Read Online Atomic Beauty by Barb Han - Free Book Online Page A

believed in him, wanted him there.
    â€œI had a sister.”
    â€œBut you don’t stay in touch with her?” It wasn’t really a question.
    â€œI tried at first. They told her I’d shipped out overseas and limited our contact. She was so caught up in being the perfect daughter, doing everything they expected of her, it was hard to make a real connection. Then it just became easier to slip into my dark hole and disappear. Guess that makes me an asshole.”
    â€œOr just a human being.”
    â€œAfter the things I’ve done, no one would accuse me of that.” There was a hint of sadness to his normally self-assured voice. It was too subtle to be fake.
    Jace, his voice, was cracking through her walls. She couldn’t afford to allow it. “We knew the deal when we signed on.”
    â€œYeah, sure. I was twenty-six years old. I knew what I wanted for dinner that day, not what signing up for this life would do to my future.”
    â€œSo you regret it?”
    â€œNot really. I don’t know who I am without this job anymore.”
    â€œI need to know what’s going on if you want me to help you, Jace.”
    â€œIs that what you want? To come to my aid? Or are you playing with me to find out what’s on the information you stole?” His tone was razor sharp, and just as cutting.
    â€œI was trying to do my job. Don’t take it personally,” she shot back, not wanting to reveal just how much it hurt. “And don’t call me until you’re ready to deal.”
    * * *
    Daylight was giving way to dusk for the second night when Erika saw a shadow hovering from the light beneath her door. Someone was out there, lurking, and she was no closer to figuring out what was on the thumb drive. Everything she tried to learn about Exacto was classified as above her pay grade.
    She jumped into action, palming her SIG Sauer and a camera the size of a writing pen. Her weapon led the way, aimed chest-level at whoever was on the other side of that door. A body shot would be her best option since it didn’t require as much precision.
    Following the movement of the person outside, her weapon zigzagged left to right.
    She glued herself to the wall, moving forward without making a sound, in case he slipped a camera—some of which were no larger than the head of a needle—under the door.
    A flutter in her chest accompanied the thought it could be Jace.
    She bent down and placed the pen at the side of the crook in the door, angled toward the person connected to the shadow. His shoes were three and a half feet from the door, men’s work boots. She shifted the camera to scan him, staring into the wireless handheld screen in her palm.
    Jace.
    Her heart stuttered as her body flushed with heat. She didn’t want to admit just how much she wanted to open the door and run into his arms. Except that she couldn’t be sure she could trust him.
    Jace paced, looking as though he was trying to decide whether or not to knock. With him this close her insides heated, softening her bones to the consistency of warm Jell-O.
    She steadied herself as he crouched low. Try to slip something lethal under the door, buddy, and see what happens.
    With her left hand wrapped the around the door lever and her gun in her right, Erika was ready to spring into action.
    He slid a loosely folded piece of paper under the door and then folded his arms.

Chapter Eight
    There could be any number of poisonous agents on the paper. Erika toed it with the tip of her flip-flop. Or it could be a distraction before a strike. She made sure the hall was clear before retrieving gloves from her backpack and the ice tongs from the bucket on the counter.
    Based on her visual scan, there didn’t appear to be any substance on the white paper. Using the tongs, she gingerly picked it up and unfolded it.
    I’m not armed and I’m not leaving until you talk to me.
    The past two days without Jace had been