Page 31 of Savage Beauty

He’s talking about empathy. I overheard Mom once on a phone call. She was telling someone I struggle with empathy. That’s not true, though. I simply prefer to leave emotions out of any analysis. I find there is no struggle when emotions are removed from the equation.

Max releases a long-winded sigh as if I am paining him. “For some women, having children is important to them. It’s worth some risks. But I can understand how you wouldn’t want someone you love to take any risks.”

Sam was a soldier. He risked his life. He was both selfish and selfless. Two opposing notions, each dependent on perspective.

“You know, Sage wouldn’t want you here. She’d want the experts to handle it.”

He’s on that again. But they don’t know what they’re looking for.

But maybe he would be more empathetic with my purpose if I could show him. “Come inside with me.”

CHAPTER9

Max

Next to Sloane’s feet is the cardboard box we lifted from her apartment. Her toenails, like her fingernails, are bare and cut short with rounded edges. I was there when the nurse discussed the nails with Sage, or more correctly, I was sitting in the background, observing.

Much like I am now. Jack told me to keep an eye on her because he doesn’t trust she’s been completely open with us. I’m doing what he said, serving as both security and investigator.

She’s an interesting woman. Very different from my exes or my sister. She’s direct. There’s no guessing with her. She says her mind, and on the whole, that’s a huge relief. This assignment would be a ball of frustration if I had to probe to find out what’s bothering her.

The way she’s treating that box, you’d think there were diamonds inside. If I hadn’t prompted her, we would’ve left her place with only that box. What kind of woman needs to be reminded to pack make-up and shit? She’s an enigma. Wickedly intelligent by all accounts. Capable of being involved in a complicated crime? Acting innocent? No. Jack Sullivan is off base.

When we extracted Sloane from the compound, she’d been clean, but her nails were dirty and jagged. Sage asked the nurse for clippers and a file. She wanted to take care of her sister, and cleaning her nails was something she could do as she slept. I’d asked if Sloane ever did Sage’s nails, my thought being that if I snapped a photo, Sloane would get a kick out of the role reversal when she woke up, but Sage looked at me like the idea of Sloane doing nails was preposterous. She’d sort of laughed and then said no, not Sloane, and then she’d told me about how her mom did her nails when she’d been younger and in the hospital as a way to pass the time.

Sloane flips open a MacBook Pro. The only things in the box are laptops and a collection of chargers.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who is more my sister’s opposite. If that had been my sister’s apartment, I would’ve had to back our rental car up to the steps and load make-up, nail polish, picture frames, clothes, and every single one of those shoes. And Sloane’s priority was her box of laptops that other people would’ve donated, but she kept.

Of course, I don’t give away my laptops either. Security training covers all the risks.

While she’s absorbed with her laptop, I shoot off an update to the team that I didn’t find anything of interest in her apartment. I’m a little curious what’s on the hard drives on her laptops, but codebreaking isn’t one of my skills. If I see her enter a passcode, then I’ll try it out on some of these others, but unlike Jack, my gut says we can trust her. If she possessed something that would help us, she’d let us know.

As it is, her long, dark hair shines beneath the incoming sun’s rays. She tucks it behind each ear, but because she’s hunched over, smooth, silky strands fall past her ears, refusing to be held back.

Last night, she threw me. The kiss threw me. I mean, sure, I kissed her, but I planned on acting. Pressing my lips flat against hers and hovering over her. Pretending. Playing it off like we were two lovers.

This case is too messed up for us to throw in sex, too. The villa we’re in has two-bedroom suites upstairs. I took the one across from hers, insisting that our doors remain open. If she screamed during the night, I needed to hear her. Still, it wasn’t the safest. This set-up isn’t the safest.

If I didn’t want Knox to chase this thing with Sage, I’d tell him to get his ass here.

But Arrow has two contract workers on standby, and if I need them, they’ll get here quickly.

Jack wants me to get her into the lab. Let her get what she can off the server. Then he wants us to come home. But he’s agreed we need to do some surveillance first. We need to better understand what we’re dealing with at the lab. The hours. The security. See if anything’s changed since we performed surveillance a couple of weeks ago when we first got pulled into this case, searching for Sloane.

Stella’s currently scouring the island for a couple of nondescript cars we can rent. We need vehicles on the beat-up side that won’t warrant a second glance. Maybe a little salt rust to underscore it’s a local car. The plan is to park across the street from the employee parking lot, and we need a couple of vehicle options so we don’t get burned with familiarity.

Sloane will spend the day watching who is coming and going. We’ll gain her insights. Hopefully, we’ll see this Dr. Kallio she’s so concerned with. She’ll see that her boss sold her out and let authorities take this over, supported by the information she compiles.

The speed of clicking keys slows and stops with a crescendo of one crisp clack. She pushes the laptop over to me. “See.”

It’s a live camera feed. She’s logged in to a view of a hospital hallway.

“This is the ICU for the hospital where I interned one semester.”

“They have a public camera?”

“No. I just remember how to access it. When Sage was there, I got to know a lot of the employees. The nurses and doctors were busy, but the security and janitorial staff had more time. Look down this hall. This is where people come when they’ve run out of time. I login sometimes so I can remember what it feels like. Sometimes I’ll see family members crying. Pacing the hallway when either the maximum number of occupants are in the room or maybe they just need a break. Can’t keep it together. My mom and dad were like that. They had their Sage-face, and then they had their hallway tear-streaked face, the one that came out when they thought no one was watching. Sometimes you’ll see doctors and nurses running. Or you know there’s a DNR if they don’t run, they just walk. Over one hundred thousand people in the United States are waiting for organs right now. My research bent some laws, yes, but the reason is good.”

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