Page 81 of Rogue Mission

But before I slip into the cold storage room, Justice grabs my arm, halting me beside him.

There’s a new hum of energy…this one is his energy, and it’s on higher alert.

The rapid change makes my skin prickle.

His head tilts, listening, as his vision stays on the floor. He’s a finely tuned specialist. This is his domain.

I hear nothing but the sound of the building’s systems vibrating around us.

Go, he motions with his right hand.

I leap into action, bear spray bumping against my hip, boot pinching extra hard. The chilly air inside the storage room instantly wraps around me.

This feels familiar. My breath fogs the air as I kneel to scan the pill-shaped sample vials.

The shelves look organized, but it’s the wrong kind of order. This isn’t how it was when I was made to work here.

“Someone’s been through these,” I whisper as dread turns my fingertips cold. “I don’t see it.”

“Is there another place?” Justice asks, keeping his eyes on the main doorway to the lab.

“They must have moved it somewhere else,” I mutter to myself. I’m shivering, sorting through the inventory when my eye catches on something.

An anomaly. “This label doesn’t match the others.”

I’m talking to myself.

Quickly I twist open the sample’s lid. It’s dirt. In a risky move, I bring it to my nose. “Oh this is it! Sneaky devils.”

“You can tell by the scent?” Justice asks motioning to all the similar containers.

“Yes, I’ve worked with this bit of earth a lot,” I say as I screw the lid back on. “Plus, all those other capsules probably doesn’t hold dirt. They mostly deal with manmade chemicals here. Although they could have changed the dirt with any old dirt. But the nose knows. I would be able to tell instantly.”

A grin spreads over my face, the satisfaction a warming wave. “Come on. Let’s roll, boyfriend.”

He’s staring at me now, not the door with something almost star-struck in his gaze. “Damn. You called me,boyfriend.”

I shrug innocently. “Isn’t that what a tracking necklace spells?”

He jerks me to my feet by the shoulder strap on my vest and crashes his mouth against mine. The kiss is so utterly possessive, I almost drop the sample.

I’m a little dazed when he pulls back, taking the container from my hand. “I’ll keep a hold of this. You just concentrate on staying close. Got it?”

“Anything you say,” I breathe, my reply a throaty whisper. I don’t remember ever hearing that sound come out of me before.

He tucks our precious cargo into a pocket on his vest, but his head whips to the left, hand going up in the halt signal.

Ryker’s voice appears in my head, “Heat signature on the way to you.”

Scarier words have rarely been said.

“ETA?” Justice asks.

“Sixty seconds.”

THIRTY-ONE

Justice rushes me behind a storage cabinet, pushing me down to a crouch. “Stay.”