by D. N. Leo
“All right, do what you have to, Ciaran. Yell out if you need a hand.”
Ciaran said nothing further and took Dinah out of the room into the lab. She thought he would have flown if he could.
In the lab, he said nothing. Every movement Ciaran made was with perfect precision. As soon as she had made a batch, he tested it and ran simulations and anything else needed.
He was a thousand times better and more experienced than her in a lab. He just didn’t know this compound. It made her feel a lot better to know he wouldn’t just rely on her and take whatever she gave him. He understood what was going on in a lab.
She made the last batch. He tested it, and the machine gave a green signal. No matter what universe she was in, she figured green was a positive sign. She drew the compound into a needle then looked at Ciaran.
“I understand. You don’t have to say it. This is the first time you made it this way, so the risk is considerable. And yes, I accept it.”
What a man! she thought.
They went to the room where Madeline was. Ciaran let her handle the compound. She checked the needle carefully and then injected the antidote. She watched for Madeline’s reaction and took her vitals. Then she turned around and looked at Ciaran.
She nodded.
It was as if the air in the room had been infused with lead, and now it had suddenly been lifted. It had become air again, and everyone could now breathe.
“Thank you,” Ciaran said. He approached the bed, held Madeline’s hand, and squeezed it slightly.
Dinah withdrew toward the door.
Doctor Thomas sat down on a chair and looked at Ciaran. Ciaran left Madeline’s side and approached the doctor. He sat down on a chair opposite him. Dinah couldn’t see Ciaran’s face because she stood behind him. But by the expression on Doctor’s Thomas’s face, she knew Ciaran’s held raw emotion.
“It’s good to see you, son. It’s been a long time,” Doctor Thomas said.
Ciaran’s held Doctor Thomas’s hands and said nothing. Then he let go, bent down, and put his face in his hands. Dinah saw his shoulders shaking with emotion. Doctor Thomas placed his hand on Ciaran’s head as if he had done it before. Like a father.
What a scene. She understood what Ciaran had been through—and that Madeline had been so close to death. But she would have never imagined the situation could shake a man like Ciaran so much.
If Madeline knew this, she wouldn’t have eaten all that ice cream. Dinah rubbed her tummy.
After a while, Ciaran looked up. When he turned around and saw her, he had completely composed himself—sinfully handsome with striking gray eyes that were as cold and still as the lake in the winter castle in the highlands she had previously visited.
He approached her. “Thank you for all you’ve done,” he said to her.
“You already thanked me.”
He smiled. “I can never say it enough.” He gestured toward Doctor Thomas. “This is Doctor Thomas, our family doctor.”
The doctor smiled gently. “It’s very impressive what a young woman like you can do these days. It makes me feel so old.”
Ciaran smiled and said nothing. He gestured for them to follow him to the hall. A man in his thirties came to the door. As soon as he saw Ciaran, he rushed over.
“Jesus Christ, it seems like a decade since I last saw you.” They shook each other’s hands.
“Likewise. This is Dinah Greenwood. Dinah, this is Lindsay Freeman, CEO of LeBlanc Pharmaceuticals.”
“It’s good to see you in person.” Lindsay shook her hand.
Dinah frowned.
Ciaran saw the question in her eyes and said, “I ordered a search for you.”
She nodded. “It was quite a search, wasn’t it? You had a whole army out looking for me.”
Lindsay laughed. “We’re used to this scale of operations. It’s been quiet for a year. We miss it, don’t we, Doctor Thomas?”
“Oh no, please leave this old man alone.”
“I agree. Don’t you bother Doctor Thomas unless absolutely necessary,” Ciaran said, wrapping his arm around the doctor’s shoulders.
“What’s the damage?” Ciaran asked Lindsay.
“We have to ditch this place.”
“What? Why? What about all the equipment?” Dinah asked.
Lindsay looked at Ciaran. Ciaran nodded. Lindsay explained, “Ciaran triggered quite an extensive search for you using our satellite system because we don’t have any connection with you or information about you here. So that search triggered the system he uses in…other places. We have to assume his adversaries now know about this place and his whereabouts. So we’re getting out now. Your credentials were also revealed during the search, Dinah.”
“I’m sorry, Dinah. I wasn’t thinking straight,” Ciaran said.
“I don’t blame you, Ciaran. Given your position, I understand the precaution is necessary. But as for me, I’m just another private investigator. It shouldn’t be a problem that my identity was revealed.”
Ciaran shook his head. “You’re now associated with me. You’re not just another investigator. Trust me, regardless of whether you want to be or not, you’re now considered my people, and that puts you in danger if you’re out there by yourself.”
“You can’t guarantee the safety of everyone you consider to be under your wings, Ciaran,” Arik said, walking out from a corner.
Dinah could hear Lindsay hiss audibly. Doctor Thomas’s eyes hardened as he saw Arik.
“I should have anticipated this before deciding to let him come here. I’m sorry, Lindsay,” Ciaran said. He approached Arik. “You should leave now, Arik,” he said.
“I won’t leave without her.” Arik pointed at Dinah.
“Didn’t you hear what Ciaran said. It’s dangerous for her to be out there by herself,” Lindsay growled.
“He’s not that important. I have information to help with your investigation, Dinah. Are you going with me or not?”
She nodded. “All right, I’m going with you.” By all means, that was the reason she was on Earth in the first place.
“Take this.” Ciaran held her hand and placed a wrist unit in her palm.
“So you can track her? Track our whereabouts?” Arik asked.
“She goes with you, she takes my unit. That’s a fair deal, Arik.”
“Ciaran!” Lindsay glared.
“It’s okay,” Ciaran said and took her to the door. At the door, he held her hand and put the wrist unit on and said, “If you need anything, my contact is coded in here. You only need to call. You are the only one who has access and can control it. If someone else takes possession of the unit, it will self-destruct. It’s just a standard issue. Don’t worry if you lose it.”
“I’ll try not to.” She smiled at him then followed Arik out.
18
The sun was finally shining on the charming historic city of Oxford. People began to fill the street. Shops opened and welcomed customers. Dinah checked the wrist unit Ciaran gave her and smiled. It greeted her with a smiley and asked for the passcode. She entered her secret passcode. As the screen made a ping sound of approval, she shook her head. Ciaran was a hell of a hacker. He had coded her own passcode into this machine.
She was then connected to her travel account, had her basic log, and a credit account for discrepancies. She smiled. She understood now why Ciaran had so many people working for him. He knew how to treat people. She opened her credit account and her jaw just dropped—fifty thousand credits were staring back at her. That was what he called discrepancy money? With this kind of money, she could take the first class inter-universe means of travel every day just to go grocery shopping.
“What’s so funny?”
“Huh?” She looked up and saw that Arik had come back to her with two cups of coffee in his hands.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that the amount of information this little unit has is a lot more advanced than my mainframe computer in Iilos.”
Arik shrugged and ma
de no comment. “Have you had one of these before?” He handed her the coffee. “Try a sip. See if you like it.”
She laughed. “We have coffee in Iilos.”
“All right then.”
They walked along a charming cobblestone street, heading toward his house. “Are there any of the LeBlancs that you haven’t made your enemy?”
He shook his head.
“All right, so you don’t want to talk about the past. It must be painful for you. So let’s talk about what you promised me. What information do you have that will help my investigation?”
“I have nothing.”
She choked on her coffee. “You tricked me?”
“No, I didn’t trick you. I lied to you. Otherwise, you would have stayed with Ciaran.”
“So because you were afraid I might become one of Ciaran’s girls, you had to take me away?”
“It’s for your best interest!”
“Really? I think I would be better off with Ciaran.”
“They have money. That’s about it. But you came all the way to Earth for your friend. I don’t think you’re the gold-digger kind, so being with the LeBlancs can’t be beneficial for you in the long run.”
“Like what happened to Juliette?”
“Don’t bring her into this. You know nothing about her.”
“Believe me, I know more than I need to. She used Ciaran then betrayed him.”
“Of course he had to say that—”
“It wasn’t him who said it. It was his current wife who said so. And she said although Ciaran never forgave anyone who betrayed him, he forgave Juliette. When they were together, there was love. And did you see what happened at the mansion with Madeline and Ciaran?”
“No.”
“That was unconditional love I saw. I don’t know Ciaran and Madeline at all. But I know love when I see it.”
He snorted.
She jabbed her finger into his chest. “Whatever happened between you and Ciaran might run deep in the past. But from what I’ve seen in the last day, you’re no more than a selfish, jealous prick. If you were a halfway decent man, you’d yank the stick out of your ass and help me with the investigation.”
“That foreign object feels just fine where it is, so I’m going to leave it there,” he snarled.
“Fine. I thought there was more to you than this. I was mistaken. It wasn’t just my friend who was killed. There were many people. And there will be more if we don’t stop the asshole who’s doing this. I have no time to waste on you.” She turned around and walked away.
“Hey!”
She kept stomping away. He pulled at her elbow. She shrugged her arm out of his grip.
“I’m sorry. I have something at the house I want to show you. It might help.”
“Is this another trick?”
“No.”
She gave him a warning look then walked. He followed. When they arrived at his house, Grace was waiting just outside the fence.
“What’s she doing here?” Grace asked.
“I have something to show her.”
“In the house?”
“Yes. of course.”
“Arik, it took me two years to get inside your house. I still don’t have a key. How long have you known her?”
“It’s not that, Grace…”
“Then what is it?”
The wrist unit Ciaran had given Dinah buzzed. She engaged. Ciaran said, “Dinah, someone has been trying to connect to your old unit. We don’t know where that unit is, but the signal bounced back from Xiilok. Someone is going to deliver a package to The Manicotti on Main Street. We think we’ve got our guy. It might be just the messenger. But if we can get him, dead or alive, I can trace the source to the contractor.”
“Are you sure?”
“If not, I wouldn’t call you. I just want you to stay clear. I’ve got it under control. We’ll take the messenger down before he explodes the package in whatever form. No civilians will get hurt. If the signal gets to your new unit, take the call, but do not go to meet the messenger.”
“Got it.”
“All right, take care, Dinah,”
“You too.” She switched off the communicator and found Arik waiting for the information while Grace paced back and forth in agitation.
“We’ve got to go to the market on Main Street.”
She turned on the map function of her wrist unit.
“You don’t need that gadget. I’ll take you,” Arik said.
“I’ll go with you,” Grace said.
Dinah shook her head.
“Okay. Grace, if you stay here, I’ll come back soon, and we’ll have lunch.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.” He kissed her forehead and charged ahead. Dinah followed. She could feel Grace glaring at her. It wasn’t just a girl’s jealousy in that look. It was a flash of hatred and evil—a nasty combination that she couldn’t imagine coming from such a beautiful face. Had Arik ever seen this side of Grace, she wondered. Then she shook the thought away and scurried ahead.
19
The market was crowded, and a sea of people walked up and down Main Street. This was the only time Dinah missed her high heels. Everyone at the market except for the children was taller than she was. Up ahead in the distance, she could see Ciaran walking toward her. He was exceptionally tall, so he stuck out like a sore thumb. She was glad he wasn’t the target. Then she looked over at Arik by her side. He was tall, too. Maybe it had been a bad idea to let him come with her.
Ciaran couldn’t see her, but he could see Arik. The men locked eyes with each other but said nothing. They were walking toward each other from opposite directions and were about fifty feet apart.
Suddenly she saw Ciaran’s eyes darken and grow intense.
He had seen his target. He walked a little faster. He looked down, and Dinah knew he was confirming the signal on his wrist unit.
A tall man walked toward Ciaran. Although she was seeing him from behind, the tall man looked awfully familiar to her.
After confirming the signal, Ciaran looked up and straight at the man. As fast as lightning, he pulled his gun. His laser gun made no sound. But bystanders standing close by must have seen it.
Before the panic spread, Ciaran’s men closed in and drove the traffic away. Because they wore uniforms, the crowd followed their instructions without question.
The tall man was hit from the front. He staggered back, his head slightly turned, before falling to the ground.
She gasped, “Cooper!”
She rushed over, but Arik grabbed her from behind.
“That’s my friend. Let go of me!” She slid out of his grip and charged through the line of men in uniforms. She could see Cooper on the ground. A package was next to him.
“Cooper!”
Ciaran grabbed her. “What are you doing?”
“He’s my friend!”
“He’s the messenger.”
“No, he’s not. Let go of me.” She couldn’t get out of Ciaran’s grip, so she started to cry.
“Let her go. Let her talk to him,” Arik said.
Ciaran reluctantly let Dinah down. “Don’t touch the package,” he said.
She scrambled toward Cooper. “Cooper!” She brushed a stray hair from his forehead. “What are you doing here?”
He opened his eyes, groggily. “Dinah…are you okay?”
“Yes. Why are you here?”
“Just…wanted to check on you. You didn’t answer your calls…” He closed his eyes.
“Please don’t die, Cooper. Please look at me. I’ll get you to the doctor. You’ll be all right.”
“So why are you crying?”
“Why are you carrying a package, Cooper?”
“What?”
“The package?”
“That’s for the twenty thousand credit client. I know you didn’t want me to do it, but I brought it with me in case you changed your mind…”
“Do you know these packages from Xiilok have killed
people?”
“I know about it. But this one isn’t a package. It a spec. I told you. I put it together as per instructions so you can see it’s an easy job.”
“You put this together?”
“Yes…”
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. Some fancy name.”
“So you have nothing to do with the Xiiloks who are killing jumpers?”
“No…is that why you asked? You think I’m… You don’t believe me? It cost five thousand credits to buy the ticket to come here…and you don’t believe me.”
His eyes almost rolled back.
“Please don’t die. I believe you. Open your eyes for me. I’ll give you back twenty thousand credits. Please don’t die, Cooper.”
“You don’t believe me…”
“I do. Okay, watch me.”
She pulled out a knife from her boot.
“No, Dinah,” Ciaran shouted. Everyone jumped away. She stabbed at the package. From inside, a mound of white grains like sand poured out. She looked at the substance. “It’s salt. You didn’t know you packed salt?”
Cooper’s voice was slurred. “I don’t know jack about chemicals. It has a fancy name. Not salt.”
Then she looked at Cooper’s chest. “Cooper, you’re not dying.”
“Huh?”
She pressed her palm on his chest.
“Ouch,” he moaned.
The liquid seeping out from his shirt wasn’t blood. It was the substance that comprised his fake muscles, and it had neutralized the impact of the laser beam Ciaran had shot at him.
She laughed through tears. “You have a concussion, you idiot.”
“Wha-a-a-t?” His voice slurred even more.
“The substance I made for your fake muscles leaked out and neutralized the effect of the beams that hit you.”
“You neutralized my laser weapon with fake muscles? I am offended. I might take back the offer I made to you,” Ciaran said, looking at his gun incredulously.
She touched Cooper’s face. “You know what, Cooper? I think your vanity may have just saved your life. I’ll make you more fake abs. As many as you like. But please don’t carry packages like this across the universes, okay?”
