Chapter Eleven
“How is your arm?” Iris asked after they’d climbed into bed.
Bec had cooked them a simple meal of frozen lasagna and garlic bread, but it had hit the spot.
After checking in with Secure Watch and giving Mina the names she’d gathered from Walter’s office, she had promised Mina to make Iris sleep for at least three hours before she was allowed back at the computer.
Now that the containment system was working, she’d like to gain access to the labs again, but if they couldn’t, at least the containment system would hold Ignis safely until she could.
“It’s feeling better already,” she promised the woman beside her in the dark. “I’m not just saying that, either. You were right about it getting infected, so I’m glad Selina showed up today.”
Iris turned on her side to take the arm and check it over. “Me, too. Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”
“Positive,” Bec promised, putting her hand over hers to stop it from fussing with the gauze. “Selina’s cream and medications did the trick. It’s funny, though. When I lived in the Amish community, my parents raised us around fires our entire childhood, and I never once got burned.”
“You’re Amish?”
Bec almost laughed until she remembered that Iris wouldn’t understand that she was laughing at her tone of voice and not her question. “Not anymore,” she clarified. “I left when I was sixteen.”
“Left? Like you can stop being Amish?”
“You can,” Bec said as Iris twined her fingers into hers. She suspected Iris didn’t realize she had done it, so she made sure not to move. “It’s frowned upon, of course, but when you turn sixteen, you’re allowed to experience the outside world without conforming to the religion or principles.”
“Rumsprouta. That’s not right,” she said, shaking her head.
“Close, though,” Bec said. “Rumspringa. I had been preparing for it since I was twelve and realized that I was gay.”
“I noticed the magnet,” Iris said. “I’m a member, too.”
“I saw the sticker on your laptop.”
“Lesbihonest, I didn’t need the magnet on your fridge, and you probably didn’t need the sticker on my laptop,” Iris said, snickering.
“Nope,” she agreed.
“I assume you can’t be gay and Amish?”
“Well, you can be, but you can’t be out of the closet, which means you’re miserable your entire life and then you die.”
“Jeez, that’s depressing. I may apologize for being a lot of things, but gay isn’t one of them. I’m sorry they made you feel that way.”
Bec smiled, squeezing her hand in agreement.
“Thank you. It wasn’t easy, but I knew I couldn’t live that way.
On the first day of my Rumspringa, I went to the public library and read about science and how it affects our world.
We weren’t taught much science in school, but what little they did teach us intrigued me, and I wanted to know more.
We were taught that being gay was a sin and something that only happened in other cultures, but science taught me that being gay is part of human nature and not just certain cultures.
I could never go back after learning the truth and feeling so deceived by my parents.
At that same library the next day, I saw a poster on their announcement board.
It was an open-door support group for gays and lesbians, and as I’m naturally curious, I decided to go.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what I was looking for when I walked through the doors, but by the time I left, I knew what I’d found.
An entire community of people who lived full lives in loving relationships who promised they would help me survive outside my family. ”
“That’s how you became a scientist?”
“To make a long story short, yes. Several couples let me live with them so I could go to high school and then college. They helped me get everything I didn’t have to survive in the world, like a social security number, vaccines and a job.
I was lucky. There are a lot of kids who can’t escape their religion or family to be their authentic selves.
I try to help as much as possible with Out to Innovate. They do so much for LGBTQ+ youth.”
“I knew you were smart, strong and brave, but I didn’t know how much until you shared that with me. Thank you.”
Bec turned on her side and slipped her hand up Iris’s cheek, stroking her temple with her thumb. Connecting with her when she wasn’t wearing her glasses was nice. She felt like she could see her beautiful soul for the first time. “I hope you understand I didn’t want to leave my family.”
“Of course, you didn’t. You wanted them to accept you for who you are, which wasn’t too much to ask. When they didn’t, you made the only choice you could. Look what you’ve done with your life since making that excruciating decision. I’m proud of you, Bec. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“I really want to kiss you right now,” she whispered, her thumb straying to Iris’s lips to rub across them.
“I wouldn’t object.”
Before Iris could finish the thought, Bec took her lips.
They were soft, warm and tasted of the sweet wine they’d had with dinner.
Just a little, she’d said as Bec poured, insisting they had to be clearheaded for work.
She was the furthest thing from clearheaded with Iris’s lips on hers, but she didn’t care.
She’d been dreaming about kissing Iris since she’d walked into her lab no more than a day ago.
Bec had never believed people when they said, “When you know, you know,” but how wrong she’d been.
The sweet way Iris sighed when Bec slipped her tongue along the edge of her lips told her she sensed it, too.
“You are the most unexpected part of this whole situation, Iris Knowles,” she said, kissing her way to the woman’s neck to rest her lips against her pulse. It was fast from their kiss, but it slowed the longer she caressed Iris’s collarbone with her thumb and tenderly kissed her skin.
“When I saw you on the screen, my heart slowed, and my anxiety disappeared for the first time in as long as I can remember. I didn’t know why, but I knew I’d do anything to help you.
I wondered if you were who I’d been looking for in life, but I struggled to believe that was possible—until we met.
The way you understood, accepted and didn’t judge me made you the first in my life ever to do that. ”
“That makes me sad, Iris,” Bec whispered, stroking her chest as she spoke. “We’re all different, but in the end, we’re all the same. We want to give love and be loved. That’s all any human wants.”
Iris slipped her hand under Bec’s shirt, cupping her rib cage with a silent question in her eyes. When Bec nodded, their lips connected, and so did their hearts.
* * *
IRIS FORCED HER concentration back on the screen as she tried to write a malware patch for the lab doors.
It wasn’t as imperative to have access to the labs now that they had the containment system working, but she would do what she could while the rest of the team tried to track down the money to use for ransom.
The last update she’d gotten from Cal was Mina had found one board member, Allen McCarthy of California.
He was currently out of the country, but they were conferring with him to explain why it was so important that the police weren’t called until after Walter was returned safely.
She still expected Bec to hear about this debacle from him or one of the other board members he was likely to contact.
Bec.
Her fingers strayed to her lips briefly before she forced them back to the keyboard.
After knowing her barely twenty-four hours, she’d made love to the gorgeous scientist. That was so not her MO.
Intimacy was usually tricky for her, but it wasn’t with Bec.
Natural. Unhurried. Romantic. Intimate. Those were all words she could use to describe making love to Bec.
She was gentle, understanding, patient and loving.
They had passed out in a tangle of limbs afterward, and when Iris woke about an hour ago, she hated to leave her.
Unfortunately, duty called, so she slipped from the bed without disturbing her.
The story Bec had told her about leaving her community and depending on others in an entirely new one kept running through her mind.
She had to have so much bravery and strength at such a young age to do something so drastic, yet she’d come out the other side a successful scientist. Everyone told Iris she was brave for what she’d gone through in life, but she didn’t have a choice.
Bec did, which made her so much braver for taking the step to go it alone.
Something caught her eye, and she stopped long enough to write it down.
Then she started again, surprised when she saw the same thing a few lines later.
Her heart rate picked up as she grabbed her tablet, took a shot of the computer screen and typed out a message to Mina before sending it.
If what she was seeing in the code was a signature, Mina would know faster than anyone.
In the meantime, she’d keep going, channeling the feel under her fingers of the labs clicking open as they unlocked, allowing them entrance.
She vowed to stop short of unlocking them, though.
She wanted Bec to be awake and ready to enter the lab to ensure all pathogens were safely tucked away.
The last thing she wanted was to have those doors slide open and something to spill out.
A shudder went through her, so she dropped her hands from the keyboard and walked to the restroom at the end of the hall.
Once done, she stopped in the break room for a coffee from the Keurig and a pastry that Cal had sent over from home base.
She was grateful he kept the room stocked for them since the Secure One team had set up their break room in the basement, so they didn’t have to announce themselves whenever they wanted coffee.
She had to admit it was easier on her nerves.
When she returned to her desk, her phone rang, so she grabbed it and swiped it open. “Secure Watch, India.”
“Secure Watch, Whiskey. I got your code.”
“Oh, good,” Iris said, spinning in her chair to stare at the screen again. “I’m hoping that’s Ace’s signature.”
“It could be, but I need more than this. I’m going to remote access your laptop, so save your work. I didn’t want to screw anything up.”
“You’re good to go,” she promised after hitting several keys. “Did you sort out the situation with the board?”
“We’re in the process. I’m convinced he understands the importance of the situation now, so once he contacts the rest of the board, we’ll work with them to get the money. It will be tight to get that much money so quickly.”
“You don’t think Walter is still alive, do you?” Iris asked, noting the tone of her voice. She was resigned, a surefire bet that Mina felt it was all in vain.
“I don’t know what to think,” she admitted, and Iris could hear her keyboard clicking on the line. “This was planned in a way that says whoever is behind it has a serious grudge against the facility or someone in it, but all of the previous scientists and employees check out.”
“At least the ones you can look into,” Iris pointed out. “We can’t access all of the files, making it harder to get the full picture.”
“That’s true, but I’ve been fortunate to reach out to some of the past scientists who gave me names of other employees they worked with at the time. I know it’s not a comprehensive list, but with our limitations, it’s better than nothing.”
“Did you talk to any of those new names?” Iris asked.
“I spoke with two of the scientists. When I asked why they left, they reiterated the same thing Bec had. Walter was difficult to work with as a colleague. He disliked working long hours and spent more time at home than in the facility. They didn’t want to say more, but the overall vibe was that management was a problem. ”
“I wonder why the board kept Walter on as their administrator when people were in and out like a revolving door.”
“I can’t say for certain, but I would bet none of them reported Walter’s inability to manage to be their reason for leaving.
That would only reflect poorly on them in the industry, and let’s face it, everyone knows everyone in that community.
Not to mention, I can’t imagine it would be easy to find well-qualified individuals who want to live isolated for years on end. If the—”
Mina paused and fell silent, but Iris knew her boss well enough not to hang up until she told her to.
Either she was hot on the trail, or she would have more questions for her.
Her mind returned to the woman downstairs, wondering if things would be awkward in the light of day.
Something told her it wouldn’t be. What they had shared was pure, open and honest, and when you share open communication, there’s nothing left to feel awkward about.
“What?” Mina asked, and Iris snapped to attention.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“I know. I’m asking what because the source code control system tells me this malware was written on a computer connected to the service inside the facility.”
“That’s not possible, Mina. There has to be a mistake,” Iris said, leaning forward to peer at her screen as though it held all the answers.
“There has to be. Give me ten, and I’ll call you back.”
The line went dead. Iris held the phone as the back of her neck prickled. Unless it wasn’t impossible. Maybe the person who wrote the code was sleeping off their lovemaking just below her feet.