Cara MIA - By Book One of the Immortyl Revolution - By Denise Verrico Page 0,52
expensive perfume. The soft light of the desk lamp made her almost appealing. “Talk to you for a moment, Joe? I spoke with Lee on the phone. She’s planning on touring the facility at the end of the month. She’ll meet with you then. She made a point of asking for some discs Mia promised.”
Joe leaned back in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes. “You never mentioned any discs. It’s wasn’t easy to win her trust. What’s she going to think when I start pressuring her to give them up?”
“Come on Joe, I’m under the gun. There’s some kind of data they promised.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Go in and talk to her tonight.”
Joe ran his eyes up Lydia’s figure. “Going on a date?”
Lydia tittered, perhaps a little self-consciously. “Just a meeting with Lee, no time for a social life these days… ”
Joe stretched and yawned. “Tell me about it.”
“Has she told you anything about who is hunting them?”
“No. She’s stalling for some reason.”
Lydia sighed in frustration. “Lee believes this isn’t the only facility where this work is going on. We’ve tried to maintain secrecy, but non-disclosure clauses are only as good as the people who signed them. Someone out there’s throwing a lot of money around and it’s only a matter of time before we lose people. I’ve had offers myself from mysterious sources. No one would offer that kind of money unless they were on to something really big. There’s a firm in Florida that manufactures blood products, lately there’s been a lot of activity.”
“All this crap she’s telling us is worthless. Maybe if we put our two lovebirds together they’ll start to sing.”
“Lovebirds are highly territorial, aggressive little monsters, Joe. I raised them as a child. They may look all cute and cuddly but put one in a cage who isn’t part of their flock and they’ll tear it to bits. Lee’s adamant about keeping them apart until she gets here.”
“Sounds to me like it’s personal.”
“We’ve been through this a hundred times.”
Joe scowled. “We’re playing a dangerous game here.”
“You’ve never been one to back down from a challenge.”
“Speaking of games, Kurt wants to play chess with me next time we meet.”
“Do it tonight! For goodness sakes Joe, he’s showing receptivity. I still can’t find anyone who can get past the firewalls in that computer of his. Get him anything he wants. We need that data.”
“I’m tired Lydia, give me a fucking break. I’ll go see them, but right now I’m going to sleep for a couple of hours before I go to her.”
“Get those discs!”
Lydia stalked out as Joe stretched out on the sofa. Jean stuck her head in. She was dressed in street clothes. “You almost ready?”
Shit, he’d forgotten they were supposed to see a movie and have dinner. “Can we do it tomorrow night? Lydia just ordered me to go in and bug Mia about some data they’ve promised.”
Jean’s wide mouth formed a tight line. “Last time it was something else. Forget it. I’ll go myself.”
“Jean… ” But she was already out the door.
A few hours of sleep later, Joe handed Kurt’s latest letter to Mia. She sat quietly, reading it as he sank into his usual chair.
“Lydia is meeting with Lee Brooks tonight and asked me to come in and talk to you, even though we’re not scheduled until Friday. She’s coming here in a few weeks. I’ll get the chance to finally talk to her. None of us have ever seen her. Only Lydia ever speaks with her. I tried e-mail, voice mails, but she never returned my messages. It’s not Lydia doing all this. It’s her and I can’t figure out why.”
Mia looked at him for a long time, saying nothing.
“Kurt wants to play chess with me.”
The slightest smile crossed her face. “He’ll beat the pants off of you.”
“I don’t care if I win. He’s interesting to talk to— when he talks.”
“I’d give anything for a walk under the stars with him.”
“You know the rules.”
Her dark gaze turned fully upon him, an attractive edge of malice lighting her up. “I live to break rules.” She went into the bathroom to destroy the letter and flush it.
“Lydia asked for some discs.”
“Discs?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Mia. You promised to deliver things you haven’t.”
She just shook her head.
“So, I guess you’re not going to tell me where they are?” He knew from her resolute expression she wouldn’t relent. “But you said your house was wrapped up in scientific research early on?”