“That’s impossible,” Vic breathed. “You heard her when she first told us about the take-over. She was as serious as the rest of us.”
“Well, she isn’t serious about it now,” Ellen replied. “You should have seen them together at the negotiation. Whatever he said to her in that room, it wiped the whole issue from her mind. He even kissed her on the cheek and said he was looking forward to working with her in the future.”
“I can’t believe it!” Vic murmured.
Louis braced himself. He’d heard enough. He strolled around the corner like he hadn’t heard a word, finding the two women huddled close to the wall with their heads together. They both glared at him when he appeared.
Ellen stood almost as tall as Louis. Her whip-like body crackled with suppressed energy under her black business suit. Unlike every other woman in the building, she wore knee-high leather jackboots instead of pumps. The chunky square heel made her look even taller and more dangerous and warrior-like.
Louis feasted his eyes on her. Her straight, black hair hung long down her back, and she wore minimal makeup. Her quick, certain movements infused all her actions with lightning power that embodied her fighting spirit.
Vic Doyle couldn’t have been more different if Louis drew them with a pencil. Her curly red hair piled on her head in a loose, messy twist barely came up to Ellen’s chest. She wore a blinding emerald-green skirt suit with sparkly green heels and sheer pantyhose. Her horn-rimmed glasses gave her a curious, insect appearance.
Vic shot a glance at Ellen. “I better be going. See you later, Ellen.”
Ellen rounded on Louis. “So you found the lab. Congratulations.”
He bit back a smile. She was everything he loved in a woman: feisty, unflappable, unflinching when it came to confronting a situation head-on. “I found it, but I still don’t know anything about your operations. Why don’t you show me around, and we can get started on this project?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you know about this project?”
“I know what you know. I know what’s in the documents. Allied Chemical developed this formula, and Primary Industries will test it for safety. That’s all.”
“That’s not all though, is it?” She waved a folder at him that she must have gotten from Vic. “First of all, we were originally told this formula was developed by a company in South America. Now we find out it was really formulated by Allied, who—as you may or may not know—is our bitterest rival. We were originally told we were supposed to test this substance for market safety. Now we find out we’re supposed to formulate it from scratch using questionable ingredients none of us have heard of. You can understand some of us are a little suspicious.”
“I can understand that.” He couldn’t hide his smile from her, and didn’t try, he was so happy to see her. “I just don’t see what the problem is. Just make the formula. What could be simpler? Okay, so it’s not the most straightforward project you’ve ever worked on, but who cares? You know what you need to do.”
She cocked her head to study him. “What I don’t understand is why you don’t find this suspicious at all. You’re supposed to be the City Council’s man on this project, and you don’t see anything underhanded in this?”
“No, I don’t. I’m here to do a job. That’s all.”
She shook her head and turned away. She started off down the hall toward the lab, giving him room to walk at her side. “Maybe you just don’t know the principal players well enough to realize how strange it is. Ree ought to be the most suspicious of everyone, and she’s just as blasé as she can be. That’s what’s so strange about it. I can’t figure her out.” Ellen stopped in front of the lab.
Louis faced her. Whatever else she thought about the project, this was his chance to make her his ally. “I’ll make you a deal. If it will make you feel better, you and I will keep an eye on things around here. We’ll make sure nothing happens during this project that could compromise Primary Industries. How does that sound to you? You and I will be the eyes in the sky on this one. If you can’t count on Ree to do it, you can count on me. If you see anything out of the ordinary, or if I see anything out of the ordinary, we’ll tell each other. We’ll share all our information, so we’ll both know someone on this project is on the straight and narrow.”
A magnificent smile spread over Ellen’s face. All the brooding doubt vanished in a glorious rainbow of crimson color. “All right. I’d like that.”
Louis dared to take a step closer. God, she looked good. Captivated, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her face. He caressed her with his words the way he dared not do so with his hands. “This company means a lot to you, and my work means a lot to me. We can work together to make sure these tests turn out as they should.”
She blushed again and drew back just a fraction of an inch. “So…uh…” She inclined her head toward the lab. “Do you want me to show you around?”
“I’d rather you showed me around the rest of the company,” he said without looking away from her mesmerizing black eyes.
She dragged her gaze away from his face and shook her hair out of her eyes. “What do you want to see? I’m sure you’ve seen a thousand companies just like this one.”
He fell in at her side, walking away from the lab. “I’ve seen lots of companies, but never one like this. It’s so…so female.”
Ellen laughed. “I guess that’s one way of putting it. Do you want to hear something stupid?”
“Not really.”
She couldn’t stop giggling. “It’s not like that. I actually got defensive that another man was coming to work here. Isn’t that childish? I mean, I’ve heard of companies not wanting to hire women, but who ever heard of a company of women that didn’t want to hire men?”
“You didn’t want to hire men,” he countered. “After all, Ree hired Ned, didn’t she?”
“I’m not the only one around here who got weird about that, either,” she murmured under her breath while gazing away at nothing. “Maybe I got jealous of her hiring him. That’s what’s so stupid about it. I guess there was nothing to be suspicious of after all.”
Louis halted by the stairwell. He wanted to get close to her somewhere alone, but this out-of-the-way spot would have to do for now. No one was around to see them together. He eased closer to her, and she didn’t pull away this time. “You shouldn’t discount your instincts. If your gut tells you something’s not right, you should listen to it. Do you really think you were jealous of Ned and Ree, or was it something else?”
“No, it wasn’t that.” Her eyes kept darting to his and away again. “I wish I could discount it as that, but I can’t. I mean, I never cared if she got a boyfriend or whatever. No one would be happier than I would be if she got a man in her life. I probably know better than anybody how much she needs it.”
“What is it, then?” He stood impossibly close to her, glancing down at her mouth. She conjured up all sorts of memories and emotions for him. He found himself falling into a vortex from which he couldn’t extricate himself.
Her dark eyes drifted to his face, and she locked him in her intoxicating aura. “If you knew Ree before, you’d understand. She’s been my best friend all our lives, and now she won’t even talk to me. She put her heart and soul into this company, and now she’s lost interest in it. All she cares about is…” She looked away.
He arched an eyebrow. “Ned?”
Her searing gaze came creeping back. “The Prometheus Formula. Nothing else matters to her. She doesn’t care about any other project. She and Ned are hiding something. I’d bet everything I have on it.”
Chapter 3
Ellen left Louis Kirk in the lab, knee-deep in a discussion with Mila Sanchez on the relative merits of crucible temperatures, and headed up to her office. She was never so glad to get rid of somebody. She wasn’t used to the way he looked at her, spoke to her. It was like he gave her well-practiced defenses nothing to stand against while stirring something else deep inside her that
she could not quite pinpoint. He was attractive, but no doubt he’d end up being like every other man eventually. They all lied and manipulated to get what they wanted from a woman, then moved on to the next one, especially when that woman could hold her own and didn’t need them. She closed her door, wanting time to get her thoughts in order in the private silence of her inner sanctum. She dropped into her desk chair, rested her head back, and shut her eyes, but she couldn’t get Louis Kirk out of her head.
His mysterious face hovered before her. His eyes danced over her face and down to her mouth, and his lips quivered. His body radiated such a hypnotic force over her that she couldn’t haul herself away.
Ellen had watched Ree become hypnotized by Ned when he’d first shown up at Primary Industries. She never would have believed the same thing could happen to her. She couldn’t fall for some stranger like a teenaged ninny. Could she? She was supposed to be a hard-nosed executive, not some lovesick housewife. Then again, there never was a more hard-nosed executive born than Ree Hamilton, and look what happened to her.
Ellen jolted upright. No! She wouldn’t let it happen to her. She trusted Louis as the City Council representative on the Prometheus project. Nothing else.
She shuffled paperwork on her desk, then scrolled through one spreadsheet after another on her computer, but she couldn’t shut the situation out of her mind. Maybe she’d been too harsh on Ree. She ought to give Ree a second chance for the sake of their long friendship. A second chance wouldn’t cut it, though. Ellen owed her an apology for flying off the handle.
She winced upon remembering her own words, then launched herself out of her chair and headed for Ree’s office. She only hoped and prayed she would find her friend alone. She didn’t want to bite the dust in front of Ned. That would be the ultimate humiliation.
Ellen rounded the corner near Ree’s office and noticed the door standing open. When she stuck her head in, she found the place empty. Making up her mind in a flash, she wanted to leave Ree a note to come and find her in her office. Then they could talk in private without the possibility of interruption. Yes, that’s what she would do.
Ellen kicked the desk chair out of the way and grabbed a square off the paper stack by the computer keyboard. She bent over to start scribbling when her gaze fell on something she’d never seen before. A leather-bound book rested on Ree’s desk in plain view.
Without thinking, Ellen picked it up. Crisp gold-leaf lettering emblazoned the front cover and the spine, The Glorious Golden Road. That was curious. She flipped back the front cover to the publisher’s imprint. Falisa Archives, 1663.
Ellen frowned. That couldn’t be right. The book looked brand-new. Not a single nick damaged the gold edging on the pages. The binding crackled when she flipped it open. No way could this book have been printed in 1663. She refused to believe it.
She slotted the pages open to a paper bookmark scratched with Ree’s handwriting. A recipe read, For the Purpose of Prolonging Life. Ellen skimmed down to the list of ingredients. Three noggins of brandywine tundra beetle. Four saukniweiss rounds of eldervane. Ten half-portions of wicknot root.
Ellen’s blood froze in her veins. These were the same ingredients used in the Prometheus Formula. What were they doing in this ancient book, and what was Ree doing with it on her desk? None of it made sense.
Could Ree have set up this project to concoct this strange recipe? She couldn’t do something as underhanded as that. Could she? Would she? Before Ned Lewis came into Ree’s life, Ellen would have considered it impossible. Ree was incapable of that kind of guile. The key word here being was. Ree was incapable of it before she met Ned. Now anything was possible, including guile. In fact, her modus operandi these days was guile.
She put the book down on top of a stack of papers. Something about their scratchy texture caught her attention, so she studied them closer and realized they weren’t modern paper but something closer to parchment. They curled at the edges, and a broken wax seal protruded from the bottom edge. Immaculate copperplate handwriting stood out on the yellow surface.
Name: Ree Hamilton
Origin: Unknown
Found on the coast of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland at seven o’clock on the morning of 17 August, this year of our Lord 1740. Found by the venerable Malcolm Gunn and associates of the Clan Gunn of Orkney and rescued from the Highland interlopers known as Clan Lewis. The subject was found soaked and freezing and close to death from exposure. She was rescued and revived by the Gunns, who questioned her and could make no sense of her curious statements.
The subject was abducted from a MacLeod village by the Lewis privateers and taken into personal custody by Niall Lewis, the notorious brigand and buccaneer. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt by the Gunns, the subject was delivered safely to His Majesty’s garrison at Aberdeen. She was taken into custody by me, this day, 25 August, in the year of our Lord 1740.
Major Commodore of Aberdeen Garrison
Louis Kirk, Esq.
A majestic flourish signed the document, and Ellen’s brain revolted against this more than all the other evidence staring her in the face. Ree, in Scotland, in 1740? That was absolutely impossible. How in the name of Christ could both Ned and Louis be there too?
Out of nowhere, a voice startled her out of her skin. “Ellen! What are you doing in here?”
Ellen’s heart leaped into her throat. Her head jerked up to behold Ree standing in the doorway. The two women gaped at each other with enormous eyes. The offending document still dangled from Ellen’s fingers. Her instincts screamed at her to drop it, but it burned its infernal presence into her skin and she couldn’t get rid of it. She’d seen it, and she couldn’t wipe it from her mind.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She didn’t recognize the person across the office from her. Guile Ellen could understand. She could believe Ree cooked up this whole Prometheus project for her own twisted purposes. She couldn’t believe Ree could fabricate this document. It made no sense.
Ree launched at Ellen spitting mad. “What do you think you’re doing, rummaging around my desk? Get out of here.”
Ellen held the paper out in front of her. Little by little, her petrified brain started to function again. “What is this, Ree? This says you were in Scotland in 1740. How is that possible?”
Ree snatched the paper out of her hand and bellowed in Ellen’s face, “That’s none of your business. You had no right to come in here without my permission. You said you would quit earlier, and if you don’t pull your head out of your ass right now, I’ll fire you for insubordination. You’ll never get another job in this town. Now get out and don’t let me see you up to your eyeballs in my business again. Just do your job.”
Ellen snapped out of her trance, her features hardening against the woman who used to be her friend. Just a few hours earlier, she’d thought she couldn’t live without Ree in her life. Never again.
She growled low in a strained effort to get the words out, “I came in here to apologize to you, but I’m glad I didn’t find you. I was going to leave you a note asking you to come to my office, the same way I have done a thousand times before and you’ve done in my office too. I just happened to see something lying out in plain view, and for your information, your door was standing open for any Tom, Dick, or Harry to walk right in, so don’t give me that crap about sticking my nose into your business. Your business is my business, and if you ever forget that, I’ll destroy you before I let you slander my name around this town. Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, or you’ll be the one to pay the price.”
Ellen marched out of the room, her blood boiling, and slammed her door extra hard when she returned to her office. How dare she! The nerve of Ree Hamilton to threaten her like that.
Now she knew for certain Ree was hiding something major. Whatever that document and that book meant, it happened in the last few weeks since Ned showed up at Primary Industries. It couldn’t have happened before, or Ellen would have noticed. She couldn’t allo
w this to go on. This situation was coming to a head, and Ellen didn’t like what she saw. That Ned was holding something over Ree’s head—had to be something like that for Ree to shut her out this way. Ned had to go. She had to get Ree away from him and find out what was going on and figure out how to help her. If things didn’t change, she’d have to leave Primary Industries. They couldn’t keep going like this. They couldn’t mistrust each other with this company’s future.
She threw herself down on the couch against the wall and looked out over the whole city spread out at her feet. She hated to think of leaving Primary Industries, but the company meant nothing to her without the connections to her friends. It had never meant anything else to her.
She clamped her eyes shut against the possibility. In the final analysis, she dreaded losing her friends, not the job. She could get another job in any company anywhere. Her qualifications spoke for themselves, but she didn’t want to leave.
Ellen loved all her friends like family—Ree most of all. Now Ree couldn’t even confide in her anymore. That thought wrenched Ellen’s heart to pieces. What happened to her friend, her sister? She couldn’t even walk into the same room with Ree without getting into an argument.
Someone knocked on her door.
Reflex kicked in, and she called out, “Come in.”
Louis Kirk stuck his head around the opening. His eyes popped when he saw her stretched out on the couch. “You okay?”
Ellen threw her arm over her eyes and groaned. “I’m just fine. Don’t tell me you and Mila need help on the formula already.”
To her surprise, a weight sank down on the couch next to her. She didn’t dare uncover her eyes. He was sitting down!
“Move over,” he murmured. “Tell me what’s going on.”
She scooted as far against the back of the couch as she could, but his hip still rested against her leg. “It’s nothing. I just got in another fight with Ree about… Well, about stuff.”
Spellbound by the Angui (Cipher's Kiss Book 2): A Scottish Highlander Time Travel Romance Page 2