Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1)
Read Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Christine DePetrillo
The
Shielded Series – Book One
By Christine
DePetrillo
Copyright 2016
Christine DePetrillo
All Rights
Reserved
Cover design by Dar Albert of
Wicked Smart Designs
Edited by Janet Hitchcock
www.theproofisinthereading.wordpress.com
This book or any portion
thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of the copyright owners except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or
locales is entirely coincidental.
Author Contact:
Website:
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com
Dedication
To our future selves and all we deserve…
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Maple Leaf Series – Contemporary Romance
Dr. Foster Ashby leaned against the crumbling brick exterior of an
abandoned building, trying to catch his breath. His heart drummed a frantic and
untamed beat in his chest, echoing in his ears as he sucked in oxygen and
struggled not to choke on the fumes in the air. They’d dropped a pepperblast a
few feet from him, but he’d managed to duck into an alley before the noxious
cloud enveloped him. The stinging vapors would linger though. He couldn’t run
back the way he’d come. Going forward was his only option.
I have to make it.
Lungs burning, he patted the small tablet zipped into the pocket of his
gray cargo pants. If his research fell into the hands of his pursuers, all
would be lost. He was close to an answer now. Too close to fail. Too close to
disappoint the entire globe.
No pressure.
Foster rubbed his eyes, certain they were bloodshot, not only from the
pepperblast but simply from being in the city. Running through dilapidated
Boston took its toll on the body. The stink of trash and decaying
carcasses—animal and human—made breathing difficult. Summer temperatures didn’t
help. Everything smelled as if it’d been marinated in sour milk then roasted on
sun-scorched asphalt. The uneven pavement was tricky to navigate and hell on
the feet. Something sharp had jabbed his heel through his black combat boots as
he’d run through the city, and now his sock felt wet. He didn’t dare stop to
heal what was probably a deep gash.
Have to keep moving.
He picked his way along the alley, staying close to the building at his
right. Fortunately the brick façade was continuous and offered good cover. Red
bits of brick flaked off as his fingers trailed along the stone, sounding like
rain pattering on the street. He’d loved the brownstone buildings in this part
of the city where he’d lived before the Anarch attack. They’d been so cozy,
nestled next to one another along the narrow streets, old-fashioned iron
lampposts lighting the way for nighttime walkers on summer evenings. Boston had
been such a historic city, filled with the sights and symbols of America’s
fight for freedom.
Now it was no more than a wasteland.
Rubble and litter ruined the landscape. The sound of cars bringing people
here and there no longer filled the day and night hours like a steady, healthy
heartbeat. Instead an eerie quiet—an odd absence of city noise—hung over the
skeletons of broken buildings. Business no longer thrived here. Social activity
no longer thrived here.
Nothing thrived here.
Except for one area where Foster resided. His employer, Emerge Tech, owned
the intact and enhanced building and allowed its employees to live there. The science-based
company had taken over a section of the ruined city to rebuild its
headquarters, erected fortress-grade walls with a security field around its
assets, and had been operating as if the rest of the world wasn’t in a total
state of disarray. They were committed to solving the problems that were
causing the chaos across the globe, but life within Emerge Tech walls and its
security field was as close to normal as life got these days.
If I could get back there…
Maybe he’d be safe inside Emerge Tech’s walls. Maybe he’d be leading the
enemy right where they wanted to be led. Maybe he wasn’t meant to survive the
day.
Foster shook his head. He
had
to survive. Too many people were
counting on his research. Too many lives would be lost if he didn’t succeed. He
couldn’t quit now. Especially because he’d snuck out of the safety of Emerge
Tech after his superiors had made it quite clear they didn’t approve of his
requested trip into the city.
But he needed samples. Samples that were too risky for anyone else to
acquire. Patting the pocket of his cargo pants, he took pleasure in the fact
that he’d been successful. Now he just had to get back to his lab.
As he decided to make a run for Emerge Tech, a bright spotlight lasered
down to where he stood in the dim alley.
“Nowhere to hide now, good doctor,” a digitized voice boomed from
overhead.
The light was too bright for Foster to see its origin. He made a move to
run again, but fingers dug into his biceps. He was yanked out of the light and
through a hole in the brick wall behind him. The fingers felt small but strong
against his bare skin. He made a move to turn around, but the fingers tightened
painfully, so he stopped.
“Look,” he started, “I know what you want, but I don’t have the cure. I
might never find it.” Maybe if the enemy thought he wasn’t close to finding the
right recipe, they’d decide he wasn’t a threat.
He expected a response. Something along the lines of, “You will have the
cure soon.” That was most likely true. Foster didn’t make a habit of failing;
however, he feared the rest of that sentence would be, “So you must die.”
He wasn’t ready to die. He had faith the world could be restored. He knew
he was a big part of that restoration. He had to live and find the cure. He
also wanted to be around to enjoy the new world that would be rebuilt in place
of the shithole this one had become.
Instead, the only answer he received was the sound of someone breathing
behind him. He strained to listen and didn’t hear more than
one
set of
inhales and exhales.
If there’s only one of them…
Foster whirled around and sent his fist straight out. His knuckles
immediately connected with something and a pained cry filled the dark space
around him.
“Fuck,” an angry female voice said. Spitting sounded followed by more
cursing and a soft click as a flashlight flooded the area with white light.
“You made me bleed, you ass.” The beam of light turned to the cement floor
where dark splatters zigzagged between Foster’s black combat boots and a
similar, smaller pair across from him.
While he was studying the blood spill, someone grabbed his shirt, brought
his head down, and slammed it against a sharp, boney kneecap that appeared out
of nowhere. The pain was instant and sent him to his knees. He reached out his
hands to brace himself and debris on the floor cut into his palms. Now
he
was bleeding.
“There,” the female voice said. “We’re fucking even now.”
Foster swung out his arms and grabbed onto the ankles of his attacker.
Pulling with all he had, he swept her legs out from under her. She crashed to
the ground, landing flat on her back. Her body made a sickening smack, but
Foster didn’t give a shit. She wasn’t getting his research.
No one was getting his research. Not until he had the cure and not until
he was sure it’d be going into the right hands—hands dedicated to saving lives.
Emerge Tech hands.
He scrambled to his feet, grabbed the flashlight the female had dropped,
and ran deeper into what remained of the building they were in. If he could get
out the other side of it, he could avoid what might still be waiting in the
alley and have a chance at getting to his domicile. He’d be safe on the other
side of Emerge Tech’s walls and its security field. He had to believe that.
His heel ached along with his palms and his head now, but he kept
running. Moving had to be better than sitting with a target on his back. He
rounded a corner, spilling into a better lit area where a wall was broken and
let in daylight. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the light then he ran
straight into the nose of a gun.
“I wonder if Emerge Tech will pay me regardless of your condition upon
delivery.” The female pushed the gun into his breastbone until it felt as if it
were grinding a hole there.
“You’re getting paid by Emerge Tech?” He backed up a step to rid himself
of the gun prod and take a better look at his assailant.
“Yeah.” She pushed a mane of reddish-brown waves out of her face as her
tongue ran over the fresh split in her bottom lip. A split Foster had put
there.
“And what exactly are they paying you to do?” Thoughts of betrayal
flashed into his mind. The company he’d given everything to was out to get him?
The company who had thrown funds his way to save the goddamn world wanted him
dead? If he died, so did nearly everyone else. The enemy would win. Is that
what Emerge Tech wanted?
“They’re paying me to keep your sorry ass safe, though they are miffed
you left their walls without consent. I can see why. People want you dead out
here on the outside.” She flexed her hand around the gun. “You must be
important, Dr. Foster Ashby.” Her face took on a disgusted expression as her hazel
gaze combed over him. “Rich guys are always important. Or at least they think
they are.” She lowered the gun now and wiped at the fresh blood dotting her
lip.
“And what? I’m supposed to just believe you’re here to keep me safe?” Did
she think he was that gullible? He may spend hours upon hours locked in his
lab, but he knew not to assume everyone told the truth all the time. Especially
not in the world of 2025. Honesty had gone down as hard as the buildings in the
Boston. Trust was an antiquated notion. Extinct even.
Foster knew that first hand. His biggest enemy right now had once been
his best friend. He’d worked long hours with Dr. Mikale Warres, a brilliant
chemist at Emerge Tech. He’d assumed they’d been toiling after the same goals,
believed in the same ideas.
He’d been wrong.
He wouldn’t be wrong again. “Listen. I’m all set on my own here.”
“Clearly.” She scoffed. “You were about to be terminated in that alley,
moron. I pulled you out of there and the thanks I get is a punch to the face.”
She wiped at her bloody lip again. A bloody lip that made her mouth look
dangerous. She winced as she ran her tongue over the split.
Foster unzipped his pocket and plunged his hand inside.
“Hold it right there.” She took several steps closer, her gun still
trained on him.
He put his hands out to his sides. “My weapon is not in this pocket.” He
wasn’t going to tell her he didn’t have a weapon on him at all. She’d already
called him a moron. She’d think he was downright insane for venturing into the
city unarmed, but he liked to believe he was stealthy enough not to need a
weapon.
Clearly that’s not true.
But he hadn’t realized Mikale was actively pursuing him. Emerge Tech had
to have known, though, if they denied his request to go outside in the first
place and then thought a bodyguard was necessary once they realized he was
missing.
“I want to grab my tablet.” Slowly, he reached into his pocket, his gaze
staying on the nose of her gun, which didn’t waver in the least. She obviously
had experience holding people at gunpoint.
He pulled out his tablet. Tapping the screen, he found the program he
wanted and stepped closer to her. He hadn’t decided whether she was friend or
foe yet, but he didn’t need her blood creating a trail for his enemy to follow.
“Let me see your lip there,” he said.
She backed up a few steps. “Get away from me.”
“Do you enjoy donating your precious blood to the floor?” he asked.
Licking at the split again, she huffed out a breath. “It’s just a few
drops. Trust me, I’ve donated way more than that in the past.”
“I’m sure.” He held up the tablet. “You obviously know I’m a doctor. I
can stop that bleeding with this. If you’ll let me. It’s perfectly safe.
Watch.”
He hovered the tablet over the deep scratches on his left palm and hit
scan. A warmth radiated over the damaged skin and soon the cuts were completely
healed. He did the same to his right palm then met her gaze.
She lowered her weapon and waved a hand toward her lip. “Hurry up then.”
He stepped a little closer, careful not to put himself within range for
her to do any damage to him. Lining up her lip in the tablet’s screen, he hit
scan and the program went to work closing the split. Within seconds, she was
healed and no longer bleeding.
She brought her fingers up to her lip and ran them back and forth. Foster
was a little mesmerized by how full those lips were. Bodyguards weren’t
supposed to be this… this hot, were they?
What am I doing?
He didn’t have time to notice how beautiful this
female was. He only had time to find the cure.
As he backed away, his heel stung, shooting pain up his entire leg. The
pain brought him back to his current situation and out of the daydream of
pressing his lips against this female’s just to get a taste of her. He listened
for a moment, but didn’t hear sounds of anyone still in pursuit outside.
Sinking to the ground, he sat and pulled off his boot and blood-stained sock.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “We have to keep moving and get you and
your impressive brain to Emerge Tech.”
“Ah, now I believe you.” Shaking his head, he used his tablet to tend to
the gash in his heel.
She folded her arms across her chest. “Now you believe what?”
Foster put his boot back on and stood, securing his tablet into the
zippered pocket of his cargo pants. He studied her for a few moments. She
wasn’t much shorter than his six-foot-three frame, and her legs went on for
miles. He’d definitely not seen a pair of black cargo pants and black boots
look better. The army green tank top she wore showcased muscular arms and
smooth caramel-colored skin. A tattoo encircled her left arm—a ring of
stars—and Foster put a hand to his own tribal tattoo on his neck, swirling up
around his right ear. He’d gotten his to celebrate life. Why had she gotten
hers?
Why do I care?
“Now you believe what?” she repeated as she pulled at her bottom lip,
looking a little impressed it had been healed so easily.
“Now I believe you were hired by Emerge Tech. My brain is important to
them.” Only his brain. He was pretty sure if he could download his brain onto a
machine, Emerge Tech would have had him do so years ago. “My employer would pay
someone to keep my brain safe.”