Blue Maneuver Read online

  “I will not warn you again.”

  Still keeping eye contact with him, I found the grout line and pushed with my toes. The chair balanced on the back legs. Ha! Victory was mine!

  Leaping forward, he clamped a hand on the back and pulled me forward until the front legs hit the tile. My cheek brushed his chest and he reared back. “You little fool. Don’t you understand when— What? Yes, I’m still here.”

  No. No. NO! What a douche! Frustration clawed at my concentration. Well I wasn’t beaten yet. So he wouldn’t let me fall back. I’d show him by falling to the side. That arm was the loosest anyway.

  “Apologies ma’am but could you repeat my orders.” Covering his ear, he turned slightly away from me.

  Such an opportunity might not happen again. I pushed again with my toes while slamming my upper body to the side.

  The G-douche caught the arm of the chair.

  I dangled in mid-air. The hard tile so close yet so far away. Crap on a cracker! I rocked in the chair but still didn’t topple over. Scum-sucking, toilet-licking, fat head.

  He slammed me back to the ground. Frown lines dug trenches around his mouth. The opal in his key fob glowed blue. With one last look, he released the chair and stepped back. “ETA?”

  I could practically feel him daring me. I raised my chin. I never turned down a dare. I wasn’t genetically capable. Despite the light taping my mouth closed, I smiled at him and slammed my torso against the arm of the chair and fell.

  Blue light surrounded me, tinting the room a pastel color.

  Instead of hitting the ground, I continued to fall. And fall. Fudge bunnies! My hair grazed the tile then I fell up. Up? Soon gravity tugged me down. Then I swung up. Then down. Lovely, he had turned me into a fricking clock pendulum. I tried to lean forward but a pressure held me in place.

  Tobias Werner UED smiled. Crows feet appeared at the corner of his eyes and white teeth appeared between his parted lips. “Yes, ma’am, I understand.”

  The ground receded as I levitated higher and higher. Holy Toledo! What evil had he concocted now? Blood rushed to my head, adding percussion to the thumping inside my skull. Oh God. I was going to die. Tears stung my eyes and needled my nose. My parents. I sniffed. Would they know that I loved them? Would they understand, that I rejected their lifestyle not them?

  As my eyes reached his chin level, the douche bag assassin tilted his head to the side and reached out a hand to stop my swinging. “And the subject?”

  I followed the blue beam back to his hand. Would he kill me with the key fob or did he have something worse in store? I just hoped it would be quick. My stomach cramped. And whatever else he had to do was done, after I was dead.

  “I’m sorry. Could you repeat—” His hand trembled and white dotted his knuckles. “No disrespect, ma’am, but she’s…”

  Hope flickered to life. Was he defending me or lobbying for my death?

  “No, ma’am.” He bit off each word and a muscle flexed in his jaw. “It won’t be a problem.”

  Problem? Pressure built inside my head. I squeezed my eyes closed, least they popped out.

  “I’m glad you feel that my history makes me the perfect choice.”

  I peeked at him thought slitted lids. Oh boy. With that frown and hard glitter in his eyes, he looked like he could chew sand and spit glass.

  “Is there a contingency plan?”

  Over the battle of the drums inside my head, I perked up. A contingency plan? That sounded promising.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ve been trained in sanitation.” He scratched furrows in his short blond hair.

  Sanitation. I’d watched enough action movies to know that wasn’t good. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I concentrated on the blood cells pulsing through the veins inside my skull.

  “I won’t fail you ma’am.” Tobias snapped his cell closed and stared at me.

  And stared. My heart pounded above the noise. What was he waiting for—an invitation? Time counted down with each pulse. One beat. Two. Ten. My left eye twitched. What was I a work of art?

  He sighed and scrubbed his face with his palm. “Do you want down?”

  Did the Pope wear a funny hat? I also wanted to live. But I would take what I could get. For the moment anyway. Since my mouth was still sealed with light, I nodded.

  He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Do you swear not to pull any more stunts?”

  Did I? Not a chance. But I had no problem lying. I’d heard once that a prisoner wasn’t bound by any promises made under duress. I nodded.

  He narrowed his eyes. “If you fail to heed anymore of my warnings, I will simply act and you will suffer the consequences.”

  I swallowed a groan.

  “My next actions are completely dependent upon you.” Still aiming the key fob at me, he stepped forward and raised his hand. A feather soft touch caressed my cheek. “You should know that I’ve mastered ways to inflict pain that no one on Earth has dreamed of yet. Understand?”

  Great, blame the victim, but for what I wasn’t sure. I tried to make sense of it. Unfortunately, the influx of blood seemed to have flooded any abilities I possessed. Still, I just wished he’d get on with it before my head exploded.

  “You’re being very cooperative.”

  I rolled my eyes and hoped they didn’t pop out from the pressure. When were we going to get to the letting down part?

  “Just one more thing before we proceed.” His fingers traced the curve of my lips. “While you and Konstantin chatted, did you kiss him or vice versa?”

  How did that matter? My scalp felt like it was on fire. I tried to wiggle in my chair but that blue beam held me still. And really it wasn’t any of his business who I kissed.

  “Ahh, so you’re not cooperating now.”

  I looked at the cat, snoozing on the dining room table.

  He grasped my chin and turned my face back to his. “You should know that while hanging upside down will kill most people in about 20 minutes, the CeeBees will make sure you can survive it for much, much longer. But they won’t do anything to mitigate the pain.”

  Douche bag. I glared at him as my hair seemed to catch fire.

  He smirked back. “Did you kiss Konstantin or did he kiss you?”

  I blinked at the tears stinging my eyes. What did it really matter? I shook my head.

  “Are you sure?”

  Really, did the man want me to sign an affidavit? I nodded.

  “Good.” When he released the opal, the blue light faded. He slid his cool palms along my cheeks before settling his thumbs into the notches above my jaw and pressed.

  I hissed through the pain and opened my mouth. Holy Toledo! I blinked. I was free. Before I could respond, he settled his lips on mine. His tongue invaded my mouth. I tried to bite down but his grip prevented me. Pervert. I held myself still.

  He pulled back then ran his thumb over my damp, bruised lips.

  I jerked, freeing myself from his touch. The world tilted. I dug my nails into the chair’s arms as I spun counterclockwise. “What was that about? Some kiss of death to get your jollies before, what was the word you used, terminating me?”

  “I won’t kill you. Yet.”

  That was comforting. Sort of. “So the kiss…”

  “I collected some of your CeeBees.”

  My stomach roiled. How many times could a person throw up in a day? I’d already passed my personal best. Would I hit a world’s record? “Don’t you mean your CeeBees?”

  “No.” He ran his thumb over the opal then pointed one end at his head. A red light shot out of the tip. Crimson dots danced across his lips and jaw before rushing to the mole just under his ear.

  I wrinkled my nose. That was weird, even for the day I was having. Did I have green and blue dots thanks to his little key fob? Good Lord, what if I ended up looking like I had a Twister board plastered to my face? I released my death grip on the arms when I was parallel to the floor. Just a quarter turn more to go.

  “The CeeBees are s
pecifically tuned to your bio-signature now.” He flicked off the key fob. “And with that little sample, I can track you any where.”

  “Gee, I didn’t know you cared.” Track was better than kill. At least I hoped so. With my luck, he could be some sadist, psychopath. I felt cold tiles brush my sneakers. Almost there. My gaze darted to the French door. Could I make it? Maybe if I wasn’t still tied up.

  “I don’t care.” He bent over me as the chair righted itself. Using his arms, he bracketed me in and pushed the legs onto the floor. “You’re a means to an end.”

  “Gee, I feel so special.” I pressed against the chair back. The man smelled like newly mown grass and mesquite, probably part of his Parks and Rec disguise to mask his real stench of doggy doo. “Let me guess, you’re going to use me to get to Konstantin.”

  “If the occasion arises, I will kill him.” A spark of pleasure blazed in his green eyes.

  Great. The man was a homicidal maniac. Was he really going to let me go? “And if I don’t bait your honey trap.”

  “I’ll kill you.”

  There seemed to be a common theme here. Could I live with being an accessory to murder? I knew I couldn’t live without it. Still…

  “Then kill me now because I can’t…I won’t lure him to his death.” There. I’d been noble and brave. I raised my chin and ignored my heart trying to pummel its way out of my chest.

  “Does he mean so much to you then, obecht?” He lifted my left hand and stroked the fingers, up and down.

  My heart changed its rhythm to a more primitive beat. I tugged my hand free. “He’s a person, a human being. You can’t go around killing people you don’t like!”

  Tobias stepped away from my chair. “He won’t hesitate to kill you, obecht.”

  I snorted. This coming from a man who attacked me, tied me up, and threatened to torture and kill me? Yeah, he was a reliable source. I sidled out of the chair and backed up. “Are we finished here? Am I free to leave now that you have your Rae tracking device working?”

  One side of his mouth curved up. “No.”

  The breath rushed from my body as if he’d punched me. I glanced at the French door. Five steps. Six tops, then I’d be free. “But you said I could live.”

  He sidestepped, planting himself between me and the exit. “True. Your fate is much, much worse.”

  Chapter Five

  Was he serious? Sidling across the tile, I placed the dining room chair between me and Tobias Werner UED. There was no way I’d make it to the French door behind him but the front one lay wide open. Too open. He would be on me like a hungry cheetah, before I made it halfway across the great room. I was stuck and I knew it. So did he. I eyed the man. “There’s nothing worse than death.”

  He flashed his pearly white eye teeth. “You haven’t heard what your fate is to be.”

  No, I hadn’t heard about my fate. The sadistic prick kept that nugget to himself. I placed my hands on the chair back. My damp palms slipped on the polished cherry. Maybe I could smack him upside the head with the cane back chair, before running away.

  And the Rae-tracking device provided by the CeeBees?

  He could have lied about that. I mentally shook the stupid from my thoughts. Why would he? Telling me about my impending death gave him so much pleasure. I dried my hands on my baggy shorts.

  “So if you aren’t going to kill me, what are you going to do to me?”

  His teeth disappeared behind stiff lips. For a moment, his green-eyed gaze wandered to somewhere over my left shoulder and his jaw clamped shut.

  Fear dried my mouth and my toes pointed toward the front door. Holy Toledo! Maybe there was something worse than death.

  When he turned his attention back to me, his face shifted into a death mask. “You’re my new partner.”

  “P—partner?” That didn’t sound too bad. Tension released my body and my muscles liquefied. I locked my arms and tightened my grip on the chair to keep from puddling onto the tile. Brain check.

  The man was a killer who enjoyed his work.

  “In what?” The questions squeaked out of my tight throat and landed in the space between us. What had I been thinking? I needed full body armor not a stupid chair for a defense. He would probably impale me on the spindles. I jerked my hands free and stepped back.

  Slowly, he tucked the chair under the table and sauntered toward me. “Let us return to your domicile, and I’ll brief you.”

  I didn’t want him in my condo. I didn’t want him anywhere near me. I backpedaled at a diagonal, until I reached the open kitchen. The cold granite countertop of the island cut across my back. Trapped. I clutched the bull-nose edge. “What if I don’t want to be part of any mission?”

  Three feet away, he paused and cocked his head to the left. A shaft of morning sunlight illuminated his strong jaw. Stubborn and determined. “Then I’ll kill you.”

  I sighed. And we were back to that again. The thought was oddly comforting. Still, the man needed to expand his repertoire. Chewing on my bottom lip, I edged along the kitchen island toward the front door.

  I’d never killed anyone. I didn’t even think I could. But maybe if I could tip off the police to an impending hit and they arrested him… A ray of hope warmed me. Again with the single digit IQ thoughts. He was the government and would be out before the cops could slam the cell door shut. Face it, Rae. You’re stuck. “What if I agree to help you but can’t perform as expected and we fail?”

  He scratched the stubble on his chin. “If you are not already dead, then I will kill you.”

  Remembering my earlier thoughts, chagrin blistered my cheeks. What if those Cee-Bee thingies gave him mind-reading abilities? I’d already dismissed the plan, but there could be a time delay, before he knew I changed my mind. “Even if it’s not my fault?”

  He nodded then shrugged.

  Son of a monkey’s butt! Here I agree to help, somewhat reluctantly it’s true, and I would still lose. “That’s not fair!”

  “It is what it is.” Tobias cupped my elbow and tugged me away from the counter.

  I tried jerking free but his fingers dug in, not painfully just determined. He glided almost silently across the tile, while my loose sneakers slapped my heels. “You really need to work on your incentive program.”

  He snorted and guided me toward the front door. “Living another day is a pretty big incentive for most sentient species.”

  There was that. But I didn’t want another day. I wanted a handful of decades. Maybe even two handfuls. I leaned back slowing our progress. Once I passed through that door, my life would change forever. Here, in this room, I might still convince him to change his mind. “I think—”

  “Don’t.” Where his voice had always been calm and monotone, it now brimmed with raw savagery.

  Now what had I said? I tripped over my feet from the pain in his voice. The white tile rushed up to greet my face.

  His arm snaked around my waist, catching me.

  Before I could catch my breath, he had me turned and plastered against him. From chest to thigh, I touched every hard, unyielding inch of him. The contact was perversely un-nauseating and the heat radiating from his skin could practically raise blisters. He gripped my upper arms but the hold wasn’t bruising, merely detaining with determination. Anger painted red marks on his stubbly cheeks but didn’t touch the pain blazing in his eyes.

  Tobias sucked in air through his straight teeth and his gaze was a branding iron at the back of my skull. Whatever he said I wouldn’t forget it. Ever. “Your ignorance and inexperience could cost many people their lives, if not the enslavement of the human race.”

  Cost lives. Enslavement of the human race. My brain slammed against my skull from the over the top dramatics. I blinked. Holy Toledo! The man made a great straight man. And I had bought into the whole thing. Laughter bubbled up my throat before traipsing across my tongue. A hoax. This had all been a hoax.

  “Wow! You really had me going. Until that last line, I’d believed you
meant to kill me.” Muffling my giggles behind my palm, I backed up into the kitchen.

  He let me go but his brows met above the bridge of his nose.

  “I’ve been punked, right? Where are the cameras? Vivian, you can come out now.” I wagged a finger at the actor who’d played his part so well. “Naughty boy.”

  “This is not a joking matter.” He set his hands on his hips and frowned at me.

  A little too late for the serious act, buddy. I choked off my laughter but felt my lips push into my cheeks. I owed whoever set this up. Big time. Still, maybe this would help me get a job. I’d been cool under pressure, hadn’t I? “Threatening to enslave the human race. If you have to say lines like that, you should get a tiara for being such a drama queen.”

  Tobias’s eyes narrowed. “Because of your fondness for Konstantin, you’ve gotten yourself embroiled in a galactic mess.”

  I shook my head. The man didn’t know when to give up. “Galactic, huh? What? Does ET want to phone home? I could lend you my phone, but I used up the last of my Milky Way minutes.”

  He didn’t smile or grin. Confusion wrinkled his brow before the lines bracketing his mouth deepened. “No, you don’t understand. I—”

  A knock on the door cut him off.

  Finally. The camera crew had arrived and we could end this farce. Tobias seemed to be a little too into character. I reached for the door knob.

  He leaned a shoulder against the oak panel and set one hand on mine. The other held the silver triangular key fob.

  Right. I had forgotten about his fancy doodads. My hopes for this all being a practical joke burst. Crap on a cracker! Did that mean… My brain derailed that train of thought. No way could the human race be on the verge of enslavement. Just because his key chain shot rainbows that turned into handcuffs and gags or levitating and spinning rays, didn’t mean life existed on other planets.

  No way.

  Absolutely not!

  Too bad, my own personal choir wasn’t echoing the sweet refrain.