Page 14 of Dream Mates
Though I had a feeling she was. I could smell her desire, her arousal, see the want in her blue-grey eyes. The only reason why I hadn’t pinned her to the bed sooner was that she seemed to be enjoying the game.
Certainly, I was.
It was enjoyable to woo someone again. Especially someone who clearly had never been courted properly. Delighting her always made my day. I’d even bought some gifts to give her up at the cabin.
And now…
My head bowed in defeat as I buttoned my shirt and changed my tie. The main reason why I’d stayed here in the office was because not only was the house empty, but her peachy scent waseverywhere.The couch. My office. The kitchen.
The air purifier wasn’t enough. I’d need to convince Brennan to have the house professionally de-scented.
No. I couldn’t think like that. She’d be back.
No, she wouldn’t.
I’d even combed over every inch of the little I had of my father’s research and all of mine, trying to see if there was anything helpful.
Any hope.
I’d even reached out to a few old contacts.
Nothing.
I’d obsessed over the door camera footage, trying to figure out what had happened, what I could glean from the situation. It was different from what I remembered, with my father. The twoofficers had identified themselves back then. Theyarrestedmy father and Dr. K. Then an entire team arrived.
This man never identified himself, he simply asked for Grace. He never arrested her, just repeatedly told her that they needed to go. That there was no time.
But clearly she hadn’t expected him, not with her cries and pleas. Also, she would have told us.
My shoulders slumped as I checked my emails. What I needed to do was to keep my promise to Brennan and figure out a way to explain Grace’s absence, so another investigation wasn’t opened.
“Spencer?” Mrs. K knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
She came in and set a cup of coffee and a container from the cafeteria on my desk. “There you go. Is everything okay? Is something wrong with Grace? I noticed that you pushed her start-date a week. Is she in the hospital again? You can go to her. Things will be fine if you leave for a bit. Family is important.”
I wished I could go to Grace. Hold her. Kiss her.
“It doesn’t matter. Thank you for bringing me breakfast.” Usually, I’d go to the cafeteria myself. It was good to be seen, and to talk to my employees. But I’d go down for lunch. Get my mind off everything.
“I… I got what you asked for,” she added. “I’ll bring it to you.”
She disappeared as I took a long drink of strong, black coffee. When she returned to my office she had a large, battered folder–and closed the door.
“Spencer, you know I love you like one of my children. I support you and your research. But what are you doing? You need to be careful, or you’ll end up like them. I shouldn’t even give this to you. Not that it’s much and probably won’t be helpful. Selfishly, I hope it’s not helpful.” She clutched the folder to her chest.
Mrs. K sunk into the seat on the other side of my desk, weathered hands still gripping the folder. “You should know the truth before you get too deep like they did. I tried to warn Demitra, but you know her–stubborn to the core. And, well, they were doing something good; illegal, but good.”
My heart thudded at her unexpected words. “What do you know?”
She set the folder on the table, but kept her hands on top of it, as if trying to trap the information inside. “I’m pretty sure the super collider explosion and their deaths were on purpose. You see, they were doing things they shouldn’t.”
Mrs. K knew. I didn’t think she had, since my mother knew little about the specifics of my father’s research.
“What were they doing?” I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know what I’d seen. Especially before discovering what knowledge she possessed.
“Things they weren’t supposed to. Things they were warned not to continue doing. I understand why they did it. They were helping people, good people, and giving them the life they deserved. But after that man showed up the first time, they didn’t stop. Or the second. Or the fourth. They trusted the network who said not to listen to them. They also took risks they shouldn’t, and then…” A sob ripped from her throat.
