Page 12 of Sinner
Six
Flint followed Mao past reception,beyond the frosted barrier and down a corridor where two GI Joes guarded a door. Man, they were bad-asses. Neither blinked until Mao explained Flint’s purpose for being there, and then they sized him up. It seemed Gloria was the magic word. Mao used the retinal scanner and the door behind them opened.
Inside was another lab, much like Flint had imagined. Two desks with a computer sat near a medical bed surrounded by surgical equipment. Shelves with more animal specimens. Insects. Slimy things. Furry things. A small kitchenette to another side. Bright LED lighting throughout. The room was a cross between a research laboratory and an operating theater.
What really surprised Flint was the two-way mirror on the far wall and the empty living quarters behind it.
Then he saw.
Baby bassinets and cots. Four of them, lined in a row, and another three small beds. Seven in total. His gut wrenched and his gaze traveled over the room. What the—?
“Thank you, Mao,” came a feminine voice from Flint’s side, making him jolt. “You can leave.”
Flint’s gaze swung to his left where Gloria stood. He was struck by her beautiful skin so pale he could almost see through it. Probably from hours spent working indoors. Maybe a few exfoliations. Whatever women did. Her eyes rivaled the Sister’s in size and, yet, it fit together with her wide lips perfectly. Too perfect. It was the kind of beauty that made it hard to form lasting connections. Women wanted to be her, and men wanted to keep her… and then his eyes snagged on her swollen belly and his already twisted gut pulled into a knot. Fuck. Shit. He had a bad feeling about this. The pregnancy. The children’s furniture…
But then, Sister Mary Margaret stepped up and smiled at him, and his unease relaxed. Hers was a different kind of beauty to Gloria. She was calming, natural, confident. Surely if a nun was involved in this project, it couldn’t be all bad.
Mao left the room, leaving a charged atmosphere.
Flint fumbled with the gadget in his pocket.
“Please, sit,” Gloria said and gestured to a chair at her desk. With the help of the Sister, she lowered her awkward body into her seat and then patted the nun’s hand. “Thank you, Mary.”
Flint noticed straight away that Gloria omitted the nun’s official title. Just Mary? What the fuck was going on?
Mary gave Gloria a sweet smile and took a position behind her, standing at her shoulder like a soldier on guard.
Flint sat down as indicated. His grip on his gadget tightened. His knuckles whitened.
“Why am I here?” he asked.
“You are here, Mr. Fydler, because we want to hire you.” Gloria opened a notebook on her desk and wrote down something on a blank page. His name. The date. A bullet point.
He frowned. “Aren’t I already employed by Biolum Industries?”
“This is true, but… call this a promotion then.”
Flint’s immediate elation was dampened with logic. Something felt off about this. The gnawing feeling inside didn’t like what he saw through that two-way. If he worked here, what would he have to become?
“Despite receiving a glowing recommendation from Mary, I need to do my due diligence. I’d like to ask you a few questions, first. Make sure you are the right man for the job.”
Flint’s eyebrows lifted and he glanced at Mary. A glowing recommendation? For a brief moment his disbelief was tempered as she held his gaze with steady eyes, but then she glanced at Gloria’s notes.
This must be some weird, whacked out dream because there was no way in hell he’d work for a company making children in some evil Dr. Seuss lab. There was no way Mary would be involved in something like that. Doubt danced around the edges of his mind. That coded letter… What if he was wrong?
“Please tell me about yourself, Mr. Fydler—”
“Flint, please.”
“—okay, Flint.” Gloria wrote, taking special care to dot the i and cross the t.
He shifted in his seat. “What do you want to know?”
“Start with how long you’ve been working at Biolum?”
“Since the Project started. Eight or so years.”
Gloria scribbled. “And what is it you do here?”
