Free The Touch by Jaymie Holland Page B

angle, glazed eyes wide open.
    Wade rolled to his feet and staggered to the
door where he saw Adam lying motionless in the same position he had
fallen when he’d been shot. A hole gaped in his chest that was
soaked in blood, his head turned to the side. Wade checked the
young operatives pulse. He was dead.
    Wade pinched the bridge of his nose. The kid
didn’t deserve this.
    He forced himself to stumble to the painting.
He dropped to his knees beside it, picked it up and turned it so
that he could view the back. He ran his finger under the gap
between the frame and the canvas.
    Gone.
    Chandra did have the chip. She must have
taken it right before he arrived at the vendor’s booth.
    He glanced toward Adam’s body and back to the
house where Valdez lay. It would take precious moments, but he had
to get as much of the Exposal off his body as possible if he was
going to be able to get that chip back from Chandra before she gave
it to Psion.
    At the same time he needed to get out of here
before any cops arrived, in case his neighbors had called them
after hearing the shots.
    With the chemical on his chest, the exertion
had taken a lot out of him. His body ached and muscles threatened
to give out as he made his way to his bathroom. He tucked Valdez’s
Glock in his waistband at his back as he walked.
    When he reached the bathroom he grabbed the
hem of his T-shirt. Goddamn but it hurt to take it off. After he
pulled it over his head, he grabbed the hidden jar of the antidote
to Exposal, unscrewed the lid, and poured some of the fluid onto
his hand. He almost dropped the jar, but managed to set it on the
countertop, while rubbing the fluid on his chest with his other
hand.
    Relief poured through him in waves. He was by
no way ready to shift, and his body felt like he’d had the shit
beaten out of him, but in a while the antidote would begin to
work.
    It took more effort to work his way back to
the great room, grab his keys, and head outside to his truck. By
the time he had his truck in drive, his vision was blurry despite
the antidote. His arms shook as he guided the vehicle out of his
driveway and through the winding streets of his neighborhood.
    Fields was so cocky that Wade was sure he
knew exactly where the bastard was. In Fields’s own home north of
Phoenix.
    Mike was going down.
    ***

Chapter 9
     
     
    Chandra felt jittery, like she’d had half a
dozen shots of espresso. Her whole body trembled and it was as if
something crawled under her skin. Richmond still watched her with a
hungry expression and every now and then would say something
suggestive to her. Like how he couldn’t wait to fuck her. To watch
all the men take her.
    She shuddered at the thought. Being exposed
like this and so completely vulnerable made her stomach sick with
fear.
    When Mike walked into the room with a scowl
twisting his face, Chandra’s heart hammered against her breastbone.
The coin burned at her chest, and she was almost afraid he could
see right through it to the chip on the other side. She gripped the
arms of the chair so tight her knuckles ached.
    Richmond cut his gaze from Chandra’s breasts
to look at Mike. “Any word?”
    “Not a damn thing.” Mike propped himself on
the arm of one of the couches and studied Chandra. Without taking
his eyes off of her, he continued, “Valdez isn’t answering his
cell. Branson isn’t either.”
    “Shit.” Richmond got to his feet and gestured
to Chandra. “What if he doesn’t give a damn about the slut? What if
he’s already returned the chip to the PIA? Hell, what if he sells it to Psion?”
    Chandra went stiff in her seat. What were
they talking about? Her employer couldn’t have anything to do with
this.
    Mike rubbed his hand up and down his face.
“Could be this piece of ass was trying to get to the chip first, so
that she’d get all of Psion’s asking price. No better way than to
fuck the man responsible for getting it back into the PIA’s
hands.”
    Her eyes widened and she