Shatter Read Online Free Page B

pulling the door open. “I know you were a scientist for the Department of Defense when you told me you were working for Georgetown Medical Center. I know you worked under Gil Schaeffer at DARPA before he became a senator.”
    Regret stabbed her chest, but it was nothing compared to the fear taking over, making her shake. Overwhelming her like it had in that last month with Mitch, when she’d made all those drastic decisions. Memories she’d learned to suppress rose to the surface and she was suddenly reliving the nightmare of working at DARPA. The night closed in, pressing on her lungs, making it hard to breathe.
    “Mitch. It’s over. We can’t go back. None of that matters now. You have to stay away from me.”
    “Staying away stopped working about a year ago. Whoever you’re hiding from up here isn’t just after you. They’re after me and my sister and an entire group of firefighters who have become my friends. A group of firefighters who were exposed to classified chemicals in a government warehouse fire. Chemicals we’ve traced back to Schaeffer and DARPA during your time working there.”
    The chill air cut through Heather’s clothes. Her brain worked crazily to put all this information into the framework of what she knew, which, up to this moment, she’d believed had been everything.
    “I . . .” She was lost. Blind. Dropped into a black hole, feeling for an exit. “I don’t understand.”
    “Neither do we. What we do know is that with Rostov and Gorin dead, Schaeffer will be coming for you. You’re the last of the three scientists working on his project left alive now, Hali. You may have lived here peacefully for a while, but he needs you to finish it.”
    No, he needed her research—not her . And he wanted even more than that. He wanted the only leverage she had to keep Mitch safe. “I wasn’t involved with their project, but I do need to leave.”
    “Don’t give me that shit,” Mitch yelled. “And you’d better not try serving it up to Schaeffer either. He’s not a forgiving man.”
    “My lifestyle is a testament to Schaeffer’s lack of mercy, Mitch.”
    “And I want more answers, Halina. For me . I want to know why you lied. I want to know why you walked away seven years ago. I want to finally be able to put you behind me.”
    A sound staggered from her throat. Her chest ached as if her trainer, Tommy, had suckered her with a roundhouse. Tears burned her eyes. Anger and pain and loss knotted into something explosive.
    Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t lose it.
    “Now, that I can help you with.” She dragged in air. Pushed it out. “Good-bye, Mitch.”
    Halina turned away. A split second before she pulled the car’s handle, a shadow moved in the corner of her eye. She turned her head, caught the reflection of something silver near the garage door. It flashed in her eyes then cleared, leaving the sight of a metal semiauto aimed at her head.
    Instinctively, she pivoted toward it. Toward the man holding it. A stranger. Late forties, Caucasian, rugged facial features, dressed in all black including black gloves and black knit cap. His crisp, bright blue eyes had a cold calculating quality that made Halina’s skin chill.
    “Don’t open that door, Beloi.” His voice was low, commanding. But it was the use of her given last name, a name she’d run from for decades, that tugged her dark side forward. “Or the dog dies before he reaches the ground.”
    Dex’s snarl rolled over her from behind, raising the hair on the back of her neck. Every one of her senses rose to the forefront. Every one of her skills crowded into her head, pushing and shoving for the lead.
    “There are just too many players in this mess.” Mitch’s arrogant, condescending voice startled Halina. She’d completely forgotten he was standing only yards away. “I can’t keep all you idiots straight. Now, who the fuck are you ?”
    “Don’t move, Foster.” The stranger’s gaze never left Halina and an ironic