Read Online The Whole Truth (The Supercharged Files Book 1) by Jody Wallace - Free Book Online Page B

like to him.
    Tomorrow could be good. Me and
John, alone together, doing the tourist thing. Plus, the more time I spent with
him, the more opportunity I’d have to catch him in a lie about YuriCorp.
    Harsh, but I had a future to
plan. The truths I learned clandestinely rang so much truer than the truths
people told me on purpose.
    After our waiter served our food,
we settled down to the very important business of eating. I tried a spring roll
first, pleased to find it excellent. Delicate wrapper, lots of cabbage, spicy
meat, and crunchy sprouts. Dip was a ginger carrot mix.
    Also excellent, the black beans,
which I could understand. It didn’t take a lot of skill to cook beans. But
spring rolls? In a beer joint?
    “These are really good.” I tried
not to sound surprised.
    “We know the chef. He gave us
some tips for pizza when we started that business,” Samantha said.
    “So he’s a suprasensor?” I asked.
“What’s he do?”
    “It’s not for me to say.”
Samantha sipped her beer. “One thing you have to understand. If someone works
for a known supra company, you can assume he’s powered. If someone works in a
specific department in a company, you can assume he has that particular power.
If someone reveals herself, that’s another safe bet. But otherwise, people’s
powers are none of your business, and it’s rude to ask.”
    My face heated. “Sorry. I thought
after Lou asked, it was standard.”
    “Lou cut her teeth in a supra PI
agency run by her family. Curiosity is in her blood. Either way, you have to
keep your information to yourself. It’s part of the deal. It should be easy
since you’re a chameleon.”
    I had to take their word about me
being a lizard. “Did you taste that in my DNA?” I asked John.
    “Not enough to be certain,” he
hedged. “The tests will let us know.”
    “Or you could kiss her,” Samantha
suggested with a dry laugh. “Skip a week’s testing right there.”
    John stiffened and frowned, as if
the suggestion were offensive. “The lab would still need to run it.”
    “Kiss me?” I asked. Was the idea
of kissing me unpleasant?
    “You know how they get DNA
samples inside the cheek?” Samantha asked. “If John goes mouth to mouth on
someone, he can get a pretty accurate reading. He can tell when people are
related, sometimes if they have genetic disorders. He can sense hormonal
shifts, moods, and other things your personal chemistry can’t hide.”
    The hard glitter in her eyes told
a different story. Did she not like it when John went mouth to mouth on other
people?
    “That makes sense.” I couldn’t
imagine how this particular skill could be exploited on a consulting gig, but I
could conceive of other applications. No doubt he was excellent with his
tongue. “I’ll, uh, wait for the tests.”
    “Cleo, ignore her. She gets
cranky when she hasn’t had enough sleep.”
    More and more, their bickering
sounded like a long-term couple. Dating, not married. A married couple would be
less jealous of attention paid to the other.
    I gave him a tight smile. “I’m
sure we’re all tired.”
    A loud ruckus interrupted our
conversation. A man in an expensive suit hauled Clint out of his booth and
punched him in the face. Clint stumbled against his table with a bellow,
rebounded, and the two men began to grapple like rutting stags.
    “God, not again,” Samantha
muttered.
    Most of the men in the place, and
several women, encircled the pair, though none had leapt to defend Samantha
when Clint pawed her. She’d had to fend for herself.
    Perhaps Clint was a local
celebrity. This was Nashville—maybe he was a country music singer. He was named Clint.
    “Beer joint!” I yelled to
Samantha over the din. If Clint was a suprasinger, did he use his powers to
hypnotize people into buying his records?
    “I’m going to kill them both.”
Samantha jumped up and shouldered her way through the crowd. She was shorter
than everyone, but when she laid her hands on people, they