Chapter 16
Snapping his eyes open, Nate grabbed the handgun he kept by his cot.
He never slept deeply, and he could feel movement in the back room of the warehouse—his new, humble abode.
There was supposed to be a security system.
He should have been alerted. Damn John Stratton.
Nate would be pissed if he got killed trying to take a catnap after completing his first mission.
Heart pounding in his chest, he sat up, pointing the gun to where he thought the movement was.
Then, he heard John Stratton say, “Don’t shoot. It’s me.”
The motherfucker.
That explained why the alarm didn’t go off. Stratton had waltzed in and turned it off, scaring the shit out of Nate in the process.
“Would have loved it if you’d call before you stopped by,” Nate grumbled as he set down his gun. “It’s the polite thing to do.”
“We don’t have the time,” Stratton said, coming into view. He had two boxes in his arms, and he plopped with a heavy thud. “I have some good news and some bad news. I’ll get the good news out of the way: I destroyed a Conglomerate facility in California. Two more suits are gone.”
Nate blinked.
“How’d you manage that?”
“Rocket-propelled grenade launcher.” Stratton held up a hand. “Don’t ask. We don’t have the time because I also have bad news.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“It’s moving day. We have one hour.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Nate demanded, hopping up from the cot.
He would have been pleased that he was no longer winded from the exertion of doing little things, but he was too pissed at Stratton to celebrate.
“The person I borrowed this warehouse from has decided to put it up on the market, and potential buyers are coming to take a look at it.”
Nate stared at him in disbelief.
“Can’t you tell this guy you still need it?”
“If I had asked the guy, then I suppose, but since he doesn’t know that anyone is using this place, I’m going to suggest moving.”
“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me,” Nate growled, rubbing his temples as a sudden, throbbing headache began. He had been getting those lately as he detoxed from the benzos, and it sucked big time. “So, you’re saying I’m squatting here?”
“Yes,” Stratton said with a shrug. “But seriously, less talking, more moving. He’s going to be here soon. I have a moving van, and between that and your truck, we should be fine.”
“Where am I moving to?” Nate demanded as he began jamming his few belongings in the boxes the older man dropped.
“Not sure. I don’t have a place. I wasn’t planning on moving you anytime soon.”
“Then where the hell am I supposed to go?”
“I don’t know. Your girlfriend has a big garage at the back of her house. Go move in there.”
Nate bristled.
Your girlfriend.
Alex.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he grumbled.
“Could have fooled me,” Stratton called and left the room momentarily before coming back in with more boxes.
“I’m not involving her anymore.”
“She’s already involved. In fact, she’s way in over her head.
She got that way as soon as she played Douglas Sims’ secretary.
Gray Tower didn’t know that, but now that she’s gotten herself involved, it’s only a matter of time before the Conglomerate realizes she was in that facility.
They won’t care if she doesn’t know anything.
Just her being around that place is enough to be eliminated. Or worse…she could be taken.”
“Taken for what?” Nate demanded.
“One of the Conglomerate’s experiments or whatever they’re doing with all that labor they’re acquiring through their human trafficking racket.”
Nate growled, thinking of the horrendous implications.
“They’re not going to touch her.”
“I can keep an eye on her, but she may be more protected if she has a certain ex-special forces soldier staying with her—one with an X-suit.”
Nate shook his head.
“Even if I thought that was a good idea, I doubt she’d agree. That’s her space. I’ve already caused her enough trauma.”
“She wants to help,” Stratton insisted. “When I talked to her—”
“Wait. You talked to her?”
Anger was simmering in Nate’s veins.
“When she was at work. She didn’t know it was me.”
“You saw her…at Gray Tower Headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“How the hell did you get in?”
“Very carefully.”
Nate threw up his arms and began grumbling under his breath.
“You should thank me,” Stratton continued. “I convinced her to get the super suit code for you.”
“Thanks,” Nate said sarcastically.
“Ask her. You have nowhere else to go. In fact, I’m dropping the van off by her house, so…”
“Fine!”
Nate pulled out his phone and found Alex’s number. He punched the call button, silently cursing Stratton for putting him in this position. Yet somehow, Nate wouldn’t be upset if he got to stay with Alex.
No. Not at all.
? ? ?
Alex attempted to breathe normally as she waited for Nathan to arrive.
When he had called earlier, she had been at Keira’s, dropping off meeting notes.
She hadn’t been expecting him to call, and she definitely hadn’t expected him to ask to move in with her.
It had come out of left field, but when he had explained what had happened, she gladly accepted.
Why had she done that? She had no clue. She knew he was bringing the suit with him, plus military gear. There would be hell to pay if anyone found her with those items. She could get in so much trouble—lose her job, maybe even jail time.
A wave of anxiety hit as she peeked out the window of her front office.
She had gotten home twenty minutes ago and was exhausted.
She didn’t want to think about the consequences.
She wanted to help. Or maybe she wanted Nathan closer?
She felt safe when he was around. Everything felt…
right. And she believed in what he was doing.
He had single-handedly destroyed a Conglomerate factory with two super soldiers inside.
He had done more combatting that organization than anyone in Gray Tower had, including Gabriel and the trafficking bust.
Her phone beeped, and she looked to see a text from Nathan.
Nathan: I’m in your garage.
Alex: What? When did that happen?
She peered out the window again, frowning. She had a good view of the street, and she hadn’t seen anyone drive by. Maybe he had snuck in from the other way since her attached garage blocked that view? Or perhaps he had been there for a while? He could disable her alarm system.
Nathan: A while ago. Back garage when you’re ready.
How had she missed him? She was starting to lose her edge, and that was dangerous.
Alex squeezed her eyes shut, a tear escaping.
She had to tell him to stop sneaking up on her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It was more that she was starting to feel like everything was out of control, and she needed to be in control.
Alex: I’ll be there in a minute.
She changed into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top, pulling her hair back in a bun. And then, she touched up her makeup.
Ugh. Alex, why? Why are you doing this to yourself? This is not going to end well, she scolded herself. Then, she thought, I don’t care. It won’t go anywhere, but I still want to look cute because…well, because.
Grumbling to herself, she made her way out to her back garage. She frowned as she noticed one window was completely covered. Nathan must have done that.
She walked through the side door and watched as Nathan turned to survey her.
He was wearing a pair of beat-up jeans and a T-shirt that stretched across his chest nicely.
He was still thin, but he was starting to fill out his clothes.
His face didn’t look so gaunt. He looked…
good. Her heart beat faster as he stared at her intently, his blue eyes piercing.
“I’m sorry I let myself in without telling you.” She blinked. Had he been reading her mind? “I’ve been intruding in your life as it is. I’m already a terrible roommate.”
Roommate?
He was her roommate. She had a male roommate. If someone had told her this a month ago, she would have said they were crazy.
“I understand,” she said. “Maybe we can work on communicating a little better?”
He grinned.
“Yeah. It was just that…” He shook his head. “Do you know your house is being watched by Gray Tower?”
Alex stiffened. She should have known Miles would do it, but she wished he had told her. She needed boundaries.
“No.”
“One of your elite ops guys has been dropping by, as well as a few security people.”
Elite ops? Which of her colleagues had been spying on her? Did he know she had a visitor dropping by? Her heart began to race.
“The elite ops guy…what does he look like?”
“Before you get too panicked, it’s Ryan Hale. And no, he hasn’t spotted me, nor has any of the other Gray Tower team.”
“Are you sure? If they suspect something…” She trailed off.
“He doesn’t know,” Nathan told her firmly. “I’m good at moving around undetected, and the surveillance isn’t twenty-four-seven. I think they know if they had someone there all the time, you’d figure it out and get pissed.”
“You’re right, I’d get pissed! How do you know who Ryan is?”
Nathan grinned.
“I made it a point to know all the Gray Tower elite ops guys while I was still in the Conglomerate, and I thought we were a competing private military company. I didn’t want to hurt any of my brother’s friends. Ryan was your newest guy, but I guess this Joel guy is your newbie now.”
Alex smiled. She liked that he had ensured no one from Gray Tower got hurt when he was a Conglomerate soldier. It made her realize how tricked he had been by that organization. No one as sweet and thoughtful as Nathan Slade would have willingly agreed to go along with such evil.
“That was nice of you.”
He shrugged, his face turning stony.
“Pales in comparison to the shit I ended up doing, but sure.” Alex wanted to protest, but he continued.
“Anyhow, I’ll keep an eye on them. You might want to talk to your boss.
The last thing we need is Gray Tower agents sniffing around, especially while I’m here, which I can’t thank you enough.
I was in a complete bind, and you saved my ass. ”
Alex felt her face heat.
“I appreciate what you’re doing, and at this point, I’m your partner in crime.”
“I didn’t mean it to be that way. I didn’t want you involved, but Stratton mentioned you may be in more trouble than you realize.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, suddenly panicked.
She listened as Nathan explained what had transpired while he was moving his gear with Stratton. By the time he was done, Alex felt sick to her stomach. She had agreed to a simple mission for Gray Tower, not to be put on the Conglomerate’s radar.
“It’s okay,” Nathan said, his voice soft. “I’m not going to allow anything to happen to you. Neither the Conglomerate nor Gray Tower is going to touch you. Do you understand?”
Alex nodded, a smile forming. She somehow knew Nathan would keep his promise.
“Besides,” he continued, “Stratton appears to be helping with taking out these facilities on the West Coast. He already destroyed two more suits.”
“That’s amazing! If you both are destroying super suits, you’ll be done quickly.”
“Hopefully.”
“It is quite an undertaking,” she agreed and remembered today’s meeting. “I might have something that can help.”
Nathan cocked his head.
“What’s that?”
Alex told him about the meeting. Nathan wasn’t happy his name was dropped, but he was placated when she told him he had been nixed as being the rogue super soldier. He was also not happy that Gray Tower was focused on finding the vigilante super soldier. Running into Joel had messed up his plans.
“Then there’s the last part,” Alex said. “Kat is going to work on creating a portable device of the super soldier backdoor program, enabling Gray Tower agents to incapacitate suits they come across.”
“Shit,” Nathan muttered. “How does that affect me?”
“Hopefully, not at all. Your suit is patched, and Gray Tower doesn’t suspect you of being the rogue soldier. However, if that changes, you could be in trouble.”
Nathan sighed and asked, “How long until this device is made?”
“I don’t know. All the elite ops will get one.”
“Do you know what kind of functionality this device would have?”
“No clue. It was cleared to start today.”
“I’m having issues programming the commands into my suit,” Nathan admitted, shaking his head.
“The whole thing relies on AI, algorithms, and voice commands. I’m sure Kat would do it with no issue, but I’m not that good.
The only thing I’ve gotten working is the function that shuts off the helmet display.
” She nodded in understanding. “I wish I could pick her brain to get my suit working properly.”
“We can’t bring her in,” Alex told him. “She’d probably be on board with the mission, but she’s Jack’s fiancée. The man finds out everything. He’d know something was up, and she’d spill the beans.”
“I see.”
“But…what if I continued helping you?”
The question hung in the air. Nathan looked blankly at her and frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“I know you won’t let me go out on missions, but I can support you by keeping my eyes and ears open at Gray Tower—like I did with Joel.”
“I mean, I really don’t like the idea of you getting involved any more than you are. I don’t want to see you hurt.” His haunting blue eyes stared back at her own. “You can’t get hurt, Alex.”
She bit her lip, realizing that he wouldn’t budge on this one. She was about to suggest they forget about it and work on unpacking his stuff when he continued.
“But…I have a feeling you aren’t going to let this go.
” A sly, sexy smile crossed his face. “You have to promise me that the only thing you’ll do is report any issues I might run into with Gray Tower.
Nothing else. No digging around. Nothing that will jeopardize your job any more than it already has. ”
Alex’s heart leaped with joy. She couldn’t believe that Nathan had agreed.
“Yes! Absolutely!”
Nathan grinned and said, “We’re going to work on this together and take care of these super soldiers.”
“Yes, we are.” She smiled and gestured at the boxes dumped haphazardly around the garage. “I’m assuming you need help.”
“You don’t have to,” he began to protest, but she shook her head.
“I want to. We’re partners, so you have to let me do this.”
Sighing, Nathan said, “I guess we can get started since I’m not going to convince you otherwise.”
“Yup.” Alex surveyed the boxes. “So…what first?”