by Camy Tang
Rachel wanted to sink through the floor.
Then she remembered she’d been on the phone with Edward. She lifted the cell phone to her ear. “Edward—”
“I heard.”
“I’m sorry for alarming you,” she said in a small voice. “I really thought someone was trying to break into the lab.”
“All things considered, it’s probably best for you to be paranoid rather than sorry.”
His approval was like a comforting hot water bottle laid against her stomach, relaxing the taut muscles.
Her father would have been annoyed and blamed her for being silly. Edward, however, understood her.
It was a surprising feeling to Rachel. Different. Something she hadn’t felt since her mother died.
“I’ll let you get back to work.” Her voice came out a bit thick. She cleared her throat. “Thanks.”
“I’ll pick you up tonight.” He clicked off.
Another sharp jiggle of the lab door made her start. She almost went to open the door for whoever it was, thinking it might be Martin again, but then Edward’s words stopped her—better to be paranoid than sorry.
She remembered the car hitting her bike, and shuddered.
She hid behind her office door frame and stared intently at the lab double doors. Whoever it was scrabbled at the card-key pad.
The door bolts disengaged.
She held her breath.
“Hi, Dr. Grant.” Stephanie, her research associate, gave her a casual glance as she flicked on the general lab lights and removed a fuzzy light blue knitted scarf.
Rachel took a steadying breath before she answered. Too much excitement for this early in the morning. “You’re in early today.”
“I needed to talk to you,” Stephanie said, her mouth grim.
Was she quitting? Rachel tried to hide her inward tension. She hated hiring new lab assistants.
Stephanie took a few steps toward her office and stopped, chewing on her lip and staring at the floor. “I’m not sure how to tell you this.”
“What is it? Just spit it out. Don’t worry.”
Stephanie looked up at her, hazel eyes wide. “Someone called me last night, Dr. Grant.”
“A headhunter?” Rachel wondered which lab enticed Stephanie away from her. She had thought Stephanie had been glad to get a research job so close to her parents’ home in Santa Rosa, but maybe she was wrong.
“No, not a headhunter.” Stephanie swallowed. “Dr. Grant, a man promised me $100,000 if I would steal your scar-reduction-cream formula from you.”
EIGHT
“She could be lying.” Edward took another sip of coffee while keeping an eye on Rachel, who was nursing a cup of green tea.
Augustus took a sip of his own tea, then frowned down at his cup. “If that’s so, what would be the reason?”
“She’s not lying.” Rachel tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture. What was making her uncomfortable? Her father? Him? Or maybe she was just on edge because of everything happening?
Then again, she’d been very quiet the entire drive home tonight. But she’d invited him inside to discuss Stephanie’s confession with her father. If it was his presence making her nervous, he wasn’t sure if that made him happy or upset.
“How long has Stephanie been working for you?” Augustus asked.
“Two years.”
“She hasn’t given you any problems?”
“None, Dad.” There was a soft edge to her tone, as if she didn’t appreciate the implication that she’d hired another “trouble” employee. Edward remembered the overheard argument, and guessed that father and daughter hadn’t spoken about it to each other since.
“Stephanie was in Alex’s grade in school,” Edward said, his voice cutting through the rather sharp looks exchanged between Rachel and Augustus. “She was smart and friendly. And she always seemed a bit ambitious.”
Rachel’s eyebrows rose. “Really? When I hired her, she said she’d been hoping for a research job close to her parents and that the spa job was perfect. There aren’t many chemistry research labs in this area.”
Edward shrugged. “Maybe her years in college changed her.” He thought a moment. “Or maybe she’s the same.”
“What do you mean?” Augustus and Rachel asked at the same time, in exactly the same tone. They looked at each other, then looked away.
“What if she’s telling the truth, but she didn’t refuse the man like she told you she did?”
Rachel’s brow furrowed. “But if she told the man she’d steal my formula, why bother to tell me?”
“I think I know,” Augustus said slowly. “It’s what I’d do if I were in her position and wanted the money. I’d tell you in order to ‘prove’ my loyalty to you.”
Edward nodded. “She’d be more likely to be retained as a ‘trustworthy’ research assistant, giving her a chance to steal the formulation.”
“The man just talked to her yesterday—”
“That’s what she told you,” Edward said. “What if it was last week, and she’s already had a chance to try to get the formulation but failed?”
“We only recently installed the dead bolt to your office door,” Augustus said. “It makes it harder to get to your computer. She’d have to get your key, or you’d have to be in the spa but have left your office door open.”
Rachel’s cheeks burned red. “I don’t do that, ever, Dad. I know how important my research is.”
“She’d also need you to be logged in to your computer to download anything,” Edward said. “Your cousin made a good security system for you.”
“It would help her if you thought she was faithful to you,” Augustus said.
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t like this. This is just speculation. We’re judging the poor girl without knowing the truth.”
“You should protect yourself and just let her go,” Augustus said bluntly.
Rachel’s face drained of color. “Dad!”
Edward had to admit he saw the logic of the suggestion, but it pained him to think of committing a drastic move like that against someone just because circumstances were suspicious.
“If Stephanie is being honest, how would it repay her to fire her?” Rachel demanded.
“If she’s not being honest, then you’re taking yourself out of harm’s way,” Augustus argued.
“I may be taking the research out of harm’s way, but I’d be a poor excuse for a human being.”
“Is Stephanie your only lab employee?” Edward asked.
Rachel nodded, her eyes wary.
Edward read her look—she wasn’t sure if he was her ally or not. He didn’t want to take sides, but he did want to smooth things between the two Grants. “How about putting the lab on temporary shutdown?”
Rachel’s mouth opened in a small O. Then she smiled, and it was more beautiful than a Lady Slipper orchid.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” she said.
“How long?” demanded Augustus. “Until we discover who’s doing all this? That could take weeks.” He had said it himself—he understood the bottom line, and the word shutdown usually meant losing money.
“It wouldn’t be a true shutdown,” Edward said. “Since Stephanie’s her only employee, Rachel can continue to work, but Stephanie won’t be able to get into the lab to steal anything.”
“But officially, she’d still be an employee. I wouldn’t have to fire her,” Rachel said.
Augustus still frowned. “I don’t like paying someone to not do any work.”
“She’ll make up for it, Dad. She’s on salary, not hourly.” Rachel pointed to the calendar on his desk. “She’ll put in her hours when it’s time to mass produce the scar-reduction cream. Both she and I will be busy soon since we’re still committed to releasing the cream in the spring.” But there was a strain around her eyes as she said it.
Augustus didn’t seem to notice. He grunted and nodded.
Edward could see that despite her words, she be
lieved this shutdown would affect her product launch. And she wasn’t just concerned or alarmed or stressed.
She was afraid.
Rachel checked the clock while trying to sift through the clinical data on her computer screen, but she couldn’t do both at once. And each time she saw the time advance, the knot in her stomach drew itself tighter and tighter.
Almost quitting time. Almost time to tell Stephanie the bad news.
No, it wasn’t bad news. She wasn’t firing her research associate. Stephanie would be paid during the shutdown—she would probably be thrilled.
Or Stephanie would guess the real reason for the shutdown and feel hurt and betrayed after confessing all to Rachel the morning before.
But it wasn’t just telling her research assistant—Rachel had also arranged for Detective Carter to arrive to question her about the man. She figured Stephanie wouldn’t mind, since the girl had immediately and fully confessed what the man had asked her to do.
Maybe Rachel should make sure Detective Carter was coming. She abandoned her clinical-trial numbers and picked up her cell phone, although a cowardly meow sounded in her mind.
She was only putting off the inevitable.
She put the phone down.
Standing up, she straightened her blouse, her hair and her spine. She marched out of her office into the lab area.
“Hey, Dr. Grant. I was just finishing up.” Stephanie glanced at her from where she was cleaning up some data on her computer. “Give me a sec and I’ll e-mail these results to you.”
“Thanks, Stephanie.” Rachel’s stiff backbone sagged a little. No use interrupting her data crunching, after all….
“There, I just sent it to you.” Stephanie turned in her chair to smile at her. “I wasn’t sure I’d get it done by the end of today.”
Rachel tried to smile, but her jaw was made of gelatin. “Stephanie, I have some bad—er, good news.”
Her research assistant had a deer-in-the-headlights look. Something about it put Rachel on edge—but then again, she was already on edge because of what she had to tell her.
“You’re not going to fire me, are you?”
“No! Not at all,” Rachel hastened to assure her.
Stephanie relaxed a fraction, but there was still a tenseness about her face—not just the tension of anticipating bad news, but a strange tenseness Rachel couldn’t interpret.
Rachel plunged ahead. “It will actually make you happy. My dad—I mean, I have decided that with everything that has happened lately against the lab, it would be best to shut it down for a few weeks until the police figure out what’s going on.”
“Shut down the lab?” Stephanie’s voice rose a notch.
“You’ll be paid,” Rachel interjected. “It’ll be paid leave for you.”
“I’m not…” Stephanie swallowed. “I’m not being fired, am I?”
“No, don’t worry, you’re not being fired.”
Stephanie’s expression was still troubled.
“You’re one of the best research assistants I’ve had,” Rachel added. “I wouldn’t want to lose you.”
Somehow, her reassurance only made Stephanie look down into her lap. “But I…I told you about that man.”
Rachel felt sick. “I’m not punishing you for being honest.”
“It just feels that way.” Stephanie looked ten years younger, small and hurt.
“I’m sorry, Stephanie. It’s just that the police are concerned about the attempts against the lab. In fact, Detective Carter is on his way. He wants to ask you about the man who tried to bribe you.”
Stephanie’s alarmed eyes darted first to Rachel, then to the lab door. “Detective Carter?”
“You’re not in trouble, Stephanie. After all, you didn’t receive any money from him, did you?”
“No, no,” she quickly said. “He just offered me the money if I would steal your formula, he didn’t give me any.” She breathed deeply. “It just frightened me a little because it’s so…official. I’ve never even gotten a parking ticket.”
“I can understand that.” Rachel remembered her trepidation the first time she got a speeding ticket.
The bolts on the lab doors clicked, and the doors swung open. Detective Carter entered with a nod to Martin, who had accessed the lab for him.
After Rachel made the introductions, Detective Carter took out his notebook and asked, “So this man called you out of the blue?”
“Yes. He offered me the money to steal Dr. Grant’s formula, but I hung up on him.”
“And when was this?”
“The day before yesterday.”
“He only called you the one time?”
Stephanie blinked rapidly, then her brow furrowed. “Actually, I think he called a few other times before that, but my mom answered my phone line at home. She mentioned talking to a strange man who wouldn’t leave his name.”
The detective noted it down. “We’ll look into your phone records to find out what number he’s calling from.”
Stephanie nodded, biting her lip.
“Did you ever meet him in person?”
She shook her head.
“He never mentioned how he got your telephone number?”
“No.”
“Can you describe his voice?”
Stephanie looked at a loss, and shrugged a few times. “I don’t know…deep enough that I knew it was a man.” Her gaze flickered to Rachel. “I’m sorry I can’t give a better description.”
“No, that’s fine,” Detective Carter said.
“Voices are hard to describe,” Rachel added.
Rachel’s gut relaxed as the detective finished up with Stephanie. That had been painful but not too bad. And she was very glad that was over with.
After Detective Carter left, Stephanie gave Rachel a soft “Goodbye” as she collected her purse and car keys. She gave her a brief look—hurt, concerned and still tense from the conversation with the detective—before heading out the door.
That one quick look hovered in front of Rachel’s eyes as she finished up her clinical-trial data crunching and packed up for the day.
She met Aunt Becca in the spacious entrance foyer to the spa. “I’m going to call Edward, Aunt Becca.”
Her aunt placed a warm hand on her arm. “I talked to Horatio before he left. He said Stephanie was as helpful as she could be.”
Rachel nodded. “It scared her to talk to a policeman. I think she wondered if she had done anything wrong.”
“She’s a sweet girl.”
“She was really hurt by the news about the lab shutdown.” Rachel chewed on her bottom lip.
“Well, I don’t really blame her, but you don’t have much of a choice.” Aunt Becca gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry too much about it. You did the right thing.”
“I’m going to leave early. That confrontation left me feeling like a rag doll.”
“The lab’s locked up? Stephanie already left through the staff entrance in back?”
Rachel nodded. “I’m sorry to leave you here to run the spa by yourself tonight.”
Aunt Becca waved it aside. “I’m spa hostess. It’s my job. Besides, it’s nearly seven o’clock, so it’s only for a couple more hours.”
“I wonder what Naomi did with Devon in San Francisco today.”
“Had too much fun.” Aunt Becca winked at her. “They don’t get to spend time together often enough. I hope they get married soon.”
Suddenly, the front doors whooshed open and Naomi rushed into the entrance foyer, followed by Devon Knightley. Her tense face took in the two receptionists at the desk, and she slowed her steps slightly, but her wide eyes gave an unspoken plea to her sister and aunt.
“Naomi,” Rachel said, a question in her tone.
“Hi, Ms. Grant,” chimed the two receptionists, although their glances to Naomi and Devon were curious.
“Hi, girls. I’ll be in my office,” Naomi told them, and Rachel, Aunt Becca and Devon followed her rapid steps. Devon shut
her office door behind them as Naomi dropped her laptop bag on her desk.
“You’re back early,” Rachel started to say, then noticed the bruise on Naomi’s wrist. “Where in the world did you get that?”
“Naomi,” exclaimed Aunt Becca, reaching out to grasp her wrist.
“I’m fine,” Naomi said.
“That doesn’t look fine,” Aunt Becca retorted.
“Ask Devon.” Naomi nodded at him.
Dr. Knightley placed a hand on Aunt Becca’s shoulder. “It looks worse than it is.”
“It looks awful,” Rachel blurted out. Black, purple and red bloomed on her sister’s skin in a shape that looked like a large hand had grabbed her.
“What happened?” demanded Aunt Becca.
“I was attacked in San Francisco.”
Aunt Becca gasped. Rachel’s chest tightened. “Attacked? Why? How?”
“It was right outside my office,” said Devon. “I was only a few feet behind her.”
“My laptop was strung over my shoulder.” Naomi pointed to the laptop bag on the desk. “I had just exited Devon’s office when I felt someone yank at it. Well, I yanked back.” The look in her eyes was fierce enough to frighten off any assailant.
“Actually, the laptop would have been stolen if your sister weren’t so strong,” Devon said.
“Yes, well, I’m not a massage therapist for nothing.”
“Someone tried to steal your laptop? Again?” Rachel was incredulous. “What are the odds?”
“No, here’s what’s weird.” Naomi leaned in toward her. “The man trying to take it grabbed my wrist—that’s how I got the bruise—and then he looked up at me. And he hesitated. Rach, he was surprised.”
“Surprised?”
“And so I grabbed him,” Devon said.
“He let go of my wrist, and I grabbed the laptop back,” Naomi said. “And then I got a good look at him.” Naomi reached out to grip Rachel’s shoulder. “Rach, it was the same man who tried to get into the labs the other day.”
NINE
Edward thought he saw pleasure in Rachel’s eyes when she saw him enter the spa with Detective Carter. “You’re here early. I had been about to call you,” she said.
