Break of the Six (The Preston Six Book 4) (19 page)

“He’s got his shield back up, I tried to kill him,” Gladius said. “Not before I stuck him with my wooden knife. My dad told me their shield might not block slow moving wood.”

“Good, there is a way to get past it then.” Joey felt some relief. “We just need to get to his house and stop him once and for all.”

“Don’t you get it?” Julie said. “We’ve been one step behind this whole time. Or even worse, we’re doing exactly what he wants while he laughs. I’m done following his crumb trail.”

“Here, here,” Lucas wrapped her up in a hug, but she pushed him away.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Harris said. “We can’t continue to chase anymore. I say we do something he won’t be expecting.”

“What, give up?” Gladius asked and rolled her eyes.

“Yes,” Poly said. Some of them protested but she shushed them. “We don’t give up on stopping Zach, but we give up on Samantha. He is expecting us to try and get her back at all costs, but I say we use her love for Zach against them. It would definitely be unexpected.”

“And let’s not forget about his digital freak of a mother.” Lucas crossed his arms and looked up. Somewhere above them rested Renee.

“Yes, I’ve been thinking on that since the moment she contacted us,” Julie said.

“Well, this plan might take care of both problems,” Poly said as she laid out a plan.

They laid out their plan, and while Joey didn’t like the danger it put Samantha in, he agreed, it was their best shot at ending it all. It involved making a trip to Vanar and splitting up the five people he cared for deeply. But if it worked, they’d have their planet back and hopefully, in time, they’d get Samantha to understand what they had to do.

SAMANTHA COULDN’T KEEP HER MOUTH off Zach for the whole ride to his house. She explored his body with unabashed excitement as he returned her affections with fervor.

Their first time had seemed rushed; almost reserved and uncomfortable. But that was then. Now, she threw away her inhibitions and let her man carry her from the helicopter pad with her legs wrapped tightly around his body.

Zach pushed their bedroom door open and slammed her against the bed. He took off his tie clip and slid it on the lamp shade, then had his shirt off in a second. She reeled from seeing only a red spot from where the bullet had hit his shoulder. Another red line crossed his stomach and she meant to ask him about it, but he crawled on the bed, hungry for her. She sat up and inspected his wound, even ran her finger over its smooth remnants.

He took her hand in his, noticing her curious expression. “I have the best doctor in the world.”

“I guess so. It’s truly amazing. I haven’t seen this kind of healing since. . . .” She trailed off. The man wouldn’t have a clue where or what Vanar was. How was she ever going to explain her past to him? She didn’t want to keep any secrets. She could tell him tomorrow or the next day.

Zach reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He slid his finger across the screen and the lights in the room went out. “Now you don’t have to look at it.”

“I don’t mind, I like seeing you.”

“You do,” he smiled. “You know, in time, when we’ve saved the world, there will be a time for us.”

“I know.” Samantha’s thoughts ran wild with having Zach to herself, no worldwide trips or endless meetings. “I love you.” It slipped out and she covered her mouth.

He stopped moving and she wondered if she had said it too soon, maybe he didn’t feel the same way. A feeling of inadequacy crashed over her.

Zach smiled and then whispered in her ear, “I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

It wasn’t the response she wanted, but he started kissing her on the neck, shutting any thoughts from her mind.

SAMANTHA GLANCED BACK AT ZACH, getting his underwear back on. She resisted the urge to throw him on the bed and take him again. She wanted more.

Her phone dinged. She pulled it from her pants on the bathroom floor and looked at the blinking light. No one knew her number. It was a text message.

Unknown: This is Julie. I miss you so much, please just give me another chance. I only want you to be happy. I had no idea Joey was going to go all crazy like that. I think his slow-mo crap scrambled his brain.

Samantha grimaced at the message. She wanted to throw her phone in the toilet because she didn’t want to be pulled back into her old life. She never wanted to think about anything else but her and Zach and their future together. She hated thinking of Joey as damaged from what he’d done. He’d saved them all from the Arrack world. He’d saved her from the scene generator. Those were facts she couldn’t escape. As much as she wanted to hate him, she couldn’t get all the way there.

Samantha: I miss you too, but I have a new life now. I don’t want to deal with all the crap back home. Please, just leave me alone.

Unknown: I need something from you.

Samantha: ?

Unknown: We are going to the San Fran factory right now. Can you get us the entry code?

Samantha: Absolutely NOT. Are you serious? Haven’t you done enough? Go away.

She pressed send and turned it off. Julie infuriated her. She couldn’t believe she actually asked for codes to a factory. Like she would ever let them sabotage her company. She stared at her phone’s blank screen, thinking of turning it back on and telling Julie off some more.

Oh God, she felt tears swelling in her eyes. She didn’t like to have these mean thoughts about Julie. Sliding her thumb to the power button, a hand rubbed against her shoulder. She jumped and yelped. “Jesus, you scared me.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He pulled at her loose shirt, bringing her body firmly against his. “Who are you texting?”

“Oh, just Julie, she was trying to convince me to come home again.” She hated lying to him. The voice in her head screamed to tell him they were trying to break into a factory of theirs.

“She’s a good friend?”

“She was, they all were. By the way, I’m so sorry Joey shot you. Man, that sounds terrible. I mean, he
shot
you.”

“It’s okay. They are trying to protect you. They think I’m this Marcus guy. He must be all kinds of bad for you guys to hate him so much.”

“You have no idea.” Samantha sighed. She wanted to tell him their history, but not just yet. “I’ll make sure they never shoot you again.”

He laughed. “Anytime you want to visit with them, let me know and we can get you a ride straight there—alone of course.”

She wrapped her arms over his shoulders and moved close to his face. “I don’t want to be anywhere but here, with you.” She kissed him softly.

“You can stay, but we do have some business pending back at headquarters.”

“Oh no, already?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t it wait?” She looked at the bed and wanted more of him.

Looking amused, he grabbed her hands and held them. “I want you to come with me. I have something I want to show you.”

“I’m invited on one of Zach Ryan Baker’s trips?” She looked more shocked than she felt.

“Oh come on, we’ll be spending plenty of time together. But I really want you to see something at headquarters. Something I’ve been planning on showing you for a long time.”

Her interest peaked and her imagination ran wild. “If you put it like that, how can I say no? Let me get dressed.”

“DON’T LET ME FALL.” SAMANTHA hated surprises, but she kept the blindfold. She hadn’t even known that headquarters had a basement.

“Last door’s up here.”

She reached the level surface of the floor and let him guide her. She instinctively held her hand out. Another door opened and a light breeze brushed past her. Zach dropped her arm and stomped away from her. “Zach?” She heard him in the distance, grunting in what she thought was frustration. “Everything okay?”

“Just take the damned blindfold off.”

She pulled it free from her face, thinking she might see a car, a plane, maybe even a ring;
anything
but the large warehouse in front of her. Only a few chains dangled from the ceiling in an otherwise empty warehouse. She didn’t get it and expressed her confusion to Zach.

“It’s gone.” He seemed mad, madder than she’d ever seen him.

“What’s gone?”

He stormed past her and back to the staircase. “Where was Julie when she texted you?”

“I don’t know. How did you even know she—”

Zach grabbed her arm and pulled her cell phone from her pocket.

“You’re hurting me.” She’d never seen this side of him and it was freaking her out. His face contorted with anger. Something very bad had happened.

He turned it on and scrolled through the screens. “The San Fran factory? Does this sound like ‘I don’t know’ to you?” He pressed the phone toward her face.

“They just wanted the codes and you can see right there I told them no way.”

“How did they even get this number? It’s completely off grid. The only way is if you gave them the number.” He threw the phone against the floor. It shattered into many pieces and clattered across the concrete floor.

“I didn’t give them anything. She must have just hacked into the system. She’s very good at that sort of thing.”

“Really? Is she
very good
?” He mocked her. Pacing, he held his hand to his ear. “I know, I know.”

“Why are you acting like this?” She started sobbing.

Zach didn’t look up and kept pacing. “Fine.” He lowered his hand from his ear and adjusted his tie clip.

“You’re scaring me.”

Zach closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d have a large part of my plan for you completed, but now it’s gone and I have to wait longer.” Some of the sweet came back into his voice and his face was all smiles as he edged closer to her. The speed in which he switched emotions was startling.

She wiped her nose and stared at him with caution. “Just don’t get all scary like that again, okay?”

“I’m so sorry. I just really wanted to give you this surprise, and someone must have stolen it from us.”

“What was it?”

“And spoil the surprise? I think not. But don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. Now, why don’t we take a trip to the factory, just to make sure your friends don’t get into trouble?”

The thought of finding her friends there terrified her. What if they wanted to kill Zach again? Or maybe he’d hurt them? The idea of anybody getting hurt over her made her ill. “Why don’t we just go back to the house? You can show me this present some other time.”

“Oh no, this can’t wait. Your friends may have stolen it and perhaps we can get it back.”

“I don’t want you hurting them.”

“I won’t touch them, you have my word.”

She nodded her head and he smiled. Holding out his arm, he escorted her from the vacant warehouse. She glanced back. What present could he have possibly been storing under headquarters?

“HOW MUCH LONGER?” SAMANTHA ASKED, more anxious than she wanted to.

“We’re here.”

The helicopter landed in the parking lot. Zach didn’t wait for her as he rushed out of it, running toward the factory. The front doors were only a few hundred feet from the copter and as she approached Zach from behind, she saw what he was staring at—a piece of paper taped to the door.

“It’s for you,” he said with his back facing her.

She pulled the paper free from the glass.
Six
was written on it. She turned it over but there was nothing on the back side. She recognized Julie’s handwriting.

“It’s a calling card. They didn’t get into the building, and as far as I can tell, all they did was leave this note.”

“Why?”

Zach rubbed his chin and turned to face her. Some of the dangerous look was back in his eyes. She used to think it was exciting, but when it was directed at her it was terrifying. “Your friends sent us here as a diversion.” His eyes narrowed and he pushed past her.

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer, so she rushed to catch up and got back into the helicopter. It took off before she could get her seatbelt on. Zach didn’t wear a seatbelt and jerked around in his seat, mumbling to himself. He pulled out his tablet and looked up at her before tilting the screen so she couldn’t see it.

He typed with his thumbs and she watched as he became more agitated. After a few minutes, he slammed the tablet on his lap and stuffed it back in his pocket.

“Everything okay?”

“No, take a look ahead.” He pointed to the window.

She stared out at a distant glow. As they got closer she saw their destination was his house, but it was covered in flames. The inferno reached high above the house, twisting and turning into the sky. She stared at it, not believing it as real. It was obviousl who’d done it. Why were they doing this to her?

The helicopter landed on the lawn. Even from the window, she saw a stake in the grass with a piece of paper flapping in the breeze. The
Six
could be seen from their location on the helicopter.

“They burned your house down,” she whispered.

“They did more than that. I had an . . . important server in there.” He cussed and slammed a fist into his seat.

“What ser—”

“Shit! Headquarters. . . .” He stood up and yelled directions at the pilot.