Last Strike by Regan Black Read Free Book Online Page B

had brought him to her lab. “When you came into the program, you were too injured to consent to the enhancement trials.”
    “I suppose you’d know.”
    She swallowed, knowing the answer she wanted to hear. “Did they fake your consent form when you opted to stay in the program?”
    “No. I signed it.”
    “How? You didn’t know your name back then. You had a -”
    He cut her off with a flick of his hand. “They showed me my military ID card.”
    “And?” she prompted. If that was true, why did he resent his real name? “Didn’t you recognize yourself?”
    He faced her again, his gaze hot and angry. “No. I signed the forms anyway. Volunteered to be your guinea pig.”
    There was more, she could see it lurking in his pale, furious eyes. “They didn’t give you the option to leave, did they?”
    “No, Daria . No good options for me.” He crushed each word in that low, graveled voice. “My choices were join your lab or... or nothing.”
    Nothing? Not a chance. They’d threatened him, or someone dear to him. Except he’d had amnesia. What leverage had they used? “Did they show you your service record?”
    He nodded. “It wasn’t any more familiar than my name.”
    She went back to the table, sat down, and opened her laptop. “You could take another look. It might jog something free after all this time.”
    “No!” He reached around her and shut the computer. “One trip through that hell was more than enough.”
    He’d trapped her hand between his hot palm and the cool device. The contact left her sizzling, but his reaction worried her. Hell ? “You were a hero, Noah.”
    His lip curled. “You’re serious?” His gaze narrowed, studying every feature, lingering on her lips again. “You really believe it. And you call me damaged.”
    The UI recruiters had lied to him. How naïve of her to believe otherwise. “You were a hero,” she repeated, hating her employers for stealing so much from Noah and so many others. She wanted to retreat from that hard gaze, wanted to tuck herself close to that harder body. Quickly clearing that image out of her head, she remembered this was about him. She’d thought to restore him once, this time she wouldn’t fail. Catching his hand between both of hers, she held on tight, hoping the physical contact would startle him enough that he’d listen.
    “You came in before all the documentation was worked out. I have your original service record. I studied it when you were brought in, hoping find something that would give you a reason to live. I took extensive notes.”
    He shook his head, his eyebrows puckering in a skeptical frown, though he didn’t pull his hand away.
    “Noah D’Cruz, youngest son of career missionaries. Joined the Marines and advanced with honors. Your helicopter was shot down during a rescue mission. Despite life-threatening injuries, you protected the others, watched over them for more than thirty hours until backup arrived. Does any of that sound familiar?”
    He shook his head, his strange eyes blank.
    “I didn’t think so.” Anger blasted through her. It had never made sense why this man had refused to go home to a family that loved him.
    “They said... I did it.” His face blanched. “Said I snapped during a mission and downed the chopper. Said they could use a man with my skills and natural instincts.”
    “ What ?” She suddenly felt murderous. “Oh, no. I’m not spending another day keeping their secrets.” She pushed his hand away and opened her laptop.
    “How can you be sure your version is accurate?”
    “Because I was with you at the start. I listened while you ranted during the worst of those early days. I cross-referenced the names you repeated while your body and mind debated between life and death.”
    “You gave me the cross necklace.”
    She shook her head absently, searching for his file, pulling up the directories that she’d hidden away. “You arrived with it. It was the only personal item I could