The Vixen's Lead Read online

  Being around Kit made me insanely happy—more so than I’d been in a really long time—so I wasn’t letting Austin’s stupid, girl hang-ups fuck with that. As it was, I had been making the most of every opportunity that presented itself to spend time with her, even though she didn’t seem interested romantically. It had seemed we might have had something—at least the night of the storm. Yet after? Well, she’d gone out of her way to keep our interactions platonic since then, so I was fairly sure I’d been friend-zoned.

  I decided to give it a day—can’t look too desperate—and text her tomorrow if I didn’t hear from her before then. Failing that, I’d stop by her room on Sunday. We had spent a bit of time in there this week studying, so I didn’t feel like it would be too invasive for me to drop by over the weekend.

  7

  Kit

  I hauled myself over the lip of the building and collapsed on the rooftop for a minute to catch my breath. Definitely too much pizza this week. After hearing the twins talking about Anna the day before, I had really gone all out for lunch and practically rolled myself into my afternoon classes I was so full. I was paying for it now, though. Mental note: eat more salad, damn it!

  “All right,” I huffed into my Bluetooth headset. “I’m up. That was harder than anticipated.”

  Lucy chuckled on the other end. “I told you not to eat so much this week, fat ass!”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I blew out a breath, then rolled to my feet, “Okay, where is this entry point?”

  The taps of Lucy’s keyboard accompanied her directions guiding me to the center of the roof near the air conditioning motors. The ventilation shaft would give me access after Lucy deactivated the alarm system. While waiting, I checked my phone and saw a message from Caleb. I’d managed to avoid him completely the day before, then left early to get to the job site, where I had spent all day on surveillance until the building emptied of workers.

  Not that I particularly wanted to hear about his afternoon with his brother and Anna, the lucky bitch. What? I was only human and not a blind one either.

  Hey, where were you yesterday? I couldn’t find you at lunch. It only took him a whole day and a half to reach out. Too busy perhaps?

  I tapped out my reply and hit send. I’m sure you had enough company.

  There was a pause before his response pinged through. You sound jealous.

  Shit. I do. Not jealous, just not sure we have the same taste in friends. The last thing I needed was to focus on drama, so I added another text before he could respond. I’m in the middle of something, catch up tomorrow maybe.

  Maybe? He added a frown-face emoji.

  I didn’t bother to reply. Silencing the phone, I slid it back into my pocket.

  “You’re clear,” Lucy announced. Good timing.

  With a small screwdriver, I opened the ventilation grate. After securing a rope to one of the pipes, I used it to shimmy down the shaft.

  It was a tight squeeze, but not impossible. In the interest of time-saving, I tucked my body tight into a pin and dropped rapidly, using my gloved hands on the rope to slow my descent.

  “Ten more feet,” Lucy advised, tracking my location. I continued my slide until she said, “Now.”

  Her timing was perfect; I was right in front of the vent I needed. I waited a beat. If there was a problem, Lucy would have me hold. With a kick, I opened the vent and descended into the server room. Waiting for Lucy’s app to do its job, I held in place. Once it showed the room as being clear, I located server seven and plugged in a handheld laptop. The only reason I was here, instead of Lucy simply hacking them, was because these servers had no external network access. The laptop possessed its own Wi-Fi uplink. Lucy logged into it remotely and began hacking the passwords I’d need to select targeted files on the server.

  Waiting for the file transfers was boring, so I clicked through the files. Maybe what we were taking wasn’t any of my business, but I was curious. What was stored here that someone would actually pay such an exorbitant fee to retrieve?

  The first three seemed pretty much what one would expect: electronic paper trails for huge sums of money moved into offshore accounts and property bought under false names. The fourth file, however, sent a cold chill along my spine.

  I scanned through the document and then slowed to read it again. Stomach churning, I swallowed the bile burning along my throat. The filename seemed innocuous enough, just a sequence of numbers and letters—similar to the other files.

  “Lucy?” I exhaled her name. “Can you just read me the client’s requests again?”

  “Sure. Is there a problem?”

  I answered with a grunt because I didn’t know if we had a problem yet.

  Lucy rattled off a series of filenames in sequence. The file bothering me definitely fell on that list. Crap.

  “Kit, what’s going on? You’ve got me worried, girl.”

  It wasn’t a question of whether or not I should tell her but if I could manage the unsettling terror filling my veins. “I’ve just clicked into a file which has nothing to do with money. It’s a series of memos discussing a black market genetics experiment focusing on enhancing human abilities with specific mentions to enhanced strength and speed... Luce, it doesn’t look like they’re using willing participants or that there is a very high rate of success.” My heart rate kicked up as I relayed the information. “There is specific mention in one of these notes about how reckless the scientists are being and how many ‘subjects’ they have needed to terminate or that have died during the experiments. It all seems to be referencing a successful experiment from the eighties that they’re attempting to replicate...”

  “Hon, that sounds like...” She trailed off, but I knew what she was saying. It sounded like me. Maybe this was what caused my abilities. Was I the product of some sort of lab experiment? “What are you going to do?”

  I chewed my lip and weighed my options for a minute. I could finish the job, pass along the files to some shady person who would do who-knew-what with the information, or I could delete the file in question and pretend it never existed.

  No contest.

  Decided, I pulled an extra pen drive from one of my pockets. Like the Boy Scouts, I was always prepared. Sliding it into an open USB on the laptop, I copied the file for myself. After that, I made the unilateral decision to delete the file off the server and from our client’s package. The folder stayed, but the actual file was gone. I needed to shield Lucy, and the folder’s presence meant we’d technically fulfilled the contract. Without a doubt, it was the right thing to do. Nothing good would come from either party having the information.

  “I’m done,” I told my partner, and none of the trembling in my hands reflected in my voice. “I’ve taken a copy for us and deleted the original. I’m heading back out now.”

  “All right,” she said gently. “Let me know when you’re safely clear, and I will reactivate the alarm. See you back at school in the morning.” She probably wanted to say more, but thankfully she left it alone. My best friend never pushed me until I was ready to talk.

  Mind in chaos, I cleaned up the physical signs of my presence before returning up the ventilation shaft. While it was deeply concerning that someone was conducting these experiments, this could be the answer to what had given me such unusual abilities. Part of me couldn’t wait to investigate further, but the sensible part reminded me that from what I had seen, there weren’t many clues to go on.

  8

  The whole drive back to Cascade Falls was spent turning this new information over and over in a search for meaning. It was too much of a coincidence to not have something to do with my own talents. There surely couldn’t be too many other orphans running around with superhuman abilities. Not that I had ever considered my strength or speed to be superhuman, just… extra. The one part of that memo that my mind kept tripping on was the total absence of anything healing related. The way I healed? That definitely leaned more towards the super side of human. So it didn’t make sense. If
that was how I’d come to be enhanced, wouldn’t they have also been trying to replicate my healing?

  My head was beginning to pound, and my hands shook as I arrived in town. The sun was rising, so rather than head straight to the school, I went to the gym. Need to burn off the extra adrenaline overrode everything else. An old boxer named Rusty owned the gym, and he was always up, with the gym open before dawn.

  At the gym, I parked and grabbed my bag. Once inside, I called out to Rusty so he’d know I was there. He grunted a response from his little office in the corner of the large, open space. It only took me a couple of minutes to change in the ladies’ locker room. Hands still trembling, I settled in to work with my favorite punching bag, Old Betsy.

  I loved coming in early when I had the entire gym to myself. I didn’t feel the same level of pressure to hold back my punches, so it allowed me to burn through my excess energy much quicker. Rusty never mentioned anything, but I’d noticed not long after I began coming here that Old Betsy had been reinforced with an extra skin and the chains were heavier than on all the other bags.

  An hour later, my mind had quieted and sweat coated me. Taking a step back from my bag, I noticed the gym had begun to fill with people doing their workouts.

  Being a small town, I recognized most of the gym regulars. Yet the tall, muscular man chatting with Rusty just outside his office was a complete stranger. I would have noticed him before. He was taller than Rusty, so probably around six foot four, and broad across the shoulders with heavily muscled arms wrapped in brightly colored tattoos. The stranger’s dark hair was shaved short. Dressed in a black singlet, which hugged his sculpted body, he seemed to ooze violence and danger as he prowled towards me.

  Wait, what? Why was he coming towards me? Rusty was bringing that lethal Adonis with a smug smile over to my corner of the gym. Too late to pretend I wasn’t ogling him; he’d already noticed. Crap. I used to be so smooth; what had happened to me? Face flaming, I looked away while stripping off my gloves. A long drink of water could give me a moment to fake composure until I could make it.

  “Mornin’ Kit,” Rusty rumbled. “This here is Cole Bennett; he’s new in town.”

  New guy had deep, slate gray eyes—seemingly bottomless but intense was nowhere near adequate to describe them. They were cold and hard, adding to the air of danger around him even more than his powerful frame.

  “Hi. Kit Davenport.” I smiled introducing myself, but my voice cracked, making me cringe. I held out my hand for him to shake, and when he grasped it in his massive mitt, I had to suppress an icy shiver of fear.

  “Cole here used to be semi pro in the MMA scene. I was just saying to him that you might be looking for some lessons in that area. Perhaps you can also show him around town a bit, seeing as he’s new? Maybe take him for a drink at Pete’s Place?” Rusty waggled his eyebrows at me. Was the old goat trying to play matchmaker?

  Amusement vied with embarrassment, so I said, “I’m sure Cole has better things to do than get the tour of our postage-stamp town with a high school student, Rusty. And as a high school student, it would be highly illegal for me to drink at Pete’s Place.”

  Cole raised his brows, and Rusty let out a loud snort. “Girl, you’re nearly nineteen; you ain’t no normal high school student. Everyone knows that old drunkard will turn a blind eye to anyone over eighteen so long as no one causes trouble!”

  At the mention of my actual age, Cole regained his predatory look. Biting my lip, I looked him over slowly. Fuck me, where do these guys keep turning up from? First the twins, now the hulk.

  Nope, this one scares the crap out of me. I had more than enough on my plate dealing with Caleb and his dickhead brother. “Thanks, but no thanks,” I said with a firm shake of my head.

  Cole shrugged, then tilted his head as he spoke for the first time. “Let me know if you change your mind. I could do with a local guide.”

  Was it too much to have hoped he had an unattractive, girly voice? Instead, his voice was like rough, smoky scotch with a menacing undertone that frightened the pants off of me. And not in a good way.

  “Sure thing,” I said with a tight nod. “Excuse me, I was just leaving.”

  Then I headed to the locker room. I wasn’t running, at least not on the outside. Pace steady, I took a quick shower before dressing. On my way out, I refused to look in Cole’s direction, and almost instantly my mind was back on the stolen memo.

  Did it have anything more useful in it? I had read it three times while in the server room, so I practically had the whole thing memorized, but maybe I had missed something. I would need to get Lucy to take a look at it soon.

  9

  Back in my dorm room I made sure to hide my USB in the false bottom of my sock drawer, just in case. I was exhausted from both the night’s activities and my early morning workout, so I stripped and fell face-first onto my bed.

  The sound of knocking at my door intruded after a painfully short amount of sleep. Rolling over, I glared at it. Hopefully whoever was there would go the hell away. To my crushing disappointment, the knocking continued. After throwing my blanket back, I staggered over to the door without fully opening my eyes. The damn knocking needed to stop.

  “What?” I snapped, slamming the door open and wishing a painful death from a thousand paper cuts on the sleep invader.

  “Well, if I knew this was how you answered your door, I would have woken you up sooner,” Caleb drawled, running his gaze up and down my underwear clad figure. Scowling, I slammed the door in his face. He was not worth losing sleep over. Crawling back under my fluffy duvet, I sighed.

  Seconds later, my door clicked open then closed and a man’s heavy footfalls crossed my floor before Caleb’s solid frame pinned me beneath him and squashed the wind out of me. He dragged the blanket off my face and grinned down at me.

  “Good morning, sunshine!” he sang, looking far too pleased with himself.

  “Fuck you, Caleb; it’s too early for your bullshit,” I growled, giving him my best dagger glare. With my arms pinned under the covers, I couldn’t push him off. At least not yet. “Why are you so goddamn chirpy anyway?”

  “Aside from having just seen you in your underwear? Because that alone would be reason enough.” His grin turned flirtatious. “You never replied to my message, so I thought I would come over and take you out for lunch.”

  The night before rushed in, filling in the exhausted crevices. After the shock of the memos, I’d given Lucy the all clear then ignored my phone. So I’d never answered him, and he should have taken the hint.

  “I’m busy today; why don’t you go see if Anna and your brother need some company?”

  Caleb’s grin spread even wider. “Holy shit, you are jealous! You made it pretty clear we were only friends; why should it matter who I get naked and sweaty with?”

  “I’m not jealous.” I definitely am. “I just thought you had better taste than bitchy little Anna Greengate.”

  Skepticism filled his eyes, but instead of pursuing the conversation, he rolled onto his side. Settling in next to me, he spooned me through my blankets and started poking me in the side.

  “Come on, get up! It’s almost the afternoon, and I’m hungry!”

  Shrugging off his prodding, I burrowed deeper into the duvet. My sides were insanely ticklish, and I had zero desire to share that weakness with him. When I tugged the pillow over my head, the asshole jerked it away.

  “If it makes you feel better, I would have much preferred a feisty little redhead instead...” He murmured as though trying to seduce me, his breath hot on my neck. My toes curled and thighs clenched at that smooth, chocolaty tone. Shoving backwards, I dislodged him even as I got off the bed in an attempt to gain a little distance.

  Stop it, Kit. You’re not attracted to him. He’s trouble for you, remember? Think about unicorns or roller-skates or cheese… Fuck, I’m hungry.

  “All right, lunch. Let’s roll. I’m ready.” I propped my hand on my hip in my best casual, we’re-just-
friends pose.

  He smirked in satisfaction, making no attempt to hide his enjoyment of my figure. Oh, right, I was still only in my bra and panties.

  “After I get dressed.” I scooted into my bathroom, gathering up as much of my dignity as I could on the way.

  After a quick cool shower, I found myself stuck with whatever clothes were left lying around my bathroom. It would serve him right if I went out in a towel, but I wasn’t sending that message. Not attracted to him. Maybe if I told myself that enough times, I might start believing it. Luckily I had most of the components of a full outfit, with skinny jeans and a forest green V-neck sweater that hugged my body in a flattering way.

  Back in my bedroom I found the dangerously sexy fiend sprawled on my bed, seemingly asleep. When I padded closer, he cracked his eyes open. Ignoring him, I grabbed some socks and some low-heeled, over-the-knee, black suede boots. If I happened to bend over to zip them up in what I hoped was a somewhat alluring way, it was purely coincidence. I swear.

  “Come on, Kitty Kat; let’s go before I decide I’m hungry for something else,” Caleb insinuated as he abandoned my bed and led the way to the door.

  We signed out with campus security then took my car down into town. I’d had enough exercise at the gym not to feel guilty about driving such a short distance, and I wanted to be quick so I could get back and look at that memo again.

  Grabbing a table in the little local diner, I chomped my way through two of their massive burgers as well as a large side of fries and around five cups of coffee with cream and sugar. He watched with amusement as I polished off the last few fries from my plate and licked my fingers. I didn’t apologize, not when I had been starving.

  “So what were you doing last night that you couldn’t text me back?” he asked, slowly working through his own remaining fries.

  Breaking and entering probably wasn’t the appropriate answer in this situation, so I just raised my eyebrows in what I hoped was a mysterious expression and said, “This and that.”