Page 81 of Harrison Hyde and the Runaway Bride

The man’s face changed. He looked the way he’d look if he’d been dying of thirst, and Harrison had handed him a glass of ice water. All the tension left, his brows rose and he said, “That makes a lot of sense.”

It made no sense whatsoever. “I’m thinking the oil company with the patent on this would be way ahead of the game. Not just ahead of renewables, but ahead of all the other oil companies.”

Beckett stared at him. Harrison held his gaze without blinking. He imagined Maria’s uncles, staring down a black-hat in an old-west-style gunfight. He squared his shoulders, even pushed out his chest and lifted his chin. He would not blink or avert his eyes, because that was an honest cowboy thing. Right?

Abruptly, Beckett pivoted and left him, slamming the door behind him. Harrison got up, stretched his arms and walked around. It was working. So far, so good.

He paced, turned and paced back by the window, looked out and saw Maria’s face, between her cupped hands, looking in at him.

He almost shouted her name and clapped a hand over his own mouth.

The door opened, and he jumped out of his skin, turning fully before he landed. Then he moved opposite the window, and Beckett, facing him, said, “You nervous about somethin’?”

“Yeah, I’m nervous. Shoot me.” Had he really just said “shoot me” to a killer with a gun?

Beckett released a bark of laughter, though. “You’re funny, I’ll give you that.”

“Can you really get Carrie’s husband into that clinical trial, Mr. Beckett?” he asked to change the subject from taking lives to maybe saving one.

“I’ve done it before. No reason to think I can’t do it again. Offer to fully fund somebody’s next project, and they’ll bend a few rules for you.” He leaned out the door. “Carrie, git in here.” And when she came in, he said to Harrison, “Tell your idea again, so she can hear.”

Meeting her eyes, he repeated the ridiculous idea he had just presented to Beckett. Beckett was watching her face intently. It was creepy.

She listened, but he could tell she was also aware of Beckett’s perusal. And it made her nervous. “I’d have to see your methods, Harrison, but… yes.” She returned her gaze to Beckett’s. “It could work.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” Beckett asked.

“She didn’t know,” Harrison said before Carrie could have answered. “I’ve been keeping the notion to myself. You know, as soon as a new idea gets out, thirty people start working on the same thing, so…”

“Huh.” Beckett looked at Harrison and then at Carrie. Then he said, “Still don’t see why I need both of you.”

“Sir,” Harrison said. “It really does take a whole team to?—”

Beckett left the room, closed the door. Harrison didn’t hear the locks turn this time. Carrie glared at him. “Great! Just great! Now he’ll kill me and keep you!”

“No. Listen, if you can get outside, you can get away.” He wasn’t going to tell her his Maria was out there. He didn’t trust Carrie not to betray him to Beckett to stay in his favor.

“What do you mean?” Carrie asked.

“Are they keeping you prisoner?”

She looked at the door. “He didn’t lock the door, so no. Not yet.”

“Can you walk outside freely? Make up an excuse to go get something out of the car or…?”

“Yeah. I can do that.”

“When you get out, run toward the road out front,” he said. “If you stay toward the east there are boulders you can use for cover. And keep your hands in sight.”

She frowned at him, turned to the door, then turned back again. She pulled something from her jeans pocket. A key. “The prototype from the university is in a safe deposit box in El Paso. I don’t know what Beckett did with the one from your car. I’m sorry.”

Then she opened the door and stepped out into the kitchen. The big guy guarding the door said, “Boss said he’d be right back.”

“I know. He told me to get that box out of the car by the time he gets here. I’d better hurry, he’s not in a good mood.” She headed for the back exit. The guard didn’t try to stop her. He closed, but once again did not lock, Harrison’s door. Harrison prayed Carrie would get out.

Less than a minute ticked by before Beckett was coming in again, a bottle and three glasses in his hands. “Now, let’s talk this through,” he began, but then he looked around the room in alarm. “Where is she?”

Harrison shrugged.

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