Renegade (Ministry of Paranormal Research & Defence) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Tommy.
    “I never slept with Zoe,” I said, puzzled.
    “ She seems to think you did.”
    I thought about it.
    “No, I think I would remember that,” I said. “I didn't meet her until after she was with Tommy.”
    “ I don't know about that, but Zoe seems to be fairly sure.”
    I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head.
    “Just another problem to sort out,” I said.
    The last few minutes passed with agonizing slowness, but finally I heard Danny calling my name. I drained my coffee and stood up. Time to face the music.
    I walked back to the table, getting several variations on smirks from most of my friends. Marie looked tense, like she couldn't wait to get me out of here to start yelling at me.
    “ Didn't make a run for it, sweetheart?” I said as I sat down.
    She shook her head and smiled.
    “A lot of it was funny,” she said. “Especially you and the lizard.”
    I smiled, nodding at the memory.
    “I think she freaked a little about Zoe,” said Joanne.
    “ Yeah, you kept that one from us,” said Paul.
    “ Kept what from you?” I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
    “ Jack,” said Zoe quietly.
    “ What?”
    “ You two, getting it on,” said Chris, a look of open admiration on his face.
    I turned to Zoe.
    “When?”
    Zoe stared at me.
    “What do you mean, 'when'?” she said.
    “ I don't remember that,” I said, leaning forward. “When did it happen?”
    “ Two thousand and two,” she said promptly. “Gibraltar. I was there on holiday with some friends.”
    I met Danny's eyes. He suddenly broke into laughter.
    “What?” asked Zoe. “What's so funny?”
    “ Honey,” I said carefully. “That's a bit of a stretch.”
    “ What?” said Joanne intently. “What does that mean?”
    “ Well, he'd have to move pretty fast to have sex with Zoe in Gibraltar in oh-two,” said Danny, still laughing. “We weren't in Gibraltar in oh-two. We were ... elsewhere. That entire year.”
    “ No,” she protested. “You were there November oh-two.”
    Danny shook his head, still laughing.
    “No, we were in the Middle East,” I said. “From July oh-one to June oh-three, when they moved us to Hungary.”
    “ Oh Zoe,” said Chris in a sing-song voice, “you got some 'splaining to do.”
    “ No, that can't be true,” she said.
    “ My guess is she was getting it on with her dildo and letting her imagination run away with her,” said Bobby, which earned him a black look from his wife.
    Zoe was looking at me helplessly.
    “No,” I said. “We didn't meet till oh-three.”
    “ Jack,” she said plaintively. “It was you. I didn't imagine it. When I saw you, when Tommy introduced us, I was mortified. And then I was livid at you for not even having the good grace to be embarrassed. I'm not making it up.”
    I sat back and stared at her.
    “No, I don't believe you are,” I said. “I remember you giving me funny looks that night. So, what? Alternate reality? Parallel universe? Doppelganger?”
    “ You're making fun of me,” she said, tears standing in her eyes.
    I leaned forward and took her hands in mine.
    “Only a little, babe,” I said. “And only because I have no idea what to make of this. I wasn't there, it couldn't have happened, but obviously it did or you wouldn't be getting this upset over it.”
    Everyone was looking puzzled, Marie more than most.
    “Are you sure it was the same man?” said Dave. “Our boy's pretty distinctive, but you're positive?”
    “ Yeah, well, the second time we met his hair was shorter and he'd bulked up a bit, and he'd gotten his ear pierced, but it was the same guy.”
    I slumped forward and let out a heartfelt groan.
    “And did he have a tattoo of a grinning skull with a knife in its teeth on his right shoulder?”
    “ Yes! Yes he did!”
    “ Okay, I got my ear pierced when I was fourteen, and the only tattoo I have is my blood group on my left bicep. I've never had long hair and I've been about this size since I was twenty.”
    “ All true,”