Catherine Spangler - [Sentinel 02] - Touched By Fire (v5.0) (html) (27 page)

“It’s all right.” He dropped his hand. “Let’s focus on the details that might help us catch this thing. We know the Belian dressed like a student when it was on the university campus, and we know it dressed like a minister to gain entry to the old lady’s house. That might also be how it got the bombs into the churches.

“We know it drives a blue Toyota Tercel. We know it’s very intelligent. It would have to be, to be able to put together effective bombs, which takes knowledge and skill. After reading the initial police reports from the crime scenes, we know it used military explosives, so it has military or terrorist contacts, and plenty of funds.”

“Could it be a terrorist from another country?” Marla asked.

Luke shrugged. “It’s possible, but all Belians are terrorists, when you consider their goal is to murder, mutilate, and cause fear and chaos. Anyone with enough intelligence and resources can create bombs. So let’s discuss what we saw tonight.”

“I saw a lot of big buildings in downtown Dallas,” Barrie said.

Marla nodded. “I saw buildings, too. I saw the Reunion Tower with the ball at the top, and the huge green glass hotel next to it.”

“The Hyatt Regency,” Luke supplied. “What else did you see?”

“That really tall building, the one that’s also green glass. I think it’s lighted at night.”

“I know the building, but not the name.” Luke opened his laptop and powered it up. “Anything else?”

“The commuter train on streets going between big buildings. I’m pretty sure it was downtown. I’m just not very familiar with Dallas.”

“That’s the DART light rail, and it does go through much of downtown.” Luke typed, studied the screen. “That huge green giant is Bank of America Plaza. It’s got a lot of floors and a lot of glass. Barrie, did you see the same buildings?”

“No. I saw the Pegasus building and the big library.”

Luke’s expression hardened. “Great. I saw the main federal court house and Dallas City Hall. That means the Belian could be checking out multiple targets.”

“I saw other things, too,” Marla said. “I saw a table with large bricks that looked like yellow clay, and wires, and metal parts, and those boxes that look like garage door openers.”

“Me, too,” Barrie said. “The table was small and cheap looking and it appeared it might be in a hotel room.”

“I also saw that. Bomb materials. The yellow bricks are Semtex, which is the military explosive I mentioned. The Belian is definitely making more bombs.” Luke ran his hand through his hair. “It sure looks like its next target is somewhere downtown.
Damn it.
There are a lot of people going through there, and it’s a lot of area for us to cover.”

He shoved back from the table. “I’m going to call Adam.”

“Adam the Great,” Barrie muttered.

Luke gave her a look and walked toward the den’s sliding glass doors as he opened his cell phone. He stepped outside, and Bryony trotted out after him.

“You don’t like Adam?” Marla asked, concern for Julia niggling at her.

“It’s not that,” Barrie took her eighth piece of pizza—not that Marla was counting, or anything. “He’s brilliant, he’s dedicated to The One, and he works harder than anyone I know. He’s just unyielding, arrogant, and a control freak. He wants to know when we go to the bathroom.” She rolled her eyes. “And his attitude toward women is archaic.”

She must have seen Marla’s flare of alarm, because she waved her hand and shook her head. “No, don’t misread that. Adam would
never
mistreat a woman, unless she was a Belian. You don’t have to worry about your sister with him. She’s as safe as she can possibly be.

“It’s just that these guys claim to be enlightened, but let me tell you, they’re way too protective of the women in their lives. I’ve been ready to go on my own for months, but Adam won’t let me. I’m positive it’s because I’m a female. David, my mentor, is just as bad. And so is Luke, but then he’s been looking out for me since our mother died from a brain aneurysm when I was four.”

“So was your mother a conductor or a Sentinel?” Marla asked, curiosity overriding tact.

“No, she was an ordinary human. It’s very unusual for a Sentinel to bond with a human who’s not a conductor. But she and my father were apparently crazy for each other. He stopped working with conductors right after he met her, and tracked solo after that. They were so bonded, my father went off the deep end when she died.”

Marla remembered what Luke had said about his father. “So your dad was gone most of the time?”

A shadow of sadness crossed Barrie’s face. “You could say he was gone all the time, because even when he was home, he wasn’t here, not really. He’d spend all his time holed up in his office or out practicing his martial arts or shooting. He might as well have died with my mother. Luke raised me.” She grinned. “He can do great ponytails and braids.”

Marla was intrigued with the image of Luke fixing a little girl’s hair. “I’d like to have seen that.”

“He was great, both as a big brother and a surrogate father. He gave up a lot of his personal life to take care of me, made a lot of sacrifices.” Barrie sighed. “Unfortunately the basic genetics of being a male Sentinel make him overly protective when it comes to me. He’s got to let me fly sometime.”

“Looks like you might be testing those wings be pretty soon,” Marla said. “We’ve got to stop this Belian.”

“Yeah. Don’t tell Luke, but this thing scares the you know what out of me.” Barrie took a swig of her beer. “But I think only a fool would have no fear going against these monsters.”

“I agree with you.” Marla glanced up as Luke came back inside, followed by Bryony, his now constant side-kick. Crash arched and hissed as Bry pranced by the couch.

Luke came into the kitchen. “Everyone saw different buildings in downtown Dallas. Adam wants us all here at eight tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, he’s going to let us sleep in,” Barrie sniped.

Luke ignored that. “Then we’ll probably gear up and head downtown. And Barrie, Adam is calling in David. He doesn’t want you working alone.”

“I’m not going to argue about that, bro. This is one time when I’ll be glad to have David at my back.”

“Good for you, brat. That shows maturity.” He ruffled her silky hair, stepping back quickly when she swung at him. “Hey, pretty good reflexes.”

She glared at him. “
Great
reflexes, and don’t you forget it. I can kick your ass, bro.”

“We’ll have to see about that, after we deal with the current crisis.”

“You’ve got an ass-kicking date. I’m eating the cheesecake.” She pulled a foam container from the Angelo’s bag.

“You’d better leave me some, or that date may become immediate.” Luke looked at Marla. “You doing okay? You’re still looking pretty washed out.”

She felt completely drained and exhausted, but wasn’t sure she wanted to foray into sleep, where she was apparently more vulnerable to the Belian. “I’m fine,” she lied.

“Sure you are.” He leaned over and started wrestling with Barrie for the container. “We’ll go to bed as soon as the cheesecake is taken care of. Want some?”

Marla eyed it longingly. “I’d better not.” She took a sip of ginger ale. She should be ten pounds lighter by the time they caught the Belian. If they could catch it.

And if it didn’t find her first.

EIGHTEEN

THE shrill beeping cut through the mental fog, rousing Marla from a deep, and thankfully dreamless sleep. She blinked her eyes open, trying to orient herself. She was in Luke’s bed, and he was rolling over to knock off the alarm. The movement pulled the covers away from him, exposing a broad, strong back. He was wearing boxers, so she didn’t get to see his fine butt.

Even so, the view managed to keep her distracted for a moment. But thoughts of the Belian quickly rolled in, followed by a soul-deep dread and the now familiar queasiness.
Kind of like morning sickness,
she thought, only she guessed it was Belian sickness.

Luke looked over, saw she was awake. “You don’t have to get up yet. I’m going to work out before I shower. You can sleep another hour. You probably need it.”

She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep, especially without him there. It would be too easy for the Belian to link with her. “I think I’ll get up.” She stretched, feeling sore all over. She’d never realized marathon sex involved so many muscles.

His gaze went to her chest, and she realized her stretching was pulling the nightshirt taut over her breasts. Good. Let him look. He quickly shifted his gaze back to her face. “You okay this morning?”

He looked great, even with his hair mussed. She was certain she sported a major bed head and raccoon eyes, since she’d been too tired to wash her face last night. She shoved her hair out of her face. “Never better.” But the shadow of the Belian was there, like an unpleasant hangover that wouldn’t go away.

Turning onto his side, he studied her a moment. “Yeah, that must be why you’re whiter than these walls.”

The fears rushed at her, new ones mingled with those from the past. “I’m so scared, Luke.” Admitting it out loud made it that much worse, made it real. Her chest tightened until she could barely breathe. Blindly, she reached for his hand, needing the reassurance of his touch.

He wrapped his hand around hers. He was so warm, so alive. “The Belian will have to go through me to get to you. I won’t let that happen, Marla.”

She felt a small loosening of the fear gripping her. “That’s good to know,” she said. “Thank you.”

“It’s my job.” His simple declaration reflected the heart of the man, what he was—a hero, in the truest sense.

“You’re always taking care of people,” she said softly. “First Barrie, then the innocents you put your life on the line for. Now me.”

A small grin teased his lips. “You’ve been the biggest challenge of my career.”

“Good,” she said, the teasing washing away some of the darkness. “I wouldn’t want to be too . . . easy.”

His lips twitched. “No danger of that, babe.”

She stared into his stunning blue eyes, felt their beckoning allure. Felt the air around them intensify with growing sexual tension; heard Luke’s intake of breath. It was the most natural thing in the world to reach over and hook her arm around his neck. To lean forward as he shifted toward her, to flow into the kiss.

They were familiar with each other now, and their mouths meshed together perfectly. Their bodies were also primed for one another. The electricity sparked faster than a lightning bolt, slamming heat and need through every cell in a single second. And just like that, Marla was wet and ready. She twisted, pressing against his erection.

He broke off the kiss. “God, Marla—”

“Shut up and touch me.” To illustrate what she meant, she slipped her hand inside his boxers—that front opening sure came in handy—and wrapped her fingers around him.

His breath hissed out, and she kissed him again. She could practically feel his scruples crumble with the increased pounding of his heart against her chest. With the way he shifted back so he could slide up her nightshirt and cup her breast. She ran her free hand over his chest and his flat hard nipples, then started to tug at his boxers.

She got distracted from that, however, when his hand slid over her belly and headed south.
Yeah, I’m way too easy,
she thought, as she spread her legs shamelessly, inviting his touch. His fingers found her burning, wet.

He groaned as she resumed stroking him. “Babe, what am I going to do with you?”

She could think of a lot of things he could do, but here, now, with the Belian’s taint hanging over them, she wanted this chance to give back to him. To make love to him, to show him what she couldn’t say.

She placed her palms against his chest and pushed. He moved enough for her to sit up. She shoved him again, forcing him onto his back. Leaning down, she ran her fingers along the extremely tented front of his boxers as she kissed his chest. “The real question,” she murmured, “is what am
I
going to do with
you
?”

She pulled the boxers down far enough to free his penis. It was impressive, like the rest of him. She took it in her hand and stroked, then leaned down to tease with her mouth. She had no idea what she was doing, but from the guttural sounds he was making, she guessed she was doing all right.

“You’re killing me,” he groaned.

She looked up, saw his eyes were glazed. “I would hate for you to suffer needlessly on my account.”

“God, you’re a smart-ass.” He made one of his superfast moves, pulling her up and onto her back.

He settled over her and leaned down to nip her lower lip. She felt him probing between her legs and rebelled.

“No.” She shoved against him. “This one is going to be
my
way.”

He let her push him onto his back, and she straddled him. She wasn’t sure exactly how things worked in this position, but she wanted to experience every nuance of lovemaking. Oddly, she didn’t feel awkward at all; she felt completely at ease with Luke, even in this intimate situation.

He watched her, his heated, liquid gaze singeing her as she slid over him, taking him in slowly. He was big, and he filled her almost to the point of pain, but it quickly became pleasure. Already, the fever was swamping her, the need to move until her body found a release, driving her.

She wanted it fast and hard, but Luke slowed things down, grasping her hips and controlling the pace. He set the rhythm, guiding her over him with languid, prolonged strokes. From his strained expression, she knew he was holding back for her sake.

As they moved in an intimate, erotic dance, she looked down into his glowing blue eyes, and she was lost. Lost in him, lost in what he made her feel. Everything melted into a blur of bodies and movement.

Her heightened senses made her exquisitely aware of the sounds of their bodies separating and coming together and of their labored breathing; of the earthy, masculine scent of Luke; of the incredible friction of him inside her. His hands on her, the sex words he murmured to her in that black-magic voice.

The pressure was building, building, until she couldn’t focus on anything but the instinctive need for release. They hurtled over the edge together, the explosion like a brilliant starburst in a midnight sky.

Fire and light vibrated through her, and she didn’t know where sensation ended and reality started. And for a few moments, it simply didn’t matter.

They lay there in the aftermath; tangled together, heartbeat to heartbeat, neither speaking. But eventually, they had to return to the real world. All too soon, Luke looked over at the clock. “The others will be here soon. We’d better get up and going.”

She sighed against his chest, feeling utterly boneless. “You’re not going to get your workout this morning.”

“Oh, I got a fair amount of exercise.” His tone was light, but as he tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him, his gaze was troubled. “Marla, this was great—hell, it was fantastic. I just . . . I don’t seem to have any control where you’re concerned. But this isn’t . . .
shit
. I’m making this worse. I don’t want to lead you on about us.”

Pain speared through her.
You knew this,
she told herself. “It’s okay. I understand,” she managed to say. “You’ve given me something very special, memories I will always treasure.” Then, because it hurt so much, she went for levity. “Or maybe I should say you’ve taken something very special. At least I’m not a damned virgin anymore.”

He cupped her face. “You are going to light up the universe for a very lucky man one of these days.”

She didn’t think any other man would ever measure up to Luke—or inspire what she felt for him. She was in love with him. It was going to hurt big time when this was over and they went their separate ways. Then she would return to her solitary life.

Reynolds women didn’t give their hearts lightly. Luke would probably be the only man Marla would ever love. Fate was a bitch.

But she also had her pride. So she looked straight at him and said, “Damn right I am. But right now, we have a job to do.” She slid from the bed, mustering all the dignity she could, considering she was totally naked, with the early morning sun streaming into the room.

She looked back at Luke. “Let’s go kick some Belian ass.”

“UNFORTUNATELY, we don’t have much to go on.” Adam looked around the group. They were all squeezed in at the kitchen table, drinking coffee—the two dozen breakfast sandwiches Barrie had picked up at Burger King long gone—and doing the war council routine.

“It appears the Belian has been moving around the downtown area, either scoping out targets, or to confuse and divert us, or both.” Adam’s cool gaze moved to Marla. “It believes Marla has been able to see its next targets and that she has betrayed it. It knows she’s a conductor and is working with us. We won’t encourage any more links between her and this thing.”

Thank God for that,
Marla thought. But she still had to worry about the Belian contacting her when her defenses were down. As if sensing her anxiety, Luke reached over and placed a reassuring hand on her back.

“We will canvass downtown and see if we can find any pockets of Belian energy and try to get a fix on its next moves,” Adam continued.

“What about you, Julia?” Damien asked. “You’re obviously a strong precog, and you were right on with the first two targets. Any feel for the next one?”

Julia, who looked pale and tired, shook her head. “No. Last night I saw several buildings, but no explosions in any of them.”

“And what she saw doesn’t match with what the rest of you saw,” Adam said. “That’s why I think the Belian hasn’t picked a specific target, at least not as of last night. Or if it has, then it hasn’t finalized its plans or set the bombs yet.”

“Well, that’s one good thing,” Barrie said.

She was sitting next to David Harris, a nice looking man with medium brown hair and striking green eyes. He was obviously older than Luke and Damien, and Luke had said he’d been tracking Belians over thirty years, but he still possessed a youthful vitality. He radiated the power and danger that was apparently inherent in all Sentinels. Even Barrie had the aura; her petite frame and china-doll looks just camouflaged it better.

“We might have a little more time,” Luke commented. “But not long. We know it has already made more bombs.”

Adam nodded. “Yes, which means what time we have will be brief. So we’ll work downtown in teams, like we did yesterday.” He pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase and started handing them out. “Here are maps of the area. We’ll divide it up, so we can cover as much territory as possible.”

They spent the next thirty minutes plotting out four routes and assigning them to the teams. Once again, Marla was struck by the odd mix of methodology and psychic seeing. It was, she supposed, the result of highly spiritual beings operating out of physical mortal bodies.

“I think we’ve got most of the area covered. While we’re working, we’ll use the radio phones.” Adam gestured to the new phones everyone now had.

They’d already spent some time checking preprogrammed phone numbers and the radio contact menu. They were a smart tool, Marla conceded. With a down arrow in the menu and the push of a button, she could talk to any of the group immediately, without waiting for a number to dial and someone to answer.

Adam pushed back his chair and stood. “All of you check your weapons. Be sure they’re fully loaded and you have spare ammunition. Keep them where you can access them quickly.” He watched as everyone pulled out their guns. “God bless Texas, where every citizen can carry concealed.”

It was a veritable arsenal, Marla thought, staring at the bad-ass weapons the Sentinels produced—two guns for each of them, and no baby calibers in the lot. There wasn’t anything less than a .38, and it went up from there. Plus each Sentinel sported at least one knife, and she understood they all held a minimum of a level one black belt in martial arts. They were definitely well armed.

The conductors weren’t too shabby, either. The delicate Kara carried an impressive gun, a nice Beretta semiautomatic, a little larger than Marla’s Tomcat. Julia also had a Tomcat. She and Marla went faithfully to the gun range once a month and both were decent shots.