Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(9)
Author: Gena Showalter

John splayed his arms. "Fine. You’re right. I was grasping, trying to buy time to sort this out before you cause some kind of disaster."

"You want to avert a disaster? Give me something helpful!"

A moment passed before he said pointedly, "There’s only one sure way to find out what really happened."

I knew that. All I had to do was find the man responsible and ask him – before I burned him alive. Or froze him. Or buried him in a mound of dirt. Maybe a combo of all three. The nice thing about having power over the four elements was that I had a smorgasbord of choices when it came to torture.

Rome would not like these thoughts, young lady. They’re violent, and that isn’t like my sweet baby Belle.

Uh, what was my dad doing inside my head?

Didn’t matter, I supposed. I need you, Daddy. I wanted to crawl into his lap and rest my head on his shoulder like I’d done every time a boy had broken up with me in junior high (not that I’d had many boyfriends back then, ugly duckling that I’d been). He was a big teddy bear and when his arms were wrapped around me, I felt invincible. Not helpless and alone and tormented.

"I’m sure you’ve already done this, but if not, send a team back into the warehouse," I told John. "Have them search every inch and bring us everything they find. A scrap of paper, a twig, doesn’t matter. We need everything." Dr. Roberts, the scientist who had infected me with my superpowers, had hidden his

"magic" formula on wooden floor planks, the ink invisible until I’d frozen them, causing some sort of chemical reaction. If he’d taught me anything, it was to dig beneath the surface. I’d use my powers on every grain of dirt brought to me if necessary. Anything to help Rome.

John glared at me. "What am I? An idiot? Of course I’ve already sent a team to the warehouse. They’re bagging and tagging every speck of dust as we speak."

"Good."

"I wasn’t done. Furthermore," he continued, "we’ll see if I allow you to go through the evidence. You’re not objective where Rome is concerned, and let’s face it, your abilities have been more unstable than usual lately."

"That’s because – "

A hard rap suddenly reverberated throughout the room, saving me from having to defend myself. I whipped around, my heart stuttering to a stop. Maybe Rome had remembered me. Maybe he was here, searching for me. I licked my lips, once again barely able to stand still.

Behind me, I heard a rustle of clothes. John must have pressed the enter button, because the door slid open.

A uniformed guard stepped inside, a protesting Sherridan dragged behind him. My hope burned to ash, leaving a hollow chasm of disappointment in its wake.

"I caught her wandering the halls, sir," the guard said. "What would you like me to do with her?"

"She’s with me," I said on a sigh. "Let her go."

She spotted me and stilled, her anger fading to relief. "Oh, thank God I found you. I can’t believe you left me sleeping at home."

No, I’d left her wallowing in her Happy Place. Again.

"I got tired of waiting for you to return, so thought I’d do you a solid, hunt you down and allow you to give me some answers. Most of the security guards here are nice, by the way. They recognized me and wanted to help. Which isn’t asking too much," she threw at the one still holding her. Before I could comment on how sweet she was to "allow" me to give her answers, her eyes scanned the room, and she added, "Hey, Tanner. You look as tense as those Marines we saw on those commercials. It’s hawt."

"Thanks," Tanner replied.

Her gaze continued to shift before stopping abruptly and narrowing. "Lexis, I wish I could say you look hawt, as well, but you don’t. Actually, the sight of you sickens me." That made two of us.

Lexis brushed an invisible piece of lint from her shirt as if she hadn’t a care.

"Let her go," I repeated to the guard.

Bastard waited for John’s nod before releasing his charge.

"Yeah, that’s right." Scowling at him, Sherridan rubbed her arm. "You better release me or you’ll feel the wrath of Wonder Girl."

Wonder Girl, another of Rome’s nicknames for me. My chin trembled.

Before John could tell me to tell her to beat feet, I said, "She’s now a member of my team. Let her stay.

Please," I added to placate him.

He opened his mouth to protest.

"I need her. She’ll keep me calm since Rome can’t." Or wouldn’t. "And don’t tell me Tanner can do it.

Like you said, I’m more unstable than usual. I need all the help I can get." Rome had once told me I had hair-trigger emotions. And he’d said it with affection, the sweetie, as if it was part of my charm. Oh, God. Rome. Tears burned my eyes, and a raindrop splashed from the ceiling.

"See!" I croaked to John. "I need help." I had to stop reacting like this, charming to Rome or not. It wasn’t healthy for me, and it wasn’t good for the case.

"We need her, John," Tanner said. What he meant was, I needed her. But he loved me enough to fight for me. I wanted to hug him.

Several minutes ticked by in silence as John mulled things over. He was a pros and cons man; in this case there were probably more cons. Sherridan wasn’t trained for covert missions or even combat (to be honest, neither was I) and would therefore be in danger. Everywhere we went. She might even place us in danger. But keeping me composed was important.

"Lexis?" he finally said.

"She’ll survive, she’ll even aid," was all Lexis said, though her tone was curt.

John nodded, satisfied. "Fine. She stays."

As happy as I was that John had just relented, I refused to be grateful to Lexis for her part in it.

"Have a seat, Miss Smith. Nothing you hear goes beyond this room. Understand?"

"Yeah, hello. I’ve seen this movie."

Such disrespect. She’d learn. As for John, I wasn’t surprised he knew her name, even though I’d never introduced them before. John knew everything. Everything except why the love of my life no longer knew who I was.

"Wow. The inner sanctum. Never thought I’d be allowed here." Sherridan’s shoulders were squared proudly as she scanned the spacious office, probably noting the expensive oak desk, the plaques on the walls and the massive bookshelves. "Hey, there’s not a chair for me."

"You can sit in my lap," Tanner said. "You know you’re always welcome there." I blinked in surprise. That had sounded like the old Tanner, the Tanner I knew and adored. Was he finally healing? Or was this an act for Lexis’s benefit? Either way, I was proud of him.

Lexis stiffened. Cody frowned.