Mindsurge (Mindspeak Book 3) (13 page)

A scuffle of feet in the foliage alerted me to someone approaching.

Please tell me that’s you behind me and not some stalker in the woods come to slice my throat.

“Don’t even joke.” He climbed up on the large rock and sat behind me, placing his legs on either side of mine. He slid his arms around my waist and pulled me back to lean against his chest. “I so badly wanted to sneak into your tent last night,” he whispered into the crook of my neck. He kissed me there, his breath warm against my skin.

“We would only have fought. I was so mad at you for staying away after dark. I was scared for you.”

“I know. I said I was sorry.” He squeezed his arms around me a little tighter, and I welcomed the touch. “I’m sorry for my father’s part in your dad’s murder.”

“Don’t be. You’re not your father. You’re not responsible for his actions.”

“Yeah, but I had suspected he had something to do with it.”

I shifted my body and tried to look back at him. “And you didn’t say anything?”

He held me tighter, like I might flee at the first sign of conflict between us. “I only just began piecing elements together the last few days. I didn’t want to believe it. And you haven’t been talking to me.”

He had a point there.

“The morning you asked me to join you for the reading of your dad’s will, I had just confirmed with my mother that she had no idea of Father’s whereabouts the day of Peter’s death.”

“That’s why you were so out of sorts.”

“How could I help you—hold your hand through that—if my own father was responsible in the first place? I was the one who told you of his death. I watched my own father console you and take care of you for weeks after.”

I climbed down off the rock and turned to Jack. He scooted closer so that I stood between his legs. I placed a palm on his cheek. “You’re not responsible for your parents’ actions.”

“Neither are you.”

I cocked my head. “What do you mean?”

“You hid this from me because you were scared of hurting me. We can’t keep these things from each other.” Jack grabbed both of my hands and brought them up to his lips, then rubbed them between his own hands, warming them. “I know you’re hiding more right now.”

I pulled away from him and walked a few steps toward the bubbling stream. The forest was starting to lighten just slightly around us. Jack followed me.

“What are you so scared of?” His voice was so close I flinched.

What makes you think I’m scared?
I was sure my voice would betray me. A chill moved through me and I visibly shivered.

“Because you and I don’t keep secrets anymore. We’re beyond that.” He ran his hands down my arms. “And before you bring up how I kept your mom’s reappearance from you, save your breath. We both know I took you to see her the minute you were safely away from Sandra and the IIA. I admit I could have handled the situation better, but I know that’s not why you’re hiding things from me now.”

I turned in Jack’s arms and searched his face for reassurances—for proof that he would still love me when I revealed the true me.
 

“You’re shaking.” He continued to rub my arms up and down. “Does this have something to do with Jonas?”

“Jonas?” I didn’t understand.

“Why have you trusted him and not me?”

Was that what he thought?

Jack backed away from me, breaking contact. His face hardened. He swallowed hard, as if just realizing something for the first time. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you? That’s why he urged you to be truthful yesterday. He saw the video Sandra sent you. The two of you have grown closer. I knew it was happening.”

I shook my head. “No.” He looked away from me, toward the sky, but I reached up and forced him to look down at me again. “No, Jack. I am not in love with Jonas. The only reason he saw the video of your dad was because Sandra made sure he knew I had it, and he was the only one who could tell me the password for it.” It was just another example of Sandra trying to drive a wedge between Jack and me.

“You’re not in love with Jonas?”

I smiled. “No, I’m not. What I am is stubborn and confused and—”

“Scared.”

“Terrified.” My vision turned fuzzy from uninvited moisture. “Of so many things.”

“Of what? You can tell me.”

“Sandra told me that if I shared my birthday gift with you—that if I told you about the video she sent me—that the next gift she sent would be sent directly to you.”

“She’s manipulating us.”

I searched his eyes. “I know. But she hurts or kills everyone I love. I already hate her so much.” I said the last part through gritted teeth. I covered my heart. “It would kill me if she did anything to hurt you.”

He framed my face, rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. “She’s only doing these things to drive us apart. We’re stronger together. She knows that. Of course she would try to separate us.”

I nodded, then looked down at my feet and back up. “There’s more.” I braced for the hurt I would put in his eyes, then took a deep breath. “I gave the video that Sandra sent me to Coach. He passed it along to his FBI contacts. Your father is now wanted for questioning in the murder of my dad, and for an act of terrorism outside an airport.”

I watched Jack’s face for any changes—for any sign that this would be the end of us, because I had broken his trust in such an unforgivable way.

Jack’s silence seemed to stretch between us for hours, though surely it had been only seconds. The sounds of the rapids inches from our feet thundered in my head. Every sound of the forest—birds chirping, squirrels scrambling up the trunks of trees, leaves rustling—was magnified as I waited for Jack to yell at me for my betrayal.

Instead he wrapped his arms around me and crushed me into his chest. “I know,” he whispered. His chin rested on my head while he simply held me.

“You know?” I could barely hear my own voice. I pulled away to see his eyes. “But… how?”

“Coach called me last night. I told him you had a video that I wanted sent to the right authorities for analysis. I told him that if my father had anything to do with Peter Roslin’s death, then he needed to answer for it.”

“You told him all that?”
 

Jack nodded. “And it’s the strangest thing.” He crooked a finger under my chin and angled my face toward his. “Coach told me that it had already been turned over.”

“I’m sorry.” I tried to pull back, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Like we already agreed, you and I are not responsible for what others have done.” He smoothed out my hair, which was blowing in the morning breeze. “You and I can only control how we react, and what we choose to do with our own lives. And…” He pushed hair behind my ears. “We are responsible for each other. So please: Stop. Pushing me. Away.”

I slid my arms around his back and leaned my head into his chest. “Did you ask Coach if anything had happened back at school?”

“Yeah. Nothing. Students have been under lockdown in the tunnels under the school, and no new communications have been intercepted. He said it had been eerily quiet.”

“You find that odd?”

“Very. Coach will call us later, but he thinks maybe it was a false alarm.”

“I hope so.”

He wrapped his hand around mine and pulled me toward the large rock. Reaching down, he placed both hands around my waist and lifted me up onto the rock, then climbed up beside me. “Now lay down,” he whispered.

I did. He leaned in, and his breath warmed the skin just below my ear. I lifted my head, giving him access to my neck.

His lips grazed the sensitive skin below my hairline, and his body became a warm blanket over mine. “God, I’ve missed you.”

I allowed my hands to slip under his thick flannel shirt, where he was covered by a layer of thermal. The need for skin was too great, so I pulled at the hem tucked into his pants until my hands found skin.

He flinched at first. Raising his head, he revealed the smile there. “Your hands are cold.”

I giggled. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he whispered with a smile against my mouth. He tilted his head one way, then the other, before he finally pressed his lips against mine.

My hands roamed his back, slowly warming to the temperature of his skin as he deepened the kiss with slow, mounting pressure. He pulled back and studied my eyes, then brushed his fingers along my hairline and let them float down to the zipper of my jacket next to my neck. Slowly, he unzipped the fleece and let his hand wander down the side of my body, stopping at my waist, never once taking his eyes off of mine.

“Jack,” I said softly.

His thumb roamed over my ribcage, and I about lost all concentration for what I wanted to say. “Mmm?” He kissed the corner of my lips.

“I’m really sorry.” I played with the straw-colored hair that lay across his forehead. “I never meant to give you the impression that I didn’t trust you. I know that you and I are way past that.”

“I believe you.” He kissed me again.

I placed my full hand on his cheek. “Jack, I’m serious.”

“I know you are.” He leaned into my touch, then lowered his head to smile against my neck.

“I’m just so worried that—”

Lifting his head again, he placed a finger on my lips. “I know. Sandra is a threat. A real threat. But right now, we’re the only two who matter. No one else. You and me. And I have you all to myself for a very short period of time.”

I also had more to tell him. But he was right. None of our worries were going anywhere while we were in the middle of the forest. And we did have a rare moment alone.

Finally, I smiled and let him resume his exploration of my lips and my body. He shifted us so that he was on his back and I was on top of him. My right leg fit perfectly between his as I lay across his chest. I leaned down and covered his lips with mine. When I sucked his lower lip in gently, his hand fisted in my hair, sending shockwaves through my chest and stomach.

I didn’t know how long we stayed like that before we finally settled in, and I fell asleep with my head tucked in the crook of his shoulder.

~~~~~

“What the hell, Lexi?”
 

The sound of Jonas’s voice made me jump. I lifted my head to see him rushing at us.

Jack looked down at me. He was disoriented, as was I. Just waking up, and it being just barely past dawn, made Jonas’s yelling seem all that more harsh.

I shifted so that I could climb down off of the rock. Jack followed. I smiled when I saw how tousled Jack’s clothes were.
You should tuck your shirt in.

After glancing down, Jack returned the grin.

As Jonas got closer, I could sense anger coming off of him in waves. Jack stuck out a hand to slow him. “Hey. Take it easy.”

“Take it easy?” Jonas’s chest rose and fell in fast movement. “I just got off the phone with Seth.”

I crossed my arms across my chest. “Yes, and he told you that your lovely mother sent me another video.”

Jack turned on me.

“What? I was getting to it. I can only confess one thing at a time.” I glared at Jonas.
Nice job, idiot.

“Just because the two of you seem to have made up doesn’t mean you get a get-out-of-jail-free card. You should have told us about this the minute you saw us yesterday.”

“When? Before or after you drugged and kidnapped me? If I’m in jail, it’s because you guys”—I pointed at the two of them—“put me there.”

At that, Jonas’s lips lifted in a grin.
 

Asshole
, I directed at Jonas. Then to Jack,
Or would you have liked for me to have stopped our “make-up” session?

Jack tilted his head side to side, weighing the choices. “What was on this video? Would it give us a hint as to why someone might be going after Lexi?”

“The opposite, really.” I placed a hand on Jack’s arm. “First, are we okay?”

He wrapped an arm around my neck and leaned in to kiss my hair.
We’re more than okay.
“How much are you still hiding, though?”

Jonas rubbed his hands across his face. A low growl escaped.

“I’m not hiding anything else on purpose. The video Jonas is referring to just happened. Ten minutes before you stuck me with a needle.”

“So, spill it,” Jack ordered.

My jaw hardened slightly. “It would be better if I showed you. It’s on my computer. I think everyone needs to see it.”

Jonas led the way, and Jack held my hand as we hiked the short distance back to camp.

When we got back to the campsite, I dug through my backpack, pulled out the laptop, and handed it to Jonas. “It’s a good thing I had this with me when you decided to kidnap me.”

The weight of a hundred elephants sat on my chest as the group crowded around my laptop, watching the video Sandra sent me. I stood in the back, gnawing on my cuticles.

Jack pulled my hand away from my mouth and slipped his fingers into mine, tugging me closer to him.
I’m sorry. This is what you were dealing with when I drugged you and packed you up for a day of hiking?

It’s okay.
I squeezed his hand. I tried not to think about the fact that my boyfriend felt the need to drug me in order to get me out of town to talk to him. In a way, he probably saved me from myself in the process. Besides, we probably needed to fight it out to get back on track. Stubbornness never got us anywhere.

It’s not okay. We’re supposed to help each other.

And we will. Starting again, now,
I mindspoke.

Jack’s facial expression turned grim when we got to the part where Sandra explained that she had produced a clone of Dani.

He turned to me.
Does she realize what she’s done?

I had no idea how to answer Jack’s question. The hate in my heart was growing with each interaction I had with Sandra, or Maya, or with anyone who had contributed to the operation that the IIA was seemingly funding.

“Why is she doing this?” Briana asked, staring straight ahead, when the video ended.

Kyle stood and kicked one of the backpacks. His face reddened. “She can’t get away with this.”

Dia and Lin, who shared a log directly in front of the laptop, remained extremely quiet.