by Lucy Monroe
“Mr. Whitmore will understand you having to keep the source private.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Make him.”
“And if I can’t?”
Why was Mykola being so difficult? “Give me your word and I don’t care how Mr. Whitmore feels about it.”
“You trust me to keep my promise, even under pressure from my boss and perhaps others?”
“I do.”
“Then, you have it.”
Finally. She really didn’t understand why men had to make things so complicated. “Thank you.”
Mykola sat down across from her at the table. “Tell me what you learned.”
“Ahmet Musa isn’t a terrorist per se because he doesn’t belong to any known factions, but his belief system is one that would lend itself to personal action.”
“If he thought he could stick it to his enemies, he would?”
“Exactly. He can be cruel, has no remorse, and sees anyone outside his sphere as of little to no value.”
“Did they know anything about his connection to Anibal Vega?”
“He is visited frequently by a rich and powerful man from South America. He calls the man brother, not by name.”
“Anything else?”
“The last time they were together and called in dancers, they were full of themselves, even more than usual. Jubilant about something and very self-congratulatory.”
“That puts a different complexion on the missing scrap metal.”
“They aren’t just interested in increasing their personal wealth.”
“They want to crash an already fragile world economy.”
“Yes.”
“Turkey would be impacted, too.”
“Musa thinks his government is weak and diluted by Western ideas.”
“The man who would be king.”
“Probably.”
“Shit.”
“It’s not all that bad.”
“How can you say that?” Mykola looked at her like she’d gone into the growing room for her enzymes one too many times without a gas mask. “These two sociopaths are planning a world financial coup.”
“Their plans are worth less than the Absolut they finalized them over. The enzymes don’t work to transform metals.”
“They don’t know that and even if they find out, they’ll still want you to make them work.” Wow, was he saying that her safety was as important to him as his directive to keep unstable or dangerous technologies out of the wrong hands?
“Maybe, but I can’t. I’ve been thinking about it, doing some calculations in my head. The energy needed to catalyze the enzyme reaction would be more than current technology in that area, which is already prohibitive. Even if I could create an enzyme that would work for them, their plan would fail because it would cost them twice as much to create the platinum than it would to buy it.”
Chapter 14
Mykola did not look appreciably relieved.
“Their wealth may be immense, but it is not infinite. That’s what it would take for them to succeed with a financial coup of the magnitude we think they are planning.”
Instead of expressing relief, Mykola’s features took on a worried frown. “How do you think men like Vega and Musa are going to react to that news?”
Oh. That’s what had him concerned. Funnily enough, she didn’t feel the angst he was showing. “About as well as my Kurdish captors when I refused to make the chemical weapons.”
“You sound so damn calm.”
“You aren’t going to let them take me.” She had to believe that even more than she had earlier when she’d gone through this discussion as a one-sided monologue in her head.
Mykola had been furious the day before when Lana evinced more faith in Mr. Smith than the TGP agent, but she’d needed time to see that he was truly one of the good guys. No matter what Mykola said to the contrary, he was the white knight, armor untarnished.
He loved his sister, but at no time had he entertained the notion of sacrificing Lana to the zealots as she’d at first suspected. His actions in putting himself in Elle’s place between the cartel and Lana showed that, but his attitude consistently confirmed it.
“No, I’m not going to let them within ten feet of you.”
“Then I don’t see anything to get worried about.”
“Nothing except the fact that I didn’t hear you moving around for the last three hours.”
“I didn’t do that much moving.” She indicated the paper in front of her. “I hardly ever get to read it front to back. I don’t have the time.”
He looked like he was going to say more, but just shook his head.
He took a long drink of his coffee before asking, “Anything interesting?”
“As a matter of fact, there is.” She couldn’t stifle a grin.
“What is it?” he asked in a wary tone.
“There’s an announcement, a rather large one in fact, in the society column.”
“About what?” The wariness was still very much evidenced in his voice.
“Your sister’s wedding. Well, Mat and Chantal’s is in there, too, but I don’t think they’re the reason Mr. Smith pulled strings with the media.”
“Mr. Smith?” Mykola asked with the same tone he always used for her benefactor’s name. It wasn’t a complimentary one.
She gave him an admonishing frown. “I’m sure it was him. He got the paper to make a big announcement about the double wedding of two of ETRD’s top scientists and the plans for their honeymoons.”
“The African safari?”
“Yes, and the monthlong European tour Mat and Chantal are taking. The article makes it sound like they’ll be city-hopping pretty much daily, but I know they intend to spend at least a week in the region Chantal is from. And it’s made clear that Elle and Beau will be completely incommunicado for the month while in Africa.”
Mykola looked pleased.
“Admit it.”
“What?”
“Mr. Smith isn’t all bad.”
“The article is one more mark in his decency column,” Mykola grudgingly conceded.
“What’s the other one?”
“What he’s done for you.”
Lana was still reveling in the warm feeling she got from Mykola’s remark earlier that morning when Casey floated into the lab.
Well, he walked, but he acted like he was floating. The expression on his face was nothing short of rapturous.
“You look happy,” Lana said approvingly.
A beatific smile broke out on Casey’s face. “She said yes.”
“Nisha?” Lana couldn’t believe her assistant had already asked the other scientist out.
“Who else?”
“I’m surprised you got up the nerve to ask her out already. I’m proud of you.”
“It was talking to Myk.”
Latent memory of the conversation she had overheard flickered through Lana’s brain. “I’m glad he was able to give you some good advice.”
“It was spectacular advice.” Casey grabbed his lab coat from one of the hooks on the wall and put it on. “At first, Nisha said no. Because I’m too young and dating a coworker is risky.”
“You convinced her otherwise?” Wow.
“Yes. I never would have even tried if Myk hadn’t said what he did.”
“His reminder that Nisha is an honest person?”
“Yes. I would have assumed she was making up excuses because she wasn’t interested. Like a lot of women do.” Casey’s expression and tone said he’d had experience with those other women personally.
“Nisha isn’t like most other women.”
“No, she’s not. I told her I didn’t think age mattered when two people liked each other and shared a mutual attraction.”
“She agreed?”
“Not at first, but I…” His voice trailed off and his cheeks turned rosy.
Lana felt her own eyes going positively round with shock. “What did you do?”
/> “I kissed her. It was wonderful.”
“She must have felt the same.”
“I think she did.” Casey drew himself up, looking more confident than Lana had ever seen him. “I told her some risks were worth taking and I thought she was one of them.”
“Oh, that was well done.”
“She agreed, said yes to our date. I’m so happy.”
“I think you should do the measurements on the Lathyrus odoratus this morning.” There was no reason to ruin Casey’s good mood with the smell from the enzyme growing rooms.
“Are you sure? That’s not the usual division of labor.”
“We’re celebrating.”
“You rock.” He surprised her with a fierce hug. “As both a friend and a boss.”
“Thanks, hon.”
She wasn’t at all surprised when she got a phone call later that morning from Nisha.
“I’d like to meet for lunch if you’re free,” the other female scientist said without preamble.
“I’m sure I can arrange that.”
“Thank you.”
Myk couldn’t believe Lana was even asking him. “You can’t go off-site for lunch without an escort.”
“Nisha needs to talk about personal stuff. Having your glowering presence at the table isn’t going to be conducive to our discussion.”
“I don’t glower.”
“You do when you don’t get your way. You don’t think I should leave the safety of ETRD and if you do accompany me to lunch it will be grudgingly.”
She had a point, but then so did he.
“As far as we can tell, these people have killed thirty-three people in the last six months, Lana. They aren’t playing games. I don’t want them taking you. I’m doing my best to keep you out of protective custody, but you can’t take unnecessary risks.”
Lana’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Who wants to put me in protective custody?”
“Who doesn’t? Elle left her two cents on my voice mail even though she doesn’t know about the latest. Whitmore is practically apoplectic about the fact that you’re still living in your apartment.” Which really had surprised Myk when he’d talked to his boss that morning. Didn’t the man get the concept of e-mail updates and reports? “Frank is so worried he salted his coffee rather than sugaring it when we talked this morning. Even Mr. Smith deigned to call me and suggest you going to a safe haven and Casey waylaid me in the hall to suggest I get you out of town for a while.”
“Casey did that?”
“Yes.”
“The little—”
“Friend? Very good friend? He cares about you, Lana. He doesn’t want you hurt.” None of them did.
She looked incensed. “He’s at risk, too. He knows just as much about the material transformation projects as I do.”
“We have no proof Vega or Musa are aware of that.” But hell and damnation, he should have considered the possibility.
“You have no proof they are aware of me, only my enzymes.”
“Damn it, Lana.”
“Fine,” she said in a tone that was anything but. “We’ll get lunch delivered and eat in the courtyard. But you can’t sit at our table and no glowering.”
He couldn’t believe how quickly she had capitulated and said so.
“I don’t want to go into protective custody.”
“Hell, sweetheart.” He grabbed her and pulled her into an awkward hug. Awkward because she resisted, but she gave in and let him give the little comfort he could. “I’d like it better if you were more concerned with your safety,” he couldn’t help admitting.
“Of course I am, but watching over me is your job.”
“You’re right. It is.” And he was inordinately pleased that she finally saw things that way.
She sighed, the sound muffled by his chest. “Mine is staying sane while crazy men once again target my research.”
“I can help you with that.”
“Let me guess.” She looked up and met his gaze. “You consider sex stress-relief therapy.”
He nodded solemnly. “It’ll help keep your blood pressure steady.”
“Not while we’re making love, it won’t.” But she was smiling.
“After, though…you’re golden.” He tilted her head back just a tad more in preparation for the kiss he had every intention of giving her. “And the best part is that we can do it over and over again.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m horny.”
“You say it like that’s my fault.”
“Right now? Doc, it so is.”
Her eyes darkened and her lips parted. He was lowering his head to kiss her when the sound of the lab door opening caught his attention. At least this time he hadn’t been caught flatfooted.
He dropped his arms from Lana and tucked her behind him in one quick, smooth movement.
The blond man who walked in with a woman whose hair was the color of cooked carrots could be no other than Brett Adams and his wife Claire. Elle’s description fit them both to a T.
Myk put his hand out. “You’re early.”
“Elle said you could use the help ASAP.” Brett gave him an easy smile and shook his hand. “Brett Adams, but you figured that out already. This is my better half, Claire.”
Myk shook her hand as well. “Nice to meet you both. This is Dr. Lana Erickson, the lead scientist on the project of interest to the Vega Cartel and Ahmet Musa.”
The other three shook hands.
Claire asked, “Musa?”
Myk explained the Turkish connection.
“Thirty-three people?” Brett shook his head while his carrot-topped wife looked sick.
“Yes.”
“The whole plan is monstrous,” Claire said.
Myk nodded. “Probably because a couple of monsters came up with it.”
“What’s the plan?” Brett asked.
“Ideally, we would catch the bastards in the act of trying to steal the technology and send them both to prison. But I would settle for somehow convincing them that the enzymes are not viable.”
Lana made a shocked sound.
Myk felt his shoulders tense under the scrutiny of the other three in the lab. Neither Brett nor Claire had said anything, but Myk could sense their questions.
“I’m not sacrificing Lana’s safety to catch the bad guys.” Not this time. He’d made the last compromise of innocents that he was going to make on his last case.
Brett nodded in understanding. Claire gave Lana an interested once-over and Lana just looked perplexed. Good, it didn’t hurt to stump her brilliant brain once in a while.
Myk turned to Brett. “Elle was right. I do need your help. Now. We’ve got two primary targets that need twenty-four/ seven protective surveillance.”
“And there is only one of you.”
“Right.”
“TGP doesn’t want to bring another agency in for manpower?” Brett asked.
“They would, but Elle and I convinced them to let you all handle the slack.” He trusted Elle’s newly merged company mates more than unknown federal agents.
Claire laughed and shook her head. “I knew the merger was a good idea. Elle is bringing in business already.”
“She’s a natural,” Myk replied. “She didn’t get the money to buy that car of hers working for the government.”
Brett nodded, looking pleased. “You’re right about that. Her security services were ranked at the top worldwide even when the company was primarily her cover.”
“Now that she’s focused on it full-time…” Myk let his words trail off.
Claire grinned. “Watch out.”
“Exactly,” Myk and Brett said at the same time.
Myk left Lana working in her lab. Feeling uncomfortable leaving her alone, even inside ETRD, he assigned a security guard outside the lab with instructions to alert Myk if Lana had visitors or if she or Casey left the lab.
He was in the middle of bringing Brett, Claire, and their team up to speed in Elle’s form
er office when he got a text from Alan Hyatt.
Followed a feeling. Found another interesting family connection. Former security officer Ramirez is related to Anibal Vega.
That was bad news on so many levels Myk didn’t even want to start counting them.
Casey measured growth levels on the Lathyrus odoratus. He had to double-check his measurements after writing down Nisha’s extension number in one of the boxes instead of the measurement he’d taken. Okay, so his full attention wasn’t on his job this morning.
Who could blame him?
He had a date with the most scintillating, intelligent, and exquisitely beautiful woman in the world. None of the women he’d dated since coming to ETRD had measured up to Nisha, but he’d been so sure he didn’t have a chance with her he’d never even bothered to ask her out.
Not until Myk gave him that pep talk. For a spook, the guy was pretty cool.
Casey usually preferred braniacs for company. They understood him, but Myk was smart in lots of ways. And he treated Casey like a person, like another man to shoot the breeze with. Not a big science geek.
Nisha didn’t think Casey was a geek, either.
The way she’d responded to his kiss. Oh, man. Even if he hadn’t been able to convince her to go out with him, Casey would have been wanking off to that memory for months. The prospect of making more memories like it, of actually spending time with the exotic materials expert, blew his mind.
His extremely pleasurable musings were interrupted when the growth lab’s door opened. The evening security team lead, he thought her name was Ramirez, walked in with two other guards that Casey didn’t recognize.
“Dr. Billings, what are you doing in here?”
“My job. What are you doing here, Ms. Ramirez?”
The three security guards gave each other a look and then Ramirez turned cold eyes on Casey. “I’m looking for Dr. Ericson.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
Casey wasn’t like Lana. He didn’t overhear stuff and then later put together whole pictures that no one would expect him to have. He was more a here-and-now person. But he was observant and he had done extremely well in scientific scenario building. Human scenarios were very similar, even if other people might not see it that way.