Chapter Twenty

For the next three months, Nicky worked tirelessly toward the completion of the project. Her nerves were frayed. Harry had sent a message that no more transmissions were to be sent. All research processes and results were to be sealed and locked up, with an armed guard if necessary. There had been no explanation, but the directive had been enough for her parents to react immediately. The project had been jeopardized, that was all they needed to know.

“I made a pact with the devil, Nicky. Now I hope I’m going to redeem myself.” Jacob spoke clearly, but the volume was only enough for her to hear.

“I don’t understand, Jacob.”

“You wouldn’t; you never will…it’s not your nature, Nicky, and thank God for that.”

“Please, Jacob, what’s going on?”

“You wouldn’t understand my reasons, Nicky, and I’m glad. Glad that you came back, and happy that you have settled in so well again. Although I have seen a loneliness and longing in your eyes.”

Nicky drew in a deep breath and exhaled it as she spoke decisively. “Cut the bullshit, Jacob. What the hell is going on? Are you the reason we’re almost under house arrest?”

“No! No, I would never betray any confidences. You have to believe that. Not directly, anyway.”

“I do believe you, Jacob.” She smiled at him and pulled him closer until they lay forehead to forehead as they had as children.

“I fell in love, Nicky, and it reminded me that a good life was worth working for rather than selling out for the easy buck. I had to make up my mind what I really needed in life, not what others wanted.”

“I knew that.”

Jacob smiled and saw the matching smile of his friend. “You did? And how would you know?”

“Oh, I’d know, Jacob; I’d know. When are you going to admit that to the love of your life?”

He grinned broadly. “You make it sound so…so theatrical.”

“Love can be, didn’t anyone tell you that, Jacob? Mine was.”

“Ah, but you never admitted it, did you?”

Nicky gave him a sharp glance, the sadness evident in her eyes. “No, I never did.”

“It’s never too late, Nicky. If that person loves you, they’ll still be waiting.”

“I can only hope, Jacob. Someday maybe, who knows. It does make for a good story, though.”

“Nic, you’ve always been a fighter. Why stop now?” He wanted to see her completely happy.

“We’ll see. Give, who’s the love of your life?”

“Oh no, you tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.” The tension in the man eased a little.

Nicky said, “It’s a stalemate, then.”

“Guess so.

They both smiled, having a very good idea who the respective loves were. A telepath going by at that moment would pick up on two names: Harry and Evan.

“You’d better spill the beans on your problem, though, Jacob. I might be able to help you.”

Chapter Twenty-one

For three months, Harry and her lawyers had employed every stalling tactic they knew to keep their rivals from filing for approval with the federation. Their basis was the preliminary reports and the documentation that verified when Global Research Pharmaceuticals first began experiments. The failure of the Cole Corporation to prove that their findings were independently obtained at an earlier date gave Harry’s company a much needed reprieve. Despite the temporary victory, Harry knew that Cole’s registration was only a matter of time if they couldn’t find the leak.

Harry pored over the reports, and the people who had provided them, for the hundredth time. All of them appear to be squeaky clean, but that can’t be. I’m missing something; I know it. What could it be? Something niggled at her…a memory forgotten but not gone. It was back in the jungle when Nicky was tending to her ankle and Harry had asked her how she knew it was going to rain. Nicky replied, “You must look beyond the obvious, Harry. Never rule something out just because you can’t see it.”

Have we ruled people out because of who they are? Are there other circumstances we don’t know about? Time, I need more time and I don’t have it. Damn it. There must be something I can do.

Her eyes drifted to the picture of Abby and she smiled for the first time in hours. “What would you advise me to do, Abby? I could use a miracle. If you have a message from heaven for me, please share; I’d love to hear it.”

Stretching the aching muscles in her neck and shoulders, Harry considered that she might be staring defeat full in the face. Her team had worked long and hard to uncover evidence that someone from the camp had divulged information to the Cole Corporation. Nothing, absolutely nothing had been found to cast even a fraction of doubt on anyone. If she didn’t find something by the morning, she would have to make the call to the authorities. Their stay of execution would be over and they would accept Cole’s validation. At that point, Global would fall to Cole and his predatory ways.

Harry looked at her watch. It was eleven in the evening and she knew that even if she spent the night going over everything again, it would produce nothing. What she needed was to go home and sleep, if possible. Tomorrow would be a long day of meeting after meeting, culminating in possibly her final day as president of the company. She glanced around her office. It had been her home for the past three years and she would miss it a great deal. She would also miss the people she had worked with, particularly Sally and John. They would be kept on, she was sure. Cole wasn’t stupid; it was common knowledge GRP recruited only the best.

With a deep sigh, she got up and gathered up her jacket, purse, and briefcase. She opened the door, switched off the light, and headed down the small corridor that fronted John’s office as well as those of both of their PAs. She moved toward the elevator and was surprised to see that it was already moving upwards. Security guard doing his rounds probably. As the elevator doors opened, she was shocked to find someone completely unexpected.

“Ms. Aristides, I need to talk with you.”

Harry knew she was standing open-mouthed, just inches from Jacob. Finally finding her voice, she said, “Why would I want to talk with you?”

“When you hear what I have to say, I think you will be more than happy to talk with me.”

“There’s nothing you can say to me that I would want to listen to. And, frankly, isn’t it a little late in the evening for you to be coming here and asking for an appointment?”

“Okay, I know we didn’t exactly hit it off. Nicky said to tell you that you will want to speak with me. She gave me this note to give to you, if you were skeptical.” He passed over a folded piece of paper.

Harry opened it and scanned the contents. The note was brief, but was definitely in Nicky’s handwriting:

H, Jacob has valuable information. Please listen to what he has to say. He had to come himself, as I couldn’t trust anyone else. N

“Jacob, this better be good.” Harry waited for clarification.

“Oh yeah, it is good. In fact, I’d go one better and say it might be a life saver.”

What could he know that would be of interest to me and would warrant Nicky being involved? She looked at him skeptically, back at Nicky’s note, then turned away from Jacob. “You’d better follow me, then.”

He grinned as he walked quickly to keep up with her long strides and followed her into her office.