recognized her. “Yeah, sure, I’m headed—” He broke off with a telling glance at Meg. “Of course.”
The three of them climbed the stairs to the fifth floor while Erik briefed Raine on the elevator “accident.” The other woman made all the right noises of fear and distress, but kept herself firmly wedged between Meg and Erik.
I’m single, he’d said, and I’m looking to stay that way.
But as Meg watched Raine guide him away and keep him carefully engaged, she realized that singlehood was as good as gone if Erik’s vice president of pharmaceuticals had anything to say about it.
And that thought annoyed her to no end.
THE DETECTIVES APPEARED in the lab a few hours later to continue their questioning. As he sat in Meg’s office, listening to Peters ask her about her business contacts and ex-employees, Erik’s attention was split.
Part of him analyzed the information like the businessman he had become, mentally reviewing the files he’d amassed on the major players at Boston General and Thrace University, and considering whether the threats could be coming from an enemy of FalcoTechno. Part of him listened with the ears of the cop he had once been. But still another part of him was too aware of Meg, of the way she caught her lower lip between her teeth before answering each question, as though this was an exam she was determined to pass.
He was aware of the curve at the side of her neck, where her red-gold hair hung down to shade her face ever so slightly, and he was aware that she looked at him sidelong when she didn’t think he was paying attention, as if she was trying to figure him out.
Or was that all calculated?
The part of him that noticed her scent wanted to believe that she was genuine. But a pulse of pain—phantom, perhaps, but real nonetheless—in his leg was a living reminder of a fatal summer day when he’d learned one important lesson.
When a beautiful woman who has every reason to hate you shows interest instead, she has an agenda.
“I’ve racked my brain,” Meg said, returning Erik’s attention to the detectives’ questions. “I’ve come up with a few other scientists who were fairly vocal in their efforts to disprove NPT.” She grabbed a pen and scribbled three names. “The top two lost fairly major drug-company funding after I made my announcement. They weren’t pleased.” She grimaced, indicating that was an understatement, but continued. “Still, I can’t imagine them thinking that hurting me would fix anything. They’re smart, rational people.”
Erik snorted. “Rationality has a tendency to fly out the window when large sums of money are involved.”
She glanced at him. “Which is why I think that it’s much more likely we’ll find our man on your list. Industry attracts the scientists who are more—” she paused before saying “—aggrandizing. Self-centered. In it for the quick buck.”
Erik tipped his head. “Are those your words or your father’s?”
Her eyes darkened and her mouth compressed to a thin line. “Don’t believe everything your investigators told you.”
“Believe me, I make my own opinions. I just like to collect all the available data before I do,” Erik said.
“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Detective Peters broke in, “our reason for coming here this morning was twofold.” He nodded at Meg’s scribbled list. “We wanted to see if you’d come up with any possible suspects. But we also wanted to update you on our investigation.”
Erik stiffened, knowing damn well that self-respecting cops usually tried their hardest to keep civilians out of the loop until they had something definitive. That meant that either they were extending him an ex-cop’s courtesy or they had something major to report.
The grim expression on Sturgeon’s jowly face suggested the latter.
“We had an engineer look at the elevators. There were remote-controlled charges wired to different cables in each of the shafts. You two got
The three of them climbed the stairs to the fifth floor while Erik briefed Raine on the elevator “accident.” The other woman made all the right noises of fear and distress, but kept herself firmly wedged between Meg and Erik.
I’m single, he’d said, and I’m looking to stay that way.
But as Meg watched Raine guide him away and keep him carefully engaged, she realized that singlehood was as good as gone if Erik’s vice president of pharmaceuticals had anything to say about it.
And that thought annoyed her to no end.
THE DETECTIVES APPEARED in the lab a few hours later to continue their questioning. As he sat in Meg’s office, listening to Peters ask her about her business contacts and ex-employees, Erik’s attention was split.
Part of him analyzed the information like the businessman he had become, mentally reviewing the files he’d amassed on the major players at Boston General and Thrace University, and considering whether the threats could be coming from an enemy of FalcoTechno. Part of him listened with the ears of the cop he had once been. But still another part of him was too aware of Meg, of the way she caught her lower lip between her teeth before answering each question, as though this was an exam she was determined to pass.
He was aware of the curve at the side of her neck, where her red-gold hair hung down to shade her face ever so slightly, and he was aware that she looked at him sidelong when she didn’t think he was paying attention, as if she was trying to figure him out.
Or was that all calculated?
The part of him that noticed her scent wanted to believe that she was genuine. But a pulse of pain—phantom, perhaps, but real nonetheless—in his leg was a living reminder of a fatal summer day when he’d learned one important lesson.
When a beautiful woman who has every reason to hate you shows interest instead, she has an agenda.
“I’ve racked my brain,” Meg said, returning Erik’s attention to the detectives’ questions. “I’ve come up with a few other scientists who were fairly vocal in their efforts to disprove NPT.” She grabbed a pen and scribbled three names. “The top two lost fairly major drug-company funding after I made my announcement. They weren’t pleased.” She grimaced, indicating that was an understatement, but continued. “Still, I can’t imagine them thinking that hurting me would fix anything. They’re smart, rational people.”
Erik snorted. “Rationality has a tendency to fly out the window when large sums of money are involved.”
She glanced at him. “Which is why I think that it’s much more likely we’ll find our man on your list. Industry attracts the scientists who are more—” she paused before saying “—aggrandizing. Self-centered. In it for the quick buck.”
Erik tipped his head. “Are those your words or your father’s?”
Her eyes darkened and her mouth compressed to a thin line. “Don’t believe everything your investigators told you.”
“Believe me, I make my own opinions. I just like to collect all the available data before I do,” Erik said.
“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Detective Peters broke in, “our reason for coming here this morning was twofold.” He nodded at Meg’s scribbled list. “We wanted to see if you’d come up with any possible suspects. But we also wanted to update you on our investigation.”
Erik stiffened, knowing damn well that self-respecting cops usually tried their hardest to keep civilians out of the loop until they had something definitive. That meant that either they were extending him an ex-cop’s courtesy or they had something major to report.
The grim expression on Sturgeon’s jowly face suggested the latter.
“We had an engineer look at the elevators. There were remote-controlled charges wired to different cables in each of the shafts. You two got
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