Body Master

Table of Contents

 

 

“I devoured
Body Master
like really good chocolate: in big, happy chomps. A tough yet sympathetic heroine locks horns with a mysterious, sexy hero—ooh, yum! Barry’s skillfully structured story delivers all kinds of delicious pleasures—and zero calories. What more could a girl want?”

—Angela Knight,
New York Times
bestselling author

“Sexy, intriguing, and a pure delight to read.”

—Catherine Spangler, bestselling author

“This awesome book roars out of the starting gates and never looks back. Along with telling social commentary, it is chock- full of danger, adventure, and romance—a terrific keeper!”

—
Romantic Times
(4 ½ stars)

“Ms. Barry’s storytelling alone makes her an author not to be missed.”

—
Fallen Angel Reviews

“Simply put,
Unmasked
is one awesome book. Action, adventure, love, danger. Books just don’t get better than this, and C. J. Barry proves once again why she is such a staple in this genre.”

—
Romance Reviews Today

“This is without a doubt the best otherworldly book that C. J. Barry has written thus far . . . Action-packed adrenaline-rushing adventure kept me glued to the pages of this book.”

—
The Best Reviews

“Ms. Barry takes us on a wild trip through space . . . This is a must read for any fan of futuristic romances, as Ms. Barry’s world-building technique is right on target.”

—
Romance Junkies

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright © 2010 by C. J. Barry.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / August 2010

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 

Barry, C. J.

Body master / C. J. Barry.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-18892-7

1. Shapeshifting—Fiction. 2. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3602.A777549B63 2010

813’.6—dc22 2010014027

 

 

This book is dedicated to my wonderful, creative, and
talented siblings—my brother, Tom, and my sisters,
Cheri and Chris. How we all became writers is a mystery
that only God can explain.

This book is brought to you by the best people I know. People like my terrific agent, Roberta Brown, my equally terrific editor, Kate Seaver, and the hardworking staff at Berkley Sensation. My writer friends Lani Diane Rich/Lucy March, Jennifer Crusie, Catherine Wade, and Rebecca Rohan. My beta-readers Jill Purinton and Patti Newell. All my Will Write for Wine podcast listeners, aka the Wiffers. Many unsuspecting friends and coworkers who feed me cool names and provide creative fodder. My talented family of musicians and writers—my parents, Tom and Jean Dishaw, my brother, Tom Dishaw, and sisters, Christina Walker and Cheri Farnsworth. And, of course, my husband, Ed, and beautiful children, Rachel and Ryan.

These are my people, the people who love and support me, and make me look good. My heartfelt thanks go out to each and every one of them.

 

 

“W
ait ’til I tell my wife we got Jack the Ripper.”

Seneca looked over at her partner, Riley, sitting in the driver’s side of the surveillance van.

She said, “A little premature, don’t you think? We haven’t even seen him yet.”

Riley turned to her, the lone streetlight illuminating his balding head and cocky grin. “Never say premature to a guy, Seneca.”

He tipped his half-eaten hamburger in the direction of the Harlem warehouse half a block away, shadowed in darkness and disrepair. “As soon as that Shifter comes home, we’re going to waltz in there and kick his sorry ass.”

She shook her head at Riley’s ability to take every life and death situation and make it sound like a trip to McDonald’s. Bringing down an alien shapeshifter was strictly for the pros.

“Jack might give himself up, you know. That would spoil all your fun,” she told him.

Riley laughed and almost choked on his burger. “No way. Shifters never go down without a fight.”

That was true. At least the mean ones. The “good” shapeshifters just hid among Americans, watching, learning, waiting. Seneca shook off the bitterness that rose in her belly and scanned the night.

The surrounding city blocks were empty except for muggers and drug addicts and XCEL agents like her and Riley. This was their job. Shapeshifter hunters got paid to be crazy. The other crazies didn’t even know shapeshifters were here. And if they did, no one believed them anyway. Either way, the public was still clueless, and her undercover agency worked damned hard to keep it that way.

“I don’t know, Riley,” she said. “I’ve been sitting here for three days watching you eat your body weight in burgers, and he hasn’t shown his face yet. Maybe our Roto-Rooter van’s been made.”

Riley answered with his mouth full. “Naw. Everyone needs their pipes cleaned out sometime, especially in this part of town. Lots of rats.” He twisted in his seat. “But I hope to hell he comes home soon. I miss sleeping with my wife.”

Seneca eyed him. “I noticed. You’re steaming up the windows again.”

He winked. “You should see me when I’m really hot. This van would spontaneously combust.”

Life according to Riley: work, sex, and fast food. Seneca laughed and sipped her coffee. “You ever wonder what you would have done with the past two years if the Shifters hadn’t crash-landed in the South Dakota Badlands?”

“Probably sitting behind some desk shooting rubber bands at you all day.” Then he beamed. “But look at us now. The best Shifter team that Earth has to offer—hunting down public enemy number one. Hot damn.”

Hot damn,
indeed. Their target, Jack the Ripper, had earned his code name by mutilating and dismembering three people in an all-night convenience store two weeks ago. Not even the money he stole had been enough to satisfy that bastard. Then he’d blended in with the general population again. And that was why she was here.

It wasn’t her fault that she’d become a shapeshifter hunter. If they hadn’t escaped their planet and crashed here, if they hadn’t decided to steal our DNA and look like us, if they weren’t hell-bent on criminal activities, she and Riley wouldn’t be sitting in a van waiting to apprehend one of them.

And it
certainly
wasn’t her fault that she was one of the few in the world who could see them for the monsters they were. They couldn’t hide from her, and she couldn’t ignore them.

“What would
you
be doing?” Riley asked her.

She smiled. “Arresting bad guys who didn’t turn into blood-thirsty aliens when they got pissed off.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “Now, see, this is your problem. No life. You need a man. I happen to have a friend—”

Oh hell, here we go with the friend
. “Forget it. I’ve met your friends, and I wouldn’t be caught dead dating any of them.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong—” he started, and then his gaze turned serious and locked on something outside. “We have action.” He wadded up the rest of his burger and tossed it in the back while she grabbed the night vision binoculars.

Sure enough, a car had pulled around the corner and parked in the alley beside the warehouse. A lone male stepped out—six foot tall, two hundred pounds easy, and wearing a winter coat. He matched the general description they had.

As he walked to the back of the building, she focused on the ghostly shadow around his body that only she could see. It was shaped like a giant demon. Definitely a Shifter. Her second vision might be a curse, but she had no qualms using it to ferret out the aliens.

“What do you think?” Riley asked.

She stowed the binoculars and climbed in the back. “Close enough to say,
Stick ’em up
.”

Riley smacked the steering wheel. “Hot damn! I’m getting laid tonight.”

After Riley called for the cleanup crew, they pulled on tactical headgear with integrated night vision and communications, protective body armor, and custom shoulder harnesses. Seneca strapped on her thigh holsters and slipped in her two Glock 33s. A backup KA-BAR knife went into the vest along with a single-shot tranquilizer handgun, a disrupter pistol, and extra ammo.

Riley carried the same equipment as well as explosive impact grenades. They finished gearing up quickly and silently. Long, light, black trench coats went over everything. She felt the weight of her weapons as she stood up, but there was no other way. No single weapon worked on every Shifter. There were nights when she’d used almost everything she had to bring a powerful one down. Carrying AA- 12 semiautomatic shotguns, they hit the pavement fully armed under cover of night.