Last Strike by Regan Black Read Free Book Online

biological equivalent of a signal jammer.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “It’s possible he simply outwitted the dev team and the program in general.” It was just as likely as any other scenario where Ben was concerned.
    “Don’t confuse crazy with smart, Doc.”
    “Daria,” she corrected. He’d called her Doc or Doctor in the early days of his recovery and enhancement treatment. She needed him to see her as a person rather than a nameless target.
    “Daria,” he echoed. “The attempt to humanize yourself is a good play. Do you really think a name is all it will take for me to forget the issues that brought me here?”
    “No.” Sitting here with him, she realized how terribly she’d failed. She’d failed him, the science, and her own morals. “If I could change things or go back,” she swallowed, “I’d do it differently.”
    “You’ve changed enough of me already, thanks.”
    She deserved his scorn. Less than an hour ago, she’d almost welcomed the idea of him ending her life. “I know apologies are useless, but it’s all I can offer, Noah.”
    “Last Strike,” he said, pulling to a stop in front of the understated industrial building on the outskirts of the airport. “What now?”
    “I guess we go in,” she said, peering through the windshield.
    “Of course we do. May as well take a few orders from a dead man.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The caller.”
    “You recognized his voice?”
    He shrugged. “Maybe. You?”
    “No.” Had someone managed to outwit UI? Hope bloomed before she could squash it. “It’s not as though anyone within the program is legitimate. No one in the program exists the way normal people do.”
    “Not even the medical staff?”
    “We’re a peripheral unit. We have more typical records by necessity, but they own us. If the top scientific minds started falling out of sight, it would be problematic and the speculation would put the program in jeopardy.”
    “How is your blatant use of an operative to distribute program secrets any better, Doc?”
    “ Daria .” She handed him the phone and hugged the laptop close, as if it would shield her from the terrible, apt accusations stamped on his rugged face. “I’m not your doctor anymore.”
    She pushed out of the car and walked to the door, waiting for him to join her. Or kill her.
    He moved up beside her, his predatory stride graceful and silent as a panther. If she mentioned it, he’d probably accuse her of mixing his genetic code with some wild animal.
    She’d done nothing of the sort, though the idea had been proposed by others and rejected.
    The cell phone chimed with another text message and he punched the code provided into the security panel. The front door hummed and the locks clicked open. He pulled on the handle and held the door for her. It seemed remarkably chivalrous considering he’d been sent to kill her.
    Behind her, she heard him reset the locks, then listened to his even breathing as they moved deeper into the poorly-lit office. “What is this place?” she wondered aloud.
    “Safe house, I assume,” he answered. He moved toward a bigger door, hit the controls and an overhead door slid up. “I’ll bring in the car.”
    She stood out of the way, not quite sure what to do. Running was useless, cooperation was the best option, if she could get him to trust her just a little.
    When the overhead door was lowered once more, he joined her where she waited at the foot of a metal stairway. “May as well explore.” He gestured for her to lead the way. “Let’s just hope whoever put it here is really on our side.”
    “They got us here.”
    “ Mm-hm .”
    “Neither Ben nor the caller had to help.”
    He didn’t humor her with another reply.
    At the top of the stairs, the space was broken up with a small kitchenette, a table and chairs and a flimsy screen that blocked off an area with a small bed and bathroom.
    “What are you going to do with me now?” she asked as they stared at each other across the