Page 51 of CHOICE Lover
The sarcasm in the man’s voice sends a chill through Res6. Does he know Electra’s real? How?
His lackey obeys, reluctantly moving one cautious step at a time until he’s a few feet away from Res6. Free, he quickly gathers the remaining cases and sets them in the hallway.
“Sparkler on the floor,” the leader demands. “If you take too long, my finger might slip.”
When Electra whimpers again, he knows he doesn’t have a choice. The sound of her distress is too much this time. He’d do anything to stop it, including letting the men take anything they want from this building, as long as it’s not her. He slowly lowers the weapon to the floor. One of them picks it up. Res6 starts as it digs into his back.
“The layout shows a storage closet this way,” the leader says. “Move.” Then he shoots the locking mechanism, effectively locking the lab techs in.
He thinks,Bexly seems to be okay, but needs medical attention. Where are the police?
He hearsThey’ll be here any minute, sir. Hold on.
Res6 glances at Electra, hoping his falsely calm expression is enough to ease her worry. If the criminals wanted to kill them, they would have done it already. They spared Bexly and the lab techs.
The robbers walk them to a nondescript door. The man behind him wrenches the door open, pushing him inside. As he stumbles forward, the sparkler clicks. A misfire? The man says, “Oops,” as two green bolts hit the wall beside Res6. The third strikes the back of his thigh, and heyelps. His vision darkens, but he clings to the edges. “Electra! Give her to me.” He staggers forward, grasping for the doorframe, as darkness overtakes his vision.
“Let me go,” she cries, then she crashes into him.
He releases the doorframe and draws her into his arms. “If you’re going to lock us in too, do it, then leave.”
The larger man with the broken nose, presumably the shooter, shoves them back into the cramped space. As his back hits the wall, the door slams. There’s another series of shots; the mechanism has been disabled, locking them inside.
Electra is finally in his arms. The taste he got after the horseback riding fiasco wasn’t enough because this feels incredible. Addictive. So right, despite her trembling. Just knowing she’s safe is enough for him to keep it together. “Shh.” He tries to calm her quiet weeping, cradling her tighter into his chest. “The police are coming. Security will search the building. They’ll see the blown locks and get us out. We’re safe now.”
“Is your leg okay?” she asks, sniffling.
“It’s fine.”
She must sense his lie because she tries to pull away, but he doesn’t let her.I’m never letting you go.
They stand huddled against the wall until she says, “I need to sit.” She’s shaky, but it’s clearly for his benefit.
He slides down the wall, pulling her into his lap like it’s the most natural thing in the world. He heaves a sigh of relief as the throbbing ache of the sparkler burn eases. The feel of her against him warms him so thoroughly, he feels like he might catch fire. What was he thinking denying himself this pleasure?
“Why is this happening?” she asks. “I thought the future was safer, at least indoors.”
“It is. But we have precious resources here. I think they were after genetic material.” But they had no way of knowing which liquid nitrogen dewars stored the cryovials containing Electra and Jerme’s organic specimens. A pang of dread hits him. They had Bexly in the BioBank. Bexly could access the Laboratory Information Management System, or LIMS, and point them to any specific DNA they were looking for.
“Those silver cases they were carrying?” she asks, nuzzling into his chest. It feels unbelievable. She’s unharmed and nestled in his embrace. It’s almost enough to make him forget about the ache radiating from his thigh or the implications of the robbery.
“Yes, those are temperature-regulated cases meant for stabilizing organic materials at their perfect temperature as they’re transported,” he supplies.
“But who would be after your organic material?”
“Considering our security system is near impenetrable, it has to be someone who works for me who has a high level of clearance.” A lab tech? Someone recently promoted?
“Maybe it isn’t what you think,” she says.
“I wish I could be as optimistic as you.” Because how else would they know, in a full tower’s worth of floors, which one held the BioBank? It’s not like the layout of his company is public knowledge. Unless they got to Bexly first.
“I’m sorry they got away because of me,” she says, glancing up at him. He can faintly make out the concerned expression on her lovely face.
He should be focusing on comforting her, yet he’s stewing over his company. This proves how terrible he is at caring for others. Jerme would probably attest to that. That’s why it will be so much better when his brother is back.
“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”And I’ve already endangered you by bringing you to the lab for scans.
“But if it’s really DNA they’re after, it could hurt your company,” she says.
