“No, sir. Maybe later.”
“Good choice.” Me, I need a slug of something.
A frankenstruct means someone else, some other country, maybe, is ahead of our research.
Do we kill it if we find it? Grab him and study him? Both?
Shit. I need a couple of drinks.If Gregory and the backers find out we are lagging behind someone else, their money may be withdrawn. I start unscrewing the lid on the bottle, pause, thinking.
“Cannon. Assemble a team to capture it. It has to be done quietly.”
“Of course. That will require the best of my men. Can we use lethal force?”
I suck air through my teeth. “Not yet. Injured is okay.” The thing is valuable, alive. “Absolutely nothing must be seeable by the public or law enforcement. Nothing.”
“And Hailey Tarrant? What about her seeing this, or do we take her also?”
“Good question. It seems to be helping her. I would rather you grab him alone, for now. Whatever part she is playing seems muddier than it was. Why is it associating with her?”
“I’ll instruct the men, sir. Just the frankenstruct. No witnesses. It will take twenty-four hours to assemble a team, since I need good men who can be trusted.”
“We need as much intel on him…it, and anyone it or her associate with. Do we call this thing an it?”
For once Cannon looks amused. “Maybe if it has a cock we can say he and him. Sir.”
“I fuck therefore I am a male frankenstruct? Perhaps. And if we cut it off? Figure that out when you get it. Monitor her house, too.” This is getting murky. Someone, or some other country, has run ahead of us in this research field and I need to know who, what, when, how.
26
NO STONE UNTURNED
“Ready, set, go?” I stare down the familiar hallway. “I have looked through the house before, but two heads are better than one, I guess?”
“What about that boat in your back yard?”
“We can look there too.”
The McCluskers suggested we look for dad’s cache. Again.
I enter the living room, where we recently had sex and, considering Kail is behind me, the flashback is vivid. “Let’s be methodical. One room at a time.”
“Sure.” He advances to stand by my side then goes to the sofa and pushes his hand into the cushions. “Do we pull things apart or just prod and poke them?”
“Oof.No demolishing. Or not yet. You can prod me too?” I waggle my eyebrows—a trick I perfected as teenager.
His chuckle is adorable. I swear he’s relaxing more every minute.
“You have to buy that dildo first.”
“Seriously?” I hug him from behind, let my arms wraparound to the front so I can feel his chest. I squish my nose into his back, inhale. He smells faintly musky, a vague mix of sweat, maybe, and male pheromones. It’s nice, comforting. Kail is my sexy security blanket. Through the shirt, a line of staples bumps my skin. I kiss it then lay my cheek on him. He pats my hands and traps them against his chest. I could stay like this for hours, close to him, warmed, happy.
“This afternoon you could go and find that shop, after we do this search?”
“A dildo… Okay. Mean though, making me wait.”
We are perfect for each other, and that very perfection makes unease slither in, as if happiness tempts fate.
I join him in dismantling the cushions, pulling them off the base of the sofa, tipping it over. We poke the undercarriage parts, the springs and upholstery. We move on, around the room, sometimes he grabs me, and sometimes I do it to him. It’s the craziness of a new relationship, and I guess I’ve missed this. Touch, the tactile sensation, it’s so yummy. We’re magnetized to each other.
