Afterglow by Cherry Adair Read Free Book Online Page B

you have? I can get started while we drive.”
    “I don’t have a damned thing.”
    “Then you’re shit out of luck. As good as I am at what I do, even I can’t help you.”

THREE
     
    A nd so it begins, Monk thought with satisfaction. Years of preparation and sacrifice had culminated in this, a very public first demonstration of a new drug that would soon sweep the world. He almost smiled. Perhaps he should call it Tidalwave instead of Rapture.
    “The buyer was pleased?” he asked the caller, who’d sent him several minutes of raw video footage from the wedding reception the night before. Of course the buyer was pleased. The demonstration proved the product superior in every way.
    Fast-acting. Addictive. Cheap to manufacture, with the potential of multibillion-dollar profits. A win-win for sales, manufacturing, and the worldwide tentacles of street dealers who’d all be clamoring to get onboard to sell Rapture through their own vast networks. None of them cared about the end users, content to suck them dry financially and spit them out when they became too far gone with addiction or died.
    They all died in the end. An unfortunate result of Rapture that he had yet to remedy. Still, there would be no end to users. The world was a big place. Millions upon millions of potential users. More money than he could dream of and, far more important, power beyond his wildest imagination.
    Calm and always contained, Monk rarely felt anything as human as excitement, but the potential for more buyers of the product—in one form or another—actually made his heart beat a little faster as he sat in the stillness of his austere cell. He closed his eyes as his man spoke solemnly.
    “Yes, Father. Extremely so. He placed a large order.”
    “Are we ready for the next demonstration?” This to the head of an Eastern European mob. The next level of use. Monk was able to offer buyers several options, including ingested and airborne, along with several price points. Like end users, there was no limit to potential buyers from the criminal element.
    “Yes, Father. Everything is in place as you instructed. May I come to you now?”
    Monk let his gaze rest on the muted colors of the ancient tapestry hanging on the far wall. Satisfied that the net he was casting would haul in more buyers as well as his ultimate prize, Monk disconnected without comment. After years of manipulation and sacrifice, Dr. North was being drawn into the elaborate web he was spinning just for her.
    Monk leaned back, folded his hands across his belly, and sighed with satisfaction. Everything was going according to plan. He allowed himself a small smile.
    SHE HAD HER BARE feet curled on the seat under her shapely ass, her back against the passenger door. The sunlight turned her hair to living flame. It seemed brighter, more vibrant, more alive than Rand remembered. His memories of Dakota’s hair were pretty damned powerful.
    He didn’t have anything. For her to hold, or channel, or whatever the hell she claimed she did. And he sure as hell didn’t want to remember the feel of those hot silken strands gliding down his body. “We’ll be at the hotel where they found the body in a few minutes. Start channeling your inner GPS.”
    “Hopefully we’ll find something useful there,” she said without responding to his sarcasm. “A shoe, or some personal effect in his pockets—there’s always something.”
    “Yeah. Maybe.” His thoughts were anything but orderly, now that she’d shown up. Seeing her always short-circuited his brain, and today was no exception. He resented the power she had over his body. Fortunately, he’d managed to get her completely out of his system. Two years without seeing her effectively cured him. What hadn’t killed him made him stronger. Yeah. He was cured. It was just the kick to his chest that churned up old memories.
    Rand glanced at the route on the GPS, then back to the road. That she claimed to have this extraordinary sixth