the plunger.
The medication slid effortlessly into Tess’s body.
“You’re sure she’s totally unaware of anything going on around her?” Flynn asked, not bothering to turn around.
“Yes,” Bloom said from somewhere behind him. “I find that she responds best to your voice when she’s in a deep trance. If she’s in a light sleep, she fights too much.”
Flynn glanced at the TV monitor mounted over the glass. It framed a close-up of Tess’s face. Her skin was startlingly pale. She hadn’t gotten much sun these past six months, not when she’d been locked up deep within the top-secret basement of the center.
She was indeed beautiful. Untouched almost. Flynn understood well Ryan Donovan’s desire to be her champion. But the young doctor had no idea what he’d stumbled into, and if the good doctor didn’t watch out, he wouldn’t be stumbling into anything ever again. He’d be dead.
It was a good thing that Bloom seemed to be somewhat in control of the young man’s curiosity. Flynn had a strong feeling that in any other situation, Donovan would be someone to be reckoned with. Thankfully, the low-level researcher had no knowledge or access to this part of the research facility.
Flynn turned back toward Bloom. The doctor stood over the shoulder of a technician who was monitoring one of the computers giving him a readout on Tess’s physiological reactions to the medication.
“What happens if she’s not ready in time?” Flynn asked.
“She’ll
“And if she’s not ready? What then?”
There was no missing the flicker of impatience that slid across Bloom’s face. But Flynn had to give the man credit. Before lifting his head, he carefully composed his face. “We’ll do what we always said we’d do. We’ll use McCaffrey. He’s her backup.”
“That has the potential to cause more problems at this late date. He doesn’t have the connections with Starling that Tess has.”
“No, but we planned for that possibility. McCaffrey is on the guest list as Tess’s date for the reception. He’ll have the access he needs should Tess not be able to fulfill her duty for whatever reason. We agreed from the start that Tess could get the closest, but that McCaffrey was our ace in the hole.”
The technician interrupted by pointing to the monitor. Bloom nodded and reached down and flicked a switch. “Marsha, give her another five cc’s please.”
The nurse inside the examination room nodded and drew up the medication, injecting it into the IV tubing.
Flynn turned halfway around and studied his stepdaughter’s body strapped to the examination table. “Is it safe to increase her dosage like that? I mean, she’s been without the drug for an entire day and then some.”
Bloom ignored him and reached over the technician’s shoulder to tap the tip of his pen against the monitor screen. “Run a comparison on that reading with her initial EEG.” He straightened up and glanced at Flynn. This time he made no effort to hide his irritation at another interruption. “Perhaps, General, you’d prefer to wait in your suite. I’m a tad busy at the moment. I’ll meet you later to give you a rundown on the results from this reprogramming session.”
Flynn nodded. He wasn’t stupid, he knew when he was being dismissed. Medicine was definitely
As he left the room, Flynn overheard Bloom ordering another increase in Tess’s loading dose. He could only hope that Bloom was as good as everyone said he was. Starling and his crew of renegades needed a wake-up call they’d never forget and if things went the way Flynn wanted them to, Tess Ross would deliver that message in a way that no one would ever forget.
UNDER THE CLOSE SCRUTINY of the stone-faced armed security guard positioned at the inner gate leading to the Half Moon Research Center, Ryan swiped his ID badge through the security box next to the guard hut.
The light on the box changed from red to green.
The gate swung open. “Have a nice day, Dr. Donovan,” the guard in the booth said.
Ryan nodded and released the brake, giving the car a little gas. As he drove through and headed for lot A, the guard’s attention had shifted to the computer in front of him. His fingers flew across the keypad. Ryan knew the man was recording his car license plate and arrival time. He also knew that his entry was already being flashed ahead to the security team within the facility.
When he had first arrived at the center, Ryan had been somewhat amused at the high level of security. Although Bloom had mentioned they did handle some military projects on occasion, Ryan had gotten the impression that they were usually low-level projects, nothing that required this degree of precaution.
Ahead, the glass and steel structure of the Bloom Research Center loomed among a grove of lush trees, winding walkways and carefully tended gardens. As he passed the small driveway leading to Dr. Bloom’s private entrance, he noticed the back end of a black car jutting out from behind the thick hedge hiding Dr. Bloom’s parking lot and private entrance. Could it be? Was it possible that it was the same car they’d loaded an unconscious Tess into less than an hour ago?
He slowed, craning his neck to get a better view.
If it was the same limo, what was it doing here? It meant that Bloom and Flynn had lied. No big surprise there, but it was hardly what Ryan had expected. It meant that Tess had been brought to the center in spite of Flynn’s assertion that he was taking her back East to another hospital.
He clicked on his signal and turned into lot A. Not many of the slots were filled yet. Bloom had told him that July was vacation month. A lot of people were out of town.
Exiting the coolness of the air-conditioned car, he locked up and walked the short distance to the canopied entrance of the center. By the time he reached the door, the humid morning air had caused his shirt to stick to the middle of his back.
Ryan inserted his badge into the slot in the door handle. A few seconds later, the door clicked and he stepped into the main lobby.
He walked across the slate floor to the receptionist’s desk. To the right stood a luxurious cluster of butter-soft couches and chairs. Ryan knew they were butter-soft because he’d sunk into one when he’d visited the center a little more than two months ago.
He’d sat there for forty minutes until Bloom showed up to escort him inside the center for his tour. He hadn’t realized then, but he wasn’t allowed to just wander around the research facility. Someone was always at his side during that initial phase. Now they tracked him like all the employees-through his identity badge.
“Good morning, Pam,” he greeted to the young woman seated behind the receptionist’s desk. Ryan had a sneaking suspicion that even Pam was a highly paid, thoroughly trained security guard.
“Good morning, Dr. Donovan. Warm enough for you?” She flashed him a pleasant, totally professional smile and pushed a small black box across the countertop toward him.
“Too warm to be in a suit and tie, if that answers your question.” Ryan hefted his briefcase up onto the gray- and-white-flecked granite countertop and pressed his thumb to the electronic print pad.
He drummed his fingers on the aluminum of his briefcase while he waited for the computer to run a check on his thumbprint.
Pam tilted her head and then nodded. “You’re clear to go in, Doctor.”
Ryan grinned. “You’re positive I’m not an impostor?”
Pam smiled politely back, but it had an almost remote, chilliness to it. Apparently joking about security issues wasn’t on the research staff’s list of approved conversations.
“Have a nice day, sir.” She returned her attention to the computer screen in front of her. Ryan knew he’d been dismissed.
He turned to leave and then paused, remembering the limo parked in Dr. Bloom’s private lot. “Is General Flynn still here or has he left for the airport? He seemed interested in some research data I mentioned to him yesterday.”
For a nanosecond, Pam’s fingers froze over her keyboard. But then she glanced up, her eyes innocently
