Free The Touch by Jaymie Holland Page A

nakedness, the fact that she might be raped and
wondering what would happen with Wade. When they discovered he
didn’t have the chip after all, would he be murdered? Would
she?
    The thought chilled her. Maybe she should
tell Mike she had it.
    No. That was a sure way to get both her and
Wade killed.
    Her blood continued to rush in her ears and
she was having a hard time breathing. She didn’t want Richmond to
see her breasts rise and fall and perhaps excite him more. He just
might ignore Mike’s warning about not touching her without his
permission.
    Chandra narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t tied up
and she was could do some serious harm to the bastard if he did get
close to her.
    Still, Chandra let out a sigh of frustration.
How was she going to get out of this mess?
    #
    Time seemed to drag on interminably, yet when
four thumps hit his front door—the signal it was Adam—Wade’s heart
started pounding hard.
    Like he’d wished a thousand times, he wanted
to shift into shadow form, a form in which he could slip out of his
bonds, a form in which he could not be harmed. Then he’d be able to
get to Valdez, shift back, and kill the bastard.
    Instead, he was forced to grit his teeth
against the continual pain and wait to be released. And wait for
Valdez to find out there was no chip to be delivered.
    That was if Chandra hadn’t already turned it
over to Mike.
    At the sound of the doorbell, Valdez set his
rifle on the bed. He pulled a Glock from his utility belt with one
hand, while drawing a knife from his boot with his other hand. He
approached Wade, his expression grim.
    “Don’t fuck with me.” Valdez’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll kill you and whoever is at that door.”
    Wade kept his expression as neutral as
possible as Valdez cut the ropes from Wade’s ankles, then wrists.
Valdez’s grip and aim of his Glock never wavered from Wade’s
chest.
    When he first stood, his legs almost didn’t
hold him up. The Exposal was still strong in his system and he was
weak as hell. He gained his bearings, but stumbled when Valdez
shoved him toward the front door. Wade managed to keep to his
feet—barely.
    He knew Adam, the operative delivering the
painting, was as good as dead unless Wade found a way to take out
Valdez before they opened that door.
    Valdez gripped the door handle and tugged as
he pressed the release. He snarled as it stuck, then gave when he
yanked it open far enough for Wade to meet whoever was at the door.
At the same time Valdez managed to keep his gun trained on
Wade.
    Adam was a new operative, but sharp. The
young man had already tossed the painting under a bush and stood to
the side of the door, out of range, his gun drawn.
    “Adam,” Wade said, his gaze darting to the
door and back to the operative. “Hand it over.”
    The young man gave a sharp nod and aimed his
handgun at the crack in the door.
    A sharp retort of gunfire pierced the
air.
    Adam went down.
    Shit .
    Ignoring the pain from the Exposal, Wade
whirled to face Valdez. Before the man had a chance to react, Wade
grasped Valdez’s arm, forcing the Glock from his face at the same
time he brought his knee up. He slammed the man’s forearm down on
his thigh. Bones snapped. Valdez screamed. The gun went flying
across the room.
    Adrenaline pumped through Wade and the pain
from the Exposal lessened. He balanced on one leg, brought his
other up and jammed his boot into Valdez’s gut with a powerful side
kick.
    The man gave another cry as he flew back
several feet. Wade dove for the gun.
    Pain fractured through his body from the
Exposal as he landed on his side, skidded to the Glock and grabbed
it with both hands. He swung it around as he twisted his torso from
his position on the floor aimed the handgun at Valdez.
    Valdez was pushing himself to his feet, his
arm cradled to his chest.
    Wade gritted his teeth. He didn’t have a
choice.
    He shot Valdez in the head. Twice.
    The man flew backward again, his body landing
with a thump at an unnatural