Fade Away and Radiate Read Free

she
suspected, then a rival corporation would likely want to kill her
too. After all, she and Roberto had worked as a scientific team.
She had told her FortuneCorp regional supervisor about her fears,
and they told her the matter was under investigation. But, like
Billy, she'd heard nothing more.
    And that silence terrified her. Both
she and Roberto had done research on classified techniques for
human genetic modification and ecological re-engineering. Those
techniques were worth billions. Now that Roberto was dead, Anika
was the only one who could complete the research track they had
started together.
    Anika ran offworld, all the way to
AlphaZed3, to escape the reach of any other corporation. Her new
technology, the Bowman eco-drive, would serve as a living legacy of
her husband’s vision. And Anika believed the remoteness of this
posting would protect her from deadly visitors.
    Billy’s appearance put the lie to that
notion. She knew to her core that Billy would never hurt her, that
he had sworn to Roberto that he would protect her. But if Billy
could make it way out here, anybody could. And the blaster under
her pillow wouldn't save her.
    The tears spilled over Anika’s cheeks,
onto her lips, tasting of regret and loss and fear. And loneliness,
such terrible aching loneliness, so deep that she didn't dare
surrender to it.
    Billy got out of his chair and covered
the space between them in a couple of bounding steps. He kneeled
next to her low cot, and Billy was so tall that, even kneeling, his
eyes were level to hers.
    They were only centimeters apart now.
Her breath caught in her throat.
    Anika couldn’t care less about her
legacy now. All she could see in her mind was the wisteria, the
morning glories, and the snapdragons climbing the glass windows of
her bedroom in Forest Hills, where she had once said goodbye to
Roberto before he left for war for the last time.
    “ You aren't safe out here,”
Billy said gently. His eyes flashed with the tears he never shed,
never. As he’d told her at the memorial, Billy Murphy didn't do
tears. The unshed tears in Billy’s eyes flashed silver into
midnight, lightning over a summer sea.
    A rush of panic spread through Anika's
body. “I have to hide. You understand why.”
    “ I know you believe it was a
rival corporation that murdered Roberto, to shut him up. To shut
down your research. But think about it, Annie. Why didn't they
murder you in New York?”
    The question hovered in the air between
them. Billy's hands reached for her and caressed her shoulders. And
the shock of that touch roared through her like an ion storm. “I
told you, Annie, that I love you. The night of the memorial I knew.
And I told you. I knew it was too soon. You had to let him go, and
I told you I’d wait, as long as it took. I fell for you the second
I saw you. Roberto told me that I would.”
    Anika tried to speak, but she couldn't
manage a word.
    “ Wait up, hear me out. The
genmod does funny stuff, you know that. It gave Roberto some
precog, he knew when stuff was going to happen.”
    Anika swiped the tears off her face, as
if she could wipe Billy's words away. His fingers tightened over
her shoulders, and she took a big, shuddering breath, fighting not
to let go, not to release her true feelings.
    “ He had changed, by the
end,” she finally said. “Maybe it was the genmod. Or maybe it was
just the war.”
    “ Roberto told me he was
going to die, the night before he was murdered. He told me he was
planning to speak out about the stuff he’d seen in the war. But it
was too late. And he told me I was going to save your life, just in
time. And here I am, before it’s too late, just like he
said.”
    His arms slipped around her, protecting
her, and Anika melted into him. After two years of running away
from Roberto's killers, she'd finally turned around and faced the
past, the grief of not just losing Roberto, but Billy
too.
    “ I'm safe out here, I
think,” she said, her voice muffled from