Twice as Hot (6 page)

“I’ve
talked to Rome some more, explained who you are to him,” John said. “At first
he thought I was doing some sort of test, trying to gauge his reactions. But
there at the end he accepted what I was saying as truth. That didn’t change his
mind about you, though. You’re a stranger to him. A…nothing, much as I hate to
say it. I’d lock you guys in a room, force you to talk it out, but a simple
conversation or even a knock-down-drag-out fight isn’t going to fix this. His
memory of you is gone, which means his feelings for you are, too.”

I
nodded for him to continue, though I hated his every word. Sadly, everything
he’d said I had already figured out.

“The
man Lexis saw jump inside Rome’s body, well, we think he was a memory eraser.”

“That
would explain why I lost some of my memories, too,” Cody said.

I
stopped pacing for a moment and gaped at him. “You don’t remember the man, but
you do remember me.”

Two
damn days had passed since Rome had woken up and looked at me like I was a
strange horned alien. Two damn days of John promising to learn more, to provide
me with new information but getting nothing. Finally, I’d called this meeting
because—my hands fisted at my sides—Rome had been released. Physically, he was
fine and yeah, he’d been quite vocal about getting back to work. But had he
come home to the woman he was supposed to cherish for eternity? No! He’d
remained on the premises to be close to Lexis. God Almighty, that still hurt.

“Besides
that,” I added through clenched teeth, “Rome remembers Lexis.” The way they’d
comforted each other those first few moments after he’d woken up…my hurt
sharpened around the edges, slicing me so deeply I knew I’d bear the internal
scars for eternity. “Why doesn’t he remember
me?
”

From
the corner of my eye, I saw Lexis peer down at the floor, perhaps hoping to
hide her smugness. Lately, she wore it like a cloak.

Tanner,
bless his heart, looked ready to bitchslap her.

“Belle,
listen to me.” John’s eyes were like lasers as they pinned me in place. “I’ve
spoken with him at length. I think the memories of you were somehow tangled
with his memories of the man who attacked him and when one was taken, the other
was dragged along for the ride.”

My
stomach twisted into itself, squeezing, churning. “No way. No damn way that’s
what happened. One, there’s no reason good enough to make me believe every
single memory he had of me was tied to that case. Two, memories or not, Rome
should feel
something
when he looks at me. Something besides disdain,
that is.” More than not remembering me, he seemed to hate me and I didn’t know
why. If I was a stranger to him, why show me such hostility?

John
splayed his arms. “Fine. You’re right. I was grasping, trying to buy time to
sort this out before you cause some kind of disaster.”

“You
want to avert a disaster? Give me something helpful!”

A
moment passed before he said pointedly, “There’s only one sure way to find out
what really happened.”

I
knew that. All I had to do was find the man responsible and ask him—before I
burned him alive. Or froze him. Or buried him in a mound of dirt. Maybe a combo
of all three. The nice thing about having power over the four elements was that
I had a smorgasbord of choices when it came to torture.

Rome
would not like these thoughts, young lady. They’re violent, and that isn’t like
my sweet baby Belle.

Uh,
what was my dad doing inside my head?

Didn’t
matter, I supposed.
I need you, Daddy.
I wanted to crawl into his lap
and rest my head on his shoulder like I’d done every time a boy had broken up
with me in junior high (not that I’d had many boyfriends back then, ugly
duckling that I’d been). He was a big teddy bear and when his arms were wrapped
around me, I felt invincible. Not helpless and alone and tormented.

“I’m
sure you’ve already done this, but if not, send a team back into the
warehouse,” I told John. “Have them search every inch and bring us everything
they find. A scrap of paper, a twig, doesn’t matter. We need everything.” Dr.
Roberts, the scientist who had infected me with my superpowers, had hidden his
“magic” formula on wooden floor planks, the ink invisible until I’d frozen
them, causing some sort of chemical reaction. If he’d taught me anything, it
was to dig beneath the surface. I’d use my powers on every grain of dirt
brought to me if necessary. Anything to help Rome.

John
glared at me. “What am I? An idiot? Of course I’ve already sent a team to the
warehouse. They’re bagging and tagging every speck of dust as we speak.”

“Good.”

“I
wasn’t done. Furthermore,” he continued, “we’ll see if I allow you to go
through the evidence. You’re not objective where Rome is concerned, and let’s
face it, your abilities have been more unstable than usual lately.”

“That’s
because—”

A
hard rap suddenly reverberated throughout the room, saving me from having to
defend myself. I whipped around, my heart stuttering to a stop. Maybe Rome had
remembered me. Maybe he was here, searching for me. I licked my lips, once
again barely able to stand still.

Behind
me, I heard a rustle of clothes. John must have pressed the enter button,
because the door slid open.

A
uniformed guard stepped inside, a protesting Sherridan dragged behind him. My
hope burned to ash, leaving a hollow chasm of disappointment in its wake.

“I
caught her wandering the halls, sir,” the guard said. “What would you like me
to do with her?”

“She’s
with me,” I said on a sigh. “Let her go.”

She
spotted me and stilled, her anger fading to relief. “Oh, thank God I found you.
I can’t believe you left me sleeping at home.”

No,
I’d left her wallowing in her Happy Place. Again.

“I
got tired of waiting for you to return, so thought I’d do you a solid, hunt you
down and allow you to give me some answers.
Most
of the security guards
here are nice, by the way. They recognized me and wanted to help. Which isn’t
asking too much,” she threw at the one still holding her. Before I could
comment on how sweet she was to “allow” me to give her answers, her eyes
scanned the room, and she added, “Hey, Tanner. You look as tense as those
Marines we saw on those commercials. It’s hawt.”

“Thanks,”
Tanner replied.

Her
gaze continued to shift before stopping abruptly and narrowing. “Lexis, I wish
I could say you look hawt, as well, but you don’t. Actually, the sight of you
sickens me.”

That
made two of us.

Lexis
brushed an invisible piece of lint from her shirt as if she hadn’t a care.

“Let
her go,” I repeated to the guard.

Bastard
waited for John’s nod before releasing his charge.

“Yeah,
that’s right.” Scowling at him, Sherridan rubbed her arm. “You better release
me or you’ll feel the wrath of Wonder Girl.”

Wonder
Girl, another of Rome’s nicknames for me. My chin trembled.

Before
John could tell me to tell her to beat feet, I said, “She’s now a member of my
team. Let her stay. Please,” I added to placate him.

He
opened his mouth to protest.

“I
need her. She’ll keep me calm since Rome can’t.” Or wouldn’t. “And don’t tell
me Tanner can do it. Like you said, I’m more unstable than usual. I need all
the help I can get.”

Rome
had once told me I had hair-trigger emotions. And he’d said it with affection,
the sweetie, as if it was part of my charm.
Oh, God. Rome.
Tears burned
my eyes, and a raindrop splashed from the ceiling.

“See!”
I croaked to John. “I need help.” I had to stop reacting like this, charming to
Rome or not. It wasn’t healthy for me, and it wasn’t good for the case.

“We
need her, John,” Tanner said. What he meant was,
I
needed her. But he
loved me enough to fight for me. I wanted to hug him.

Several
minutes ticked by in silence as John mulled things over. He was a pros and cons
man; in this case there were probably more cons. Sherridan wasn’t trained for
covert missions or even combat (to be honest, neither was I) and would
therefore be in danger. Everywhere we went. She might even place
us
in
danger. But keeping me composed
was
important.

“Lexis?”
he finally said.

“She’ll
survive, she’ll even aid,” was all Lexis said, though her tone was curt.

John
nodded, satisfied. “Fine. She stays.”

As
happy as I was that John had just relented, I refused to be grateful to Lexis
for her part in it.

“Have
a seat, Miss Smith. Nothing you hear goes beyond this room. Understand?”

“Yeah,
hello. I’ve seen this movie.”

Such
disrespect. She’d learn. As for John, I wasn’t surprised he knew her name, even
though I’d never introduced them before. John knew everything. Everything
except why the love of my life no longer knew who I was.

“Wow.
The inner sanctum. Never thought I’d be allowed here.” Sherridan’s shoulders
were squared proudly as she scanned the spacious office, probably noting the
expensive oak desk, the plaques on the walls and the massive bookshelves. “Hey,
there’s not a chair for me.”

“You
can sit in my lap,” Tanner said. “You know you’re always welcome there.”

I
blinked in surprise. That had sounded like the old Tanner, the Tanner I knew
and adored. Was he finally healing? Or was this an act for Lexis’s benefit?
Either way, I was proud of him.

Lexis
stiffened. Cody frowned.

“Best
seat in the house.” Sherridan grinned and plopped herself on Tanner’s lap.
“Someone catch me up.”

I
did, and her expression of sympathy nearly undid me, thereby completely
obliterating my claim to John that she calmed me down. Somehow, I maintained a
neutral facade, my tears drying.
I’ll do whatever it takes to remind Rome of
our love. This is just a minor setback.

“Here’s
the game plan,” John said, taking over. “There are twelve victims of Pretty Boy
and Desert Gal’s cruelty currently in lockup. Divide them up, interview them
and compare notes. And be careful. The guy who hurt Rome may not be the only
scrim found in those cages. It was wrong of us to assume they were all
innocent. No telling who the bastard had in there.”

“I’ll
interview Rome,” I said firmly. He wasn’t in lockup, but he was a victim of
cruelty.

“
I
will interview Rome,” Lexis countered, her determination clear.

Uh,
what now?

“I
will,” she repeated. “He’d want me to, I know it.”

Oh,
no, no, no. Hell, no. She still loved him, the truth was there in her emerald
eyes, and she hoped to win him back—which was the real reason she’d dumped
Tanner, I realized.

Ho.
Ly. Shit.

The
truth slammed into me, and I sputtered for air. God, I was stupid. I should
have seen this. I wasn’t a psychic, but I damn well should have seen this. All
along, she’d known this would happen. Not because she’d dreamed it; she hadn’t.
Despite her earlier assertion, she couldn’t see the past. She only saw the
future. She’d simply wanted to cover her tracks. She’d known this would happen
and she hadn’t warned me. She hadn’t warned Rome. She’d let him walk into that
warehouse completely unaware. Just to win him back.

That…that…There
wasn’t a name vile enough for what she was. How was that for love?

I
opened my mouth to scream at her, maybe shoot a little fire.

“He
remembers me,” she said, cutting off any tirade I’d planned. Her chin lifted a
notch. “He’s more likely to tell me what he knows.”

True.
And the knowledge destroyed me. Well, more than I already was. “You’re not
going near him. You knew this would happen, you bitch, and you did nothing to
stop it.”

“No,”
she said, violently shaking her head. “That’s not true. John, you have to
believe me.”

A
muscle ticked below his eye, but he remained silent. He needed both of us,
couldn’t afford to anger either of us, so he was taking the coward’s way out.

Not
me. To help Lexis understand the depths of my determination to keep her away
from Rome, I braced my legs apart and spread my fingers at my sides. Unleashing
the hot tongues of my fury just then was not a problem. They swam in my blood
and licked down my arms, catching fire at my fingernails. My eyes narrowed on
her, red spots forming. “Just try to keep me away from him and see what
happens.”

She
was shaking a little, but she jumped to her feet in challenge. We faced off.

“Viper,”
Tanner said. A warning. “You’re edging too close to total meltdown. Not that I
mind your target, but still.”

Lexis’s
expression hardened.

“Calm
down, Belle,” Cody said. “Please.”

The
“please” didn’t faze me this time.

“Kick
her ass!” Sherridan whooped. “Send her back to hell.”