“You’ve had time. You’ve had years. And now we have to go on as planned.”
“Listen to me!” There was a loud slap, as if Silas had banged his hand against the desk. “Something is wrong. I’m begging you. Give us time to fix it.”
“The prototype looks fine, Silas,” Garrett said. “It will be fine.”
“Hazel never would have done this.” There was a new edge to Silas’s voice. “She never would have compromised the future of this company out of pride.”
“Yes. But, unfortunately, Hazel is dead.” Kat could have sworn she felt Hale’s heart beat faster. “Now, you do have a point,” Garrett went on. “The prototype doesn’t work, and that does have to change things.”
“Of course it does,” Silas said.
“So I think I should probably let the man responsible go.”
“Excuse me?”
“Clean out your desk, Silas. It’s time for you to retire.”
“The board—”
“The board acts in an advisory capacity. And given what they’ve just seen, I’m certain they would advise me to show you the door. So there it is.”
“If you want to fire me, Mr. Garrett, I suppose I can’t stop you, but this is a mistake.”
“You’re right about one thing. You can’t stop me.”
A door slammed, and a moment later, Kat heard Garrett say, “Louise?”
“Yes, Mr. Garrett?” The assistant’s voice boomed through the office on speakerphone.
“Please let Human Resources know that Mr. Foster is no longer with Hale Industries. And call security. Tell them to be on the lookout. We don’t need any uninvited guests walking around.”
Kat tensed.
“Very well,” the woman said. “I have some forms that need your signature. Shall I bring them in?”
“No. I’ll come out there.”
The door opened and closed, and for a few seconds they were alone. Hale’s breath was warm on Kat’s skin. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest, and she wanted to kiss him, hold him, breathe him in. She wanted to go back to Argentina. For a split second, he looked down at her, and she knew he was feeling that way too. Anger and grief pounded together. There were too many emotions for such a small space, and the result was electric.
“Kat…” he sighed her name.
“I’m sorry, Hale. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. And I’m sorry…I’m just sorry, okay?”
He didn’t say it was okay. He didn’t tell her she was forgiven. He just sank to the cold, hard floor and pulled his knees to his chest, like a little boy hiding in his father’s closet.
They couldn’t leave without being heard, couldn’t turn on a light without being seen, so Kat joined him on the floor and whispered, “What do we do now?”
“We wait.”
Over the next several hours, they heard Garrett typing on his keyboard. He made a series of overseas calls and spoke badly accented Chinese and French, a little German that Kat was able to pick up. But mostly she just sat, waiting.
Eventually she felt herself leaning against Hale, and he didn’t protest. The night grew longer, and Kat’s head grew heavier, and at some point she must have rested on his chest. She closed her eyes. Hale’s arms were warm and comforting around her, and there was no place else she wanted to be.
“Kat.” Hale’s whisper broke into her thoughts, but she didn’t stir. “Kat.” He shook her shoulder. “I think he’s gone.”
Part of Kat knew she should have felt foolish for falling asleep on the job, but another part was so happy to have Hale’s arms around her, to feel his breath on her skin.
“Hi,” she told him.
“Hi, yourself,” he said.
Still half asleep and groggy, Kat squinted up through the shadows of the tiny space and into Hale’s eyes. It was the closest they’d been in weeks. Whatever had stood between them was lost in the shadows, and Kat felt Hale’s mouth press against hers. His fingers wove into her hair, holding her close, gripping her tightly. It was the hungriest kiss she’d ever known, and Kat let herself get lost in it. Forget. Tell herself that there was nothing they couldn’t do as long as they were together.
But, then again, they were currently trapped in a closet on the thirty-seventh floor of a well-secured high-rise in the middle of the night, so perhaps her judgment was lacking.
“Sorry,” Hale said, breaking the kiss and pulling away.
“No, Hale,” Kat said one more time, “I’m sorry. I should have told you about the will as soon as I heard.”
“Let’s just get out of here, okay?” He struggled to his feet and pressed an ear against the door. A moment later he was pushing out into the dark cold office and gesturing for Kat to follow.
The door was monitored by security, so they found a ceiling vent and made their escape that way, crawling until they reached another grate. Hale jumped down onto a desk below, and when Kat dropped, he caught her, held her there.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded.
“So what happens now?”
It was an excellent question, and Kat wasn’t quite sure how to answer.
“I think we’re going to need someone who knows more about the company than we do. Someone inside. Maybe your parents? Your mom seemed nice.”
“My mom’s a better con artist than I am.”
“What about Silas? We could tell him.”
A small light flickered on. “Tell me what?”
As a general rule, getting caught is never, ever good. It was the first rule of the family, so Kat didn’t know whether to feel ashamed or embarrassed, angry or relieved, as they stood on a gleaming stainless steel table in the big room.
“Silas, have you been here all night?” Kat asked.
His suit coat hung over the back of a chair, and his bow tie was loose around his neck. Papers and drawings were scattered on the desk in front of him, and Kat could see a half-empty takeout container and tall cup of coffee.
“Funny,” Silas said. “I could be asking the same of you.” In spite of the hour and the circumstances, he gave a nervous giggle. “If you don’t mind my saying, Mr. Hale. She’s a keeper.” He pointed in Kat’s direction.
It was undeniable, Kat thought. Silas was a dork. And Kat couldn’t help herself—she liked him. A lot.
In the pale light of a desk lamp, Kat watched Silas’s eyes as he looked around the room. There were polished tables and carefully organized workstations. Whiteboards covered one entire wall, each filled with mathematical formulas and chemical equations. It was a language Kat couldn’t begin to understand. But like any good con artist, Kat was fluent in the language of people.
“Silas,” she said, “what’s going on?”
“I love this lab. I am going to miss it now that I am no longer in your employ, Mr. Hale. Thought I’d pull one last all-nighter in here.” Silas studied Hale. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t surprised to hear that?”
“Garrett can’t do this,” Hale was saying. “He can’t just…fire you. You—”
“Created Genesis?” Silas filled in. “The product that didn’t work? The biggest embarrassment in the history of this company? Yes. I’m that guy. And I’m currently unemployed.” He gave an odd little bow, then added with a wink, “Of course, I’m also the guy who designed the security system, so they can’t keep me out. Yet.”
“So Genesis had a glitch,” Hale said. “It will work eventually.”
“No, Mr. Hale. It did work. It worked perfectly. In fact, the last time I spoke to your grandmother, it was to tell her that I was finished. I tested it myself. And then I put it in there.” He spun and pointed to a safe.
“Silas,” Hale said, “are you saying…”
“Whatever it was we saw at the launch, it wasn’t the prototype I made. No, sir. I just don’t know how anyone could have switched them. I kept the prototype locked up until the moment of the demonstration.” He walked over to the safe. “I just can’t figure out how they got inside this. It’s state of the art,” the man added.
“Do you mind?” Kat asked, and Silas stepped aside.
“What do you think?” Hale asked.
Kat ran a finger along the inner workings of the lock. “It’s been tampered with,” she said. “By someone pretty good.”