I ended up choosing a thin white v-neck knitted cotton shirt that pulled just enough in all the right places. I found a big mirror behind the bathroom door and put on a minimal amount of makeup. I gave myself a couple of turns to check my clothes and how they fit. I left my hair in the messy ponytail but adjusted it out of habit. I grabbed my gun, made sure it was loaded and shoved it into my ankle holster under my flared jeans. I put my knife where I would be able to get to it quickly. I usually had two knives pushed up under the band of my bra, but I had to opt for a single one under my left side. I double-checked it in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t obvious and then left the hotel room.
The elevator took its painfully sweet time making its way down from the fifteenth floor to the lobby. I became preoccupied with thoughts of what Roger might be doing. Without warning, his file popped up into my eyes. I noticed an unlocked file labeled useful tools with six applications including the remote access and the tracking software Roger showed me before. I downloaded them immediately without requiring any password or security warnings. By the time the elevator reached the lobby, I had the two new applications on my prototype.
The elevator slowly rolled open. Anxiety pulled as I sucked in a deep cleansing breath and looked for Alejandro’s driver.
After a claustrophobic quarter-spin in the rotating door, I came out onto the busy sidewalk that invited people to begin their lives in the city by the bay. I wondered what life I was going to embrace. That’s when I saw him and my heart dropped. His tall muscular structure leaned against a midnight black Ford GT that matched the color of his hair. His eyes captured mine and I couldn’t pull them away. My mind was thrust back to yesterday, his sharp nose and warm lips against my wrist as the magnetic urge to have him kiss me all came flooding back. He pushed himself up from the side of the car and came toward me. I couldn’t help but take him in as he walked with a confident swagger. From his head to his toes and back again, he was a vision that I drank up entirely, causing me to forget who I was and where I was standing.
“Good morning, Lauren, I hope you don’t mind that I came to get you this morning?” His accent was even sexier today. “I assigned my driver to Marshall today. Mmmm, so I guess you’re stuck with me.” Alejandro cocked his head, brandishing a smirk that sparked a swirling energy low in my belly. His long soft fingers found my hand and pulled it to his mouth. Every sacred place in my body reacted when his warm breath poured over my skin as he pushed his satiated lips to the back of my hand and his forest green eyes closed. He shrewdly lowered my arm as his eyes met my stare.
I wanted to have my mind clear today. I had to get my prototype to record Roger and I was relying on the time I would’ve had in the limo to do that. Now that will be impossible.
“Um. Well thank you—I don’t mind.” I fumbled for words to say.
He turned toward his car, taking an intimate moment to run his hand around the back of my waist. His fingertips almost wrapped around my side. I shivered with the pressure he used to guide me to his car. The image of my pistol flashed in my mind, I was glad I didn’t carry it in the waistband of my pants. He pulled the door open and wouldn’t let go of me until I was in. I watched as he hurried around the front of the car, getting in like he had done it for a lifetime. He fit effortlessly behind the wheel. His scent filled the car and I automatically began breathing through my nose, allowing his smell to rush my taste buds in the back of my tongue. Lost in him, I knew I was in for a crushing tough day.
The car roared to life, electricity surged in my body. I never considered myself someone affected by the sound of a powerful engine, but then again, I never sat in a car so close to someone that captivated me so quickly and completely. As he pulled from the curb, my body became heavy and pressure rushed across my chest as the strength of the car matched its sound. It was exhilarating, scary and sexy all at the same time; words that became the metaphors of my feelings for Alejandro. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him, he had me mesmerized. Even when he met my gaze, I couldn’t pull away.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, indicating there were restaurants we passed in the universe that existed outside of the atmosphere in his car.
“No, thank you, I already ate.” I regretted saying it as the words spilt from my mouth.
“Well, how about a café?” He perked his brow.
I was glad he came up with some other reason to stop. I figured some coffee would be innocent enough.
“Sure.” I tried to sound casual.
He pulled into a small hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. He looked at me curtly as he turned off the engine and waited. I smiled and nodded letting him know I was okay with his choice. His hand found the comfortable spot on my lower back as he led me to the coffee shop and opened the door. It felt good to be treated like a lady; something that just didn’t happen too often and I was innately aware it was my career which contributed to the lack of chivalry in my life.
After we ordered, we sat in a corner away from the frothing gurgle of milk being heated and the sounds of people’s dynamic conversations that just didn’t matter to us. It was the perfect location for a private conversation that we both knew we needed to have.
“Thank you for the coffee.” I held the paper cup toward him.
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” He looked down at his coffee, twisted the lid around and continued a little unsure. “What have you learned about me? Marshall must have told you something about me,” he breathed, meeting my eyes as he finished his sentence
“Marshall didn’t tell me anything about you. I don’t really know much, other than what you told me last night,” I answered sheepishly, trying to avoid the messages my mind was sending my body.
I was drowning; I wanted to tell him what I thought. I didn’t want to be so torn between what was right and wrong, black and white, good and bad. For the last twelve hours I had been living in between everything that seemed real; up was down, right had to be wrong and good doesn’t ever conquer evil. My life was gray, and for the first time in a long time, I was being forced to embrace it.
I wasn’t going to tell him about the file I read and the warnings Sam and Roger gave me. His face loosened and a slight smile that caught up to his eyes. I didn’t look away. I didn’t want him to know that I knew more than I let on.
“What? Is there something you need to tell me?” I asked with a false confidence. I didn’t break my gaze; I wasn’t about to let him off that easy. He shifted before his expression became dismissive.
“What do you think I need to tell you?”
Alejandro was playing a game of cat and mouse with me. I knew he was testing what I might know about him and I’ll be damned if I didn’t play into it perfectly.
“I want to know why you’re after Roger’s prototype. What are you going to use it for?”
There it was. I called him out. His expression dropped blank before bewilderment usurped his face. I wanted to see him work his way out of the corner I pinned him in. I needed to see why he had the reputation of being someone I was supposed to fear.
“Well, I’m a business man and I want to do business with successful business people.” His words were abundantly charged with his Spanish accent.
“That’s not answering my question,” I pointed out. So I asked again.
“What are your plans for Roger Clarke’s prototype?” He twisted his coffee around and took an exaggeratedly long pull before he paused and set his cup down on the table. A moment grew as he searched for the right words buried deep in the back of his mind. Words he must have believed I wanted to hear.
“I want to use the prototype for healing and helping people.”
He paused. In the gap of silence, I wanted to believe him; I wanted him to be as honorable as I needed him to be.
I waited.
He continued. “What if I told you that doctors could use this nanobiotechnology in surgery? Mechanics when fixing elaborate cars. Lawyers could pull up files while defending their clients. Don’t you se
e it, Lauren? The potential for this technology is virtually endless and I see that. I see what it is capable of doing.” His eyes grew, fueling his energy and excitement as his hands pushed and pulled between us and his words streamed across the table at me. He was completely taken by the technology that Roger brought to him. Did he know it had the viable ability to wipe out nations, the world?
“Okay, but what about opposing governments, political parties, or military extremists and terrorists? What about the people who want it for all the wrong reasons? What about those people?” I asked, hoping the level of my insistence bore some weight to the validity of my concerns. Maybe I was trying to catch him in a lie; part of me wanted to know if he really was about ‘the people’ like he said. Damn it, I wanted to know, was he really a humanitarian or was it about pure profits, and bottom lines like it was for so many others? Silence was filled with an undeniable presence, which remained until he answered my question honestly.
He dragged his hand across his brow, collecting the few strands of hair misbehaving before he inhaled an extended breath. Up until that point, I believed he was perfect, that the words of so many were just simply wrong … but it was his words, words that would have been best left by the side of the road, buried in a ditch; words which poured out of his mouth tainting my illusion of his perfect image.
“You want the truth? Here’s the true, Lauren. I am all about helping the people. I’m about giving what was never given to me and if there is a chance to help people, and I can make money while doing it? Lauren, I am all for philanthropy, but I am still a business man.” He grabbed my hand from across the table pulling it into his palm as he spoke. “I see the potential of his invention. It will be very profitable for everyone involved. I want to be a part of that. It would be foolish not to be.”
His hand was warm from holding his drink. I didn’t try to pull away; I just lingered in his grasp and drowned in his gaze.
He never did answer my question.
“Alejandro, have you thought about the real possible threat of the wrong people doing whatever it would take to get their hands on this technology?”
“Lauren—I don’t think you want to hear what I would be forced to do.” He broke the gaze and let go of my hand. He grabbed his coffee and stood up. “I think it’s best if we get to SI. You still have something very important to show to me.” He pressed his long fingers to the side of my head before tucking a few straggling tresses behind my ear. “I have no doubt it’s going to be the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen.” His words caressed my flesh as he dropped his hand and ambled to the door. He wasn’t ready to give me the answers I wanted to hear.
The drive to Spartacus Industries was quiet. Alejandro seemed to be thinking about the questions I raised and, well, the fact I decided to wait patiently for his explanation might have helped break the silence that filled the car.
“Did I upset you in the coffee shop?” Alejandro asked.
“No,” I replied.
“I feel like you are upset by my answers.”
“How can I be upset by your answers if what you said wasn’t even an answer?” It felt weird talking to him like this. He wasn’t my boyfriend and yet I felt myself play the emotional card like he was.
“Well, I don’t want you to be upset when we meet with Marshall,” he said, trying to change the subject.
Immediately, after he mentioned Marshall, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from swirling around Samantha. If it was a normal situation, I wouldn’t think twice about walking away from helping her, but this situation was anything but normal. Marshall wanted her taken care of, and not in a good way … why? What would switch his feelings off so fast for her? He’s killing off all of the people with the prototype in their head … My heart unexpectedly raced, fueling an immense pressure in my chest. It was as if an elephant decided to perch across my ribs, causing me to struggle for each breath. The space around me began to dissolve the unwelcomed humidity that licked my flesh. I recognized it immediately; I was having a panic attack. This attack was different, it was deeper, core rattling; it affected my entire body. I really didn’t want Alejandro to know what was going on. I couldn’t get the window down fast enough in the car. With every turn and acceleration, I felt the chunks of anxiety crawl up into the back of my throat.
“Pull over,” I demanded, holding myself together as much as I could. His eyes widened, I guess the shade of green I turned convinced him to pull over. The car hit loose gravel skidding to a stop, my head kept traveling and my face hit the dash.
“Oh shit! Are you okay?” Alejandro yelled as he jumped out of the car and ran to my side.
“I’m fine,” I squeaked. I pushed the palm of my hand to my left cheek, trying to get the burning pain to cool. At least the panic attack was gone.
Alejandro flung my door open; his hands covered mine that clung to my cheek. He pulled my hands away and pushed my forehead up so he could see the damage to my face.
“Oh, okay, not bad,” he said as he opened the glove box and pulled out some napkins, pressing them to my cheek.
“Look at your car! Oh, I’m sorry about that.” I was mortified that my blood was on his dash.
“Please Lauren, it’s just a car. I should be apologizing to you.” He kept dabbing my cheek and folding the napkins. I looked past him and spotted a GP station across the road. A restroom with water, soap and fresh towels would be a much better solution.
“Gas station—I just want to clean it up.”I pointed across the street.
“I think I should get this to stop bleeding first.”
I tried to wiggle out of his car and stand up. “Oh, no, I’m going to drive you over there … get in,” he said as he pushed my legs back into his car. I didn’t argue.
The engine roared alive and he had me across the street before I could focus on the Goldstein Petrol sign lit in the corner of the property. He helped me out of the car and into the restroom.
“I’ll be right out,” I said, letting him know I wanted to clean up alone.
He slid his hand down the outside of the door as it closed shut. I could hear the gravel crunch under his feet as he walked away and I pressed the lock.
I turned on the water and pulled several paper hand towels from the box on the wall and thrust the paper towels under the ice cold water and started to clean up my cheek that was taking a beating the last couple of days.
Stowed away in a locked restroom, I had a perfect opportunity to contact Roger, and like a habit that was second nature, I said his name … out loud.
“Roger Clarke.” I spoke clearly.
His information appeared and I noticed now he had an icon that was a compass and another that had two computers with a link between them.
I told him that I didn’t want to connect with him until I was at SI but figured taking this opportunity to see what he was doing with Terence and Samantha would be one way to keep him from contacting me later. I focused on the icon with two computers linked and instantly a little white bubble started to bounce between them. I clicked around and with only a couple of minor set up details and I was in. I could see his files, apps, and data … everything he could see. I could even access his recorder. I shuffled around his head for a short moment before I activated his recorder. My mind went blank as my vision slowly faded out to black. I prayed I wasn’t too late to find out the details on Sam and Terence.
I should have known that Roger could tell when someone accessed his mind. I was stupid to think I could enter his thoughts and prototype without him noticing.
“Lauren, what the hell are you doing? You don’t belong in my head!” His voice boomed in my head.
“Well, Rog, I’m sorry but I am stuck in a filthy restroom in a stinking gas station and we haven’t even been to SI yet,” I answered in a meek and broken tone.
“What happened? Did Alejandro hurt you? Are you okay? Do you need me?” His questions fired rapidly across my aching mind.
“No, I’m okay.”
; “Are you sure?” Roger asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I responded.
Suddenly, my body felt strange, like I was running, breaking a sweat. I blinked and suddenly, Sam and Terence were in front of me. They were walking fast with their arms intertwined. She didn’t appear to be struggling. As a matter of fact, she seemed to be willing, at least from my vantage point.
Roger broke into a sprint and ran around to a group of people walking in front of Terence and Sam. Hidden behind the cluster of people, Roger saw that Samantha was smiling and Terence was totally relaxed.
“Roger, I need you to drink something,” I croaked, my throat had gone terribly dry and it felt as if blocks of wood were being drug across rough sandpaper.
“Hang on. I need to catch Sam.”
“Rog, I really feel like I am going to pass out!”
“Ok, give me a minute. There we go.” He hustled over to an unused drinking fountain bulging from the wall. Pressing the button, he lowered his head down to the stream of cold water. He drank so much I almost couldn’t breathe. He pulled up and ran his hand across his lips wiping the excess water dribbling from his mouth and for a moment I felt comfortable in his masculine world. Unfortunately, my comfort didn’t last long when he saw that Samantha was through security and was now walking toward the gate with Terence, hand and hand.
His heart thundered in his chest as his hands crashed against my aching head. I saw his thoughts race while different ideas popped up from the dark murky corners of his mind. His frustration grew quickly into anger. Replaying the scene in his head, the drink we took, the water dripping, the moment he realized that he couldn’t get to them once they had past security.
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