Chapter 2
Douglas Sims waved to his new secretary as he left his outer office toward the patient ward.
She had been interviewed a week ago, and although she seemed competent, he was more interested in how attractive she was.
This Alexandria Jones chick was smoking hot and sexy as hell.
She was slim but had curves in the right places.
Plus, she had a set of tits that would make a man weep.
Oh, he would eventually try out the goods when he got a moment to breathe.
The Conglomerate was coming down on him hard to get results, and even though he was only leasing out his facility for the experiments and sneaking test subjects, he was looped in by association.
He slid his keycard into the reader, and the door to the secure wing opened.
Once that door shut, he walked to another door and repeated the process.
This was in place just in case a runner tried to make a break for it.
Sims Center for Mental and Emotional Health had a superior record for safety, and he was going to keep it that way.
Besides, no one got out when they were admitted until he said they could go, especially the men locked in the isolation rooms, men like Nathan Slade.
Douglas grinned as he thought of poor Nathan. He was about to visit the man.
Nathan was the only man currently in Project Euphoria because all the other candidates had died.
Mr. Slade, however, was a different story.
They could pump him full of drugs, and he’d still survive.
It was amazing to witness. Douglas was impressed with his resilience.
The man’s history included a handful of years of illegal drug use, and then some time using a concoction the Conglomerate gave him for a secret project Douglas was not privileged to.
The Conglomerate representative wouldn’t even tell him what was in the drugs they were giving Nathan, which pissed him off.
Regardless, Mr. Slade did indeed have one hell of a drug tolerance.
Douglas moved to the back of the secured area and used the key reader again to get through another set of doors to the isolation rooms. They were never used for regular patients anymore. The money the Conglomerate was pouring in from the test subjects more than made up for a few lost beds.
He passed a few of the subjects for Project Gaslight.
Douglas wasn’t given much information on it.
He only knew the project had been going on for over a decade, but this was the latest batch of drugs the Conglomerate was testing.
The whole thing was a lot more elaborate than trying different Conglomerate drug combos on people like Nathan.
This project required another room that the subject spent most of the day in and came out like zombies.
A Conglomerate representative ran it. Douglas provided the space.
Finally arriving at Nathan’s room, Douglas signaled two of the guards in black uniforms to come with him into the room.
They had to be careful about Nathan. He had already broken one of his guards’ arms trying to escape.
Due to that, they had to keep him sedated around the clock, but Douglas worried the man would build up a tolerance to that as well.
He peered into the window of the all-white room and noted that Nathan was on the floor, trying valiantly to crawl to his bed.
His hair and beard, which had already been long when he had been admitted two months ago, were even longer now and stringy.
He looked like a wild man, though if you looked into his eyes, he appeared dead inside.
Douglas almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.
“Give me ten cc of the new stuff,” Douglas said, holding out his hand impatiently. A capped syringe dropped into his hand. “Make sure you have the diazepam ready just in case. Don’t let him fool you. He can be violent if he’s up for it.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the men said.
The other took out a stun gun—just in case. He would hold back in the doorway in case the situation got ugly.
Douglas unlocked the room and stepped inside along the wall.
The smell hit him hard, and he realized that they were going to have to take Nathan out and get him and the room sanitized again.
It wouldn’t do for the guy to die of an infection because of unclean conditions.
However, it was extremely hard to bathe the guy or keep the room clean when he was constantly trying to kill you.
“Good morning, Mr. Slade!” Douglas said cheerfully. “We’re here for your next dose. I hope you don’t mind.”
Nathan lay there, his breathing labored. He was awake, but Douglas wondered if the guy could physically do anything or if he was too weak.
“Fu—fuck you,” Nathan croaked.
“That’s the spirit! Let’s get started.” Douglas turned to the guard who had followed him in. “Try to get the skin swabbed with an alcohol wipe. If you can’t, don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, sir,” the guy said.
The guard cautiously approached Nathan, a wipe in his hand. The other guard had stepped a bit further into the room, still aiming the stun gun at their patient. The first guard was able to swab Nathan’s arm without issue. It was when the needle came out that all hell broke loose.
Nathan swiped his arm around one of the guard’s legs, knocking him off balance enough that he tripped.
Then, Nathan was up enough that he tackled the man to the ground, wrestling with him for the syringe.
Douglas was amused at the display and let Nation think he was being productive until he almost had the syringe in his hands.
Then, Douglas nodded at the other guard, and the guy walked in and stunned the shit out of him.
Poor Nathan dropped like a log, the syringe falling with him. Douglas had to chuckle at the man’s expense. He loved to torture the guy. There was nothing like making him have a little hope and then smashing it all to pieces.
“Now, would you kindly administer the drug?” Douglas asked impatiently.
The first guard got up and quickly administered the medication. Nathan’s eyes closed, and his body went limp.
“Give him a sedative as well,” Douglas ordered. “We’ll get him and this shithole cleaned up—for my own sanity if nothing else.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said.
As they left the room, Douglas had to smile. Life was good. Money was coming in. His business was booming. He had a hot new secretary. And he got great entertainment at work. Things could not get better.
? ? ?
Alex sighed and stared out the window next to her desk at the Sims Center.
It had been one week since she had started at her new “job,” and it wasn’t as bad as she had expected.
After she forced Ryan to sit in a surveillance van around the clock for the first few days, she realized the place wasn’t bad.
Even Douglas Sims was on good behavior. It was like any office, and from what she knew, the medical areas were clean, efficient, and calm.
People came in and out without issue. Nothing appeared to be wrong.
Whatever was going on could be done off-site, or it could be clerical errors. This could all be for nothing.
Who was she kidding? When Miles had a hunch, he was always spot-on. However, she felt okay without Ryan hovering over her. She had a smartwatch with cell phone capabilities and GPS, as well as a panic button on her phone. She would be fine.
The job was mostly boring. This wasn’t the type of work she did at Gray Tower.
With Miles, she did everything: scheduled his day, ordered supplies, helped with mission planning, pored through HR files, took meeting notes, and helped with meeting presentations.
He relied on her, and she had top clearance.
If he was having a bad day, he’d talk to her about it.
If there was an issue between two employees, she could smooth things over.
It was a rewarding job, and she loved it.
Here, she sat at her desk, received the occasional phone call for Mr. Sims, notified him of a meeting (ones which she never attended), and kept up with his schedule.
Occasionally, he’d need something typed up or an email sent out.
Otherwise, she sat there. She should be grateful this operation was dull, but she longed for meaningful work. She wanted to be back at Gray Tower.
Right now, Alex had an assistant who was taking over for her.
The first assistant Mile had hired for her had been a bust. The woman was a bit older, and after a few incidents, it had been uncovered that the lady was jealous that Alex was in a high position at such a young age, working alongside a billionaire.
Schedules had been purposely altered to make Alex look bad.
The lady had been snippy with employees and clients alike, making it sound like it was Alex who had been the problem.
Unfortunately, when you’re on probation at a company like Gray Tower, working with sensitive information, you’re monitored.
Alex and Miles caught on quickly, and the lady was fired.
Luckily, she was only given the menial tasks when Alex had other things to do with Miles.
The woman never had any classified information. Regardless, it was still a disaster.
This new assistant was better, but she was only able to do so much while on a probationary period. Alex was missing so much, and Miles needed her help, even though he insisted that he was fine. She wanted to help, but he had firmly told her that she needed to focus on the Douglas Sims mission.
So, when she was done with her workday, she drove home to her big, empty house and had to find ways to keep herself busy.
Organizing and home improvements could only go so far.
Eventually, she had to be alone with herself, and that’s where she got into trouble.
She desperately wished she lived back at HQ.
Then, she would have other people to distract her.
Sure, Keira and her friend Sophie lived close. Her best friend in the entire world, Kat, was looking to move now that she was engaged. She worked at Gray Tower as well and was Head of IT Security. But they all had men, and Alex felt like a third wheel when she was around them.
Sighing, she shook her head and continued to stare out of the window. More work came throughout the day. Sims came in and out of his office, but otherwise, it was uneventful—that was, until the end of the day.
“Miss Jones, could you come see me before you leave?” Sims asked.
Alex couldn’t judge his tone. He was hard to read, and that made for a heck of a time trying to work with him.
“Yes, I’m coming,” she said, suddenly nervous.
What if he had caught onto her? No, that was silly. Most likely, he had some last-minute things he needed done.
She walked cautiously into Sims’ office, knocking slightly on the door to announce she was coming in. He was standing by his desk and jerked his head when he heard her come in.
“Miss Jones!” he said, sounding way too enthusiastic for the end of the day. “I’m glad you’re here. Please, shut the door. I have some things to discuss with you.”
Alex tensed. Why did he need the door closed? She didn’t like it, and she wasn’t going to do it. Instead, she took a step backward.
“Don’t worry,” he said, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. “It’s some…HR things I need to talk to you about, and I don’t need people hearing due to the sensitive nature of the…discussion.”
She still wasn’t convinced, so instead of shutting the door, she left it cracked. Just in case. Sims didn’t seem upset by what she did, so she felt better.
See? He knows you don’t feel comfortable and isn’t pushing anything, she told herself.
“How do you like it here so far, Miss Jones?” Sims asked politely as she inched her way over to his desk.
“It’s been good,” she said automatically.
“Good. Good.”
He strolled around his desk casually. His suit jacket was off, and he had rolled up his sleeves. Stopping in front of her, his brown eyes raked over her body. That was when Alex realized she was in trouble. She had seen that look too many times before, and it always meant problems.
“Mr. Sims, I don’t feel comfort—” Alex began, but Sims moved right in front of her.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Miss Jones,” he said huskily.
No, no, no! Alex thought as she took a step back.
She had to get the hell out of here, but she didn’t want to wreck the mission. What was she supposed to do?
Sims moved his hand so it brushed along Alex’s bare arm in one long stroke.
She tried to pull back, but he grabbed her other arm tightly.
Because her blouse was short-sleeved, she could feel his greasy hands on her arm and the burn of his grip.
Ugly flashbacks flickered through her mind, and she went catatonic.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
This could not happen again. Miles had promised.
When Alex’s world snapped back into focus, she watched in horror as Sims took his other hand and started unbuttoning her blouse.
“It’s time you thank me for giving you this job,” he said, his hand tightening on her arm.
Do something!
Years of self-defense training kicked in, and she snapped back into focus.
She yanked free of his grasp and kicked him as hard as she could in the balls.
Just for good measure, she brought her knee up before he could double over and wacked him in the nose.
She was taught to go for the most vulnerable places on a man: eyes, nose, knees, and especially the groin.
“Fucking bitch!” Sims yelled, though it was muffled through a bloody nose.
Alex took off, making her way out of the office, scooping up her purse, and heading toward the employee exit.
The hallways were clear. It was late, and most of the employees had left.
There were only security and a few nurses, and they were toward the patient area.
Alex was grateful. She didn’t run into anyone as she ran out the door.
Her loaner car was in the side lot where the employees parked. It was a no-frills blue Honda Accord—something that wouldn’t draw attention to herself. She suddenly wished she had her BMW M3 with her so she could drive as fast as she could away from here.
Getting out her phone as she moved quickly to her car, she flipped to her recent calls. She was about to hit Ryan’s number when, from out of nowhere, a large body hit her like a freight train. The cell phone tumbled out of her hand, and she shrieked.
A large hand covered her mouth, and before she could attempt to struggle, a man’s gravelly voice said, “Sorry, honey. This is how it has to be.”
A sharp sting hit her neck, and she felt woozy.
She would have fallen if it weren’t for the strong arms that were holding her up.
Then she was dragged to the front passenger door of her car.
She tried to focus, but everything went fuzzy.
Her eyes felt so heavy that she couldn’t keep them open anymore.
Then, her world went black.