Inspiration Point (21 page)

He stopped to gauge our reactions.

“It just pisses me off to think he will get rich off
something you have created,” Emin added.

“After everything we’ve been through that is the last
thing I’m worried about,” Dad reassured him.

“No offense Professor, but didn’t you try to do that
before and you couldn’t?” Zeke asked.

“Actually I have some theories on that already,” I
interrupted.  “After reading through Dad’s work, it’s given me some
ideas.”

“Excellent,” Dad said smiling at me.  “I hoped
that would happen, I have some ideas of my own.  Between the two of us, I
hope that we can have it done before Spencer asks too many questions.”

“What about Tyler?” Emin added.  I flinched again
at hearing his name after our kiss this afternoon.  “Will he know what
you’re up to?”

“I don’t believe so, but even if he does I think we
can trust him,” Dad said.

Emin and Zeke grunted at this, obviously not agreeing
with Dad’s assessment of Tyler.  This made me stop and realize that I
didn’t agree with them.  Maybe I believed that if given another chance he
would help us.

“The hardest part will be convincing Spencer that he
won’t need the other strain.  But I suppose we can worry about that once
we are ready,” Dad finished.

We all seemed to agree and decided we had risked
enough time from our rooms for one night and headed back to bed.  Zeke
followed me to my room and came inside lightly shutting the door behind
him. 

“I can’t stay long,” he said softly.

“I know, and I’m sorry Zeke, I didn’t want him to kiss
me,” I said hoping that he would hear the sincerity in my voice.

“I know Hayln,” he sighed as he looked at me.  “I
saw most of what happened, and I'm not upset with you, I promise.  It just
threw me to see you in his arms.  He genuinely does care for you.  It
hurt to watch actually.”
 
I reached out to hold his
hands.  “And when that idiot downstairs started going on about it, I lost it, I
had to go outside.”

“I understand,” I said pulling him close to me so my
arms could wrap around his waist.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to deck him next time
I lay eyes on him,” he said into my hair.

“I might just let you.”

He tilted my chin to kiss me softly, and warmth once
again swept through me.  His arms felt strong around me as his hands
touched the skin on my back.  I sighed wanting this to last much longer
than I knew it would.

“I could try to make that recording go longer if you
would like me to stay,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“Well I’m happy to see you haven’t lost your
confidence,” I teased.

He laughed quietly, but it was enough to remind us, he
had to leave.  He kissed the palm of my hand and wished me goodnight just
like he has done every night he has stayed here and then left my room without a
sound.  

Dad and I were in the lab bright, and early the next
morning going over some of our ideas before Tyler arrived.  Both of our
proposals to separate the strain were plausible.  However, Dad’s was a
little less conspicuous, so we decided to start there.  Tyler arrived
about half an hour later, he moved slowly down the stairs and took his seat by
the window. 

“You started early this morning, Spencer will be
pleased.”

This is the sort of comment that should have
infuriated me, but there was something in Tyler’s face that made me ignore his
comment, Dad did too.

We worked quietly and Tyler kept to himself not really
watching us too closely.  Our first experiment wasn’t successful, but we
moved on quickly to the next one.  We were nearly ready to start again
when my father’s attention turned to Tyler.

“Does Spencer hurt you?”

It was a blunt question, and completely out of the
blue, but it worked.  Tyler looked up at us shocked.  When he met our
gaze, his face gave us the answer.  He hung his head.

“Did he hurt you last night?”

He didn’t move or say anything, Dad persisted,
“Tyler.”

He stood up from his seat and lifted his shirt to
expose his chest.  His ribs were blue with bruises. 

“Hayln, could you go get your mother please.”

“No Professor,” Tyler said before I could stand. 
“It’s not necessary really, Aunt Maive checked me over last night.”

“Why did he do this?” Dad asked him.

“Davis told him about my kiss with Hayln,” he said a
little embarrassed.  “He thought I needed reminding of what I’m here to do.”

I started to move toward him, to offer him some
comfort I suppose, when he sat back down wincing.

“If you don’t mind it would be better for all of us if
you just kept working.”

I went back to our work but watched him now and then,
starting to realize what his life must have been like for the last few years.

“Does he do that often?” I asked.

He seemed surprised to hear me speak, and he didn’t
answer right away.

“Often enough I suppose, although it has been a couple
of months since the last time.”

“I’m truly sorry Tyler,” my father said a little
ashamed.  “I wish your mother had trusted me more, so she could have come
to me in the beginning instead of Spencer.”

“Me too,” he replied.

“Is that why you agreed to help him watch me – because
he hurt you?” I asked.

“Partly, the other reason was Aunt Maive.  She
agreed to help him with me years ago, but we have developed real bond since
then.  He hates it.  If he thinks she isn’t fulfilling her role, he
does the same to her.  Sometimes when I refuse his requests, he punishes
her, knowing that has more of an effect on me anyway.”

I felt sick over this cruelty and guilty for believing
Tyler was a willing participant in this plot against my family.

“I am sorry I didn’t believe you earlier,” I said.

“Don’t apologize Hayl’s, you have every reason to be
angry.”  He smiled softly at me, and I felt a real hope that I might be
able to get my best friend back.  That is if we can escape Spencer of
course.

“Tyler could I ask another question of you?” My father
said cautiously.

“Of course Professor.”

“Who was the other scientist who Spencer has been
working with?”

“His name was Christian Spencer.”

I looked to my father to see what this meant.

“A relative?” I asked

“His brother,” Tyler confirmed grimly.

“I haven’t heard of him before.  Did he make any
significant discoveries with the strain?” My father asked a little taken back
by this news.

“Not really, he couldn’t seem to grasp the
composition.  I daresay he would have loved to have seen those notes.”

“So why hasn’t Spencer taken them to him,” I asked.

“Because he died just over a week ago, his funeral was
the day of the Benefit, which is why he didn't arrive until the next day.”

I remembered how Spencer looked when he arrived at our
house, tired and broken in his crushed suit.  Then I got a horrible
feeling.

“Did Spencer....” I stopped talking before I finished
the question, as I wasn't sure if I wanted the answer.  Tyler put my mind
at ease.

“No, he was an extremely sick man.  He’d been ill
for years, but in the end, he died of pneumonia.  Spencer was
extraordinarily close to him, he would have never hurt him.”

With all questions answered for the time being we
returned to our work.  It wasn’t until Zeke came into the lab that we
spoke again.  As Zeke entered the room, his eyes went straight to
Tyler.  He obviously wanted to make sure that Tyler knew he wasn’t happy
about what happened with me yesterday.  This didn’t seem to bother Tyler,
he just continued to read his book.

“Evelyn said it might be a good time for a break if
you’re ready.”

“I’d rather keep working actually, but you two should
have a break,” Dad said, completely focused on his work.

“I’ll let Mum know to bring you something down,” I
said as I headed upstairs following Zeke with Tyler right behind me.

Davis laughed to himself as the three of us entered
the room, and Ian immediately pulled his attention away.  My mother
acknowledged this as she spoke to me.

“Your father’s not taking a break is he?” She didn’t
seem surprised.

“No, but he does need to eat.  Would you be able
to take something down to him?”

“Of course, just like old times really.  He never
used to come upstairs to eat when he was close to discovering something. 
You two must have had a productive morning.”

“Not bad,” I commented watching Emin, Zeke and Tyler
all glaring at each other across the table.  I decided to grab my lunch
and head outside to the rabbits.  They would be easier to deal with than
the three boys in the kitchen.

The rabbit with the black patch, came back over to me,
just like yesterday. But I still wasn’t successful in getting him to sit on his
hind legs, to get the food on offer.  I was determined not to give up, so
I persisted with my attempts every few minutes.

I had nearly finished my lunch as Zeke came out to
join me.  I raised my eyebrow appraising his mood as he walked towards me.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t touched a hair on his precious
head,” he grumbled sitting on the grass.  “It hasn’t been easy though,
since he is entirely confident that his kiss with you yesterday proves that you
have feelings for him.”

I realized then that Tyler is still probably under the
impression that I haven’t chosen between the two of them.

“I’m so sorry Zeke, I haven’t told Tyler about us.” I
said suddenly feeling guilty.

“Well you haven’t really had the chance, have you,” he
said smiling through the hair that had fallen into his eyes.  “And I
promise I'll behave myself until you do, no matter how annoying he may be.”

“Thank you,” I smiled back at him getting lost in his
eyes again.  If possible, they seemed even more vibrant outside with trees
and grass around us.

“That is as long as you haven’t changed your
mind.  You did seem more comfortable with him today.”

The way he spoke I knew he didn’t believe I had
changed my mind about us at all.  He was, however, curious about my
thoughts about Tyler.   

“My feelings for him have changed, but not because of
his kiss.”

I saw a flash of uncertainty on his face before I
smiled to reassure him.

“Spencer hurts him, he has been doing it on and off
for years, but he did it again last night.  He also hurts Aunt Maive to
make sure she follows his orders, as well as to torment Tyler.  I guess
you were right, he didn’t have a choice.”

“No doesn’t sound like it,” he said as he held my
hand.

He watched me trying to feed the last of the food to
my little rabbit, who still hadn’t grasped the concept.

“Emin tells me, you're trying to train him,” he said
sounding slightly amused.

“Only because he said I couldn’t.”

“Well that’s as good a reason as any I suppose, do you
mind if I keep trying when you go back to the lab?”

“Sure, are you sick of the computer work?  I
questioned.

"Well after our brilliant success last night we
thought we had better give it a rest, we don’t want to make the henchman
suspicious.”

“Brilliant and modest, aren’t I lucky,” I teased.

“You are actually,” he said, playing with a strand of
my hair.

“So they don’t expect anything then?” I said feeling a
little breathless at his slightest touch.

“Nope, they are none the wiser, I told you -
brilliant.”

I noticed Tyler at the door then, watching us. 
“We better get back to it Hayln.”

I nodded and stood to go back inside, “I will see you
later.”

Zeke smiled back at me.  “Time for you to be brilliant
Miss Knox.”

I went back downstairs with Tyler, Mum was still with
Dad trying to convince him to eat some more.  Once she saw us arrive she
packed up to let us get started again. 

“Let me know if he gets hungry Hayln,” she said
smiling at me as she left.

“No worries,” I smiled back.  It was gratifying
to watch them together, they seemed to be reconnecting.

We got straight back into our work, systematically
ruling out several options by mid afternoon.  I had started to get a
little frustrated and grabbed Dad’s old folder flicking to the part about the
composition on the strain.  I was sure the answer was here I just had to
find it.  I paced around the room, sat on the stairs, even listened to my
iPod for a while trying to get some clarity – it didn’t work.  I went back
to the folder flicking through the pages when it came to me.  I was sure
it would work.

I explained my idea to Dad without remembering Tyler
was in the room.  Dad seemed oblivious as well as he moved to get things
started.  It was like we were both given a shot of adrenaline we moved so
quickly.  I noticed Tyler move over to where we were working, looking at
my notes.  I saw his face as he watched us, he didn’t seem to understand
what we were doing, or at least it didn’t look like it.  He went back to
his chair but watched us more regularly now.  We kept working, both
knowing how close we were to achieving our goal.  Tyler seemed to sense
our excitement.  However, he kept his distance.