by Ann Pino
“It looks like Dr. Brody was involved in some pretty important research,” Danica said, trying to focus her attention on the screen. “He was getting money from national endowments, corporations, private investors—” She moaned softly as Danny knelt beside her, pulled open her blouse and took one of her nipples in his teeth. “Baby, don’t do that.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “You’re distracting me.”
“Not to mention us,” Julilla said. “Don’t tell me we’re going to have to watch you two have sex.”
Danny stopped what he was doing long enough to tell her, “You’re the ones who forced your way in here. Deal.”
Cassie and Julilla looked away while Danny returned to sucking one of Danica’s breasts.
Danica tapped a few keys with one hand, the other still toying with Danny’s hair. “Don’t leave hickeys, honey. That’s gross.”
“Look,” Cassie said, “You’re never going to get those docs figured out at this rate. Let us take the laptop. We promise we’ll let you know what we find out.”
Danica tried to push Danny away but he dug in with his teeth. She flinched and tugged at his hair until he let go. “How do we know you’ll do any better?” she asked Cassie. “Brody’s son is what, thirteen?”
“Fifteen,” Julilla said. “And we’ve got someone else if he can’t read it.”
“Yeah, the art chick.” Danica contorted herself so Danny could work on the other nipple. “We tried to get information from her place, but—”
“You’re the ones who tore up her workshop?”
“Only the first time. We have no idea who did it the second time.”
“Copycats,” Danny muttered. He stood and tried to pull Danica to her feet. “They all want to be like us.”
Julilla rolled her eyes. “As if. Incestuous freaks.”
“We’re not siblings,” Danica insisted.
“We’re just twins,” Danny said over his shoulder as he pulled Danica toward a back room. “Don’t go anywhere. It would be a pain in the ass to have to hunt you down and kill you.”
“We don’t like blood,” Danica added, grabbing the door keys off a small table.
“Speak for yourself, baby.”
They disappeared into the back of the apartment, leaving Cassie and Julilla staring after them. “I thought I’d seen some weird shit since the Telo,” Julilla said. “But this tops it.”
“So what do we do now?” Cassie glanced toward the door. Every lock and bolt had been set and as far as they knew, the only keys were in the bedroom where from the sound of things, the twins were wasting no time.
Julilla jumped to her feet and started looking for another way out, paying particular attention to the windows.
“You’re crazier than they are if you think I’m jumping out a third-floor window.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Julilla examined the window sill with the same thoughtful expression Cassie had seen the night they saw Danica in the hotel. “Pack up that computer. Preferably in a backpack of some kind.”
“We don’t know the password. Once we turn it off, it’s useless.”
“As long as they didn’t change it, the password is in Doc’s notebooks or that e-planner. Besides, once we’ve got possession, Freak One and Freak Two will have to work with us.”
Cassie shut down the laptop and slipped it into the first pack she found after wrapping it in one of the twins’ discarded jackets to pad it. Then while Julilla finished getting the rappelling contraption in place, she scanned the room for anything else worth taking, swiping an acid-etched glass amulet and a packet of almonds.
When all was ready, she went to the window and peered down in dismay. “I’ve done rock climbing,” she said, “But there’s nothing to hold onto here.”
“That’s what the rope is for. Get moving, in case they’re just having a quickie back there.”
“Gloves?”
“No time. If you can’t get a foothold on the building, grip the knots in the rope with your knees and feet to slow your descent. Now, get.”
With a deep breath, Cassie moved out onto the ledge, gripped the rope and began lowering herself, telling herself it was no different from the times she went rock climbing with her eco group. Except that her shoes were all wrong, she had no gloves to keep from getting rope burn, there was no safety harness, and her life and maybe even the lives of others depended on getting down safely.
Above her, Julilla muttered something about what a shame it was the twins had locked up their weapons, then started down while Cassie hoped the rope would hold the two of them. Her hands burning and her arms shaking with the effort, she reached the broken-out first floor windows and lost her ability to stabilize herself against the building. The rope swung for a moment and Julilla cursed. Unable to find something to steady herself with, Cassie closed her knees and feet on the rope, and with a silent prayer that Doc would have some kind of salve for her hands, slid the rest of the way to the sidewalk.
A moment later, Julilla dropped to the ground beside her. “Don’t just stand there!”
They took off running.
EXCERPT FROM CASSIE’S JOURNAL:
We got the laptop from the twins. Me and Julilla spent hours wandering the streets after we escaped their apartment. We had to take detours and double back a lot, since the twins had our weapons and had threatened to kill us if we got away. There were the usual dangers of the street we had to deal with, unarmed and with our hands bleeding from rope burn. We finally came upon some Thespians who helped us get back home, but not before taking us to the theater and insisting we tell the whole story of the twins, which they then reenacted for us. Weirdoes.
Doc was still trying to figure out the computer password when I came to bed. I hope Danica didn’t change it. Knowing those two, they’ll probably show up soon to try and steal the computer back and if we capture them, I suppose we can just ask what the password is. Sid has rigged up some new security measures and Alex posted extra guards. If the twins try to sneak in, I have a feeling they’ll be sorry. For now, everyone is on edge, wondering what’s going to happen next. I’d be worried too, if I wasn’t so exhausted.
My hands hurt. Doc rubbed them with a mixture of cooking oil, willow tincture and rose petals, then wrapped them in bandages and told me not to slide down any more ropes. As if. I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow. If not, maybe someone will have some gloves I can wear instead of these stupid bandages.
Leila has been sweet, helping me with things I can’t manage on my own with my hands like this. And it’s not just because I brought her back a May necklace and some almonds. I think things must be going well for her and David. She’s been happier lately and her attitude is better. I’m happy for her, even though I’m jealous, too.
I had planned to avoid Galahad tonight so I wouldn’t have to hear him tell me I was stupid to go with Julilla. He saved me the trouble by avoiding me, instead.
I’m glad I’m too tired to cry.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cassie lay on one of the mattresses in the ward, leafing through one of Doc’s notebooks with her bandaged hands. Beside her, Doc sat cross-legged on the floor, also flipping through a notebook.
“Hypothalamus,” Cassie said.
Doc stopped reading and wrote the word on a piece of paper.
“How many are we up to?”
“Seventeen. When we have twenty, we’ll boot up and try again.”
They went back to reading.
“Somatrem 192,” Doc said. He paused to write it down.
“Sounds promising. Numbers and letters. Strong password.”
Doc mumbled something and was about to return to his notebook when the door opened and Julilla stood framed in the doorway. “The freaks are here.”
Cassie scrambled to her feet. “Where? How’d they get in? Did we capture them?”
Julilla shook her head. “Showed up in nice street clothes, walking in the front door like it was an ordinary social call. They said the
y wanted to talk to Mundo and they’re in the conference room with him now.”
Cassie stared in amazement.
“It was probably the smartest move they could’ve made,” Julilla went on. “Keep the enemy off balance by not doing what they expect you to do. If they beef up security, walk in like a civvie selling Girl Scout cookies. Very clever.”
“Well, I want to see these people,” Doc said. “Did Mundo say it was a closed meeting?”
“It is, but he said to get you.” She motioned to Cassie. “You, too.”
When they got to Conference Suite A, they found the twins at the table with Mundo and Alex, ignoring the tumblers of whiskey in front of them and the armed guards hovering behind their chairs. Danny was in a suit and fedora, Danica in a skirt, jacket and odd little cap with a veil. Everything from their hats to their shoes was black, as was the heavy eyeliner which gave them the appearance of mutant raccoons.
In her loose-fitting pants and t-shirt, which had been all she could manage that morning, Cassie felt slovenly by comparison. As she slid into a seat, she caught Danica staring at her hands. Cassie blushed and hid them in her lap. Danica made no comment but her silent smirk spoke volumes.
Meanwhile, Doc assessed the twins with interest. When Mundo attempted a formal introduction, he brushed him off. “They stole my father’s computer. That’s all I need to know.”
Danica rolled her eyes. “Technically, the Pharms stole it, since they took over the lab and everything in it.”
“And now you have it,” Danny pointed out. “Stolen from us. Two wrongs—”
“Three,” said Danica.
“However many. Don’t make a right. Besides, if we want to get picky about it, the computer belongs to the Sandoz Corporation, or am I missing something?”
Mundo rubbed his temples in irritation. “Playground politics of who had what first isn’t going to get us anywhere. Point is, we’ve got it and we’re keeping it.”
“We can’t allow that,” Danny said.
“You don’t have much choice,” Alex reminded him. He gestured toward the guards. “We don’t even have to let you leave if we don’t want to. Be glad if we decide to let you out the door with everything you came in here with.”
Danica sat a little straighter. “We came in peace, strictly for discussion and negotiation.”
“Like we did yesterday?” Cassie said. “You kept us locked up for hours.”
“And I wouldn’t mind you giving back my Glock,” Julilla added, from where she had seated herself by the window. “You’re a fine pair to say what’s right and wrong.”
The twins exchanged a look.
“Okay,” Danica said. “You’re right. We would’ve let you go eventually, though.”
“But without what we went there for.”
Danica shrugged. “The computer is useless to you. I changed the password and re-encrypted everything.”
While Doc slumped in his chair in frustration, Danny leaned across the table. “Work with us. We’ve each got something the other wants and we came to cut a deal. We’ll give you the password if you give us the secret formula.”
Doc frowned in confusion. “What secret formula?”
“Eternal life. The fountain of youth.”
“My father wasn’t working on anything like that. Just ordinary synthetic growth hormone.”
“That’s not what we heard,” Danica said.
“I don’t care what stupid things people are saying on the street,” Doc said. “There were people who called human growth hormone the fountain of youth, but it was just a figure of speech. It didn’t mean you’d live forever if you took it.”
Danny reached for Danica’s hand. “Are you sure? We want to be together always and if you promise to play straight with us, we’ll work with you in whatever way we can.”
“The Pharms said—” Danica began.
“Wait.” Mundo leaned his elbows on the table. “Now we’re getting somewhere. What’s your connection to the Pharms?”
“We’re not allies,” Danica said. “But we have business dealings with them like everyone else. Our main contact said the Obits would pay top dollar for Dr. Brody’s computer.” She glanced at Danny, who squeezed her hand and encouraged her to continue.
“The Pharms didn’t want to hand it over without finding out what was on it,” Danica said. “They figured if it was some kind of formula, maybe they could get May to make it for them and corner the market.”
“Corner the market in what?” Doc said. “I still don’t get this fascination with growth hormone. Are we expecting a plague of shortness now, too?”
“That’s really all we know,” Danny said. “The Obits want the computer, the Pharms wouldn’t give it over, our contact said if we got it for him, he’d play turncoat and split the profit with us.”
“But not until after you’d gotten the data off it,” Cassie said, too fascinated by the convoluted tale to notice that she had rested her bandaged hands on the table and Danica was staring at them again.
“Well, of course,” Danny said. “It’s a fucked up world. We don’t mean anyone harm, but we only look out for each other. The rest of you—”
“Can rot,” Danica finished.
“Nice attitude,” Julilla mumbled.
Danica turned on her. “Who else is going to look out for us? You?”
“Not likely.”
“If you don’t believe your father was working on anything important,” Danny asked Doc, “Why do you care who has the computer?”
“You can’t be that sentimental,” Danica added.
Mundo answered for him. “We’re trying to understand what the fuss is about. The second time May’s shop was invaded, it was by kids demanding…” he turned to Doc. “What’s the formal word, again?”
“Somatropin.”
“Any medical book can tell you about that,” Danica scoffed. “I bet the Librarians have books with pretty color pictures so you can even see what the molecules look like.”
“There are other reasons we’re interested,” Mundo said. “Ones we don’t have to share with you.”
“In the same way we don’t have to share the password?”
The silence that followed was almost thick enough to cut. Finally Doc glanced at Mundo for approval to speak, then said, “We have reason to think my father’s research turned up something related to the Telo.”
* * *
Cassie agreed to help Rochelle mind the clinic while Doc set up the laptop in the conference suite. He was in there all morning with the twins and at noon Cassie and Julilla took them some lunch. They found the table littered with reference books and scribbled notes, but from the look of frustration on Doc’s face, it was clear that not much progress had been made.
Doc accepted a bowl from Cassie and peered into it with distaste. “Don’t tell me this is the best your boyfriend could forage.”
Cassie turned away. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
While Doc ate, Danica glanced at the offered lunch, then nudged Doc away from the keyboard and peered at the screen. “We’ve established that most of the research was just ordinary stuff Dr. Brody was commissioned to do by his funding agencies,” she said to no one in particular. “But there were a couple of test results he seems to have thought worth pursuing on his own.”
Danny looked over her shoulder. “Tell them about the one where he did all those DNA sequences on rabbits.”
“Why?” Danica stood and stretched. “We don’t know what the results mean. Maybe he figured out why some rabbits have ears that stick up and others don’t.”
“That would be dumb,” Doc said, but the twins ignored him, kissing and fumbling with each others’ buttons. Doc glanced at Cassie. “They’ve been doing this all morning.”
“You should be glad that’s all,” Julilla told him. She turned to the twins. “Are you going to need a room? We’ll find you one.”
Danica gave a bemused grin. “Thanks, but we aren’t planning to stay the night
.”
“Not with the crap you call food around here,” Danny agreed. He pulled Danica closer and fondled her through the fabric of her skirt. “Besides, we’re good at making the most of whatever space we find ourselves in.”
Danica giggled and pushed him away. “Let’s not take advantage of these people’s hospitality.” She turned back to the computer and leaned across the table to tap a few keys. “It’s weird why he went from doing all that hormone research to this sudden interest in DNA.”
“I agree hormones are much more interesting,” Danny said. He ran his hands up her thighs and ground his hips into her backside. “In fact, if it were me, that’s probably all I’d ever study.”
Julilla motioned to Doc and Cassie and together they left the room. In the hallway, Doc leaned against a wall. “I’m sorry. If I didn’t have the clinic to run, I could probably figure it out, but we don’t have a lot of time if the Pharms and Obits are after the same information. I guess we’ll have to get May.”
“That’s not something to be ashamed of,” Julilla told him.
“You already did a lot,” Cassie added. “You narrowed it down so she’ll be able to get the answer faster.”
Doc gestured toward the conference room door. “How long do you think those two are going to go at it?”
“Long enough to visit our latest food poisoning case,” Cassie said. “Let’s go to the clinic.”
“I’ll get a couple guards and see if May is available for the afternoon,” Julilla said. “With any luck we’ll have this figured out by supper time.”
* * *
Cassie tapped on the door to the conference suite. A guard let her in and she stood a moment while her eyes adjusted to the gloom. May sat at the table, her skin lit with a bluish cast from the computer screen while Doc sat beside her, the light flashing off his glasses. They didn’t look up at Cassie’s entrance, too busy talking about telomeres.
“You going to eat here or in the dining room?” Cassie asked.