Prescription: Makeover (13 page)

She expected him to dismiss her instinct. Instead he said, “I’d tend to agree. No offense, but I don’t think we’re going to find our mastermind online.”

“Exactly. Which is why I think we should have a look around the fourth floor, maybe even tonight. If nothing else, maybe we can find some evidence connecting Grosskill to the Markham Institute. That might be enough to get someone higher up in the Bureau to pay attention.”

“What have you got on Johnson and Leon?” Max asked, setting aside the printout. “Anything to suggest they’ve got it in for Kupfer? If so, that could be the weak link Odin is planning to exploit tomorrow.”

Tomorrow,
Ike thought, realizing it was already Thursday. They were almost out of time. According to Max, Kupfer had accepted protection but had refused to change the day or location of the press conference. He was too familiar with the urban legend of The Nine to believe that they really existed.

“I didn’t find anything unusual on either of the scientists on the fourth floor,” she admitted. “They’ve published a bunch of articles on gene therapy in the middle-tier journals, even had Kupfer as a contributing author on a couple of them. They look legit.” She paused, then said, “To be honest, that fourth floor felt seriously understaffed, like everyone had been given the day off. They haven’t left completely, because the freezers and cryo chambers out in the hall are still up and running. But I almost wonder if one or both of the primary investigators are getting ready to jump ship…perhaps to a cushy industrial job?”

“Certainly sounds possible,” William agreed. “Question is, how are they connected to Firenzetti/Francona, and what the hell was Grosskill doing there?” He rose. “I’m going over to talk to Kupfer.”

Ike stood, as well. “I’m going with you.” She held up a hand to forestall his automatic denial. “Kupfer and I have a rapport. He’ll talk to me more easily.”

William snorted. “He’ll be ticked that you lied to him.”

“I can deal with that.” She held his gaze and said, “I can help.” They both knew she was really saying,
I’m part of this. Don’t shut me out just because I’m a woman.

Finally he nodded, reluctance etched in the tense set of his shoulders. “Fine, have it your way. We leave in ten minutes.”

W
ILLIAM HALF HOPED
Ike would choose to wear her normal, unrelieved tight black clothes to their meeting, chucking the disguise and returning to her regular self. Instead she appeared wearing flowing slacks in dark navy, along with a clingy white top and a neatly zipped navy jacket. The overall effect should have been businesslike. It failed.

She tipped her head. “Something wrong?”

Yes, everything was wrong. They were on an op and they needed to stay focused on that op. She couldn’t know how far his thoughts threatened to wander now that he’d tasted her or how he’d found himself sitting up long into the previous night worrying not just because she was his responsibility but because she was who and what she was, a beautiful, desirable —

Whoa,
he thought desperately.
Where did that come from?
And how much of it was Ike, how much Eleanor? Either way, he needed to keep it in perspective — this was an op, not a weekend holiday. If he didn’t focus, he was going to make mistakes. If he made mistakes, she could suffer the consequences.

And that would make him no better than Michael Grosskill.

So he shook his head and said firmly, “No problem at all. Let’s go.”

On the short ride to the Markham Institute, silence pervaded their new vehicle, a silver econobox he’d rented under one of the several fake identities he and Max each kept in their emergency kits along with cash and spare weapons.

There was no sign of pursuit during the drive, and there was no sign of surveillance as they walked across the parking lot to Kupfer’s building, but William kept his vigilance high.

If Odin wanted Ike for himself, he’d have to get through William first.

Ike keyed them through to the fifth floor and led him into the lab lobby, stopping at the sight of a cheerful-looking blond woman standing beside a wheelchair-bound boy. William recognized the blonde as Kupfer’s head tech, Sandy. The boy was light-haired and blue-eyed. His bone structure was that of a handsome teen, but his skin was sallow and he was painfully gaunt. His stick-thin legs were strapped in place, their weakness a stark contrast to his muscled arms.

Sandy’s eyes lit. “Eleanor!” Then her expression darkened to concern and her gaze flicked to William and back. “We were worried when you disappeared yesterday. I take it the flowers weren’t good news?” She grimaced. “I’m sorry we were being so silly about the delivery. We thought…” She trailed off and gestured helplessly.

“It’s okay,” Ike said, voice strangely husky. “Who’s this?”

“This is Jeremy Talbott.” The tech moved closer to the wheelchair. “He helps Dr. Kupfer with experiments now and then.”

“I donate blood every few months,” the young man elaborated. “Doc lets me spin the samples and sometimes I help prep the experiments. I’ve got a rare mutation in the dystrophin gene, and Doc is trying to come up with a new test.”

“I’m going to have to postpone until next week,” a new voice said, drawing William’s attention to the lab doorway, where Kupfer stood, white-coated and grim-faced. He nodded to Sandy. “His transport is waiting downstairs. Something’s come up that I need to take care of immediately. I’m closing the lab for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. We’ll reopen after the press conference.”

“Um…okay.” Sandy frowned and looked from Kupfer to the others and back. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Kupfer smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “Enjoy the half day off and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.” Then he turned to William and Ike and gestured them into his office. “This way.”

Inside the small, cluttered room, William stood near the doorway while Ike took the single visitor’s chair. Only it wasn’t really Ike in the chair, it was Eleanor in a trim navy outfit and careful makeup, with her long hair left free to cascade down her slim back.

Only that wasn’t right either, William realized with a start. Eleanor didn’t exist, she was a made-up cover story. Oddly, though, it seemed as though the person sitting opposite Kupfer was a mix of the two women. Ike’s wit and edge shone in her eyes, but the hair and makeup softened the effect, making her seem determined rather than intimidating. Resolute rather than aggressive.

“I owe you an apology,” she said to Kupfer without preamble.

He grimaced. “I spoke to Zach Cage at length. He says you’re a computer hacker. Bravo on your acting abilities, because you had me convinced that not only were you a scientist but that you understood the importance of my work.”

Ike flinched but said, “You weren’t wrong. I did my postgrad work in a lab like yours. And I understand more than you’d think.”

Kupfer didn’t look convinced or cooperative. “You’re too young to have lost a child to DMD.”

She shook her head. “My brother had Down syndrome. He died when he was fifteen.” She glanced up at William, and he saw something move in her eyes before she focused on Kupfer and said, “My family fell apart afterward, just like yours, and a big chunk of it was my fault.”

I
KE WAS AWARE OF THE
speculation in Kupfer’s eyes, but it was William she focused on when he took a half-step toward her, eyes dark.

“Don’t.” She held up a hand. “Don’t pity me. Or him. Donny was…” She paused, remembering his laugh. “He was perfect. A gift. He deserved better than a sister like me.” She’d never said those words aloud before, though she’d repeated them often in her heart. Getting them out there now was both freeing and depressing, and her heart hitched slightly when she said, “By the time he was three, he’d had six operations, fixing heart problems and a malformation in his digestive tract. My father’s insurance plan wasn’t that good, and when Donny was ten, my mother had to get a job to help pay for the next cardiac surgery.” She stared down at the darkening streets, watching the traffic. “I baby sat. At first I hated it. Frankly, until then I’d spent as little time as possible with him, but the little guy grew on me, fast. He was…”

She trailed off, trying to find the words, talking to herself now as much as to the others. “He was fun. He had a great sense of humor, even when he wasn’t feeling well. He loved baseball and animals.” And for some reason, he’d loved her, as well. Never mind that she was too tall and thin, that she hadn’t grown breasts like the other girls and didn’t care about clothes and music the way they did.

Her parents had urged her to fit in and make friends. Donny had loved her just the way she was.

“What happened?” Kupfer asked.

“He got sick again, too sick for them to operate. They needed to get him stabilized first, and he wound up staying in the hospital. Two, three weeks he was there without much change. My parents were always either at work or at the hospital with him. I…I got fed up. They missed something of mine.” She shook her head. “I can’t even remember what now — maybe a science fair or something, it doesn’t really matter — but I’d convinced myself it was the most important thing in the world. I lost my temper and shouted at my mother when she called me from the hospital, then I ran upstairs and locked myself in the linen closet, thinking…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Hell, I don’t know what I was thinking — probably that she’d be scared when she rushed home to make sure I was okay and couldn’t find me. Only she didn’t come home. I sat in there for hours, waiting, getting madder and madder, until I finally cried myself to sleep.”

She felt William approach, felt the good, warm weight of his hand on her shoulder. She knew she should shake him off, that he wouldn’t have offered the gesture if she’d been dressed in her normal clothes, if they’d been under normal circumstances. But she didn’t, instead drawing comfort from him when she continued. “They didn’t come home until the next day, and my mother yelled at me when she found me in the closet.” Ike remembered the words
spoiled, selfish brat
and couldn’t argue. “Donny’s heart had given out. He was fifteen years old.”

William’s fingers tightened on her shoulder. “And you were, what, sixteen? Practically a kid. Give yourself a break.”

“I didn’t say goodbye. After we buried him…” She broke off and swallowed hard. “After, my parents and I barely spoke for the next couple of years, until I went off to college. I never went back.” A tear broke free and trickled down her cheek, but she let it lie in an almost calculating move as she turned to Kupfer. “So, yeah, I understand why you’ve dedicated your life to DMD research. And, trust me, I understand why this press conference is important to you and to kids like Jeremy out there. So please. Let us help you.”

K
UPFER’S EYES
reflected surprise, but he inclined his head. “Then maybe I wasn’t as wrong as I thought.” He flicked a glance at William. “Are you Vasek or Caine?”

“William Caine. We’d like to ask you a few questions about your former partner, Dominic Firenzetti, and about the researchers on the fourth floor of this building.”

But even as William led Kupfer through the questions, his mind was split, with one part of him focused on the interview and one part of him trying to assimilate the information Ike had just given him.

It explained more than she probably knew.

“Dominic was brilliant,” Kupfer said. “He was — or rather is — far smarter than I, though it took me some time to realize that, since he focused many of his energies on things other than our research.”

“When did that change?” Ike asked. “When did he become interested in the work?”

Kupfer frowned. “I’d say about six months before I discovered he was embezzling the grant money. He became friends with an investor. Something Smith. After that, suddenly Dominic was in the lab every day, sometimes on weekends, totally focused on the gene therapy vector we were building at the time.”

That got William’s attention. The name wouldn’t get them far, even with Ike’s undeniable talents, but it was a start. “Do you think this Smith had something to do with the turnaround?”

“Most likely.” Kupfer plucked the stuffed toy dog from his desk and tossed it from hand to hand in what looked like a habitual gesture, revealing a small framed picture that had been hidden behind the dog. It showed the same blond woman, only without the boy, making William think Lucille Kupfer wasn’t as much of an ex-wife as the eight-year-old divorce would suggest.

Kupfer continued, “When Dominic left, he took some of his work with him — the sequences to a couple of viral constructs and a few other things. To be honest, I didn’t make a big deal of it. I was just happy to have him out of the lab with relatively little drama. But the other day when Miss Roth —” He caught himself. “Miss Rombout drew my attention to his name, I realized the constructs he took contain some of the elements in the adjunct.”

“So maybe Dominic knew he was onto something, and this Smith paid him to steal it, thinking it was closer to completion than it really was,” Ike suggested.

William shot her a look and a subtle head shake. True, they were protecting Kupfer, but that didn’t mean the researcher was completely above reproach. It didn’t pay to share anything more than absolutely necessary. Which is why, when William brought the interview to a close after learning very little about Drs. Johnson and Leon, he didn’t ask permission to plant a small audio bug in Kupfer’s office. He just did it.

I
KE SPENT THE
remainder of that day and into the evening holed up in her hotel room. Not because she was following Max and William’s orders to stay out of sight but because she wasn’t in the mood for people. She felt like a stranger inside her own skin. She was reacting rather than acting, and that wasn’t like her at all.

Worse, she couldn’t get William’s voice out of her head. Even though the earpiece, wire and camera were gone, along with the surveillance vehicle, she kept hearing his whispered comments in her mind, kept feeling the shimmer of his heat on her lips.

He’d gotten under her skin. She didn’t know exactly how or when, but he’d snuck past her defenses and become important. And that was a problem because they were teammates on opposite sides of an issue. He wanted her locked away until Odin was brought to justice. Too bad, though, because she intended to be there when the snake went down — hell, she intended to be the one with a foot across his throat. That put her and William directly at odds. Never mind that he wanted a woman who didn’t exist.