Discovered (17 page)

“Which, in my
world, doesn’t usually involve helicopters,” she answered bluntly.

“I thought I’d take
you home,” he replied casually. Layla didn’t even bother trying to figure out
what that meant. She was beginning to feel nauseous.

Jay placed a set of
head phones on her head and buckled the seatbelt around her waist. “Relax,
Layla,” he scolded. “If I didn’t think this was perfectly safe, I wouldn’t
subject you to it.”

As the helicopter
rose into the air, Layla grabbed onto Jay’s hand, squeezing the living
daylights out of it.

She felt somewhat
better once the vehicle was moving forward, and after five more minutes in the air,
she was beginning to actually enjoy the experience.

After some time of
flying over fields, roads and subdivisions, Layla finally saw the outline of a
large city up ahead. “New York?” she asked excitedly, turning to face him.

“It’s home, isn’t
it?” Jay said, smiling at her wide-eyed wonder.

Before long, Layla
was gazing out the window at the familiar metropolis underneath her. Her head
skirted back and forth as she took in the sights of the city she’d left over a
year ago.

Coming straight
over Central Park, the helicopter veered left, while Layla rattled off all the
stores and restaurants that she knew were somewhere just beneath them on Fifth,
Madison, and Park Avenues, causing Jay to laugh at her enthusiasm.

They wavered over
the East River, following the FDR to the helipad on 34
^th
street.

When they were
safely off Lucia, Jay put his hand on the small of Layla’s back and moved her
gently toward a waiting limo  a mere twenty feet away beyond the blast-fence.

This time, Rick and
Brian climbed into the limo with them, but sat silently, looking out the
window. The car headed back uptown, reaching Lincoln Center in just over ten
minutes.

The limo pulled up
in front of the AMC Lowes.

An official-looking
man, possibly a manager, walked over and stood by the limo.

Rick opened the
door and held out his hand to Layla as she climbed out of the car, then the
manager escorted both Jay and Layla to a large, vacant theater.

“Where would you
like to sit?” Jay questioned.

“Where are all the
people?” Layla asked.

“It’s just us,” Jay
responded. “I bought out the whole theater for this particular show.”

“Don’t you think
that’s a little unnecessary?” Layla replied, feeling a flood of guilt for the
special treatment, and for the fact that Rick and Brian stood like guards by
the two side entrances and were obviously going to do so for the entire movie.

“Normally, I would
agree with you,” Jay said, “but under the circumstances, I plan to make sure
that you will be as safe as possible.”

They chose two
seats in the dead center.

As soon as the
movie started, Layla forgot her guilt and submersed herself in the best movie
experience she’d ever had.

As soon as the
lights went up, Jay was out of his seat and holding out his hand to her.
“Dinner?” he asked.

They left the
theater and walked, hand-in-hand, down one block—pretending that Rick and Brian
were not so close to them—to a restaurant that screamed expensive. Inside, they
were escorted to a large booth in the back while Brian and Rick were seated at
two separate, smaller tables within view.

When Layla slid
into the booth, she spotted the long-stemmed, red rose lying across her place
setting. It was wrapped in clear, pink-tainted cellophane; a small card peeked
out from the opening. She looked over at Jay, slipped the card out and opened
the tiny envelope.
‘To Layla, thank you for sharing
my world tonight,’
it said.

“Thank you so
much,” she said quietly, lifting the rose to her nose to sniff it, but also to
hide the overwhelming emotions blasting through her. If Mr. Vallen was trying
to sweep her off her feet, he was doing a darn, fine job. She felt the last of
her resolve shatter. She gazed over into his beautiful brown eyes and tried to
come up with something to say, something that would convey her gratitude for
such a wonderful evening.

“Are you angry?”
Jay questioned.

“Are you kidding?”
she blurted out.

“I’ve gathered that
you’re not one for all this fanfare,” he said, looking apologetic.

“Normally, I’m not,
but I’ve had a wonderful time so far. I was actually just trying to come up
with the appropriate words to say thank you for the effort you’ve made.”

“It’s not
necessary,” he replied. “It has honestly been my pleasure and the very least I
could do for you.”

“Because you feel
guilty about this whole ordeal?”

Jay laughed. “No,”
he said, shaking his head, “because I have never met anyone like you before. I
think I may be in over my head at this point.”

Well, that made two
of them.

Layla blushed
again. “Thank you,” she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand.

Of course the waiter
handed her one of those menus without prices. “I don’t know what to order,” she
said after looking over the menu for some time.

“May I?” Jay
requested.

“Please do,” Layla
replied, relieved to have the decision taken out of her hands.

Jay ordered wild burgundy
escargots along with foie gras ravioli for appetizers, to be followed up by lobster
risotto for Layla, and an herb crusted rack of lamb for himself. And when
dinner was finished, he ordered a creme burlee for them to share.

“That was amazing,”
Layla gushed as Jay paid the check.

“I’m glad you liked
it,” he replied, scribbling on the credit card receipt.

“You’ll spoil me,”
she said dreamily.

“I told you I
wanted to, didn’t I?” he replied, looking up into her eyes to see if she
recalled the night he first declared that.

By the time they
walked outside, sandwiched between Rick and Brian, the limo was already waiting
by the front door of the restaurant.

Twenty minutes
later, they were back on Lucia en route to Connecticut.

Back at Vallen
Enterprises, Stanley was waiting patiently for them at the helipad.

As they rode in the
limo, away from the complex, Layla had her head resting on Jay’s shoulder,
happy and exhausted.

Suddenly, Jay blurted
out a loud curse word, causing Layla to snap her head up. The sight she witnessed,
from beyond the side window, almost made the overly expensive dinner come right
up her throat.

The limo stopped
short some feet from the house.

The front windows
of the mansion were smashed, and smoke was billowing through the frames. There
was a fire inside the dining room, surging out of control.  The headlights from
the limo landed on a masked man who turned to look toward the vehicle. He
flicked a cigarette on the ground and yelled something that was
incomprehensible to Layla.

Jay hit a button
that brought down the divider in the car. “Get us out of here!” he yelled to
the driver. Stanley spoke quickly into the radio, and soon the SUV was backing
up out of the driveway with the limo tailing it.

A split second
later, the limo was barreling down the road, back the way it came, with the SUV
close behind.

“What about Issy,
Ben and Joey?” Layla screeched. “We need to go back and get them!”

“Don’t worry,” Jay
assured her. “I’m more than confident that they fled through the underground
tunnel.”

Layla’s heart was
stammering in her chest. “How did they get so close to your house?” she
questioned frantically.

“I have no idea,”
Jay replied, glaring out the back window as flames engulfed the front of his
home. “I think it’s possible that our security system has been breached.”

When they reached Vallen
Enterprises, the limo rode past the parking lots heading toward the helipad
once again, but this time it veered off to the left and down a tiny dirt road.
At the end of the dark road was an old shed almost completely covered over with
weeds and wild shrubs.

The car came to a
dead stop. Jay jumped out, pulling Layla along with him, and pulled some dead
and decayed branches from the front of a doorway. He pressed his thump to the
side of the door frame, causing the door to open. He pulled Layla into the shed
behind him and locked the door.

 Layla looked around
and noticed that the only thing in the little room was a staircase leading
down. She allowed Jay to lead the way. When they finally reached the bottom,
they were in a long, narrow, concrete corridor that seemed to go on forever.

Jay walked quickly,
gripping Layla’s wrist, his expression blank.

Reaching the end of
the dimly lit tunnel, they stopped at another door, this one made of thick,
impenetrable steel. Jay scanned his thumb over a tiny box next to the door
frame, and once again, the door popped open.  He coaxed Layla into an empty room
with a wooden door on the opposite side. He walked over and turned the door
knob, leading her into what looked like a small unkempt living room. He flopped
down on an old plaid couch and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

“I’m so sorry about
your house,” Layla said.

Jay held out his
arms for her. She wrapped her arms around him. “I couldn’t care less about the
house,” he said into her hair. “I have more than enough money to buy a new one.
What I’m fuming at is the realization that these men won’t quit until someone
is dead.”

Just then, a door
to the side opened and Issy, Ben and Joey came barreling into the room. Layla
let go of Jay and ran to Issy. Without thought, she threw her arms around the
girl.

Issy hugged her
back then pushed her away gently. “I’m fine,” she assured Layla.

“You don’t look
fine,” Layla said bluntly, staring in horror at Issy’s eyes. They were bright
red.

“I got some tear
gas in my eyes, but honestly, it’s okay,” Issy explained.

“What happened?”
Jay demanded.

“We were in the kitchen,”
Joey began. “Ben and I were sitting at the bar while Issy cooked. The next
thing we knew, the kitchen window smashed and a silver cylinder was lying on
the floor, and then the room was filling up with tear gas.”

“They were trying to
flush us out,” Ben added with disgust. “We held on to each other, grabbed Issy
and made our way blindly to the underground tunnel.”

“The dining room
was in flames when we pulled up,” Jay informed them. “They must have hit every
angle of the house simultaneously, pumping as much crap into the house as
possible for optimum effect.”

“They’re upping
their game,” Ben said. “It’s only a matter of time before someone gets
seriously hurt.”

“I know,” Jay
replied.

“Why don’t you just
call the police?” Layla questioned.

“I can’t,” Jay
said. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“I think it’s time
you told me what you’re working on,” Layla said pointedly. “I think I have the
right to know what I’ve gotten into.”

Jay pushed a hard
breath through pursed lips and ran his fingers through his hair. He nodded
reluctantly. “Understand, Layla, this is something so advanced that it could
have negative repercussions if the news got out.”

Layla narrowed her
eyes suspiciously.  “Tell me,” she demanded.

“We’re working on a
serum that could wipe out most deceases and possibly even prolong the average
human life by quite a few years,” he said, staring into her eyes to gauge her
reaction.

“Really?” she
questioned, shock registering on her face. “How is that a bad thing?”

“We are not the
only pharmaceutical company in the world, not by a long shot,” Jay replied.
“There are many others. If this news got out, many of those companies’ stocks
would plummet instantly. And then there are the hundreds of insurance
companies, hospitals, and heaven knows what other organizations tied to the
health-care business that would take a direct hit financially. This could cause
a stock market crash of major proportions, making the 1929 crash look mild by
comparison. Many people have their retirement funds tied to these various
stocks. The news could wipe billions out of the stock market in less than a
day. Then that would trickle down to other organizations. People are not so
keen to buy the latest flat screens when they’ve just witnessed their retirement
fund evaporate. Not to mention the many jobs that would be lost. If I was to go
to the police, a thorough investigation would be conducted, and sooner or
later, the truth of what we’re working on would be uncovered.”

“Then why are you
pursuing this?” she questioned, seeing the logic in keeping it quiet.

“It’s a question of
what’s ethical, I suppose,” Jay replied. “While people have the right to live a
long and healthy life, I’m not so sure that they should under dire
circumstances. What good is being decease free if you’re jobless and poor? I
guess we figured that we’d just complete the research then sit on it until we
found a way to incorporate it into the current financial market without causing
a catastrophic situation. If no such time arises, then no one would be the
wiser. However, it seems that the secret may have leaked out.”

“It makes sense,”
Layla agreed. “But if we can’t involve the police then what should we do?” she
questioned.

“We’ll stay here
for the night at the very least,” Jay responded. “There is no way possible for
anyone to get in here. Then we’ll just keep doing what we have been doing.
We’ll try to stay one step ahead of this group for the time being.”

“If only we knew
who was behind this,” Joey moaned. “We have nothing.”

Suddenly, something
dawned on Layla. “Didn’t you say that if you got some DNA, you would be able to
analyze it here and more than likely come up with an identification?”

“Yeah, that’s true,
but we’ve been unsuccessful in getting anything off them,” Issy stated.

“I saw one of them
throw down a cigarette butt,” Layla said, a smile forming on her face.

“Seriously?” Jay
asked.

“Yeah, did you see
that one that was standing in front of the house?” she pushed.

“The guy that was
halfway down the driveway?”

“Yes,” she nodded.
“He flicked a cigarette. I noticed because he yelled something to the others as
we approached.”

Jay looked over at
Joey. “Do you think you could get something off that?”

“Are you kidding
me?” Joey barked. “I could get
everything
off that.”

“We’ll go back to
the house in the morning,” Jay said.

“Jay, we can’t
leave it that long,” Ben warned. “By now, the fire department will be all over
the place. By tomorrow, it will be a crime scene, and every little thing will
be snatched up by the cops.”

“You think we
should go now?” Jay questioned.

“I don’t think we
have a choice if we’re ever going to know who these people are,” Ben said.

“Alright,” Jay
agreed, nodding. “You, Joey and I will go now.” He turned to Layla. “You stay
here with Issy. We won’t be long.” He walked over to the doorway that he and
Layla had entered through and placed his thumb against the security scanner.

When the boys had
left, Issy sat on the couch next to Layla. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Layla nodded, not
bothering to divulge how strange it all seemed to her. “I just wish I had
something to change into.”

“I’ve got a bunch
of scrubs in a locker right outside the door,” Issy stated. “I’ll go get you a
pair.” She left the room but returned moments later with a set of light-blue
scrubs and a pair of brown crocs. “Not exactly glamorous, but you’ll be
comfortable,” she said, handing the clothes to Layla.

“No, this is
great,” Layla replied. She slipped out of the dress and threw on the scrubs
quickly. “Much better,” she said, sitting back on the couch. She placed her
head on the armrest.

Issy took a fleece
blanket that rested over the back of the couch and arranged it around Layla.
“Here,” she said, “stretch out there. You must be exhausted, not to mention a
bit overwhelmed.”

“Thank you,” Layla
responded. “You’re too good to me.” She knew that Issy replied, but was almost
asleep, and the words didn’t quite register.