Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(88)

Dr. Haggerty gasped. “No. He can’t be. We’ve gone through all files. He wasn’t listed. We even checked his fingerprints and DNA. We found no matches.”

I shrugged. “They found no record of Dr. Chen, either. I’m pretty sure Donovan could make any and all records of a person disappear, including military records. Did you actually send his picture out to the military, or just search for him in the databases?”

Dr. Haggerty gasped again. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that.”

Tex was already reaching for the phone on the wall. “Patch me through to Medical.” After a pause, he said, “Major Wilks, sir, Angel has found a way to communicate with the supersoldier. Sort of. We believe he’s one of ours, and is being held prisoner by the nanobots.”

Major Wilks’s gruff voice was easy to understand over the receiver. “Good work, Tex. Explain it when I get there. We’re almost done here.”





Since we had some time to kill and I couldn’t question the guy until we killed the nanobots in his head, I pulled over a chair next to his cell and he taught me poker while we waited for the others to return. By the time they got back, the superthug and I were well on our way to becoming good friends, and I was sure of my theory—the guy was on our side.

“Major!” I shouted as the ACEs put Lorenz McCreepy back in his cell. “Please tell me it worked.”

I jumped to my feet, grinning until I noticed Ryan had returned with them. Insecurity washed over me. I didn’t like that we had fought, and I hated not knowing how he was feeling right now. But I had no time to dwell on my personal drama because Major Wilks frowned, dashing all of my hopes. “I’m sorry, Angel. Some of the nanobots were disabled, but not nearly enough to free his mind. I’m afraid we’d have to use a much stronger voltage of electricity.”

“It may not even be possible to free their minds at all,” Geek added, looking as glum as I felt. “The lightning you released that stopped Tyson’s heart was only a fraction of the power running in your system at the time you fried your nanobots. Obviously you can handle more electricity in your body than is humanly possible. Who knows how much electricity you actually used to destroy them? We could extract some from the superthugs and experiment to find out, but even if we do figure out what it would take, I doubt a normal human could survive such a shock.”

And there went all of my hopes, up in smoke. My disappointment was so plain on my face that Lorenz laughed. “So eager to torture another man?”

His taunt didn’t bother me. “Nah, Super T and I are totally BFFs now, and I think I know a way to help him. Can’t say as I’d mind going another round with you, though.”

Lorenz came to the bars where I stood, careful to keep out of my reach this time, and scowled. “Why don’t you share some of those powers of yours with me, gorgeous? Make it a fair fight. We’ll see who wins the next round.”

“Tempting, but now that you mention it, that does give me a good idea.”

I whirled back toward Dr. Haggerty, excitement spiking my adrenaline as a new thought occurred to me. “What if I don’t shock him? What if I fill him with good energy?”

The good superthug gripped the bars of his cell. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t have to electrocute you.” Turning my excitement on Major Wilks, I said, “Think about it. Geek pointed out that I wasn’t electrocuted when I fried the nanobots in my head. I was just really charged up. Teddy and I used to practice out in the desert a lot with how much energy I could give him. We got to a point where he had enough energy in him that he could release a strong bolt of lightning and still superrun back home. My energy, if I’m not using it to attack, doesn’t harm people. It used to elevate Teddy’s pulse a little, but not like electrocution. I could just fill this guy with my energy until it baked the nanobots. He’d be fine.”

I waited for all the enthusiastic cheers such a solution should have caused, but the room stayed silent. Nobody seemed excited by my plan, except for my new friend behind the bars. “Major, it would work. I swear.”

Major Wilks sighed, but it was Ryan who stepped forward to officially reject the plan. “Babe, you’re probably right. It might work.”

He’d called me babe. Did that mean he wasn’t still mad at me?

“But you’re talking about giving him your power. If it doesn’t work and you fill him with superpowers, he could break out of that cell and disappear with you in a heartbeat. Things could go very badly.”

So that was their problem? I supposed I could see their point, but I still shook my head. “Super T won’t fight it. He won’t use my powers against me. He’s one of the good guys. I know it.”

Major Wilks shook his head. “You can’t know that for sure. It’s an awfully big gamble, Angel.”

“No. I’m sure of it. Watch. Hey, Super T…”

He laughed at the nickname I’d given him. “Yes, Angel?”

“Who’d win in a fight? A Ranger or a SEAL?”

He snorted. “No offense to either, but a Force Recon would take them both.”

The answer was immediate. Instinctive. Habitual. Exactly the same way Ex Marine Special Ops Smut shouted an enthusiastic “Ooh rah!” and all the other ACEs launched into an argument, each defending their own former branches of the military.