Ghostwalker 06 - Predatory Game

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    wasn’t on the market yet. Nice setup.
    Thanks.
    I’m going through the rest of the house. Your team should be here in a couple of minutes. She really hated leaving him out there alone and was torn. Whoever had been in the house was gone now, she was sure—well, almost certain—but she had to check anyway in case that tiny margin of error just happened to be in effect.
    No. Jess kept his voice calm. I need you out here. Lloyd is coming around. And he’s not very happy.
    I’m not in a great position here. We wouldn’t want the two of them to get any ideas.
    He absolutely didn’t want her in that house alone—not where he couldn’t protect her. He’d already made one mistake in front of her, kicking the gun out of his attacker’s hand, and sooner or later she’d remember that. She had an eye—and memory—for details.
    He didn’t mind playing his wheelchair card if that was what it took to get her back to his side. He had no idea if the house was safe. She was still hesitating. You’ll have to help me back into my chair before the others get here. Okay that was low, but it worked, he felt her immediate response. Satisfaction and warmth mingled together. She loved him. She might not want to admit it, but she loved him.
    “What are you grinning about?” She asked him suspiciously as she entered the garage. He was sitting on the floor beside his wheelchair, facing Bill, who still eyed him with fear. A few feet away, Lloyd was rolling back and forth and moaning. “You don’t look like you need much help to me.” But she went to him and caught at the back of his belt when he braced himself on the chair.
    He hesitated. He was a big man and he didn’t want to take a chance on hurting her, not when he could get into the chair himself. You’re enhanced physically as well as psychically?
    She nodded. Enough. I don’t have the muscle strength a lot of the others were given, but enough to help.
    “Let my arms take my weight.” Keeping his eyes on Bill, Jess made certain the brakes were locked before lifting himself into the seat. He could feel her pull, her small body brushing up against him as his weight dragged her forward. “Are you stuck?”
    “You’re laughing at me.” It took a moment to get her fingers from around his belt. She leaned into him, inhaling his scent. “I think you’re enjoying this.”
    “Maybe. It’s been a while since I’ve seen any action.”
    She studied his face. “Are you telling me the truth?”
    “I’m sitting in a wheelchair, baby, and it’s pretty damn real. They aren’t going to send me out on a mission unless Ken or one of the others carries me on his back.”
    She saw him kick the attacker, no question about it, and he was going to have to lie—or explain.
    Another experiment, another part of him artificial. He was genetically enhanced, physically and psychically. And now he was bionic. There wasn’t all that much left of the real Jess Calhoun. Once she knew the truth, fear would creep in, because he was far more dangerous than she had ever suspected.
    That wheelchair had been his lure, his bait.

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    “But you work for them.” She kept her voice low and she didn’t look at him.
    “I told you I did. They put a lot of money and time into me and my training, angel face. They aren’t just going to let me walk away.”
    Her head snapped around, her gaze colliding with his. “Or me. That’s what you’re saying, aren’t you, Jesse? You’re saying they aren’t going to let me go so easily.”
    “They aren’t going to let you go at all, Saber. But there is more than one ‘they.’ We have the good guys and the bad guys, and you’re going to have to pick a side.”
    “Why? I’m out. Let him come after me.”
    “He’s relentless and sooner or later he’ll find you. He’s got a tracking system in every one of you. And I imagine you haven’t made him very happy running from him.”
    “I know about the tracking device. He was putting the chips in our hips, but some of those escaping removed them, so he’s using a different system. I’m not worried about it, he can’t use it with me.” There was no humor in her smile. “Whitney thinks he’s superior to everyone, and that’s his downfall.”
    “He isn’t going to stop, Saber.” He tried to be gentle, but he wanted her to understand the consequences. “You