Chapter 2

CHAPTER

TWO

Kai believed the woman in front of him didn't know those guys.

She looked truly terrified with her wide eyes and shallow breaths.

Were they following her, knowing she was looking for Kai?

Or was this all about the woman?

As the questions ran through his mind, the men strode toward them. If he and Tori were going to get away, then they needed to move. Now.

"You're going to have to trust me." Kai grabbed her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction of the men. "Come on."

Fear flittered through her eyes, but she didn't resist. Thankfully, she was light on her feet and quick.

"Hey!" one of the men behind them called. "Stop right there!"

No way was Kai stopping.

He knew trouble when he saw it. Those men were definitely trouble.

Tori, on the other hand . . . he was still on the fence about her. She might be trouble, but she was also in trouble. He'd have to sort through the details later.

The two of them reached the end of the alley, and Kai headed left toward a more populated area. They'd have better opportunities to lose these guys in a crowd.

"You have no idea who those men are?" Kai called over his shoulder to Tori as they ran.

"I've never seen them before in my life. How long have they been following me?"

"At least for the last fifteen minutes."

"You knew I was following you for fifteen minutes?" Surprise laced her voice.

"You were pretty obvious." Kai stopped at the street and glanced to the left and the right.

He made a split-second decision to head right.

As they hurried down the sidewalk, Kai stole a glance over his shoulder.

The men emerged from the alley like soldiers on a mission.

Kai knew he and Tori only had a moment to lose these guys. He pulled her into a nearby men's clothing store.

"Look casual," he murmured as he led her away from the door toward the back of the store.

Tori nodded. Despite her promise, her entire body appeared tense. Not to mention how her eyes were too wide and her breathing too shallow.

Anyone looking at them would clearly know something was wrong.

"Can I help you?" A sales lady turned to them with a superficial smile as she glanced them up and down.

"We're just browsing." Kai forced a smile. "But thank you."

He led Tori toward the back of the store, briefly pausing to pretend to check out a Hawaiian-style shirt. Really, he was waiting for the sales lady to stop watching them.

As soon as he saw the woman turn to address another customer, he pulled Tori to the back of the store into an Employees Only area.

A woman on lunch break looked up from a table where her sandwich and chips were spread out on a napkin. "This isn't for the public."

"Whoops." Kai shrugged as if clueless. "Sorry."

Before she could say anything else, he shoved open an exit door and ran outside. He and Tori had no time to waste.

He didn't know where those men were. Didn't know if they'd gone into the store or not.

But he couldn't take any chances.

"This way!" He pulled Tori down another alleyway toward a fence at the end.

"We're going to be trapped!" Tori uttered, her steps slowing.

"We've got this." He paused at the chain link barrier and cupped his hands, holding them low. "Put your foot in my hand. I'm going to boost you over."

She glanced at the nine-foot-high fence then at herself in her jeans, T-shirt, sneakers, and crossbody bag. "But . . ."

"You can do it. You have to do it."

She stared at him for only a split second and then nodded. The next instant, she slipped her foot into his hands, and he boosted her over.

Her ascent and descent weren't necessarily graceful, but Tori made it to the other side. Thankfully, the top of the fence was smooth and not adorned with razor-sharp barbed wire.

Kai easily climbed the fence and landed with the agility of a gymnast on his feet beside her.

If only they could take a breather here. But they couldn't.

They darted down another alley and into another building—a candy store this time.

As soon as they stepped inside, Kai drew in a deep breath and reminded himself to look casual. They strolled toward the front, Kai keeping his eyes open for any signs of danger. So far, the only danger was future diabetes.

The scent of sugar and artificial fruit made his mind slam back in time to when his father—trying to get on Kai's good side—had taken him shopping. He'd bought him a half pound of Sour Patch Kids.

Kai, for the longest time, had considered that the best day of his life.

He and Tori sauntered through displays of colorful lollipops and bins of candy by the bulk, trying to look like tourists. Finally, they reached the front door—one that was surrounded by clouds of cotton candy and rainbow candy garlands.

As they stepped outside, he scanned the street and sidewalk.

There were no signs of those guys anywhere.

But that didn't mean he and Tori were out of danger yet.

They would need to proceed with caution.

And Kai needed to figure out who this Nathan Bristow guy was.

Tori's lungs burned as she tried to catch her breath—all while trying not to show just how winded she was. Showing too much weakness might put her at risk even more, and she still wasn't sure if she could trust Kai.

"This way." Kai led her across the street.

As he did, Tori scanned the area for any signs of those men.

She didn't see them.

Not yet.

She halfway expected them to reappear at any moment.

Instead of running more, Kai pushed open the door to a Vietnamese restaurant. A woman at the hostess desk greeted them. Kai said something to her in another language, and the woman responded before nodding toward the back of the restaurant.

Kai led her to a seat just out of sight of the entrance. An extravagant bamboo lattice provided them a view of the front windows while also concealing them.

Perfect.

Kai sat facing the door, his eyes still alert.

Hesitantly, Tori slid into a chair beside him. She didn't want her back to the door either.

Not until she knew what was going on.

Before Kai could ask any questions, the hostess appeared again with two glasses of water. She and Kai had another conversation, clearly familiar with each other. His fluent use of another language was impressive.

Nathan had also been fluent in Spanish, German, and Chinese—that she knew about. There could have been others.

"I hope you don't mind, but I ordered some tea and soup for you," Kai said when the woman left. "I told her we didn't want anything, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"What if I do mind?" Tori raised an eyebrow, though she knew this wasn't the time to be sassy.

"Then I apologize. But we have a lot to talk about."

Yes, they did. Tori couldn't deny the truth in his words.

She'd traveled a long way and gone through a lot to find him. She'd been trying to get a feel for him before this had happened. In retrospect, maybe she should have been direct. But she hadn't been sure if she could trust him or not.

"Now do you want to tell me who you are?" Kai shifted toward her, his intense gaze burning into hers.

She drew in a deep breath. Though she'd been imagining this conversation for a while, she suddenly didn't know where to start. "I believe you knew my brother."

"I didn't know any Nathans." His voice sounded clipped and all-business. "Why would you think I did?"

"If you don't mind me starting from the beginning . . . I'm a traveling nurse based out of Florida, but I've been working in Seattle for the past four months. While I was there, I got word that my brother had died of cardiac arrest."

His gaze softened. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too." Tori pressed her eyes closed at the memory but tried to keep her emotions at bay. She didn't have time to let her grief emerge right now. "I went straight to Atlanta from Seattle for his funeral, and I stayed there a week to try to get his affairs settled."

Just then, the waitress delivered their tea and soup. She also brought rice, a plate of veggies, and some spring rolls.

Kai and the woman talked back and forth for several minutes, and Tori could only imagine what their conversation was about.

"You shouldn't have."

"A young strapping man such as yourself should eat."

"We can't stay long."

"You can stay long enough."

Tori had always loved the hospitality of Asian cultures, and she could read the woman's body language enough to interpret that much.

Whatever the conversation, the food smelled wonderful, like clove and coriander.

Too bad she had no appetite.

When the waitress left, Kai turned back to her. "Hanh will be personally insulted if we don't eat this, even though I told her we weren't that hungry. At least pretend to eat a spring roll."

"I can do that." She lifted a roll into her hands.

"You were saying?"

Tori swallowed hard before continuing. "After working on things at Nathan's place, I headed home to Florida instead of going back to Seattle. My job was ending there anyway, and I needed a few days by myself to process my grief. When I got home, I found a package inside my house."

"Inside?" Curiosity gleamed in Kai's gaze.

"Yes, in my oven, actually," Tori said. "My mom caught the house on fire when we were younger because she'd stored some papers in the oven. Ever since then, I always check the inside before turning it on. Paranoia? Maybe."

"But your brother knew you did that."

"Exactly. I don't have a roommate, so I was startled at first. Besides, all my mail had been forwarded to Seattle, so it didn't make sense . . . but my name was handwritten on the package—in my brother's handwriting." She paused. "Then I opened it, and things made more sense. Nathan must have delivered it and figured out a way to get inside. He was always resourceful like that."

"What was inside the package?" He picked up a spring roll and took a bite. "Must have been pretty important."

"Handwritten notes." Tori dug into her crossbody bag and pulled out a manilla envelope. "He explained his reasoning for being so secretive in a note he left in the package. Said he couldn't risk typing what he had to say, that his computer was being monitored."

Kai narrowed his eyes as he studied the package in her hand.

He didn't, however, ask to see what was inside.

Instead, he asked, "Was he paranoid?"

"I don't think so. Nathan told me how he'd been a part of a secret government project to create what was essentially a super soldier. Told me he was put through rigorous training and classes. That he went through experiments and tests. That they even gave him drugs to enhance certain abilities."

Kai's expression remained unreadable. "I'm not saying his words have any merit, but was that the first time he'd said something like that?"

"Yes, it was. I knew he was special forces, but that was the first I'd heard about these . . . experiments." She frowned as she imagined what he might have been through. "Anyway, he went on to say that he'd started questioning things. That those above him didn't appreciate it. Then he said he feared they might kill him to keep his silence." Tori's throat burned as she said the words.

Kai shifted beside her, his expression not giving any hints as to what he was thinking or if he was familiar with what she said or if any of this surprised him.

There was nothing.

"So you're telling me that you believe your brother was part of a top-secret military program and that this program ultimately got him killed?" Kai said. "And that the leaders covered up his death in order to keep their noses clean?"

She knew it sounded crazy, but Tori didn't blink as she stared at him. "Yes, that's exactly what I am saying."