Read BRAINRUSH 02 - The Enemy of My Enemy for Free Online

they’ll ever know. The doctor had been dumfounded by the test results. In the simplest of terms, the doctor had explained that Jake had the heart of a ninety-year-old. Apparently, the repeated use of his super fast reflexes had taken a toll on Jake’s heart. The doctor said if he pushed himself again, his heart would fail.
    Jake noticed Lacey snaking her way from the bar below toward the staircase. He was surprised to see her expertly balancing a tray full of drinks over one shoulder. People at the tables on either side of her path seemed to stop talking as she glided past. Besides her shoulder-length blond hair, golden tan, and sparkling blue-green eyes, she also had a smile that could turn most men into blithering idiots. All except Marshall, that is, which is one of the reasons they’d become inseparable.
    “I see you haven’t lost your touch,” Jake said as Lacey distributed the drinks around the table.
    “Yeah, it’s like riding a bike,” Lacey said. She slid into the booth next to Francesca. “Two of Sammy’s servers showed up late, so I thought I’d lend a hand with our drinks.”
    “Afraid the acting gig won’t last?” Marshall quipped from across the table.
    Jake looked at Lacey, waiting for the barrage he was sure she’d unleash.
    Instead, her shoulders collapsed and her hands dropped to her lap. She tilted her head and her hair spilled forward to hide the sides of her face. Her lower lip quivered and a lone tear ran down her cheek.
    Marshall reached both hands across the table. “Hey, I’m sorry.”
    Lacey wouldn’t meet his eyes. A soft sob escaped.
    Marshall slid out of the booth, kneeled beside her, and wrapped an arm around her in a gentle embrace. “Lace, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it. I was just messing around.”
    She peeked over Marshall’s shoulder at the group. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled.
    Tony burst out in a laugh. Jake and Francesca joined him.
    Marshall pulled away. “You—”
    “Don’t say it, dude,” Lacey said. “You deserved it. Still think I might have trouble keeping my acting gig?”
    Jake admired the performance. After a constant string of auditions over the past three years while waiting tables to make ends meet, she’d finally landed a major role in a studio movie last month. It being an action flick came as no surprise to Jake. Not only had she played the role of her life when she and Jake’s friends infiltrated the terrorists’ cover organization in Venice, Italy, but in the desperate firefight that followed, her martial arts experience had saved Marshall’s life.
    “Okay, Jake,” Tony said as Marshall made his way back to his side of the booth. “We’re all here. Let’s talk about what happened.”
    “What about Becker?” Jake asked.
    “He’s keeping an eye out downstairs.”
    Jake nodded. After rethinking the details of his encounter yesterday, he felt pretty sure that the risk had finally passed. The terrorist had been working alone, now he’s dead, end of story. Nevertheless, a small part of Jake felt good knowing that the Australian was down below watching their back.
    Jake recounted the event to his friends and left nothing out. Because of the dangers they faced as a result of their involvement in rescuing him from Luciano Battista and his followers, they deserved the entire truth.
    When Jake finished, Tony said, “So d’ya really think it’s over?”
    “If there were more of them, wouldn’t he have bragged about it, knowing he was about to die?”
    “Who the hell knows?” Tony said. “The man was a suicide bomber. They live by a separate set of rules.”
    The comment fueled the spark of doubt that had taken residence in Jake’s gut. He glanced downstairs. Becker was seated in the far corner. 
    Under wavy blond hair, the Aussie’s blue eyes glimmered in stark contrast to his chocolate skin, darkened as much from the sun as his partial aboriginal heritage. He’d served as Tony’s right-hand man during the assault in