SECRET IDENTITY (20 page)

“I remember when Mr. Gorrani told me that if my performance
reviews didn’t improve, I could be let go,” she managed to say.

“Go on. I’m listening.” He moved again, sliding another inch
inside her. He could grow to like this game very quickly.

“Lorne, I can’t think when you’re doing that. I meant to say
that two weeks later, I got bumped up to acquisitions. In fact, my new boss,
Mr. Wagner, told me that the reason I’d been promoted was because of my
excellent job record.”

Lorne paused as the implication of what she was telling him
finally seeped into his sex-sodden brain. “And you didn’t find that odd at the
time?”

She sighed. “I was afraid he’d made a mistake, and if I said
something, I could lose the position. I needed that job, Lo. I figured I could
work my tail off, and then if it ever came to light, I’d have my current work
record to back me.”

It made sense. Plus, he could understand her reluctance. The
business world was very cutthroat. Brenda knew it would be a struggle, and
Lorne couldn’t fault her for her actions.

“I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong,” he told her. “I
think anyone in your shoes would have done the same thing you did. Stay silent
and do your damnedest to make good on the job. Have you had another evaluation
since that promotion?”

“No, and that’s another thing that puzzles me, now that I
think of it.”

“Which is?”

“Promotions don’t come until after the yearly evals are
finished, which is usually around August or September, at the latest. But I
received another promotion a couple of months ago, just prior to the opening of
the new factory in Fullerton.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. At least, not right now.” He
smiled as she wriggled her beautiful ass against his groin. She curled forward,
giving him better access to her from the rear.

When he had initially heard about her sudden climb up the
corporate ladder, at first he hadn’t thought much about it. Brenda often
emailed them to let them know how she was doing. Newsy little bits and pieces
about her life and what she was up to in the big city. But now that he was
hearing more details about it, Lorne wondered if her success may have pissed
off a rival worker enough to arrange for her to take the fall for the
explosion.

For that matter, could this unknown person be responsible
for the explosion in the first place?

He was on the verge of breaking his self-imposed
communications ban with Luke when Lorne felt her hand reaching between her legs
to grab his balls and massage them playfully. All thought of contacting his big
brother to let him know what he had discovered went out the window. Growling
softly, he threw a leg over hers to pin her down.

Yes, there would be no sleep for either of them tonight
because there were countless empty nights they first had to make up for.

Chapter 26

Phone

He was caught deep in sleep’s clutches when he heard a
familiar jingling sound. After hours of muffled silence, where even the rolling
hush of the waves hitting the beach could barely be heard, the sound was able
to break through his unconsciousness.

Lorne forced himself to open his eyes. His body refused to
move. His muscles remained adhered to the sheets where he had melted after
their sexual marathon.

Three. Four. Five. Six.

Silence.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and started to sink back into
sleep when the ringing began again. It had the classic sound of an
old-fashioned telephone. He had no idea what time it was, but very little light
was seeping through the cracks around the edges of the boarded windows. It was
either dawn, or about to be.

“Bren.” He gave her a little shake where she lay sprawled
next to him, legs entangled. His hand found a breast, automatically gave it a
squeeze, then moved up to her shoulder to give her another shake. “Bren, your
phone’s ringing.”

She mumbled, moving slightly in her sleep.

Lorne debated whether he should answer it for her before
dismissing the thought. But it had to be answered. After cycling twice to voice
mail, the phone was ringing again. Whoever was calling was either persistent,
or there was an urgent reason behind the call.

“Brenda.” He gave her another shake, harder this time. She
moaned and tried to brush away his hand.

“What?”

“Your phone’s ringing. This is the third time.”

She blearily opened her eyes, listening. “No. That’s not my
phone,” she announced and rolled over to cuddle next to him.

Lorne chuckled, pulling her away. He could already feel a
steady pounding in his groin, signaling to his dick that sleep time was over.
It was time for some more sex.

“Brenda, I left my cell in the car. Are you sure it’s not
yours?”

She slowly sat up, her hair cascading over her shoulders in
a tousled but very erotic way.

“All right. Let me go check. But I swear it’s not my default
ring,” she told him and crawled off the bed.

“Maybe it’s a ring you set for a particular number.”

She shook her head. “Nope. I don’t remember even having that
ring in my selection.”

Lorne ran a hand over his face as he watched her amble
toward the front room.
Luke? You there, bro?

Ah! The self-imposed cone of silence has been lifted,
his brother’s sardonic sense of humor answered.

Your jealousy is showing,
Lorne responded, swinging his
legs over the side of the bed.
Listen, Brenda’s phone is ringing. Can you—

Way ahead of you, Lo.

He followed Brenda into the front room and propped open one
of the boarded windows to give them light. She dug through her purse until she
found the phone, and held it up with a look of surprise.

“What?”

“This isn’t…” She glanced over at him. “This isn’t my phone.”

Lo. I just checked Brenda’s phone. It’s not in service at
the moment,
Luke informed him.

“Then whose is it?”

It began to ring again for the fourth time. Brenda flipped
open the lid. Lorne caught a glimpse of the number on the display when the
smell hit him with its stomach-churning memory.

Unguindene.

Don’t answer it!

Luke’s mental yell came at the same moment he screamed and
leaped toward her. His powers blazed forth, locking his body into Defender
mode. Brenda pressed the answer button with her thumb a microsecond before he
knocked the cell out of her hand. The phone sailed upward as he jerked her
against him and threw his protective shield between them and the cell.

The explosion hit them with the force of a F5 tornado. Lorne
remained hunched over Brenda, keeping his back to the blast as the cabin
erupted into a million deadly slivers of wood. Shards zipped past them, some
striking the shield and ricocheting off harmlessly. The world around them
turned fiery red as the old timber caught fire, and the little beach cabin went
up in a ball of flame. The sound nearly burst his eardrums.

Lorne felt the floor crumble and disappear beneath them.
Still clutching her tightly, he kept them suspended in midair as the cabin
around them vanished in smoke and heat. He didn’t dare lower his shield until
the last of the nearly invisible splinters stopped raining down on them. Only
then did he gently and carefully float to a landing amid the debris-littered
sand.

“Brenda?” He gave her a little shake, but her head lolled
against his shoulder. She was unconscious. A quick examination didn’t reveal
any signs of injury, which gave him some relief. The percussive effect of the
blast must have knocked her out. Still, he’d feel a lot better if he had a
hospital check her out to be sure there were no internal injuries.

Across the bay the sun had just cleared the horizon, giving
the water and the waves a beautiful golden glow. But the beach house was a
complete loss. The car also appeared to have suffered major damage. One of the
pier beams lay diagonally across its roof. In the distance, Lorne could see the
leg of a chair sticking up from the top of a sand dune nearly a hundred yards
away.

“Lo!”

The sound was muffled, as if his ears were stuffed with
cotton. Hopefully his hearing would soon clear up.

Lorne cradled Brenda in his arms and turned to see Lee still
wearing his Defender costume running toward him. Neither Lee nor Luke had
inherited their father’s ability to fly, but neither could they explain how
they managed to have the powers they did. Lorne seemed to be the only son who
got the majority of Infinity’s super abilities.

Lee paused a few feet away and stared at his brother. “Are
you okay? What the hell happened?”

Lorne glanced down again at the woman draped across his
arms, and realized they were both naked, but there was no time to worry about
that. He had to get her to the hospital and checked out as soon as possible. With
her safely out of the way, he could search for the person who had put the booby
trap in Brenda’s purse.

“Strip! Hurry! I need my uniform,” Lorne ordered his
brother, brushing the sand at his feet clear of any dangerous shards, and
laying her there for the moment. “At some point while Brenda was in jail,
someone swapped her cell phone for one containing unguindene.”

“Any idea who?” Lee asked, handing over the jacket and
pants.

“Not yet.” He started to slip on his gloves, when he noticed
a familiar looking piece of black material lying in a heap a few feet away.
Three long strides found him picking up his black t-shirt with the Fender
guitar on the front. The shirt had been his father’s, and it was one of Lorne’s
most prized possessions. Lorne gave a little sigh of happiness to know it had
managed to survive the explosion, albeit with a couple of minor puncture holes
caused by needlelike wooden shrapnel. He gave it a shake to rid it of grit and
sand, and carried the shirt back over to where he’d left Brenda, slipping it
over her to give her a modicum of protection against the cold. Lifting her into
his arms, he turned back to where his brother stood looking over the remains of
their family vacation site.

“I’m taking her directly to Ocean General Hospital.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Lee said with evident sadness. “I’ll
see if I can get the jalopy running. It doesn’t look like the engine’s suffered
any damage, but the cabin…”

Lorne nodded, understanding what his younger brother was
feeling, and flew up into the new morning sky, angling back toward the city and
the nearest hospital.

Chapter 27

Guilty

It was quiet. She was lying flat on her back, and she was
comfortable.

Someone came in. Brenda smiled. Lorne must have gotten up to
use the toilet. She waited for him to return to the bed, when she heard water
rushing into a sink. At the same time, a machine clicked on, and intense
pressure began to circle her upper arm.

Brenda opened her eyes in confusion. The nurse who had
washed her hands noticed she was awake, and smiled.

“Hello! How do you feel?”

“Where am I? Is this a hospital?”

“Yep. Ocean City General.”

The woman walked around the foot of the bed to check the
monitor on the other side. Brenda turned her head to follow, and saw an IV pump
with a line going into her arm. A nearly empty bag of saline solution hung from
overhead.

“What happened? How did I get here?” In the next instant,
she became panicked. “Lorne! What happened to Lorne? Is he here?”

The nurse smiled and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.
“Let me get Dr. Wyche. She’ll be able to answer your questions better than I
can.” She reached down along the edge of the bed and pressed a button on the
side of the railing.

“Yes?”

“Please inform Dr. Wyche that the patient in 303 is awake.”

“Will do,” the voice replied.

“How long have I been here?” Brenda insisted. “Can you at
least tell me that much?”

The nurse smiled again. “Not long. You were brought in early
this morning.”

“What time is it now?”

The woman checked her watch. “Ten past two. They finally
brought you up from the emergency room about an hour ago.”

Emergency room?
Brenda started to ask more, but the
woman disappeared out the door, leaving her alone again.

The last thing she could recall was lying in Lorne’s arms
back at the beach house. She could remember how exhausted they were, and how he
had kissed her after murmuring, “Sweet dreams.” At the memory of their
lovemaking, she blushed. She now understood what an incredible feeling it was
to have sex with someone she truly loved, as opposed to infatuation, or to
scratch an itch. There was all the difference in the world.

The door swung open, and a woman in a long white lab coat
entered the room. She had a small laptop computer under her arm, which she
placed on tray table next to the bed. After glancing at Brenda’s patient
wristband, she gave her a smile.

“I’m Dr. Wyche. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, but I don’t hurt anywhere. What happened? Oh! Can
you tell me if Lorne Palmer is here?”

The doctor frowned as she opened up the laptop and accessed
Brenda’s records. “I don’t recall the name but I can check. Was he with you
when the explosion occurred?”

Explosion?

Like a tidal wave, the rest of it suddenly came back to her
in a rush. The phone call. Lorne yelling. The white-hot sound.

Oh, please, God, let Lorne still be alive!

A wave of dizziness washed over her. Fortunately the
physician was checking the stats on the IV monitor and didn’t notice.

“How did I get here?” Brenda finally managed to ask. She
fought back tears as she silently continued to pray.