False Match Page 3

  “I already told you, I don’t think my parents were a match. My dad forced himself to endure a loveless marriage for a few years and then abandoned me when I was ten. My mom killed herself not too long after. That funny enough to distract you?”

  Her stomach did a fast somersault and she stopped mid-step and almost tottered over on her heels. Luckily Chase grabbed her. Normally she would’ve shrugged off his hand, but after the bomb he’d dropped, she let him keep the connection.

  “Your dad left?”

  He gave a curt nod and dropped his hand off her arm, strolling ahead of her. The tiny heels of her shoes sank in the grass as she jogged to keep up. “You didn’t say that before. I’ve never heard of a matched couple separating. That does make me think that they may not have been genetically compatible. Your suspicions about Keel could have been correct.”

  “But you have no scientific evidence yet?” he asked.

  “Not yet. Soon. Tell me what happened after your parents split up.”

  “My dad did his best in the marriage, but finally couldn’t live with it anymore and took off and found his true match, Loren’s mom.”

  “Oh my.” She didn’t know what to say. She’d never been good in these kinds of situations. “I’m sorry?”

  “Not as sorry as my mom, who did her best to raise me, but finally killed herself when I turned fifteen and entered my training.”

  The enhanced children at the Program led a relatively normal life up until high school when they were accelerated into an intense academic and military training program until they turned eighteen. At the age of majority, they were given a choice to become a fully active soldier for the Program or go to college. Nearly ninety-nine percent chose to stay on as soldiers. Samara had memorized that fact from the thick document Shepard had printed for her as an introduction to the campus.

  If she and Luca stayed on, she wondered how Luca would handle it when his peers went into the military and he went to the local public high school. Whatever. She had eleven years to worry about that parenting problem. She needed to focus on the current problem in the form of the large male body in front of her. She guessed she got what she deserved by asking him to talk.

  But he had succeeded in taking her mind off her own problems. “Did your dad come back for you then, after your mom…died?”

  “Hell no. He had his new wife and his beautiful daughter. Besides, I was in teen training, living in the dorms, and kept busy every day, all day. I didn’t need a full-time parent.”

  She hadn’t seen Loren stop in even once in the days Chase had been guarding her. “Is that why your sister hasn’t been by? Do you two not get along?”

  He stopped walking and swung his head with an expression etched with surprise. “We get along great. It’s not Loren’s fault Keel was a dickhead who maybe switched up the paperwork. She hasn’t stopped by because she’s been caring for her match, Adam.”

  She blushed and looked away from his penetrating, meaningful glance. She knew exactly who Adam was, and unfortunately his injuries were in large part thanks to her. If she hadn’t aided and abetted Paulson in his plan to kidnap Adam, he would’ve remained hale and hearty. She quickly changed the subject. “Do you think Doctor Wise and Shep know about your parents, especially given how much testing and blood work they do on you?”

  He froze. “I never thought of that, but since Doctor Wise doesn’t have any say over mission matters, her opinion doesn’t mean jack.”

  “What about yours?”

  “My what?”

  “Your opinion.,” Samara said. “Do you think you deserve to be in missions if you’re not like the rest of your cohort? If it turns out you’re not enhanced.”

  “Ouch, Jones. You really know how to hit a guy where it hurts. I think we’re done here,” he snapped. Chase strode away back up the hill with no chance of her keeping up in her heels.

  She stared after his back, mind whirling from the side he’d revealed today. He obviously didn’t think he deserved to be part of the team or he wouldn’t have gotten so angry over her question. She’d lied to him just now. She had seen almost instantly this morning he wasn’t enhanced and only needed to do a little lab work to confirm. Now she wondered how best to break the news to him and if there was anything medically she could do. It was probably too late now. If she’d known him in-utero, maybe she could’ve done some manipulating of his genes to more closely mimic those of his enhanced peers. But who was she kidding. She would’ve only been six when Chase was in his mother’s belly. Sure, she was ranked a genius thanks to her IQ, but even she hadn’t known anything about gene therapy in kindergarten.

  She watched him disappear over the hill. She may not have been skilled in social intricacies, but she knew Chase needed time to cool off. She stood in the grass, already lost in the helix of recoding Chase’s genetic makeup to give him a fighting shot at fitting in here. No wonder he always put on his easygoing, Mr. Friendly mask. How long had he suspected he wasn’t enhanced? A long time, probably.

  Since he wasn’t enhanced, there was no way he ran as fast or was as strong as his team members. However, he probably felt if he were a beloved member of the community, he’d be an integral member, which explained his overly gregarious personality. Poor guy. She’d stay long enough to help him, then she’d take Luca and go as far from here as possible. Any lab would be happy to have her, and she’d make anonymity a condition of hiring her. Just let Shepard try to keep her in prison any longer than she chose.

  Chase stormed up the hill away from Samara and her probing questions. God, she was such a professor. Five minutes with her was like being in law school with the Socratic method. Everything she asked had an edge to it as if he could never get the right answer and maybe he couldn’t. Compared to her, he knew he had the mental capabilities of a chimp. He skidded to a halt. Jones knew whether he was enhanced or not already, didn’t she?

  She hadn’t been willing to meet his eye, and she’d been cagey about wondering whether Shep and Doctor Wise suspected. She was probably trying to protect his feelings or his job, given what she’d found.

  He turned on his heel and raced back to where he’d left her. She was still standing there in the large, grassy valley.

  “You know, don’t you?” he called down as he approached.

  She didn’t respond until he was in her face, breathing hard. See, if he were enhanced, he would be breathing normally. A small jog wouldn’t have him huffing.

  “You know already,” he repeated, more quietly.

  She met his gaze and nodded. She didn’t need to say a word for him to know the results. He wasn’t enhanced. It was as if she’d socked him in the gut and he couldn’t breathe or speak for a few minutes. He’d suspected for weeks if not years, but hearing it confirmed unequivocally hurt a hell of a lot. It was thinking he was a dog his whole life then suddenly finding out, no, he was a cat. Nothing wrong with being a cat, it was a shocker, that’s all.

  He knew what he had to do. He’d rehearsed this scene in his mind on loop all week. It was surreal now that it was happening. He stepped away from Jones and headed toward the main office.

  He pushed through the glass double doors and stomped down the hall to Shep’s office. He was glad this part of the hall was tile. His feet made loud, angry sounds, the perfect accompaniment to his mood.

  He burst into Shep’s office after one knock on the thick door. His boss was seated behind his desk reading through a stack of papers. On the desk, a phone’s little lights blinked like a mini-airport landing strip, but Shep ignored the phone.

  “Why are you here, Chase?”

  “I’m here to hand in my resignation.” He’d been thinking about this ever since he’d suspected what Keel had done to his parents’ matching test results.

  Shep stood, scowling. “You can’t resign. You can only die to get out of your obligations.”

  “Very funny, but you may want to let me when I tell you what I’ve learned.”

  Shep gestured to a
chair across from his desk and then sat twiddling a pen in both hands.

  “Sir.” Chase paused for air. “I’m not enhanced. I’m just a regular guy.” He forced himself to meet Shep’s gaze. “Keel told Loren some things that made me suspect, and I had Doctor Jones do a test to confirm. I’m not enhanced. There’s nothing special about me.”

  “Do you believe that, son?”

  “Believe what, that I’m not enhanced? Hell—”

  “That you’re not special?”

  He froze, feeling like an unwilling participant in a preschool after-school cartoon. I’m special, you’re special. “Don’t do that, Shep. Don’t twist my words. I don’t have the genetic goods to be here, so I’ll make it easy on everyone. I’ll leave.”

  “We’ll be sorry to see you go.” Shep put down the pen and picked up a document and began to read it.

  That was it? He was through? The air whooshed out of his body and for a moment he worried he was going to face plant on the floor in front of Shep’s desk like some kind of tool. He turned to go and leaned extra hard on the door handle, using it to gain equilibrium.

  “Come back here, you dumb bastard.”

  He froze with his hand on the metal knob. “Why does everyone keep calling me bastard?”

  “Because you’re acting like an idiot. You’ve been with us since birth, you’re family. Do you really think I’m going to let you go that easily?”

  “Well…yes?”

  “If you’re that dumb, maybe I should let you go. But I made a promise to your father to treat you like a son after he left the Program.”

  “You did?”

  Shep nodded. “Doctor Wise has been taking your blood since you were in-utero. Of course we knew you weren’t enhanced. And I think your father suspected what Keel had done. He knew you weren’t the product of a perfect match, and he worried about you keeping up with your cohort.”

  “He did?” Heat flooded his cheeks as he heard his stupid questions. But it was all he could manage at the moment.

  “Did you have trouble keeping up, Chase?”

  Honestly? “Yes. I used to run until I thought my legs would fall off. If the instructor said to go three miles at a jog, I went five at a sprint. But it never felt good enough, it always felt like Xander or Gavin could’ve whipped my ass if they’d put in half the amount of effort.” Hell, Xander had whipped his ass continuously, but only when his old man had shown up to watch the training. Chase had hated those days.

  “What about the academic lessons? Were those more challenging?”

  Chase acknowledged the question with an affirmative nod. “I used to sneak a mini recorder under my shirt so I could hear the lessons again. Everyone else had it memorized after hearing it once. I had to play it repeatedly and take pages of notes.”

  “Good.”

  “Good?” Maybe Shep hadn’t heard him correctly. He’d admitted that everything here was a struggle for him. “But I’m a hindrance to the team, to missions. If I were enhanced I wouldn’t have been caught in London by Paulson’s team. I would’ve caught Paulson.”

  “Is that what you’ve been telling yourself?” Shep asked, but didn’t wait for a response. “Chase, the other guys have it easy. Too easy. What did you learn from having to push yourself so hard to keep up?”

  “That I suck,” he muttered. At Shep’s exasperated look, he tried again. “I learned to work hard.”

  “Exactly. You are more disciplined and don’t rely on your body to get you over hurdles. It’s a dangerous thing to walk into a situation and assume you’ll get out of it simply because your body is enhanced. Some of our guys will fall victim to that mindset. You won’t.”

  “Disciplined?” He snorted. “Adam and Xander would laugh their asses off to hear you call me disciplined.”

  “Would they?” Shep asked gently.

  He looked at his commander in silence for a long moment, trying to process the last five minutes of conversation. When it seemed like too much, he walked out of the office, feeling as if his brain had been through one of those drive-through car washes. Everything was different.

  *

  The next day, Chase lounged on his bed, channel surfing in his room when a knock sounded at his door. He clicked off the telly and told the person at the door to enter.

  Chase looked up to see the petite Doctor Jones in the doorway of his one-room apartment. “I want to fix you,” she said. Just like her. No preamble. No greeting. Nothing. Only her simple, bomb-dropping statement.

  “Care to repeat that?” He’d stayed in his apartment all evening after Shep had blown his mind. And this morning, it hadn’t seemed necessary or prudent to go play bodyguard for Doctor Jones. He’d moped in his room with the television on, but not really watching. Technically he wasn’t supposed to leave Jonesie alone on campus, but fuck it. He’d needed a break.

  She stepped all the way into his apartment. “I mean, you didn’t come to the lab this morning, and I was worried.”

  “Were you?”

  “Well, not really. In truth, I’ve been thinking about your, erm, genetic problem, and I think I can find a solution. At least I’d like to try.”

  He rose off the bed, stalked over to get in her breathing space and loomed over her. “‘Fix me’? ‘Genetic problem’? Wanna rephrase?”

  Her cheeks were as red as the t-shirt lying in a heap on the floor. “I didn’t mean it like that. We’ve established you aren’t enhanced. And I’d love to take a closer look.”

  He stood close enough to her, he couldn’t get closer without stripping off their clothes and getting inside her, but he managed to get a millimeter closer. Near enough to smell the floral scent of the soap she used. “How’s this? Close enough?”

  She managed to squeeze a hand between them and pushed at his chest with her palm. “Back up, Stanton. You know what I meant.”

  He allowed her to win the space battle and took a step back. “No. I want to hear you say it. You think I’m broken.”

  She looked up, her plump lips a perfect O. “No, I don’t think that. Truly.”

  He threw her a doubting look.

  She stomped closer, her heel digging a hole in the boxer briefs on the floor next to yesterday’s t-shirt. “My own son isn’t enhanced, so why in the world would I think you’re damaged goods?”

  Well then, okay. “You didn’t play with Luca’s genes?” He cocked his head to the side curiously. She was the leading expert in gene therapy and fertility in the world and she’d done nothing to her own child.

  “Well…” She balanced her bottom on the very edge of his bed, as close as she could without sliding to the floor. “I did a lot of research into the sperm donor’s medical history and, of course, did all the prenatal testing. As soon as I ruled out any diseases or genetic abnormalities, I let him simmer.”

  “Luca’s from a sperm bank?”

  She flushed and nodded. “I was thirty-three and hadn’t met a man I wanted as a husband, but I did want a child.”

  At his sly grin, she hurried to her next point. “I’m not here to talk about my son’s genetics. I’m here for you.”

  Would any red-blooded American man not get hot and bothered over that statement? Honestly, he had a sexy, smart doctor on his bed in her silky, demure blouse covering her ample bosom. And, bonus, she’d admitted to being there for him. Was it any wonder his shorts started getting a little snug? He sat next to her to avoid having his swollen dick at her eye level.

  She scooted away from him. He caught her arm at the elbow before she fell off the bed. Then his arm slid around her back and pulled her tight to his chest. “Isn’t that nice?”

  “What?” She kept leaning away from him.

  “You’re here for me just when I could use some company.” He leaned forward to plant a tiny kiss on her temple.

  She leapt up, narrowly missing cracking him on the nose with her noggin. “What are you doing? You don’t like me.”

  He stood also, not hiding his arousal. She glanced at his wa
ist and then her gaze flew up at his accusingly. If her cheeks were any redder, he’d suspect paint.

  “I think you’re sexy as hell.” It was his only concession. He actually did like her. A little, but he’d die before admitting it. She was the least-popular person on campus thanks to her role in Adam’s capture. He liked her, but he still wasn’t convinced she could be trusted.

  “You—you—bastard!”

  He shook his head sadly. “There’s that word again. I thought we went over that. My parents weren’t a genetic match, but they were married. Unlike your son’s parents. Your baby’s father came in a test tube.” He laughed. “Hah, get it? He came in a test tube.”

  “You are vulgar and despicable,” she sputtered.

  “But sexy,” he said with the grin that had scored hundreds, okay, dozens of women. If he hadn’t lived on a mostly locked-down military compound, he was sure it could’ve been hundreds.

  “Forget it. I’m sorry I bothered.” She spun on a sexy heel, getting wound in his boxer briefs on the floor. She picked up her foot to remove the offending underwear and chucked them at his head. She had good aim. Then she slammed out of his room.

  Chase stared at the vibrating door then glanced down at his hopeful erection. “Blew that one, buddy.” It was for the best. What the hell had he been thinking, putting the moves on Doctor Jones? She wasn’t remotely his type.

  Granted, his type was usually any woman who smiled at him, which disqualified her. But when she’d appeared in his room, practically glowing with the possibility of performing genetic experiments on him, he couldn’t resist. All her brains and her compact, curvy body On. His. Bed. Yeah, he was honor bound by the male code to make a move. Truth be told, he’d been thinking about her ever since she’d arrived on campus. He was attracted to her and had been a dick to her only because Shep had declared her off-limits. When he’d thought she had something to do with Adam’s kidnapping, it had been easy to put the attraction aside. Now that he knew her better and knew she’d been a victim as well, it was more difficult to leave her alone.

  Shit, he probably had to go apologize. Hell yeah, he wanted her to perform her genetic voodoo on him. Forget whatever Shep had said about accepting him no matter what, he’d be able to really fit in if he were perfectly enhanced.