"I don't see anyone outside," Matt said as he entered behind Ben. "Could they have packed it in for the day?"

A sudden bang from the small side room grabbed their attention. Matt pushed ahead of Ben and yanked his laser pistol from his holster and carefully made his way over to the closed door. It was locked and it took both of them to free it. Inside were Gareth and two of his assistants.

"I'm so glad it's you. We heard voices, but I wasn't sure," Gareth sighed with relief.

"What happened?" Ben asked and helped them out of the room and into a chair.

One of the assistants, a man he couldn't remember the name of, had a big gash on his forehead.

"I don't know who they were, but they knew what they were after," Gareth said as he made his way over to the first-aid kit. "They waited until we were at our lowest population and grabbed some equipment. Didn't even ask us any questions."

"How long ago?"

Gareth looked quickly at the clock. "You must have passed them on the way in."

Matt and Ben exchanged a quick look.

"The trucks," Matt shook his head. "Shit."

"Hey, there you are."

All eyes turned to the door where Kyle stood. He was smiling and Ben said a silent prayer that meant good news.

"I found Rick. And I think he has Jenna."

Jenna banged her hand against the smooth metal door, feeling the noise echo in the small room. She waited and prayed it would be different this time. That someone would acknowledge she was stuck down here. After a minute of silence, she sighed and rested her forehead on the cool door instead.

This is pointless.

"Stupid, blind idiot," she cursed herself, smacking the door one last time.

116.

She walked around the small room that had been her prison for the past few hours.

Since her arrival, she'd barely talked to anyone. Really, she was thankful for that. She'd only spent a short time with Rick, but every inch of her skin had crawled when he'd put his hand on her back after pulling her out of the taxi. Other than his introduction, he'd barely said two words to her. Just enough to order his men to take her to this stupid room.

Not that it mattered. She could tell he'd kill her without a second thought if it got him what he wanted. Jenna just needed to figure out what that was so she could live long enough to get out of here. A sudden wave of exhaustion rolled over her and she flopped down onto the hard metal chair that was the sole piece of furniture in the room.

Jenna let her head fall into her hands and closed her eyes. If she hadn't been so stupid, she'd still be in Ben's bed. Maybe he would have made her breakfast. Probably not, but anything would be better than her current situation.

Jenna was so tired, she didn't even react when the electronic key beeped outside the room and the lock gave way. The air whooshed out of the room and she heard several people enter. Someone coughed when she didn't respond to their presence. She looked up to see Rick and several other men she didn't recognize standing in a group, blocking the entrance to the room.

"I'm pretty sure this many people in a room this size is a fire hazard," she quipped, not even thinking of the consequences of pissing off a crazy man.

Rick's face broke out into a wide smile as he chuckled. It almost sounded pleasant.

"No wonder Ben likes you. You must be a force to be reckoned with, Miss Robins."

She made sure to keep eye contact when she spoke to him. "That's what everyone keeps telling me. What do you want?"

A second chair was passed to Rick and he moved it into the room. He turned it around so the back faced Jenna and he was able to straddle it. He really looked Jenna over before making a slight tsking sound.

"At first I didn't want you at all. Then I found out you and your boyfriend were sticking your collective noses in my business. Now I find myself with the need to re-teach a lesson to my old friend Ben," he said, still smiling, and ran his finger down her cheek.

"Why do you think we'd do something like that? I don't even know you."

"I have my sources. But you're in luck, Dr. Robins. You do have a PhD, right?"

Jenna nodded, not sure where he was going with this. All she could do was pray Ben would look into why she wasn't at the dig site and come looking for her. Not that he'd know where to start.

"Excellent. I seem to be in need of your scientific expertise, Dr. Robins. My current expert seems to have hit a barrier with a project I've given him."

Jenna frowned and tried to fight back her curiosity. "Why should I care if you can't figure out your own diabolical scheme?"

117.

"Funny is cute for a while, but don't test my patience."

Jenna could tell despite his smile he was dead serious. She didn't want to push her luck, not until she knew she had a way out of this mess first.

"Who is your guy?" She needed to stall. Getting as much information as she could would help.

Rick's lopsided grin looked slightly charming. "Oh, I believe you are well acquainted. Why don't you go say hi?"

The guards at the door stepped aside, clearing the way for Jenna to leave the room.

She eyed Rick warily before standing up and striding quickly out into the next room.

She took note of her surroundings, which looked to be a warehouse. That meant she was somewhere on the lower east side of town. Ahead of her was a makeshift lab where several people scurried about.

"Where the fuck is the equipment?"

Jenna's mouth dropped. "Roger?"

When he spun around, he had the decency to blush. "Hi, Jenna."

"What the hell are you doing here?" She couldn't believe he'd set her up, betrayed her like this.

For his part, Roger couldn't look her in the eyes and choose to inspect the Geiger counter on the table in front of him.

"I'm glad you're okay. I told them not to hurt you, but you never know with these guys."

"Roger?" Jenna marched over, getting right in his face. "What's going on?"

He looked up and she could tell he'd lost control of the situation. Whatever that happened to be, she wasn't sure. And it was very unlikely he'd ever had control in the first place. Roger sucked at reading people and what their true intentions were. He always had.

"Would you believe they made me an offer I couldn't refuse?" he said and offered a weak smile.

"Actually, I would. Do you know how dangerous these people are?" she whispered and looked back over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I figured that out. They offered me a shitload of cash to make their half of the device work. I pulled that off and got them set up with Perfect Match. Then they offered me another wad get them access to the second half of the device. That quickly turned into me getting out of this with my life intact if I agreed to help them."

"You did this for money?"

"No, not just for money. I've been working my ass off for ten years and I can't even land more than a research grant at the university. You boyfriend didn't even bother to interview me when a job came up at CalCorp. I took the next best offer."

Jenna felt her disappointment like a sick taste in her mouth. She'd worked side by 118 side with Roger for years and never had any indication he was capable of something like this. She hadn't seen his anger and bitterness. In fact, she thought he liked working in the background. How could she misjudge someone this badly?

"If they have you, then why do they need me? You know as much about these things as I do. Probably more based on what you've just told me," she asked and tried to ignore the three men who entered from the side door, each carrying large laser rifles.

"I need you to confirm a theory I have." Roger's gaze flitted from her to Rick, who was now watching them very closely. "I want to make sure I'm right before I say anything."

"You told him about me and...?" She didn't want to say Ben's name out loud just in case.

"I know exactly who you are fucking, Miss Robins," Rick said in a voice loud enough to set Jenna's heart racing. "And let's say once you're done helping your friend, you'll be assisting me with a little payback."

"He has good ears," Roger turned his back to Rick and mouthed, "and he reads lips."

"I'll have to remember that." Jenna sighed and picked up a datapad. "So what can I help with?"

"Come here."

Roger led her over to the section of the warehouse where the three men with the rifles stood. She tried to ignore the heavy stares and leers the brutes gave her as she passed. Her skin began to itch where their gaze landed and she had to fight the urge to tighten her jacket around her tighter, protecting her body from their looks. Once they were inside the small closed-off room, Jenna felt the air rush out of her body in surprise.

There in the middle of the room was the second half of the device. It was much larger than the section they'd found back at the dig site. The smooth metal was disrupted by several medium-size control panels that displayed readings in a language she didn't understand.

"Gareth would go nuts over this," she said in a hushed voice and approached it cautiously.

"It doesn't do anything when I touch it. But I know you had some sort of reaction to the other half."

She knew nothing would happen this time with Ben not here. "I doubt anything will happen."

"Humor me. Go and touch it and tell me if anything happens."

Jenna was about to argue when Rick appeared in the doorway behind Roger. He leaned against the doorjamb, blocking the only exit from the room. His grin was a cross between charming and terrifying. She was trapped and they both knew it.

"Anything to help a friend."

As she approached the device, Jenna's body began to react. She could feel a low-119 level electrical charge like tiny fingers begin to gnaw at her skin. She tried to take a deep breath, but the air didn't want to come. Her nipples hardened, pressing hard against the thin fabric of her bra. Without thinking, she brought her hand to her throat and caressed the skin along her collarbone. Her body seemed to remember what it was like the last time she was near it.

Not wanting to reach out and touch it, Jenna had to fight against her own body, against her hand that seemed to rise up on its own. As she moved closer, her fingers began to tingle, the sensation traveling up her arm and across her chest. Desire rolled through her body like a powerful wave and she grew damp.

Where is she!

Jenna sucked in a breath. "Did you hear that?"

"What? What are you hearing?" Roger was at her side, looking at her, wide-eyed.

I need you!

"A man. He's looking for...someone?"

"Is it Ben? Is he looking for you?"

Jenna closed her eyes and could hear an angry cry, one of pure frustration. Then silence.

"He's gone," she whispered.

"Who?" Roger sighed. "Tell me what you're hearing."

She wanted to reach out and comfort whoever it was. But how? Unable to fight the pull of the device, Jenna reached out. Upon contact with the metal, her eyes closed.

Invisible hands caressed her body, touching her breasts, her clit. This time when she sucked in a shaky breath, she could smell Ben. That unmistakable combination of musk and soap mingled with a scent that could only be described as him. Jenna sighed and felt her body being pulled closer.

Closer to what?

"Jenna."

"Ben?"

"Tell me what you're feeling."

She couldn't open her eyes to look at him. Her body reacted to him as his touch tugged her shirt away and slipped underneath to caress her skin. Tipping her head backward, she pressed her body against his. His swollen cock pressed hard against the back of her thigh.

"I want you," she said and ground back against him.

"I could so fuck you right now."

Harsh fingers dug into her hips and pulled her back. It was enough of a jerk for her fingers to break contact with the device. The fog that had covered her brain lifted and she realized Rick was behind her, his lips against her ear. Roger was standing off to the side, looking like a frightened child. Jenna felt sick, the sting of it climbing up her 120 throat.

"No wonder Ben likes to have you around."

"Let me go," she whispered.

"Oh, I don't think so. I have plans for you," he said and licked her cheek.

Jenna tried to pull away, but Rick held her still. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was sure Rick heard it. His fingers gripped her tight to the point her skin was sore.

She tried to fight back the tears, refusing to show him what he was doing to her.

"Did it work?" Rick asked in a loud voice.

"It did. This half of the device seems to not only pull opposite elements together, but it is able to pull energy from a living source. The readings went off the scale when she touched it. I think if we hooked her up, we could build a bomb big enough to take out half the environment shield," Roger grinned.

Rick licked Jenna's earlobe before releasing her and making his way over to where Roger stood.