Virtually His (14 page)

“I wonder whether they suffer from any ill effects,” Armando interrupted offhandedly. “They could have taken a Tiny Alice pill and might be walking around looking at a huge, frightening world.”

There was a pause as those in attendance shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Helen supposed everyone was probably wondering whether that was what was happening to Armando Chang. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it yet, but she had a feeling she would be learning a lot more about the unfathomable commando in the near future.

“We’re taking every precaution to make this as safe as possible,” Dr. Vaughn assured from the other side of the table. “Our V-program works. V2 will be just as successful.”

“V2. SYMBIOS 2. I’m beginning to get an inferiority complex,” Helen drawled. Her joke succeeded in distracting the group as they became more focused on each step of the mission.

By the end of the hour, everyone was satisfied they had all the details of the operation. Most of it would have to wait till after Helen’s session. That was Dr. Kirkland’s project, the integration of VR and remote viewing. The challenge was to race against time and skepticism. Helen appreciated that no one at the meeting had voiced any disbelief about remote viewing. She had faced some tough grilling at some of the other departments. But that was why GEM had approved its partnership with COS Command Center. Covert and subversive operations covered everything and anything.

There was a hint of anticipation in the air at the end of the meeting. That no one there knew the specified location, and that the success of the operation depended on someone they hadn’t worked with was a challenge. To follow her guesswork and believe her orders after that was an even bigger challenge because this would involve using operations high-tech transportation and manpower. The coordinates of the location had been sealed in an envelope, its location a secret until the end of the operation. Everything depended on the candidate. If Helen Roston failed, hundreds of thousands of dollars would go down the drain.

Helen was well aware of this, yet felt strangely relaxed. As she shook hands with her operation coworkers, Armando Chang spoke softly in her ear.

“Great show. Wrong question, though, Helen.”

She turned, surprised. She hadn’t seen him making his way to her. These commandos could move fast. “What’s the wrong question?”

“It’s what the drugs do to you, not for you.” His dark eyes glittered secretively. “But the crown is now yours, and what treasure there is.”

“Illusion is part of a GEM operative’s skills.” She picked up his cloak and passed it to him. “You aren’t scaring me with that insane act, Chang.”

A corner of his lips lifted derisively. “Damn. Call me later and we can meet, and I can correct this problem. Fear is…oh, I forget. You won’t be feeling that.” He barked out a short laugh. “But you might still need me for other things. Remember—assimilation and synthesis. Only I’ll understand what you’ll be going through…if you’re really as good as they say, Hell.”

“Oh, I’m good. You should watch me disappear sometime,” she quipped.

Armando gave her an amused smile. “I’m not crazy, I’m just a little impaired,” he sang softly before turning away.

Helen stared at his departing back before glancing down at the tiny electronic communication card he had slipped into her hand. She pivoted and came up against T.

“We need to talk,” T. said.

“You don’t say,” Helen drawled. A thought had flashed in her mind when Armando sang that lyric. Might her monitor be one of these COS commandos?

H
e watched T. turning her favorite ring round and round as she sat there quietly watching the wound in his left arm being stitched by a medic. Dry blood caked parts of his chest.

Another exceptionally dangerous woman. He smiled at her, tilting his head to one side enquiringly. Flirting with T. was hazardous, but he enjoyed it. Both as a man and as an opponent.

“She had questions about Armando’s act,” T. said, getting up.

“She thinks it’s an act, then?” He’d been watching the young man since he became the newest member of the commandos. An asset with baggage. But who wasn’t? “You brought him here, T.,” he added, reminding her with gentle mockery.

The medic cut the thread. T. pulled the wet towel from the medical tray, walked over and handed it to him. “Hell is a trained mind probe.”

He noticed that she’d ignored his dig about Armando. “Better than you?” he asked, ignoring the offered towel.

She accepted his silent challenge, her amber-gold eyes gleaming with humor. She came closer. Her strokes were slow and sure as she wiped off the dried blood. “She’s more intuitive than me,” she said, “and she follows her instincts very naturally when she starts a session. She gets the information she needs more quickly than most.”

“Do you think she will probe Armando for answers?” T. arched her eyebrows delicately. “Is your blood red?” She paused in the middle of wiping. “You have to stop it.”

He smiled again, amused. “How, with a spell? Perhaps Armando can take care of himself. Tess, things aren’t always what they seem, you know that.”

“Yes, but his act’s making some people nervous, darling. I find it amusing but the more extreme it becomes, the more likely it’ll put people in dangerous situations.”

She laid the soiled towel on the side of the tray and picked up a clean dry one, handing it to him. He took it this time, and waved away the offer of a Band-Aid from the medic. “We’ll have to be extra careful, then,” he said. He turned to the medic and added, “Thank you. I can take care of everything else.”

He knew T. was waiting for them to be alone. As usual, she took her time getting to her point, priming her target with suggestions. She didn’t need to do that with him but she did, anyway, and they both enjoyed the exercise. It was a game, one that most people wouldn’t take up. One slip, and the loser gave away a lot of secrets. And when it came to T. and him, the stakes in secrets were high. But their enjoyment was private and mutual. And a secret between them.

“Armando isn’t really needed in the operations.”

“All the commandos are needed sooner or later, T.”

“Hell’s getting mixed messages about the serum. It might not be good for the situation.”

“I’m satisfied with the situation.” T. walked over to a dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out a folded shirt. She flapped it open, then put it against her body. “You just like to play with everyone’s mind, that’s your problem.”

Here it comes.
“And you don’t?” His lips curled up in mockery.

T. laughed. “Darling, we’re two of a kind but I sometimes wonder whether that’s good for the operations.”

He strode toward her. “You fit in here, Tess.” He ran a finger lightly on the shirt hanging loosely against her. “You know I wanted you…for this experiment.”

“Don’t flirt, darling…you’re afraid of Hell,” T. said, realization dawning in her voice. “What did you two do during the VR session, hmmm? Besides learning how to communicate?”

“Just like when you’re in the CAVE with me,” he replied smoothly. So this was what T. was after. Hell was keeping things close to her chest. “Learning to communicate.”

T. laughed again. “I cannot see what an imaginary figure programmed to look like a blond Greek god with a rather large protrusion could be communicating about with one of my best operatives.” She dropped the shirt. He caught it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she added, “I know you. You can’t resist a complex woman with secrets. That’s always been your weakness. You’ve always flirted with me, and you’re totally without rules in the CAVE, even with me, but the challenge here’s different, isn’t it? Hell’s giving you a run for your money, isn’t she?”

He, too, could evade when he chose. “You don’t have to look so smug about it, Tess. No one can give me a runaround like you do with all your different personas, you know that. You’ve practiced all of them on me, so I know how potent you are in real life.”

He slipped on the shirt, buttoning it with one hand. T. took a step closer. He didn’t mind her testing him so deliberately. After all, he’d done the same when he’d first met her. Looking for that kink in a dangerous woman was his thing. And he now knew what T.’s was. He’d never use it against her. Unless necessary.

Of course she was aware of having been exposed. And like a woman, she was determined to find his Achilles’ heel. The tension between them brought into sharp focus how much he wanted Helen. With T., it was just a matter of male fun and female ego; with Helen, the temptation to go deeper was a constant ache. And this was just in virtual reality. In the flesh…he had an idea he would give in to temptation very quickly.

“A mysterious and elusive man, uncatchable like a shadow,” T. said, the tone of her voice soft and sexy, the one she probably used when she was going in for the kill. “Only a shadow tends to lurk close by. You play with the light and dark until one’s never sure whether you’re really truly here.”

He chose to attack first. He lifted a lock of her hair and twined it around his finger. He tugged at it. “Tess, Tasha, Talia…who can compete with you?”

“You can’t distract me, my evasion expert. I know exactly what you’re doing, countering my probing. Tell me what you’re doing with Helen, darling.” She arched a teasing eyebrow. “And don’t try to make me jealous. That thing she had enlarged on your anatomy was impressive-looking.”

He tugged harder at the tendril around his finger, bringing her face closer. “What is it you want to know?”

“Her performance.”

“She hasn’t done anything yet.”

“Is she adapting well?”

“She knows her mind better than you.”

“Can she handle the serum?”

“We’ll know very soon, won’t we?”

“Does she get along with you enough to trust you?”

“That remains to be seen.” T. affected a frown. “Hmm. It sounds like you two are getting along famously.”

“How so?”

She ran a light fingernail down the row of buttons on his shirt. “She doesn’t like to talk about herself. Likewise with you. So, with the unexpected twist that your brain wave happens to be compatible with hers…I can imagine the big surprise you two are going to get soon.”

Her answer raised his interest a notch. “And what’s that?” he asked, eyeing her slender fingers teasing his shirtfront.

She smiled. “Darling, you’ll know very soon, won’t you?” She stepped back, her small teeth biting her lower lip.

He released her hair. As usual, it was fun while it lasted. “Don’t probe my mind and I won’t probe yours.” He smiled back at her. They’d both gotten a bit of information about their object of interest. He’d have to read up on the brain wave synchronicity.

“Darling, sometimes you’re much too tempting.”

Helen thought about the Portal as she bobbed lazily in the pool. This was it. Time for action. She had worked her butt off all these months for this moment. This would be the first time to share her experience with someone…if it worked. She frowned. She didn’t even know the man who was her monitor, and already he was sitting heavily in her mind.

What would he think of her if he “saw” the things she did? And what exactly was he there for besides to act as an anchor? There had to be more but Helen couldn’t come up with an answer yet. There hadn’t been enough time to probe his mind. She sensed another agenda, and yeah, it tasted of danger.

He had tested her and freely admitted that there was more to the contract. And what did he mean when he said he needed the trigger code in case things went wrong? How could he interfere with a remote viewer when he wasn’t one?

So many questions, and all about one man, some of which had nothing to do with this contract. They had more to do with her feminine curiosity. He had spiked her interest, this voice in her mind.

It wasn’t even his real voice—she had chosen the Southern twang—yet there was an underlying seduction in it that was all his. She shook her head. She was a GEM operative, trained in mind control and covert tactics. She had to ignore the temptation and the challenge this self-created avatar presented and try to understand the man behind it. The idea of someone watching her doing her job in detail was unnerving. Trust. Could she really trust this man?

A noise disturbed her reverie. She looked up. It was one of
them.
The big silent guy, she called him, because he was big and he hadn’t spoken a word to her ever.

He was built like an ancient warrior, sculpted muscles with a strange pattern tattooed on his chest and back. He had long, black hair and the blackest pair of eyes she’d ever seen. In fact, he looked so exotic that she always half expected him to walk in wearing some kind of armor—chain mail would look perfect on him—with some big sharp weapon by his side. And he enjoyed getting into the pool and racing her, even though he never said it. They’d just race silently, every time. She’d never been able to beat him. She told herself that it was because he always came in after she’d done some strenuous swimming. One day…one day, she would win.

Today wasn’t the day. She had to take it easy. Instead, she lazily swam up and down her lane, ignoring him. But she could feel him swimming alongside, keeping the same slow pace, feel his dark glance on her. Normally, that would challenge her into trying to make him talk to her, but today, it felt strangely comfortable, like he was there to just keep an eye on her.

Keep an eye on her.
She snuck a glance at him. His expression didn’t reveal anything.

What if—she looked at the man again—her monitor had dark eyes and dark, dark hair? What if that was why the big guy didn’t speak to her? Maybe he was afraid she would catch some familiar phrasing coming out of that incredibly sensuous mouth.

As if he had an idea where her thoughts were leading, the corner of that very same mouth lifted slightly. And still he continued to swim silently alongside of her.

After another few laps, Helen got out, leaving him in the pool without a backward glance. When she had time, she was so going to sit down and read every one of these commandos’ files. It didn’t take her long to get dressed and she decided she’d head on over to the VR room to look at the Portal before anyone else got there.

“Are you okay?”

Helen looked up. Flyboy stood a few feet away, a watchful expression in his eyes. She had a feeling those eyes didn’t miss much either. Why were these guys “bumping” into her left and right? Either they were keeping an eye on her out of curiosity, or someone was ordering them to.

“Affirmative,” she replied, turning the corner. He followed her. “Just preparing mentally. You weren’t at the Q and A. Busy?”

“Sorry. Had some errands. But I’ll be here to watch you at work.” His smile was boyish. The serious look disappeared like magic. “Forgive me?”

Helen arched a brow. “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“For not warning you about Armando.” He shrugged. “He can be a bit overwhelming.”

“Do you trust him?”

Flyboy regarded her solemnly. “He’s my teammate.”

“But he’s the newest member of your team, right? So, how do you know exactly when you can trust him?”

“One quickly learns to trust while working together in dangerous situations. It’s teamwork, Hell. If I don’t trust him, the concept doesn’t work.”

Therein lay the problem. As contract agents, GEM operatives didn’t operate in groups. “But a team still has to mesh,” she pointed out.

“Granted, but we’re talking about the V-Program here. Not to be all bigheaded about it, but it’s a chosen few.” He cocked his head. “We weren’t thrown together by coincidence or contractual obligations. Are you having trust issues? With the team?”

“No, not with the team,” Helen murmured. She hadn’t even thought of the team, since she hadn’t actually worked with them. As far as she was concerned, she was on her own, remote viewing, and then the team would come in afterwards.

She and Hades, she amended, but in virtual reality, wasn’t that like being on her own?

“Does Armando tell you what’s happening to him?” She made a face at his pause. “Come on, the others might not see through his act but I do. The question is, is it just him or the serum?”

Flyboy turned and stepped in front of Helen. His blue eyes appeared darker today, more intense. She could sense his hesitancy, he was keeping something from her. “I don’t know,” he told her. “You might have to find out for us. Armando is sure to talk to you more after you’ve used the serum, to compare notes, if nothing else.”

Helen tilted her her head sideways, narrowing her eyes. “Hey, that’s extra work. Nothing in my contract about probing one of the famed commandos’ minds.” She was going to do it but not to Armando Chang. “If he’s a problem, why is he still on active mode?”

“Our commander hasn’t deactivated him.”

“Well, then it’s between him and your commander, right?” She leaned back, tossing her hair carelessly. “All these commandos running around in active mode…my imagination’s working overtime.”

Flyboy’s eyes twinkled. “Sweetheart, I’ve just seen your reworked program avatar. Believe me, your imagination
is
the one running rampant.”

Helen made a moue. “Damn, isn’t there such a thing as privacy? How’s a girl going to have some fun around here?”

He shook a long index finger at her. “There is very little privacy at Center. Only in special quarters.” He smiled at her again, this time wolfishly. “Want to check them out?”

She made a show of cracking her knuckles. “Well, after a shot of that serum, I should have the courage to venture into the sacred sanctum of the commandos. Do you all live here? Borrrrring.”

“Not all the time. Only when we have a job to do.”