now. “And how did that work out for you? I’m assuming the Institute wouldn’t appreciate your doing that even if you felt it was justified.”
“Yes, that came up at my trial. In fact, the prosecution used that as proof of a deliberate attempt on my part to sabotage the research I was being paid to do.”
“And what was the nature of the research?”
She felt obligated to remind him of the company’s policy of silence. “Remember that I promised to keep the nature of my research secret under penalty of prosecution if I were to break it?”
He responded to her question with a harsh laugh. “Seriously, Kat, that’s the least of your worries right now. Besides, I figure them trying to kill you pretty much negates any agreements you made back then.”
Who was she to argue the point?
“I was told that an outside client, one who wished to remain anonymous, wanted help determining the best way to target a specific gene to increase resistance to a variety of diseases in cattle. It was pretty heady stuff. A breakthrough in this area could have widespread implications for all kinds of livestock.”
“And did that seem like a legitimate project?”
“Yes, at least at first. But once I got a look at what the other two were doing with my findings, I wasn’t so sure.”
“How so?”
“If we were targeting the bovine genome, why was the third researcher working with human tissue and blood samples? And Richard’s work involved both vampires and chancellors. When I tried to feel him out on the subject, he shut me down, pointing out that neither one of us had access to the big picture.”
Conlan looked up from his notes. “Did you keep backups of your findings?”
“Yes, not that I was supposed to. Another one of the company’s security measures was to scan us every time we left the building. We weren’t allowed to carry out any paperwork, portable drives or laptops—you know, anything that would’ve let us steal a client’s research.”
“So what did you do with the copies?”
“I hid them in my lab.”
God, she’d been so stupid back then. “I know that sounds crazy, but I thought if I had printouts of everything, I’d be able to prove if my work was being tampered with, and that the intent of this line of research should be reported to the Coalition. From what they said at the trial, all of the research was destroyed in the fire. They also said the client wasn’t suing for damages because they’d lost interest in pursuing that particular area of study.”
Conlan went on point. “Why would they do that?”
“I was too caught up in my own problems at the time to worry about it. I’ve never come up with a good answer to that question, though. If they found out that the Institute was using the research for its own purposes and didn’t like it, why not try to recoup their losses?”
“Any idea what the Institute was going to do with your findings?” he asked.
“All they could do with mine was improve the immune system of cattle. It was the other two researchers who were looking at expanding the applications. I did the groundwork, and they applied my findings to their own studies.”
Conlan looked up. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned a third researcher, but his name never came up in your trial. Why?”
“It was Rory Cooper.” She shivered and wrapped her arms across her waist. “He died when his transport hit a tree. It happened about a week before all of this blew up in my face.”
The color of his eyes shifted from sky-blue to icy-gray. “Any hint that it was anything but an accident at the time?”
“Not that I know of. But looking back, the timing sure seems suspicious, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does. I’ll see if I can track down a copy of the report.” He paused to make a few notes. “So, all the research was lost in the fire.”
Well, except for the flash drive she’d managed to sneak out. Three years ago, she’d held back that one bit of information in case she needed a bargaining chip. Would sharing it with Conlan put him in danger, too?
He must have read her hesitation, because his skin flushed hot with temper and his fangs ran out to full length. “Don’t even think about holding out on me, Kat. Not this time. What did you do?”
“Fine.” She hated confessing everything she’d done wrong, but at the time she’d been desperate. “I downloaded all the