by Jade Powers
“Everyone has been very welcoming,” Lauren said, curious about the Scotch. Maybe back in the day liquor was acceptable, but in modern times, most bosses didn’t go around offering their employees a drink. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. It’s not like she could gauge a reaction to her future work-life based on the first few hours, and she didn’t know how her acceptance or refusal would be construed.
“Good.” Terrance Kendall was a hunter. Maybe not a backwoodsman with flannel shirts and a shotgun, but when he went in for the kill, he did so with the same patience and enthusiasm as an aficionado of the great outdoors. He sized Lauren up. He courted her for this job for a reason. Now he needed to know if it would work. He said, “Have a seat. Let’s talk about our plans for the future. You signed a confidentiality agreement. What we discuss here is not to leave the room.”
Let’s. Our. We. Lauren couldn’t help but wonder who Terrance Kendall thought he was fooling. Lauren was a Ph.D. She didn’t have a shortage of brain cells. Whatever the plans, they were all Kendall’s. Lauren might help bring them to light, maybe even enthusiastically, but she wasn’t going to be fooled by the ‘team’ talk.
Lauren took a seat on the edge of the couch. Kendall handed her one of the glasses and sipped from his own. He sat on the other end, leaning onto the arm, and putting his hand on the back of the couch in a posture of relaxation. Lauren knew that he was forcing the pretense, trying to set things up so that she would feel comfortable and divulge something she normally wouldn’t. She was never one to fall for sales pitches.
So, Kendall wanted to talk about plans. At least everything would be out in the open, and Lauren wouldn’t be blindsided by something, like, say, an unexpected lab closure. Just one more thing she’d have to work on forgiving Drake for.
“What plans?” Lauren asked as she took the glass from Kendall’s hands. She tucked her legs sideways, and smoothed her skirt.
“We think we can cross the divide. My intel is that your last project was finding an interface between human and machine. One of our competitors has gone as far as actually implanting devices and controlling limited movement. I want more. I want a machine that thinks like a human. Instead of using a machine to influence biology, I want to use biology to influence the machine.”
“Biology based Artificial Intelligence?” Lauren asked. Her heart raced at the thought. It was exactly the kind of project she was hoping SpaceTech would assign to her. No one had actually said for sure what they were doing with A.I. Of course there were rumors. Her job was as of yet unclear. She could have been dissecting slugs to figure out their neuroconnections for all she knew. Kendall’s vision sounded promising.
Kendall smiled, and it was genuine. He said, “Exactly. Our body uses amino acids and proteins as an instruction manual. We force that model into a design of our own making. We might still be a dozen years out, but can you imagine downloading software onto a machine built out of DNA?”
A dozen years out? Lauren thought it might be more like a century. But that kind of talk wouldn’t land her the project. Instead she said, “We need to figure out how the instructions are coded first.”
“I’m putting you on the team. Your work on the 37B was phenomenal. I hope you can carry over that same work ethic from Drake’s team to mine.”
Lauren nearly choked on her Scotch and not because it was so smooth—though it was. He had just used the exact terminology for the mind control device that her team used. No one outside Drake’s company knew that particular phrasing. It was as top secret as top secret could get. He shouldn’t have known. Lauren wasn’t above direct conversation. She said, “How do you know about that?”
“Come now. We all spy on each other.” Kendall waved the question off as if it were of no consequence.
Lauren remembered the threats to her family. Someone who knew too much, things they shouldn’t have. Anger flared. She said, “Before I get too comfortable here, did you have anything to do with the threats to our staff or the murders at our facility?”
“Of course not, but when I said you could get revenge, I was quite serious. My connections run deep. I have an ops team that would operate outside the law for the right cause. Drake isn’t squeaky clean, either, is he?” Kendall put enough emphasis on the statement to make it rhetorical, but allowed it to hang as a question while Lauren sipped her Scotch quietly. In the history of awkward work encounters, this had to rank at the top.
“Are you sure that it was McFarland who attacked Spokane?” Lauren asked. She didn’t trust Kendall at all. Hell, after the past few years, there wasn’t anyone Lauren did trust short of family. Everyone lied. Some lied better, and some of the lies were bigger. Lauren sifted through inflections and pauses to try to find the nugget of truth in the pool of lies. She personally guessed McFarland, but it could have been a half-dozen other people.
Kendall sighed, his finger tapping on the edge of his glass, a tell, but Lauren didn’t know V.P Kendall enough to know what it meant. He said, “No. If I knew for certain who went rogue, the problem would have been dealt with.”
That was a truth wrapped in falsehood. Lauren lifted an eyebrow. She had discovered early in her work life that the less she talked the more people jumped in to fill the silence. Lauren learned things in that quiet that people didn’t always mean to share.
Lauren made a small noise. It could be taken as an expression of dismay. If Kendall was hoping to get information from her in this meeting, he would be sorely disappointed. Lauren was good at keeping her mouth shut. She had to be after working on Drake’s secret projects and government contracts.
Kendall shifted, leaning forward, putting his drink on an elegant coaster. He was ready to delve into the real reason for this meeting. Lauren had never truly relaxed, not since walking into her interview the week before. That on-edge nagging sensation in the back of her brain kept Lauren alert for the small changes in Kendall’s behavior. Feeding someone alcohol could make them sloppy, make them tell things that shouldn’t be told, but it could also make someone pay less attention.
She was ready when he said, “It was a shame about Spokane. We knew Drake had the mind control tech. We have all been competing for the same thing.”
“You were watching us then?” Lauren asked, not as an accusation. She needed to know the culture of the place where she worked, what they were willing to do, how far they were willing to go. She long suspected McFarland’s team of atrocities, but she couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that other companies had been fighting dirty as well. At least Drake had tried to be an ethical leader. Lauren had no idea how Kendall would be.
“Everyone is watching everybody. Do you know where the prototype ended up? That was the single bit of information that eluded me. McFarland doesn’t have it. I know that much, but it almost seems as if Drake lost it as well. I hate the idea of technology like that loose on the world.”
Of course you do. You’d much rather have it locked up in your own personal vault. It was a good thing they hadn’t figured out how to read minds yet. That would indeed be a scary day for everyone. At least in this case Lauren could speak honestly without betraying her former coworkers when she said, “I have no idea where it ended up.”
She could have told Kendall that her branch had lost the prototype, that her family had been threatened, her coworker’s son kidnapped, leading to the loss of the small sphere that led the world in mind control technology, but that in itself was a betrayal. If a person could ferret out enough details, they could learn the truth.
The only kernel of truth she had was that the sphere was with Tom when it left AIT. Where it went after that was anybody’s guess. Tom had disappeared and was still missing. Someone had forced him to bring the sphere to Miami...which was suspiciously close to SpaceTech, but then at least three of the other biotech companies had offices in Miami as well.
At least now she knew that Kendall was also interested in mind control, that his company had a stake in what happened. As one of the memb
ers of the project, Lauren wasn’t terribly surprised. When she’d made the short list of companies who might have attacked the Spokane base, SpaceTech was on that list.
The minute Lauren told Kendall that she didn’t know where the sphere went, he stretched and stood, “That’s all I have for now. It was a nice talk. Stephanie will wonder where you are. Welcome to the company.”
They shook hands. It felt surreal. The conversation ended abruptly, and Lauren found herself back in the hall. Kendall’s only interest in conversation had been the mind control sphere. Had he not believed her, Lauren had no doubt they would still be talking until she let something slip. She returned to training feeling a puzzled disquiet.
Lauren was eager to return home after a long day of training. Lauren frequently returned in thought to her meeting with Kendall. She had learned one thing in Kendall’s office, one important thing that Lauren hadn’t even known mattered until it was too late. Lauren did want revenge...or justice. She wanted to take out the bastard who destroyed her work family.
The other thing Lauren knew without question was that Kendall had no intention of helping her get revenge. He would pretend if it satisfied his needs. Kendall knew more than he let on. In this give-and-take, what he would take was worth so much more than what he would give. Lauren would let Kendall be her employer. She would figure out who tried to destroy her life on her own.
IT HAD BEEN A LONG week. It was now Friday evening. Lauren stretched out on her bed and felt utterly alone. Her move to Miami had seemed like such a great idea at first. Escaping Drake and his new girlfriend, not to mention their coming baby, seemed like the perfect plan. The reality was harsher than the ideal. Lauren discovered that she didn’t want to start over. She didn’t want to make new friends. She didn’t want to face another night alone with her own thoughts and fears.
Ever since that conversation with Kendall, Lauren had mulled over her memories of the Spokane attack. Lucas was the only other person Lauren knew who might have information about Spokane. He already admitted to being on McFarland’s payroll. And Lauren had his business card.
Lauren didn’t know if she was cut out for the spy game, but if she wanted answers, she’d have to play. She stared at the ceiling. She wore a pink t-shirt and underwear. Her house was a good five degrees warmer than everyone else’s. It seemed like a waste of tropical weather to live in a balmy world only to freeze indoors because the AC was too high. And in Lauren’s opinion, everyone in Miami seemed to think the temperature inside should match a refrigerator.
The phone rang while Lauren pondered her fate, specifically whether she would call Lucas. With a groan, she rolled off the bed. It was probably her mother.
The number on the caller ID didn’t look familiar. Lauren answered anyway, “Hello?”
“Lauren? It’s Sven.”
Shoot. Lauren regretted answering the phone. Before Sven could voice his concerns over Lauren’s choice of employment, she said, “It’s too late. I’ve already agreed.”
“SpaceTech. Yeah, I knew you joined up. I’m not calling about that.” Sven said. And then he just stopped talking.
Lauren waited as the silence extended through the line. She had all day. Apparently so did Sven. The silence stretched to breaking. Finally Lauren said, “You called me.”
She could almost see Sven’s rueful smile when he said, “I’m just trying to think of the best way to put this. You asked, so I’ll be blunt. We need your help.”
“We?” Lauren asked.
“The company,” Sven said.
“You mean Drake,” Lauren nearly dropped the phone down on the receiver right then. She certainly didn’t need to be doing any more favors for Drake.
“No. We have news on Tom,” Sven said.
“And?” Lauren asked.
“His kidnappers were in the Florida keys. Now they’re in Miami. We have a ransom demand, but we can’t meet it.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Lauren felt sick to her stomach. Tom was a friend. She’d already gone through hell watching Tom sabotage the lab on video. Of course, she didn’t know that his son was in danger at the time. Tom wouldn’t confide in her...or in anyone else, not even his wife. He took it all on himself. And the kidnappers traded son for father.
Tom didn’t give the sphere to the kidnappers, so they didn’t give Tom his freedom. Sven said, “Can’t. We don’t have what they want, and there is no way to get it. The thing is, if we admit it, Drake and I both think the kidnappers will kill Tom, and we’ll never see him again.”
“What do you need me to do?” Lauren could have slapped herself for asking. Yes, Tom was a friend, but damn it, she should be past all of this dangerous crap. She was working for a new company, a new employer, one that wouldn’t appreciate her continued conversation with old coworkers. With a sigh, she stayed on the line and listened.
“Can you dig around your new job, see if someone there might have information about Tom?” Sven’s deep voice sounded almost sinister. Lauren had to remind herself that he was one of the good guys. Because he was.
Lauren said, “Sure, I’ll dig. How long do you have?”
“Until next Friday. Be careful. Don’t let on that you’ve been talking to me,” Sven said.
Lauren wanted to shut that down with a smart ass retort, but she knew Sven meant it in good faith. As if she had ever gone gossiping about company business. She said, “As always, I’ll be discreet. I have an idea.”
That her idea totally sucked occurred to Lauren, but two birds with one stone and all of that. Sven sounded relieved when he said, “I’m glad you do, because we’re fresh out.”
That from the grand plan-maker of Advanced Innovative Technologies. Now that Sven found his forever sweetheart his brains were going to mush. Lauren determined that such a thing would never happen to her. She said, “How can I get in touch with you?”
Sven gave her a couple of numbers, warned her again to be careful, and they disconnected. No matter how many jobs Lauren took, AIT would always feel like family. That was the takeaway from her conversation with Sven. It would have felt like a betrayal to use Drake’s company to uncover information about a kidnapping. Using Kendall’s SpaceTech to do the same thing didn’t feel wrong at all.
Chapter 3
LUCAS PICKED UP ON the first ring. It wasn’t something Lauren would have done in his position. She would have made a prospective date leave a message. Lauren would have waited at least fifteen minutes, and only then would have returned the call. And that was if she wanted the date.
“Wow, you change your mind fast,” Lucas said, leaving Lauren to wonder how he came to be working for McFarland. The guy had no reserve. That might be the point. Anyone that guileless probably invited trust, and then splattered their information for the world to see. Maybe McFarland kept him for people like Lauren. Hell, she once worked for Drake, now worked for Kendall. Maybe that was why McFarland sent Lucas. He wouldn’t think she had any secrets left, at least not from Drake or Kendall. He wanted in on it.
Lauren was in no mood to be teased. She said, “Do you want to meet or not, because I could hang up this phone right now?”
She almost did, almost slammed down the receiver. Because this idea was about the worst she’d ever had. The memory from last year of Tom telling her of the Christmas bracelet he bought to surprise his wife kept Lauren on the line. If she could bring Tom home by eating with the enemy, she would.
“Sorry. Shall we meet at Stortino’s in the grove Saturday at noon?” Lucas asked. He didn’t waste any time.
“Noon it is. Don’t keep me waiting.” This time Lauren did hang up. She took a perverse pleasure in imagining Lucas staring at the phone when the line went dead. She hadn’t given him a chance to respond at all. It was a bitch move. Lauren spent the next five minutes smiling.
A few hours before her lunch date, Lauren started to get ready. She hummed a tune while she showered and tried not to examine her happiness too closely. The first date she’d had in a year and it was w
ith the competition’s spy.
Her dating life was definitely the underbelly of some monster and wouldn’t stand up in the sunlight. A least she had a date with a handsome man. Yeah, one that would betray her at the earliest opportunity.
After blow drying her hair, Lauren took an extra twenty minutes with the curling iron to add large curls in the ends of her hair. By the time Lauren leaned into the mirror for the finishing touches, a little lip gloss here, a little blush there, she was running late. She wore a pink silk blouse with embroidered flowers over dark jeans, completing the look with half boots. Running out to her car, Lauren wondered why exactly she was acting like a giddy teenager.
She had to get a hold of herself. This was for Tom. It wasn’t even a real date.
Lauren found a parking garage a few blocks from the restaurant. She parked and grabbed her purse, determined to have a great time, no matter what happened.
Stortino’s was a low key place, extra quiet during opening hours on Saturday. The tourists and locals would be out in force by evening, but for now the place was nearly empty. Lucas wasn’t hard to find. He sprawled in a booth near the back of the restaurant.
His blonde hair swept a bit over his eyes giving him a roguish appeal. Lauren slid into the seat across from him. His smile would have swept a lesser woman away. Finding her lips curve up in greeting, Lauren decided she just might need a chastity belt.
Lucas pushed a menu toward her. “The waiter will be coming around again. I told him I was waiting for the prettiest girl in Miami.”
“I’m not into flattery,” Lauren grabbed the menu and used it to block out Lucas. It was a great barricade.
Lucas laughed, and the sound surprised Lauren because it was genuine. He put his finger over the edge of her menu and pulled it down slowly. “Truce? What do you need? Seriously.”