Edge Of Danger

by Cherry Adair

  “Anything new on the murder and the theft?” he asked, knowing that T-FLAC would have any solid evidence long before any government agency.

  “No, sir. Not yet. But we are hopeful that we will have something very soon.”

  Yeah, right.“The reason we requested your presence here,” Gabriel said easily, “was to allay Dr. Cahill’s misgivings about giving T-FLAC all the relevant data to build a second Rx793 robot. Once you’ve done that I’ll have you back on a return flight to resume your investigation in Arizona.”

  Returning his ID to an inside pocket, Dixon frowned. “Why does T-FLAC want to duplicate Dr. Cahill’s robot? We imagine that the prototype is now on the open market. What good will producing yet another do to help that situation? Can it be trained to search for its predecessor? I’m not sure I understand the logic, Mr. Edge. And frankly, I’m not sure I approve of duplicating the Rx793, even if that were possible.

  “As I’m sure you are aware, all of Dr. Cahill’s notes were taken the night Dr. Kirchner was killed. Are you saying she has access to some of that data now? That she can indeed rebuild the robot from memory?”

  “I’m not saying that at all,” Gabriel answered easily, sensing her approach although he couldn’t hear the tapping of her high heels on the stone floor out in the hallway yet. He imagined her halfway across the entry hall as his heart did calisthenics.

  “It’s not for you to approve or disapprove,” he informed Dixon. “Your sole function here is to dispel any doubts Dr. Cahill might have as to the function and validity of T-FLAC.”

  “I think I should take the young lady back to Arizona and put her into protective custody, as I’ve suggested to her before.”

  What had kept Eden safe in Tempe, Gabriel thought savagely, washis safety spell. “She is in protective custody,” he said smoothly, pushing himself away from the table.“Mine.”

  He crossed the room, and opened the door just as Eden and MacBain arrived on the other side. He gave her a cool glance. “Come in.”

  She didn’t look happy to see him.

  The short length of time since she’d left this room had been just long enough for Eden to get a grip on her temper. She didn’t object tolosing her temper. She’d always been good at debate and found a good argument exhilarating. Unfortunately, her loss of temper usually coincided with those blasted tears. And she’d sacrifice the joy of arguing with Gabriel if it meant that she didn’t have to show him any vulnerability whatsoever.

  She had a feeling he’d see vulnerability as weakness. And while she might be many things, weak wasn’t one of them. Gabriel Edge was going to learn that she was no pushover.

  No matter how incredible the sex might be.

  As soon as she walked into the room he retreated behind a sofa table. She smiled at Special Agent Dixon, extending her hand as he met her halfway. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  Shaking her hand a little too firmly, he made eye contact, and said meaningfully, “I’m glad you had the foresight to ask for me, Dr. Cahill.”

  Eden was relieved to see his familiar face. He looked exactly like a government agent was supposed to look. Safe, bland, and unobtrusive. Even if he hadn’t been a good fifteen years past the prime of his fitness, he didn’t have a chance at being noticed. Not when he was flanked by Gabriel and Sebastian. Gabriel dwarfed him with more than mere size. It was in his attitude; the way Gabriel carried himself practically dripped confidence and assertiveness. Dixon, well, he seemed like a guy hovering right at the midpoint on the success scale.

  “I can’t tell you how relieved I was when I got the call from Mr. Edge,” Dixon said flatly, still holding her gaze. “We’ve been looking for you since you—ran off yesterday.”

  “I didn’t run exactly.” Eden said dryly.

  Dixon smoothed the thinning strands of his gray hair back into place in a vaguely familiar gesture. “Mr. Edge explained your concern about the advanced capabilities of the robot, and that he convinced you to—”

  “Hold that thought, Agent,” Eden said, her eyes locking with Gabriel’s. “Mr. Edge, may I have a word with you, please?” She pointed toward the massive wooden doors. “Outside?”

  Brushing past the Homeland Security agent, she walked to the door and impatiently waited for Gabriel to step out into the hallway. “You told him that I withheld information on Rex?” she demanded.

  “I told him nothing of the sort. He’s fishing,” Gabriel said almost absently, his expression dark and unreadable. For a moment, Eden saw something. Distraction? Knowing that she didn’t have his full attention, especially on something this important, sent a flash of anger through her.

  “I won’t give you any more information unless, and until, I’m convinced you are who and what you say you are. That doesn’t include you coaching Dixon before I have a chance to ask the first question.”

  “I didn’t coach him, I made his flight arrangements.” Gabriel glanced down at his watch. “Something’s come up. I’ve got a meeting in about forty-five minutes. Ask Dixon whatever it is you need to ask so we can get on with the mental extraction and get this over with.”

  Eden shivered. Mental extraction might be run-of-the-mill to Mr. Wizard, but it sounded like a pretty big violation from her vantage point. She tilted her head back in order to look directly into his smoky eyes. The determination was ever-present, but there was more.

  New layers hinted at concern, no, it was more than concern darkening his eyes to ink. Her heartbeat skipped. Something ominous spiced the air in an almost tangible way around him. The unspoken danger made the hair on the back of Eden’s neck stir.

  She put a hand on his forearm. He felt warm and solid. It would have been comforting if he’d put his arm around her. But she didn’t suggest it. Just the fact that he didn’t move out of reach helped. “Did you hear something about Rex? Has something bad happened?” She used the term “bad” loosely. It covered a multiple of possible sins.

  “No, why?” Something in his expressionless face sent a shiver down Eden’s spine.

  “You lookstrange. ” She dropped her hand from his arm, because while he hadn’t shaken it off, he wasn’t exactly encouraging her touch either. She wrapped her arms around herself. “Something’s happened, I sense it.”

  His lips curved. “The powers don’t rub off, Eden.”

  “Not sense as insupernatural, I just meant I can tell by your expression thatsomething’s happened. What?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Hence, the meeting. A very important meeting, so could you move this little Nancy Drew thing of yours along?” He started to go back into the library.

  “No.” She reached out to grab his arm, but he moved quickly to avoid her touch this time. It was a neat, if damned annoying trick. She wished his physical rejection didn’t hurt her as much as it did. “Not with you in there with us.”

  Gabriel gave her a mild look. “What do you think I’m going to do? Turn him into a frog?”

  “Could you?” she asked, distracted by the notion for a second. “Never mind. I want him to speak freely with me about you. In my experience, people often couch their remarks differently when said subject is looming large a few feet away.”

  “You have an incredible ability to overcomplicate things. Know that?”

  She smiled sweetly. “So I’ve been told. Humor me, Gabriel. Summon MacBain, please.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time. Definitely not enough to serve high tea to a Feeb. I’ll have MacBain make up a picnic basket for the agent. He can take it with him when he leaves.”

  “I’m not asking either of you to cater my chat with Dixon. I simply want MacBain—whom I trust—to stand watch over you, right here, while I speak with the agent. In private.”

  “You trust MacBain and not me?” he asked, one dark brow arched for emphasis.

  “Yes. MacBain didn’t kidnap me. MacBain didn’t lock me inside this castle. MacBain didn’t—”

  “Get to hear those soft little moans you make when you come.”


  Startled, she took a deep, calming breath. “True, but irrelevant.”

  She reached out her hand to see how fast he could move. Pretty damn fast, she thought with a glimmer of amusement as he stepped out of reach once again. If she didn’t laugh at the absurdity of it, she’d cry.

  She knew he wanted her with a hunger as powerful as her own. Why he was resisting her touch now, Eden had no idea.

  She exhaled. He couldn’t be any plainer about his feelings if he’d rented a sky writer to make his point. Eden told herself she wasn’t in the least little bit disappointed. If feeling as though she’d fallen out of the sky writing plane,onto her head, wasn’t disappointment.Idiot.

  “I want you out here, with MacBain at your side while I speak to the agent. Making Rex was foolish and now he’s in the wrong hands. I’m not about to fork over instructions to build another one without being completely sure that I can trust you.”

  Gabriel flicked his fingers and suddenly MacBain was standing in the hallway. He seemed more annoyed than surprised, letting out a loud, disgusted breath as he kept the paring knife poised above the partially carved radish in his other hand.

  “Och! What is it ye want now?” he said irritably. “As ye can verra well see, I was in the midst of preparin’ a garnish for the canapés. Be a good lad and send me back to the kitchen so I can finish my chores, aye?”

  “Sorry, old man, she wants you here.”

  MacBain turned to Eden. “Do ye have a special request then, Dr. Cahill?”

  “Watch him,” Eden told him. “Every second.”

  “Aye. Watch him do what, precisely?”

  “Stay right here,” Eden pointed to the floor at Gabriel’s feet. “I don’t want him moving from this spot. Not an inch, not a millimeter. Not an eyelash.”

  “As ye wish.”

  “Dr. Cahill?” Dixon called from inside the library.

  “Coming,” Eden called back, holding MacBain’s eyes. “Promise?”

  “It will be as if he was glued to the floor, Doctor. Go on about yer business with a clear mind.”

  Eden knew that wasn’t damned likely. Not when she had to tell Homeland Security that she’d been less than honest with them ever since Theo’s murder. Oh, yeah, and there was the whole thing about Rex and his capabilities.

  She walked back into the library. Sebastian Tremayne was looming over Agent Dixon. “Your presence is requested outside. Close the door firmly on your way out.”

  Gabriel’s friend had very expressive eyebrows, Eden decided as he passed her. “Yes, ma’am,” he said dryly. The door closed quietly behind him.

  Dixon was running his fingers along the leather volumes lining the library walls. “Impressive collection,” he murmured, turning and offering a forced smile.

  Indicating a chair, she sat on the end of one of the sofas, waiting until he was seated across from her to begin. Where to start? Lies or robot? Too bad there wasn’t a column C among the options.

  In the end, she simply decided to suck in a deep breath, and let it all spill out at once. She told him about Rex. About how the robot was indestructible, capable of reasoning, and with the right programming adjustments, the reasoning could include the logical extermination of the human race. Rex had everything in the way of artificial intelligence, advanced sequential reasoning, anticipated optional response, everything any machine would need to respond to any emergency or situation. Everything but humanity.

  “While Rex can’t factor empathy or redemption into his circuitry,” Eden told him, “the right tweak in his memory board could make him the perfect weapon for terrorists. A fearless, conscienceless, indestructible killing machine able to deliver on a massive scale.”

  Dixon’s expression was carefully neutral. “You speak of it as one would a child, Dr. Cahill.”

  “I worked on Rex for six years, Agent. It’s impossiblenot to anthropomorphize something that was such a big part of my life.”

  “Is that why you made the robot indestructible?”

  Eden gave him a startled look. Had she done so subconsciously? Had she wanted Rex in some way to be the one constant in her life? The child she’d never have? Had she, at some point, given up on the idea of ever finding someone to share her life with? God. That was pathetic.

  “No,” she told him, not sure of anything at the moment. “We manufactured it that way so it could do its job. It cost millions of dollars to fabricate each unit. Having it destruct every time it performed its function wouldn’t be cost-effective. There is one way Re—the Rx793 can be destroyed.”

  Dixon looked surprised. “There is? How?”

  “Another bot.”

  He frowned. “I thought you said the lab was destroyed. Hard drives wiped. Schematics stolen or destroyed.”

  “True. But that’s where Gabriel Edge comes in.”

  Dixon rose, then started to pace in the small area between the chair and the sofa. “I’m glad he contacted us.” He bent to pick up the heavy Bible Gabriel had left on the coffee table. “So was Mr. Verdine.”

  As he talked he flipped through the pages. He glanced up to find her watching him, and the look in his…theunpleasant look he gave her made the little hairs on the back of Eden’s neck stand up. Why, she couldn’t say. He had never given her the willies before.

  She’d just told him that there was a way to destroy the bot. Yet he’d segued off the subject without turning a hair. She tried to read his expression. But he had the same knack Gabriel did of keeping his features expressionless. A little shiver skittered across her nerve endings. A goose walking over her grave, as Grandma Rose used to say.

  “He’s been worried about you,” he told her, glancing down as he turned a page. “He went so far as to offer to pay any ransom demanded just to get you back.” This time when he looked up at her, Eden knew she’d imagined that look. He was a government agent, with no personal agenda.

  Because of the circumstances she was reading things that weren’t there.

  It was flattering to know that a man like Jason Verdine was willing to use his personal finances to secure her safe return. Okay. Not exactly her safe return. The safe return of her brain and skills. Still—“Tell him thank you for me.”

  “Tell him yourself,” Dixon insisted. “I’m taking you back to Tempe with me.”

  “It isn’t that easy. To repeat what I told you a minute ago. Thereis no way, nothing, no device that can destroy this robot. Nothing. If what everyone suspects is true, and terrorists do have Rex, then I have to build another robot with even better capabilities and strengths. Andthis time I’ll include a self-destruct device so that once the new bot destroys the first we never have this situation again. Like against like. It’s theonly way to destroy it.”

  Dixon tossed the heavy Bible down on the coffee table with a thump loud enough to make her wince. “All the more reason to get you back to Tempe as quickly as possible.”

  Eden shook her head. “I’ll do it here. There’s a state-of-the-art lab upstairs, and frankly, having Gabriel Edge, and T-FLAC, here to protect me will be considerably safer than going back to a lab that has already been broken into.”Twice.

  “T-FLAC?” Dixon said blankly. “I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with—Is that part of the robot you made?”

  Okay. This was wrong.He was wrong.

  Eden stood. Too fast, apparently, since it made her a little lightheaded. She braced a hand on the arm of the sofa. “T-FLAC.I don’t remember what it stands for, but Gabriel said you’d know them. Know the group he works for. They do,” she paused to swallow, hoping that might alleviate the persistent buzz ringing in her ears. It didn’t, and she hurriedly sat down again hoping to hell she wasn’t going to pass out.

  She moistened her lips. “They’re a counterterrorist organization. They’re on our side.”

  Special Agent Dixon gave her a worried look. “Never heard of them, and my dear, if such an organization existed, I can assure you I would know. There is no T-FLAC,” he told her. “Look, this Edg
e guy is well known to us. He’s certifiable, Dr. Cahill. Delusional. We’ve got a file two inches thick on him. He claims to be everything from a master swordsman to a wizard.”

  The room wasn’t spinning so much as it was melting. Eden tried to hold her focus, but it seemed as if she were looking at the world through the bottom of a glass. “He…he can…be per…persuasive.”

  “That’s too bad,” Dixon said, his voice suddenly harsh. “I had hoped you wouldn’t fall under his spell, but since you have, I’m left with no other alternative.”

  Than what,she tried to ask as Dixon floated over to her. She flinched as he stroked his fingers almost lovingly up her throat, then leisurely wrapped both hands around her neck. He squeezed, and at the same time pulled her to her feet. God, he was strong. She wanted to fight him, but her body felt incredibly heavy and frighteningly unresponsive.