The Judas Contact (Boomers Book 1)

The Judas Contact

Boomers, Book 1

Heather Long

Hope may prove their most dangerous threat.

Boomers, Book 1

Doctor Ilsa Blaine

Codename: Doc

Abilities: Designs programmable bioware, enhanced understanding of brain chemistry

Mission: Research, analyze and troubleshoot the team’s active microchips

On the cutting edge of neuroscience, Ilsa is developing microchips that can be inserted into the brain and deliver information. The applications are endless, but her current goal is just to get dogs to return to their owners should they ‘become lost.’ When her college roommate turns up asking for lunch, she’s hardly prepared for the chaos that ensues or the revelation her chip changed the world, and the lives of five heroes from the future. And now they need her help…

Garrett Fox

Codename: The Viper

Abilities: toxins, poisons and assassination, he can kill with a touch

Mission: Protect Ilsa Blaine

One of five desperate men sent back in time to save the future, Garrett volunteers to be the doctor’s guinea pig as she studies their neuro-chips. It’s not his first time being a lab rat. In close quarters, the unthinkable happens—an attraction that could kill Ilsa.  Drawn together by science, and on the fast track to destiny, Ilsa and Garrett must save his team from their chips before they can end them, and maybe Ilsa can prove to Garrett he isn’t toxic to everything he touches…least of all her.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. An alliance with the modern day Halo has given their leader a taste of hope. For these five lonely soldiers, the single emotion may prove their most dangerous threat.

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THE JUDAS CONTACT

Copyright © 2016 HEATHER LONG

ISBN: 978-1-945193-01-9

All Romance eBooks, LLC Palm Harbor, Florida 34684
www.allromanceebooks.com

This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental.

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever with out written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First All Romance eBooks publication: August 2016

Welcome to my super hero series Boomers. Originally conceived as a five book series, Boomers made their first appearance in
Yesterday’s Heroes
featuring Michael, Rory, his team and a part of hers. You don’t need to have read it to understand this series.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and from all different times. Whether you prefer your hero to wear dog tags or a cape, this is the series for you. All these men wanted to do was save their world, their time. But when the future collides with the present, the consequences can be explosive…

Heather

Doctor Ilsa Blaine

Codename: Doc

Abilities
: Designs programmable bioware, enhanced understanding of brain chemistry

Mission
: Research, analyze and troubleshoot the team’s active microchips

On the cutting edge of neuroscience, Ilsa is developing microchips that can be inserted into the brain and deliver information. The applications are endless, but her current goal is just to get dogs to return to their owners should they ‘become lost.’ When her college roommate turns up asking for lunch, she’s hardly prepared for the chaos that ensues or the revelation her chip changed the world and the lives of five heroes from the future. And now they need her help…

Garrett Fox

Codename: The Viper

Abilities
: toxins, poisons and assassination, he can kill with a touch

Mission
: Protect Ilsa Blaine

One of five desperate men sent back in time to save the future, Garrett volunteers to be the doctor’s guinea pig as she studies their neuro-chips. It’s not his first time being a lab rat. In close quarters, the unthinkable happens, an attraction that could kill Ilsa. Drawn together by science, and on the fast track to destiny, Ilsa must prove to Garrett he isn’t toxic to everything and save his team from their chips before they can end them…

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. An alliance with Halo has given their leader a taste of hope. For these five lonely soldiers, the single emotion may prove their most dangerous threat.

Michael Hunter stood in the middle of the room he shared with his…girlfriend? Mate? Neither word fit Rory Graystone. She was his. That was all that mattered to him. Only, instead of being present, she’d left. Again. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes had passed since he returned from meeting with the other Boomers. If she didn’t…the door opened before he could complete the thought.

The red on her uniform didn’t bode well for his temper. Nor did her extended fingers as she waved a hand at him. “Before you say anything, it was an emergency and you were cloistered away with the boys. I have a job to do, and I went to do it.”

Remaining still kept him from picking her up and examining every inch of her, followed by paddling her ass. Though he’d only ever spanked her once, she’d been less than thrilled with him for three days afterward. In play, she liked it, but when his temper snapped she responded in kind.

Aurora Graystone would be the death of him. “What happened?” He managed to get the question out on an even tone. Perhaps they were making progress. Four weeks earlier, he’d have already lost his temper.

“Some lunatic decided to go on a spree downtown.” She stripped off her white uniform top, then peeled off her boots and leggings. A splotch of reddened skin along her side betrayed the hits she’d taken. Two long, very hot red streaks told him she’d been shot.

The uniform’s sparkling exterior to the contrary, it was a tough fabric and could take most hits including slices. It wasn’t invulnerable, though.

“Ricochets,” she murmured, as though reading his mind. Maybe she had simply
anticipated
his question. Anticipation and probabilities were her specialties. “He wounded thirty people before I caught up to him.”

“So he was shooting up midtown and you had time to get there, track him and catch him but not enough time to call me?” He didn’t snarl or raise his voice, but he could feel the blood pounding in his brain.

Half-naked, Rory paused then made a face. “Fine, I was meeting with Josh and Curtis, and they wanted to strategize about Corkscrew and Dark Angel.”

Josh and Curtis—the other two members of her team of heroes. The latter pair was their missing members. Rory’s need to find them he understood and even supported.

“And before you rip into me about not telling you I was going to meet with them, I’ll remind you that you were meeting with your team. So, I met with mine.”

“This isn’t a contest, Rory.” Crossing to her, he pulled her into his arms and satisfied the need he had to check her over. Every delicate inch of her seemed unsuited for the work she did, yet, at the same time, she possessed taut, supple muscles and moved with an innate grace, power and confidence she’d earned. “The Boomers are as much yours as they are mine.”

“No, they aren’t. We keep everything compartmented. You do it, I do it.” Looping her arms around his neck, she rose on her tiptoes until he caved to his final need and lifted her so they were nose to nose. “You and me, we’re a team—but you have your people and I have mine.” She nuzzled him with a kiss, and one by one his vertebrae seemed to unlock from the tension holding him rigid. “The Boomers are a biomechanical recon unit from a far-flung and disastrous future I can barely imagine. You’re a fucking time-traveler, Michael. I’m a hero. You’re a soldier. You have your mission. I have mine.”

“That doesn’t preclude us from working together.” He would find a way to make this work for both of them. “I’m on your side.”

“You don’t trust Josh or Curtis.” She had a point.

So did he. “You don’t trust Garrett.”

“I have to find Amanda,” she whispered. “She’s my best friend. I have to find Ronan. He’s one of mine. I won’t stop looking. I won’t not help if my city needs me. It’s who I am.”

“What if I need you?” The words slipped out before he could stop them. They implied vulnerability, one he should have shielded her from. The world he’d left behind had no forgiveness for the vulnerable.

“That’s not fighting fair.”

“I’m not fighting,” he promised her. “I do need you. We all do.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she leaned her head back and studied him. “You mean that.”

“I do. I came in here to ask you to join us when you didn’t pick up.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We need to find someone…a scientist who can help us.”

The corner of Rory’s mouth curved. “You want to vague that up some more, lover?”

“Simon has narrowed the search to three he thinks can be of use. One is here in the city. Her name is Ilsa Blaine…we have a plan to kidnap her.”

“No, no no.” Rory shook her head. “No kidnapping. That’s a crime you know.”

“It’s necessary.”

“No, it’s not.”

He didn’t have time to argue with her.

“Seriously, lover, it’s not…I know Ilsa Blaine. We don’t have to kidnap her. I just have to ask her to lunch.”

Surprise chipped away at his temper, and he stared at the woman he loved. “Lunch?”

“Oh yeah, dangerous op, I know, but I think I can handle it…”

Summer, 2016

“Front doors covered.” Michael’s voice crackled in Rory’s ear. She was parked in the R.E.X. facility’s guest parking area. The campus for the scientific conglomerate laboratory boasted tight security including three patrols, an entrance and exit guard, and multiple camera angles. The electronic pass in her Lotus allowed her access to parking lot A, but that was more than 500 yards from the front doors of the facility. She’d pass at least four more security checkpoints before she could sign into the building.

“Roof access covered.” Garrett sounded bored. The poisoner got into position earlier than the rest, entering under the cover of darkness with the assistance of Rex, the Boomer’s shapeshifter.

“South exit covered. Rex is parked next to the lobby now,” Drake announced. The strong man stood out in a crowd, so they’d secured a uniform for him. It took some explanation for the guys to accept that, in a scientific facility, the standard blue uniform and silver piping provided ubiquitous camouflage.

“Security office covered.” Simon’s voice lacked any inflection. The eerie monotone gave her the willies, but Simon focused his telepathy on controlling one guard. He provided their eyes and ears inside the facility.

“You do realize this is overkill, right?” Rory murmured the words in a low casual tone. They weren’t sure just how much audio surveillance the facility used. The Bluetooth tucked in her ear gave her cover for the conversation as long as she watched what she said. Not that her argument would affect their decisions one way or the other.

Her heels pinched but, as an heiress, Rory Graystone needed to look the part of a dilettante. Her lips twitched at the memory of Michael’s upraised brows as she’d applied her makeup that morning. He wasn’t especially thrilled with any aspect of the plan, but watching her dress up might have changed his mind—if he hadn’t tried to strip her clothes off as quickly as she put them on. Just four weeks as lovers, and she couldn’t imagine her world without him.

At the end of the curb, she took a seat on the marble bench and crossed one leg over the other. The tram would be along to pick her up. She could walk it easily enough, but that wasn’t in keeping with her cover, a disguise she’d grown up cultivating, courtesy of her wealthy parents. The slim platinum watch on her wrist showed she was right on schedule.

“You’re covered, babe.” Michael’s husky, low voice sent a ripple through her belly, but she ignored the intense attraction. It was damned hard to shut it out when she worked, but at least his preference for heights and vantage points meant he wasn’t within touching distance. If they were always side-by-side, they might not ever get anything done.

“I’m fine. It’s a lunch date. Remember?” Convincing them took more persuasion than converting a die-hard conservative to a liberal candidate. She called ahead that morning to let Ilsa know she was stopping by via voice mail. Less than thirty minutes later, Ilsa sent her an excited text. She couldn’t wait to catch up.

The tram hummed to a stop and Rory stood, climbing in to sit on the very last seat. The cover blocked Michael’s view but, as the tram turned, she knew he would be able to see her. As tempting as it was to tweak his overprotective streak, she liked sex without all the yelling beforehand. Not that he stayed angry with her for long. She rode the tram alone since eleven-thirty, on a Wednesday morning, wasn’t a prime time for arrivals at the facility.