Free Intrusion by Cynthia Justlin

prison, they’re not going to look any further for the real culprits. They’ll just pat themselves on the back for a job well done and ask for a raise.”
    That didn’t answer her question.
    She reached for a clean bra. Her fingers recoiled into her palm. Someone else had touched her underwear, her clothes. She swallowed. God, she hated this, but the cops would be looking for a woman in a pantsuit. She couldn’t afford to be picky.
    And she couldn’t afford to trust Cam, either. He’d have no qualms about leaving her high and dry if it meant he’d benefit from it.
    He knocked on the door. “You almost done?”
    Snatching up her bra and panties she slid them on. “Almost.”
    She chose a pair of jeans and an ASU t-shirt from the scattered clothes at her feet and yanked them on over her undergarments. The hairclip straggling in her hair had to go. She dragged it from her hair, the sudden sound of sirens invading her ears.
    Oh, God. They were coming for her. From the strength of the sound, the patrol cars were still a good mile or so away. Not much time.
    “Audra?” Cam pounded on the door. “Light a fire under your ass. We’ve got company.”
    She glanced from the closed door to the window. Take her chances with Cam or turn herself in to the cops on her own terms? At least with the police she’d know what she was getting. With Cam…he was too risky, the unknown quantity in her equation.
    The sirens grew louder, their wail banding around her heart.
    She scooped up a handful of loose change scattered across the floor and shoved it into her pocket. A pair of sandals had fallen out of her closet. She flipped them over with her bare feet and put them on.
    She dashed over to the window and slid it open. Reaching up inside it, she unlatched the screen and tossed it onto the gravel below.
    “Audra!”
    The doorknob rattled, shaking right through her. She shoved one leg through the window, glanced back at the door. Cam would be fine. He’d already proved himself more than resourceful. She was no use to him without her research.
    Her gaze snagged on a brown knit cap draped across her overturned nightstand. She snatched it into her hand and tugged it over her hair. Swinging her other leg outside, she dropped to the ground and made a run for it.

Chapter Six
    The sirens abruptly cut off mid-wail.
    Cam had enough familiarity with police procedure to know the sudden silence didn’t bode well for him and Audra. Instead of an open pursuit, the patrol cars were now creeping down the block, hoping to get the jump on them.
    He reared back and kicked in Audra’s bedroom door. A shaft of pain spiked through his left knee. Damn it to hell. Wrong leg. He clenched his jaw to dull the burning throb and shoved aside the splintered door.
    “Audra—”
    He swept the empty room from one side to the other, honing in on the open, screen-less window.
    Oh, no, she didn’t.
    Son of a bitch! Audra had ditched him.
    And any minute now the cops would start busting down the front door. He spun on his heel and dashed through the battered living room. Anger burned in his veins but he dialed it back to a low simmer. How could he have let her get away?
    You’re slipping, Scott.
    He suppressed the shudder that trickled through him. Staying one step ahead of any situation was as instinctive as breathing. Combined with his passion for success, those two qualities had shaped him into one of the most talented computer crackers in the Special Forces.
    Winning was what he was good at. What he was respected for. What would remain if he allowed the most important part of himself to be stripped away?
    His injury may have turned him into road kill, but he was damned if he’d allow the vultures—even the internal ones—to tear him apart piece by piece. He had one shot at reclaiming his reputation—and she’d just ditched him.
    He had to find Audra before the police nabbed him. Didn’t she know whoever stole the prototype and her research wouldn’t