Free Runner: The Fringe, Book 3 by Anitra Lynn McLeod Page A

saying it would hurt like hell when in reality you could do it and I wouldn’t notice at all.” His mouth twisted into a suspicious snarl.
    “Do you want me to show you?”
    With pursed lips, he considered for a long time. “It hurts?”
    “Yes.”
    “Can I kick you out once you’re in there?”
    “I imagine if you focus your mind on it, you could. What you don’t seem to understand is that it hurts me to do it unless the mind is absent from the body.” She didn’t know why she was telling him all of this, but when she decided it probably wouldn’t make any difference, she ceased to care why.
    “How do I know you won’t just get in my head, take over my body and make me do all kinds of insane things?”
    She laughed at such an idea until she considered that she would make him do sexy things, not crazy things. The thought of commanding his body to her every whim made her shiver.
    “I’m not trying to talk you into this. It hurts. I don’t want to do it to you. You want me to prove my ability but then think that by proving it, I can commandeer your body.” She laughed, hoping to cover her annoyance. “I’m telling you I have this skill. I’m willing to prove it to you if you insist. If I had the power to take over your body, don’t you think I would have done so by now? Perhaps back in the motel room?”
    Tension eased from his shoulders.
    “If I could really force people to do my bidding, I would have long ago taken care of Roberts. I wouldn’t have to play superhero with a fort because I’d be one.”
    “Does Roberts know that you can project?” He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but some of the suspicion drained from his face.
    “Yes. I saw the IWOG officer who destroyed the lab and killed Brandt. I went from Brandt’s mind to his, and that man most assuredly knew I was in there. I’m certain he reported the incidence to Roberts.” She picked up her robe and tossed it on the bed. “That is the only time I’ve ever invaded another sentient body. It hurt, but I wanted to see what he was doing. I wanted to know why. Not a nice thing to do, and in a way I’m sorry I hurt him, but I had to know.”
    She went still as a terrifying thought crossed her mind.
    “What?” He took a half step back.
    “My ability may be one of the reasons Roberts wants me alive. To study me. If the IWOG has no problem experimenting with biological weapons, I can easily infer that they would also have an entire contingent dedicated to turning people with unique psi abilities into weapons.” Just the idea of it filled her so full of fear she had to refrain from touching the side of her bra to make sure she could deny Roberts that sick pleasure too.
    “They do.” Foster nodded gravely, avoiding her gaze as shame darted across his face. “I know for a fact they do.”
    “How?” she asked, even though she probably didn’t want to know.
    “I’m ex-IWOG consumer. I grew up on Banna and did my time in the military just like every other man.”
    “Is that where you learned how to be a Runner?”
    He nodded. “My unit hunted readers. Most of them turned out to be bogus, but there were a few who were authentic.”
    “Didn’t it bother you knowing what would happen to those poor people?” Had she been wrong about his compassionate heart?
    He lowered his head with a guilty frown. “I didn’t think about that. Code. Duty. That’s what I thought about. You’ve been in the IWOG military. You know what I’m talking about.”
    She understood and commiserated. Every free space of wall in the lab had a poster with either code or duty emblazoned on it, as those were the watchwords. She thought the red and blue posters garishly cartoonish, but she didn’t understand how well they worked until she noticed the blind subservience of her fellow workers. She’d been there three years; they’d been there forever. Except for Brandt. He’d been the only one willing to bend the rules a bit. His indulgence had led to the