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“I have no idea what state they’ll be in. Joaquin’s scientists could’ve programmed them to go into some sort of sleeper mode, or, honestly, they could be dead. But that would seem like a waste. There are at least another dozen robots we weren’t aware of.”
“Okay, keep on it,” Ian said. “Report your findings directly to Omega Sector so they can move on them. I’ll be working with them to try to figure out what’s going to happen in Vegas.”
“Is it okay if we head home and do this?” Mark asked. “We love your bus, but I think Jenna would like to sleep in her own bed.”
And he planned to be sleeping there with her, but that didn’t need to be said.
But more importantly, her house was where she felt most safe.
“Absolutely. You’ve done your part, Jenna. We never would’ve made this progress if it weren’t for you. Everything else, you should be able to do from home. I’ll see when the plane can be ready, and you guys keep the bus with you in case we need to move quickly again.”
She slid over to Mark and eased against him. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.
“That would be great. This has taken a lot out of me. If I get any further info, I’ll definitely make sure to pass it along. But yeah, I feel like things are out of my hands now.”
“You did a good job. We’ll handle it from here.” Ian nodded at them both then headed off the bus.
Jenna turned to Mark. “I really am ready to go home.” She smiled. “The robots’ situation may be out of my hands, but I’ll bet I can find something else to keep my hands full.”
He kissed her and began backing her toward the bedroom. “I’m more than happy to help with that.”
Chapter 22
Jenna stared at the screens facing her. She felt like she was seeing code swim in front of her eyes, which happened sometimes when she slipped into a flow state and nothing else mattered besides the data that was before her.
The program she’d written—sloppy, ugly, but got the job done—had provided them with the names and locations of sixteen other robots. She’d sent the info to Ian, and the team was carefully picking them up.
They’d all be administered the recovery drug compound. Because they were early versions of the robots, it should work just as well as it did on Emily. From there, it would be a matter of working with them as they recovered their memories and seeing if that brought them any more clues about Joaquin’s upcoming event.
The countdown was less than forty-eight hours now.
In just a couple hours, as soon as the plane was ready, she and Mark would be back on their way to Oak Creek. Jenna would continue to do whatever was in her power to discover what Joaquin was attempting to pull off in the next two days and stop him.
She’d just be doing it from the comfort and safety of her own home, and she couldn’t wait. She and Mark were both pretty damned exhausted.
Case in point, Mark was currently sitting at the table, leaning against the wall of the bus, with his eyes closed, legs up on the seat. The way his chest moved up and down, she knew he was sleeping. But she also knew enough about him that he wasn’t sleeping deeply.
The pose was one she recognized: soldier’s sleep. He would wake at a moment’s notice if she needed him, and the thought made warmth spread through her chest.
Although, she was pretty sure he would wake for her even if he hadn’t put himself into a lighter mode of sleeping. He was there when she needed him.
It was addictive.Outlaw himselfwas addictive. Watching him now, she felt her fingers itch to trace the outline of his face. He was obviously still a warrior even in sleep—features rugged and hard.
But he washerwarrior.
She must’ve stared too hard because his green eyes blinked open.
“Hey.” He smiled slowly, and her breath caught at the beauty of it.
This man didn’t just give her butterflies; he gave her a whole damn zoo. “Hey yourself.”
He kicked his legs down. “Almost time to head for the airport. Want to get some coffee and some to-go food for on the way?”
“Hell yes,” she said. “Although I don’t really want fast food. Do you think there’s anything else open at this hour?”
He grabbed the keys. “Actually, there’s a little twenty-four-hour café. We stopped there on the way to the hospital yesterday. You were still sleeping.”
“Oh, perfect.”
