Krys looked at Morgan in surprise, amazed that he actually remembered that.
“Sure, sounds good to me,” Valri told him. She opened up her middle drawer and rummaged around until she found a thumb drive that Krys could use. “This should be all you need. It’s large enough to hold the contents of two entire computers.”
Accepting the small thumb drive, Krys looked around the lab. “Is there some place where I can sit?”
Valri indicated an unoccupied desk way over in the corner. “Jackson took a sick day,” she said, referring to one of the junior technicians who worked in the lab. “You’re free to use his desk.”
Krys flashed a smile, gathering up her laptop as well as the thumb drive. “This’ll only take a few minutes,” she promised.
Valri gestured around at her desk. “I’ll still be here.”
Krys walked quickly over to the unoccupied desk. The moment she was out of earshot, Valri looked at Morgan. “You realize that you owe me, right?”
“Isn’t helping to prevent murder part of your job description?” Morgan asked loftily.
“Yes, but these are all important cases. And my ‘job’ doesn’t mean that I have to drop everything that’s ahead of you in order to accommodate you. See this?” she asked, gesturing to the piles of papers that were all over her desk. “These are requests that are ahead of you and Nik’s twin over there.” She looked over toward where Krys had sat down and shook her head, silently marveling to herself. “I’ve seen twins before, but it’s positively eerie how much Krys looks exactly like Finn’s wife.”
“I know. When I first saw Krys, I thought it was Finn’s wife playing some sort of trick on me.”
“And you’re sure it’s not a trick?” she asked him. Because if it was, then for some reason the woman copying files onto that thumb drive had gone to great lengths to fool them.
“Oh, it’s not a trick. Trust me,” Morgan assured his cousin. “Krys brought me her car. The driver’s side window had been completely shot out and when I drove her to the hotel where she was staying so she could get her things, a black van came out of nowhere and narrowly missed running her over. It probably would have succeeded if I hadn’t pulled her out of the way at the last minute.”
“And she thinks that this ‘Bluebeard’ character she exposed is doing this now to get his revenge?” Valri guessed.
“Well, actually, he’s just one of the candidates,” Morgan told her.
Valri’s eyes widened. “There are more?” she questioned in surprise. “This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?”
“Full disclosure,” Morgan prefaced. “You should know that Krys is currently writing a multipart online series about a supposed miracle drug that Weatherly Pharmaceuticals is putting on the market soon. If successful, the drug stands to make the company and its investors a hell of a lot of money—that is, if it winds up living up to its hype.”
“Can it?” Valri asked.
“From what I gather, that’s exactly what Krys is challenging.” He watched Krys as she continued transferring files. He couldn’t get over how intent the blonde looked as she worked. And how totally removed from the situation she seemed. “Needless to say, there are undoubtedly people out there who are trying to get her to drop her investigation and just keep quiet.”
“Permanently quiet?” Valri asked.
It was his business not to get personally involved in cases, to keep his distance and view them all impartially so he could do what needed to be done to solve them. But he found himself drawn to the crusading journalist. The idea that someone was out there trying to silence her permanently bothered him as well as worried him.
“That would be my guess,” he told his cousin, trying to sound as if this was just another case he was trying to bring to a close. “All I know for sure is that someone tried to run her over and someone, most likely the same someone, took shots at her the day before that. Personally, I don’t think they’re going to just throw in the towel and give up.”
Valri nodded, taking in the expression on her cousin’s face. “You’re probably right. I’ll do my best to get you some answers.”
Morgan smiled and brushed a quick kiss on her cheek. “You’re the best.”
“Talk is cheap, Morgan. If you’re interested, I do accept all forms of tribute,” she reminded him as Krys walked back over to them.
She had her laptop tucked back into the backpack she had used to carry it. The strap was slung over her shoulder. In her hand she had the thumb drive that Valri had given her.
“Okay,” Krys announced. “Everything I have on that bloodthirsty madman is all on this drive.” She surrendered the thumb drive to Valri. “If you have any questions, or something doesn’t make sense to you, please call me. Anytime, day or night. Here, let me give you my cell number.”
Krys paused to write the number down on a nearby notepad. After tearing the paper off the pad, she offered it to Valri.
The latter took the paper. “I’ll give you a call if I find anything,” she promised both Krys and Morgan.
“Like I said, I do appreciate this,” Morgan told his cousin.
Valri nodded, then looked at the woman standing beside Morgan. “Nice meeting you, Not-Nik,” she said with a smile. “Stay close to this guy,” she advised, indicating Morgan. “If you can keep from strangling him, he will keep you safe.”
And with that, Valri got back to work. By the time the duo had reached the first door leading out of the computer lab, Valri’s mind was well immersed in her search to the exclusion of everything else.
“If anyone can locate this ‘Bluebeard’ character, it’s Valri,” Morgan told Krys. “She is really, really good at her job.”
“I’m sure
