Chapter 8
“Hey, Sloane!”
My little sister’s face fills the screen. She’s smiling so wide you’d think she discovered the cure for cancer.
“Happy to be home?” A burgundy red wall fills the screen behind her along with the corner of a framed black and white print. “Where are you?”
“We’re at Jimmy’s. Where’re you?”
“Hotel in D.C.”
The lie comes easily because I know it’s best for her, but since I’m on a video call, I need to be careful with how much of the frame behind me she can see.
The truth of my situation starkly contrasts with my lie. I’m on a lounge chair with thick white cushions. A lap pool stretches the length of the deck, and then beyond the tiled pool rim lies the Caribbean Ocean. The villa Arrow rented for us is in the exclusive, touristy section off of Bodden Town Road. The only time I’ve ever been to this section is when Sage visited, and I drove down here to let her see where all the rich vacationers stay.
“Are you safe there?” There’s worry in Sage’s trusting eyes.
Max doesn’t think we’re safe. He wants to leave but has agreed to stay until we confirm Dr. Kallio is safe. I’m smart enough to know he doesn’t really care one way or another if she’s safe. The only reason his employer is funding our continued stay on the island is they’re developing a plan for us to break into Origins Labs one night so I can access the server. They want to figure out who did this, too, as whoever is behind this killed one of their colleagues.
I can’t help but believe this is all a big misunderstanding. The work I am doing is important, but the aim is to save lives. Killing over research that will help humanity is contradictory.
“We’re safe,” Max’s voice cuts in.
“Where are you?” I ask, looking around for the growly guardian.
“Right here.” He’s sitting at a table behind me wearing shorts and a t-shirt one size too small. The material stretches over his shoulders and biceps.
“Can I have some privacy?” His presence disturbs my cognitive abilities. My thought processes simply don’t run as smoothly when he’s around, but especially since last night when he pretended to kiss me. Another lie, but it didn’t feel like a lie, and that, in and of itself, is perplexing.
“I’ll be right inside where I can see you,” he says, and I glare at him.
That’s not what I asked. I keep the phone close to my face so Sage can’t see what he’s wearing, but I don’t break my expressive reprimand. His clothes are appropriate for island wear, but not for D.C. And if Sage sees all those muscles, she might see what I see, that he would be an appropriate cover model, and then I would risk her teasing me. She loves to ask about my sex life. Not that I have one these days.
“Hey, Max,” Sage says from the phone.
“Hey there, Sagey Bean.” He hardly knows her well enough to apply a family nickname. “Is Knox there?”
“He went on a run.”
“Can you have him call me when he gets back?”
“Sure thing, Max.” Sage practically sings her answer to him.
The glass door slides closed. The sunrays reflect off the glass at a sharp angle and distort the interior view, but I can still make out the shape of Max’s torso. As I discovered last night, his very hard torso. Too hard. Like a brick wall.
“Where are you?” Sage asks.
“I just told you.”
“Why is Max going inside?”
“I’m on a balcony.”
“Is that safe?”
Are there even balconies on hotels in D.C.? I should’ve taken this call inside. “Sage, I want to hear about you. That’s why I called. How are you?”
“Why are you holding the phone so close to your face?”
“Sage. Are you taking your medicine?”
“You know I am.” She hates when I ask about her meds, but asking about her meds is a sure-fire distraction technique.
“Knox is still there. But he went running. Does that mean they think you’re safe?”
“I’m at Jimmy’s. And he’s here. I’m safe.”
“Where is Knox staying?”
“Jimmy put us up in his guest bedroom.”
“Us? Sage…Max said something about that. Are you having sex with Knox?” My sister doesn’t date. I tried to get her to have sex casually years ago because it’s fun, but she’s never shown any interest.
“I was planning on telling you but never got the chance.” She grins, and her cheeks flush. “We’re together. All of my dreams came true. I’ve never… Being with him is all I ever wanted. I know you’re going to tell me it’s all happened too fast, and it has, but I love him, Sloane. So much. I’ve never felt anything like this.”
“What birth control are you using?”
“Condoms.”
“Sage.” I pointedly stare at the phone screen. “That’s not an acceptable plan for you. The failure rate is too high. You need to see your gynecologist and ask for an IUD.”
“I will.”
Is she telling me the truth? She’s smiling. Does that mean she’s being truthful? I’m all for my little sister finally having sex. I like sex. But… “You could also ask the doctor about a hysterectomy. Or tubal ligation, I suppose.”
“Sloane.” She drawls out my name the way she does when she’s complaining about something I’ve said.
“Sage. I’m serious.”
“What if I want children?” My chest cinches.
“That is not advisable.” The screen on the phone flits from her face to the beige fringe of an oriental rug carpet. “Sage. Be smart. If you want children, you can adopt. That’s what Mom and Dad said.”
“There’s no reason for us to argue about this.” Her tone is noticeably less bright. “I’ll be careful. Knox said Max is going to stay with you during your meetings and then drive with you back here. Jimmy says to tell you he has another guest room. It’s in his basement. I think you’d like it. He has a desk with four monitors, and he said it’s all yours. He only uses it when he plays games, which isn’t as often these days.”
I don’t want to dig deeper into this lie. “Is your classroom ready?”
“It was all done by the time I got back. The other teachers and Jimmy did it for me. Next week, I’ll return to the classroom. I swear, it feels like these past few weeks have been the most surreal dream.”
She’s right. I long for my office in the lab. For my routine. Why did that man drug my water and lock me on a boat?
“What meetings do you have?”
Max didn’t tell me this part of the lie.
“Are you interviewing for jobs there? Weren’t you interested in an opportunity in the Richmond area?”
Job hunting. Yes, that works. “Yes, I’ll be doing some job hunting.” It’s a twist of the truth. If all goes well, I’ll be back at my old job, doing what I love.
“It seems to me Max likes you.” She didn’t even see him in his tight t-shirt, and she’s teasing me?
“He doesn’t. We kissed last night, and he’s been mean ever since.”
“You kissed!” Her squeal has me pushing the phone back, but then the scene widens and the glass doors behind my head enter the screen with the reflection of the Caribbean, and I bring it back up to my face.
“Tell me all about it.” She’s grinning again, beaming really.
“There’s nothing much to tell.” I think back to the way he pressed me against the wall and his plea to play along. And I did exactly what he said. I thought it was a good kiss. One of my better kisses, if not my best. “He’s been terse ever since it happened. Snappy.”
“Oh. Did you instigate the kiss?”
I roll my eyes. As if it matters who instigates it. I’ve come on to men and they’ve come on to me. In the past, every single time, the man became nicer to me. Max is different. He didn’t like our kiss. He didn’t enjoy kissing me. And that’s fine. It’s not like I expected he would want a relationship. I’m different, and I am absolutely okay with that. I thought we might have sex, but he’s not interested, and that’s fine.
“Sloane, don’t take it personally. He’s probably focused on the job at hand. You may be in D.C., but they still don’t know who’s doing all this. And he’s the only one with you right now, right?”
A seagull squawks off in the distance.
“What was that?”
“The television. Can I call you later?” My thumb hovers over the red circle, and I recall the most important thing. “And Sage. Go to the doctor, okay?”
My sister is different, too, but differently. She needs to be careful.
After we share I love yous, because Sage always wants to say, ‘I love you,’ the call ends. I set the phone down, and a mechanical whir sounds.
“How’s Sage?”
“She’s considering having children.”
“What?” Max’s jaw drops, but then he recovers and resumes his normal beefcake facade. “I mean, I know Knox is pretty serious about her.”
“She had a heart and lung transplant twelve years ago. It’s a risk she doesn’t need to take.”
“Knox mentioned something about that. Look, I can talk to him?—”
“It’s not up to him. It’s up to her. And she shouldn’t be considering it.”
“Well, sure, but they’re kind of new?—”
“It’s not about them. It’s about her. The doctors warned her.”
“They told her she can’t have kids?”
What did they say, exactly? Mom cried. She cried a lot back then. Of course, it all depends on how Sage is doing. She might be okay. I haven’t been to any of her medical appointments in years. A dull throb behind my temple commences, and I rub over the tender area. “Adoption is the safest option.”
“Well, look at that. Neither of you is choosing the safest option.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re insisting on breaking into this lab. That’s not safe.”
The worst that would happen is they file charges for breaking and entering. Unfortunately, nothing on my old laptop’s hard drives had anything of relevance. Also, none of my old laptops connect to Origins Laboratories. I’m not sure what they did with the laptop I left behind when I followed Anton Solonov out of the lab. If I could find my work laptop, that would be ideal. But the next best solution is getting on the network.
“Look at it from your sister’s side.” He pulls up a lounge chair. His shadow extends over my thigh. “Have you ever tried to do that?”
He’s talking about empathy. I overheard Mom once on a phone call. She was telling someone I struggle with empathy. That’s not true, though. I simply prefer to leave emotions out of any analysis. I find there is no struggle when emotions are removed from the equation.
Max releases a long-winded sigh as if I am paining him. “For some women, having children is important to them. It’s worth some risks. But I can understand how you wouldn’t want someone you love to take any risks.”
Sam was a soldier. He risked his life. He was both selfish and selfless. Two opposing notions, each dependent on perspective.
“You know, Sage wouldn’t want you here. She’d want the experts to handle it.”
He’s on that again. But they don’t know what they’re looking for.
But maybe he would be more empathetic with my purpose if I could show him. “Come inside with me.”