Page 15 of A Man of Prestige

I hang up and dial my boss as I walk toward my car.

“Commander Garcia,” he answers.

“Yes, Admiral?”

“You weren’t in the lab at oh seven hundred today.” His voice is disapproving, and I feel the anger rising in me. He can be a real hard-ass, but I also don’t give him much to complain about normally. Fucking Aiden. I would be on time if he hadn’t been such a dick.

“Yes, sir. I was feeling unwell this morning. I’m on my way in now,” I reply, hoping he doesn’t prod further.

“You should report that, then, so I know,” he chides.

“Of course, sir. I’ll make sure to note it. Can I help you with anything?”

“I was looking to see if you have your weekly report ready yet. I have a meeting this afternoon and wanted to present our latest information,” he says.

“I can have that for you in two hours, Admiral,” I assure him.

“I’ll expect it in my inbox then,” he replies and hangs up.

I groan. Admiral Blake is difficult to work with, always has been. If I didn’t get free rein to do my own side research projects, I would have never taken this gig.

I mutter under my breath as I walk to my car and drive the short distance to my office. By the time I get to my desk, I’m in a foul mood.

I take the elevators down to the bowels of the Pentagon, and when I reach my office, I march straight back to my desk with a muttered “hello” to Michelle who’s looking at samples under a microscope.

I plop down and boot up my computer. I get to work on the report first. The admiral has been wanting us to run labs on the latest samples of the sedative he’s developing in conjunction with the pharmaceutical company. He wants his own data on it.

I spend the next ninety minutes putting together graphs and making the report look perfect. I hit send, feeling proud of myself for putting together such a thorough data analysis summary in a short turnaround.

Michelle pops her head into my office. “Hey, I didn’t want to bother you, you looked busy. Did you get the emailed report?”

I rub my forehead. “Oh, uh,” I stammer as I open my inbox. “Yep. It’s here. Thanks.”

“Great. I figured you needed it. The admiral was muttering about some report he needed, but I didn’t know what you’d been working on, so I played dumb.”

I give her a small smile. “It’s fine. I just sent it,” I say absentmindedly until I process her words. She turns to leave. “Michelle?”

“Yeah?” she asks, as she spins back around to face me.

“Why did you think I needed the sample data for the report?”

“Oh,” she says frowning, “because…I mean, the data…it’s.” She pauses. “It is just another variation of the sedative sample, right?”

I neutralize my features, trying to remain calm, but inside, I’m freaking out. “Oh, right. Thanks again.”

Her frown disappears and she smiles. “Sure. No worries. We got some new samples in this morning. Should I start processing them?”

I nod. “Yes, please.”

She turns back around and heads into the laboratory.

I quickly pull up my email. I read through the information, and with each word and each line, I feel my pulse racing faster. Fuck. I need to talk to Aiden. Now.

Chapter9

Aiden

I’m sittingin Vivienne’s safe house, staring at the wall she’s posted photos and string on. Conner was not kidding. This place looks like she works at a police department from twenty years ago.

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