Twice as Hot (36 page)

Can
you trust Jean-Luc to help as he promised?

Jean-Luc
hadn’t wanted to help me save Rome. That, he’d made abundantly clear when he’d
crossed his arms over his chest, lain down on the bed and refused to leave the
motel room.

“Anything
but that,” he’d said.

So
I’d had to use the worst trick ever: “If you truly want a chance with me,
you’ll do this.” I told myself an agent did what was necessary to get the job
done, but I still felt guilty about lying to him. He had no chance with me.

His
cheeks had colored bright red, but he’d stood, nodded stiffly and said
something Rome liked to say: “Let’s do this.” We’d spent the rest of the day
figuring out the best way to handle this situation. Which, as it turned out, was
tossing me into the heart of a battle. Alone.

Unfortunately,
Jean-Luc could not get close to the Holland Hotel to actually help me.

He’d
tried, and had nearly collapsed from pain. Apparently The Multiplier was using
some type of device that emitted a high frequency that only dogs and people
with mind-powers could hear. A frequency that caused their brains to throb
unbearably. Just in case. They might not realize he’d swiped one of the
brothers’ memory, but knowing Jean-Luc as they did, they knew he’d be p.o.’d
and out for revenge when he “discovered” how they’d double-crossed him.

Poor
Jean-Luc. Betrayed by one of his only friends. For money.

So
here I was, on my own. As I’d feared. “One day” had come quicker than I’d
anticipated. I only prayed I was ready.

The
elevator stopped, dinged, drawing my attention. The doors opened wide. I drew
in a deep breath—
calm, stay calm, this has to be believable
—and sailed
into the hallway. Six-eighteen was to the left, so I squared my shoulders and
followed the proper path.

When
I found myself standing in front of the door, my mouth dried. But I didn’t
hesitate. I raised my fist, ready to knock. In the end, I didn’t have to. The
door swung open on its own to reveal one of the brothers. Only one. I knew,
however, that the others were close by.

He
smiled at me, guilt deep in his dark eyes, and waved me in. He was not the one
with freckles. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Well,
you have information I need. Right?” I strode past him, very aware I was
walking into a trap and that giving him my back was foolish. But I didn’t want
him to know I knew what was going on.

In
the center of the room, I took a swift inventory of my surroundings. Small, as
dingy as the room Rome and I had rented, with one king-size bed, a mini-fridge,
a recliner and a lamp that towered over it.

“Why
don’t you—”

Before
I finished my sentence, a pair of hands grabbed each of my forearms. They were
hot and moist. Another of the brothers had appeared.

I
released a “surprised” gasp as I switched my attention between them. “What’s
going on? What are you doing? Let me go.” Convincing? Not really. I’d have to
step it up a notch.

“I’m
sorry about this,” the first said, and he sounded like he meant it.

Not
as sorry as you’re going to be.

“We’ve
got her.” In a snap, all eleven brothers were crammed inside the room. Good. I
wouldn’t have to chase any down. I heard the door shut, the lock turn.

A
few of the brothers moved in front of me. They, too, looked remorseful.

“Why
are you doing this?” I asked through gritted teeth, though I already knew the
answer.

Two
gazed down at his feet. “Money. We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed, and Desert
Gal is paying one million dollars for your capture.”

One
mil? Wow. Who knew I was worth that much? Then again, as the head of a company
like Big Rocky, Candace Bright must have billions at her disposal. Maybe I
should be insulted the bounty on my head wasn’t higher.

“We
never thought we’d be the ones to succeed,” one of them said. “You’re always
protected, always surrounded, and everyone who’s gone after you has failed. But
your friend Cody was able to lure you here, and then an old friend of ours
called and told us where and when you’d be hitting town. We simply followed
you. It was easier than we’d ever dreamed.”

“You
really think you’ll be paid once you turn me over?”

All
eleven nodded.

“Of
course,” Eight said. “Desert Gal would be known as a reneger if she didn’t.”

And
pride was everything to Desert Gal. Jean-Luc hadn’t lied about that. “Why does
she want me?” I tried to pull from their clasp but they held tight. “Why not
just kill me?” Maybe she’d told them why her mystery dad liked me so much.

“Who
knows? Desert Gal’s not exactly the type who likes to answer questions.”

“Maybe
she wants to recruit you to her team.”

Wasn’t
that always the case?

“Now,
enough talking. Someone tie her down.”

Time
for me to do my thing. I prayed, again, that it worked. “Do you have my friend,
too? The one who took me to the club?” Apparently, only the leader had hidden
him, so only the leader knew where he was. A precaution they’d taken, and had
needed, though they didn’t know it yet. They would.

“No
need for you to worry about that. Someone get a gag, too.”

“Just
knock her out.”

“Desert
Gal won’t want to wait to talk to her.”

I
allowed fearful thoughts to play through my mind. Fearful thoughts that brought
a sense of desperation with them, as well as love.

Rome—tortured.
There was the fear. Lexis and Sherridan—killed if I couldn’t reach them. There
was the desperation. All of us together—at my wedding. There was the love.

I
was summoning the wind. Seemed like the wrong power to use right now, but I had
a plan.

As
they attempted to knot my wrists together, a breeze kicked up in the room,
scattering the papers that had been sitting on the bed. I made a mental note to
go through those later. To increase the velocity of the wind, I flashed a few
pictures through my mind. Rome—bleeding, near death. Lexis and Sherridan—buried
in a grave. Me—in the wedding dress of my dreams.

Usually
I hated summoning the wind, hated how many emotions were needed. Today, I
didn’t mind. As the breeze gusted left…right…I moved my head in little circles.
The air followed my motions, swirling. The bed rattled. The papers continued to
dance. Clothes ripped from hangers.

“What
the hell?” I heard.

“Did
someone open the window?”

As
the wind blustered harder, I didn’t stop directing it, careful to keep it away
from me. The rope dangled from one wrist; they’d never quite managed to get to
the other. Some of the men cried out; some screamed. And as it raged, now
pulling my enemy in different directions, sometimes slamming them into the
walls, each other, and preventing them from disappearing, I allowed my fear to
eclipse every other emotion.

Rome,
killed if this didn’t work.

Sherridan,
killed if this didn’t work.

Sunny,
orphaned and alone because her parents would be killed if this didn’t work.

Me,
alone. Trying to go on without them but not wanting to.

Ice
created a thin luster over my body, the wind whipping it off me and spraying it
in every direction. Whatever it hit, it completely surrounded. One at a time,
the men were frozen in place. On the bed, against the wall, on the floor. With
Matt Damon.

Focus,
Jamison.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. In the middle of icing my enemies. Seeing them like that
caused satisfaction to fill me. Prematurely. Because, with the satisfaction,
the wind died and the ice stopped.

One
man was still at normal temperature, able to move.

He
pushed to shaky legs, wagging his head to regain his bearings. “That hurt!” he
growled.

“You
think so? Well, just wait until I show you my next trick.” I reached into my
back pocket and withdrew my Taser. I had the clamps in his nipples, volts of
electricity zinging through his body, before he could take a single step in my
direction. He trembled until his knees collapsed. I did not remove pressure
from the trigger until he hit the floor face-first.

I
knew that wouldn’t immobilize him for long, though, so I strode to him,
flashing more of those terrible, fearful thoughts in my mind.

By
the time I reached him, I had an ice ball in my palm. “Enjoy,” I said. I threw
it down at him and he was instantly encased in a thick layer of arctic fury.
Sometimes I suspected the four elements I produced were alive. I think they
sensed body heat or even the shape of people, objects, which was how they knew
exactly how much of a mass to cover.

There.
It was done.

Sighing,
forcing my mind to blank and my emotions to numb, I gazed around the room. The
men were scattered about, all frozen in different positions. This did not give
me the satisfaction it had just a bit ago. I was actually a little…sad that it
had come to this. I’d liked these men at one point. Had even compared them to
my precious Tanner.

“It
didn’t have to be this way,” I muttered.

I
continued my search until I found the stash of computer software under the bed.
Bingo. I pulled out the laptop and shut it down, hoping that would be enough to
stop the…whatever it was from buzzing Jean-Luc’s brain. There was also a tiny
black box with multicolored buttons. Tense, expecting a boom, I pushed
power
on that, too, and it switched off.

Thankfully,
I did not blow up.

I
withdrew my cell and phoned Jean-Luc. Only took a single press of a button as
he was now in my Fave Five. (He’d made sure of it.) He answered on the second
ring.

“All
clear,” I said, removing the rope still dangling from my wrist and tossing it
to the floor. “Room 618.”

“I’ll
be there in ten.”

We
hung up.

I
phoned John next and let him know I had some scrims ready for pickup.

“Nice
work. I’ll have someone there within the hour.”

“Great.
Thanks.” I hung up before he could ask me about Rome.

All
right. I had about thirty minutes, then, because I didn’t want Jean-Luc around
any other agents. They would not be as forgiving as I was. Not that I’d totally
forgiven him. Of course, I could lie about his identity, but I’d eventually be
found out and that could land
me
in prison. No, thank you. I had work to
do. People to save.

To
that end, I needed to find the leader. The one with the freckles. Matthew. I
stuffed the cell back into my pocket, strode into the bathroom and grabbed one
of the glasses resting on the counter and a rag. I filled the glass with hot
water and moved back into the room, pouring it over the frozen faces, melting
some of the ice, until I spotted that speckled half-moon. My luck was holding,
because they belonged to the brother on the bed. Made things easier.

“Let’s
get this interrogation started,” I muttered, pouring more hot water over his
face and wiping frost away with the rag.

Eight
glasses were required to finally melt that last layer around his eyes and jaw.
By then, I was straddling his chest and sweating, but my victim was awake.

“Wh-what
happened?” His teeth began chattering.

“I
happened,” I said. “Now, no more questions from you. You kidnapped Rome
Masters, and you’re going to tell me where he is or you’re going to die.”

“I’m
n-not telli-ing you anything-g.”

“I
don’t have a lot of time,” I said, “and the longer it takes you to answer, the
angrier I’m gonna get. I don’t know if Desert Gal told you, but I have power
over the four elements. That includes fire. When I get mad, things start to
burn. So you can remain cold in your ice shell or you can feel the skin melt
from your bones. Up to you.”

He
pressed his lips together, but there was fear in his eyes.

At
that moment, Jean-Luc soared inside the room as if he owned it. Who would have
thought I’d be so happy to have him with me? Just like yesterday, using my
powers had drained me. And with my adrenaline rush crashing, I knew I didn’t have
much longer.

“Thank
God,” I said. He didn’t double over, so I knew I’d successfully switched off
whatever had been hurting him.

My
victim’s face was mostly blue but laced with hints of red. When he spied
Jean-Luc, he flinched.

“I’m
s-sorry, man,” he said. “H-hated to use you, b-but…”

“But
you’re greedy. Give me five minutes,” Jean-Luc told me, his attention riveted
on the bed. “I’ll have all the information we need.”

Those
dark eyes darted from me to Jean-Luc, Jean-Luc to me.

“Jean-Luc,
ma-man, you know I—”

“Save
it. I asked for your help and what did you do?” The betrayal in his voice, the
hurt, had my chest aching. “At one time, I would have taken a bullet for you.
Now I’m on her side, and what she wants, she gets. No matter what I have to do
to obtain it for her.” He reached out. When his fingertips brushed The
Multiplier’s face, he disappeared as if he’d never been. Only his scent
remained behind.