Nerds Are From Mars (29 page)

“Fair enough.” Nolan reached for Darcie’s hand as the screen went dark. And then he found himself staring into the face of the woman who’d tried to kill him. His pulse skyrocketed.

She looked like a robotic version of herself, but it was Jan, all right. Same brown hair in her typical boyish style, same hazel eyes, same stocky body clad in a dark blue tank top and white shorts, same face, which he used to think of as pleasant, although not beautiful. He searched for evil there and couldn’t find it, but maybe he wouldn’t recognize evil in someone’s expression.

He cleared the nervousness from his throat. “Hi, Jan.”

“Hi, Nolan.” She looked over at Darcie. “Who’s that?”

“My friend Darcie Ingram. I was planning to give her a tour of the lab on Sunday, but the funniest thing happened, Jan. It blew up.”

Jan’s face, which had lacked animation to begin with, closed down completely. She just sat there staring at him.

“Why did you do that, Jan?”

Something flickered in her gaze, and her fingers tightened on the arms of the easy chair, but she said nothing.

“Were you upset with me?”

Still no answer.

Then a guy in a tropical print shirt and a buzz cut crouched down beside Jan’s chair. “Dr. Bradbury, she’s been like this since we located her. You can keep trying to get answers, but we’ve been at it for two hours and we’re getting nowhere.”

“Could she be drugged?”

“Nope. No sign of anything like that.”

Nolan sighed. “Okay. Then I guess there’s no point in wasting everyone’s time.” He focused on Jan. “Look, I don’t know why you did this and it doesn’t look like you’re going to tell me. But if you ever want to, let someone know, okay?”

Jan gave no response either way.

The guy in the tropical shirt sighed. “Like I said, we’ve been dealing with the same stonewalling. I’ll send you back to Fagan.” The screen went dark again.

Nolan sagged against the chair. “Damn it.”

“We’ll talk.” Darcie squeezed his hand. “I have some –”

Before she could elaborate, Fagan was back. “Anything?”

Nolan shook his head. “Afraid not.”

“Hell. I was hoping once she was faced with the man she tried to kill, she’d crack.”

“Maybe she would if I knew the right things to say, but I’ve never questioned a person who tried to kill me.”

Fagan blew out a breath. “Fortunately the situation doesn’t come up often enough for most of us. We don’t get to practice that particular skill. Listen, I’ve been considering the possibility that she’s working with someone. If that’s the case, then you’re still in danger.”

“That’s true.” Nolan wondered how much to say and how to say it. Fagan was protective of him, but he also respected his autonomy. He treated everyone as a responsible adult until they proved they didn’t qualify for that description. “I’ve been thinking something similar,” Nolan said at last.

“What’s your take on this, Darcie?” Fagan sent his piercing gaze her way. “Did you do that chart?”

“Yes.”

“And what conclusions did you draw?”

“I don’t think she operated alone.”

Fagan nodded. “I’m not surprised. It’s the only thing that makes sense. She was talked into it, bribed into, coerced into it by someone. Any ideas about who that is?”

Nolan took a deep breath. “We have suspicions, but no concrete evidence. You can’t accuse someone based on an astrology reading. So I’m asking you to give us the freedom to follow our instincts on this and see what we can uncover.”

Fagan stared at them without speaking for a long while. “I hired you because you’re very smart, son. Are you smart enough to do this without getting yourself killed? Because that would scuttle the project, but more important, you’re extremely important to . . . a lot of people. Please consider that.”

“With Darcie’s help, I can do this. I think it might be the only way.”

”You’re sure you’ll be safe?”

“I can’t promise you that. No one can.”

“Guess you’re right.”

“But it’s how I want to handle it. And I’m the one whose life is in danger.”

Fagan was quiet for several seconds. Finally he let out a deep sigh. “I reluctantly have to agree with your logic, son. Contact me as soon as you know something. We have plans to make. I’ve already arranged for a temporary lab in the city. I’ve ordered new equipment. But obviously this has to be settled first.”

“I’ll stay in touch.”

“See that you do. When do you want the helicopter to pick you up?”

“Uh . . .” Nolan glanced at the time again. He thought of the clothes they’d discarded that would have to be cleaned and pressed. He wasn’t leaving here in one of Fagan’s sweat suits. “Ten would be good.”

“You got it.” Fagan leaned forward. “Darcie, you be careful, too, you hear?”

“I will.”

“And don’t forget my charts.”

“Not a chance.”

“Okay, you take care of each other. And get in touch the minute you have news.”

Nolan realized Fagan had said nothing about his rainforest project. “Aren’t you about to disappear into the jungle?”

“Not until this is handled. So get on it and get ‘er done. Preferably without getting your ass blown up.”

“That would be my preference, too. Thanks, Fagan.”

“You’re welcome, son.” The screen went dark.

Adrenaline pumping through his system, Nolan turned to Darcie. “The game is on.”

“Yes.” She looked excited about it, too. And a little scared.

He couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t worried. Blackstone was smart and dangerous. But he believed what he’d told Fagan. This was the only way. “Did you start to say something about Jan earlier?”

“I did. Her behavior, the stonewalling, tells me we’ve figured this out. Blackstone’s guaranteed her loyalty, probably by being the first lover who’s raved about her beauty and sexiness.”

“Which means she won’t ever talk.”

“No, we have to get him to. We just have to figure out how.”

*   *   *

Several hours later, Fagan’s private helicopter deposited Nolan and Darcie inside the fenced lab area next to his Firebird. They were dressed in the same memory-laden clothes they’d worn on Sunday, but at least they’d been cleaned and pressed by the castle staff. The lab itself was surrounded with yellow crime-scene tape and the area was deserted.

After thanking Natalie and Heather, Nolan took Darcie’s hand and walked toward the car. Natalie graciously waited until they were out of range of the wind stirred up by the rotors before lifting off.

“It’s eerie not to have people here on a weekday.” Nolan glanced around. It seemed as if weeks had gone by instead of twenty-four hours. “But I suppose they can’t let the employees come back yet.” He gazed at the charred remains of the lab.

Darcie slipped her arm around his waist. “Fagan will rebuild it.”

“I know.” He hugged her close to his side. “And if you’re right that Blackstone’s been altering his results, we might not be that far behind, and like he said, we’ll have a temporary lab to work in.”

“Speaking of Blackstone . . .” She glanced up at him. “Ready to call?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes.” Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his contacts. His pulse was kind of jacked up, but that was normal, considering. He clicked on Blackstone’s cell number. He’d kept it current all these years, since college. He turned on the speaker so Darcie would catch all of the conversation.

Blackstone answered immediately. “Bradbury! My God, it’s good to hear from you! I’ve been worried sick. The media said Harcourt whisked you away because you and Darcie were so traumatized. Where are you? Are you okay?”

The guy was good. Nolan had to give him that. His tone was sincere and he said all the right things, but then he’d always had that gift. He’d bent Jan to his will by using it. “I’m okay,” he said. “Shook up, for sure, but okay. Listen, right after it happened, I thought some ugly things, like maybe you’d had something to do with this.”

“Nolan! Good God!”

“Paranoia, pure and simple, Aaron. And boy, do I feel guilty about having such thoughts about a friend and colleague.” Nolan was impressed with himself. Apparently when necessary, he was a decent actor. “Any chance you can get away for lunch with Darcie and me? I’d like to mend a few fences, buddy.” It was a wonder he didn’t gag as he said that.

“Damn, I don’t know. Busy day. Listen, here’s a thought. Come on over to the lab. We have a conference room and I can order us something to eat. Maybe we’ll have time for a quick tour, although I can’t show you anything you might steal.” He laughed as if he’d made a great joke.

“Uh, sure, that’ll work.” Nolan thought quickly. They’d planned to get Blackstone loosened up with a few drinks before taking him back to the lab and confronting him there. They’d hoped to use his love of alcohol against him.

Under the influence, he might be careless enough to say incriminating things, especially after they’d convinced him they knew the truth. But without those drinks, he might not be as careless as they’d hoped. Couldn’t do much about that, now.

“Great!” Blackstone acted enthusiastic, as always. “See you around noon?”

“We’ll be there.” He disconnected.

Darcie glanced at him. “Do you think he suspects something?”

“He might. Or maybe he just wants to show off his setup now that mine has been blown to bits. Anyway, we need to head over there. With traffic, it’ll take us almost until noon.” He unlocked the car and helped Darcie in.

“Déjà vu, huh?”

“Any premonitions? Any hairs on your arms standing up?”

“No.”

“Good. Let’s see if that’s still true once we get face-to-face with Blackstone.” He closed the door, walked around the car and climbed behind the wheel. Last of all he put on his shades.

“You are so hot.”

He laughed and looked over at her. “Maybe we’ll have to spend all our time riding around in this car.”

“No.” Her sweet mouth curved in a smile. “This car is great foreplay, but if we tried to have sex in it, we’d seriously injure ourselves.”

“True.” He started the engine and revved it up. “Initiating foreplay.”

Maybe they were both getting slaphappy, but they actually had fun driving over to the Sterling compound. He executed some daring freeway maneuvers and Darcie reacted with appropriate admiration. Too bad they weren’t on a joyride instead of on a mission to catch a killer.

As they neared the exit that led to Sterling’s operation, his chest tightened. “So I’ll be buttering him up during lunch, and you’ll have the recording function going on your phone.”

“Right.”

“Then I’ll tell him we know everything. At that point . . .”

“We don’t know what he’ll do. But he’s in his place of work. That should help control the situation.”

“Maybe. What if he doesn’t crack?”

“He will. The story we’ve cooked up will shake him. Trust me.”

“I do.” He reached over and squeezed her hand.

Security was tight at Sterling Labs, but Nolan had expected that. He and Darcie were both issued badges and escorted to Blackstone’s lab. Lair was more like it.

Darcie leaned close to Nolan. “Still have your hematite?”

“Wouldn’t be here without it.” The black stone in his pocket had become a constant companion. He hadn’t missed the irony that a black stone was there to protect him from a man with that name. He reached for the hematite, calmed by its smooth warmth.

Their escort ushered them into the lab, and Blackstone glanced up. Blond, broad-shouldered, and clad in a white lab coat, he was the epitome of professionalism. For one quick moment, something sinister flashed in his gaze, but then he was the affable host, rising to greet them, shaking hands and smiling with those perfect teeth.

He took them on a very brief tour that showed them essentially nothing before leading them to the windowless conference room and closing the door. When the lock clicked, Nolan went on full alert. He didn’t have to look at Darcie. He knew the hairs on her arms were standing on end.

Blackstone faced them. “What’s going on? Why the best friend routine? I know you hate my guts, Bradbury.”

Nolan had planned to create a trap, but he wondered who was in a trap now. On the other hand, they were in a public building owned by Thaddeus Sterling, so that should offer some protection.

Now that he was in the situation, he wished he hadn’t brought Darcie, but he would have had a hell of a time trying to talk her out of coming. Besides, she was a key component of the story they’d cooked up.

“Well, it’s like this, Blackstone.” He forced himself to relax his stance as if having a casual conversation. “Turns out Darcie knows Jan Upton. Knows her pretty damned well, in fact.”

Blackstone pretended nonchalance. “Bully for you, Darcie. Is that supposed to mean something to me? I seem to remember meeting her at a conference, but I couldn’t tell you what she looks like.”

“That’s not her story,” Darcie said. “She came to one of my astrology classes two years ago and we became friends. She couldn’t stop talking about you.”

“So she had a crush.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his lab coat and shrugged. “It happens. I can’t be responsible for that.”

“According to her, you had quite a good time together. Plenty of hot sex.”

“Yeah,” Nolan added. “Didn’t you mention something to me about Jan while we were at the conference? I could have sworn you said she was dynamite in the sack.”

“I probably confused her with someone else.” He chuckled. “Sadly, that happens, too. What can I say? Women like me, and I like them back. Sometimes I mix them up.”

Nolan met Darcie’s gaze and she gave a slight nod. Time to tighten the noose. “Jan set the explosion that blew up my lab. Fagan’s security team tracked her to Cabo.”

Only a slight flicker in Blackstone’s eyes gave an indication that the information had shaken him. But outwardly he seemed perfectly calm. “Jan blew up her own company’s lab? That makes no sense.”

“I know,” Darcie said. “Fortunately, because I’ve been with Nolan ever since the explosion, I was available when Fagan’s security team located her and we chatted on a video conference call.”

“So what?” Blackstone maintained his composure, but his eyelid twitched.