by Dale Mayer
“Someone is checking on her.”
“Can we move her to some place where they can’t find her?” In truth her mother wanted to be in a home where her friends were. But on her other days she didn’t know where she was so up until now, Marielle hadn’t managed to put her into the home. Instead, she’d relished the last few moments they had together.
She needed her mother to be safe. To let her mother have as much clarity as possible. Within months she’d be lost to her own world.
And Marielle was going to be alone.
Forever.
She couldn’t quite hold the tears back. She bolted out of her chair and paced the room, crying out, “Why would they do that to her? She’s done nothing.”
“They won’t care. They are building weapons of war.”
“I won’t build those,” she said mulishly. “They are an abomination.”
“And what they are doing by threatening you and your mother is also an abomination. If they have weapons you can stop or you have the technology that can create these weapons, then we need them. Not the enemy.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to create weapons for anyone,” she cried. “It’s a horrible concept.”
“What does your research do?”
“What it was supposed to do and what it does are two very different things.” She stopped in front of him and swiped at her overly bright eyes. “I found a way for deadly chemicals to be used in a very targeted way.”
He stared at her. “And you didn’t plan on doing that?”
“No!” She threw up her hands. “I was working on something else when I realized the chemicals just a foot away were no longer toxic. But at that one targeted spot, they were deadly.”
He frowned.
She shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it until other people starting commenting about my work and the military applications. Like chemical bombs that wouldn’t kill civilians outside the targeted building for example.”
His gaze lit up. “Wow. That would be huge. Chemicals like that drift in the air and are dangerous for hours, days or longer in some cases.”
“I know. There is some similar research out there and some chemicals that have similar properties but nothing exactly like mine.” She gave him a wry smile. “Still, I hadn’t expected to have this happen.”
“And you told this guy…” he waved his arm around the house.
“Sure. We’d been exchanging emails for years. I was a student in several of his classes and we stayed in touch. My research took me in a lot of different directions. When he left the university and moved over here a year ago, I never thought anything of it.”
“Do you know the company he worked for? The type of research he’s doing?”
She snorted. “Apparently he’s doing similar work. He wanted me to work under him.”
“And give the research to his company?”
She nodded. “And of course he’d get the credit too. Plus, if he’s been hired to develop this type of research and hasn’t been able to yet, then my work would save his bacon too.”
“In other words. He’s not going to let you walk away. And worse…” Dane’s voice deepened. “The company, if they know who you are…can’t let you go. You have research they want.”
*
AND THAT CHANGED the game. She had to be protected. He didn’t know if she was friend or foe, but for the next while until they got to the bottom of this, he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Not if she had the information she seemed to have. No enemy was going to get that amount of research either. Yet Michaels thought he had a way to collect it. In fact, he’d sounded damn sure he could get it.
If she turned out to be a traitor then he’d take her down himself, but until then he’d give her the benefit of the doubt. Only an award winning actress could have put on the performance she had today.
Shadow walked in, and Dane motioned to the computer setup.
Shadow’s eyes lit up. “Nice.” He rubbed his hands in anticipation.
Marielle made an odd sound in the back of her throat. “I gather you love computers?”
“Love them. They talk to me all the time and sometimes, like a beautiful woman, I can make them sing.” His back was turned toward them so Marielle couldn’t see Shadow’s face, but Dane watched hers.
The team loved women of all kinds, shapes and sizes. But because of the easy availability, it wasn’t exactly a challenge getting them. Now that a couple of the team had found exquisite examples, Dane, like the rest, found himself looking for someone special. He had no idea which member of the team was going to get lucky next, but he wished he wouldn’t have to wait too long himself.
Life was lonely. He worked hard and he played hard. But that wasn’t the same thing as coming home to a woman who loved him like his buddies did. Somehow not one but two had managed to find special partners like none had seen before.
Now they all wanted a similar partner for themselves. And the standard had been set, with a very high bar.
He studied Marielle. Trust him to trip over a woman who he might not even be able to trust. Mason rescued a brainiac programmer and Hawk found a beautiful search and rescue specialist.
Marielle stared at him, her demeanor changing from comfortable to openly hostile. “What?” she cried. “I didn’t do anything.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything.”
“No,” she said, her tone dropping. “But the look on your face changed. As if I wasn’t quite who you wanted to be here.”
“Ignore him,” Shadow said. “He wouldn’t know what he wanted even after he tripped over her.”
There was a furious pounding on the keys then a sudden, “Come to me, lovely. Come to me.”
Dane stood up and walked over, keeping an eye on Marielle to make sure she didn’t bolt. “What did you find?”
“An FTP server that he had on automatic log in.”
“Hmmm.” Not knowing what an FTP server was, Dane kept quiet. They all needed to have a modicum of computer knowledge and he did, but for Shadow, the computers just opened up and talked to him. No one else on the team had that touch. Shadow was known for getting in and out of places without being seen or heard. His nickname suited him.
He knew how and when to move to stay out of sight. The team knew how to move quietly, but Shadow was silent.
Just as Dane turned away he heard an odd noise in the hallway. He was at the door in seconds. And waited out of sight.
The biggest, fattest, orangest tomcat he had seen walked into the room. And stopped at the entrance, a king surveying his property.
“Masters,” Marielle jumped up and raced to the cat’s side. The orange cat was picked up and waltzed around as she hugged him close. The cat didn’t appear to be upset in any way. As Dane watched, the big tomcat rubbed his head against hers.
“Oh, I’m so glad to see you,” she cried.
“You know his cat?” He couldn’t quite keep the suspicion out of his voice.
She didn’t seem to mind this time. “Michaels had him at the university some days. We all loved him, but I used to look after him when the professor was out of town.” She scratched the guy’s head. The cat closed his eyes in ecstasy. “I really missed him.”
“He’s big enough to fend off most intruders, but I’m surprised Michaels took him to his office.”
“Sometimes he was there for long days, working. We all loved Masters and often asked Michaels to bring him in if he could.”
“And the university rules?”
She laughed. “Can’t say any of us cared.”
He nodded and walked close. Masters grabbed his hand in his paw and head butted his fingers. “Friendly guy.”
“As long as you are too. He’s a very good judge of character.” She squeezed him tight, and the cat’s engine kicked in so loud Shadow spun around to see what the ruckus was all about.
“Now that is a big ass cat,” he called out in surprise.
Marielle laugh
ed. “Yeah, he is.”
The cat jumped out of her arms and strutted over to Dane. He rubbed against his legs and did his best to wind himself in circles.
“He probably needs to be fed,” she said, frowning down at him. “Surely Professor Michaels wouldn’t leave him behind.”
“I don’t think he’d planned on leaving.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked him wryly. “It’s not like you can wait here until he comes back.”
“We have ways of finding out when he returns.”
She nodded. “And I really don’t want to know. Can I go home now? I want to see my mother.”
Shadow spun around from the computer. “No, you can’t.”
She gasped and turned to stare at him. “Why not?” she cried. “I can’t stay here anymore.”
“You were next door, right?”
She nodded. “I was supposed to be there for the week, but that’s not happening now, so I want to go home.”
“Not happening. At least not yet.”
“Why?” she asked, a forlorn sound to her voice.
“We need you. You’re the only connection we have to the perp,” Dane snapped. “You aren’t leaving.”
And besides, I can’t trust that you’re not involved yet. But he kept that thought to himself. He didn’t see her as a femme fatale. She was too…he didn’t know, maybe honest was the word he was searching for. Then again, he had nothing to go by other than instinct. But he’d learned to trust his instincts.
Shadow called him over. “Take a look at this.” Dane, after a warning glance in Marielle’s direction, walked over to see what Shadow had found.
“It’s a series of files. Called Michaels’ Miracle.”
“That’s what he called his project,” Marielle said, jumping up to join them. “Those will be part of his research.”
Shadow clicked several buttons and files copied over.
“Where are you sending them?”
“For safekeeping so we can take a look at it later.”
Shadow nodded his gaze on the monitor, his mind on the implications. “How would a company like his keep this type of research?”
“Under lock and key,” she snapped, watching the files copy. “Corporate espionage is a huge industry. Think about warfare and the implications for the Far East.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Exactly.” She wandered the room. “I wonder if he has access to his lab in this house.”
“You mean a lab in this house or access digitally to a lab via this house?”
She stopped and stared. “He could have a lab here.”
“Could he?” Dane couldn’t imagine all the chemicals. “Surely that’s too dangerous.”
“No more dangerous than any other science,” she said. “Still, he’d need the filters and safety equipment.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I saw anything like that.”
Dane wondered, “How hard would it be to hide a lab?”
She frowned. “In theory, not hard at all.”
Chapter 5
DANE’S QUESTION ABOUT a hidden lab triggered mentions in previous conversations. “He might have a lab here. At least of some kind. But his work had to be done under special filters and with multiple safeguards, it would be too expensive to set up here.”
“I doubt money is an issue.” Dane glanced around. “It rarely is in cases like this.”
“I need to go to my mother.” She waved her hand. “My point in coming here no longer stands, so I’m heading to the airport as soon as I can. You don’t need me and if you do, you can contact me at home.”
She strode over to the doorway and found Masters staring up at her. “Damn, have you been fed?”
Masters meowed.
“Okay, let’s check out the kitchen,” she said. “I hate to leave you at all, but I’m not going to let you starve too.”
With the cat racing ahead, she headed to the kitchen to see if he had food and water. Dane followed. There might be a passage where he could get out and hunt for himself, but she wasn’t going to waste time searching for it. In the huge stainless steel chef’s style kitchen, she opened the closest cupboards looking for cat food. She found a stack of cans in the third one. She opened one and dumped it into a bowl. There was a bowl of water on the floor so she placed his food down beside it. Masters dug in.
As if he hadn’t been fed in a day or two.
Or as if the cans were a treat he rarely got. She shrugged.
She still hadn’t eaten. And she was starving. She found fresh bread and butter on the counter. There might be nothing to add to it, but those two elements alone were making her salivate. While the big man watched in silence, she quickly cut up the bread and buttered several thick slabs. After checking the cupboards and the fridge, she squealed at the chunk of fresh cheese. And proceeded to cut thick slices for the bread. She figured the professor owed her that much. The board full, she carried it the table back at the office and sat down. She motioned to Dane. “I made some for you.”
She saw his start of surprise and ignored it. She was going to have to deal with the men regardless, so might as well have them on her side.
She picked up a large slab and took her first bite. “It’s delicious. Nothing like bread and cheese while in Europe.” She laughed. “Not that I would know much about it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”
“Meaning you are hungry but can’t eat and shouldn’t eat anything prepared by a potential enemy.” A sharp pain jolted her. Then she shrugged and added quietly, “I understand.” She helped herself to the simple repast until her stomach stopped yelling at her. Moments later she turned to face him. “So what’s next?”
He shrugged. “When we’re done, we’re leaving.”
“Good. So I can go to the airport, right?”
He frowned. “We don’t know where the professor is. He might still be after you.”
“He might, but he’s not likely to do something in a big way in a public place like the airport.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not his style. Luring me to his neighborhood and trying to kidnap me to stay here – that’s his style. Threatening my family. That’s his style. Kidnapping me again from a hotel might be his style if he could find me. But blowing up an airplane to kill me off – not his style.”
“You sound very sure.”
“He’s weak. Likes money too much, prestige, but he’s not a killer.”
“And what about the company he works for?”
“From my understanding, they are likely to be the killers. Big money. Big payoffs. No one gets in their way.” She scrunched up her face. “Now they might blow up an airplane.”
“But they need you.”
“Do they know that though, or do they just see me as part of the problem that needs to be cleaned up?”
“Good question.” He stared at her. “Which are you? Problem or solution?”
“I’m neither. Just someone who stumbled on an unexpected chemical application.” Tired and fed up and wanting to go home, she added, “I’m not involved in this chaos and I don’t know anything.” And as soon as she could shake his leash, she was going to the airport to see when she could catch the next flight out. Then she realized shaking off his leash was likely to make her look guilty as hell.
She turned back to him. “When can I leave?”
“We’ll need to talk to you more.”
“And you can do that on home soil. Personally at this point I’d like to be back in the US as soon as I can get there.”
“Where is home?”
“San Diego.” And was she imagining the light of interest in his gaze? Surely not. No, he was interested in her work and how that could help him.
She ran fingers through her hair. She didn’t exactly fit into any category, so he most likely didn’t know what to do with her.
Returning to the main hall, she found her purse and bag where she left them at the front door. She opened
her purse and pulled out her wallet. She searched her purse for the rest of her stuff, relieved to find what she expected inside. She didn’t want the headache of having to deal with a missing passport. Putting everything away, she opened her phone and called for the same cab company who’d delivered her from the airport originally. All through it Dane didn’t say a word.
He watched her actions intently. She closed her phone and put everything away. “There. I should be on my way home in a few hours.”
“I need more information from you.” He pulled out some kind of small computer and entered her passport number and her driver’s license. By the time he was done, she felt like he knew her better than she knew herself.
“Anything else?” She watched a cab turn onto the street. “Looks like my ride is here.”
“No, I have everything I need.”
She stood up and motioned to the cab. “So I can leave?”
He nodded. “We’ll be in touch.”
She smiled up at him. “Of course you will. It’s your style.”
“What style?” he asked in confusion.
“The whole honorable protector thing you have going on. It’s really working for you.” She laughed at the look on his face. “Don’t worry. I won’t share your secret.”
“What secret?”
“That you’re really a teddy bear.” She walked out of the door and greeted the driver. Her protector stood on the front step and watched as the cab pulled away. Just as they were going around the last corner she gave into the urge to look behind her. And found him still staring in her direction.
She waved and watched.
Finally he waved back. Yeah, he’d contact her at home. She couldn’t wait.
*
WHAT THE HELL was that? She’d blown into his life and now right back out. But he wasn’t as unaware or as unaffected as he’d tried to pretend. He had no real reason for keeping her. Not if they’d found the files they needed on the computer. Besides, it would be easier to keep an eye on her back home. Hell, he was ready to return himself. So far this mission had hit the pits. By the time he pulled himself back to the present, the cab was just a faint splash of color in the distance. He turned to walk back inside when he heard the explosion.