RetroCog (a Power Up! story) Read Online Free Page A

sense of connection to the woman in the painting—to Lara—he couldn’t ignore it. But he could avoid the shame accompanying his base hungers by pretending they didn’t exist. Like he always did. At least his release abated the need, if not his desire. But when a new couple materialized, fucking on the floor, he focused hard to will away the visions still pressing his psyche, for fear he might inadvertently seek out Lara to make his fantasies all too real.
     
    Nothing is ever fucking simple when it comes to Jack Keiser’s missions.
     
    Noah should have known better. When he’d arrived in Superior two days ago only to find the painting had been stolen, it seemed par for the course that this simple retrieval, like Price and Foreman’s own mission two months ago, would be just as complicated. Tracking down the painting hadn’t been too difficult, but seeing the identity of the thief hadn’t panned out. In his visions of the past, Noah saw nothing but a dark shadow mired in the disappearance—as well as in the death of the painting’s last owner.
     
    He grimaced, missing the simplicity of the pioneer mother and her infant son in the parking lot of the gym back in Bend. The minimalism of life before man and civilization encroached on the splendor of the mountains had been a beautiful thing.
     
    The unique perfume of danger and intrigue saturated this case. His fascination with the missing painting bordered on obsessive, and he knew it. But now, having seen Lara, he knew the real thing didn’t hold a candle to Emilio Vala’s portrait.
     
    A coincidence the inn’s manager just happened to be the spitting image of the woman in the portrait? Noah didn’t believe in coincidence. There was something going on here, something more he hadn’t yet seen. And what about that ghostly image layered over Lara? What the hell had he stumbled onto here? And why had Jack assigned him this case, considering the bevy of talent they had at home?
     
    Nathan could touch an object and know about it and the people who’d touched it. Avery knew the future. Chloe heard truth. Aidan could ferret secrets out of a person’s mind. Why send Noah, a man who often lost himself in dreams of the past, on this wild-goose chase? Even after Noah had reported the painting stolen, Jack had insisted he remain on the case. Why? What was his bastard of a boss up to?
     
    An hour later, after cleaning up and lugging his bag up to the room, Noah locked his door before descending the stairs. The noise of people laughing and talking grew as he studied the busy lobby and dining area. A good crowd enjoyed the heady aroma of coffee and sweets, and his stomach rumbled.
     
    Wanting to eat as much as he wanted to find answers, he decided on the quickest way to accomplish both. Sliding through the mass of cheery patrons, he found Lara and Frank comparing notes as they studied the cash register.
     
    “It’s Lara, right?”
     
    The pair blinked at him.
     
    Lara blushed and glanced down at some receipts, and Noah would have given a lot to know what she was thinking. Telepathy would have been more than welcome right then. He concentrated on keeping his inner shields taut when a transparent coil of dark hair slithered over her face. A closer study showed her hair held back in a ponytail, though a few strands had escaped that she’d tucked behind her ears—ears studded with familiar rose-shaped silver earrings.
     
    “Hi Noah. Everything okay?”
     
    He blinked, and the earrings vanished. He shored up his internal shields, praying they’d hold.
     
    “Noah?”
     
    “Yeah. I’m great, thanks.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, wishing he wasn’t so awkward around the living. Dead people ignored him but never made him feel unwelcome. The past wasn’t choosy about its participants. The present, however, could be brutal. “You think you could show me a good place to get something to eat?”
     
    He sounded harsh, even to his own ears.
     
    “Um, I