Page 56 of Moonstruck
The inside of the research facility was as sterile and boring as Atticus himself. It was all wood and chrome and linen-colored walls. It was like he’d put some kind of filter over the entire office that made even his employees look faded and drab.
The girl behind the desk raised her head, eyes widening when she saw Asa. “Um, hi. Are you looking for Atticus? I mean, Dr. Mulvaney? You’re his brother, right? One of the twins?”
Asa hit her with a grin. “Yes, can you let him know I’m here? I just need to borrow his office for ten minutes.”
The girl’s perfectly manicured fingers fumbled over the phone keys and then she spoke into her little headset. When she glanced back up at him, she gave a smile, revealing a slightly crooked bottom tooth. “You can go straight back. His office is past this door on the left.”
Asa nodded, taking Zane’s hand and practically dragging him down the hall. Despite this being Atticus’s office, he was still surprised to find Atticus in it. Asa stopped in the doorway so abruptly Zane ran into him. Atticus was usually in the lab. But he wasn’t wearing his lab coat.
“What are you doing here?” Asa asked.
Atticus arched one imperious brow. “This is my office. What are you doing here?”
Asa tugged Zane inside and closed the door, handing over the slightly clunky laptop. “I need to clone this hard drive so I can get it to Calliope.”
Atticus nodded, taking the computer and plugging it into the necessary equipment before opening the top and stopping short. “Password?”
Asa turned to Zane. “Do you know his password?”
Zane gave a humorless laugh. “His password was the same for everything: Borden1221.”
“Borden?”
Zane nodded. “As in Lizzie. Axed her parents to death? Gage used to joke it was aspirational. He had a very dark sense of humor. He would have liked you.”
Atticus typed in the password then gave a grunt of satisfaction that let Asa know it had worked.
After a few keystrokes, Atticus sat back. “This is going to take at least forty-five minutes. Have a seat.”
“Don’t you have to get back to the lab?”
Atticus looked Zane up and down. “It’s my lunch hour.”
Asa snorted. “Don’t you usually spend that sexting your husband?”
“He’s busy. Rush job,” Atticus said, his gaze dropping to where Asa held Zane’s hand. “This is him, huh?”
Asa sighed. “Zane, meet my brother, Atticus. Atticus, meet Zane.”
There was a long moment of silence while Asa waited for Atticus to start ranting about responsibility and protecting the family, but he just sighed, then said, “Nice to meet you, Zane. Welcome to the circus. Hope you know how to walk a tightrope.”
“I’m figuring it out as I go,” Zane said.
“Just a word of advice. You should probably invest in a good foundation to hide my brother’s…enthusiasm for you, before rumors start circulating that my brother here is an abusive partner. Also, if you betray us, they’ll never find your body. My father has some powerful friends. Friends who would kill a reporter and make it look like an accident.”
There it was. “Don’t threaten him,” Asa warned.
Atticus flicked his gaze to his brother then back to Zane. “He won’t be able to help you. These people…they’re looking at the big picture. The bigger plan for my father’s research. They won’t allow one person to ruin it. My father has a code, but they don’t. It would be in your best interest to show them, sooner rather than later, that you’re on our side.”
“What do you mean?” Zane asked. “How?”
“You’re a reporter, right?”
Zane shook his head. “I’m just a crime blogger.”
“What crimes have you been blogging about?”
Zane’s face paled, and his gaze darted to Asa, who asked, “Zane…what crimes have you been blogging about?”
