Gena Showalter - Playing With Fire (tales of an extra ordinary girl)

“Beat myself up?” Grinning like a loon, he whooped. “Did you see my kick-ass aim? I had my eyes closed, but it was dead center-excuse my pun-and he went down like a horny boy in a whorehouse.”

The implication of his words slammed into me harder than a bullet, and I gasped, my mouth agape. “You’re telling me you aimed that gun in my general direction and your eyes were closed?”

Some of his excitement waned, and he gulped. “Well, yeah.”

“The fact that you could have hit me doesn’t bother you?” My eyes narrowed on him, the rims burning. “The fact that you could have hit Rome doesn’t freaking bother you?”

Tanner’s chin raised stubbornly. “What would a bullet have mattered? You Tasered him.”

My jaw clenched. “For God’s sake, he was coming at me.”

“Yeah, to help you. And how did you repay him? By frying him up like an egg.”

“Shut up and get over here. I need help. My legs are trapped under two tons of cat.”

Tanner kicked the dead guy off of Rome. “I think the pussycat’s coming around.” He bent down and clutched Rome by his-its-head and shoulders, lifting. “My God,” he grunted. “You weren’t lying. What kind of cat chow has this heifer been eating?”

I wiggled free and glanced at the cat. He’d stopped shaking, at least, but his eyes were slitted on me. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a lethal snarl. I’d never been Tasered, but I knew the electrical currents had rendered him immobile. Thank the Lord. He might have pounced on me for real if he could move.

“What?” I said to him, all innocence, with fluttering eyelashes and a dainty shrug. “This is your fault, and you know it.”

Tanner released Rome, who thumped to the floor. “Oops. Sorry.”

Licking my lips, I glanced around the room-anything to keep from looking at Rome. “Are there any more bad guys in the house?”

“Not that I can see,” Tanner replied.

“So… what should we do next?”

“Aren’t we, like, supposed to question someone and look for information about the doc and his evil potions?”

I nodded. “Yes, of course. While Rome ’s recovering, why don’t you look for a survivor and I’ll search for the information.”

Tanner’s head canted to the side, and he surveyed the destruction. “Uh, I’d rather search for information.”

“Fine. Jeez. Let the delicate woman search the menacing criminals for signs of life.”

“Thanks,” he said, flouncing off, his flashlight in hand, leaving me in the dark.

“Tanner!” I shouted at his retreating back.

“Don’t make an offer you don’t want accepted,” he threw over his shoulder. He disappeared down the hall.

“Smart-ass,” I muttered. To Rome ’s prone body, I said, “We really need to teach that punk some manners.” I reached toward the wall, feeling blindly for the light switch.

Rome growled.

My hand stopped in midair. “No light?”

Of course he didn’t answer.

“Blink once if you want me to leave the light off, twice if I can turn it on,” I said, turning on my flashlight-duh, I’d forgotten I had one, too!-and shining it in his face. Well, I needed some light, whether he wanted me to have it or not.

He blinked once.

Great. I got the privilege of finding a live body/killer with only a flashlight. Yippee for me. “Growl or something if you need me,” I sighed. I planted a kiss on his nose and scampered off, only thin beams of amber illuminating my path.

The house had wide, spacious rooms that looked very much like the foyer, with furniture overturned and broken glass scattered in every direction. I counted nine of Vincent’s agents, both upstairs and downstairs. Rome had made short work of them, and though he’d wanted to keep one alive, none had survived. The ones I’d heard moaning earlier were now quiet.

I bumped into Tanner in the master bedroom. He oomphed, but didn’t remove his attention from the far wall. He had something long and blue in his hands. When I saw what held him enthralled on the wall, though, I forgot to ask him about the blue thing.

“My God,” I said.

“Do you think I could, like, take some of this with me?”

“Eww. No. That’s gross.” The good doctor obviously enjoyed S and M. Whips, spiked collars, crops and black leather abounded. Not to mention the silver chain harness hanging from the ceiling. No wonder Lexis had said the man had a wild sexual side. Just how “friendly” had she pretended to be with him? I shuddered.

“Look at this.” Tanner held up the long, blue thing. “What is it? What are the beaded things?”

“Tanner!” My cheeks heated. “That’s a vibrator.” I whispered the last word, embarrassed even to be saying it.

“Really?” Grinning, he shook it. The batteries rattled. “Cool.”

“Put that down right now!”

“Hell, no. I found it on the floor, in plain sight. Finders keepers.” Grin widening, he rattled it some more-and the end fell off. A sheet of paper drifted to the floor. “Hey, what’s that?”

I frowned, bent down and pinched the paper between my fingers, shining my flashlight over it. When I realized what it was, I gasped. A note. From Dr. Roberts to… me. Well, to the Person Who Drank the Formula-my name wasn’t specified. Still, my mouth fell open in shock. He’d known I would come here. Or maybe he had hoped.

“What does it say?” Tanner asked.

“It says ‘I’m sorry.’” I swallowed and read the rest. “‘I’ve done a terrible thing to you. I was weak and let a threat to ruin my public reputation influence my work. I should have destroyed the formula when I first discovered how dangerous it was. By the time I realized the error of my ways, it was too late-the formula had been perfected, and was just about to fall into the wrong hands. Evil hands. Unfortunately, the best hiding place I could think of on such short notice was… you. You were convenient, nearby. Please don’t hate me. I’ve left you a present in my office, which is in a secret lab directly across from Utopia Café. Watch for prying eyes.’”

I paused, looking around. I could almost feel those prying eyes on me just then. “‘P.S. Sorry about the sordid hiding place. I couldn’t risk OASS finding this note, but I knew PSI would be hot on your heels and I hoped they’d know where to look.’”

“Wow,” Tanner said. “You’d think since OASS knew he was a sex fiend, they’d have looked in the vibrator, too.”

“I wonder why they didn’t.”

“They’re dumbshits, if you ask me.”

“Hey! Lexis told me the doctor was a pervert, but I didn’t think to look in the vibrator, either.” Tanner opened his mouth to comment, but I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t say it.”

He grinned. “Hey, this means the good old doc considered the employees of PSI pervs.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Belle hooked up with a perv,” he sang.

“That means you’re a pervert, too, since you’re the one who actually found the note,” I shot back.

His grin widened. “I know! Isn’t it great?”

I shouldn’t have been surprised by his happiness, the horn-ball. If I didn’t change the subject, though-vibrators, for God’s sake-we’d never get anything done. “So how’d Dr. Roberts get back into his house to hide this note?” I said, thinking aloud. “How’d he get past the OASSholes?”

“The who?”

I waved my hand through the air. “Never mind. Just ignore me.” He could have planted it before he made his escape, knowing he was going to give the formula to someone.

Tanner shrugged. “Maybe there’s another note around here, with more instructions.” He began searching the rest of the “toys,” whistling in tune with his movements.

I tapped a fingertip to my chin, wondering just what kind of confession was left for the doctor to make in a second note. I’d cause a world-wide flood if I wasn’t careful? I’d have to live in an igloo for the rest of my life just to control the fire inside me? There was a depressing thought.