Kyle was silent for a moment. “But why do it at all?”
“To disable it before someone goes up there to do real work.” Which was true but not her main motive. “And to bring some attention to that building. Here. Out of the suit. We’ll put you in jeans with a T-shirt and vest. Keep the other vest on.”
Kyle took the items without argument but he looked unsettled.
She didn’t blame him. Of course there were doubts. Especially in a heavily populated area like a city, she figured an operative good enough to hide the evidence of their presence the way they did would also be sure to limit collateral damage unless absolutely necessary. It was a gamble, but it was almost certain she was right.
And she needed the police to investigate that building. And the fact that it’d been an explosion and not just a broken elevator added to her suspicions.
Safeguard had crossed paths with another skilled sniper not too long ago, one with an added joy for setting up explosives. The presence of explosives right here in combination with the connection to Phoenix Biotech was starting to point to Edict.
And Jewel.
Which meant Lizzy needed to take steps to confirm or rule out the possibility. Gabe would need to know for certain if this was more of Jewel’s work. This was a lead, but it wasn’t irrefutable. Lizzy liked to dig until she had the clear picture.
She needed more pieces to the puzzle.
It took her just a minute to change, clip a few dyed hair extensions into her hair, then twist it into a bun. With a cute cap on and just the hair extensions falling in loose curls, her look was sufficiently changed. She also pulled on jeans over the tight dress she’d been wearing and threw on a jacket.
Done, she exited the bathroom and tapped on the men’s room door. Kyle emerged a few seconds later.
“I don’t think I want coffee after all. Let’s go. We’ll pick up a late lunch on the way back.” She took his hand in hers and they proceeded to stroll out onto the street.
Sirens announced the arrival of police cars and they stopped to stare along with everyone else before heading toward Pike Place Market.
“What’s next?” Kyle adjusted his hand in hers until their fingers were linked.
A funny butterflies-in-the-belly feeling tickled her and she immediately decided to ignore it. “Lunch. Like I said. And some thinking.”
He released her hand and a pang of disappointment hit her just as quickly as the butterflies had happened. Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, whispering in her ear. “There was a bomb in the elevator I wanted to get into a few minutes ago. That doesn’t bother you at all?”
It was a fair question. Normal people would probably be very unsettled. Some of the people who worked in the building would probably be seriously freaked out.
“We weren’t in it. It’s been set off before someone else triggered it.” She turned her face toward his and pressed a kiss against his jaw, playfully. “I call it a win-win situation.”
Chapter Thirteen
There were few greater challenges than to put a project manager in the midst of events he could not control. For Kyle, it was torture, and he was back in the hotel room.
Alone.
Lizzy had stepped out soon after they’d returned and no amount of argument could convince her to take him with her this time. In fact, she’d seemed very much prepared to restrain him if necessary. Not something he generally found exciting but the threat, coming from her, had given him a few lightning quick fantasies as distraction.
Ah, the woman was delightfully uncommon. He was oddly grateful he’d met her now, in the midst of change, as opposed to prior to this insanity when he might have wasted the opportunity to get to her know her on a one-night stand.
That was, of course, assuming she’d have accepted his offer.
She was too sensual, too full of vitality to be the type to abstain. No. He was certain she did entertain propositions on occasion. But he was also equally sure she chose her trysts with more care than he had in the past.
Restless, Kyle rose from the bed and walked across the room, stopping in front of the fishbowl. Frederick swam in lazy circles, stopping only here and there to pick at the colorful gravel in the bottom of the bowl.
There had been conference rooms at Phoenix Biotech casually referred to as fishbowls. All four walls had been made entirely of glass with minimal or no frosted section to provide any sort of privacy for groups utilizing them. The fishbowl conference rooms had normally been on the executive levels, ostensibly to allow natural light farther into the interior of the floor. But it was more obvious that the company had taken transparency very literally and the executives kept an eye on everything.