Edge of Danger (13 page)

 
“No, Dr. Cahill. I didn’t. Neither did I kill Dr. Kirchner. So let me answer my previous question. The person or persons responsible for murdering Dr. Kirchner, and stealing the robot, most assuredly, are
terrorists.
”

 
The pterodactyls rose inside her, clamoring for immediate attention. “Or a Verdine Industries competitor,” she pointed out in a voice that didn’t betray her fear.
Please God,
she prayed, not for the first time.
Please let it be SpaceCo, or Hazlet Toy Company that has Rex. Please.
Theo was gone, but she had to hold on to the belief that Rex wasn’t going to be used in some dreadful terrorist act.

 
“I want every one of your backup files, Dr. Cahill. Where are they?”

 
Eden laughed without humor. “You want my backup files? You say you didn’t kill Dr. Kirchner, but you did take me against my will. Think I’m going to hand anything over to a kidnapper? Just like that? What have you been smoking?”

 
“There are backup files.”

 
“Are you telling me or asking me? When will you get it that I’m here under duress, and I’m not telling…you…” She felt a familiar wash of warmth travel through her body and glanced down. “A—a th-thing.” Her erect nipples showed through her bra and T-shirt.

 
Horrified, furious,
baffled,
her head shot up. “Damn it! Are you
hypnotizing
me?”

 
“Why? Feel like clucking like a chicken? Of course I’m not hypnotizing you. Tell me where the data can be found, and I’ll have you home in a flash.”

 
She didn’t believe him.

 
“Do you have a backup for the robot that was stolen, Dr. Cahill?” Sebastian asked. “Is there a second one?”

 
Eden had seen enough television to wonder if these two were pulling the good cop, bad cop routine on her. Well, she wasn’t buying it. Just because he was polite didn’t mean he wasn’t as culpable for this crime as the other one. She’d see justice served on both of them. As soon as she got away.

 
Eden took another large gulp of whiskey.

 
Without a shadow of a doubt, despite his manners, she knew this was not a man to cross. “What was the question?”

 
“The robot?”

 
Right.
“Rex was a prototype. The data was destroyed by Dr. Kirchner’s killer.”

 
Keeping her gaze steady with effort, she said flatly, “There was only one Rex.” She checked her watch. Nine twenty-three. My God. How long had he held her here? “What day is it?”

 
“Monday.”

 
It couldn’t still be Monday, barely enough time had elapsed for him to get her out to the company parking lot, let alone more than a thousand miles from Arizona to Montana. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! I’m still having that ridiculous dream, aren’t I?”

 
“If this is a dream,” the other man said dryly, “I’ve been having it for fifteen years.”

 
“Shut up, Sebastian,” Gabriel said coolly. “Don’t you have to be somewhere?”

 
“Nowhere half this entertaining.”

 
“Well, aren’t you two just the sweetest couple?” Eden rose, a little shaky yet. Chugging all that whiskey hadn’t helped her equilibrium any, but she was on her feet and blessed with a sudden surplus of bravado. “Not only don’t I care who you are, I can’t give you what you want. So if you’re going to kill me, give it your best shot. If not, I’m out of here.”

 
“It’s a hell of a long walk back to Tempe,” Gabriel said in a neutral tone.

 
Eden gave him a cool look. “Then I’d better get going, hadn’t I?”

 
“Antagonizing her isn’t going to get you what you want, Gabriel.” Sebastian seemed to be enjoying himself. “Let the poor woman sit down and get her bearings. MacBain? How about a spot of t—Oh, there you go. Tea for the lady.”

 
The old man deposited a tea tray almost bigger than he was on the table close to Eden. “I took the liberty of providing a few delicacies, madam. I’m sure you must be hungry after your…trip.”

 
Her lips twitched. She was dying for a cup of tea amidst this madness. How could she refuse the offer from a crusty Scottish butler with a sense of humor? Come to think of it, what was a butler, Scottish or otherwise, doing in Montana?

 
But she wasn’t here to be amused, and she wasn’t here to drink tea from a cup with little purple pansies on it. And without a doubt those scones would sit like lead in her jumpy stomach. Eden considered her limited options. “As delicious as that looks, I’m afraid I have to pass.” For all she knew the tea was drugged.

 
Her host rose from his end of the table. Lord, he was big. And broad. And surly looking. “Any one of a dozen terrorist groups could have stolen your robot, Dr. Cahill. It’s a given that they’ll use it for something nefarious.
Soon.
Yes, I see by the look on your face that you’ve considered the ramifications of the theft.

 
“So tell us, Doctor. Exactly what can this super robot of yours do? Exactly how far has research taken you?”

 
So far,
Eden thought, nausea rising again,
that if you knew, you’d torture me to get the information you want.
“Are you the terrorists that stole it?”

 
“We’re
counter
terrorist operatives, Doctor,” Sebastian said, snagging her attention as he removed the tapestry tea cozy from the plump teapot. He poured two cups of steaming tea into the translucent cups, then used silver tongs to pick up a cube of sugar and cocked a brow.

 
Eden nodded. What the hell. This wasn’t the time to look around for Sweet’N Low. And if this guy was drinking it, too, it was probably safe. He pushed a cup and saucer in her direction. She glanced from one man to the other, but it was Gabriel Edge she wanted to keep in her sights.

 
“You work for the government?” Eden sat down and started stirring her tea. No they didn’t. She’d been interviewed, hell,
interrogated,
for hours, days,
weeks
by Homeland Security, FBI, and whatever. Not one of those men looked anything like this man.

 
Oh, God. Why hadn’t she been brave enough,
smart
enough to tell all those government people the truth? She’d known, of course, she’d known the second she’d seen Theo lying there in the kitchen, that the bad guys had Rex.

 
There’d been so much blood. How could there be so much blood? A human body only contained 5.6 liters. Six quarts. It had looked like gallons. It was only later that she’d been told he’d been shot five times. At the time she’d been frantic. The blood was everywhere and nothing she’d done had stanched the flow. Nothing she’d done had been enough to save Theo’s life.

 
She’d cradled his head on her lap as she listened for the sirens.
Comeoncomeoncomeon.
Hurryhurryhurry. “I love you,” she told him, forcing her voice steady although she had a boulder clogging her throat. “Please—Oh, God.
Please
don’t leave me.”

 
“E-den.”

 
She’d cupped his papery cheek, her eyes hot and burning with unshed tears. The sirens wailed in the distance. Too late. Too damn late. She could barely swallow, as she said calmly, “I’m right here.”

 
Theo’s rheumy eyes flickered up to her face. “Destroy—
everything.
Trust no one. P-promise me.”

 
Sebastian touched the back of her hand. “Dr. Cahill?”

 
Eden blinked the two men back into focus. She wanted to go home. She wanted to do what she should have done the first time she’d been interviewed. She had to tell the authorities what it was they’d be up against. These two men
weren’t
the authorities. They were possibly crazy, and absolutely dangerous. They wanted information from her. She’d get information from them. “What exactly do you do for our government?”

 
“Freelance work.”

 
Eden set down her spoon, hiding the tremble in her hand. “Mercenaries.”

 
“Counterterrorist operatives,” he corrected, still scowling.

 
Rude bastard. She glanced at Sebastian. “Does that mean I threw up on your shoe phone?” she asked sweetly.

 
“Look, lady,” Gabriel snarled, clearly at the end of his very short rope. “Cut the crap. Take my word for it. We’re the good guys. Exactly what the hell will your robotic pal do for the
bad
guys, Doctor?”

 
She was tempted, God, was she tempted to tell them she’d invented a robot that did excellent pedicures. They’d let her go. Or kill her. She might be scared, but she damn well refused to be intimidated. “Anything.”

 
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Give us an example of ‘anything.’ ”

 
Rx793, Rex, was Eden’s pride and joy. She’d worked on the robot for more than ten years. “I hadn’t finished running the variables,” she told the two men reluctantly. “He wasn’t nearly finished yet. I still had at least six months, maybe more—”

 
Gabriel wound his hand indicating she get on with it.

 
“When he’s completed he’ll be impervious…to just about anything. Heat. Cold. Chemicals. Toxins. Rex will have the ability to go into the most intense burning building to perform rescues impossible for a human. He can be used to clean up chemical spills, go into any toxic environment and bring back samples.”

 
“What the
fuck
was Verdine thinking?” Gabriel pushed away from the table to pace. “Anyone with half a goddamned brain cell would know that having something this sophisticated would appeal to every damned terrorist on the planet.”

 
She pressed a hand to her stomach and said almost desperately, “The marketing people at Verdine Industries have been talking to firefighters, law enforcement agencies, and the CDC. He’s an enormous breakthrough in AI. I’m doing a symposium on him in Berlin nex—”

 
The two men made eye contact, and Eden felt a premonition-type shiver run up her spine. She had to tell the right people just how much more advanced she’d made the robot. She’d done everything she was telling her kidnappers. And more. If the American government didn’t put her in front of a firing squad on the spot, they’d probably throw her in jail for sixty lifetimes. She hadn’t known how far she could go. Was that defendable?

 
“Tell us how to destroy it, and we’ll let you go.”

 
Her mouth was dry, but she couldn’t make herself pick up the cup in front of her to take a sip of tea. “I can’t.”

 
“Can’t, doctor? Or won’t?”

 
“The Rx793 can’t
be
destroyed. It was made to be indestructible.”

 
“Nothing’s indestructible,” he said grimly. “We don’t have all day here, Doctor. What will annihilate your robot?”

 
“Nothing.” Nothing but another Rex just like it. But since she was never going to let that happen, it wasn’t worth mentioning.

 
“How about a duplicate?” he demanded.

 
My God, was he a mind reader?
Eden thought, horrified. She debated for a few seconds whether to lie or tell him the truth. “Possibly,” she said reluctantly. “If there was another such bot. There isn’t.”

 
“There will be,” he said grimly.