we’ve been taught.”He took a deep breath, watching as thoughts moved across that transparent, heartbreakingly naive face.She still smelled mouthwatering, probably because she hadn’t showered yet.Reese was soaking her up like summer hills during the first good rain.
It’s interesting how the smell changes.Food when I’m hungry, and other things when I’m?—
“What did you do?Are you...”Now she gulped, and paled, all that lovely sleep-color fading.“Are you a double agent?”
“I’m a good old red-blooded American, honey.The only thing I did without orders was asking you to coffee.”
