the house naked. Breathing in his ear when I kissed him goodnight. He always remained a perfect gentleman. Up until the day I graduated high school. That night, while my mother slept, he came into my room.”
It had been Theena’s first time. Recalling it still gave her shivers.
“We tried to hide it for a while, but my mother eventually found out. She left us. I begged Nikos to marry me. At first, he refused. He was becoming prominent in his field, and didn’t want the scandal. I convinced him, eventually, and we had a secret ceremony. But while in public, I had to be his daughter. I took the last name Boone, just so I could wear his ring.”
She smiled ironically.
“Here’s the funny thing. For years, I was always competing with my mother for his attention. And then, when she’s finally out of the picture, I had to compete with his work.”
She stared into Nikos’s eyes, wide open and dead. They looked at her with the same feeling as when he’d been alive.
“N-Som was his dream. His life. I became a neurosurgeon so I could be part of his dream. But he was never fully mine. He was married to science, not me.”
Theena lost her smile.
“I’ll never forget the first time he asked me to sleep with another man. A Senator, with a lot of money and power. We needed the government grant, so my father, my husband, pimped me out.”
The sobs came suddenly, racking her body. She’d never allowed herself to feel the shame before. Theena had always cited love as her motivation. She slept with other men because she loved Nikos. She worked with him on N- Som, knowing it was potentially dangerous, out of love. Love led her to betray her own mother. Love led her to bribe Mike Bitner and initiate a course that led to his death.
She hadn’t lied to Bill about that. She truly thought Bitner had left the country with a suitcase full of cash. But Rothchilde had used her, just like Nikos had. Theena had never been in control. She’d been fooling herself.
Theena sat on the floor; the guilt was so heavy she could no longer stand. Her nose was running. She could feel Bill’s eyes on her, burning like heat lamps. Theena wanted to run, hide someplace far away, where she could never hurt anyone again.
“I’m going to tell the media.”
Bill’s voice startled her. She didn’t look at him, but she silently agreed.
“The authorities will get involved, Theena. There may be arrests.”
She sniffled. “It’s the least I deserve.”
“I have one question.”
Theena didn’t know if she could handle it. But she nodded anyway.
“You’re trying to make N-Som out of Nikos’s brain. Why?”
“I think… I think Albert murdered him. This is the only way I can prove it.”
“You want to see your husband’s death? Feel his last thoughts?”
She found an inner reserve of strength and met his eyes.
“I have to. I have to know who killed him.”
Theena could sense Bill was struggling with it, figuring things out.
“I’m sorry I got you involved with this, Bill. My motives were selfish, and now you’re in danger.”
Bill walked over to her. He seemed more preoccupied than upset.
“How does N-Som affect a person in long term use?”
“We’re still not totally sure. Manny has become unbalanced, and there are some shadows on his CT that might be lesions. When they first appeared, I pleaded with Nikos to stop the experiment. But he and Manny insisted on continuing.”
“How about short term? Taking it once and a while?”
“I’ve taken it almost a dozen times. Not consecutive days, but every few. My last CT was normal.”
He squatted down next to her. Theena wanted, needed, for him to just hold her, but she didn’t dare ask.
“Is it safe to take it now, after you just took some at your apartment a few hours ago?”
“I’m not sure. But I’m willing to try it.”
Bill didn’t say a word for the longest time. Theena didn’t know what to expect from him. Was he going to spit in her face? Hit her? Call her names? That’s what men did. And in this case, she felt as if she deserved it.
But she didn’t expect him to hold out his hand. Theena took it, trying to keep her emotions in check.
“What now?”
Bill’s face softened, just a bit.
“I’ll help you prepare the drug. Can you make two doses?”
Theena squeezed his hand and nodded.
“Okay, then. Let’s find out who killed your husband.”
Jack Kilborn
Disturb
Albert Rothchilde wanted to break something. On days when he leaned towards self-reflection, he knew that he was a tad spoiled, had a wee temper, and wicked little sadistic streak. The perfect solution would be to find a whipping boy. Someone that he could keep in a cage and beat whenever he felt lousy.
Perhaps someday in the future. When the billions started rolling in, there was very little you couldn’t buy.
But for the moment, all he had was Captain Halloran. He made do.
“You fat, incompetent bastard.”
Halloran’s face reddened. He cleared his throat.
“You should have told us to watch your people earlier.”
“You should have figured it out yourself. It’s your job, you pathetic prick. You should have put my people under protection after Nikos was murdered. Have you checked on Julia?”
“She’s at DruTech, with Theena and Bill. We’ve got men there, watching the place.”
Rothchilde drummed his fingers on his desk, thinking. Halloran’s men had found Dr. Townsend and Dr. O’Neil, both dead. They’d also gotten word that Dr. Fletcher had been killed near his home in Barrington.
These were people that he still could have used, alive. And the two people he needed erased, Theena and Bill, were now under this idiot’s protection.
“The plan has changed. I want them dead. Theena, Bill, Julia, and Manny, when you find him.”
Halloran narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve done some bad things for you, Albert. But I’m not a hired gun.”
“You idiot. I’m not paying you to kill them. I have people for that, people who won’t fuck it up like you would. You just need to turn the other way. Do you have any sway with the Schaumburg Police?”
“I know the Chief. We’re friends.”
“When all hell breaks out at DruTech, the Schaumburg PD may be called. How much will you need to buy me some time with them?”
“Some people can’t be bought.”
“You’ll convince him.”
“And if I don’t?”
Rothchilde smiled blandly. “While I find it amusing to see that you still have a little bit of backbone left, you’re in too deep to back out now. If those people aren’t killed, I’ll go down. If I go down, you go down. How are cops treated in jail, Halloran? The lifers will swap you for cigarettes.”
Halloran shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was frowning.
“I’ll need money.”
“Name your price.”
“Two hundred fifty thousand.”
The number elicited a guffaw from Rothchilde.
“A quarter of a million dollars, to bribe a stupid suburban cop?”
“Captain Drury is clean. I need a big number to tempt him. It may not even be enough.”
Rothchilde observed Halloran. They both knew the number was ridiculous, but was the Captain actually trying to scam him, keep some of it for himself?
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. It was pocket change to what N-Som was going to bring in.
“I don’t have that kind of cash here, and I assume he won’t take a check. Come back in an hour.”
