Free Double Vision (Unknown Identities #2) by Regan Black

soon.
    "Why were you in the apartment tonight?"
    "To check the plants," she replied.
    He swore and gave her a quick shake. "The real reason."
    "I went to borrow some of my cousin's jewelry to round out the display for next week."
    He rolled his eyes. "Guess that's close enough." He peered around the corner of the building.
    Heart hammering in her chest, she could only stare in the other direction – at the dead end of the alley. Hopelessness swamped her, despite the strength in his touch. He was only one man and life kept proving she was in way over her head this time.
    "You lied to Jeremy, right?"
    "How do you –"
    He cut her off. "You still have the item you went in to that apartment to get right?"
    She nodded, giving in seemed the most expedient choice.
    "Stolen property equals no cops. Got it?"
    "Got it," she said through clenched teeth. "Who are you?"
    "Where is it?" he countered, ignoring her question.
    She patted her pocket, her voice unwilling to cooperate. How did he know?
    "Good." He released her so abruptly she swayed. "Do you want to surrender it to Galloway?"
    "No," she whispered.
    "Good answer," he said.
    "But –"
    Her voice died at his dark look. She'd never wanted to steal the watch to begin with. "He kidnapped my cousin. We were supposed to trade Renata for the watch at my showroom tonight.
    "I won't let that happen. He cannot have that watch."
    "He can't keep my cousin," she argued.
    "Agreed." Even in the poor lighting of the alley she knew he was giving her that smile again. "Trust me?"
    "How?" She wanted to trust him but she couldn't. Not really. After the twists and turns of the last hours, she barely trusted herself. "You're not just a food vendor from Kansas are you?"
    That gold-flecked hazel gaze slid her way, he smoothed her bangs aside. "No, Selena," he replied, his deep, quiet voice raising the hair on the back of her neck. "But I'm your best hope of getting you and your cousin out of this."
    "Y eah. I'm starting to see that." She sighed. "Tell me what to do."

Chapter Seven
     
    Adam watched her carefully in the dim light, gauging her sincerity. In his standard vision she was all shadows with soft pale highlights. If circumstances were different, he might have made a move – she was that tempting.
    It was nice to have a motive for her cooperation, but there'd been no mention of a kidnapping in the UI file. He wondered if Messenger withheld that detail. More likely Galloway had effectively hidden it, or even faked it. Adam hoped for the latter.
    He didn't want to lie to Selena about rescuing her cousin, but it had to come after he secured the data and destroyed Galloway. As soon as they were out of this alley, he'd send the information up the line and hope Messenger handled it quickly.
    "We'll talk more about all of it when we're out of here."
    She nodded.
    He gave her bonus points for bravery . The first flash-bang grenade would have reduced most people to quivering, useless lumps. She'd endured two, managed to get what he needed after all, and still tried to pull off the rescue of her cousin. And the way she'd gone after Galloway in that hallway, well that just made him admire her more.
    "What's your plan?"
    He covered her lips with his finger, to silence her this time, then wished he hadn't. An unmistakable sensual current arced between them as if their bodies were misinterpreting the root cause of their racing hearts.
    He didn't know what enhanced skills – if any – the man with the gun had, only that Adam's ability to accurately anticipate his opponent had saved his skin at the crux of the fight. In hand to hand combat, there had been only one question: how had Galloway managed to secure the assistance of a UI program Cleaner?
    He hoped like hell the Cleaner was pulling double duty as Player Three, a.k.a. the purse snatcher. They were screwed if Galloway, the sneaky bastard, had managed to recruit more people to help him achieve his goal.
    With his thermal vision dialed in, it was clear