Under Cover (v1.1) Read online

  The smile dropped off her face and she leaned forward. “I went to school with Thea Foster. She was the only fourteen-year-old in my college sophomore advanced chem class. I also knew about her folks. If she was working on it, I knew the problem wasn’t one of design or manufacture. There’s just no way. Which meant big trouble for somebody, but I didn’t know who. Basically—”

  “You smelled a rat.”

  “Exactly.”

  “OK, I get all that.” Renee shifted her weight and crossed her legs. Damn chairs, they were about as comfortable as sitting in a plastic taco. “But look, I’m still playing catch-up, here. How did you know I had PaceIC? Shoot, I didn’t even know right away.”

  “I’m sorry, that’s confidential.”

  I went to school with Thea Foster.

  I’m sorry, that’s confidential.

  Renee blinked slowly. “Right. Got it. OK. Now what?”

  “Now,” Eric said from the doorway, “we take this young lady’s recommendation on where to bring PaceIC. And then we do it.”

  Chapter Eight

  Thank God! Renee was there, and she was all right! She looked surprised as hell, with her big eyes all wide and pretty, and her big mouth hanging open, but that was all right, he’d explain about the misunderstanding, and she’d understand and forgive—

  A walloping pain exploded in his nose and radiated up his face. The room faded away from him in slow, loopy waves as everything went dark. He knew the floor was tile, but hitting it was like falling back onto plush feather pillows.

  When he came to, it was to find Renee crouching beside him, pressing a wad of tissues to his gushing nose.

  “Wha?” he managed. His head pounded in perfect time with his heartbeat. “Wha?”

  “She threw the General Enforcement Regulations manual at you,” Hildebrandt said helpfully. She was holding a book the size of a bagel toaster.

  There was a dark splotch on the binding. “I’m pretty sure she broke your nose. I’ll have Tina call an ambulance.”

  “Doh! Do’d call dee amboolance. Redee, led be eggzzblain…”

  “Shut up,” she said tightly, pressing harder. “After I get the bleeding stopped, I’m going to kick the shit out of you.”

  She leaned back to grab fresh Kleenex, and he locked his hands around her wrists. Startled, she looked down at him. Her lips were pressed so tightly together, they were white.

  “I’b dot worging with Beter Randob. I bean, I was, bud lader I was jusd drying do keeb hib off you.”

  “What?”

  “’I’m not working with Peter Random,’” Hildebrandt translated. “’I mean, I was, but later I was just trying to keep him off you.’”

  “Do you mind?” Renee snapped.

  “It is my office,” Hildebrandt replied mildly. “And this is pretty interesting. You think this sort of thing happens every day at the FDA?”

  Eric shook her wrists to get her attention again. “Redee, I swear. I’d dever, dever hurt you lige thad. I’d gill byselve first.”

  Renee glanced helplessly at Hildebrandt, who said, “ ‘Renee, I swear. I’d never, never hurt you like that. I’d kill myself first.’” She cleared her throat. “Um. I think I’ll steb—er, step—out a moment.” She stepped over him and abruptly shut the door, giving them a modicum of privacy.

  “You deserved that book to the schnozz.” Renee wrenched her wrists free, grabbed more tissues, and pressed them against his nose and mouth. “You’re lucky I didn’t fracture your damned skull. The only reason I’m even taking care of you is because I don’t want you to sue me for assault.” Her mouth turned down bitterly. “Or turn me over to one of your cop buddies. Or Dr. Jekell.”

  “Never,” he said. He felt his nose tentatively. The bleeding had stopped. He grabbed the sodden Kleenex and tossed them toward Hildebrandt’s wastebasket. “Oh, never, Renee.”

  “Shut up. I’ve got to get your nosebleed stopped.”

  “It’s stopped. Also, I’m in love with you.”

  Now her lips were trembling. Funny how it tweaked his heart to see her grim expression falter. Her great dark eyes brimmed with tears as she said, perfectly calmly, “What a liar you are.”

  “Not about this. I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid you’d run again.”

  “You didn’t tell me, and I ran. Again.” One lone tear spilled down her cheek, and then her gaze hardened. “And why are we having a conversation? I’m not speaking to you.”

  He grinned, even though it hurt a little. He could feel the tissues around his nose and mouth beginning to swell. “Could have fooled me.” He reached up and thumbed her tear away. “Don’t cry, babe. I can handle anything but that. Even the way you suck at not speaking to me.”

  Renee looked around for another book, but before she could get up, he pulled her down and kissed her. It hurt, but he didn’t give a damn.

  She wrenched away, but he saw with satisfaction that her eyes were bright and she was panting a little. “Quit that.”

  “I decline.”

  “There’s plenty more bones I can break.”

  “Worth it.”

  “You crumb.” She put a hand over her eyes for a moment and he heard her take a deep breath. “How could you do that?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said patiently. “I had plenty of opportunities to turn you over to Random, and I didn’t take them.”

  “Liar.”

  “No, and I can prove it” He slowly got to his feet. The room tilted to the left, tilted to the right, and then steadied. His stomach heaved, then settled. “Do you see Peter Random anywhere?”

  She stared up at him. “Well… why didn’t you? Turn me in, I mean.”

  “Partly because I felt sorry for you. But mostly because you’re a helluva kisser. I unofficially resigned the moment you sexually assaulted me in the elevator. I just hadn’t gotten around to telling Anodyne yet.”

  “Then that fight I saw…” His heart lifted as she giggled. “That was you and Peter fighting over—”

  “Let’s just say Random didn’t accept my resignation.” Remembering the street-side tussle, he grimaced. “Guy’s got a punch like a bulldozer.”

  “Poor baby.”

  “And he fights dirty, too! Backed me right in the—never mind. Suffice it to say I nearly lost my lunch right there in the street in front of all those people.”

  “Awwwww.”

  “Look.” He showed her his knuckles, which had been scraped raw. “Random kept hitting me over and over with his face.”

  She laughed and kissed his knuckles. He felt like doing a cartwheel, sore ‘nads and all. “So I’m forgiven?”

  “On a trial basis. But when you’re feeling better, we’re going to have a serious talk on why it’s not nice to deceive women with good aim.”

  “Actually, I figured that out all on my own.” He gingerly felt his swollen nose.

  Jennifer poked her head into the office. “Everything settled, then?”

  “For now.”

  Jennifer walked in and sat down behind her desk. “Well.” She smiled up at Eric and extended a delicate paw. The nails were long, spade-shaped, and pearly pink. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “Eric Axelrod.”

  “Jennifer Hildebrandt. How in the world did you know where to find Renee?”

  “Good question,” Renee said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”

  “Long day? “Jennifer suggested.

  “Long week. Well, Eric? Did you bug my—ohh-hhh, wait.”

  He started to sidle toward the door. “Now, Renee. I only did it because I have your best interests at heart.”

  “Stop trying to wriggle away, coward. Stand there and take my wrath like a man. You figured out a way to download my e-mail from the Web, didn’t you?”

  Jennifer’s brows arched. “A neat trick.”

  “He used to be a spook,” Renee explained.

  “Please,” he said, offended. “We prefer the term Super Stud
ly Spies.”

  “So after you and Peter bumped fists, you took off for your hotel room, hooked up your laptop—”

  “Thankfully, it was the one piece of my equipment that escaped your fury.”

  “Only because I didn’t see it, buster. Then you used one of your spook pals to get into my e-mail, found Jennifer’s message, and came here, figuring I’d do the same. I’m just glad Pete Random didn’t think of it, too.”

  “He’s at the ER, getting stitches.” Eric inclined his head modestly, then jerked it back as she made a sudden move toward his face.

  “Easy, pal,” she said, sounding amused. “I was going to hand you this.” She pressed a fresh Kleenex into his hand. “You’re kind of disgusting right now, with all that dried blood all over your face.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Hildebrandt murmured.

  Renee glared at her. “So what now?”

  “A fine question. Do you have PaceIC on your person?”

  “No, but it’s somewhere safe.”

  “You left it somewhere?” he practically yelped.

  “I didn’t know what kind of situation I was walking into here,” Renee explained. “For all I knew, Jennifer’s e-mail was a fake.”

  “True enough,” Jennifer acknowledged. “But PaceIC is somewhere accessible?”

  “Sure.”

  “Well,” Jennifer said, “you’ve got a decision to make. You can destroy it, and Dr. Jekell will have no reason to keep chasing you.”

  “And presumably, Dr. Foster can make more,” Renee added.

  “Correct. Or you can take it back to Anodyne. Or you can take it to another biotech firm.”

  Renee hesitated. “I don’t know about that. I mean, we know Jekell’s up to no good, but to take company property and give it to another… that’s pretty rotten.”

  “I guess that depends on your definition of rotten.”

  Eric raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

  Jennifer stood, and began to pace behind her desk. Since there was only about four square feet behind her, the effect was claustrophobic on her audience, to say the least. “What’s Dr. Jekell’s motivation? That’s the question on everyone’s mind. So how best to find out?”

  “Uh…” Eric crumpled up the Kleenex and tossed it in the wastebasket. “Ask him?”

  “I must have hit you a lot harder than I thought,” Renee said kindly. “Either that, or you never met the guy. He won’t tell us shit. You could stick your gun in his ear, and he wouldn’t tell us shit. What about your e-mail trick? Can you do the same with Jekell’s work e-mail?”

  “You think he’s dumb enough to e-mail his plans back and forth on Anodyne’s server?”

  “Not dumb enough. Arrogant enough. He’s told lies about me and he’s got half the world chasing me. What’s a little indiscretion on top of that?”

  “Good point,” he admitted. “But the thing is, downloading your stuff was a one-time-only favor. I can’t play that card again.”

  “Why not?” Renee asked.

  “Let’s just say I saved the life of a higher-up. And I had one favor to call in because of that. Well, I cashed the chip.”

  “To find me?”

  “Sure.” Besides, he’d probably save the life of another member of the royal family one of these days, get another favor. And even if he didn’t—well, it was worth it.

  Renee squeezed his hand affectionately. Unfortunately, it was his bruised hand, and he tried not to yelp. “Well,” she said thoughtfully, “I suppose we could go into the belly of the beast.”

  “You mean Anodyne?”

  “No, my grandma’s house. Of course Anodyne. Try to find out what Jekell’s motive is, and figure out what to do with PaceIC from there.”

  “I heard none of this,” Jennifer informed them. “No indeed. Breaking and entering and violating privacy? I work for the FDA, not the FBI.”

  “Then we’ll take our illicit chitchat elsewhere,” Renee said haughtily.

  “Please. And, Renee—should you decide Anodyne is not the place for PaceIC, do give me a call. There are several local manufacturers who would love to crank it out into the market.”

  “How would they even know about it?” Renee asked.

  “Freedom of Information Act?” Eric guessed.

  “That,” Hildebrandt said, “and the fact that I’m a terrible gossip. Jekell burned a lot of bridges, and he’s trampled a lot of careers. Plenty of people in this business are itching for some payback.”

  She said it so coldly, Eric and Renee glanced at each other, a little alarmed.

  “Jeez,” Renee said, sounding impressed.

  “Don’t fuck with government bureaucrats,” Hildebrandt said solemnly. “We’ll tear out your spleen and eat it in front of you.”

  Chapter Nine

  “This is nuts,” Renee muttered.

  “Pretty much, yes.”

  “We’re going to get caught.”

  “Doubtful. And even if we are, it’ll be harder for Jekell and his evil minions to disappear both of us.”

  They were hiding under a conference table on the executive level, second floor, east wing. Jekell’s office was six doors down. Renee’s access card no longer worked, of course, but she knew all the building’s weak points, and the timing of the security sweeps. Breaking in had been fairly simple. And at this hour—early evening—there were few people in the building. The cleanup crew, and some lab personnel. Certainly none of the executives worked much past five o’clock.

  They were listening to the hmmm-whoop of the cleanup crew vacuuming the suite. The crew was in Jekell’s office now, and once they left…

  “Just think,” Eric whispered in her ear. “This time tomorrow you could have your life back.”

  “Doubtful.”

  He propped himself up on an elbow and looked at her. “Why?”

  “You think Jekell’s going to say, ‘Just kidding!’ and give me my job back? Either way, I’m out of work, and I can forget about any kind of reference. Plus, he’s spread lies about me all over the place. Tough to undo that. I’ll never work in biotech again, that’s for sure.”

  “If we can figure out what he’s up to and get the story out… well, this is the decade of the whistle-blower. Maybe you’ll get your picture on the cover of Time magazine.”

  “Maybe I’d just as soon eat my own vomit.”

  “Publicity shy, eh? Well, I bet Jennifer Hildebrandt could help you out.”

  “Ugh. No thanks. I mean, she’s nice and all, but I’d just as soon not be known as ‘the funny one.’”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh, come on. Did Random punch you in both eyes? She’s about the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes had adjusted to the near dark, and she could see him frown. “I guess so. If you like that type.”

  “The gorgeous, thin blond type with great knockers,” she said dryly. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

  “Renee, I was worried about you. Hildebrandt could have been a six-hundred-pound iguana for all I cared.”

  She stared at him. He sounded serious. He locked serious. Was he really so into her that he didn’t notice a beauty queen, not even when she was right under his nose?

  “Besides,” he continued, “if nothing else, you can come and work for me.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Mm-hmm. Of course, constant nudity would be a given. I’d stick it—”

  “Careful.”

  “—in the first line of your job description.”

  She rolled her eyes, but before she could retort, he had pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head and murmured, “I was very worried about you this afternoon.”

  “You deserved to be.” She tried to sound tough and uncompromising—sort of a Drew-Barrymore-during-the-married-to-Tom-Green-years tone—but he smelled great And his arms around her felt so good. She could go to sleep in these arms. Ah, sleep… how good would that be? Jus
t to snuggle up to this man and doze off knowing everything was all right, knowing she was safe. “How d’you think I felt, hearing that Random was waiting for me right outside your hotel?”

  “I’m sorry,” he said soberly. He dropped a kiss to her brow. She could still hear the crew vacuuming; it was a faraway drone and, tired as she was, weirdly soothing. “I should have told you the truth right away. I was afraid. A stupid, stupid mistake.”

  “Also, you look like a monkey and you smell like one, too.”

  “Let’s not get carried away.” Now he was trailing kisses down her face and nuzzling into the hollow of her throat. “Ummm… what’s that you’ve got on?”

  “Eau de Fugitive,” she said dryly, then gasped laughter as he nuzzled a ticklish spot. “Quit it! This is neither the time nor—”

  “Actually, it’s the perfect time; we’re just sitting here—well, lying here—waiting. And as for places, I could think of worse ones than on the warm, carpeted floor of an empty conference room.”

  “You’re still on probation, pal.”

  “Let me see if I can get on the parole officer’s good side.” He tugged on her shirt and she heard the pting! pting! of the snaps parting. He sucked in an appreciative breath when he realized she hadn’t bothered with the bra this afternoon.

  “I didn’t have time for underpants, either,” she said, reading his mind. She grinned when he groaned. “Hey, time was of the essence. I had to beat feet out of there—I figured you were running upstairs with Random and his goons.”

  “Please stop talking about Peter Random while I’m trying to seduce you.”

  “Why? He’s so tall, so strong, so—er—hairy.” She sucked in a breath as he tongued her nipple. “I’d like to protest again for the record, but, frankly, if you stop doing that, I’ll toss another book in your face.”

  “I hear and obey.” His tongue was rasping across the sensitive flesh of her nipples, pausing occasionally to suckle and dart and jab, and then he was kissing her cleavage. “God, you smell like wild roses.”

  “I think that’s hotel soap.”

  He groaned again, the sound muffled against her flesh. “You’re killing me.”