Page 74 of Lethal Game

Jason walked into the kitchen after getting off the phone with Flynn, more eager to see Alisa than he should be. He'd gotten out of bed early, thinking that was the best way to start off the day. Get his walls up and keep them up. But as soon as she'd walked into the den, he'd wanted to take her in his arms, and that's what he'd done. It was probably good Flynn had called, or they might have ended up back in the bedroom, and there was too much at stake to let that happen. Their momentary escape was over—at least for now.

Alisa was drinking coffee and buttering a waffle that had just popped out of the toaster. She gave him a wary and worried look. "Is there news about my dad?"

"They're still looking for him. And Henry Cavendish's condition is still critical but stable. He's hanging in there."

"That's good."

"My team also picked up Tatiana Guseva. She asked for a lawyer, but we're going to hold her as long as we can and put pressure on her to give up any information she has, if not on Novikov, perhaps others in his circle."

"It doesn't sound like anyone in Novikov's circle will ever speak against him. Why would they? They'll just end up dead, like Victor Kashin." She paused, giving him a thoughtful look. "Do you think Tatiana would speak to me, Jason? If she knew my father, maybe if she heard from me, she'd think of him as a human being again, maybe she'd care that it wasn't just the FBI looking for him but also his daughter, a daughter who loves him."

He could see how badly she wanted to help, but he knew it wouldn't work. "The fact she gave your father's location to Novikov doesn't suggest that she would care you're looking for him. Like Novikov, she probably thinks your father is a traitor and deserves whatever he gets."

"Well, I could still try."

"I'm not saying no, but I need to talk to her first, see where her head's at. If she's truly worried about dying of cancer, maybe she'll have a different perspective on the rest of her life."

"Like maybe she doesn't want to spend it in jail," Alisa suggested.

"Exactly. The other piece of news was that there was a break-in at Henry's lab last night. A janitor reported it to hospital security early this morning. Someone from my team went to the lab, and there are several canisters of hazardous materials missing."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. And Lauren Silenski is not at home. Her phone is also dead."

Alisa gave him a confused look. "I don't understand what part she has played in any of this. I never liked her, but what did she actually do?"

"I don't know, but maybe Tatiana or one of her friends saw potential in the lab when Tatiana was looking into clinical trials. They could have tried to buy someone off to get their hands on hazardous materials."

"Someone like Lauren?"

"Possibly. She also could have just disappeared after what happened to Henry. She might have been afraid they'd come after her."

"Maybe you can leverage the clinical trial to get Tatiana to talk," Alisa suggested. "If she doesn't tell you what she knows, she's out of the trial."

"That's pretty ruthless for a nurse."

"Well, we're dealing with ruthless people," she said without apology. "And if she's the one who outed my dad and put him in danger, I don't care what happens to her."

"I understand. I'll talk to her about everything, but I'm also concerned about what's missing from the lab. Whatever was taken is probably in Novikov's hands."

"And my father's," she said with a sigh.

"You should eat that waffle before it gets cold," he said, seeing her entire demeanor shift into the exhausted, terrified, overwhelmed woman he'd brought back from the motel lastnight. Their escape from reality was over. "Is there another waffle?"

"Yes, take this one. I'll pop another one in," she said, handing him the plate as she reached for the box of frozen waffles.

"Thanks." He was happy to put something in his stomach before they started what was probably going to be a grueling day.

"You're welcome." She gave him a wary look as she waited for the toaster to heat her waffle. "I know we agreed on no morning-after conversations."

"We should stick to that," he said quickly.

"I was just going to say it was really good." She gave a helpless shrug. "But I feel a little guilty that I spent the night enjoying myself and you and not…"

"Not what? There was nothing you could do last night to find your father or anything else. You know that, Alisa."

"It just feels a little wrong, but you were wonderful, and I don't regret it."

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