“Come back,” he called after her. “How am I supposed to get to know you better if you leave?”
“We can talk while we work.” She didn’t turn around, and she didn’t come back, even though he stood there waiting for her to reconsider.
He finally followed after her, jogging to catch up. He walked her back to the bunkhouse, peppering her with random details about himself—all of them true. A person could only remember so many lies, and he’d reached his limit with his cover.
She listened and smiled, amused but cautious. Part of her held back. And probably not because he’d rejected her last night. He’d made it more than clear he’d changed his mind about wanting her.
She had doubts about who he was now.
When they arrived at her bunkhouse, she wished him a second goodnight and went inside without casting him another look.
The door shut firmly behind her.
He swore under his breath and trudged toward his bunkhouse. Dispatching the two raiders so efficiently had been a tactical mistake. And yet how could he have done anything differently? He couldn’t have risked her life just to make his cover seem more believable. He valued her more than that.
Besides, he’d taken an oath to protect civilians, and he didn’t know for certain that Charity or anyone in her family was an Empowered. They might be innocent.
He hoped they were innocent. He needed them to be innocent. If they were innocent, he could have a future with Charity. Enzo had been so used to dealing with the criminal element, with people who would stab a child or steal from their mother, that he’d forgotten people like her still existed.
He ambled toward his bunkhouse, his mind lingering on how she’d felt in his arms, warm and soft. Tomorrow, he would seek her out again and convince her to?—
His phone vibrated, announcing a message. A picture of a guy eating a cheeseburger appeared on his screen, the sort a friend might send if he wanted to gloat about good food.
It wasn’t from a friend, though.
Enzo typed in a password that indicated he was alone, and the picture changed, revealing the real message. After a few seconds, it disappeared from his device altogether.
Enzo had enough time to read the content. A contact would wait for him at the northwest corner of the orchard. He was to go there now.
He stared at the screen, inwardly cursing. He’d been the one who’d told headquarters to send whatever supplies they had for him quickly. Now he didn’t want to meet up with the agent.
Enzo marched in that direction, constantly checking over his shoulder for bystanders, for anyone watching him hike across the farm for no apparent reason. He had no way to hide his flashlight beam.
He went back through the corn, then wound his way through the trees toward the farm’s back corner. All the while, he intently listened for any indication that his contact had accidentally tripped one of the alarms by going over the wall.
That didn’t happen. When Enzo neared the wall, a dark figure stepped out from behind a tree. Enzo had expected to see one of the other special ops officers dressed as a harvester. Someone who would blend in if one of the farm’s security guards wandered by during the meeting.
The contact was Perry, wearing all black and opening up a black backpack. Completely suspicious.
Enzo switched his flashlight to the lowest setting so that it was no more than a glow. “What are you doing here besides trying to blow my cover?”
“I’m giving you the tools for the rest of your mission.” He handed Enzo a tiny vial. “One dose of truth serum.”
Only one, because once Enzo used it on someone, that person would tell everyone what he’d done. If Enzo was overpowered or killed, the government didn’t want any extra serum falling into an Empowered’s hands.
Enzo slipped the vial into his pocket. “So when I find out who the Empowered is, will backup be waiting?”
“Moving a large body of officers nearby might trigger the psychic to have visions. As we’ve said before, we trust you to handle the job. When you have the Empowered or Empowereds in custody, call and we’ll send in people to help.”
Meaning, it would take a while for them to arrive.
Perry handed him the next items, several sets of handcuffs and a Ruger. “In the all too likely event that you can’t peacefullytake the Empowereds in, you have clearance to kill them and anyone who tries to prevent the arrest.”
Enzo found himself gritting his teeth as he took the gun. “It’s not that easy. These harvesters have a stash of weapons.”
“And you know where Ben Huntington keeps those. I suggest you hide that box before you start your questioning.”
“I don’t know if he keepsallthe guns there.”