Page 73 of Wicked Rush

“Do you really want to do this now?”

“I have to tell you…yes. You shouldn’t mess with the chip. It might self-delete.” She sipped her drink, and her eyes lifted to his.

“Okay, fine.” Lars sighed. “Brae, I’ve run through all of this, and I’m going to tell you what I think.”

“All of it is confidential,” she told him, setting the glass on the counter. “I know you both have clearances but we all work on different projects.”

“Did Garrett make you do this?” Lars asked point blank.

Braelynn forced down the emotion that rushed up through her chest, her lips tightening at the question. “Yes.” She crossed the room to the kitchen table and sat, shaking her head. “I worked for Garrett. Well, technically I worked for Chase but I was at Emerson Industries.”

“No way, I would have seen you there.” Seth reached for a chair.

“I worked with Chase in the lab. I’d met him when I worked in the Caribbean. During my postdoctoral work. He was, you know…larger than life. I was young. Impressionable. You could even say I had a small crush.”

“Do you sleep with him?” Lars’ eyes widened.

“No, I didn’t sleep with him. I mean, we…” she paused, turning her head to stare onto the veranda. Tell him the truth. “We dated, okay? We did things people who are dating do. But it wasn’t serious. He’s the one who got me a job at Emerson Industries.”

“What does Garrett have to do with this?”

“Chase and I found something in the Caribbean. An undiscovered species. We’d only seen maybe five of these creatures in the water over the course of the day. Once we’d brought them to the surface to test their blood, it was clear they wouldn’t survive. We found a protein. I mean this protein, it’s not like other animals don’t have it but in this creature, it was different. We could see the potential almost immediately.”

“What was so important about it?”

“Myoglobin. It’s a protein that allows cetaceans to breathe underwater.” She registered the confusion on their faces and continued. “Whales, elephant seals, they can dive for long periods of time without surfacing. Some whales can stay down for a couple of hours. Now this research, scientists have already been looking at its potential for medical uses.”

“So what’s the big deal about this fish?”

“HWB614. It’s a mammal like other cetaceans. But when we tested the blood, we found an extra protein…a very special one.”

“What’s so special about it if they are already looking at it for medicine?”

“No, this was a unique protein the others don’t have. Imagine if we could somehow use these oxygen-binding proteins for soldiers…if they could take a pill or a shot and dive for hours without scuba gear? The implications are limitless. For the military. Industry. We think it could even provide the ability to survive at higher elevations where most species are no longer able to exist. Mountain climbing. Fighter pilots.”

“Everest, baby.” Seth gave a disbelieving smile. “No offense, but this sounds like science fiction.”

“But that’s the thing. It’s not real yet. It’s just a theory. But it’s solid. And it’s mine. It’s my theory.” She went quiet, aware of Lars sitting next to her. Chase hadn’t believed her at first, but within weeks, he’d given her project the green light. “This creature’s blood was special. Nothing had been tested yet. We’d been working through the case, still dissecting the sample, cell level testing.”

“Okay, let’s say all this is true. How does it end up missing?”

“Lars. I need you to believe me on this, because Garrett,” she sighed, frustrated, “he never believed a word I said. I’m telling you. I didn’t steal the data. Or the samples. But one day…it was gone. The paper files too.” She shook her head with a grimace. “And at Emerson, you know you can’t just take in a USB flash drive. You can’t save anything. But it disappeared.”

“And Garrett accused you of taking it?”

“Chase at first. There was no explanation for it. And Chase, I mean, part of me doesn’t blame him. I was new. The discovery technically belonged to Emerson Industries, since the expedition had been partially funded by them, and then one day…poof, it’s gone. They said they had me on video but I was nowhere near the office when they claimed I was. Of course I had no alibi.”

“They blamed you.” Seth leaned back into his chair.

“Yeah, and then worse, they questioned the discovery of the protein, which is bullshit, because Chase was there. But since the samples were missing too…look, I swear to you I did not take them.”

“What happened?”

“They searched my office, my car, my house. Even though I didn’t have anything.” She knew the disclosure would come as a shock to Lars. “When I went to get my clearances, I lied during the interview.”

“Lied about what exactly?” Lars pressed.

“Armand Giordano.”