Marisol opened her mouth again, but Jackson reached to lay a hand on her arm. She looked at him and remained quiet.
“Thank you,” I said to Jackson. I turned to Marisol. “I promise you; I will have something. Soon,” I assured her.
At least, I hoped I would. If I didn’t, it would likely end in misfortune for everyone involved.
Chapter Three
I got back to Aspen the next day. My driver dropped me off at home and I was surprised to see Sally’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Surprised, but not necessarily disappointed.
Just before leaving the other day, I had indirectly accused Sally of stealing Danisha’s files and sending them to Victor. I was not excited for our next conversation.
I went inside, unpacked my things, and poured myself a scotch. It may have been two in the afternoon in Colorado, but in Massachusetts it was five o’clock. I took a healthy sip from my glass and set it on the coffee table in my study, falling back onto the couch.
“Danisha,” I sighed her name aloud.
Why couldn’t I let things go with her? I took another sip. I knew it was completely irrational— she was half my age--but there was a connection with her that I had never felt before, even with Sally. I had made a terrible mistake allowing Danisha to get off that plane, all those months ago.
I had wanted to see how things ended up with Sally, and I got exactly what I wanted all right— the end. I raised the glass to my lips again and drained its contents. I got up and poured myself another.
I was on my third glass of scotch before I realized that if I wanted to help Danisha, sitting on my ass getting drunk was not the way to do it. I pulled her files out of my bag and began to sort through them. I needed everything to be in perfect order for her second appeal, as I doubted the judge would appreciate us filing again so soon.
I had been working for a little over two hours when I heard the front door slam.
Sally was home.
Sighing, I looked forlornly over at the bottle of scotch sitting on top of the open liquor cabinet. I stood up from the couch and walked over to it, putting the bottle away and shutting the cabinet door.
Sally walked into my study right as I finished putting away all of the files. I didn’t want her seeing anything until I felt like I could trust her again. I felt horrible about it, but it was a necessary precaution.
I stood up to greet her, unsure exactly how to do so.
“Hello, Adrian,” Sally said. She sounded as uncertain as I felt.
“Sally…” I replied, still wary.
I had boxed for a couple of years when I was a teenager. The tension in the ring before the match, wondering: Who’s going to throw the first punch? That was what it felt like standing in front of Sally at this exact moment.
“How was your trip?” she asked shortly.
“Informative,” I answered just as shortly. I’d leave Sally to wonder what it was exactly that I learned.
“Well, since you apparently found out everything you need to know in Massachusetts, I suppose I can cancel my next meeting with Victor,” Sally said, turning to walk out the office door.
“Wait--!” I called after her, “You’re meeting with Victor?”
Sally whirled around, a huge smile on her face that seemed slightly mocking. She swept past me to settle herself on the couch.
“Oh, didn’t you know?” she asked coyly.
“Sally…” I grinned, sitting next to her. I could tell she had done something brilliant again. “Come on, tell me…”
“I’m supposed to meet with him and Iraja to discuss plans for a couple of days. I leave in a little less than a week. I told him I would tell you that I was going to some spa or other because I’m angry with you for never being home. Now I can find out what he’s up to and tell you everything when I get back! Isn’t that great? Adrian?” Sally anxiously awaited my approval.
I didn’t say anything. Sally was going to go to Victor’s house? What if he found out what she was really up to? He could do anything he wanted to her and there wouldn’t be a single thing I could do about it. I was ecstatic about the potential knowledge Sally could gain at such a meeting, but this was too dangerous. I didn’t like it.
“Where is this meeting supposed to happen?” I asked her.
“He didn’t say,” Sally shrugged. “But he did tell me to bring a passport, so it’s obviously not state-side.”
I frowned. That didn’t make sense. Two days ago, Victor was in New York interviewing people and he needed to be back in another few days to have his meeting with Marisol. Why would he leave the country just to catch Sally up on what was going on?
“I don’t know, Sally… What if something goes wrong?” I worried.
“What could go wrong, Adrian? I’ll only be there for a couple of days. From what it sounded like, Victor is only inviting me because he likes to think he’s got a secret from you.” Sally pressed herself against me.
Victor thought he had secrets, did he? Well, I had some secrets of my own. Marisol, for one. She was probably the reason he wanted everyone to meet. Victor thought he was about to pull some big moves in the business world and he wanted to make sure his house was in order.
I looked at Sally, who looked back at me with wide, seemingly innocent eyes. Had Victor told her about Marisol? Was she holding that piece of information back? Did she only tell me about Russia to win back my confidence?
I said nothing, putting my arm around her shoulders and pulling her against me. I didn’t want to suspect her.
Over the next few days, however, my suspicions grew the longer Sally went without mentioning Marisol, or at least that Victor had found an engineer. Sally had told me once that Victor kept her fairly informed on Danisha’s case, so I found it odd that he wouldn’t have said anything to Sally yet.
I came close to asking her once. “Did you just speak with Victor?” I asked after finding her in my office.
“Yes, actually,” she had replied.
“Anything new?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could manage.
“Not really, just confirming flight times. I’ll be leaving a couple of days before you go to Massachusetts,” Sally had said.
“Nothing else? He hasn’t spilled what the meeting is about yet?” I pressed her.
“Nope. I guess he wants to keep it off the phone lines.” She shrugged, walking out of my office.
I checked my drawers to see if anything seemed like it had been rifled through, but I couldn’t tell.
This was ridiculous. I still had an appeal that I needed to file— I didn’t have time to be paranoid right now. In three days, I would be heading back to Massachusetts to help prepare Danisha for the new appeal.
I stood up, shutting the last drawer. Three days, and everything would be over. I just hoped I could hold on until then.
Chapter Four
“Okay, how about now, Danisha?” Jackson asked as he adjusted the microphone hidden underneath Marisol’s shirt collar.
I pulled my headphones off. “Much better, thanks,” I said, standing up from where the radio equipment was set up.
Marisol was meeting with Victor and Iraja today. We had gotten everything we needed from the interview, but Marisol had to continue to work with the two of them until the appeal was over. It was important we kept up appearances, or else Victor would get spooked and make a run for it.
If he ran, I would still be able to have my appeal to win back the EyeRead, but Adrian needed Victor behind bars if his business was to survive.
Adrian would be back in Massachusetts the day after tomorrow. I was nervous about seeing him. Except for setting up Marisol’s financial backing, Adrian and I hadn’t spoken since he told me he wanted to be with me.
“Am I good to go?” Marisol asked, pinning her hair back so the cameras in her earrings would have a clear view.
I nodded. “Everything looks perfect. Now, you remember what I told you, right? You don’t have to go into too many details. If they ask you anything and you u
nsure of what to say, tell them that it’s a brand new branch of technology that will require some experimentation before you can get them the results they’re looking for. We don’t need to actually build anything for them, we just need to buy ourselves some time for the appeal,” I explained again.
“Got it,” Marisol said.
“Ready?” Jackson asked, tugging on his suit. He would be escorting Marisol once again as an extra precaution.
She slipped an arm through his and they walked to the door.
“Wish me luck!” she called over her shoulder.
Even flying, it would still be a couple of hours before Marisol got to New York to meet with Victor and Iraja. I turned on the TV, even though I couldn’t focus enough to watch anything. All I could do was wait.
A little less than two hours later, I got a text from Jackson telling me that they were heading towards Victor’s office. I stopped my pacing and sat down next to the radio equipment, slipping on my headphones and turning on the video to Marisol’s earring cameras. I felt a little awkward watching Marisol walk around, but all of my concerns vanished the moment she walked into Victor’s office and I saw him sitting there behind his desk.
“My dear, so good to see you,” he said.
“Come, sit,” a second voice said. Marisol turned and I saw Iraja sitting on the couch in front of a tea tray.
Victor appeared, sitting in a chair next to Iraja. Marisol looked to the door to see Jackson standing, hands folded behind his back like he had been doing this his whole life. I made a mental note to ask Marisol more about him. He seemed like a guy with a story.
Marisol sat down with them and the three of them exchanged casual pleasantries and sipped their drinks for a few minutes. I quickly became exasperated. The longer Marisol was in there, the more likely we were to be exposed.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your investment, Marisol,” Victor said.
Finally. Now we were getting somewhere.
“You are most welcome,” Marisol replied, nodding graciously. “I take it the employee contract is in there?” she asked, motioning to the briefcase next to Victor.
Victor smiled. “That depends on what we hear today. You have most certainly come through on your investment promises, but the other half of the deal was that you would find a solution to our problem. Did you?”
I held my breath. This was it. Either Marisol would be able to sell this idea to Victor and Iraja, or we were done for.
Marisol set down her cup, smoothing her skirt with her palms. “The first thing I would like to explain is that with any new product, multiple prototypes must be made to eliminate problems. Danisha told me that the reason she hadn’t started making prototypes of the EyeRead yet was because the technology simply isn’t advanced enough to support it. She needed to either develop it on her own, or work with someone in the field to help her,” she said.
Victor leaned forward in his chair. “What kind of technology? What field was she searching in to get help from? Nanotechnology? Biomechanics?” he asked.
“Sealants, actually,” Marisol continued.
“Excuse me?” Iraja said.
“I’m not going to bore you with the details—you wouldn’t understand them anyway—” I watched with glee and cackled loudly as Victor and Iraja’s eyes widened at Marisol’s dismissive insult. “Essentially the deal is that we need to design a sealant that opens a kind of gate, so to say, when it comes into contact with itself. Then the photons will be able to pass seamlessly within the EyeRead, creating a perfect image,” Marisol explained, sitting back once she finished.
Victor and Iraja said nothing for several moments, and then looked at each other briefly. Iraja nodded and Victor pulled the briefcase into his lap. He opened it and handed the employee contract to Marisol, who then quickly read and signed it.
“What’s next?” Victor asked as Marisol passed the document back to him.
Back home in my apartment, I stared at the camera, open mouthed. I had Victor Vaskov, international crime lord and professional pain in the ass, in the palm of my hand, asking what do to next. I pumped my fists in the air, wishing Adrian was here to see this. He would love it. I’d have to play him the tape when he got here.
“I’d like to have a couple of months to take a crack at it myself, if you don’t mind. The only reason Danisha didn’t develop the sealant herself was lack of funding, which certainly isn’t a problem for us, now is it?” Marisol said cheekily. “I’ll work in a lab outside of the school so Danisha doesn’t accidentally discover what we’re up to,” she said, sobering.
“You can have one month,” Victor said. “After that, we’re bringing in someone from the outside for you to work with,” he rebutted.
“Six weeks and you have a deal,” Marisol bargained.
I watched as Victor stuck out his hand and he and Marisol shook on it. She repeated the gesture with Iraja. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were practically in the home stretch. All Marisol had to do now was excuse herself to leave.
“Before you go, Marisol,” Victor began as she stood to leave, “I’d like to set up a luncheon tomorrow for the friend I mentioned. As I suspected, she is most anxious to meet you. Iraja and I would join you, but Danisha and Adrian have filed another appeal and we must prepare for it. The fact that they have managed to get their case back to court so quickly has me a little unnerved. Not to worry, though! Once we are finished with that business, the four of us will sit down and get acquainted.”
“You’re very kind, Victor, but I must get started on my work. Perhaps once I have made some progress,” Marisol said, protesting.
“Nonsense. You can start working after the appeal is over. Take a couple of days to make sure your schoolwork is in order. I don’t want you falling behind in your grades, now,” Victor said smiling.
This was not something we had planned for. We thought this would be the last time Marisol needed to interact with Victor and Iraja. I knew Jackson would not be happy about putting Marisol in even more danger. I wasn’t happy about it either, but there was obviously no way Marisol was going to be able to excuse herself from the luncheon, so she had to say yes.
“I guess I have no other choice but to accept your invitation, then!” Marisol said, chuckling, “I look forward to meeting your friend. If she’s as great as you say she is, I’m sure we’ll have a good time.” Marisol moved to leave the room.
Victor moved towards the door. “Yes, she’s the one who got Danisha’s files for me, so I know you two will have plenty to talk about there!”
Finally, they said their goodbyes and I watched through Marisol’s earrings as she and Jackson exited the building and got into their car to head back to the airport.
I slowly pulled the headphones off, blankly staring at the video screen. Victor had just told us that he wasn’t the one who had taken my files. I was almost certain that Sally was the woman Victor mentioned, but I had to know for sure.
As dangerous as it might be, I needed Marisol to go to that luncheon.
Chapter Five
It took all of my willpower not to practically tackle Marisol when she walked in the door. I desperately needed to know if Sally was behind all of this. Not just for me, but for Adrian.
Jack saw my look right when he came in. “No,” he said. “It was supposed to be the two meetings and that’s it. We need to figure a way to get her out of this. The flu, or something.”
“The flu?” I echoed. “You want Marisol to ask Victor for a sick day? That isn’t going to work.”
“Well she’s not going, so I hope at least that is clear,” Jack said, folding his arms.
“Why not? How is lunch at a public restaurant more dangerous than a private interview?” I reasoned.
“It’s not more dangerous, but it’s not completely safe, either. We have no idea who this woman is that Victor is sending to meet Marisol. She could be anyone,” Jack argued.
“Actually,” I took a deep breath. “I think it�
�s Sally.”
“Are you serious?” Jack’s eyes widened.
“Hey, don’t tell me you haven’t ever suspected her!” I shot back.
Jack put his hands up in self-defence, “Easy, now. You’re right, I have, but Adrian says Sally’s team Jedi. Even if it is her, and I’m not saying it is, but if so, maybe it’s part of some weird plan that we just haven’t been filled in on,” he suggested.
I looked at Jack incredulously. He shrugged as if to admit he knew how big of a stretch his explanation was.
“Well, I guess the best way to find out is to go to this lunch date, isn’t it then?” Marisol said.
Jack and I both turned to look at her.
“Jack says no, and Danisha says yes, so I guess that makes me the tiebreaker, huh? And I say I’m going,” Marisol announced.
“Marisol, hold on a second,” Jack said. “You understand I can’t be there to protect you, right? If this woman turns out to be Sally, she’ll recognize me and it’ll blow the whole thing sky high.”
Marisol and I looked at each other. Neither of us had realized that. I saw Marisol’s face harden in resolve. She turned to Jackson. My heart filled with gratitude for her.
“I can take care of myself, but stay close by just in case, okay?” she said to Jack.
Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times. He clearly didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to let Marisol go to this lunch tomorrow, but he seemed to know he wouldn’t be able to stop her.
Finally, he threw his hands up in the air and walked into Marisol’s bedroom. I looked over at her and she gave me two thumbs up.
Jackson was in.
***
I drummed my freshly manicured fingernails on top of the table. Victor had arranged for Marisol and I to meet at one of the most esteemed restaurants in New York —Eleven Madison Park.
I hadn’t spoken to Adrian since I had left Colorado, but apparently, he and Danisha were filing another appeal.
The two of them certainly have been busy, I thought, bitterly sipping my extra dry martini.
The maître d’ was walking my direction with a young woman behind him.
Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Page 86