“It doesn’t have to be like that. I know Griffin is honest and wouldn’t intentionally set you up with anyone who wouldn’t want the best result from Night Watch.”
“Not intentionally,” he repeated. “But now the word is out about what I’m doing and how successful it’s proving to be. I tried to play it down, but the investigation is ongoing, and it’s attracting too much attention. It’s going to be a political football game, with me as the football.” He paused. “And one of the senators who was sitting at that table was Robert Lockart. I’d met him before he was elected to Congress. He’s an industrialist Dyle brought on board with your stem-cell procedure years ago. He was particularly interested in the commercial possibilities of it. He didn’t know anything about the work I’d done lately on Night Watch, but he was exceptionally interested today. To quote Mr. Shakespeare, he has a lean and hungry look.”
“But the government could protect you.”
“Could it? Look at the political system. The U.S. government and economy is just as bureaucratic and self-serving as Great Britain’s. Perhaps more. I can’t risk letting anyone else control my work. The project is nearly finished, and I won’t let it be hijacked, as Dyle was trying to do. The minute I sat down for that debriefing and watched the eagerness light up those faces, I knew what I was going to have to do.”
“Run away,” she whispered. “But that would have to only be the start. What else?”
“Set up a lab somewhere that’s safe from interference. Finish the final research myself. I have control of the patents, but I won’t file them until I have the version I need.”
“It would be very expensive.”
“I have the money. When I left London, I transferred all my funds to the Caymans. Once I leave here, I start looking for a place to set up a facility and get to work.”
It sounded simple. It wouldn’t be simple. There would be all sorts of land mines around every corner. It would be terribly difficult. “You’re positive this is necessary?”
“I’m not being paranoid. I sat there at that table, and it was déjà vu, Kendra. I could see it happening.”
And so could Kendra. Waldridge’s research was too tempting not to attract the supremely ugly as well as the good. “So when do you have to leave?”
“In the next few hours.” His voice was rueful. “I think that Griffin was ordered to put a guard at my hotel to ‘protect’ me. But I can probably slip away since they think I’m flattered by all the high-powered attention. I made that very clear.” He added ironically, “After all, I’m only a simple scientist. I just wanted to call and tell you what was happening. I won’t phone you again once I’m in the wind. There’s such a thing as plausible deniability.”
“I know.” She was trying to think. This was all wrong. She had thought it was over. After all he’d been through, Charles shouldn’t have to run again. She could see why he felt he had to do it, but he would be vulnerable. She hated the thought of him alone, perhaps hunted. “That’s a lawyer’s term. I’ve always hated it. People should just do what they think is right and shout it out.”
He chuckled. “Typical Kendra philosophy.” He paused. “I’ll miss it. If the situation weren’t this potentially hazardous, I might ask you to go on the run with me. It might make life interesting.”
“No, it wouldn’t. As soon as you set up your lab, I’d fade into the test tubes.”
“Incubators.”
“See? I’m already not up to your standard.”
“Wrong. You’re definitely up to any standard I could devise,” he said gently. “It’s been a singular experience, spending this time with you. In spite of everything, it’s been a grand adventure, hasn’t it, Kendra?”
“A grand adventure,” she repeated. “But then, that’s the way it started out with us.”
“True. And, when I’ve finished the project, I’ll be in touch and we can—”
“Charles, that’s not the way this is going down,” she interrupted. “You’re almost as clumsy at good-byes as I am. Only this isn’t life or death yet. And it doesn’t have to be, if it’s handled right. But your disappearing into the sunset is not handling it right.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“If what you say about those committee members is true, the minute you disappear, Griffin will be pressured into trying to find you. The FBI is very good at what it does. You might not even know when they’ve found you.”
“Surveillance? I’d be careful, Kendra.”
“And since you’re superintelligent, it might be fine. It might not. In any case, I’d be worried, and I’d prefer not to be.”
“I have to do this, Kendra.”
“I’m not trying to talk you out of it. I’m just saying that if you’re going to do it, it has to be done right.” She tossed her blanket aside, got out of bed, and disconnected her fluid IV. “Here’s what you do. Slip out of your hotel, take a taxi to the airport, and rent a car. Pick me up outside the hospital in an hour.”
“What?”