Sam knew Cat’s drive and ambition matched his. That much was evident. And wouldn’t Sam do anything to complete an assignment? Even go against protocol? What about Cat? How far would she go to get what she wanted?
Unnerved by the direction of his thoughts, Sam stopped outside his lab. He slipped his card through the electronic lock and pushed it open with much more force than necessary. He was immediately greeted by his wide awake and active chimp.
His mood lightened. “Hey Rio, how’s it going girl?” He opened her cage and swung her to his hip. He signed, “Are you hungry?”
“Starving” was her answer. Sam chuckled, opened his backpack, and prepared Rio’s breakfast. Once Rio had been taken care of, Sam turned his attention to the teetering stack of papers on his desk.
He blew out an exasperated breath and sank into his chair. He hated this part of the job. He’d rather be cooking up a new serum…or testing said serum.
His assistant usually filled out all the forms and reports, but with her grandmother’s recent death, she’d been away from the lab for the past week.
Knowing the paperwork wasn’t about to take care of itself, Sam dug in, his attention focused on the presentation he’d give the Grant Governing Board once his testing was complete. If all went according to plan, he’d be presenting his findings next week and securing future grants for the center. He’d yet to figure out how to explain it to his Director, but he was hoping once the grant came through, Reginald would let him off with a warning. At least he hoped so.
Elbow deep in filling out reports and documenting his findings to date, the morning flew by. Before he knew it his stomach began to grumble. He’d packed a sandwich in his backpack, but Sam knew that wouldn’t sate his hunger. At that particular moment he had a craving for something else. And that something else was a vine-ripened, succulent orange.
Sam climbed from his chair and stretched. Maybe he’d shoot on over to the market and pick up a dozen oranges. As he threw his coat on and made his way to his door, a stack of mail caught his attention. Damn, it had been piling up for the last week. He picked it up and thumbed through it, stopping on the one and only envelope addressed directly to him.
He tore into it. His heart kicked into gear as he scanned the words. Shit. This was much more serious than he thought.
“Rio, come here.” Rio dropped the blocks she’d been playing with, and with Sam’s assistance, settled herself onto his hip.
As Sam read the note a second time, he pulled Rio in tighter. His anger flared and burned through him, his heart beat in a mad cadence. “Son of a bitch,” he whispered under his breath. No one threatened those he cared about and got away with it.
He rushed from the lab and made his way to the Director’s office. He found Reginald’s door ajar. Sam knocked and poked his head in.
“I need to talk to you,” Sam said.
Reginald waved him in. “Come in. I was just about to stop in to see you to discuss your research.”
Sam’s blood went cold. Shit. Had Reginald found out what he’d done last night? If so, they’d have to discuss it later. Right now he had more important things on his mind. Saving his ass would have to wait. Sam didn’t give the Director a chance to elaborate.
Without waiting for an opening, he rushed on. “I think we need to discuss this first.” After adjusting Rio on his hip, he handed Reginald the note. Agitated, Sam fisted his hands and explained, “Some son of a bitch out there,” he jerked his thumb toward the window, “threatened to kidnap Rio to keep her safe from my experiment. Jesus, what’s it going to take to get it through to them that Rio is my pet?”
Reginald frowned as he scanned the words. He twisted in his chair, the seat groaning under his weight. “Well this really puts a crimp into things.” He reached for the phone. “Time to contact Detective Doyle, I believe.”
Pacing, Sam listened as Reginald discussed the situation with Detective Doyle. He remembered him from a few years back when the lab had been broken into by their competitors. After Reginald relayed the information, he hung up and turned his attention to Sam.
“They’re on their way. I’ll handle it.” Reginald stood and walked over to his window. “Until they get to the bottom of this, I’d suggest you keep your eye on Rio and watch your back. Some of these protestors can get downright violent.”
Sam’s nostrils flared. “We’ll see about that.”
Reginald put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, a calming gesture. “Listen,” the Director said firmly, his voice laced with warning as though he read Sam’s intentions. “Don’t go out there. Let the police handle it. Lock Rio up in your lab, go get some fresh air, and cool off.”
Sam exhaled a resigned breath, knowing he needed to blow off some steam before he exploded and accosted a group of protestor’s. Not a great move to help his cause.
Heeding the Director’s advice, Sam secured Rio in her cage, took the elevator to the main lobby, and made his way to the underground parkade.
His mind raced with the unpleasant turn of events. He knew Rio would be safe at the lab, but what the hell would it take to get protestors off his back for Christ sake? He paused, giving it further thought. Perhaps another article by Cat would make a difference. Nothing had worked so far. Not even the news conference Reginald had held. Maybe asking her to write another piece was worth a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. After all, a second article redeeming him and his experiment couldn’t do any more harm.
Could it?
Sam maneuvered his Jeep into lunchtime traffic, taking a sharp left turn toward Cat’s newspaper
