What Lies Behind: A New Adult Dark Science Fiction Romance by Travis Simmons Page B

sweeping the kitchen. “It sounds like that was your project.”
    Cass’s hand twitched violently and she dropped the plate. It shattered on the floor, glass skittering over the tiles. Cass growled in frustration. Her hand kept shaking.
    “I got it,” Brandon said, bending to pick up the larger pieces. “Is that from what Natalia did to you last night?” he asked, glancing at her hand.
    Cass nodded. “I don’t know if today is a good idea,” she said honestly.
    “Why, because of Natalia?” Brandon asked.
    “No, because of my dream. If I killed her husband, then why would she want to see me?”
    “I doubt that’s the case,” Brandon said. “You can only do what you’re programmed to do.”
    You’re a filthy machine, she remembered Natalia saying. She shook her head.
    “I’m right. Who was this voice you heard in your dream?” he asked.
    “I recognize the voice, but I don’t know the person.”
    “Then we will find out what’s going on,” Brandon said. He clasped her hands and held them tight until the shaking was gone. Only then did he let them go.
    About an hour later Cass reviewed the list and determined they were done.
    “Even if we aren’t, I’m done with this, and so are you.”
    “What about Natalia?” Cass asked.
    “Screw Natalia,” Brandon scoffed.
    “Are the two of you through?” Cass wondered. She could hope. In fact, she felt the uncertain swirl in her stomach again.
    “I don’t know to be honest. She isn’t the same woman I fell for. She’s changed. She’s kinda violent now.” He itched the back of his head, a confused look on his face. “She did call last night to smooth things over. Mainly I’m sticking around for you,” he told her.
    She couldn’t help the smile that split her face.
    “Anyway, we need to go if we want to get back before she gets home.”
    It was later in the morning, so there weren’t as many hover cars circling buildings and creating havoc that would normally have delayed them. Cass input Olivia Hamilton in the search engine and in moments an address and a dotted path lit up on her visual overlay. She transmitted the GPS coordinates to Brandon’s hover car, and they were on their way.
    The building was taller than most around it and the windows were clean and sparkling in the late morning sun. All of the other buildings around it shown silver in the sun, but the building the GPS was taking them to was a smoky colored brick. It was an older building.
    Cass could remember this place well before Brandon landed on the rooftop parking lot. She’d been here many times before, that much was obvious.
    “I don’t know,” Cass said, hugging her arms around her chest when Brandon shut off the car.
    “Don’t know about what?” Brandon asked.
    “I’m just uncertain if we should go down there,” she told him. “Olivia is doing so much for equal rights, even after I killed her husband. You’d think something like that would turn her against us, but it didn’t. She’s still fighting for us.”
    “This is true,” Brandon told her. He chewed on the edge of his lip in thought. “But there are a lot of unanswered questions here Cass.”
    “I know.” Cass sighed.
    “You have to know what’s going on,” he said.
    “I could just wait for Natalia to beat me again and see what memories crop up from that,” she said.
    “That’s not funny. You need to get out of there,” he said. His eyebrows drew down in a frown.
    “Not like I have a choice,” she commented. The conversation wasn’t helping, so she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.
    “Where to?” Brandon asked, joining Cass. He slipped his hand into hers.
    “This way.” She instinctively pointed the way.
    The path she chose inevitably led them to the elevator that went down from the rooftop parking lot. They went down ten floors to the twenty-second floor before the doors dinged and Cass stepped out into the silent hallway.
    Offices stood on either side of the gray hallway.