The commander nodded. "Fortune shines on the bold. You were caught hacking, and all of a sudden, I found a way to solve both your problem and mine."

Wait a minute. Piper rapidly clicked facts into place. "Now that's quite a coincidence." Sarcasm coated her words.

He kept her gaze, not moving.

Oh, h.e.l.l. "You set me up." She shook her head. "You f.u.c.king set me up." The box of stuff sent to her house had been deliberate. The one that had set her on the path to finding her real father.

His upper lip twitched. "Well... yes."

Piper's breath heated. "Okay. Let me see if I can figure this out without my head blowing off my shoulders."

"Cease with the dramatics, please." His voice remained cordial.

a.s.shat. "Jory was taken by the PROTECT group, and you discovered his location. So you set about learning everything you could about the PROTECT group and the area in which it worked."

"I knew one of my soldiers was a prisoner, but I didn't even consider it was one of the Gray brothers and just figured it was somebody expendable. Your mother's yogurt shops weren't close to the facility, but we sent several flyers about the business expanding and looking to move into the neighborhood to the receptionists of the building. Then we sent yogurt."

Piper frowned. How had all this happened under her nose? "But when you found my mother-wait. Wait a minute. I'm getting confused." It was all too much. She'd been living in a spy movie and hadn't even known it.

The commander sighed as if truly disappointed with her lack of understanding. "I did all the prep work with the flyers and contact, and your mother was easy to google, so anybody looking for her online would've found her. Once we had the road paved, you tried to hack into my server and ended up in trouble."

Piper's head slowly lifted. Heat flushed through her. "I wasn't arrested by the government, was I?" Son of a b.i.t.c.h. She'd been scared out of her mind.

"No. That was us." He shrugged. "We have facilities that appear like a jail."

The f.u.c.king liar. She'd been so easy to set up. The scenario was unbelievable, and her brain quickly caught up. Fire lashed through her. "When you pretended to arrest me-you blackmailed my mother."

The commander kept Piper's gaze. "Yes."

Oh G.o.d. "But she worked as a receptionist for you so long ago." Not a super-spy.

"True, but she was undergoing training to be an operative when she discovered our genetic experiments, and she had qualms. She became pregnant and ran." He shrugged as if the entire scenario wasn't a.s.s-backward crazy.

Piper shook her head almost in slow motion. "You didn't follow her?"

He chuckled. "I found her within three days, Piper. But I let her be until I needed her again. This time to shoot one of my captured soldiers before he gave everything up about our organization."

So he had never given a c.r.a.p about Piper or had wanted to reach out to meet her. She tried to slow her erratic heartbeat. "Why not just rescue Jory?"

The commander sighed. "We didn't know it was one of the Gray brothers until your mother reported back after the shooting. We'd wired her with a camera, of course. Our sources said the PROTECT group had one of our soldiers, but at that time, we were still regrouping after the Tennessee mess and working to save face with the government, so we didn't know it was a Gray brother."

Dean brother, a.s.shole.

Piper frowned. "This was more than just you making my mom shoot an absent soldier."

The commander finally smiled. "There's the brain I'm hoping you have. You're right. This was about getting rid of the soldier, pulling you into my organization, and neutralizing your mother from stopping me. With the recording of her committing murder, of course."

Piper swallowed. "So you wanted me?"

"You have impressive computer skills-quite impressive. Your skills combined with one of my super-soldiers might create an unheard-of next generation." He nodded as if giving her approval.

She shoved back against the chair. "You wanted to breed me?" she yelled.

He nodded. "Yes."

Her head actually spasmed. "You're f.u.c.king crazy."

"Really, Piper."

She covered her face with her hands. "I don't believe this. I really don't." She lifted up and frowned. "Wait a minute. Jory didn't die."

"No." The commander blew out air. "The second I saw the video, we went on a mission to retrieve his body. At that point, we didn't care about the publicity. Of course, we found him alive, took him, and our surgeons went to work."

Piper gagged and swallowed quickly. "Why didn't you seek me out before-when I was young?"

"You were a girl." His voice remained dispa.s.sionate. "It wasn't until I discovered you were exceptional that I considered using you."

A figurative blade sliced into Piper's heart. What an a.s.shole. And what a relief that she didn't have to worry about him any longer. They weren't on the same side. They never really had been. "So if I hadn't had an apt.i.tude for computers?"

"Then I wouldn't have interceded." No emotion showed in his black eyes.

Piper blew out air, letting go of any hurt. Then she focused on the problem at hand. "My mother has lived with this for two years? This video?"

"Yes. If she tells you about me, or about our past, she goes to jail." The commander scratched his arm. "She might not know Jory survived."

So her mother might've been living with the thought she'd murdered a man? Piper stood. "I have to get to her."

"No. Work with me, or I'll turn the DVD over to the authorities along with a body pretty much matching Jory. Close enough. Your mother will go to prison."

"Bulls.h.i.t." Piper turned and headed for the door.

"Try me, Piper."

She stopped. He was serious. Could she get her mother to safety? Away from Utah?

"I'll have soldiers on her the second she tries to flee, and she'll be in federal custody a moment later. Believe me, I have excellent connections within the United States government."

A rock slammed into Piper's gut. The commander contracted with the government for a.s.signments and missions. He probably did have decent connections. She slowly turned around. Her hands shook, so she stuffed them in her pockets. Time had moved from ticking to a full-out run, and she had to get back to her computer. Maybe Jory could protect her mother while Piper figured out how to save his life. "What do you want?"

"Well, for starters, I want your help bringing in Jory."

"I don't know where-"

The commander lifted a large hand. "Stop lying. I have cameras lining the street outside the old facility and saw Jory rescue you. I'd like to say I'm disappointed in you, but women always lie. Worthless b.i.t.c.hes, all of you."

"Well. So much for the soft touch, Dad."

He cut her a hard look. "There's no need to try a soft touch with you any longer. This is the truth, and this is reality. You will help me, and like I said, I saw Jory rescue you."

She blinked, and her shoulders slumped. All of the running through woods, the preparations, the use of the cabin. "We didn't see cameras."

"Where is Jory?"

"I don't know. Once I'm home, I'm supposed to meet up with him." How could she save her mother and Jory at the same time?

"Have you met any of the brothers?"

"Yes-" She paused. Shouldn't he know that? Two of the brothers had shown up and taken the bodies. She gasped.

The commander nodded. "Yes. I lied. No cameras."

Stupid. G.o.d, she was so f.u.c.king stupid. "You didn't know Jory was around."

"No, and now I do."

Oh man, she'd just betrayed Jory. Just set him up along with his brothers. Her belly knotted, and she scrubbed both hands down her face. "What have I done?" she whispered.

"You've been quite helpful. So either do what I ask, or I send your mother to prison for the rest of her life. What's it to be?"

There wasn't much of a choice, now was there? "What do you want me to do?" Piper whispered, her chest lighting with pain.

CHAPTER.

21.

JORY WAITED IN the darkened room, tuning out the tick, tick, tick of the mantle clock. Menthol scented the air along with lemon cleanser. Neighbor Earl must have an ache or pain somewhere.

He had already, rather predictably, scurried through the backyard to Piper's house right at dinnertime. Jory had immediately abandoned his hiding place in the back room. A monstrous orange cat eyed him from across the room and then turned, apparently bored.

Good. He wasn't used to animals, and he was pretty sure the cat wouldn't like him. Animals had good instincts with other predators.

Now his abnormal senses allowed him to hear Piper's door shut across two yards, and he could make out her footsteps. Slow and plodding, while her heartbeat was elevated.

For the last night, he could do nothing but think about her. Her skin, her scent, her spectacular brain nearly haunted him. He didn't believe in fate, and he sure as h.e.l.l didn't believe in love, but somehow the pretty computer hacker had dug right into his heart, maybe deeper, and found a home. One that warmed him while scaring the ever-living c.r.a.p out of him.

What had he been thinking letting her go back into the lion's den? The commander didn't care about her, and if he thought she was betraying him, he'd harm her. Jory had been an a.s.s for allowing her to help.

The sliding gla.s.s door opened, and she stepped inside. "Jory?" she whispered.

He flicked on the light.

Pale. The woman was too pale, and even from across the room, he could see the small vein along her neck pulsing. She was about two seconds away from an anxiety attack.

He frowned and stood, allowing adrenaline to flood his system. To narrow his already unreal focus. "Are you all right?" He reached her in two strides and found comfort with wrapping his hand around her arm. Touching her. Rea.s.suring himself that she was safe.

"Yes." The smile she forced to her pretty face hurt to see. "I'm fine."

"Good." He leaned in and brushed her lips, keeping his expression clear when her mouth trembled against his. More than anything, he wanted to gather her close and rea.s.sure her that everything would be all right. He would make sure of it. Instead, he levered back and studied her. The air around her.

It morphed, waves cascading. He shouldn't be able to see such a thing, but there it was. In fact... different frequencies expanded in nearly invisible waves. Piper had been wired. Sight and sound. Probably the top b.u.t.ton of her simple shirt.

She licked her lips and glanced around the room.

Ah. They were being watched from afar as well. Jory tuned in, but the narrow beams shot by the heat devices were hard to detect through walls unless he was closer to a window. No need to move, considering now he fully knew they were watching as well as listening.

Good thing the commander hadn't a clue about the Dean brothers' extra abilities. They'd faced death in hiding such a thing from him as they grew up, but the risk had been worth the payoff. Now they had an advantage over the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Tears gathered in Piper's eyes.

Fury threatened to choke him. She was the worst spy in the entire universe. He loved that about her. So he decided to help her out. "I've been worried about you going back to the commander. Did he believe your story about the PROTECT soldiers?"

She blanched. "Yes." Panic clearly bubbled up, and her eyes widened.

s.h.i.t. She was going to blow the entire thing. He grabbed her and kissed her. Hard.

She shook her head.

He leaned in, softened his a.s.sault, and took her under. With a soft groan, she grabbed his chest and nearly threw herself into him, kissing him back with a desperation he felt in his own bones. Heat slammed into his c.o.c.k, and he ground against her softness. Yet he kept his chest from crushing hers, not wanting to harm the camera.

Giving her arms a little shake, trust me, he pulled away. "I promise this will all be okay, Piper."

She blinked, her eyes cloudy and her lips a pretty pink. Color returned to her skin over her fine cheekbones. "Jory, I-"

"No. I won't stop kissing you." He slid his foot over hers and tapped out Morse code. Trust me.

She frowned, confusion blanketing her features.

Okay. It was a long shot that she'd know Morse code. So he kept tapping just random taps and pressed down hard enough to still her. The camera couldn't see their feet, and he'd keep the taps silent.

She licked her lips and tried to free her foot.

So he stepped on it. "I missed you today, baby."

"Jory?" Her eyebrows drew down, and she tried to pull away.

He flattened her foot and kept tapping. "You feel me, baby? I missed you."