Chasing Victory (The Winters Sisters) (11 page)

“Hey Doc, great ride,” he threw his arms around her like they were long lost friends and hugged her. Two sensations ran through him; first, that same zip of electricity he felt at the dog show when he caught Victory sizzled up his spine, and second, she stiffened in his arms the instant he touched her. Seems she really didn’t trust him and he was in for a challenge. He whispered in her ear “don’t forget, I’m here to help you, so lean on me, act like we’ve known each other for years and that you like me.” With that he pulled away.

Victory’s questioning gaze locked into the depths of his familiar violet eyes, but she recovered quickly. Smiling brightly, she leaned in to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Glad you enjoyed it. I know what a thrill seeker you are,” Victory said.

“Okay you two, enough with the hellos, get in the damn helicopter,” came a gruff voice from inside the craft.

Victory abruptly went rigid; an icy chill flooded her entire body. Suddenly that day in the forest played back in her mind, the blast of the bullets, making Victory startle. She spun back around towards Tristan with a shocked look and mouthed the words “he shot Jeffery.”

Tristan looked inside the chopper. Jerry was busying himself with the pilot. Tristan took Victory’s hand and whispered, “put that out of your mind for now, you can do this. You can’t let him know that you know.” Jerry turned from the pilot and refocused his attention back on them.

“Let’s go! We’re burning daylight and fuel. You’ll have all the time in the world to catch up when you get there. Get your butts in this chopper right now.”

Tristan made sure that he got in first to place himself between Jerry and Victory, then reaching out his hand he helped Victory inside. For the entire trip she kept her attention on the scenery out the window or on Tristan.

“As you can see we have the entire place to ourselves.” Jerry said as they approached the island. “The company bought the lab along with the island; it makes for the ultimate facility to do R and D.” The helicopter took one pass around the small island and then landed on the helo pad inside the main gate. “Everything you need for your work will be provided in the lab,” Jerry said.

A Hawaiian boy approached them as they got out of the helicopter. “This is where we part ways. Go with Andy, he will show you both to your rooms.” Jerry reached into the helicopter, grabbed his bag and walked away.

“Guess, security isn’t an issue here,” Tristan mumbled.

“This way,” Andy said gesturing with his arm. “I will take you to your rooms. You can get settled.” Victory and Tristan followed along behind.

“So Andy, how long have you worked here?” Tristan asked casually.

“I helped build the place,” he responded.

“Really. So you must live on the island.”

“I used to. But when Biotec bought the island they moved my whole village to the next island over. The elders were upset at first, until they saw the new village that was built for us.”

Tristan and Victory glanced at one another. “So, you think Biotec is pretty great people,” Tristan said.

“The elders think so,” Andy responded. “Here are your rooms. Miss Winters you are here, and Mr. Grant you are across the walkway,” Andy informed them as he handed each of them a key card. “If you need anything else there is an inter-island phone in your room, press 0 to reach me.” He gave them a slight bow and turned and left.

Victory stood silently staring down at her key card. “You look beat. Why don’t you go in and get settled, take a nap for a couple of hours. I’ll find out where and when dinner is and wake you later this evening,” Tristan said gently leading her towards the door to her room.

Victory glanced up at Tristan. “Shouldn’t we talk?”

“We will have plenty of time for that. Besides this is not the place or time.” Tristan stepped closed and hugged her. Again he felt her tense in his arms. “The walls may have ears,” he murmured. “I need to get the lay of the land.” Then he backed away from her. “Really Victory, I won’t let you miss dinner. I’ll come and wake you in a few hours. Go and rest now, you’re no good to anyone when you’re this worn out.” He smiled at her as if he had known her for years.

“I guess you’re right. Promise you won’t forget me. I know how you get when a meal is on the line.” She tilted her head up to look into his smoldering eyes, the molten violet color intensifying to a midnight blue. A shy smile lifted the left corner of her mouth.

Tristan could swear his pulse almost doubled as he gazed down into her sleepy face. Even with the stress of the last couple of days beating on her, Victory’s dazzling jade eyes sparkled up at him, framed by her silky caramel-colored hair. Coupled with the subtle fragrance of lavender and chamomile, it was all he could do to keep from running his hands through her beckoning locks. Tristan swore he would never get her scent out of his head or his blood.

“Tristan,” Victory said.

“Humm?” He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.

“You will wake me, right?”

“Yes. I said I would. Now go, take a nap.” He took her key card from her hand and inserted it into the door, opened it and handed it back to her. “See you soon,” he turned and walked away leaving her standing in the doorway.

Tristan strolled around for over two hours and no one had made the slightest effort to stop him. The compound was massive. It was thoughtfully laid out, containing dorms, labs, offices, test areas, and a mess hall. They even had a community center housing a theater large enough to seat seventy-five people, a bowling alley, canteen and a coffee shop that would rival Barnes and Noble. The coffee shop housed thousands of books, that he was informed could be borrowed as often as he liked. There was a pool, spa, weight room, basketball and tennis courts, even an indoor running track. Each building and trail was clearly marked with what looked like hand-carved signs and the local foliage was expertly placed throughout the entire compound, giving it a flare of authentic island flavor.

Tristan was the new guy here and acting the part, trying to get a “feel” for the place. In fact several people greeted him along the way, giving him the opportunity for conversations with some of the employees. He noticed one fenced-in area with “security clearance” and “high voltage stay clear” signs posted at the gate and what looked like a fingerprint scan lock. He kept a wide berth from the area, but peripherally plotted its layout in his head, which he thought contained at least two large and three smaller buildings.

Victory opened her eyes to what sounded like a hammering. Who was making that god awful noise she thought to herself. It was pitch black around her and a sudden panic shot through her. “Where am I?”

“Victory, Victory, are you awake? Are you in there?” Tristan nearly yelled at the door. Damn he had been standing here for over ten minutes knocking on her door. Now the knock turned in to a full fled pounding. He was beginning to worry. Had she wandered off, or did someone take her from her room when he left her there. “Vic—“

“Stop making so much racket. Do you want the whole facility to hear you?” She pulled the door open during his last panicked banging and was standing in the doorway, all fiery five feet of her. Her hair tousled, hands on her sexy hips, a slight tint of rose-colored glow on her milky smooth face, and her eyes all ablaze of deep aquamarine. Tristan was being pulled into the abyss, he had never seen eyes change color with a person’s mood the way Victory’s obviously did.

“I’ve been standing here for over ten minutes. I was beginning to worry.” He replied in little more than a mumble, marveling at the intensity of her eyes.

“Oh, sorry. I must have been more tired than I thought, I didn’t hear you.” She replied, her voice having dropped decibels to match his, her cheeks immediately pinking darker from her embarrassment. “If you give me a sec I can get myself together and we can go to dinner.” Victory switched on the light in her room and headed for the bathroom. “Don’t stand there, come in and have a seat, I’ll be ready in a second or two, really.”

Tristan blinked at the bright light and rubbed his face. “Jesus,” he muttered to himself. It happened again. He was going to have to really work at staying focused and in the present when Victory was around. “Jesus,” he said again. He felt like some sixteen-year-old kid with his first crush.

“Did you say something?” Victory asked. She knew what he said, now that she was back in the land of the living she could hear a pin drop in the next room, but she didn’t want to intrude.

“Damn,” Tristan mumbled under his breath. He had forgotten about her hearing; he wouldn’t make that mistake again, he hoped. “Nope, only talking to myself; your lights are really bright.” God, was that the best you could do, he thought to himself.

Victory reappeared from the bathroom. If he hadn’t seen it himself he would not have believed it.

“Let’s go, I’m starved,” she said.

In less than five minutes she had changed, fixed her hair and her makeup, not that he thought she needed any. Now this was his kind of girl.

“Okay then, after you.” Tristan opened the door and held it for her. “Dinner it is.”

TWELVE

“Wow,” Victory exclaimed as she entered the lab that was to be her new workplace for the next three weeks. “This is really some kind of facility. I thought Claremont had all the new bells and whistles, but this place is even ten times nicer than my--our lab.”

She almost made her first big blunder by excluding the fact that Tristan was indeed supposed to be her real assistant and therefore knew what their lab looked like. He filled her in last night on what he discovered. The lab was bugged and had a video feed. The main living area in both of their rooms was bugged, but their bedrooms and bathrooms were clean. They could have a conversation in their rooms but they would have to move into the bedroom or bathroom to keep it private. That was going to be awkward. All the outdoor areas had small cameras every twenty feet and the community center was also heavily monitored.

“I know you like all the latest and greatest Victory, but I like our own lab. I know where everything is and how everything works,” Tristan responded not missing a beat.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as impossible as she first thought. He was good, quick thinking on his feet. Victory hoped he had some knowledge and understanding of the work she was doing. “Let’s get started.” She walked over to the main computer and turned it on, sat in the chair and began reading all the data and experiments Biotec compiled.

* * *

“Victory, you’ve been at it for five hours. It’s time to take a break. Let’s go grab some lunch and stretch our legs along the water,” Tristan said.

Victory looked up at Tristan. He was towering over her, one hand on the back of her chair, his fingers brushed lightly across her back, and his other hand on the desk. She startled and flushed at his sudden nearness. When had he approached her? With her extra keen sense of hearing no one ever startled her, until now.

Tristan’s gaze was locked on hers. He could see the sadness radiating from her expression. A number of times during the morning she made tiny gasps while reading the detailed accounts of the experiments conducted. He caught bits and pieces while working around the lab, and reading over her shoulder when he felt her sadness. Some of the experiments done in the name of science had been brutal and ill prepared. No wonder they wanted Victory.

“Come on, one hour out in the sunshine then you can get back to your computer.” He smiled down at her, and as he did he flipped off the computer and gently reached for her hand, leading her out of the lab.

* * *

Noah and Logan lay on their stomachs camouflaged by the local vegetation. They had been doing recon on the facility for the last three days, making detailed maps of the security system and trying to locate any weak spots. After hours of complete silence between the two, Logan finally whispered. “Man, they got that place locked down tight and security continues out to the beach and into part of the forest.”

“Every system has a weak spot. It’s entirely a matter of identifying it,” Noah responded. “I think our best bet is around back where they load in all the incoming supplies.”

“Yeah, I agree, fewer civilians around to contend with too. Let’s head back to camp and work out the details. We can contact HQ tonight.” The two men blended back into the bushes.

* * *

Victory and Tristan shut the door to the laboratory and stepped out into the fresh evening air. It was a long, draining day and it reflected on Victory’s face.

“How about a short stroll around the campus then off to dinner?” Tristan suggested.

“The walk sounds good, but I don’t think I’m up to facing all the people that will be in the mess hall,” Victory responded wearily as she rubbed her tired eyes, then shoved her hands into her jeans pockets.

“Yeah, this was a tough day. Unfortunately it won’t be getting any easier,” he responded.

“I know. It’s going to take some getting used to. Those men must have been in tremendous pain during those experiments and for days afterwards.” Victory blew out a disgusted breath. “This research is nowhere near ready to implant into humans. I don’t understand the hurry or what Braxton’s ultimate goal is,” she said.

“You have to eat Victory. You need to keep your strength up if you want any chance of seeing this through to the end. I’ll take you back to your room and then go and get us both something to eat.”