“Starved.”
Her arms appeared thinner, and there were hollows under her eyes. She’d probably lost weight in the three days she’d been here. Most of the time he kept her drugged, so she was easier to handle. Once she ate, she’d be sleepy again from the sedative mixed in the rice. He wrapped her hands around a bowl of rice and Spam.
She took it eagerly and began to cram it into her mouth. He gave her a cup of water as well. “Can I have another blanket? I’m freezing.”
This deep in the rain forest, the temperature was hovering around fifty-five, and the cabin had no heat. The cold and damp pierced deeply. “I’ll get you an extra blanket once I tie you up again.”
Tears spilled down her dirty cheeks. “Please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone I was kidnapped.”
He knew her better than that. She spilled her guts to anyone who would listen. She would have to die sooner or later. But not yet. The boss had plans for her.
Annie clicked save and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed the aching muscles at her neck, then glanced at the palm-tree clock on her desk. Nearly three. She’d skipped lunch so she should be able to go in another half hour. CeCe would still be at work, but by the time Annie hooked up with Mano and got to Kapa Technologies, she would just be getting off. Anxiety gnawed at her stomach. Where was Leilani? Surely she was okay. Annie had to keep believing that. She shut down her computer and went down the hall to tell Gina she was leaving at three thirty.
Her boss was kneeling on the floor with a watering pail in her hand. She saw Annie. “All done?”
“Yep. It’s saved on the server for you to look at.” She stepped forward and held out her hand to help Gina to her feet.
The older woman took her hand and struggled up. “I need to lose about ten pounds,” she muttered.
“You look great,” Annie said.
Gina smiled. “You’re nothing if not loyal, Annie. The last time I looked great was when I was your age. See these wrinkles?” She pointed to her eyes and smiled. “They show my age rather effectively.” She nodded toward the picture hanging on her wall. “On the day I was married, my husband said I looked like Aphrodite. I’m afraid I’m more like Medusa these days.”
“You’re beautiful still.” Annie turned to look at the picture, thinking it was Gina’s wedding picture, but it was an artist’s rendition of Greek gods and goddesses. On a shelf below the picture were several figurines of the same deities. “Who’s this one?” she asked, picking up a marble figurine.
“That’s Athena. Isn’t she beautiful? This is Apollo.” She picked up another figurine made from jade. “This is Nemesis. I picked her up in Athens last year. Isn’t she exquisitely made? I collect Greek mythology figurines to remember my heritage. She’s my favorite.”
Annie put it back and nodded. That answered the speculation in the office about Gina’s background and accent. “I was just leaving.” Gina could talk all day about her passion for Greek mythology, and Annie didn’t have time to listen. It was kind of cute though. The scientist enamored with myths.
Gina’s smile faded, and her expression grew more businesslike. “Jillian needs some help with her data. It’s not coming out right, and I suspect she has an Excel formula wrong. Can you give her a hand before you go?”
“I really don’t have time today. Can it wait? Leilani still isn’t home, and I wanted to talk to her best friend.”
Gina studied her face. “Aren’t the police working on it? What do you hope to accomplish?”
“The detective in charge still thinks she’s just off with friends.”
“That’s happened before, hasn’t it? I remember about a year ago when she left for a couple of weeks.”
“But she called then. We’ve heard nothing from her.” She told Gina about the weird phone call.
“I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Kids play with those machines all the time. Even Jason used to have one. I confiscated it when he played a practical joke on his grandmother. I need you to get your head together. The results of this project need to be ready for publication next month. I hate to play hardball, Annie, but some of our grant money is riding on this.”
“I know, I know.” Annie went toward the door. “I’ll give her a hand for a few minutes. I skipped lunch though, so I could leave early.”
Gina sighed. “Okay, you can leave at three thirty today, but I need you to start focusing. I’d find Leilani for you if I could, but sometimes we have to leave it to the professionals.”
Annie just nodded and went down the hall toward Jillian’s office. Jillian wore a frown and chewed on a pencil as she stared at her computer screen.
“I got the data entered,” Annie told her. “It’s on the server.”