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Jack glared at him, the mask cracking. “I’ll just teach him a lesson.”
“You need to calm down.”
“Calm down? If some asshole was making a move on Sophie, would you be calm?”
That was true. Men are such hypocrites.
“I’m going with you.”
* * *
Sophie was agitated.Derek had texted her that he and Jack were on their way. Earlier, he had requested a visitor’s clearance to the Divergent Research Zone which Sophie had approved and sent back immediately. Apparently, Jack had overheard Derek’s conversation with Maia. Braden was here, but Maia had left twenty minutes ago. Braden was stomping around in a foul mood. Did he really think Maia was going to give up the hotness that was Jack McCord for him? Braden was undoubtedly good-looking, but the devastating attractiveness of the MDI men stemmed from worldly experience, Braden had a decade or so to mature. Wait. Did she just include Derek in the devastatingly attractive category? Sophie sighed. Yes, she did.
* * *
“I told you,Maia, to stay away from that motherfucker,” Jack growled into his phone. Derek was driving. Trusting his friend behind the wheel right now was not a good idea. Jack was no less furious than he was forty-five minutes before. Waiting for security clearance was a tense thirty minutes, and his friend was ready to charge into Divergent Research Zone with or without it, but Derek managed to talk him down. Right now Jack was laying it on thickly with Maia, but judging from the conversation he could hear, his red-haired friend was still mouthing off to her husband. Derek was solidly on Jack’s side on this one.
“I left you to handle it, didn’t I? And see where that landed you? On—His—Fucking—Lap…No, stay away from Silver Fire, I’m handling it my way…Do not move your ass from AGS… Goddamn it Maia, you listen to me, you do not want to fuck with me right now, sweetheart…Fuck! Do not say it was just a kiss because imagining his lips on you is making my skin boil off…I shall deal with you later…Do not leave AGS HQ or I swear to god, Maia…I’m picking you up after I deal with Connelly. Be—Fucking—There.”
Jack ended the call and threw his phone on the dashboard.
“Damn woman…she keeps this up, she’ll find herself shackled to the bed,” Jack muttered.
“I’m surprised you haven’t done that already.”
“Oh, I’ve come close many times.” Jack’s smile was grim. “I’ve been patient with her, but she just does not clue in. She’s supposed to be aware of these things. I think she deliberately ignores the signs to avoid feeling uncomfortable where she works. Who knew her working locally would cause such issues.”
“Viktor keeps an eye on her.”
“Yeah, but she’s my responsibility now.”
Derek debated whether to tell Jack another tidbit. At first he decided against it, but because they were heading for a confrontation, it would be prudent to prepare Jack for information Braden might stupidly blurt out.
Derek exhaled deeply. “Jack, there’s something else you should know, but promise to keep your cool.”
His friend’s eyes narrowed warily. “What?”
“Braden told Maia he was not giving up.”
“Son of a bitch,” Jack growled. “Son of a bitch. Son of a bitch!” The last word exploded from his lips with such force as he hit the dashboard with the palm of his hand. “That’s it. Connelly is dead. Maia is never leaving the apartment again.”
Derek knew his friend’s words were rhetorical. At least he hoped they were. For all their sakes.
* * *
Jerry Stokes sethis cup of iced coffee on his desk at the guardhouse of Divergent Research Zone. Here in this isolated stretch of arid land, the air-conditioning was struggling to keep up with the stifling heat of the afternoon sun. There was a steady stream of visitors to the research zone today. There was also an alert from the management office regarding a computer hacking incident. The tech guys were still trying to assess the extent of the breach, so he and his partner were presently on high alert.
An emergency request for a visitor-pass had just filtered through. Normally, it would be denied because of the short notice, but since the MDI men were regular visitors to Silver Fire Research, it was approved with no problem.
A beat up panel van turned in from the main road and stopped just fifty feet from the guardhouse. Raising his binoculars, Stokes checked the licensed plate and told his partner to run it through their expected visitor log. It did not register.
“Maybe they took a wrong turn and are trying to figure out where they are?” His partner said. He could be right, they occasionally get cars that erroneously took the research center’s exit. Since the building was just off the I-95 exit, it was easy to give them directions to turn back.
A large commercial truck pulled up behind the van.
“This is strange, we have no deliveries this afternoon,” Stokes murmured.
“Yes, we only have—”
