CHAPTER.

14.

PIPER WRAPPED HER cardigan closer around her body and adjusted the computer chair again. She just couldn't get comfortable. Since Jory had escaped his cell, she and her computer system had been moved to an office just down from the commander's, and all day he'd been behind closed doors.

Something was going on.

Trying to grab a thought was like trying to harness a firebug right now. Jory had pretty much blown her mind, first by going down on her, and next by asking for her help. Claiming that Chance, the kid from last week, was his brother. Created in a test tube and forced to train as a soldier to kill.

By Piper's father.

The day she had worked with Chance, the kid had kept his gaze on the computer, and she hadn't really looked at his facial features too closely. d.a.m.n, she wished she would've looked.

How was any of this possible? Better yet... how was it not?

The door slid open, and Chance loped inside. "We have less than three days to fix the computer program," he said, sliding onto the adjacent chair.

Piper stiffened. "Look at me."

The kid turned, one eyebrow raised.

Heat slammed into her gut. Gray eyes. Seriously gray eyes, black lashes, hard fallen-angel features. G.o.d. It was so obvious. "You're his brother."

Chance blinked. "Who?"

Her head lifted. "You know who."

"You're crazy, lady." Chance turned back to the computer, quickly engaging the correct program.

"Are there two more kids here?" she whispered.

Chance glanced up at a vent in the ceiling and then turned his head toward her while continuing to type. "Yep."

"His brothers, too?" She could barely breathe. How was this even possible?

Chance nodded, his gaze again sliding up and over. "Yep." His shoulders stiffened.

"He's coming for you, you know." She wanted to touch the kid, to rea.s.sure him, but instinct held her back.

Chance swiveled to face her completely, the keyboard forgotten. "If he's that f.u.c.king stupid, he's going to get us all killed." Familiar fire burned in the kid's gray eyes. "G.o.d. It's a f.u.c.king trap, lady. He'd better be smarter than you are."

He was, actually. Piper blinked. "Did you plant the file about him so I could hack it?"

"No." Chance went back to typing. "No more questions."

Was he lying? The sense of urgency surrounding the kid transferred to Piper, and she focused on the computer program. If she didn't find a way to reach Jory's chip, he'd be dead in days. Her stomach clenched.

She tentatively reached out and cupped Chance's shoulder gently.

He stiffened.

"I promise, this will all be okay," she whispered.

A shudder wound through his body.

"You can trust me, Chance. Tell me what's going on."

He glanced at her, brows furrowing. "You can't be for real."

She released him. "I am. Trust me." The phone buzzed at her elbow, and she glanced at the alarm she'd set on her smartphone. Then she swallowed. Okay. She could do this. Standing, she smoothed down her navy blue pencil skirt. She'd paired it with knee-high brown boots, which for some reason made her feel tougher than normal. Her white blouse was rather plain, but she'd donned silver jewelry to dress it up. To further add sophistication, she'd tamed her curly hair up and away from her face. However, after working all morning, some tendrils had escaped.

"I'll be right back," she murmured.

Chance sighed and leaned back. "Don't tip your hand. You don't know it, but we're all expendable. Even you." His voice softened at the end.

A chill swept beneath her skin, and she shivered. "I can handle it."

Chance grunted, turning back to his screen.

Straightening her shoulders, she stood and left the room, traveling at a swift clip to reach her father's office. A businesslike rap on the door earned her an "Enter."

She swallowed and wiped her expression clear before opening the door and walking inside. "Our meeting is set for now."

The commander remained at his desk, a pile of papers in front of him, a slight scruff covering his jaw. "Sit."

She took a seat and crossed her legs. Her heartbeat ripped into a roar. "I'm closer to figuring out a way around Jory's damaged chip, but I need Chance to stick around and help me out."

The commander lifted one still dark eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes." She tried to relax into the hard chair and breathe normally. A part of her wanted to blurt out every question she had about Jory and Chance, but her father knew more about subterfuge than she'd ever learn. If she tipped her hand, she'd never be able to help Chance. How did she somehow end up in a Bond movie? "Chance is quite knowledgeable." Was she too obvious?

"I see." The commander clasped his hands together. "I trust you are recovered from your kidnapping ordeal?"

She searched for concern in his eyes, in his expression. Nothing. No emotion. Hurt cut through the fear. The hacker inside her propelled her full on to seek answers. "Do you care?"

He sat back, his mouth opening slightly. "You're my daughter, and I asked, didn't I?"

She shook her head. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, striking her nerves into an alert fight or flee state. "That doesn't mean you care."

He eyed his computer. "I don't have time for word games. What did Jory tell you?"

Before or after he'd brought her to a mind-blowing o.r.g.a.s.m? "Why?" She lifted her chin.

The commander sighed. "Insolence? That man got to you." He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. "I don't think you understand the training he has had."

"Oh, he's a h.e.l.l of a soldier." What she didn't understand was her own father. Did he care, even a little?

"No. I mean, ah, other training. In seduction, in s.e.x, in manipulating a mark to gain information or cooperation."

Piper coughed. "You trained him in s.e.x?"

"Yes. The best experts in the world have trained him. Not just in technique, but how to get beneath layers and earn trust." The commander tapped a couple of keys on his keyboard. "That boy seduced the mistress of a high-ranking Chechnya military leader and gleaned secrets you couldn't imagine when he was just eighteen. He's very good at his job."

She blinked. A rock settled into her stomach, and her body ached. Either Jory had used her, or her father was lying to her. Or, more likely, both. "I haven't slept with Jory, for goodness' sakes."

"I'm aware of that fact." The commander rustled papers. "We had surveillance pointed at Earl Frank's house as well as yours last night."

A strangled cough choked her, and heat rushed up her torso to burn her face. "Excuse me?"

He cleared his throat. "I have your encounter recorded, if you'd like to hear it."

How loud had she been? She dropped her face into her hands. "I don't believe this." Then fire burned through the embarra.s.sment, and she lifted up. "How could you?"

"I felt Jory might contact you again, and surveillance is necessary for your safety. You don't realize how dangerous he can be."

Oh, she had a clue. Had Jory antic.i.p.ated the surveillance? If so, he'd known everything they'd done had been recorded. He'd known the commander would hear and thus understand Piper's doubt. Her lungs compressed and tears tried to p.r.i.c.k her eyes. She blinked them back. "Erase the recording."

The commander punched in a couple of b.u.t.tons. "Done."

"Really?" she breathed. Oh, she could play the game to get some answers, and she wasn't leaving until she knew exactly what was going on. "Thank you."

He pinned her with a look. "I don't want that recording out there any more than you do."

"Okay." She frowned. "If you knew what was happening, why didn't you recapture Jory?"

The commander didn't blink. "The time wasn't right, but don't worry, we're watching Jory closely and will retake him soon. For now, there's more danger focusing on us than just Jory."

She sat straighter, her instincts humming. "I thought something was going on."

"We were hacked." Irritation curled his lip. "They were looking for specific personnel records, I'm afraid. Including yours."

"Who?" How much danger swirled around? Finally, some answers. Maybe she should send her mother on a cruise or something.

He shook his head. "I don't know. We're trying to trace back the hack, but no luck."

"I could."

"Perhaps." He shrugged. "But I need you on the chip issue with Jory. It's more important right now."

"Okay." She'd rather save Jory's a.s.s, anyway. But had he used her the previous night? Set her up in front of her father? One issue at a time, and she'd get to them all before leaving the office. "How much danger are we in from the people looking for personnel lists? If I'm in danger, is my mother?"

"No, and let's drop this issue. I will take care of them. I'm more disturbed at present that you didn't tell me the lies Jory told you before he, ah..."

"It was after the he, ah," Piper snapped. She wiped her eyes. "This is all too much. Secrets, people shooting, soldiers... I'm a computer a.n.a.lyst."

"I warned you of the secrecy of our mission before you took the job." He sighed. "I think we'll have to move you and your mother inland to the larger compound. The construction is coming along nicely, and soon we'll have a lot more s.p.a.ce and better computer facilities."

Piper stood. "Absolutely not. My mother is happy where she is, and we're not moving." She clasped her hands together. "Did you, or did you not, create soldiers in test tubes, raise them, and make them kill?"

"Of course not."

"So Jory and that Chance kid are not brothers you created?" If the commander was listening last night, he knew exactly what Jory had revealed.

The commander scoffed. "What is this, a science fiction movie? Military organizations do not bear and raise children. Jory is trying to manipulate you to get what he wants."

"What is it he wants?" she asked, her breath heating.

"To return to our enemies with more information about our military bases throughout the world." The commander nodded at her vacated chair and waited until she'd reseated herself. "Jory did work for me, and he stole military records to sell to the Russians, who inserted that d.a.m.n chip near his spine and sent him back here. He was discovered and fought his way out, killing three of my men. They returned fire. Naturally."

The bullet holes along his chest, one of which went through and damaged his chip. "So you captured him."

"Yes, and I'm trying to save him. So he can stand trial." The commander gestured wide, toward the maps, flags, medals, and weapons lining the walls. "This means something to me-I don't just kill people. Justice matters."

Piper rubbed her arms. "Then why is Jory still in town and not halfway across the world by now?" Yeah, they'd had a wild night, but she didn't figure he'd expose himself to prison and probably death just to make out with her. "I don't understand."

"There are more records, and I'm sure he has to return with them or be killed." The commander shrugged. "He's trying to use you to get to the computer records."

In truth, it had felt like she was using him. The guy had left with a raging hard-on. Time to show her hand. "I can see the resemblance between Jory and Chance, and I know those men who picked Jory up are his brothers. They look exactly alike."

Her father leaned back and steepled his hands beneath his chin.

She swallowed, a rock slamming into her gut. "You lied to me."

He studied her for moments and then finally sighed. "Yes. I would've committed treason by revealing cla.s.sified information otherwise." He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Who are they?" she croaked, the blood rushing through her veins.

A light glimmered in his eyes. Regret? "It's a program inst.i.tuted by the United States government, hence the top security and threat of treason. We were hired to create the brothers, and we raised them. Then they turned on us."

She gasped. Would the government really sanction such an action? "So it's true?"

"That part of it is true."

Betrayal cut a hard path down to her heart. She narrowed her focus. The commander had no problem acting outside the scope of his government contract. How could she find out if the government really inst.i.tuted the program? "You forced them to kill? Jory and his brothers?"

"We're a military organization, and we created weapons." The commander leaned toward her, his gaze intense. "Never forget, that's exactly what they are. No emotion, no conscience, no regrets. That's why we have to get them back here."

G.o.d, no. "I won't help you capture and use them again."