The other clone had fallen in love with his progenitor’s widow.
Marshall had been aware of the infatuation. The preoccupation had gotten so noticeable, HQ brass had started paying attention. So, when Marshall had learned the widow had joined the interplanetary matchmaking service Cosmic Mates to find a husband, he’d hoped the news would sever Bragg’s emotional attachment.
Instead, it had propelled him to pursue her. Bragg went AWOL, following the woman to Terra Nova, breaking every rule and regulation in the book. Dark Ops would probably institutenewrules after this fiasco. If Marshall didn’t find him fast, the dumbass would never see sunshine again.
I never should have told him about Faith.If he’d kept his big trap shut, the other man wouldn’t be MIA. So, yeah, he felt an obligation to fix things. Which he’d better get started on. He hadn’t asked Amity out because he liked her—although, he did. This date wasn’t pleasure—it was business, albeit pleasurable business.
Having encountered Amity, he belatedly empathized with Bragg and envied his courage to follow his heart.
But fools rushed in where seasoned agents feared to tread. Marshall couldn’t risk his freedom for any woman, no matter how pretty her features, how melodious her voice, or how her curvy body stirred his libido and made him yearn.
“You said earlier today you’d accompanied your potter friend to Terra Nova.” He steered the conversation in the direction he needed it to go. “That’s a pretty big change. You two must be very close.”
“She’s my family. We’re both only children, and our parents passed away. My background is in business and marketing; on Earth, I helped to promote her pottery. Faith was widowed five years ago. She decided to make a bold move and come to Terra Nova. I had no ties to Earth, so I came, too, and we opened the shop together.”
“So, there’s no special someone on Earth? No ex-husband?” He’d assumed the former or she wouldn’t be out with him.
“No to both. I’ve never been married.”
“That’s why you joined Cosmic Mates.” When he’d visited the shop earlier in the day, he’d eavesdropped on her tech-tab conversation with Faith.
Amity made a rueful face and nodded. “It’s hard to meet people. It’s harder here than on Earth. Everyone here is coupled up.”
“Any matches through Cosmic Mates other than the Nagarian?” He cursed his curiosity, caring more than he should about her answer.
“Thus far, only him.” She shuddered and took a sip of wine. “I should be more open-minded, but I have a huge snake phobia.”
Her Cosmic Mates match had turned out to be half humanoid, half snake, he knew from the conversation he’d overheard.
“Did your friend sign up for Cosmic Mates, too?” he asked. He already knew she had. His discovery of Faith’s profile and a “pending match” had incited this entire debacle.
Amity winced. “No, just me. I overstepped. I took the liberty of signing us both up, and Faith blew a gasket. She insisted I delete her profile.”
Now, that came as new information. Dammit. If he had known Faith hadn’t been intending to remarry, Bragg wouldn’t have gone AWOL, and Marshall could have been long gone.
“I took her coming here as a sign she’d gotten over Mark, and I figured with a little nudge…” She shook her head. “I wanted her to be happy.” She lifted her shoulder. “But as it happens, she met someone on her own.” Her expression avid, she leaned forward. “You’ll never guess who!”
He’d bet he could.
“Her late husband’s clone!”
“A clone? You’re not serious!” His feigned surprise masked his real dismay. “How is that possible? I didn’t know they could clone humans.” Dark Ops had been secretly cloning humans for decades and had figured out how to accelerate maturation to produce adults. Bragg’s obsession had made him reckless. That Faith and Amity were aware of cloning did not bode well. Showing up looking exactly like Hammond would be hard toexplain, but the idiot could have come up with something. “How would he even be close to her age?”
“I don’t know, but he’s a dead ringer for Mark.”
“Are you sure he’s a clone? Maybe the man really is her ex, and he’s feeding her a line of bull.”
“We thought of that,” she conceded, “but Faith saw Mark’s body at the morgue, so she’s pretty sure he’s dead.”
“A twin brother?”
“Faith doesn’t think so.”
“Have you met him?”
She nodded. “He came into the shop. She asked him to go to the craft fair with her. I should have gone with her, but I needed to meet my Cosmic Mates match, so it worked out that he went.”
“I’m glad you didn’t go, or we wouldn’t have met.”
