Kal pulled into Global Genetics, scanning the nearly empty lot for any sign of Trisk before bringing his car to a halt and turning off his headlights. It was just after six, the afternoon’s results party long since over, but the lights were still on in the third-floor offices. A few cars were scattered about, support staff and late-shift security, mostly. Everyone who hadn’t moved the celebration to Riverside Smokehouse had gone home.
“Except for Rick and Barbara,” he mused aloud, seeing his Cadillac and her flower-decaled VW bug in their reserved spots. The thought of the two of them engaging in a tryst came and went. Rick was a living vampire, and for all his playboy tendencies and looks, he was obviously close to the top of the hierarchy in his camarilla or he wouldn’t have gotten the job. That Rick would go to his early-fifties secretary to satisfy his mild bloodlust was ludicrous.
But odder things have happened, Kal thought as he got out. As expected, Daniel’s virus had worked perfectly, the airborne dispersal downing an entire building in Vietnam and allowing the U.S. forces to move in safely and take it with minimal shots fired. Global Genetics was celebrating, but Daniel had seemed distracted and uncaring that he’d just changed the world.
Smug, Kal strode to the main entrance, not needing to use his building pass to get in as it wasn’t quite after normal work hours. The two-story reception area was empty, the front desk dark. The sound of a vacuum cleaner fought with loud music echoing into the lobby. It was coming from the largest meeting room, both mahogany doors flung wide. That was where the results party had been, and Kal headed for it. If anyone would know where Rick was, Barbara would.
Sure enough, the woman was there amid the streamers and containers of potluck food, looking odd but in control in her tall boots and overdone makeup as she organized the cleanup to the tune of “Wild Thing.” “Dr. Kalamack!” she exclaimed when she saw him, her steps almost prissy as she went to take the arm off the record player. Smiling, she tugged on the vacuum cleaner cord until the man running it noticed and turned it off. “What brings you back? I think the interns moved the party to Riverside.”
“That’s where I’ve been, actually. I’m looking for Rick,” he said, and the woman wobbled closer on her high heels, clearly having had too much to drink. She touched her hair to make sure it was in place. Even though her baby-blue vinyl dress was too young for her, her white calf-high boots and tall hair helped her pull off the look.
“I haven’t seen him since he got that long-distance call and barricaded himself in his office,” she said, flushed and fanning herself. “There was a miscalculation in the dosage, and he’s taking hell for it.” Barbara stopped before him, having to look up as she gave him her most fetching smile. “Phew, I’m tired,” she said, gently rubbing her neck. “Just can’t party like I used to.”
She turned to the cleanup crew moving toward the open bar, and Kal’s smile went stilted when he saw the beginnings of a rash on her neck. “Stay away from that booze until I get the cart over here!” she yelled, then turned back. “I’ll find him if you like. He’s probably still here.”
“He is,” he said lightly, inching away from her. “His car is still in the lot. If you see him, tell him I’m looking for him. I’ll be in my office for a few hours.”
“It’s Friday, Dr. Kalamack!” Barbara said enthusiastically. “You should be at Riverside Smokehouse with the kids.”
Kal glanced at the cake, CONGRATULATIONS DANIEL still legible in red icing. “No rest for the wicked,” he said as he took a piece already cut and waiting on a paper plate. “Go home, Barbara. Someone else can clean this up.”
“Soon as I get that alcohol back in Rick’s office,” she said, a thin finger moving between her neck and collar. “Have a nice weekend, Dr. Kalamack.”
“Thanks, Barb. See you Monday.” Careful not to spill the cake, Kal headed for the lobby. His thoughts spun as he strode to the elevator and hit the down button. She’d been exposed. But how? He’d only infected Trisk’s underground field.
Curious, he thought as the doors opened and he got in. Barbara seldom went downstairs. Something or someone had brought it up. Daniel’s clean-room practices were better than that, but the virus had gotten out somehow. The tomatoes? he wondered, seeing as they hadn’t been clean-room protected in over a year. Hell, he’d seen Trisk’s assistant put a basket of them by the front door yesterday for people to take home.