Doubly Dangerous

by Rebecca York
Chapter One

Zack O’Hara pushed himself up, blinking in the bright light of the overhead bulbs and
fighting the spinning sensation in his head.

Damn. They’d done it again. Slipped something into his food to put him out.

Fists clenched, he fought to stand. Instead, he fell back on the narrow bunk, breathing
hard.

He’d been in the Facility for six weeks, mostly confined to this tiny cell, and the irony
was that he’d arranged to get captured and shipped here. Well, it hadn’t exactly been his
choice. He was the only FBI special agent they’d tested who was suitable for the job.
Lucky him.

Footsteps outside his cell made his heart start to pound. Instinctively, he tried to coil his
body, ready to spring. But he couldn’t control his muscles well enough to make anything
happen.

He couldn’t even shout out a curse as the door opened and a big man strode confidently
into the cell. It was the guy named Green.

“Ready for another shot?” he asked in a cheery voice.

No, Zack screamed inside his mind. Those shots are torture. But no words came out.

Green turned to the door, and one of the security men came in, pushing a gurney. They
loaded him on, strapped him down and wheeled him into the hall toward the labs.

As the cart trundled along, nightmare images flashed in Zack’s mind. He’d been posing
as a computer programmer living in Baltimore when Green and another guy called Blue
had ambushed him in the parking lot of Marley Station Mall. He’d been on edge for days,
waiting for them to pounce. The setup had been perfect.

His employee screening at Data Delivery had included medical tests—which had been
made available to Dr. Kenneth Sykes, the madman running a secret laboratory dedicated
to giving test subjects with the I gene paranormal abilities.

That part had worked out great. But since Zack had been captured, he hadn’t learned a
damn thing. He didn’t even know where this lab called the Facility was located. How big
it was. How many people worked here. So much for gathering useful information.
He’d spent most of his time in his cell. And when he was out of it, he was drugged.

He fought to hang on to consciousness, but somewhere along the route, he passed out.
When he woke up, he shivered with cold. They’d stripped him down to his shorts and
attached probes and leads all over his body. In the background he could hear machines
beeping, recording his vital signs and Lord knew what else.

Some of the fog was seeping out of his brain, and he struggled to take in his
surroundings. He might not have a picture of the whole complex, but he could report on
this lab. If he ever escaped.

People in white coats moved around him, busy with various jobs. He heard the low
murmur of voices. Then one of the technicians turned. A woman, with auburn hair and a
spray of freckles across her cheekbones.

Her eyes were green. She was giving him a thorough inspection, making him feel naked
and exposed and grateful that they’d left on his shorts. Had she been the one to undress
him? He hoped not.

She looked over her shoulder, and he followed her gaze. They were alone in the lab.

Leaning down, she whispered, “Don’t be afraid.”

When she pressed her fingers to his shoulder with casual familiarity, his stomach lurched.
He wanted to tell her to take her damn hand off of him, but he knew it was better to act
like he was still drugged. Her fingers caressed him, sensual and soothing at the same
time.

He ordered himself not to react, yet the human contact was tempting him in a way he was
afraid to articulate.

When the table began to shake, they both gasped.

Chapter Two

As the table rocked wildly from side to side, she snatched her hand back and the
horizontal surface steadied.

“What happened?” she whispered.

“You expect me to have an answer to that?” Zack growled, clearly forgetting he’d been
playing space cadet.

She straightened and they stared at each other across three feet of charged space.
Maybe he was angry at himself for responding to her, but the anger was directed outward.
“You bitch. What’s a woman doing in this house of horrors? You love torturing people?
Having them under your control? Is that how you get your kicks?”

She cringed as the harsh words slammed into her. “No,” she managed to say, even when
she knew that that was the role she’d been forced to play. He’d already cursed her. What
would he say if he knew she was the one who’d arranged to have his medical records
uploaded to Dr. Sykes’s computer?

“Trust me,” she whispered.

He looked like he wanted to laugh in her face. “Trust you? Why should I?”

She bit her lip. “I can help you.”

“Oh, yeah? Then give me some information.”

“Keep your voice down before someone comes running in here,” she cautioned.

As she looked down into his defiant dark eyes, her heart pounded. She’d caught glimpses
of him before. And she’d tried to make contact with him, but this was the first time
they’d been close enough to speak, and he probably hated that he was lying almost naked
on a lab table while she was wearing a white lab coat.

He was a damn good-looking man. And in superb physical shape. He must have been
working out in his cell when he wasn’t drugged.

His gaze continued to bore into her. Desperate explanations bubbled inside her mind. He
might have been here six weeks, but she’d been in this outpost of hell for two years, and
she’d volunteered for the job—just like he had. She could move around the Facility,
doing her assigned duties, but they didn’t trust her enough to let her leave. The best she’d
been able to do was get out some cryptic e-mail messages.

The challenging look in Zack’s eyes tore at her. It was tempting to speak. And tempting
to make physical contact again. But something had happened when she’d touched him.
Something she didn’t understand.

“How many injections have you had?” she whispered.

“Don’t you have my damn records?”

“No. Help me. How many?”

“Five,” he ground out. “All of them painful. But then you know that, don’t you?”
She nodded, her mind churning. There were other captives at the Facility. At least five, as
far as she knew. Four were adults. One was a four-year-old boy. Feeling guilty about
manipulating the schedule, she’d gotten into the computer system and tried to make sure
that Zack O’Hara was at the bottom of the list for injections.

She’d justified her actions because Zack was the one who had to get out and report back
to the FBI, but apparently her manipulations hadn’t done her—or him—a damn bit of
good. Someone else had come along after her and changed the schedule. Which meant
that someone might be watching her.

She shuddered.

“I told you what you wanted to know. Now give me some information,” Zack demanded.
“Like, what’s your name?”

“Kendra.”

“Kendra what?”

“Sinclair.”

Before he could ask another question, the door slammed open and Green strode into the
lab, a hypodermic needle in his hand.

Chapter Three

Green’s sharp tone could have cut through steel plates. “What’s going on? Where are the
lab technicians? You’re not supposed to be alone with the subject.”

From where he lay strapped to the gurney, Zack watched an expression of terror flit
across Kendra’s face. She was scared of this guy.

Zack tensed as Green strode forward.

He saw Kendra swallow, then deliberately turn to face the intruder.

“I don’t know where everybody else is,” she said in a voice that he knew she was
struggling to hold steady.

Green kept his gaze on her for several more seconds before focusing on Zack. “Help me
give him his injection.”

She hesitated.
“What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to be in Lab Two.”

“Then why are you here?”

She lifted one shoulder. “I was curious to see the new recruit.”

Green laughed. “Recruit. Yeah, that’s a good one.”

Zack ground his teeth. So that’s what he was to her? Or was she putting on a show for
Green?

“I need some help. He gets this one in the spine.”

Zack glared at him. “What are you doing to me? What’s this all about?” In fact, he knew
perfectly well what was going on in this torture chamber. A Doctor Kenneth Sykes was
conducting experiments designed to give people enhanced abilities, and he’d discovered
that the manipulation worked best in individuals who carried a certain recessive gene,
which he called I, for Ideal.

A secret combination of drugs activated the recessive gene, and the individual developed
heightened abilities.

Sykes had started out working for the U.S. government, but after they’d objected to his
methods and shut him down, the bastard had gone underground. The FBI knew about his
continued activities because a subject named Jack Maddox had escaped from this secret
lab. The Bureau had arranged for Zack to be kidnapped, so he could uncover the
operation. So far, all he’d gotten was a series of painful shots.

And maybe something else. Like, what the hell had happened when the gurney had
started to shake? Was he getting some sort of power? He cursed under his breath. Turning
into a freak was all he needed.

Kendra had stepped away. When she came back to the table, she was wearing a pair of
rubber gloves.

Green glanced at them. “You think you’re going to catch cooties from him?” he scoffed.

“Just taking precautions,” she answered in a crisp voice.

Zack saw her hand tremble as she reached out and loosened the straps on the gurney.
They were specially designed to allow him to be shifted without giving him freedom of
movement.

“Turn him!”
She clenched her teeth as she grabbed Zack’s hip and his shoulder. He felt a tingling
sensation where her fingers dug into him, but it was muted by the rubber gloves. As she
turned him over, tubes and electrical leads flopped against the side of the table.

Kendra’s eyes met his, but neither of them spoke.

Green walked behind him, the needle in his hand.

Kendra watched Zack’s whole body clench. She guessed he was willing himself not to
flinch as the needle plunged into his spine.

She knew what would happen to him now. They’d already given him drugged food. On
top of the shot, that was a dangerous combination. In a matter of seconds, he’d feel
woozy.

She saw him struggling to hold on to consciousness, then lose the battle.

Her attention whipped back to Green as he spoke to her. “The director wants to speak to
you. I’ll unhook the subject and take him back to his room. You’re to report to Sykes’s
office immediately.”

Kendra struggled not to react to the implied threat. Green had special status at the
Facility. What did he know that he wasn’t sharing with her?

Chapter Four

Kendra raised her chin as she faced the man named Green. “Why didn’t you tell me to
report to the director if he wants to see me?”

“Because, as you pointed out earlier, there’s nobody else here. I can’t turn O’Hara by
myself and give him the injection at the same time,” Green answered.

Kendra nodded. That made sense, but she was sure Sykes’s pet technician could have
called in somebody else.

She gave Zack a long look. His eyes were unfocused, and her heart squeezed as she
watched him struggle to make his mind function. He was a brave man who had
volunteered for this trip to hell. She’d vowed to keep him from getting too many
injections so that he could carry out his mission.

Well, that hadn’t worked out. He’d gotten enough so that he was developing some kind
of powers. Telekinesis, by the feel of it. He’d made the gurney shake, even if he didn’t
understand what had happened. But the incident had been odd. Nothing had happened
until her hands were on him. What did that mean?
Had she been some kind of trigger? She’d been worried about that, which was why she’d
put on the gloves.

“What are you waiting for?” Green asked.

“Nothing.”

Quickly she removed her gloves and exited the room, feeling the technician’s gaze boring
into her back. But he wasn’t the worst of her problems. If she could help Zack escape, she
could get out of here along with him. Now she couldn’t help wondering if they were
simply going to end up dead.

Struggling to put that thought out of her mind, she headed for the executive offices.

Green had given an excuse for not sending her down here right away. But he could’ve
been lying. It was clear he didn’t like her. Maybe he’d deliberately held her up so Sykes
would be suspicions.

“Don’t get wound up with paranoid thoughts,” she murmured under her breath.

Talking to herself was a bad habit she’d developed since she’d been here. Because there
was no one else to talk to. Or, more accurately, no one she trusted with more than casual
conversation.

What did Sykes want? Did he know she’d been sending out coded messages? Did he
know she’d arranged to get Zack in here? She shuddered. She’d thought she could protect
Zack once he arrived. Apparently she’d been too desperate to evaluate the situation
accurately.

“You’re late,” the security guard at the desk outside Sykes’s office said.

“Tell the director Green held me up,” she answered, then regretted giving in to playing
the blame game.

***

Back in the cell block, Green dumped Zack on his cot, none too gently, then backed
quickly to the door where he stood studying his captive with a mixture of satisfaction and
wariness on his broad face.

“How do you feel?” the big man asked.

Zack struggled for coherence. “Like crap.”

Green laughed. “That’s to be expected, but do you notice anything different about
yourself?
“Like what?”

“You tell me,” Green said in a hard voice.

“What if I don’t feel any different?”

Green kept his gaze steady. “Those shots you’re getting are designed to change your
brain chemistry. If they don’t work on you, we don’t need you anymore. Comprende?”

Chapter Five

Zack felt a shudder go through his body. Green’s threat sounded pretty direct. If they
gave you the shots and the treatment didn’t have the desired effect, you were dog meat.

“See if you can do something different,” the man said, then exited, leaving Zack lying on
his bunk.

When the door slammed closed, Zack sighed out a breath, glad to be alone. Or as alone as
he could be in this place where there was a camera on the wall and the lights were always
blazing down on him.

He lay back on his thin pillow and closed his eyes. His head was clearing, and he wanted
to think about the woman from the lab. He got the feeling that she wasn’t supposed to be
there when he was getting his shot. It appeared she’d sneaked in—to contact him. But she
hadn’t said anything important.

“Who are you, Kendra Sinclair? Are you on my side?” he whispered. “Or are you a spy
sent to see what you can get out of me?”

Yeah, like what if she was wearing a wire and she got him to admit that the FBI had sent
him? He was pretty sure that would be a one-way ticket to the dissecting table.

Zack clenched his fists. Too bad he’d been attracted to cute little Kendra. But if they were
going to trick you into spilling your guts, a pretty woman was an obvious choice for an
undercover agent. Yeah, strip you to your Skivvies, strap you down on a table and send in
a sexy woman to make nice.

He sighed, thinking he’d be working his regular assignments at FBI Headquarters in

Washington, D.C., if he didn’t have the I gene. He’d seen the relief on the faces of the
other guys they’d tested. Like Perry Owens. He’d sure been glad that he wasn’t being
sent here on this undercover assignment. And he’d be delighted when Zack got back and
admitted that he hadn’t discovered a damn thing. If he got back.

He took a mental inventory, trying to decide if there was anything different about him.
“The table,” he muttered to himself, thinking about the strange way the gurney had
rocked when Kendra had touched him. What did that mean exactly?

Green hadn’t said it specifically, but Zack knew the injections were supposed to give him
some kind of enhanced ability. Before he’d left on this assignment, they’d explained what
those powers might be. You might be able to see the future. Or read people’s minds. Or
send your consciousness to a distant place. Or walk through walls. All of that stuff had
made him feel creepy. So had another power—the ability to manipulate things with your
mind. Like when the table had moved for no reason that he could figure out.

But he hadn’t been trying to shake the gurney. It had just happened. Opening his eyes, he
looked around the room and saw a plastic water glass sitting on the edge of the sink.
What if he could move that?

He focused on the glass, trying to lift it. But he didn’t even know what he was supposed
to be doing. He stared at the glass, picturing it rising off the sink. Again, nothing
happened. Then he tried to make it rock the way the table had rocked. Still nothing.

Sweat broke out on his forehead as he fought to make something happen. He felt his body
shaking with effort, but his mind had no effect on the inanimate object.

He cursed under his breath. Green had threatened to kill him if he couldn’t demonstrate
any mental power. So far he was coming up with a big fat zero.

Chapter Six

As Kendra stepped into the office of Dr. Kenneth Sykes, the man looked up. Slightly
built with white wiry hair hanging around his ears, he looked like an absentminded
professor or someone’s grandfather. But the unassuming exterior hid a mind that was
sharp as a tack, with a single-minded dedication to his horrible experiments.

Keeping her voice pleasant, she asked, “You wanted to see me?”

A smile flickered on his thin lips. “I have a special assignment for you.”

When she heard why he’d called her here, she relaxed a little. “Of course.”

“I’d like you to go over the records of all our subjects and do a statistical analysis of the
results.”

She swallowed hard. “That’s a big job.”

“Yes, but you’re the perfect person to do it. I’ve cleared some work space for you in the
computer room.”
Her stomach churned as he went over more details in his meticulous way. Was he
deliberately making sure she couldn’t get in contact with Zack because she’d have no
reason to be in the lab area? Or was he simply taking advantage of her statistical training?
One thing she knew—fanatical assistants Green and Blue couldn’t handle that kind of
assignment.

When he dismissed her, she wished she could think of an excuse to go to the cell block to
see how Zack was doing. But she had no business there. Instead, she headed straight for
the computer room. At least Sykes had done her one favor. She wouldn’t have to sneak in
there to send out her coded messages to the FBI. And maybe the bureau could finally
make a raid on the Facility.

She worked for most of the afternoon and evening, making very little progress on her
assignment because the statistics made her blood boil. Sykes didn’t care how much he
damaged innocent people. He only cared about his success rate. Finally she gave up and
headed for the cafeteria—where she caught a lucky break.

While she was eating, the Facility had one of its power failures. When that happened, the
lights in the whole complex were usually out for twenty minutes. Could she take
advantage of the confusion to slip into Zack’s cell and tell him she was going to help him
escape? It was dangerous, but she had to risk it.

As a dozen security men ran down the halls with flashlights and guns, she joined them,
grabbing one of the lights from the emergency boxes scattered around the Facility. She
knew the way to the cell block. She knew from the computer records where Zack’s cell
was located. She knew that the cell doors weren’t on the main power source, so they
would still be locked despite the outage. And, she’d taken a chance and confiscated one
of the remote control devices that opened the locks.

No one was in the hallway as she hurried to Zack’s door. Quickly she used the remote
control to unlock the cell, then slipped inside, taking the remote with her and clicking the
lock again. When she shined her light on the bunk, she went stock-still. Zack was gone.
Oh Lord, did Green have him again?

In the next moment, a hand grabbed her and threw her to the bunk, wedging the light
under her stomach as a hard body came down on top of her.

“Got ya!”

It was Zack.

When the hand closed around her throat, she gasped and tried to fight him off, but her
strength was no match for his.

As she struggled to free herself, she managed to whisper, “Zack, no. Please.”
“Kendra?” he asked, his voice betraying his shock.

“Yes.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled as he shifted his weight off her.

She twisted around to face him. “I’m here to help you.”

“Okay. Good. Unlock the door and show me the way out of this damn place.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Chapter Seven

Zack’s anger had surged. When he’d heard the lock click in the dark, he’d bolted out of
bed and flattened himself against the cinder-block wall beside the door. All he’d seen was
a flashlight beam as someone entered the room, and he’d sprung, taking the intruder
down to the surface of the bunk.

He’d been about to choke the bastard when he’d realized it was Kendra Sinclair.

The flashlight was still trapped under her. In the dark, her arms tightened around him.
“Zack, I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked again. “Are you working some kind of tease?”

“No. I have to talk to you.”

“Just talk?”

His body was pressed to hers, and he couldn’t stop himself from reacting. Or maybe he
was trying to prove something to himself. To both of them. In the darkness, he cupped his
hand around the back of her head, bringing her mouth to his.

She made a muffled sound as his lips touched down on hers. Perhaps he’d meant to show
her who was in charge, but in the moment of contact, everything changed. His mouth
moved urgently over hers as his hands began to stroke up and down her back and tangle
in her hair. She felt wonderful, tasted wonderful, and as she responded to him in kind, he
pulled her closer. He needed this woman on a level he hadn’t been able to admit. As they
swayed together on the narrow bunk, it seemed that she felt the same way.

But somewhere along the way, sanity surfaced, and he rolled to his side.
“This is crazy,” he muttered, struggling to catch his breath. And struggling to remind
himself why he was in this damn place. He was supposed to be doing a job.

With a small sigh, she closed her hand over his shoulder. “Not crazy. We’re both trapped
in a nightmare, and we’re reaching out to each other.”

“I’m trapped. You can leave anytime you want.”

In the darkness, she tightened her grip on his shoulder. “Don’t think that for a minute. I
can walk around the Facility. I can do my job here. But I’m not allowed to leave. I’ve
been in this place for two years.”

He dragged in a startled breath. “Is that the truth?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get into my cell?”

“There are two ways to open the cell doors. With a keypad or a remote control. I used the
remote to get in.”

“Isn’t that kind of risky? Why don’t you tell me what game you’re really playing.”

“I’ve been taking crazy risks since I got here. I’m going to help you escape. But we can’t
do it yet.”

“Why not? The lights are off. It’s perfect.”

“They’ll come back on soon. But I want to make sure you’re ready. And that you’ll trust
me enough to come with me.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I’m on your side. I’m here for the same reason you are. To shut this place down.”

“Why?”

“It’s personal.”

Before he could press her for more information, he heard footsteps in the hallway outside
his cell.

Chapter Eight
Someone was outside the cell door. What if they found Kendra in his bunk? Was that a
death sentence for both of them? Or was this a setup to find out how he’d react if
someone pretended to rescue him?

Even after the heated kiss, he couldn’t be certain of her motives. Especially after the kiss
—yet he wasn’t going to risk the consequences of her being discovered here. Acting on
instinct, Zack pulled the blanket from the end of the bed, threw it over both of them and
rolled on top of Kendra, hiding her body from view. When the door opened, he lay on his
stomach, feigning sleep, but his heart was pounding as he slitted his eyes and saw a
flashlight beam skim around the room, then focus on the bed.

As he lay there, he prayed that it looked like he was the only one under the covers.
Centuries passed before the beam withdrew and the door closed.

For long seconds, neither he nor Kendra moved, and he took in the sensation of his body
pressed to hers. He was shielding her from view, but it had suddenly become difficult to
remember why he was lying on top of her.

When he felt his breath quicken—and hers—he figured he’d better put some space
between them. He rolled to his side. Now they were no longer front-to-front, but the bed
was narrow and they were forced to stay pressed together. As they lay there, he felt
something he couldn’t really describe. A tingling through his body. Kind of like energy
gathering below the surface of his conscious thought. Did she feel it, too? He wasn’t
going to ask her, because he didn’t exactly welcome the sensation. Actually, it reminded
him of the way he’d felt when the gurney had started shaking.

How long did they have before the lights came on again?

Bringing his mouth close to her ear, he whispered, “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she answered in a barely audible voice.

“I guess that was one of your buddies, Green or Blue, checking to make sure I didn’t turn
into a bat in the dark and fly out the air duct.”

He felt her body stiffen. “They’re not my buddies.”

“You work with them on this nasty little project.”

“They’re Sykes’s pets. I assume they’ve had the treatments.”

“What talents do they have?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

She dragged in a breath and let it out. “I’m a spy. Like you.”

“Prove it.”

“How can I?”

“Tell me something I don’t know about the Facility? Like, where are we?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“It’s the truth. I had to agree to let them put me under before they brought me here.” She
dragged in air and let it out before speaking again. “I’m a spy, and I’ve taken too many
chances lately. I think Sykes is starting to suspect me.”

“Why?”

“He just switched me to statistical analysis—instead of any clinical work.”

In the darkness, he reached for her hand and knit his fingers with hers. He still couldn’t
be absolutely sure he could trust her, yet he sensed her fear. More than that, he felt like
he’d bonded with her in some way that he couldn’t explain.

Finally he asked the question that he’d been avoiding. “What made the lab table rock?”

“I think the injections are working, and your powers are starting to develop.”

“Oh, great. I haven’t discovered a damn thing about this place, but I get to be a freak.”

“Don’t!”

“What would you call it?”

“You’re developing telekinesis.”

“I couldn’t do it when I got back here in my room. I tried to move the water glass, and
nothing happened.”

“It comes in fits and starts at the beginning.”

Before he could ask another question, the lights blinked on and she drew in a shaky
breath.
Chapter Nine

As the lights flickered, both Kendra and Zack tensed. Oh Lord, now what was going to
happen?

Zack bent over her, and she thought he was trying to shield her from the camera that was
trained on this room at all times.

In the next second, the lights snapped off again, and they both let out the breath they’d
been holding.

“I have to get out of here,” she whispered.

“Yeah, but what if Green or Blue is in the hall?”

“Then I’m in big trouble.”

She eased off the bed and crossed to the door.

Zack was right behind her. “Leave me the remote control.”

She turned to face him. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It will be missed. Maybe it’s already been missed.”

When he grabbed for her hand and snatched at the device, she tried to fight him. But he
was too strong, and he easily took possession of the remote.

“Zack, think about what you’re doing,” she pleaded, struggling to speak around the lump
blocking her windpipe. “What if you get out of this room? You’ll never get out of the
Facility.”

“A joint like this has got to have an armory, right? I’ll get weapons from there. I can
shoot my way out.”

She knew he was speaking from desperation, but she kept her voice gentle as she said,
“You don’t even know where to find the armory, or the exit.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”
She turned toward him and put her arms around him, pulling him close, feeling the tensile
strength of his body. He was poised to run, and she couldn’t let him do that because she
knew the way this place worked. They’d shoot him before he got near the exit.

He’d kissed her a while ago, and it flickered through her mind that she could use that
connection again. But she didn’t try to find his mouth with hers. He’d think she was using
sex to get what she wanted. And in a way it would be true. So she only clung to him, as
much to comfort herself as anything else. Again she felt a buzzing sensation between
them. Was that his power trying to break out?

“Give me the remote,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll be back soon to get you out of
here.”

When she felt his hesitation, she murmured, “Trust me.”

“I want to. What’s your plan?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“The less you know, the better.”

He made a low sound of frustration.

“Time’s running out. If the lights come on while I’m still in here, I’m a dead woman.”

He considered that for a moment, then put the remote into her hand.

“Thank you. Be ready to leave.”

“It’s not like I have to pack.”

She wedged her mouth against his shoulder to muffle a laugh that threatened to turn
hysterical. Ordering herself to get a grip, she pressed the button that released the door
latch. Seconds later, she was standing in the hall, trying to control the pounding of her
heart.

Just walk normally. Don’t run. Don’t give them any reason to suspect you, she warned
herself as she headed for the entrance to the cell block. If she could just get to the main
hallway, she’d be home free. Before she reached it, the lights snapped on again. This time
they stayed on, catching her in a part of the Facility where she wasn’t supposed to be.

As the lights flicked on, Kendra felt her breath catch, but she forced herself to keep
walking. Slipping the remote into her pocket, she prayed its bulk wouldn’t give her away.
Just as she made it to the main hallway, Blue stepped around the corner.

Chapter Ten

Kendra wanted to dodge around Blue, but he was a big man, a lot like Green in looks and
temperament. She was sure they were brothers, but she hadn’t asked because she’d kept
her distance from both of them. Maybe that had been a mistake. Maybe she should have
been friendlier.

Blue was holding a gun. Raising his arm, he pointed the weapon at her chest. “What are
you doing here?”

“I’m on my way to my room.”

“It’s nowhere near here.”

She looked around at the institutional green hallway with its cheap tile floor. “I see that
now. But these hallways all look the same. I guess I got turned around in the dark.”

As though the subject were closed, she walked past him, then felt his gaze drilling into
her back. She was sure he suspected something. What if he stopped her and searched her?
He’d find the remote, and then she’d be done for.

When she turned the next corner, she let out the breath she’d been holding. She wanted to
rush back to her room where she’d be alone. But she didn’t have any illusions that she
had any real privacy. She knew that it wasn’t only the cells that were monitored at the
Facility. There were cameras in most other rooms. But they might not be manned at all
times.

***

Zack clenched his teeth. He’d let Kendra out of his cell. Maybe that was the wrong thing
to do. Pushing himself up, he stood for a moment looking around the confined space.
Then he dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups. Exercise helped him work off
his frustration. It also kept him in shape. Otherwise, he’d be at a big disadvantage when
he finally got out of this hellhole. If he ever got out.

No, cancel that thought. Kendra had promised to spring him. If she was telling the truth.
Now that he was alone, he’d started to doubt her. Too bad he hadn’t acquired the ability
to read minds. Or walk through walls. He’d hated the idea of those talents, but he
couldn’t help wishing he had them. Or something else that would help get him out of
here.

***
Once Kendra was in her room, she leaned back against the door, struggling to control her
breathing. She’d been making plans to break Zack out of here. Now she was wondering if
she’d been fooling herself. Had she cooked up a scheme that was too dangerous? That
would be a trap for both of them? She firmed her lips and ordered herself not to start
looking for objections.

Still, she couldn’t shake the conviction that time was running out—for her and Zack. And
she had one more thing to do before she went into escape mode. She’d been collecting
information and storing it on a memory stick, which she’d hidden in the computer room.
She had to get it back before she left. But at least she’d been assigned to the computer
room. Which meant she had a legitimate reason for being there.

Without taking off her clothes, she lay down on her narrow bed. Almost as narrow as the
bunk in Zack’s cell, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking. Once she thought about his
bed, she thought about how it had felt lying there with him. About his arms around her.
His hands stroking up and down her back. His mouth moving over hers. He’d turned her
on. And the memory was doing it again. With a grimace, she ordered herself to think of
something else. Like the job she had to do now.

After midnight, she got up and headed for the computer room. The memory stick was
where she’d left it, taped to the underside of one of the desks. She’d just slipped it into
her pocket when a voice from the doorway made her freeze.

“Make any sudden moves and I’ll shoot.”

Chapter Eleven

The man with the gun was Blue. “Hands in the air.”

Kendra struggled to give him an innocent look when her heart was pounding so hard that
she thought it might jump through the wall of her chest.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You tell me,” he answered in a harsh voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m on assignment for Dr. Sykes.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Well, neither could I. And neither could the boss. Let’s go have a chat with him.” He
motioned with the gun. “Come on.”
She wanted to protest, but she knew it wasn’t going to do her any good.

“Step ahead of me. Walk to the director’s office.”

She did as she was asked, her heart pounding even harder as she turned right toward the
executive offices.

“Go in.”

When she opened the door and stepped inside, Dr. Kenneth Sykes was sitting behind his
desk. Last time she’d been here, he’d seemed relaxed. This time she saw the tension in
his shoulders. He gave her a long look that was full of anger—and satisfaction. “You’ve
just given me the evidence I need to hang you,” he said. “Well, not literally, of course.”

“What are you talking about?” she managed to ask.

“We’re going to search you and put an end to this nonsense,” Sykes answered.

***

After working off some of his frustration, Zack was back on his bunk, trying to relax, but
he couldn’t stop thinking about Kendra. He’d given her back the remote and let her go.
She’d promised to come back, but she hadn’t said when that would be.

That had only been a few hours ago. He should stop expecting her to rush back here
tonight, but he couldn’t help wondering if she was in trouble. Could he help her?

He focused on the door of his cell, willing it to open. But nothing happened. Just like
when he’d tried to move the water glass.

“Damn,” he muttered, pouring more energy into the effort. But his only reward was a
headache. She’d said the talent came in fits and starts after several of the injections. At
the moment he felt like they hadn’t changed him one iota.

***

Sykes pulled a gun from his desk drawer and pointed it at Kendra, while Blue put his
weapon down. She wanted to grab it, but she knew that would just get her shot.

“Hands against the wall. Spread your legs,” Blue ordered.

Her only choice was to obey.

Blue’s hands moved over her roughly and intimately. But he wasn’t just searching for the
fun of it. When his fingers encountered the thumb drive in her pocket, he pulled it out and
held it up.
“Here it is,” he told Sykes.

“What’s on there?” the director asked.

“Just the statistical analysis you asked for,” she lied. At least she’d left the remote hidden
in her room; hopefully they couldn’t connect her to Zack.

“I don’t think so. But the contents are easy to check. As easy as collecting evidence of
your suspicious activity.”

Sykes gestured toward a computer monitor on the console across from his desk. When he
turned it on, there were several moments of black-and-white dots. Then the picture
snapped into focus and Kendra saw herself hurrying down a long hallway. Next she saw
herself in the computer room, making sure she was alone before she began downloading
data from one of the workstations.

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“That doesn’t look like innocent activity to me,” the director said. “Let’s see what else
we’ve got.”

Chapter Twelve

Kendra’s stomach clenched as she watched Dr. Sykes put the memory stick into the USB
port on his computer. After scrolling through the data, he looked up at her. “You’ve
copied proprietary information and described this facility.”

She shrugged.

“Who sent you here to spy on us?”

“Nobody.”

“You’re lying.”

“Let me work on her,” Blue said in an eager voice. “I can get her to talk.”

Sykes waved him to silence. “Torture is a messy process. We don’t need to get into
anything heavy.”

He turned back to Kendra. “I know the FBI sent you.”

It wasn’t true. She’d volunteered to work with them. But she wasn’t going to tell the
director she’d come here on her own.
“And Zack O’Hara is an FBI agent.”

When Kendra couldn’t hold back a gasp, Sykes gave her a nasty smile. “Capturing him
was a little too easy, so we started digging into his background and discovered his
computer-programming job was a setup—for our benefit. When we got confirmation, we
cut back on his injection schedule.” He looked at Blue. “He hasn’t exhibited any special
powers, has he?”

“No. I’ve been watching him pretty carefully.”

“If you cut back on his schedule, why did Green give him a shot yesterday?” Kendra
asked.

“He had an injection yesterday?” Sykes asked in a deadly calm voice.

Blue gave her a furious look.

“That wasn’t authorized,” the director ground out.

“It was…in the notes,” Blue said.

While the two men were focused on each other, Kendra reached for the memory stick,
pulled it out of the computer and shoved it into her pocket.

“Old notes. But no harm done,” Sykes answered. “Still, the quicker we get rid of him, the
better.”

Sykes turned back to Kendra. “You’ve been trying to get together with him, so now’s
your chance. Take her to his cell.”

Blue gestured with the gun. “Get going.”

Kendra gulped as she followed him down the hall. She’d made a royal mess out of this.
Maybe on his own, Zack could have done something. But she’d called attention to him.
And called attention to herself. Now it was all over for the two of them.

Blue marched her down the hall to the cell block. Using his remote, he clicked the lock,
opening the door to Zack’s cell. Though she knew it would have been found during the
search, Kendra momentarily wished the remote she had “borrowed” was still in her
pocket and not back in her room.

Blue shoved her inside the cell. She went skittering across the floor and landed at the
edge of the bed.

Zack jumped up from the bunk, his gaze cutting from her to Blue and back again.
“You two spies have been trying to hook up. Well, here you are. Take a few minutes to
say goodbye to each other.”

When the technician had closed the door, Zack focused on Kendra. “What happened?”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know how closely they’ve been keeping tabs on
me. They found the memory stick where I copied some of Sykes’s data.”

When he started to speak, she went on hurriedly. “And it’s worse than that. They checked
into your background. They know you’re an FBI agent.”

He swore.

She wanted to reach out and take him in her arms, to give them both a little comfort, but
she didn’t think she had the right to do that. Not when she’d messed up so badly. So she
pushed herself up and stood facing him, her hands clenched.

A hissing sound made them both jump, and then a pungent smell filled the room.

“Gas,” she gasped out. “Oh Lord, they’re filling the cell with gas.”

Chapter Thirteen

Zack looked down at the vent in the wall between the bunk and the toilet-sink
combination. A white vapor was pouring into the little room.

With a curse, he turned toward the bed and snatched up the blanket. Going down on his
knees, he stuffed the blanket against the vent, pressing his hands flat to hold the shield in
place. It helped slow down the white vapor, but he could still see it seeping from around
the edges of the blanket. And he could still smell it and feel it burning his lungs.

As Zack tried to block the gas, Kendra ran to the door, yanking on the knob. When it
wouldn’t turn, she kicked the barrier, but nothing happened.

In desperation, she began to pound on the metal surface.

“Let us out. How can you do this to us?”

There was no response.

“Try not to breathe!” Zack shouted.

Kendra turned to him, a pleading look on her face, and he felt his chest tighten. The worst
part of this was watching her pain and fear.
“Use your power,” Kendra gasped out. “Get us out of here.”

“I can’t,” he answered, feeling sick and useless as the gas wafted in through the blanket.

“You have to! That’s our only hope.”

Yeah, and it’s not much of an option.

Because it was their only chance, Zack turned toward the door, desperately trying to get
them out of this death chamber.

Open! he shouted inside his mind. Damn you, open.

The door stayed locked.

Dredging up mental energy, he kept his gaze on the barrier.

Open, he tried again. But nothing happened. Of course not. Kendra might think the shots
had given him some sort of power, but he couldn’t do anything with it.

The gas was filling the room, burning his lungs. Making his vision swim and his head
ache. Lord, he’d made a mess of this assignment.

Unable to do two things at once, he dropped his hand and the blanket fell to the floor. It
hadn’t done much good, anyway.

When Kendra coughed, he looked at her, but she managed to say, “Door.”

It was a lost cause, but he tried to keep his focus on the barrier as he felt himself losing
his grip.

Kendra had fallen to the floor. He pushed himself up and staggered toward her, then
dropped down beside her, taking her in his arms. They were both going to die, and he
couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“Sorry,” he whispered. He’d known this was a dangerous assignment, but he had
expected to gather the information the FBI needed and get the hell out of here.

It wasn’t turning out that way.

Kendra grabbed on to him, holding tight, pressing her face against his chest. As she
curved her body to his, he felt something happen. He couldn’t explain what it was. All he
knew was that he felt energy surging through his mind—through his body. Like when
they’d been lying together on the bunk. Only this time it was stronger. Maybe desperation
gave it power.
Kendra raised her head, staring at him in wonder, and from the expression on her face, he
knew she felt it, too.

The gas was fogging his mind, making his head swim, cutting off his breath. He felt
Kendra’s head fall to his shoulder.

“The door,” she gasped.

He turned back to the barrier, pouring every drop of energy he possessed into getting
them out of here. But he knew it was too late. He had only seconds of consciousness left.

Chapter Fourteen

To Zack’s everlasting astonishment, the cell door blew off its hinges, flying into the hall
where it crashed against the far wall.

He staggered up, grabbing Kendra and dragging her out of the room, his arms still around
her as they both fought spasms of coughing. Gritting his teeth, he picked up the door and
wedged it back into place, cutting off the flow of gas. Then he dragged Kendra several
yards away. The Facility had a good ventilation system, and the atmosphere was already
clearing. Gratefully, he dragged in lungfuls of the untainted air. He was fighting nausea,
but he willed himself to steadiness as he looked up and down the hall.

It was empty. Probably because nobody on the staff wanted to take a chance on breathing
any gas that seeped around the edges of the door. But he knew the video cameras were
still running. As soon as they got the go-ahead, guards would be rushing down here to
finish them off.

Kendra slumped against him. He shook her. “Sweetheart, you’ve got to tell me how to get
out of here.”

For heartbeats, nothing happened. Then her eyes blinked open and she coughed.

“Are you all right?” he asked urgently.

“Nauseous. Dizzy.”

“It will pass.”

“What happened?” she whispered.

“I thought I was going to black out. Instead, the door blew open.” He hesitated, then
plunged ahead. “I don’t think I have telekinetic power on my own. I think the two of us
have to do it together.”
He watched her process that. “But I’ve never had any shots. How could that be possible?”

Scrambling for an explanation, he asked, “Do you have the I gene?”

“Yes,” she answered.

He wanted to know more. But this was no time for a heart-to-heart. They’d gotten out of
the gas-filled cell, but they were still trapped in the Facility.

“What kind of place is this?” he asked urgently. “I haven’t seen any windows. The air
feels like it’s being recycled. Are we in a basement? What?”

He saw her struggle to make her mind function. “I think it’s an old bomb shelter the army
used to maintain—under a mountain. With only one exit.”

“That’s just great.”

“But I know where that is. They get regular deliveries of food and other supplies here.
I’ve seen them coming in.”

She had been slumping against him, but she straightened. “I hid some stuff we’ll need in
the tank room.”

“Tank room?”

“The water tank. The shelter had its own supply.”

“Can you get us there?”

She nodded, staggered to her feet and started down the hall.

He grabbed her hand and slowed her. “Watch out for guards.”

Just as they reached a corner, an alarm bell began to ring. Then a loudspeaker sprang to
life.

“Attention all personnel,” Dr. Kenneth Sykes’s voice blared out. “One of our subjects has
broken out of his cell. Zack O’Hara. A lab technician, Kendra Sinclair, is with him. Use
extreme caution. Assume they are armed and dangerous.”

“Oh, great,” Zack muttered as the alarm bell continued to clang, and Sykes repeated the
information.

They kept moving and came to a place where two hallways crossed.

“Which way?”
“To the right.”

They were turning the corner when a security guard with a gun came charging down the
hall.

“Halt!” he shouted.

Not likely.”

Zack yanked Kendra out of range, where they both stood panting.

Chapter Fifteen

From around the corner, Zack heard the crackle of static and knew that the security guard
was getting out his walkie-talkie, preparing to report their location and bring
reinforcements.

“What are we going to do?” Kendra gasped.

“Take him.”

“How?”

“Together.”

When she gave him a wide-eyed look, he explained. “Just give me the power you lent me
when we blew the door.”

“I don’t even know what I did.”

Neither did he; not on any conscious level. But he had to act quickly.

Clasping Kendra’s hand, he shouted, “Don’t shoot!” Then he stepped around the corner.

The guard’s surprise gave Zack the few seconds he needed. Calling up a surge of energy,
he focused on the man, willing him off his feet. Just like the door that had blown off its
hinges, the guard flew backward down the hall, where he lay sprawled.

They rushed after him. Zack bent and scooped up the guy’s machine gun, feeling better
with the weapon in his hand.

But he knew that they weren’t out of the woods. The alarm was still ringing. Sykes was
still broadcasting his message that Zack O’Hara and Kendra Sinclair were on the loose.
And anyone could follow their progress through the halls.
“The video camera,” he murmured. “We’ve got to shut off the system.”

“How?”

He laughed. “The same way we blew the door and knocked that guy off his pins. He
looked up at the closest camera, focusing his mind as he had on the door. By now, he was
getting a better idea of how to direct the process.

“Burn,” he muttered. “Burn.”

The camera began to smoke and went pop. Other cameras down the hall did the same
thing.

Grinning, he squeezed Kendra’s hand. “Take me to the tank room. They won’t know
where we’ve gone.”

Kendra led him to the right, down one hall and then another. They were moving away
from the labs and sleeping rooms into the part of the lab where the mechanical systems
were located. He saw a door marked Danger. Electrical Equipment. Another was labeled
Mechanical.

“Is the armory around here?” he asked.

“No. It’s near the front door.”

“Too bad.”

Kendra stopped at a door marked Water Supply and pushed it open. They stepped into a
room with a huge tank that must have held thousands of gallons of water. Obviously, the
Facility had been designed to be self-contained in the event of a nuclear attack.

Inside, the sound of the alarm and Sykes’s blaring message were muffled.

“The army gave this place to Sykes?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

She locked the door, then led him around the tank to the back, where she’d stashed
outdoor clothing and some other equipment.

He eyed the heavy winter coats. “We’re somewhere cold?” Zack asked.

“Yes. I don’t know where we are exactly, but I can check the outdoor temperature from
the computer.”

“Lord, you’ve planned for this,” Zack marveled.

“I had to,” she said in a choked voice.

He turned her to him and wrapped his arms around her. “I came in here like a smart-ass
thinking I could get the drop on Sykes, but I couldn’t do anything on my own.” He made
a low sound. “Too bad we don’t have any information to give the FBI.”

She grinned at him and reached into her pocket. “I’ve got the memory stick.”

“How?”

“I grabbed it while Sykes and Blue were arguing.”

“Good going! You are fantastic.” He lowered his mouth to hers for a long, fervent kiss.

She clung to him, her hands tightening around his waist, pulling him closer. They drank
from each other, their hands moving urgently over backs and shoulders as they shared an
intimacy that he couldn’t describe. It came from the danger all around them and from the
talent that they were learning to use. He was lost in a sensual fog, until he heard a sharp
rap on the door.

“Come out of there, or we’ll blast the door down.”

Chapter Sixteen

The knock at the door made Kendra gasp. “How did they find us?” she whispered.

His curse rang out inside the little room. “I guess the cameras weren’t off in all the
hallways. We only got the ones near us.”

Kendra looked around them in panic. “There’s no other way out of here,” she whispered.
“What are we going to do?”

A desperate plan was forming in his mind. He didn’t know if it would work, but it
seemed to be their only chance.

“I got you into this, Kendra,” he murmured, deep regret in his voice.

“Because I told you the cameras were off. You thought this place was safe.”

“Let’s stop assigning blame.”

“Right.” He hugged her to him again, wishing he could shield her with his body.

“Come out!” the voice called again. “Or we’ll blast our way in.”
“Give us a minute,” Zack answered, knitting his fingers with Kendra’s and leading her
toward the back of the room where they’d left the coats.

“You don’t have a minute. Come out now,” the harsh voice spat out.

“We want to say goodbye to each other,” he answered, making his tone sound desperate.

As he spoke, he was inspecting the tank. To his relief, he saw a ladder leading up to the
top. “Grab your coat and climb,” he said.

“You think we can get out through the roof?”

“Maybe.”

Without questioning him further, she shrugged into the coat and began climbing the metal
rungs. He put on the coat she’d stolen for him, wedged the gun into a lower rung and
climbed, joining her at the top of the tank, where he crept forward so that he was looking
over the front edge.

“What are we going to do?” she asked as she huddled next to him on top of the huge tank.

When he told her, her eyes widened. “Can we pull that off?”

“I guess we’ll find out. But we’ve got to time it carefully. Put your hand on my leg so
we’re in contact, and stay out of the line of fire.”

From her position at the back of the tank, she closed her hand around his ankle, holding
on tightly as they waited tensely. The next few moments were critical, but they couldn’t
rush it.

The guard on the other side of the door shouted at them again. “We’re coming in!”

“Get it over with,” Zack whispered, every muscle in his body tense. The door blew
inward, slamming into the huge tank in much the same way the cell door had blown off.
Only this time, it was from an explosive charge.

Dust and smoke filled the room. As it began to clear, he saw armed men in the hallway,
their weapons at the ready.

Matt’s body tensed, his gaze flicking between the door and the front of the tank.

For long seconds nothing happened, then two of the guards stepped into the room,
swinging their rifles from side to side, looking for him and Kendra.

Zack focused on the front of the tank with the intensity he’d used on the cell door. But
before he could have any effect on it, one of the guards looked up and spotted him.
“Up there!” the guy shouted. As he fired his rifle, Zack was forced to slide rapidly back.

He crouched over the crest of the rounded top where they couldn’t see him. That shielded
him from the bullets, but his plan had depended on visual contact, as far as he knew.

“We can’t do it,” Kendra whispered.

“We have to. Just do what you did before.” He closed his eyes, picturing the front of the
tank, focusing all his energy on it, praying he could use his powers from this vantage
point.

It felt like centuries were passing, and nothing was happening.

When another burst of gunfire sprayed up toward them, he wedged his body on top of
Kendra’s, still trying desperately to make his power work without a direct line of sight.

Chapter Seventeen

Just when Zack was sure they were going to end up full of slugs, the whole front of the
tank blew away, sending thousands of gallons of water gushing outward like a tidal wave.
It plowed into the men who had entered the room, sweeping them into the hall like
driftwood in a flood.

As the water poured out, the tank shook and they clung together, waiting on the top until
the contents had gushed out of the room.

“Come on,” Zack whispered, guiding Kendra back toward the ladder. They climbed
down, and Zack picked up the gun he’d wedged near the bottom.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” he muttered. “Which way?”

Kendra led him past drowned men and others sputtering for air, toward the exit. One
more guard charged toward them as they approached the door. Zack and Kendra used his
power to slam the man against the wall, where he slid down into a heap on the floor.

It looked like they were home free, but just as they were almost to the front door of the
Facility, a squad of armed guards came rushing down the main hall.

Zack cursed. They were so close to freedom, but the men were between them and the
door.

Kendra’s eyes were wide. “We’ve got to go back.”

When she turned, he followed as she wove down one hallway and then another. How
well did she know this place? Was there another way to the exit? Could she get them to
safety, or was she just leading them farther into the Facility?

Behind them, he could hear the sound of heavy boots on the tile floor.

Kendra ducked into a small room with rows of shelves holding food and other supplies.

Zack looked around. “Is there a back way out?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

When Kendra ran to the back and scrunched down behind the shelves, Zack followed.

When the door opened, they both tensed.

“They could be hiding back there,” a voice said.

Zack heard two sets of footsteps crossing the floor, the men moving cautiously. He
couldn’t speak, but he squeezed Kendra’s hand to warn her that he was going to need her
energy again.

She nodded beside him.

When the first man came into view, swinging his rifle from side to side, Zack gave the
shelf in front of them a push with his mind. It began to sway, then fell forward, hitting the
shelf in front of it, then the next and the next. The guards cried out as cans and boxes
slammed into them, followed by the shelves themselves.

When the mass of stuff had stopped falling, Zack peeked his head out. Nothing moved as
they picked their way across the floor and into what must be the cafeteria. He hated
crossing the wide-open area, but there was no choice. They couldn’t go back the way
they’d come.

“There’s a direct exit to the main door,” Kendra said as she led him through the kitchen.
It was empty, but a huge pot of spaghetti sauce simmered on the stove.

They hurried cautiously down a back passage, then came out where they’d been a few
minutes before. The main exit. Only this time there was no one blocking their way.

When they opened the door, a blast of cold air hit Zack, and he dragged in a startled
breath. They were in a winter landscape with piles of snow plowed to the side of a small
parking lot. Beyond the parking lot were thick stands of trees and outcroppings of rock
rising toward a clear blue sky.
He had only seconds to take in the scene before he heard another contingent of guards
charging down the hall in back of them.

Chapter Eighteen

A delivery van had pulled up near the door, and a man wearing a heavy coat, knit cap and
leather gloves was unloading boxes of groceries.

“What the hell?” the driver gasped as he spotted Zack and Kendra.

Zack sprang toward the man, pushed him inside the building and slammed the door. Then
he grabbed Kendra and used his power to block the entrance with several of the boxes.

“Get in,” he called to Kendra as he climbed behind the wheel of the van.

She jumped into the passenger seat and he turned the key, which was still in the ignition.
By the time they were halfway across the parking lot, the guards had opened the door and
were shooting at them as they headed for a gate.

“Put your hand on me,” he told Kendra as he focused on the barrier. It swung open just as
they reached it.

She gave him an appreciative look. “I guess you’re on a roll.”

“Yeah,” he answered as he slammed it shut behind them and kept going.

Kendra twisted around. “They’re getting into trucks.”

“Then we have to outrun them,” he answered, wondering if they had a chance. He and
Kendra were in a delivery van. The men behind him had more powerful vehicles. But
they had to get the gate open first, and he thought he had made it jam when it slammed
shut.

His only option was to keep driving, thankful that the delivery vehicle had good winter
tires. As he poured on as much speed as he could, his mind scrambled for a plan. The
woods were thick around here. Could he hide in a stand of trees?

Maybe. But if he and Kendra got out of the vehicle, they’d leave tracks in the snow.

He made several turns, pushing the delivery vehicle to the limit on the freshly plowed
blacktop.

When he came to a narrow secondary road, he turned, driving along a rutted track that ran
through thick stands of pines.
“Where are we going?”

“I wish I knew.”

He was thinking they might have lost their pursuers when he rounded a curve and caught
a glimpse of a truck behind them through the trees. Apparently the guards had figured out
which way they’d gone. Probably from the fresh tire tracks on the narrow road.

The light was low here, and Zack wished he’d acquired some other paranormal power.
Like the ability to turn the van invisible. But it was white, and it probably stood out like a
lighted signpost in the gloom.

All he could do was keep driving.

When he saw a huge pile of tree trunks lying in the woods, he realized they must be
driving on a logging road.

Did that give them a chance?

Screeching to a halt beyond the mound of logs, Zack grabbed Kendra’s hand again and
focused on the timber.

“What are you doing?” she gasped as she looked back and saw a truck full of guards
bearing down on them.

“Stopping them.” I hope, he added to himself.

He began to rock one of the bottom logs, but nothing happened.

Desperately, he focused on several of them, pushing and prodding with his mental
powers. But he was getting tired from using his new ability so many times. Even with
Kendra’s help, he couldn’t make anything happen.

Chapter Nineteen

Just as the lead truck reached the logs, they began to roll, crashing down on the truck and
rolling onto the road like giant pick-up sticks.

As the van started up, he heard the sound of gunfire behind them. Some of the guards
must have leaped around the logs and were shooting at them. Zack kept going, but when
the steering began to wobble, he cursed.

“What?”
“They hit a tire. I can’t keep going at this speed.”

When they rounded another curve, Kendra gasped. The road had come out on a high
plateau that faced a drop-off.

He pointed toward the precipice. “If I send the van over that cliff, they’ll think I was
driving too fast and didn’t make the turn. As far as they know, we’ll be dead down there.
Okay?”

When she nodded, they both climbed out. Too tired for telekinesis, he moved to the back
of the van and pushed it toward the edge. It went over and landed with a mighty crash at
the bottom.

“Let’s get out of here,” Zack muttered.

They started up the road, keeping to the center tracks.

He was glad of the warm coat she’d found for him, but his feet were turning into blocks
of ice in the shoes he was wearing. And it was starting to snow. Just what they needed.

Through the swirl of flakes, he saw a driveway.

“We’d better get out of the storm.”

She nodded and they tramped up the lane until they came to what must have been a
vacation house. No one answered when he knocked, but he found the key under a
flowerpot.

Inside, he made a fire in the fireplace. When he was feeling warmer, he turned to Kendra,
who was staring at him with an uncertain look.

“I need to talk to you, before we contact the FBI,” she whispered.

The strained look on her face made his stomach knot.

“What about?” he asked cautiously.

She pressed her fingers against his lips. “Just let me say it before I lose my nerve. My real
name’s not Sinclair. I was at the Facility because I’m the daughter of Benjamin Stewart.
He was Sykes’s partner before Sykes murdered him. My father experimented on me.
That’s how I know I had the I gene. But he thought I didn’t get any powers.”

While Zack tried to take that in, she went on. “I got a job at the Facility two years ago to
try to stop his research. But I wasn’t a very good spy. The best I could do was get some
coded messages out and receive a few instructions from the Bureau. Then they asked me
to help them get a man inside. It was you. I helped get you into that hellhole.”
The sick look in her eyes tore at him.

“You think I don’t understand,” he murmured. “But I do.”

Closing the space between them, he dragged her close. For a moment she held her body
stiffly, then she leaned into him, shaking with reaction.

“You don’t hate me?”

“Of course not! You were beyond brave to go after Sykes.”

“I was so scared,” she whispered. “I thought I’d made a mess of everything. But you got
us out of there.”

“You know damn well I couldn’t have done anything without you,” he answered.

When Kendra raised her face, he met her questioning gaze.

Desperate to show her how he felt, Zack lowered his head, finding her mouth with his.
The moment his lips met hers, passion exploded through him. They’d been through hell
together. Now they were safe. And free to celebrate their feelings.

His mouth moved over hers, urgently, possessively. And her heated response fueled his
need for her.

There was a thick rug in front of the fire, and he took her down to the horizontal surface,
pulling her close. They continued to exchange hungry kisses as he pushed her coat out of
the way, then his. When his hands came up to cup her breasts, she murmured her
approval. He held her breasts in his hands, stroking his thumbs across the hardened
nipples. When he pulled up her shirt and buried his face in her cleavage, she reached to
unhook her bra, then pushed it out of the way.

Gratefully he turned his head first one way and then the other, kissing her, sucking one
hardened nipple into his mouth while he took its mate between his thumb and finger.

Still, he had enough sanity left to ask, “What are we doing?”

Chapter Twenty

“We’re celebrating our escape,” she answered, sliding her hand between them so she
could reach for the fly of his pants. They hadn’t given him a belt. All she had to do was
lower the zipper of his pants and free him. At the same time he worked on her zipper, and
they helped each other undress.
They clung together, naked skin to naked skin. Stroking, touching, kissing, greedy for
each other.

The urgency had them rocking together, frantic to get as close as possible.

“Now. Please, now,” she cried out.

He rolled on top of her, parting her knees with one of his. They both gasped as he entered
her. Then he began to move, driving them both toward climax. When the floor rocked,
they both gasped.

“What?”

Zack gave her a little grin. “Like the table that first time.”

“Are you doing that on purpose?” she panted.

“No. It’s the sparks flying between us.”

He stopped talking as the intensity built between them. When she cried out in pleasure,
he followed her over the edge, the whole cabin vibrating around them.

They held each other for long moments. He wanted it to last forever. But he knew he
didn’t have that luxury yet.

He kissed her gently. “We’d better go face the music.”

“The FBI? You know where we are?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I had a homing device on me. That’s how they were supposed to
pick me up. But it looks like the damn Facility was blocking the signal. It should be
active now.”

She gave him an astonished look. “You knew the Feds could be swooping down on us,
and you…you…” She huffed out a breath and started again. “They could have caught us
just now.”

“You didn’t want to make love?” he asked in a thick voice.

“Yes. I did.”

From above, they both heard the whir of helicopter blades. “Better get dressed,” he said.

***
After two days of intensive debriefing, Zack’s head was spinning with new information.
Kendra had told him more about her background. She also told him she’d created a Web
site showing an eight-pointed star. It was something her father had incorporated into his
subjects’ memories, and she wanted to try to use it to contact older test subjects.

It had already brought in one man, Jack Maddox, who’d been a captive at the Facility for
fifteen years. He and his brother had finally escaped, but the brother was still missing,
and Jack was desperately searching for him.

One major disappointment for Zack and Kendra was the raid on the Facility. It took forty-
eight hours for the FBI to get inside the lab because a snowstorm had blanketed the area.
And when an FBI team burst in, the place was empty. All the research and all of the test
subjects were gone. Obviously they’d had a quick escape plan in place.

Special Agent Perry Owens was in charge of the mopping-up operation, and Zack had a
month’s leave coming to him.

He knew how he wanted to spend it, but when he found Kendra getting ready to slip
away, his stomach clenched.

“You’re leaving without saying goodbye?” he asked in a thick voice.

“I thought…” Instead of finishing the sentence, she lifted one shoulder.

“We went through a lot together. Don’t run away from me.”

She turned to face him. “We went through an intense experience. It created emotions…”
Again she stopped.

“Yeah. Emotions. Are you going to pitch them away because you’re afraid of finding out
what we really mean to each other? If you can’t go first, I will. I love you.”

“Oh, Zack,” she whispered. “I was afraid you’d want to get away from me.”

“Never.” He reached for her, dragging her into his arms, clinging to her with all his
strength.

“I said you were a brave woman. Are you afraid to give us a chance?”

“Not when you put it that way.”

She raised her face to him and he lowered his head, his lips coming down on hers for a
long, greedy kiss, a kiss that told him what he needed to know. She still might not be able
to tell him what she felt, but she was giving the two of them a chance, and he was going
to make sure they stayed together—for the rest of their lives.
THE END