Remember Jamie Baker (12 page)

The room dropped to its chilly temperature again.

“Can you guys please take this conversation far from here?” Geek asked, shifting nervously. “If she freaks, she could melt the place down. Do you know what kind of damage that would do? In fact, for this particular conversation could you take her outside the mountain altogether?”

“Why?” I demanded, my eyes snapping to the jittery soldier. “What is it about this man that I’m not going to like?”

Okay, I’ll be honest; maybe I growled a little bit, because Geek’s face paled and he took a step back.

“Why don’t we go find Ryan?” Tyson whispered. “He’s probably in the gym.”

He tried to tug me into the hall, but I fused my feet to the floor and flipped on my power switch. Tyson dropped my hand with a yelp. “How do I know you?” I demanded. They were hiding something from me and I didn’t like it.

Dr. Edwards said the last thing I ever would have expected. No, not even that. He said something I never, ever, ever would have expected. “I was your English teacher in high school.”

There was simply no way to respond to that.

“You were on Visticorp’s radar,” Dr. Edwards continued. “After I escaped them, I went to keep an eye on you, but I knew you’d freak out if you learned who I was, so I took a job at your school. I promised Teodoro I would watch out for you until I could get him out. We figured you’d react better to him telling you who he was than me coming forward first.”

Several bits of information clicked in my brain, and I gasped.
“Blake?”

My guess was correct. Blake’s eyes lit up with a spark of hope. “Teodoro mentioned me?”

Some of my apprehension eased, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever trust the man entirely. “Constantly,” I admitted. “He told me all about working with you at Visticorp and coming up with the plan to get both of you out of there. He
idolizes
you.”

The news made Blake glow, but then his face fell. “Does he know what happened? Why I didn’t come for him when I was supposed to?”

“He knows you were in jail.” I nodded. “He said you went down on bogus charges as some sort of fall guy for a Visticorp cover-up. He has a little wall calendar that he’s been crossing the days off of until your release. He’s even got a few fake IDs for you. All they need is a recent picture. I suggested breaking you out—I had a foolproof plan—but he said we couldn’t. He said Visticorp would have known it was us and learned we were still alive.”

“They would have,” Blake agreed immediately. “You were right not to come for me.” He gave me a boyish grin that made me take note of his handsome face. “As much as I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Fat lot of good it did. They found us anyway. I totally screwed up, and Teddy got taken as a result. I
have
to find him and get him back. If Donovan hurts him because of me—”

My voice cracked at the unacceptable thought.

“He won’t,” Blake promised. “Teodoro’s too valuable to him.”

He took a step closer to me with his hand outstretched, as if he meant to try and comfort me. When I flinched away, he stopped and looked at the ground. Swallowing thickly, he lowered his voice to an almost whisper. “We were friends, Jamie. I was your teacher, but you liked me, trusted me a little even.”

His words ignited something inside me. “I trusted you? And the whole time you were lying to me? Just like Teddy.” I was angrier with Teddy than Blake, but he made a good scapegoat at the moment. “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t care about the past. Right now I don’t know you, I don’t trust you, and we’re not friends.”

“So let’s get out of here,” Tyson said, sending a seething glare to Blake. “We’ve got you back now. We don’t need him anymore.”

I sighed and shook my head. “But we need Geek. He might be the only chance we have at cracking those microchips.”

“What exactly is on those microchips?” Major Wilks asked.

Blake’s enthusiasm came back with vengeance. “Everything!” Impossibly, he was even more excited than Geek. “Teodoro backed up Visticorps’s entire mainframe.” He looked at Major Wilks with a greedy gleam in his eyes. “We could have all of Visticorp’s scientific findings since the company began.”

“No!” Tyson shouted, startling us all with his outburst. The way he frantically shook his head spoke volumes to his sudden desperation. “You can’t give them that info, Jamie. Teddy developed a software program that used the world’s online data to locate other potential PACs. It’s how Visticorp found us. Even you. You can’t let that software get into the wrong hands.”

Major Wilks stepped forward, a giant frown on his face. “Son, have I, or anyone in this program, ever mistreated you?”

Tyson gave him a weary once-over and grudgingly shook his head. “No, but—”

“Aren’t you glad that you have other PACs with you?” Major Wilks turned his gaze to me. “Aren’t you relieved to know that you’re not alone? Don’t you think others out there might want to meet you, too? Have your support?”

Neither Tyson nor I had a good answer for this. We shared a look that said so much. We were both extremely relieved to have each other, and we both wanted to search out others like us. But that didn’t mean we trusted the military with that task.

Major Wilks understood our hesitation. “If we had that software, you could be in charge of that program,” he said, his eyes shifting back and forth between Tyson and me. “Abiodun too. The three of you could contact and recruit, or simply let them know we exist and are there to help if they ever need it.”

Tyson and I exchanged another glance. The offer was tempting. Plus, we really needed Geek. I raised an eyebrow at Tyson, and he gave me a slight nod. I turned my attention to Major Wilks. “No one uses that program without us, and we don’t even open it until after we get our friends back from Donovan.”

Major Wilks didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second. “Agreed. The project is yours, Angel. And Donovan is our top priority. Will you join us, or not?”

I looked around the large command center and then at all of the soldiers I’d met so far. Each of their faces was hopeful and encouraging. I had to admit, a part of me wanted this, even if I was afraid of it, but I wasn’t quite ready to trust. “That verdict is still out, but you can have the microchips. Just know that if you ever misuse any of the data you gain from it—assuming you can crack it at all—this place will end up an empty crater to match the one I made in Las Vegas.”

Major Wilks’s eyes flashed at the threat, but he kept his mouth shut. After a long, tense moment he gave me a terse nod. “I understand.”

“Good. As long as we’re clear.”

I turned back to Geek, once again holding up the microchips. He held out his hands to me, palms up, fingers curling in a frantic “give me” gesture. “Fair warning,” I told him. “You might not be able to crack these. Teddy is more than a genius. His brain is overly developed or something. It’s why he has the power of telekinesis. His mind can do things that most humans can’t. I’ve seen him with a computer—all electronics, really. It’s almost like he can speak to the technology. Even if you’re the best in the world, you might not be able to break his encryption.”

Geek shook his head, letting out a scoff of envy and awe, but his eyes gleamed at the challenge. His eagerness made me smile. Computer hackers were all the same. “Lucky jerk,” he said, blinking down at the microchips now in his hand. “That has to win—hands down—for the coolest superpower ever. No offense, Angel.”

I laughed, allowing the opinion, and dropped the pouch into Geek’s waiting palm. “Have a ball, my nerdy friend. Let me know if you crack it.”

Geek immediately took the small chips over to his workstation. I stopped him before he could insert one of them into his computer. “You may want to use a laptop or something that’s not connected to your mainframe. I’m sure those things are booby-trapped with all kinds of nasty viruses. Teddy has a twisted sense of humor.”

Geek pulled his hand back and grinned at me with sparkling eyes. “Thanks for the tip, Angel.”

“Good luck.”

Major Wilks frowned at me. “Do you really think Geek’s chances of cracking those microchips are that low?”

“Yes.” I cringed, and then waved an apologetic hand in Geek’s direction. “Sorry, Geek. No offense.”

Geek only grinned. “None taken, but I’ll be happy to prove you wrong.”

“Hope so, bud.” I liked Geek.

“Then we’ll need a backup plan,” Major Wilks decided, bringing me back on topic. “I have an idea I’d like to run by you, if you’re up for a mission with the team?”

I nodded. “If it will get Teddy and the other PACs back, I’m in. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Major Wilks nodded, pleased. “Thank you, Angel.” He turned to Eyes. “Gather the team. Debriefing room in twenty minutes.”

My tour was cut short
and we headed straight for the gym. “How come you’re all so sure Ryan will be in the training room?” I asked as Johnny G and Tyson gushed about how awesome the place was and how much I was going to love it. “He doesn’t strike me as the work-out-all-the-time meathead type.”

“Nah, that’s Smut,” Shortstop said, causing the others to laugh. “He’ll be there, too. Ryan’s just trying to catch up, I think.”

I didn’t understand. “Is he behind?”

Shortstop shrugged. “All of us were plucked from different elite military squads. I was a Ranger.”

“I was Special Forces,” Johnny G added.

“Romeo went through basic boot camp and then came straight here. We brought him on because of all his experience with you and Teodoro. Plus, he had Tyson and Abiodun with him, and they wouldn’t come without him.”

“He’s a good kid,” Major Wilks said. “Works hard. But he’s inexperienced. He doesn’t like knowing that.”

“Abiodun and I have to have extra training, too,” Tyson said. “But we have powers, you know? Ryan was kind of a superstar football player at his college before he left. He’s never complained, but it must be hard to be the powerless, inexperienced new guy.”

“Plus, he probably needed to blow off some steam today.” Johnny G gave me a pointed look. “He’s talked about nothing but you for six months. It’s why we call him Romeo. He’s obsessed with his Juliet.” My face heated up despite how hard I tried not to blush. “The amnesia can’t be easy on him. To have you back, but not have you back—that’s got to be messing with the guy’s head.”

I sucked in a quiet breath. I’d thought that myself once or twice, but hearing Johnny G say it made it seem a million times worse. Ryan had been so wonderful up until now that it was easy to forget that this had to be as difficult for him as it was for me.

I didn’t respond, and no one else dared break the silence. Some things sucked and there was nothing you could do about it. Ryan’s and my messed-up situation was one of those things.

We all stayed quiet until we reached the training center. I didn’t know what to expect from the place. Everyone seemed oddly infatuated with it, and they’d really talked it up. As we walked down the hallway, one side of the boring corridor gave way to a wall of windows that allowed us to see inside the gym. I had to admit it was impressive.

I’d never been to a gym—none of the equipment would be of any use to me—but I had a feeling this one was state-of-the-art. There was every kind of machine a person could possibly need for working out their body, plus things like a huge lap pool, a boxing ring, and a climbing wall.

It would have been awesome if not for the overwhelming stench of human sweat that permeated the damp air. Ugh, okay, if I had to get rid of any one of my powers, the supersmell would be the first to go, and I wouldn’t miss it.

Thanks to each main room in the base being pretty much airtight with their own air filtration systems, I hadn’t noticed the stink until Major Wilks opened the door. The second I did, I staggered backward and gagged loud enough to gain the attention of my entourage and a soldier who was using a leg press nearby.

“Angel?” Major Wilks asked, coming to my side and taking me by the arm. “Are you all right? What’s the matter?”

“I’m good,” I choked out, forcing whatever was in my stomach to stay there. “Remember what I said about my heightened sense of smell? Ode de Sweaty Gym is not a flavor I’d bottle and sell as perfume, if you know what I mean.”

The major looked as if he didn’t know how to respond. He stared dumbfounded for a minute and then said, “I suppose we could kick up the air filtration in this room and maybe try some air fresheners? Or do those bother you, too?”

“Any strong odor gives me migraines if I’m exposed for too long, but I’d rather smell the nastiest potpourri in the world than a whole team of soldiers working up a sweat. The air filtration will help more than anything. If you expect me to spend any significant amount of time in here, I’d suggest you try that—though not much in here will do me any good. The pool and the rock wall, maybe, but that’s about it. Treadmills can’t keep up with me, and exercise machines never have enough weight.”

The soldier who’d been using a leg press near me gave me a skeptical look. “This machine goes up to five hundred pounds.”

Is that all they thought I was capable of? How insulting. I looked at his arms, which were as big as watermelons, and smirked. He was by far the largest ACE so far. I couldn’t tell how tall he was, but his shoulders were massive. I’m all for muscles, but you can overdo it. He was overdoing it. His pecs were nearly as big as my head. “Let me guess.” I pointed a finger at the soldier I’d not been introduced to yet. “Guns?”

Johnny G chuckled. “Close. That’s Smut.”

The guys all laughed, but I didn’t get the joke. “How is that close?”

“Because he’s built like the cover models on all those smutty romance novels,” Shortstop explained.

Okay, that was funny. “Nice.” I gave Smut another once-over, and he proudly sat there and let me look. “Have you ever actually considered posing for one of those books? I’m thinking the pirate ones would be your specialty. You’ve got the long, dark hair thing going for you. All you need is the boots and the billowing white shirt.”

“Oh!
Captain
Smut!” Johnny G howled while the other guys all fell apart with laughter. “Smut’s totally got a new nickname!”

“Thank you
so
much, Angel,” Smut said dryly.

I gave him a sweet smile that made him laugh. Shaking his head, he leaned forward and moved the pin in the stack of weights he’d been lifting to the very bottom of the pile. “You really think you can max out this machine?”

All the ACEs stopped laughing and leaned in, clearly wanting to see a show. I suppressed a sigh and pointed at the contraption he was still sitting on. “This machine?”

When he nodded, I reached down and picked the entire thing up, with him still on it. I bounced it lightly in one hand, testing its weight. “Sorry.” I smirked at all the gasps and shocked faces. “I really don’t think this would give me much of a workout.”

I set the machine back down and met the eyes of my gaping audience. “Any more questions?”

A low chuckle interrupted the show. All heads turned toward the sound, but I doubt any of the soldiers’ hearts sputtered the way mine did. When my eyes fell on Ryan, I changed my mind about the stinky gym. If this place was his usual haunt, I’d brave the stench every day in order to see him shirtless and sweaty the way he was now. Swoon.

Save a rather large scar on his right bicep that had me very curious, his body was flawless. Every muscle was perfectly defined, and a light coating of fine blond hair trailed down his abdomen. I’d never wanted to reach out and touch something so badly. It dawned on me that I probably had touched him before, and I was suddenly insanely jealous of my pre-amnesiac self.

By the time I was able to drag my lusting eyes up to his face, Ryan was watching me with a very satisfied smirk. I was completely drooling over his body, and I was so busted. Whatever. I wasn’t sorry. How could anyone attracted to men not appreciate the deliciousness standing in front of me?

“We never did figure out exactly how much you could lift,” Ryan said, “but you used to have to bench my truck when the back was filled with bricks for a good fifteen minutes before you broke a sweat.”

There was another moment of awed silence that was eventually broken by Major Wilks. “Well.” He blinked a few times as he searched for words. “I’ll have to speak to my engineers. Maybe they can design…something. For you.”

“Knock yourself out. I don’t really care. Working out isn’t really a priority for me. Though, if I’m going to run into more of those supersoldiers, a little self-defense training might be a good idea.”

“We can definitely help you with that.” Major Wilks shook himself from his stupor and started barking orders again. “Romeo! Smut! Hit the showers! Debriefing in ten.”

. . . . .

The debriefing room in ACE headquarters was nothing spectacular. It was a medium-size rectangular room with a large screen mounted at the front and a big rectangular conference table taking up most of the space. Those of us that were already together sat around a large, rectangular conference table waiting for the others to arrive.

I took a seat next to Ryan, and Tyson had been quick to snatch the open chair on my other side. Shortstop, Johnny G, and Smut all sat across from us grilling Ryan about my powers and what it was like to use them. Of course they all wanted to try it. I couldn’t tell if they wanted to try having superpowers, or if they were really more interested in the superkissing, which Ryan had ever-so-kindly spilled the beans about. I could have killed him. None of them had stopped staring at me since.

“Sounds like a party in here, y’all.”

I turned to the door just as Eyes entered the room with Abiodun and a very tall, broad man with sandy-blond hair, light-green eyes, and a five o’clock shadow. The man was wearing the same military fatigues as the rest of the group, but a well-worn Stetson hat rested on his head. This one was too easy. “Let me guess. You’re Texas.”

The cowboy’s eyes found mine, and his answering smile lit up his entire face. “Tex for short, Angel. Plucked straight from a cattle ranch in Amarillo.” He tipped his hat to me and winked as he and Abiodun took the empty seats next to Ryan. “Lovely to finally meet you, darlin’.”

His manners made me smile.

Shortstop leaned forward suddenly, his body bouncing with energy. “Hey guys, did you know Angel can share her powers with people?”

Both Tex and Eyes gaped at me. “All of them?” Eyes asked. “Even the lightning?”

I nodded. “Very short term, though. I can pass energy to people, which, in turn, supercharges them. The more superpowers they use, the faster they eat up the energy. With the lightning you’d have to be really pumped up and you might only get one good shot before you’re out of juice.”

“Still.” Eyes slowly shook his head back and forth. “That’s got to be very fun.”

“Not as fun as having her give them to us,” Johnny G said, winking my direction.

Smut took the honors of dropping the bomb on the newcomers. “She has to
kiss
you to give you her powers. Romeo calls it superkissing.”

Eyes blinked at me. “Is that true?”

I tipped my head back and glared at the ceiling. “I
can
,” I grumbled. “But I don’t
have
to anymore. I learned how to do it with just a touch.”

Smut leaned forward and a long, dark lock of hair fell free from its ponytail, framing his face and accentuating his square jaw. His rapt gaze flicked quickly back and forth between Ryan and me. “Does it feel like a normal kiss when you do it? Or is it, like, all supercharged?”

Ryan released this guttural moan that made me blush. “It’s totally supercharged,” he said. “It is the absolute hottest thing I’ve ever felt. Once you start, it’s really hard to stop because the energy sort of pulls you together all magnetic-like and makes you lose your head.”

The room fell silent, and every single ACE in the room gaped at me. I swear several of them were seconds away from drooling. Ugh. They were never going to let me live this down. Stupid Ryan and his big mouth. “It doesn’t matter what it feels like, because I am not superkissing any of your ugly mugs.”

All of their faces fell into pouts at the news, even Tyson’s. Shortstop slumped back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest as he mumbled, “Party pooper.” He scrunched up his nose and flicked his gaze to Ryan. “You’ve superkissed Romeo.”

“That was
before
. I don’t even remember it.” I groaned and threw my head down onto the table, burying my face in my arms to hide my traitorous blushing cheeks.

Ryan’s arrogant voice rang out above the chuckles in the room. “I’m allowed to superkiss her. I’m her fiancé. The superkisses are mine. None of you better even think of trying it. Jamie, if any one of these guys comes anywhere near you, you be sure to zap ’em good.”

His voice was playful, but my annoyance still spiked. I snapped my head up and glared at Ryan. He was watching the group of men, trademark smirk in place, leaning back in his chair with his hands laced together behind his head, puffing up his chest rather obnoxiously.

“You—you—” The fact that I couldn’t get any words out only made me even more flustered. I took a deep breath. “You are
not
my fiancé. You agreed you’d try to be just friends.”

Ryan’s bright, laughing eyes slid sideways to meet mine. “Did I?” His grin widened to show all of his perfect teeth. “I guess you’re not the only one here with a sketchy memory, Sunshine.”

My jaw fell to the floor while every man in that room fell apart, roaring with laughter until they had tears in their eyes. “What do you say, babe?” Ryan asked over the ruckus. “Should we give them all a demonstration of just how hot the superkissing is?”

The lights above our head didn’t just flicker out; they pulsed blindingly bright until they each went out with a series of quiet pops. I had a feeling all of the lightbulbs in the room would need to be replaced. When Major Wilks entered the room demanding answers, the ACEs were all laughing so hard none of them could speak.

A set of emergency lights clicked on, lighting the briefing room once again. Major Wilks looked around and released an exhausted sigh as he rubbed at his temples. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. “Romeo, will you
please
try not to provoke her?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I honestly can’t help it. I missed her too much, and she makes it so
easy
.”

This set the team off again. The worst part was, I couldn’t even be mad at him. When I glared at him, his response was to pick up my hand and kiss it. He looked so happy that I couldn’t pull away. I let him kiss my hand, and then I cracked a
smile
when he laced our fingers together as if he intended to hold onto me through the rest of the meeting. His touch sent tingles shooting through my body, and I found myself suppressing a shudder.