Free Bane by Brenda Jackson

second, then went into her purse to retrieve her phone. He took it and then got out of the car. Throwing the phone on the pavement and ignoring her shocked gasp, he used his foot to stomp it into pieces.
    “Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing?” she asked in outrage after getting out of the car to save her phone. Of course it was too late.
    “I’m destroying your phone.”
    She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “I see that. What I want to know is why.”
    “There’s a chance a tracking device is on it.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Things are more serious than I thought or what you might know, Crystal.”
    She stiffened her spine. “Well, I’ve got news for you. I don’t know anything other than what I received in that note today and that my locker was tampered with and a blue car has been following me.”
    He glanced around. “Come on, let’s get back inside the car. I’ll tell you what I know.”
    She looked down at her smashed phone in disgust before going around the front of the SUV to get back inside. As soon as they had gotten inside the car, she said, “Tell me.”
    * * *
    She touched his arm and a surge of desire rushed through him. Evidently it shone in his eyes because she quickly snatched her hand away. “Sorry.”
    He grabbed her hand, entwined their fingers and met her gaze. “Don’t ever apologize for touching me.”
    Instead of a response, she nervously swiped her tongue across her bottom lip and his own tongue tingled, dying to mate with hers. Since he figured he couldn’t kiss her anytime soon, he would tell her what she wanted to know. What she needed to know.
    Ignoring the thud in his chest from holding her hand in his, he said, “My contact at Homeland Security did some more digging, even went so far as to tap into classified information. It seems you’ve been watched for a while.”
    She lifted a brow. “By who?”
    “Mainly the government. They are aware of the research you’re working on.”
    She shrugged. “I figured they were. Seton sent periodic reports to them as part of national security. Besides, the funding for my research was a grant subsidized by the government.”
    “Well, it seems the report got into the hands of someone it shouldn’t have. To make a long story short, a plan was devised to kidnap you and the two other biochemists working on similar projects. They were to take the three of you to a lab underground somewhere and force you to work together and perfect a formula they’d use to their advantage.”
    Crystal shook her head. “That plan is preposterous.”
    Bane wished she wouldn’t do that. Shake her head and make her hair fan across her face and place more emphasis on her dark eyes. Momentarily he lost his concentration. He couldn’t afford any distractions now. There was too much at stake. “Whoever came up with the idea evidently didn’t think so. And now you’re the missing link.”
    She leaned back and frowned. “What do you mean I’m the missing link?”
    His hand tightened on hers. “The other two chemists were abducted yesterday. One was leaving his home for work and the other chemist was leaving the gym around noon. The plan was to kidnap the three of you within hours of each other. However, their plan to grab you was foiled. But since they are determined to get their hands on the formula, they won’t give up.”
    The spark in her eyes told him she clearly understood what he was saying. She was vital to these guys’ plans and they didn’t intend to fail. That spark also told him something else. She would like to see them try to grab her. He still had the ability to read her mind sometimes. She still had the spunk he’d always admired in her.
    He swallowed hard when she eased her hand from his and broke eye contact to gaze out of the car’s windshield. She was thinking, trying to come up with her own plan. One that didn’t include him. More for his safety than anything else, he figured. And