Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (43 page)

Is that any tone to take with the man who saved your
life?

"Man?" Morgan snorted. "Why can I hear
you so clearly?"

That is the question, isn't it? Let's just say that my
blood is the gift that keeps on giving and giving.

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

That your ability to hear me in your mind is only the
beginning.

"You're going to be sorry when I get my hands on
you. Raphael, what have you done?"

Done? Moi? Why Sheriff,
I'm
hurt that you
would
think such a thing. Would I do anything that would cause you
discomfort?

"Hell yes!"

I’ll
be in touch.
Tinkling
laughter followed the state
ment, then
slowly faded away.

Morgan groaned and fell back onto the pillows.
'Terrific," he muttered under his breath. That damn two-legged bat would
never let him live this down.

Red strode into IPTT headquarters.
She dropped her weapons off and stepped through the
scan. This time
no booties awaited her on
the other side. She walked
to her
desk and opened the drawers, searching for anything that she might want to
take. Satisfied that
there was
nothing she needed, Red strolled down the
hall toward her grandfather's
office.

She stopped at the door and waited
to be scanned. A
second
later, the door popped open. Her grandfather
sat behind his desk like usual. She glanced around
the
room at the
holo-images and the old tomes. She was going to miss this place, but not as
much as she was going to miss the man behind the desk.

Her grandfather glanced up from
his paperwork.
"Gina,"
he said, smiling. "You're looking well."

She laughed. "Yeah, a lot
better than the last time
you saw
me."

He waved a hand. "Please
take a seat. To what do I
owe this unexpected visit? I thought you were going
to spend a few more days in Nuria."

Red sat in the big chair and
swung her legs back and forth, feeling like the little girl who used to play
in this building. The same
little
girl who'd
become
friends with a navcom named Rita.

She glanced at her wrist and
slowly unhooked the
device,
then placed it on top of her grandfather's
desk. She lingered the strap lovingly for a moment,
before moving her hand away.

He looked down at the navcom and frowned.
"Why did you remove Rita? Is she broken
again?"

Red smiled. "No, she's fine."

"I don't understand."

"I won't need her anymore."

His brows lowered. "I see.
Is there anything else?"

She took a deep breath and placed
the two synth-
documents beside Rita.

"What are these?"

"Just read them."

His eyes scanned the first
document, then he
quickly
glanced at her, concern marring his weath
ered features. "All this transpired in Nuria?"

"Yes."

He picked up the second
document. "Gina, this is
your
resignation."

"I know. Grandpa."

He shook his head. "But why?"

She smiled again. "You know
why I can't stay. Not now. Not after everything I've been through. The truth
won't remain a secret forever. Roark doesn't know, but
he suspects. It's only a matter
of time. I love you and
respect the tactical team too much to take a chance
that I might somehow damage its
reputation. I'm sorry
that
I won't be here to take over as commander, but
that was your dream. Grandpa. Not mine."

Robert Santiago opened his mouth
to speak.

"You know I'm right."

He closed his mouth and sat
back, his eyes taking
in
her features as if he were memorizing them. "What
are your plans?"

"Would you believe I don't
have any?" She chortled.

"No," he said
patiently.

"Other than going back to
Nuria to check on Morgan, I really don't know what
I'm
going to do.
Until
now, my whole life's been
planned out for me."

He glanced at her resignation.
"I've never known
you not to have
plans."

"Yeah, it's a first for both
of us." She laughed.
"Well, I
need to get back."

Robert came around his desk
until he was standing
next
to her. "Are you sure about this? Really sure?"

She rose and stepped into his
arms, hugging him for all she was worth. "No, I'm not sure about any
thing right now."

He pulled her back until he could
look into her
eyes.
"You always have a home here for as long as
I'm commander."

"Thanks. Grandpa. I love
you, too." She gave him one more hug, then released him and headed toward
the door before she did something embarrassing like
cry.

"You will visit, won't
you?" he asked quietly.

Red stopped and glanced over her
shoulder. "Noth
ing could keep me
away."

"I'll hold you to that
promise, special one," he
said,
sniffling.

"Thank you, Grandpa."

"For what?" he asked,
his eyes glistening with un
shed tears.

"For everything."

Red stepped through the door and
waited for it to
close,
so that she could get one more whiff of her
grandfather's office before she left. Her body trem
bled as her mind registered the
magnitude of the decision she'd just made. The tactical team was her life, all
she knew how to do. Fear of the unknown nearly
propelled her back into the commander's office.
She
forced herself
to move away from the door instead.
She'd made her decision and she'd live with it.

She was so wrapped up in her
thoughts and tumul
tuous
emotions that Red almost didn't see Roark
Montgomery and Mike Travers enter the front of the
tactical team building. Before she could think or even
breathe, Red rushed forward and
met them at the door.

"How's the hand?" she
hissed under her breath,
glancing at his
bandages.

He looked around at the other
team members, then
lowered
his voice. "You'll pay for this." he said, indi
cating his injury.

"I know what you've been
doing," she said. "The only reason you're not under arrest is because
I don't
have enough proof."

He smiled a politician's smile
and waved at some
one
over her shoulder. "Good luck getting it."

"I'm going to be keeping my
eye on you. You
won't
be able to shit without me knowing about it,"
Red warned.

“That's nice. Wonderful
idea," he said loudly. "I'll
do the same for you. Thanks again for your support. We
always appreciate the opinions of
the female officers
on
the team." He reached out and clasped her hand with
his good one and shook it,
squeezing until she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from crying out.

Red pulled back and wiped her
palm on her pants,
feeling
suddenly dirty. "This isn't over."

"You're absolutely
right," he said. "This is only
the beginning," Montgomery added for her ears only.
With that he stepped
around her, giving Red a wide
berth, and continued deeper into the building.

Mike Travers followed a safe
distance in his em
ployer's
wake. He met Red's gaze as he passed her
and a tiny smile flitted over his bright red lips,
before
quickly disappearing.

Red strolled out the door, grinning from ear to ear.
With Mike's help, she'd always know what Roark was going to do next. That
realization made leaving the tactical team somewhat easier.

She walked down the steps toward her car, her mind
taking in the details of her surroundings to be stored in her memories for
later examination.

A shuttle let off a group of cadets. They raced past
her toward the facility, their training almost
complete.
One female officer stopped a few feet in front of her
and stared, waves of power pouring off her. Red
froze
and held her gaze. There was something different about this woman.
Something
Other.
Red waited to
see
what would happen. The woman's eyes widened,
then she bounded up the
steps.

Red continued down and was
halfway to her vehicle
when she spotted Bannon coming up to start his shift.

He passed her, then stopped. "Well, well, well,
if it isn't the great white hunter," he said, sneering.

"Hey do you know who that woman is?" Red ig
nored his comment and pointed at the crowd of
cadets.

Bannon squinted against the sun. "You mean the
redhead?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Her name is Catherine Meyers. Her fellow cadets
call her Chaos. Apparently, she's almost as weird as you."

Red had no doubt after sensing
the woman's power.
She
wondered if Catherine knew the truth. She debated
whether to approach her and decided against it. It
wasn't her place to out a fellow Other.
Eventually, Catherine would come looking for the truth and Red
would be
there to help her.

"By the way, how's the wild animal chase
going?" Bannon asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Fine," she said. "I bagged one. I'm
going back
now to get me another." The
single step Bannon had
taken made
their height difference colossal. Red didn't
care. She'd never allowed Bannon's size to intimidate her before and
she wasn't about to start now. Besides,
she didn't work here anymore.

"Shouldn't you be reporting for duty?" he
asked, glancing at her civilian clothing.

Red shook her head. "Not today. Like I said, I
have more animals to catch. You'd be amazed at what I discovered while I was
out there by the boundary."

"Yeah, I bet," he said, staring at something
at the bottom of the steps. He grinned and an evil light
filled his blue eyes. "In fact, I think I
could guess one
thing you found in Nuria."

Red frowned and glanced over her shoulder. She saw
Morgan at the foot of the stairs, propped against a car, covered in bandages.
She'd never seen anything more appealing in her life. Her heart tripped in her
chest, then swelled. Morgan smiled and gave a little wave with his good arm.

"I guess I was wrong about you," Bannon
said.

Red turned to look at him once more. "What do you
mean?"

"You did remember how to spread your legs."
He nodded toward Morgan. "If his whipped expression is any indication of
what occurred between you two. Looks like he's been between your thighs a few
times and barely survived."

Anger surged inside of Red and her hands fisted. She
struck Bannon in the abdomen before she had time to think about it, then
followed the blow with a
kick to his face.
He dropped back onto the steps, hold
ing his bleeding nose.

"You're going to be sorry
for that. An attack against
a superior officer can get you relieved of duty or kicked
off the team," he said with
a slight nasal inflection.

"Too late." She smiled. "I already
quit." Red con
tinued down the stairs
without a backward glance and
stopped when she reached Morgan.

"What was that all about?" he asked, nodding
in Bannon's direction.

"Needed to settle an old score before I
left." Red
shrugged. "What are
you doing here?" she asked, taking in the blood that had started to seep
through some
of his bandages.

"I thought you could use a ride," he said,
motioning toward the car.

"You should still be in the hospital. There's no
way they released you with all these injuries."

"They aren't so bad."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"How did you get
out?"

He grinned. "Snuck."

Red shook her head. "You're insane. You know
that, right? You nearly died yesterday. I can't
believe
you've healed this much."