Penumbra by Keri Arthur, now you can read online.
One
Samantha Ryan placed her hands on the front of her boss's desk and said, "I want a transfer, not more of your damn excuses."
She knew that speaking to your boss in such a manner generally wasn't a good idea, especially when he was the man in charge of both the Special Investigations Unit and the more secretive Federation. A man more inclined to kill first, and ask questions later.
Not that she thought he'd kill her. He had as much interest in finding out who and what she was as she did. But he certainly could make her life hell, which was precisely her current situation.
She leaned across and added, "Sir," a touch sarcastically.
Stephan Stern, the boss in question, raised one blond eyebrow, as if mildly surprised by her outburst. An outburst he'd known was coming for months. "You know I don't want to do that."
"I don't honestly care what you want anymore. This is about what I want." She pushed away from the desk, unable to stand still any longer. Damn it, she'd spent more than half her life with her head basically in the sand, cruising through life rather than participating, and she'd had more than enough.
The time had come to get greedy, to think about her wants, her desires, for a change. And what she wanted right now was not only a more active personal life, but a working life that involved more than a broom closet. "Transfer me back to State, let me resign, or find me another partner. As I said, I don't care. Just get me out of the current situation."
Her angry strides took in the length of the beige-colored office in no time. She turned to face Stephan. His expression was as remote as ever. But she'd learned very early on that Stephan was a master at hiding his emotions—and that that dead face was just as likely to mean fury as calm.
"I prefer to leave you with Gabriel. I still believe you two will make a formidable team."
She snorted softly. "That has never been an option, and I think you and I realize that now."
It wasn't as if she hadn't tried, for God's sake. But her damn partner was still going out of his way to exclude her from everything ranging from investigations to chit chat. Access to the SIU's vast computer system just wasn't worth all the frustration and unhappiness.
Especially since she was getting jack shit in the way of information about the past she couldn't remember. Hell, her dreams were providing more information than the SIU's system.
Only trouble was, how much could she actually trust the dreams?
How much could she trust the man who constantly walked through them?
She didn't know. Nor did she have anyone she could talk to about it—and that was perhaps the most frustrating thing about this entire situation. She needed to get a life. Friends.
People she could trust and talk to. Hell, even a pet would be better than going home alone to a soulless hotel room every night.
"I prefer to give the situation more time." He crossed his arms and leaned forward against the desk. "However, I do have another option that might suit us both."
She met his gaze. His blue eyes were sharp, full of cunning and intelligence. A shark by nature, and the reason he ruled the SIU and the Federation, rather than his twin, Gabriel.
Of course, that also meant she was beating her head against a brick wall where Gabriel was concerned, because Stephan was always going to look after his twin's interests first. Even if said twin didn't appreciate his efforts anymore than she did.
She came to a stop in front of his desk, and couldn't help feeling like a fish about to be hooked. "What might that be?"
"You remember Dan Wetherton?"
She nodded. Gabriel had found a clone of Wetherton in the trunk of a car after some goons had Gabriel beaten up and then kidnapped him. To what aim, no one knew. Nor did anyone know why the clone had been killed. The real Dan Wetherton— who was a minister with the current government—was still very much alive and well.
"Well, as it happens, it wasn't a clone Gabriel found that day. It was the original."
She snagged the nearest chair and sat down, interested despite her wariness. "I was under the impression no one could create a clone that exactly duplicates the mannerisms and thoughts of the original person. That they may be genetically identical, but are nevertheless different." She hesitated, frowning. "Besides, the newspapers reported the find and the subsequent tests. He was declared human in all scientific results."
"And a clone isn't?"
She grimaced. Clones were human, no doubt about that.
But whether that fact actually gave them humanity was a point of contention between the scientists and the theologists.
"Having only met one clone, who at the time was trying to kill me, I don't feel qualified to answer that particular question."
Amusement touched the corners of his thin lips. "The test results were altered by a party or parties unknown long before we got them. We just released them." He picked up a folder from his desk and offered it to her. "These are the originals.