SECRET IDENTITY (14 page)

Lorne.

Lorne felt the zipper’s vibration through his gums as he
drew it downward.
Go away, Luke.

Can’t. Sorry. This is important.

So is this,
he mentally growled, pressing his nose to
her sweaty skin. She wore a thin cotton thong that was soaked with her juices.
She tasted of salt and smelled of passion. One of her hands had started to jerk
his t-shirt over his head. Another glance up at her, and he could see she had
already divested herself of her sweater and bra. Her breasts were full and
natural, her nipples stiff and waiting for his return.

Lorne, we need The Defender.

He groaned. Brenda was tweaking her nipples. His mouth had
breached the top of her thong to discover a soft, manicured triangle of dark
curls awaiting his kisses. If they kept up this pace, he would explode before
they ever got to the main act.

Luke, you’re killing me. Can’t you tell we’ve passed first
base? And we’re both running like hell for home!

I’m happy for you, Lorne! But you can always pick up
where you two leave off. This can’t wait. We’re looking at a consequential
event.

The simple phrase was like spilling cold water into his
veins where it started to cool his burning blood. Cool, but not completely
extinguish.

As for extricating himself from the promise of her body, it
was like trying to pry two powerful magnets apart. Gritting his teeth from the
effort, Lorne pulled away and slipped her jeans back up around her hips,
zipping her with trembling fingers.

“What?” she asked, dazed with passion.

Picking her up and setting her back on the floor next to
him, Lorne gathered up his courage and forced himself to look into her
disappointed gaze.

“I think we’re moving too fast,” he managed to blurt out.

“On the contrary, Lo. I think we’re making up for lost time.”

She was angry, she was confused, and she was horny. He could
wholeheartedly relate.

“Brenda, I would not hesitate to carry you into your bedroom
and make love to you until both of us are too exhausted to move,” he confessed.
“But—”

“Then do. Let’s do it,” she challenged him, her voice
shaking with sexual frustration.

He slowly shook his head. He didn’t hide his own agony. “No.
This is not the way I envisioned it.”

Lorne?

Screw you, Luke. I’m coming!

Her eyes widened. “The way you’d envisioned it? Are you
telling me you’d been planning on—”

He grinned. “Seducing you? Yes, but not like this. I wanted
it to be in a more romantic setting. Something to make it memorable for both of
us. You know, the way you’d told me you were hoping it would be like.”

“With candles and soft music?”

“And maybe some chocolate-covered strawberries with
champagne.”

Her smile returned. “I never talked about strawberries and
champagne, but I like where you’re going with this.”

“Sooo, what are your plans for tonight, Miss McKay?” Lorne
inquired as he got to his feet. There was no way he could hide his wood, and
frankly she already was aware of it. Very much aware of it, since her eyes kept
dropping back down to it.

They both needed a break to collect themselves and learn to
breathe again. Striding toward her, he stopped directly before her and ran a
thumb over her lips. Bending over, he tenderly kissed her again, lingering for
a several seconds against her moistened mouth.

“Nine o’clock,” he whispered. “Is it a date?”

He felt her shiver. “Yeah. Nine. Don’t you dare be late.”

Lorne chuckled and gave her a wink. Without another word, he
hurried into the living room, piled one box on top of another, and picked up
both to take back to his house where he knew Luke would be waiting and tapping
his chair arm in anticipation.

Chapter 17

Insurance

“All right. What’s the emergency?” Lorne growled, striding
into the basement office where Luke was waiting. After dumping the two boxes he’d
taken from Brenda’s place in their garage, he’d hurried to dress in his black
leather uniform and make it down the secret passageway.

His erection had softened, but it hadn’t entirely
disappeared. If Luke noticed the bulge in the front of his pants, he couldn’t
care less. Yet, Lorne realized the interruption may have been for the better.
Now that he’d had a minute to let his head clear, he realized it could have
been a mistake to have their first time be in her parents’ bedroom. Better to
delay it until this evening, where it could turn out to be the beginning of
every dream he’d ever had of Brenda. Let him get this emergency over with, and
he could spend the rest of the afternoon hunting up candles, strawberries, and
a bottle of Dom Perignon. And if everything worked out the way he thought it
would, the way he hoped it would, they could spend the weekend looking at engagement
rings.

Yeah, and at what point are you going to tell her you’re
The Defender?

Lorne came to a sudden halt. He couldn’t tell if the little
voice in his head had come from Luke, or if it had been his own subconscious.
And because Luke’s mouth didn’t move when he communicated telepathically, there
was no way of knowing unless he asked.

“Lee’s waiting for you at the police station.”

“You said it was a consequential event. Are we talking loss
of lives?”

Luke nodded, sending cold chills down his back.

“Hurry,” the oldest brother ordered, and the tube leading to
the surface opened as if by magic.

Lorne shot upward, fast enough so as not to be seen if
anyone should be looking in the direction of the exit. It took him another
minute to reach the police station. He landed near the back doors, which were
shielded from public view behind a tall wall of white cinder blocks. Several
officers, including two men he recognized from the bomb squad division, exited
the building to greet him. Lee was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn’t
surprising. Hell, the man could be just about anywhere.

One of the bomb squad members by the name of Dees walked
over to shake hands. “Defender, glad you got here. I don’t know how you found
out we were needing you, but I’m glad you did.”

“I was given the news it was an emergency,” Lorne said. He
wasn’t about to tell them the truth about how he found out he was needed. In
fact, he and his brothers were determined to keep law enforcement, the
government, and the public from learning there were three superpowered Palmers.

“Yeah. We ran some tests on that blue substance you brought
in,” Dees continued.

“Unguindene.”

The bomb squad captain nodded. “You were right. It’s highly
volatile and extremely unstable. But thanks to your suggestions, we were able
to piece together the chemical makeup. Our men are in contact with the FBI lab,
working on an answer to negate its effects. In the meantime
¼
” The man pulled a small spiral notebook
from his hip pocket and flipped it open. “We did a little investigating of our
own. Defender, may I introduce Agent Queens and Agent Trail. They’re with the
ATF. And Agent Betts, who’s with Homeland Security. Gentlemen, The Defender.”

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Homeland Security. It
figured the big boys had been called in. Lorne smiled but didn’t offer to shake
the men’s hands. They merely greeted each other with head nods.

“Where do I fit in?” Lorne asked.

“We want you to go back over the remains of the lab and the
factory with a fine tooth comb,” the one introduced as Agent Queens said. “We
need to find every last molecule of this substance, because even a loose
molecule of it can be deadly.”

“We’re in the process now of trying to figure out how the
unguindene got here,” Dees added. “Once we can pin that down, we’ll be able to
track down who brought it, and maybe why.”

“Who manufactures unguindene?” Lorne asked.

Agent Betts spoke up. “That wasn’t too difficult to find
out,” he said. “There’s only one company who does.”

Lorne nearly took a step backwards in surprise. He already
knew the answer before the man answered.

“Dobbling Enterprises.”

One of the agents got a call on his cell phone. The man
excused himself and walked a few feet away to take it. Lorne gave him a hard
stare.

Luke?

Already taken care of, bro,
his brother reassured
him.

Lorne relaxed. Although he could easily listen in on the agent’s
call, it would take some practice before he could handle two or more
conversations simultaneously. In the meantime, his brothers would provide what
back-up they could.

“If you find any more of the substance, we need you to take
it immediately to our disposal facilities,” Dees continued.

“And any other evidence here to the police station,” Agent
Queens added.

Lorne nodded. “I’ll do the best I can, gentlemen. However,
you realize there may be nothing left after those explosions.” From the corner
of his eye, he saw the agent on the phone hang up and rejoin the group.

“We aren’t holding our breath,” Dees admitted. “Still, we
figured you were our best shot. Your enhanced abilities may be the edge we need
to solve this case.”

Enhanced abilities. The remark almost made him smile. Luke
had said people wouldn’t start referring to what The Defender had as superpowers
until they realized that normal people couldn’t perform the way he could, and
never would, no matter what they did. Forget the fact that he could fly. He
started to lift off from the sidewalk, but was stopped when the ATF agent waved
for his attention.

“I got a heads up from headquarters,” Trail interjected. “Dobbling
has just filed against their insurance for the explosions. They’re claiming the
blasts were a result of sabotage. If they can prove it, Dobbling is off the
hook for this fiasco, not to mention four hundred million dollars greener.”

Sabotage?
“Where are they getting their information?”
Lorne asked. “What makes them so sure it was sabotage?”

The agent grinned. “Because if it was an employee accident,
the payout would be a paltry one hundred fifteen million. Terrorist threats pay
out four times the contracted amount.”

“Doesn’t that seem odd that they would have that stipulation
put in their policy? What are the odds such an event would occur?”

Dees shrugged. “At this point, all we can do is add that
question to our already long list.”

Lorne frowned. “I wonder why they believed they would be
subject to a terrorist attack? What was this lab manufacturing that we haven’t
been told about?”

“We can send you all the details,” Agent Trail offered.

Ha ha, asshole. Nice try.

Lorne smiled at his brother’s remark. These guys weren’t
here only to investigate the explosion. They must be chewing at the bit to find
out what they could about The Defender. “Thanks,” he said, leaving it at that. “Any
idea if they plan on rebuilding?”

“We haven’t heard anything definite yet,” Agent Betts said.

But we know someone who might,
Luke said.

He didn’t have to say her name. They were on the same
wavelength.

“Looking at what they’ve sunk financially into the place,
Dobbling must have been banking on this lab to bring in some major income. But
I find it highly suspicious they would insure themselves against sabotage.” Sighing,
Lorne admitted, “You’re right. There’s too many unanswered questions. This
whole thing smells funny.”

“We agree,” said Dees. “That’s why your help is so crucial
if we want to get to the truth, and do it as quickly as possible. Because the
longer we take, the longer the people responsible have to pile up more shit to
hide behind.”

Lorne lifted further into the air as he mentally chewed over
what he’d learned. “I’m heading over to the labs now, gentlemen. I’ll see you
there.” Without waiting for a reply, he shot into the air. But instead of
heading directly to the destroyed facilities, he made a quick detour first to
try and get some answers.

Chapter 18

APB

She’s not there.

Lorne paused in midair. Luke had surmised he would head over
to Brenda’s to ask her a few pertinent questions about Dobbling.

Concentrating, he began to scan the area, looking for her
little car. He quickly discovered it far in the distance, heading away from the
house. Heading north.

“Turn right on Sutherland,” he muttered. “Turn right…atta
girl!”

She was aiming for the labs.

Lorne reversed direction and flew over to the destroyed
facilities. Before he went unguindene hunting again, he wanted some honest
answers from the one person who had to have a few of the missing puzzle pieces.

He waited for her near the mobile HAZMAT unit set up on the
grounds near the debris field. Several men greeted him as they came and went.
Lorne said hello back, shook a couple of hands, but didn’t instigate any
conversation or answer any questions. The scientists and specialists quickly
understood he was there for a reason, and left him alone.

Brenda came straight to the unit from the parking lot. She
was still wearing the thin pullover sweater and jeans she’d had on earlier when
he had been at her place as himself. The only difference was she’d scrubbed her
face, added a little makeup, and put her hair up in a ponytail, which made her
look so much like the young high school girl he’d agonized over when it came
time for the prom. Fortunately, with Luke and Lee both urging him on, he had
worked up the courage to ask her to go with him, and she had accepted.
Unfortunately, the fantastic evening only ended with a kiss and nothing more.