All Due Respect (5 page)

Startled, she darted her gaze, saw Seth, and chided herself for being so jumpy. Her living on an adrenaline rush, being ready at all times for fight or flight, once had been normal, but she couldn’t afford the costs of stressing her nerves anymore.

She grabbed her keys out of the ignition, her purse from the passenger’s seat, and then got out of the blue Camry she had bought before moving to Grace—and had reregistered three times since in three different states, creating a paper trail away from her true location.

A lot of good that did.

” ‘Morning.” Seth closed her door behind her. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

“None at all.” Julia shifted around him and moved to the sidewalk. “The maps you faxed over were great.”

Seth stepped to her side. “Is the apartment okay?”

It was beautiful. Lots of pastels and cushy furniture. Definitely feminine, welcoming, and it had great locks. On the knobs and keyed dead bolts that slid a full inch into the metal door’s frame. “It’s perfect.” The best thing about it was that Seth had leased it and put all the utilities— including the phone—in his name. She really would get a break from Karl and his threats.

At least until some uninformed, well-intentioned soul made the connection between her and Seth and passed it along.

She gave Seth a broad smile. “Thanks for stocking the pantry and fridge.” What a nice surprise to arrive thirsty and tired and find something to drink and no need for immediate shopping. Julia hated immediate shopping. She had just finished doing some the night she had been attacked and nearly had died. Too many bad memories there. “How did you know my favorite brands?”

“We worked together for over two years, Julia. You brought your lunch every day. It didn’t take a genius.”

She supposed not, though for the life of her she couldn’t recall even which kind of soda Seth preferred. God, but she had been unconscious in those days.

No. Not unconscious. Preoccupied with staying healthy and sane, and then with staying alive.

“You look stressed.” Seth steered her toward the lab’s entrance. “Is everything okay?”

She forced herself to smile. “I’m just a little nervous

about being back in this environment. A lot changes in three years.”

“You’ll be up to speed in a couple of days.” He passed her a name badge. “Clip this to your collar on the left.”

That, she hadn’t forgotten. She took it and attached the clasp to her jacket lapel. Thin laminated plastic, but it felt strange. “Why is it so heavy?”

“There’s a chip inside. It allows security to track you anywhere in the building.”

They knew who was where at all times. Considering the nature of the work, that was clever and, in a sense, comforting, but it also felt damned invasive. “Why are there windows in the lab?”

“There aren’t. Just in the outer-rim offices. They’re bulletproof,” he assured her. “Not a security threat.”

Seth seemed displeased about the lack of windows away from the outer-rim offices, which made no sense. After all his years of working in secure labs, he should be used to it. Though many did suffer physical and emotional challenges due to the lack of natural sunlight and fresh air. It was a hazard of the job that a couple weeks’ rest and relaxation typically cured. Those not cured transferred out to jobs that required less secure environments.

They stopped at the back of a line of four people waiting to get through security’s entrance checkpoint.

When they stepped up to the desk, a brash young lieutenant greeted them. ” ‘Morning.”

“Lieutenant Dean,” Seth said. “This is Dr. Hy—”

“Warner,” Julia interrupted. “Dr. Julia Warner.” She smiled and offered him her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Seth looked at her strangely, but said nothing about her dropping Karl’s name. “I’ll show her the ropes.”

The lieutenant nodded, Seth swiped his ID card in the system’s slot, and when the light turned green, he crossed the threshold of a metal archway.

Julia followed suit, clipped the badge back to the lapel

of her navy suit jacket, and then followed Seth, her heels clicking softly on the gray tile.

The inner building was a maze of long and winding corridors that all looked alike: bare white walls, gray tile floors, and closed doors. “It would take six months to stop getting lost in here.” Julia stepped around two colonels who had paused to talk in the hallway. A map of the place would help tremendously, but Security would veto one being drafted, much less one being distributed for use.

“It’s not bad, really.” Seth chuckled. “Just visualize the layout. The center of the building is the inner lab. The vault surrounds it. There’s only one corridor leading to it, no windows, and one door. Security is far more extensive and sophisticated here than the lab in New Orleans.”

“How extensive and sophisticated?” Already, her every move was being monitored by a chip in her ID badge. And she would have to be blind not to see the cameras at every intersecting corridor and door.

“Very.” Seth led on. “The offices out here are for the general lab. Lots of dual technologies being developed. Secure, but not—”

“I understand.” Dual-technology programs had civilian and military applications. The projects in the outer lab weren’t Black Box projects developed solely for military use. Black Box projects were developed in the inner lab, and unless you headed the program or you were the sole source contractor’s project representative, you knew only the portion of the project you worked on. You might have a general understanding of the overall mission, but more than likely, you knew only your own specific personal mission. In the general lab, you were more apt to know not only both the civilian and military applications of your entire project, but those of the others being developed around you.

Seth stopped at a junction in the corridor. A studious security guard stood sentry at a small podium-type desk. ” ‘Morning, Dr. Holt.”

“Good morning, Sergeant Grimm.” Seth smiled, “This

is Dr. Warner. She’ll be working with me in the vault for a while.”

The sergeant skimmed Seth with a handheld scanner, then moved to scan Julia. “Welcome to the zone, ma’am.”

Julia smiled at the reminder. People often referred to the vault as the Twilight Zone because, in it, strange and bizarre ideas were considered the norm. “Thank you.”

He finished scanning and then nodded toward the card system machine attached to the wall near his shoulder.

Seth inserted his ID card, then walked through.

Julia followed.

They moved on, down yet another seemingly endless, winding corridor. “We’ve walked at least a mile.” And she had the screaming arches to prove it. “How much farther?”

“We’ve walked just under half a mile, actually.” They stopped again. “I’ll explain more once we’re inside.”

She nodded, staring at the two glass cylinders behind Seth. Bordered by solid walls, the cylinders ran from ceiling to floor. You either went through them, or turned around.

“They’re not glass,” Seth said. “They’re sound-and bulletproof, and strong enough to sustain the force of a reasonable explosion.” He shrugged. “Perfectly safe.”

Julia gave him a sidelong look. “Define reasonable.”

Seth laughed and motioned for her to follow his lead.

She stepped to the side of the cylinder and inserted her card into the appropriate slot. With a little high-pitched whir, it sucked the card inside. The cylinder’s door opened. When she’d moved inside, the door sealed shut. Locked in, she noted the absence of air flow: a necessary precaution against biological or chemical invasion, if not exactly comfortable. A moment passed, and another, and then the door in front of her glided open. She stepped out and dragged in a deep breath of crisp air.

“Don’t forget your card.” Seth motioned toward the machine.

He looked a little green around the gills. Wondering

why, she stepped aside, and then pulled her card from the tray. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed his card. “I just hate this damn thing.”

Evidently, being locked inside the cylinder unnerved him. Funny, how differently people react to things. To her, it was a rare place. One where she felt safe.

Seth smiled sheepishly. “Almost there.”

“Good. People have children in less time than it takes to get into this place.”

“It’s not that bad, Julia.”

“No, it’s that good.” It was time-consuming and irritating, but the precautions were definitely warranted.

They walked down yet another deserted gray corridor to the next checkpoint. This one was unmanned, though cameras littered the wall, covering every possible angle.

Passing through, they took the first right, and then stopped at a set of double doors. Two machines hung side by side on the wall next to them. Seth stepped up to the first machine and centered his forehead against a plate glass, as if he were peeking inside. Given a green light, he moved to the second machine and placed his palm flat against a pad that resembled a small computer screen.

Julia mimicked him. Iris and palm print scanners. “Biometrics?”

“Enhanced biometrics,” he corrected. “Including facial structure scans.”

Something in his tone alerted her. “And what else?”

“That’s classified.” The double doors opened. “We’re here.”

Julia looked at the doors, then above them. “After all that, just one camera at the entrance to the vault?”

Seth laughed. “We’ve been in the vault since we went through the transporter—the glass cylinder.”

“Oh.” Julia wanted to cringe but refused to do it. She should have realized that. Transporter was an apt slang name for the cylinder. Working in the vault’s inner lab was

like working in another world. “Just how thick are the walls in this place?”

“Well over eighteen feet.”

Not an exact response, which meant he had no intention of stating specifics, but the footage cited was thick enough to sustain a direct hit from any missile known to man, except for the Rogue, without concerns of penetration compromising the vault’s integrity.

The double doors closed behind them. Julia looked around. Offices on the outer perimeter, the inner lab in the center of the complex. A handful of men and women sat at their workstations. Same gray tile floors and white walls as everywhere else, but the lab didn’t feel abandoned. Pulsating energy, it felt alive.

“Come on,” Seth said. “I’ll give you the nickel tour. Maybe we’ll run into Dempsey.”

“Who’s Dempsey?” Julia looked at the lab tables with pure envy. Everything imaginable, right at the fingertips. And for the thousandth time, she felt that hollow ache of loss at having to leave her work behind. The lab had been the one place she had felt comfortable. The one place she hadn’t felt compelled to lock doors and constantly look back over her shoulder.

The only place she had been safe.

“Dempsey Morse,” Seth said, pausing at the water fountain to get a quick drink. “He represents Sheer Industries on the team.”

Home Base’s contractor. “Ah, I see.”

“We have a briefing set up for ten. You’ll definitely meet him then. I think you’ll like him. Dempsey’s sharp. A UCLA graduate with about twenty years’ experience. A little gruff, but a good man to have on our side.”

“Sounds charming.”

“Right.”

Ignoring him, Julia looked around. Three offices, a conference room, an employee’s lounge, several sets of rest rooms, a showering facility, and a detox sterilization chamber formed the outer perimeter, and the hub—the inner

lab—at the complex’s center. An admin section stood in the southeast corner, across from the three offices. In it, she saw an unmanned desk—administrative assistance was banned in the inner lab—a keyed copier that tracked who made copies, when, how many, and of what, and a one-way fax. Anything could come into the Black Box, but nothing went out.

“The computers in here are on a closed system,” Seth said. “No networking to the outside, no Internet access. We have two offices outside the vault with access and email. You can use those, but on nothing regarding the project, of course.”

“Electronic mail wasn’t a big deal before I left.”

“It is now.”

As she had thought. In three years, a lot had changed.

Seth ducked in through an open door. “Your office. Mine’s next door.”

“Terrific.” She stepped inside and sat down at her desk. It felt good. Strange, but good. Almost like home.

“Why don’t you settle in? Files on the desk there relate to the project and team members. Specific project files, you’ll have to sign out one by one. Greta handles that for us. You’ll meet her at the briefing.”

“Fine.”

A frown knit Seth’s brow. He seemed hesitant. Finally, he worked his way up to asking what he wanted to know. “Julia, why have you dropped—” He stopped suddenly. “Never mind.”

He looked at her, seeking encouragement to finish his question. Knowing what it was—why she’d dropped Karl’s surname—she didn’t give it.

“Well.” He motioned to the far wall. “Conference room is on the other side of the lab. See you there at ten.”

Julia nodded, and then watched him through the glass wall, giving her a view of the lab. He walked straight to his office. Seth had done everything in the world to make her comfortable—at the apartment and here. He even had quelled his curiosity about her name change. Grateful for

that small mercy, she shoved her hair back from her face and looked around.

The office was decent. About twenty feet long and twelve wide. Tiled, like everything else, but the far white wall had been decorated with a mural of an English garden. Pretty scene. And her desk even faced the door.

Seth had remembered. He’d often remarked on her “fetish” for seeing what was coming. He had no idea how on target he had been, of course, and it wasn’t so much what but who. His not knowing had been one of the reasons they had worked together with such comfort and ease.

Don’t be a coward, Julia. There were a lot of reasons you were at ease with Seth. Admit it.

There were. She loved his honesty. Knowing that if Seth said something, she could bank on it. Anyone could. He always played straight. And he had courage. When necessary, he would go toe to toe with anyone short of God, and yet he genuinely respected other people’s ideas, views, and opinions. He seldom teased, but often laughed.