The Storm That Is Sterling (22 page)

Something about the possessive caveman way he made that declaration had her darn near trembling with need. “Take me there,” she said, and almost laughed at the pun. He lifted her from the table and took her hand, leading her to the door when his cell phone rang. A soft curse slid past his lips as he fished it out of his pocket—a different phone than she’d seen him use in the past.

“I have to take this,” he said, leaning against the door and pulling her close as he answered, as if he couldn’t stand the idea of letting her go. She loved that feeling, and she curled into him, her hand on his chest… her lips on his neck.

Becca heard the muffled sound of a male voice before Sterling tensed. She leaned back, noting the instant strain etched in his face.

“What’s the address?” he asked, then a few seconds later, “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

He snapped the phone shut and surprised her by pulling her close and kissing her. “That’s in case you decide you don’t want me to kiss you anymore when I get back.” He set her away from him and charged toward the cabinet, removing supplies.

Like that could happen. “Back from where? What’s happening?”

“That was the Vegas PD, or rather, my informant,” he said, grabbing an army backpack from the coatrack and filling it with the supplies.

“You have an informant in the Vegas PD?”

“Young guy with a sick mom to take care of,” he said. “I pay him. He helps me save the world. It works for us.” He shoved the bag over his shoulder. “We have another potential ICE fatality. We’re struggling with the government’s incomplete medical records. I’m going to do my best to bring back the body. At the very least get blood samples. But I have to move now. The military has alerts set up with emergency networks for anything that resembles an ICE reaction. It won’t take long for them to seize control of the patient.” He started toward the door.

Becca followed. “I’m going with you.”

He shook his head. “Oh no,” he said, his tone uncompromising. “You aren’t going. It’s too dangerous. Adam’s after you. You know this.”

“There are things I might notice about the patient that you won’t,” she argued. “We don’t have much time to figure out this puzzle, Sterling. I have to be there. I have to use this opportunity to figure out what we’re missing.”

“Even if I would consider it and I won’t, I have to wind-walk to get there before the military.”

Desperation rose in her. This could be important. Critical. Their only hope. “Can’t you transport me?”

“Transporting humans comes with the risk of death.”

Urgently, she made her case. “I’m not like all humans. I’m not even like all ICE users. We’ve proven that. We can’t risk missing something. You have to take me. I’ll be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You don’t know I won’t. One life, my life, versus the country. You know there’s no choice here. I need to go with you. We’re wasting time debating.” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go.” He hesitated and she added, “I’m going to die anyway. I get to choose how. And I choose to do it saving lives.”

He held his footing, cursed, and ran a hand through his hair. “I must be insane for considering this.”

That was as close to a yes as she was going to get, and Becca acted on it. She rushed to the cabinet and grabbed some extra supplies before hurrying back to Sterling and handing them to him. “Put those in your bag.”

He gave her a brooding stare. “I swear,” he grumbled, “I’ve never known a woman who pulled my strings the way you do.”

Thinking about what Caleb had said about his brother, she tilted her chin upward and repeated his words. “I take that as a compliment.”

Sterling took her hand and pulled her with him. A smile touched her lips at his resignation. She was about to wind-walk, and she was excited about it, not one bit scared. Seemed these days she was dying to live. Or maybe living to die. Either way—she was ready to get that sample.

***

Less than a minute later, invisible strands of wind slipped inside Neon as the steel security doors opened. Sterling pulled Becca close, struggling for several seconds over his decision to take her with him. He might not often do the expected, but he wasn’t one for doing the stupid either. Taking Becca with him was somewhere in the middle of those two things, probably leaning toward stupid. But he wasn’t exactly big on time for debate right now. This opportunity would come and go while he tied his shoe and kicked the sand, if he let it.

“I’ll be fine,” Becca said, touching his cheek, as if reading his hesitation, or maybe his thoughts. “Let’s just go before we lose this patient.”

Incredible. Unfreaking believable, in fact. Becca didn’t seem the least bit scared. Didn’t seem to have the concept that wind-walking could be deadly to a human. Sometime between the cancer and this hell with Adam, she’d developed an unnatural tolerance to fear.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Sterling grabbed a hold of Becca and a little faith along with her—seemed he was reaching for that more and more lately. He hit the button to seal the doors, and then faded into the wind.

Sterling and Becca materialized in a narrow alley to the right of the Magnolia Resort.

Urgently, Sterling inspected Becca, his hands framing her face. “Are you okay?”

She blinked and refocused. “Yes. I’m fine.” Her eyes lit, little wisps of raven hair fluttering over his fingers, scenting the air with fresh, sweet female. “That was so absolutely amazing.” She glanced around. “Where are we?”

“We never materialize out in the open,” he said, grabbing her hand, on the move toward the end of the alley now that he knew she was safe. Pausing at the corner, he said, “You’re my new assistant. Everyone in this town knows me as a ‘for hire’ bounty hunter, whatever brings in cash. You’re in the field to learn the ropes. End of story—say no more.” He didn’t wait for a response. They were on a ticking clock here.

Sterling led her into the open and immediately spotted the EMS truck parked at the service door of Magnolia Resort. Marcus’s resort. Marcus was sure to have questions about Sterling showing up right when an ICE Clanner crashed inside his club. But hell, Sterling’s life had been one long series of difficult questions. He could handle a couple dozen more. Confrontation was the name of the game. He played it well.

“Score one for Eddie again,” Sterling whispered as they walked toward the truck.

“Eddie?” Becca queried.

Sterling motioned to the plainclothes cop striding in their direction, the one who looked like the type of guy women called a “Teddy Bear”—young, with a buzz cut, and a husky build. “Eddie’s the informant I told you about.”

“It took you long enough,” Eddie said, meeting them just past the scurry of curious bystanders. “They’re wheeling the dude this way now, and he doesn’t look good.” He glanced at Becca. “Hi.” Then back at Sterling. “Attending a death-by-ICE ritual isn’t exactly what I’d call good date strategy, Ster.”

Sterling grimaced with hidden amusement. Eddie was a funny guy when he wanted to be. “She’s my assistant.” Getting to the point, he said. “What do you know about the user?”

“Twenty-seven,” he said. “A dealer—as in cards, not ICE, though he could be both. Don’t know much yet. He’s worked for the casino for a year, and for your information man, those two guys you called me about—the Clanners you wanted me to track by their driver’s licenses—they haven’t been home since you called me, as in MIA. But interesting detail—they worked at one of Magnolia’s sister properties. Could be a connection. I’ll follow up. Right now, you don’t have time for trivial pursuit. The EMS guys already radioed the hospital. I wouldn’t be surprised if the army showed up any minute now. If you have any hope of asking this guy questions, you’d better find a way inside that ambulance, and do it now.”

“Wait,” Becca said. “He’s alive? I thought he was dead.”

“Barely hanging on,” Eddie said and dug in his pocket to remove a small brown bag. “Vials of ICE, and now you owe me big.”

Sterling and Becca shared a relieved look.

“That look says you owe me even bigger,” Eddie added. “And on that note, I’m getting lost. I don’t want to be seen with you. Good luck. Sterling’s a royal pain in the ass.”

Becca glanced at Sterling, her amber eyes twinkling. “You have a way of bringing out the love in people.”

“It’s a gift,” he said, as Eddie disappeared into the crowd.

The EMS workers wheeled the stretcher out of the building at a fast run. “Show’s on, sweetheart. Here’s the plan. Rush toward the EMS guys, and throw some frantic emotions out there when you do. Tell them the Clanner is your brother, and make sure you get in that ambulance with him.” He shrugged off his backpack and gave it to her. “I’ll go to the front seat and make sure they don’t stop you from drawing blood and doing your examination. Once it’s done, we wind-walk the hell out of here. Anything goes wrong, same plan. We wind-walk the hell out of here.”

Becca nodded, her face flushed. The EMS people approached. She waited until just the right moment.

“That’s my brother!” she yelled, and Sterling watched her do a number on the emergency crew. Sweet. She was good at the fake frantic stuff. He frowned. Okay. Not so sweet. A fizzle of unease rushed through him. He didn’t want to consider Becca might be deceiving him, but she’d been a little too certain she could survive wind-walking… as if she knew. Every instinct he owned screamed he trust her. No, he realized. Becca was like him. She’d become immune to the possibility of death, a realization that tore at his gut. He didn’t want that for her.

He shook off the thought as Becca jumped into the EMS truck. Sterling made his way to the passenger’s side door. The minute the engine started, he yanked open the door and was inside.

“Hey!” barked the driver, a middle-aged man with dark hair sprinkled with gray.

Sterling pointed a Glock at him. “Hey, back at ya.” He ripped the radio out of the dash, as he ordered, “Drive to the hospital so we can save this man’s life.”

The driver put the vehicle in gear and took them onto the road.

“What the hell is going on up there?” A male yelled from the back, a moment before a short, stocky man with a buzz cut appeared.

Sterling pointed a gun at him. “What’s going on is you’re going to allow the woman in the back to do whatever testing she needs to do. And you’re going to help her. So go help.” He raised his voice. “How you coming back there, Becca?”

“I need you back here!”

“Go help her,” Sterling ordered, following the man to the back where he joined another paramedic directly across from Becca.

“He’s dead,” Becca said, her face pale, her hand on her stomach.

No sooner did she make that announcement than the truck came to a screeching halt. Everyone jerked forward and backward again. Curses flew—supplies along with them.

Sterling was in the front of the vehicle in a flash, and he spewed a few curses of his own when he saw what had caused them to stop. Army jeeps. Three of them. And what was in front would be in back.

He returned to the back and bent down next to Becca. “The minute the doors open, we’re gone.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she said, “but we need the body for our research team.”

“The body!” one of the paramedics exclaimed. “You’re going to steal the body?” He made a move for the back door.

Sterling aimed his Glock. “I like shooting guns,” he said. “Give me an excuse to shoot this one.” The man eased back to a sitting position about the time Sterling heard the front doors open.

“I can’t take him and you,” Sterling said, hating that he wasn’t like the other wind-walkers in that moment, that he had limitations the others did not. “One at a time.”

“Take him, and come back for me,” she said. “We can’t risk losing this body. We need it.”

“Not a chance in hell,” he said as the back doors flew open, and Sterling grabbed Becca.

They reappeared inside Neon, and he handed her the remote, saying, “I told you I’d make choices to keep you alive, and I meant it. Wait inside.” He faded into the wind.

Sterling materialized inside that EMS vehicle to find himself staring at three machine guns—one held by a familiar face—Lieutenant Riker, the ICE task force leader he worked with often. They respected each other, but they were far from friends. Riker motioned to his soldiers to stand down the instant he saw Sterling and then stalked forward.

“What the fuck are you doing, Sterling?” He eyed the EMS techs. “Get out.”

The men scrambled out of the vehicle as Sterling replied, “Same thing as you, jackass. Saving the world one dumb-ass at a time.”

“News bulletin,” Riker said. “This one died. You failed.”

“He might still be alive if we had the medical data to let our team do their job,” he said.

Riker leaned forward. “Your medical staff has an open invitation to join ours.”

“To become yours, you mean,” Sterling corrected. “And you know, as I do, that’s not going to happen. You can’t have it both ways. Use us for protection, and lurk around for the chance to stab us in the back.”

“I’m a soldier just like you,” Riker said. “Taking orders.”

“Like I
was
,” Sterling said. “The government doesn’t own me anymore like they do you. What happens when they decide to inject the new and improved whatever-it-might-be into you, Riker? What happens when they turn
you
into the enemy?”