Nerds Are From Mars (27 page)

Three hours later he was rethinking that as he stood and stretched. The office chair he’d been sitting in for too long wasn’t half as comfortable as the one that had been destroyed in the explosion. Fagan hadn’t been kidding about the dungeon atmosphere, either. The walls were made of rough stone and the lighting resembled torches stuck into holders on the wall.

The monitors connected to the outside security cameras weren’t dungeon-worthy décor, but the manacles dangling from the wall at various intervals looked authentic. The two computer guys working in the dungeon had hung a plastic Halloween skeleton on the far side of the room, along with some rubber spiders. Even though the place wasn’t a real dungeon, it still gave Nolan the shivers. Darcie had on a red sweat suit and he was happy about that since it provided a spot of cheerful color.

One of the guys kept tabs on the monitors while the other one seemed to have his hands full dealing with emails from all over the world. Dinner had been delivered some time ago. Nolan had eaten his, but Darcie had hardly touched hers. Her attention was completely absorbed by Jan’s birth chart. She’d asked for paper and pen, and she made notes as she studied the chart she’d printed and consulted the digital books she’d requested.

Nolan had spent some time prowling Fagan’s wine cellar and had picked out a nice bottle of red to share with her. She hadn’t touched that, either. He’d had a little, but he didn’t want to sit there swilling wine while she was working so hard.

She’d tried to convince him to go back up to the room, but he couldn’t imagine leaving Darcie in the dungeon. Without their cell phones they wouldn’t have a way of staying in touch, and that felt wrong. He found a wind-up mouse sitting next to one of the computers and he began to play with it.

Finally Darcie grabbed it away from him. “I’m almost finished.”

“Sorry. I’m just . . .”

“I know.” She made a few more notes. “Done!”

Nolan blew out a breath. “And what do you think?”

“She
could
have done it all on her own, but that doesn’t fit her profile. I think it’s more likely she was influenced by someone else.” She gathered up her notes, the chart, and the remains of her soufflé.

Someone else
. That triggered a memory of his conversation with Blackstone at the conference.
You’d be surprised. She’s dynamite in the sack.

Darcie turned to the guys working in the dungeon. “I’m finished. Thanks for the use of the computer.”

The one who’d been keeping track of the security camera feeds nodded. “No problem.” The other guy didn’t even glance up from the screen.

Darcie looked at Nolan. “Let’s take all this upstairs.”

“You’ve got it.” He grabbed the bottle of wine and both glasses. “I’m right behind you.”

“That took longer than I expected.” She stepped into the etched glass elevator ahead of him. “I apologize. I know you were bored.”

“I didn’t want to leave you there.” He punched the button for the third floor and the elevator started up.

Her gaze softened. “Thank you. I really didn’t want you to leave, even though I suggested it. Everyone’s perfectly nice, but you’re the only one I actually know. I like having you nearby. You’re my security blanket.”

“I feel better when I’m with you, too.” He recognized a subtle change in his thinking on that score. He’d always liked being alone, and he was still fine with that, but given a choice, he’d rather be with her. “So you think someone besides Jan was involved in the explosion?”

Darcie consulted the chart. “She’s a Scorpio, and her profile indicates a person with strong passions who can act impulsively, but usually the impetus comes from some outside influence. I picture someone talking her into it. I can’t completely justify that hunch with her chart, but I feel it, intuitively.”

Nolan’s pulse rate spiked. “Blackstone.”

“Yes.”

“But even if Jan and Blackstone worked together, we have zero proof of that.” His initial burst of excitement died as he considered the flimsiness of his evidence. “Blackstone would deny he said anything to me about dating her. Bill wasn’t paying attention at the time so I doubt he heard Blackstone. Besides, what’s his motive? Why use Jan to sabotage the lab and take me out of the picture when his team is ahead?”

The elevator slid to a stop at the third floor, and they stepped into the hallway with its deep-pile carpet.

“What if his team’s not ahead? What if he’s skewed his results?”

Nolan groaned. “If you only knew how it pains me to think he’s done that.”

“But you know him better now.”

“Yeah, I do and I agree he’s capable of it, but his professional reputation is everything to him. Even if he considered fudging his data, the possibility that he’d be discovered and discredited . . . he’d be taking a huge chance. I think that would keep him from doing it.” Nolan unlocked the door to their suite, ushered her inside, and locked it behind them.

A housekeeper had been there, because the bed was straightened but the covers had been folded back. The bed looked inviting, but he could tell Darcie wouldn’t be interested until they’d talked this through.

She walked over to the French doors, which looked out on what was now a fairyland sparkling with lights. He waited for her to exclaim at the beauty of it, but she stared unseeingly at the view.

“Okay,” she said. “What if he stood to lose his reputation anyway because the rival team was too good? What if he evaluated the odds and decided to weight them in his favor with some creative management of his test results?”

“But what would that gain him in the end?” Nolan walked over to the fireplace. The housekeeper must have also refreshed the fire, because it was burning merrily. Maybe the computer guys had notified someone that the guests were on their way back.

“Time. He was counting on how seeing those fake results would rattle you. Then if he could somehow bully you into thinking the whole thing wasn’t worth it and get you to quit, then his competition would be gone. But you showed him this weekend that you weren’t giving up, so he decided to take you out and used Jan to help him do it.”

He paced in front of the fireplace. “It makes sense.”

“Is Jan attractive?”

“She’s not ugly, but there’s nothing remarkable about her. She’s stocky and kind of plain.”

“Well, there you go. I can’t prove anything, so I realize this may not be the kind of evidence that would hold up in a court of law, but I’ve studied her chart. She has an addictive personality, so –”

“Drugs? That would explain a lot. She had a terrible time giving up smoking, so maybe she turned to something worse. Maybe Blackstone supplied her with drugs.”

“I think it’s much simpler than that. I think she fixated on Blackstone. He convinced her she was a goddess and had hot sex with her to the point she became addicted to that and to him.”

Nolan stopped pacing to gaze at her. “Unfortunately, I can see that happening.”

“Men like Blackstone can have tremendous power over a woman like Jan. He might have promised her things – marriage, undying love, who knows? She became his slave who would do anything for him, including setting up an explosion that would take out the lab and you, thus guaranteeing Sterling’s team would win the race to Mars.”

“But we’re still totally without evidence.”

“That’s right, unless she breaks down and confesses when they locate her.”

Nolan thought about the Jan he’d known while they’d worked together. “If you’re right, and you may well be, she’s not going to crack under pressure. She has a stubborn streak.”

“I know. I saw that in the chart, too. If she doesn’t confess, it’ll be tough to implicate Blackstone.”

Maybe Nolan was too stressed to think clearly, but the more he considered Darcie’s evaluation, the more plausible it became. He stopped pacing and looked at her. “Then we’ll have to figure out a way to nail him ourselves.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Although Darcie believed every word she’d said to Nolan, the responsibility that came with those words nagged at her. She’d accused a distinguished scientist of plotting to murder a colleague. Did she have enough knowledge, or even the right, to do such a thing? What if she was wrong?

She gazed up at Nolan. “I’m basing this on my reading of Jan’s chart, which I’ll stand by, but I’m also basing it on intuition. Now that I’ve said it out loud, I realize that if we act on my intuition and I’m wrong, we could be in deep shit. Blackstone could sue the pants off both of us. Talk about risking our professional reputations. We’d be ruined.”

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his gray sweat pants, he studied her for several long seconds. “Earlier today, your intuition saved us from being fried to a crisp. Am I right?”

“Yes, but –”

“I admit I was a tough sell at first, but that little incident at the lab this afternoon made a believer out of me. I trust your intuition. I’d be a fool not to. If your intuition tells you that Jan worked with Blackstone and Blackstone is out to get me, I’ll go with it.”

His faith in her was both humbling and scary. It was slightly possible that he believed in her more than she believed in herself. “Then where should we go from here?”

“We’ll hope that Fagan’s team catches up with Jan very soon and that she sings like a canary. Then Fagan will nab Blackstone, and we can return to our regularly scheduled program.”

“What if she doesn’t talk? If I’m right, she’ll cling to her fantasy about Blackstone because it’s all she has to justify what she’s done. Should you tell Fagan what you know about Blackstone’s connection to her?”

He turned and stared into the fire for several long minutes. Finally he faced her again. “I’d rather not. If Fagan goes straight to Blackstone, or even Sterling, then Blackstone could deny ever knowing Jan, but he’d be alerted to the danger and would have time to cover his tracks.”

She nodded. “He might be able to.”

“On the other hand, if Fagan sends his team to find evidence of that connection without alerting Sterling or Blackstone, that will take time. In the interim, Jan might find a way to warn him and he’d do whatever he had to in order to shift the blame. I don’t want to give him any room to maneuver. I want him to think he got away with it so he won’t take any defensive action. Then we nail him.”

Darcie shivered at the thought of confronting Blackstone if he was, in fact, capable of plotting a murder. She believed he was. But that meant that as long as he remained free, Nolan’s life was in danger. “I’m with you on that.”

“Then we’ll wait to see what happens when they catch Jan. But if she doesn’t confess, then I plan to ask Fagan to let us act on the information you’ve gained from the chart. He might want to keep us here, but we can’t operate from Harcourt Castle. We have to convince him to let us do our thing.”

“Agreed.”

“So does that cover everything? Can we move on?”

She smiled. “To what?”

“Your spinach soufflé, for one thing.” He gestured toward the dish she’d set on the end table beside her. “Still want it?”

“Yes.” She discovered that she was starving. “Please.”

“It’s cold. I’m sure we could find a minion to warm it for you.”

“No minions. I’m happy to eat it cold. This is quite a setup, but I couldn’t live like this with people running in and out of your private space all the time. Did you lock the door?” She’d been so absorbed in her theories that she hadn’t noticed.

“I did. I even found an elegant Do Not Disturb sign for the door, but I didn’t hang it out there because we want them to contact us if Fagan’s team finds Jan.”

“Should we clarify that before we settle in for the night?”

“Yeah.” But he didn’t walk over to the intercom. Instead he continued to stand there watching her with a tender warmth in his eyes.

“What?”

He took a long, slow, breath. “I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“After what we’ve been through, you can tell me anything.”

“Let me think about it.” Breaking eye contact, he walked over to the intercom by the door and pushed the button. “Captain Kirk to Mr. Spock. Come in, Spock.”

Darcie almost choked on her mouthful of soufflé.

“Pardon me?” The Page sounded startled. “Is that you, Dr. Bradbury?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Listen, if you hear from Fagan or any member of his security team that they’ve located Jan Upton, would you let us know immediately? We don’t care what time it is.”

“I’d be happy to, Dr. Bradbury. Would you rather we signaled you through the intercom or knocked on your door?”

“The intercom’s fine. But however you do it, make sure it’s loud. I’m a sound sleeper.”

“We use harpsichord music, sir.”

“Then crank it up.”

“I’ll do that, Dr. Bradbury. Have a good night.”

“I plan to.” He ended the connection and walked over to the fireplace with the bottle of wine from the dungeon and their two goblets. “Now where were we?”

She finished eating the last bite of the soufflé, which was excellent, even cold. “You were going to tell me what you were thinking about while you were staring at me, Captain Kirk.”

His dimples flashed. “I thought you weren’t into
Star Trek
.”

“I’m not.” She put her dish on the end table. “But everyone knows who James T. Kirk is, even the uninitiated like me. So what were you thinking a moment ago?”

“Maybe it’s better left for another time. Want some wine?”

“Sure, but Nolan, there is no better time. We’re in waiting mode until something happens with Fagan’s team. We’re in a lull before the storm. Besides, if you don’t tell me, I’ll be wondering about it all night.” She gave him a sly smile. “It could completely distract me from . . . other things.”

He poured them each a glass of wine and set the bottle on the mantle. “Can’t have that. Is there room for me on that tiny couch?”

“Of course.” She moved into the corner and took the wine he handed her.

He sat down, and when he turned to face her, their knees touched. “Cozy.”

She watched him over the rim of her wine glass. “Perfect for an intimate conversation.”

“Yeah.” His gaze held hers. “It was when you said
before we settle in for the night
. It sounded so, I don’t know, domestic.”