He nodded and led her to the sliding glass door and watched her walk through the night to her house. The sight of her leaving him, of being too far away to protect, uncoiled heat inside his gut. He had to fight himself, his every instinct, to let her go. Shutting down all emotion, he ran outside, full bore for the back fence. He’d be followed, but he could lose a tail.
Then he had plans to make.
Morning came too damn early. Jory’s chip would explode the next day. Did he even know at what time?
Piper rubbed her eyes and opened the front door dressed in jeans and a green sweater. She’d pulled her hair up and tried to hide the dark circles under her eyes with makeup, but at this point, she was finished trying to make an effort for her father. She’d spent the entire night on the Internet looking for any sort of help with the algorithm program, and she’d even reached out to the few hackers she still knew.
Nothing. Failure weighed down her shoulders, compounded with raw fear. She couldn’t lose Jory now.
After leaving Jory, she’d headed upstairs for her computer, leaving her mother and Earl to a peaceful night. Once in her room, she’d tossed the shirt with camera into her purse. There were men watching the house, so the commander would know she didn’t leave. They didn’t need to listen to her visit the bathroom or toss and work all night. She’d disconnected the tiny battery out of spite. Now they couldn’t see or hear her.
Jory knew.
Somehow, he’d figured out about the camera. Thank God. Then he’d totally messed with her and suggested they make out again. While she’d still been reeling from that offer, he’d kissed her senseless, not caring who listened.
Now, Piper had to save her mother from federal prison. Somehow. She didn’t have a lot of faith in the running and hiding plan, but if that’s what they had to do, they would. After she saved Jory and those poor kids at the facility.
The creak of the porch swing caught her up short, and she whirled to see Brian slowly pushing back and forth. “What in the world?” she asked.
He held out a latte cup. “Peace offering.”
“No thanks.” What in the hell was he doing on her porch? Jory’s warnings ran through her mind. Was this guy actually dangerous? No, she was seeing subterfuge everywhere.
Brian smiled and pushed a hand through his already tousled blond hair. “Can we talk? I’m sorry I was unkind.”
She frowned. “Hell, no. We’re not dating, and we’re not friends. Sorry.” She didn’t have time for niceties or playing games. Life was unfortunately too damn short. “I seriously think you need anger management. Plus, I’m pretty infatuated with somebody else.” Why not give him the truth?
Brian stood, towering over her. “I don’t believe this.” Irritation sparked his eyes, and his body stiffened.
She shrugged. At this point, a pissed-off realtor didn’t scare her much. “No offense, but I have bigger problems than your disbelief. Bye.” Turning to go, she halted when he grabbed her arm.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.” Tension cut hard into the sides of his mouth.
“I usually don’t.” She tried to wrench her arm free, but he held tight. Brian was much stronger than she would’ve thought, and she stilled. “However, I know a dickhead when I see one, and right now that’s you. So we’re over, you’re done, and let’s just move on.”
He yanked her close. “That is not how this is going to happen. You do not break up with me.”
“Okay.” Her temper began to heat the skin down her back. “Then you break up with me. Either way, let’s get this over with.”
“Oh, hell no.” Arrogance and something darker crossed his face.
The door opened, and her mother stalked outside, a frying pan in one hand. “Let her go, or I’ll break your head.”
Piper coughed out a laugh, even while her body went on alert. “Okay dokay here. Brian, let go.”
He glared at Rachel. “Go back inside.”
Earl shoved beyond Rachel, his hair mussed, the buttons on his shirt askew. His still impressive chest vibrated as he stepped onto the porch. “Let her go, or I’ll break your hand, boy.”
Piper’s mouth hung open. “Mom?”
Rachel blushed a fluorescent pink. “Good-bye, Brian.”
Brian slowly released her.
Keeping her gaze on her mother and avoiding the tousled Earl, Piper continued, “Brian, leave now. Please.”
Muttering about crazy women and life, Brian stomped down the stairs and to his car.
Rachel slowly lowered the pan. “You okay?”
“Fine.” Piper studied her mother with new eyes. The woman could be deadly when protecting her child. Deadly, period. “I love you, Mom.” Soon they’d have a long talk about everything—especially the disgruntled half-nude neighbor hovering protectively close. When they had a chance to be alone.
Rachel smiled, a lingering sadness darkening her eyes. “Sometimes I lose my temper. But I love you, too.”
Piper leaned in and kissed her mom’s cheek, definitely intrigued by the layers she hadn’t realized lived in her mother. “Everything is going to be all right. I promise.” She then turned toward Earl. “Um.”
He grinned. “You do know I served in the Marines for a stint or two, right?”
“No. No, I didn’t.” She looked at Earl and lifted both eyebrows.
“I’ll protect you and your mom. Don’t worry.” He slid an arm around Rachel’s shoulders.
Piper nodded slowly, her mind spinning. She glanced at her mom again and patted her arm. What courage it must’ve taken to try to run and hide from the commander. She smiled at her new hero. “I’ll talk to you two later.” Without waiting for a response, she turned and hurried into the driveway and her SUV. If she knew where the men were who watched her, she’d flip them off. But since she didn’t, she ignited the engine and all but rammed out of the driveway, barely missing Brian’s car on the road.
“Ooops,” she muttered, her shoulders going back. For too long she’d been out of the loop, and that had changed last night with a simple game of footsie with Jory. They were on to the commander, and they’d figure out this entire mess. Then she’d save Jory’s life, because she just couldn’t let him die.
He had to live.
The mere thought of his dying, just when she’d found him, forced tears to her eyes. She turned a corner and paused at a four-way-stop. Her back door suddenly jerked open, and Jory jumped inside.
She yelped. “What in the world?”
“I thought I’d hide back here and go with you today.” Settling back in the seat, Jory just studied her. “Drive. Now.”
She pulled into very mild traffic and shook her head. “There are checkpoints.” Yanking out her badge, she flashed it in the rearview mirror. “I have a badge.”
“So use it. I’ll hide”—he turned and glanced into the back—“under the blanket and grocery bags.”
She hadn’t had time to clean her car, damn it. “Gee. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?”
He laughed, but the sound seemed forced.
She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Jory leaned forward, and his tone was, well, scary.
She swallowed, her body going on full alert. “What’s the problem?”
“Problem?”
She huffed out air, wondering if she should pull over. “Stop repeating everything I say.”
“Don’t fucking think of pulling over. You have a tail, and I had to jump in at the right intersection so they didn’t see me.” He hunched down in the seat.
Oh. She pressed the gas pedal down. “Want to tell me why you’re swearing at me?”
“Gladly.”
She braced herself, because his tone of voice seemed anything but glad. “Well?”
“You want to explain why a guy on your front porch was able to manhandle you earlier today?” Jory spoke through clenched teeth.
She stiffened against the harsh tone. “I was trying to get away without causing a scen
e. What should I have done?”
“When a guy grabbed you like that?”
Yep. Scary voice. Big time. “Yes.”
“Fucking kicked him in the balls. You don’t talk, you don’t try to avoid a scene, and you sure as hell don’t stand on your own front porch and take that crap.” Jory’s voice was all the more menacing for the softness to it.
She shivered. “I handled it.”
Silence. Dead, pissed off, definitely masculine silence came from the backseat. She dared a look, and fire all but spit from his eyes. Good thing the guy couldn’t jump over the seat because the tail would see him. She swallowed. “You’re just pissed you couldn’t take care of him.”
She spoke without thinking, and from Jory’s instant stiffness, she’d nailed that one on the possessive head. But he’d never admit the truth, would he?
“You’re fucking exactly fucking right I’m pissed because I couldn’t rip off his fucking head and throw it in the bushes while tearing off his fucking arms for hurting you.” Jory’s hand tangled in her hair as if he couldn’t help but touch it. “I was a second from breaking cover when your mother showed up with a frying pan. Then the guy with the cat.”
Okay. Jory’s protectiveness should not be giving her twinges. She liked it. A lot. “Everything worked out all right. We just had one night, Jory. Let’s not go caveman from it.”
His eyebrow lifted. “You made the choice of the night, and now you’ll accept what comes from it.”
The night had touched her in ways she couldn’t even explain, and her mind was full of him. Her heart was vulnerable to him, and that wouldn’t do. Especially since he had a kill chip in his spine, and an overdeveloped sense of possession. “Excuse me?” She tried to sound in control.
“You felt that night as much as I did, and you made the choice to be there. You’re a smart girl, Piper. Don’t play dumb.”
She jerked the wheel around a pothole, not surprised when he didn’t move an inch. “I’m not playing dumb, but I can take care of myself.” She was even turning into a bit of a spy, now wasn’t she?
“That isn’t how this is going to work, darlin’.”
Was that a Southern twang again? She eyed him in the rearview mirror. “Then how exactly do you think it’s going to work?”
“You’re driving me in today, and you have today to get the codes. I’ll get the layout of the facility, and then we’re out of the place—with Chance and the other two kids. For good. You and your mother are going under, and I’ll take care of the commander.”
“That’s not my plan.”
“It is now. This is too dangerous, and the only reason I’m allowing you in today is because the commander thinks he’s got you where he wants you. So you’re safe today—especially since the chips are set to blow at midnight tomorrow. But that’s all you get.” The Southern accent came out in full force.
She glared in the mirror. Midnight tomorrow? God. “You don’t get to decide for me.”
“Baby, I already have.”
CHAPTER
22
SHE COULDN’T BELIEVE that worked. Not in a million freakin’ years. Jory had hidden in the back, and they’d made it all the way inside the compound, where she’d had to drive around all of the new constructions and a bunch of tractors. She’d been instantly escorted to a computer room, being told by Dr. Madison that she might as well continue her work until the end of the day, when they’d set the trap for the Gray brothers.
Madison had licked her lips when saying the words, pure anticipation lighting her dead eyes.
Creepy bitch.
But she didn’t know them, did she? She certainly didn’t know they had a real last name.
For now, Piper had work to do. So she logged in and quickly found the additions she’d written to the computer code that would save Jory’s brothers. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she added code, her mind spinning. If she tried to download it, an alert would be sent out. She had to figure out how to reach Jory’s chip and somehow reset it, but without him near, she couldn’t tell if her alterations did any good.
Sleet smashed against the window, and she shivered.
The door opened, and Chance strode inside. Finally. It was nearing the end of the day.
She stiffened. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He leaned back against the wall, a tall kid with dangerous eyes. Very familiar, Jory-like gray eyes. Today Chance wore a black soldier’s uniform with a gun strapped to his leg.
“What’s with the gun?” Piper asked, her breath heating.
“I’m supposed to shoot you if you try to leave.” No expression sat on Chance’s young face.
Piper rubbed her chin. “That’s unfortunate.” The kid looked way too young to be so serious and carry a gun. “You shoot people a lot?”
He didn’t answer. Yeah. That’s what she’d thought.
The commander stepped inside. “You did well last night with Jory.”
She flushed. “I didn’t like setting him up.”
The commander glanced at his smartphone. “No matter. Tonight, when you meet him, we’ll move in and take all of the Gray brothers.”
Dean brothers. Apparently the commander’s intel wasn’t as good as he thought. “Why do you want them back so badly?” she whispered.
“They’re mine.” Now he glanced over at Chance. “It looks like you’ll get the opportunity to know your real brothers.”
“I already know my brothers.” Chance’s chin rose, making him look more like Jory than ever.
A red warning flashed on Piper’s computer. “What the heck?”
The commander drew closer. “What’s going on?”
Adrenaline flooded her system, and she reached for the keyboard. Heat rushed through her veins. “Virus. We’re being seriously hacked.” If the hacker destroyed the computer program, she’d have no way to save Jory. Battle roared through her, and she typed faster. She couldn’t lose Jory now.
“Who?” the commander hissed.
“No clue.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to protect the program. More warnings flashed. “It’s somebody within the system.” It couldn’t be Jory. Who was trying to infect the entire compound? Her stomach rolled. She quickly went internal and flipped off the wireless before reaching for wires and shutting down the entire tower. The screen went blank.
Tingles cascaded along her arms. “That’ll help a little.”
The whir of a helicopter emerged through the snowy rain pelting down. The commander frowned. “I don’t have anyone scheduled to arrive today.”
Piper glanced out at the drizzly day. Jory’s brothers owned a helicopter. Were they coming? If so, why hadn’t he given her some warning the way in today?
The commander jumped toward the window and peered out. “What the hell?”
The helicopter landed, and four men jumped out, guns out. They wore brown soldier uniforms with PROTECT stitched across the front. Piper didn’t recognize any of them. The people who’d kidnapped Jory. She had to run. She stood and faltered when Chance reached for his weapon.
“Watch her,” the commander ordered, turning for the doorway. He lifted his phone to his ear. “Those aren’t my men. All hands, attack.” Then he paused and listened, turning toward Chance. “Why the hell isn’t the alarm blaring?”
Chance shrugged, his brow furrowing. Then he glanced at the now silent computer. “The attack came from within. Maybe somebody gave them clearance to land?”
Outside, the PROTECT soldiers fanned out without any resistance.
“Damn it. On my six,” he ordered Chance. “Stay here, or I’ll have you shot,” he said to Piper.
Gulping, she nodded, her gaze darting around. How could she get to safety?
“You are not leaving,” came a cultured voice from the doorway.
Piper’s head jerked to see a tall soldier in the doorway, his bald head gleaming, a big shiny pistol in his massive hand. God. It was the man from the video so long ago when Jory had been shot.
“Who the fuck are you?” the commander asked, mere curiosity in his tone.
The soldier pointed the gun at the computer. “I’m the one who’s going to take down your organization. For good.” He fired.
Piper yelped and tried to jump in front of the tower, but the bullet impacted the black casing. She backed away, her eyes widening on the threat. “What the hell?”
The soldier stepped inside, light blue eyes glinting eerily in the light. “I know all about you and your creations, which are abominations to our God.”
Piper edged toward Chance. Fear hitched her movements, but she plowed on. “Maybe we should leave you two to talk about this.”
“Put the gun down,” the commander ordered. He reached for his sidearm and hesitated when the soldier shook his head. “Now.”
A shadow crossed outside, and from the corner of her eye, Piper could see Jory beyond the window. He levered closer to the window, having donned one of the black soldier uniforms.
The commander snorted. “You’re surrounded on every side by well-trained men, and if you don’t put down the gun, I’m going to make sure you beg for death.”
Fear hazed her vision, but Piper tried to slide toward the window. Urgency focused the moment into a narrow tunnel.
“Stay put.” The new soldier settled his stance, the gun still pointed at the commander.
Faster than a thought, Chance drew his weapon and aimed at the soldier. “Drop the gun.”
“I know all about you, you freak.” The soldier focused on Chance. “I’ll shoot you while my soldiers take out your brothers. Right now.”
Chance’s gaze hardened. Keeping his gun levered on the soldier, he edged toward the window.
“Your brothers should already be dead. We’ll have to go after the other soldiers—with the intel my forces are gathering right now. But first…” The soldier changed his aim and fired at Chance.
“No!” Piper jumped in front of the boy. The bullet impacted her shoulder and icy pain ripped into her flesh. She cried out, thrown against Chance. He caught her, stumbling back against the wall. Blood bloomed across her chest.
Chance tucked her close. “Oh God. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he murmured.