The Leaves in Winter (5 page)

Malcolm insisted on a back booth upstairs. A lone candle lit the table. Ordering food and drinks was easy. Starting conversation was awkward. The contentious way their last meeting ended lay between them like raw meat they were forced to share.

Malcolm remained reserved, if not distant. Janis felt out on a limb, naked.

“After last night, I wouldn’t have guessed we’d be doing this now.”

Janis felt cold in the warm booth. “After today, I see last night in context.”

“Ready to be more suspicious?”

“I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get my daughter back.”

“Be careful of desperation. Crafty ones use such things as tools against us.”

“You mean people like you.”

He sipped his drink. “Yes, like me. I admit it; but then I confessed as much last night. I’m not the one pretending here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“See it from this side of the table. You and Riya spent more time together over the last ten years than the most committed husbands and wives. And yet you still claim complete ignorance of any extracurricular mischief Riya was into.”

“I don’t care if you believe me. I came here for a simple exchange of facts. If you know something that in any way can help me get Alyssa back, then tell me! My daughter is my only agenda. You’re not the one at risk here.”

“You sure of that?”

“It’s patently obvious – your agendas are not up front. Mine are.”

“This is a shitty way to start a collaboration.”

“Don’t try to elevate what’s going on here.”

“Look – I shared more last night than I needed to. I thought you’d understand –
from context.
I don’t care a flaming fuck if a mere mention of Colin’s name rattles the romantic princess in you. Your choice not to move on after thirteen years doesn’t concern me. Fact is, finding Colin might help get to the bottom of why Riya was murdered.”

“From my side of the table, believing that is a leap of faith.”

Malcolm leaned forward. His whisper across the candle was on fire. “Would it help if I told you I got it from a reliable source.”

“An unnamed source, no doubt.”

“Wrong. I have witnesses.”

“Who?”

“You – along with millions of others…if they watched closely enough.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Right after Riya got shot, I was holding her. She whispered to me.”

Janis thought back and a blast of cold acknowledgment flowed through her.

He was right. The repeating mental image kept her mute.

“You had to have seen it. You were on the floor only a few feet away.”

“That doesn’t prove that anything she said was about Colin.”

The food arrived. Malcolm waited until the service staff were gone.

“Listen, I came here because I thought we could help each other. Maybe not. Maybe we should eat our meal and leave it at that.”

Dejected at the prospect of walking away empty-handed, Janis glared across the table. “What are you saying? You won’t help me unless I tell you about Colin?”

Malcolm chewed and talked. “It’s tit for tat. We both want something, only you don’t trust the messenger and you bloody well won’t believe the message. That’s a piss-poor way to go about collecting information.”

“So it’s the prey’s fault for not seeing the chameleon. For you, it’s a defect in the prey, not the chameleon’s advantage.”

“Believe whatever you like. As long as you think I’m running some game on you, I don’t see how we can do business. It’s as simple as that.”

“A game makes far better sense. According to you, Riya was up to something. I was her closest colleague. You work for Eugene Mass, owner of NovoSenectus. Now that Riya’s dead, making me believe you’re on my side might be the only way to find out what Riya was up to. The corporate bosses need to know, don’t they?”

Malcolm shook his head. His face drew taut, his eyes unblinking. “I’ve probably already told you enough to get me killed. If any of this gets back to certain people, there’ll no place for me to hide. How do I know you won’t make the call – tell NovoSenectus everything, let them know I have reason to suspect…”

“Suspect what?”

“Tit for tat, remember?”

Frustrated to the point of action, Janis snapped. “I don’t know where Colin Insworth is! When I was pregnant with Alyssa, the asshole was offered another position in bio-defense. Whatever it was, it was way above my security clearance.”

“So what was the problem? Are you telling me they insisted he get a divorce?”

“No, they didn’t have to. I’d seen enough of what happens around secrets. Even at the low level I was at – things got twisted.”

“Sounds reasonable. You didn’t want that kind of life.”

“He did.” The pause was anguished. “He got to be on the inside of whatever they were doing. The way he acted, the offer would put him on the inside from the ground up, based at the core. For something like that, giving me up was a price he was willing to pay.”

“You thought he’d choose you. You bluffed and lost.”

“Yeah, and for a long time I sat around wondering – what does that make me? Hopelessly romantic or just clueless?”

“You never forgave him; that’s one thing. But you also never let it go.”

Tears welled up. “It doesn’t matter about me. I handled it. But some things are not worth the price. Some things aren’t forgiven. He chose a covert assignment over knowing Alyssa. He got a cushy classified title; what did she get? She’s different because of it. I’m certain of it. I’m reminded of that fact every day.”

Malcolm put down his fork. “Ever hear the word Senex – S-E-N-E-X?”

Janis poked at her food. After a wait, she offered a shake of the head.

“It’s Latin for
old man
.” Folding arms on the table before him, Malcolm hesitated before saying any more. He considered the dice he was rolling. If Janis knew anything more, this was no time to let up on her. Any second she could crack.

“Riya’s last whisper spoke of somebody called Senex. She said Senex was her contact – at GeLixCo.”

Janis’ reaction was transparent. Malcolm knew mention of GeLixCo would drop a bomb. GeLixCo was the foremost North American corporate rival of NovoSenectus. The adversarial relationship between them went way back.

Janis sat blown away with nothing to say.

“I checked with someone reliable, a source I’d had for a long time. They say Senex is a codename. It was assigned years ago – to
Colin Insworth
.”

Janis was stunned. The idea that Colin was somehow assisting Riya pass information from her lab to GeLixCo carried airs of disturbed unreality.

“Before she died, Riya told me she’d made a computer backup. With her last breath she gave me the password. She said she’d hid this backup at GeLixCo offices in
Puerto Rico
. She said Senex was her contact.” Malcolm reached across the table and grabbed Janis’ hand. “You see now why I have to trust you?”

The rush of it all crushed down on Janis. It was too much to fathom. Riya and Colin involved in corporate espionage – together? Riya had known about Janis’ past, the divorce, even knew that Colin had chosen a new title over his family. It was hard to imagine Riya ever being civil to Colin let alone trusting him with her life.

It didn’t make sense. If any of this was true, why would Riya contact Colin? How would she ever have managed it? If anything, Colin would have made first contact. His position was that deep, guarded, and insulated. There was no way Riya could have reached out to him and succeeded.

Not unless he wanted to be found.

But why? Whatever could be on the secret backup?

Janis searched Malcolm’s face for a sign. “What do you think they were up to?”

“How much is 300 years of life worth?”

Janis physically recoiled from the suggestion. “No – I don’t believe it. Riya selling
GenLET
secrets?”

“Only the two of you knew everything. If somebody wanted extended life, there were only two people to get it from. If they didn’t target you, it had to be her.”

“I worked with Riya every day. You loved her. You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“Get me a way to contact Colin and let’s ask him. Either that, or I need to find some way to read what’s on that computer backup in
Puerto Rico
.”

“I told you – I know nothing about Colin that’s current.”

Malcolm grabbed her other hand. “You want to know who has Alyssa…why they took her? Think about it. You are the only other person who knows all of
GenLET’s
secrets. That fact is no secret. My God, Riya praised you at the start of her lecture. Everyone knows who you are and what you know.”

“Nobody’s contacted me.”

“What do you call the unfortunate episode in the park?”

“I don’t believe Riya was like that. If you knew her as a lover, I’m surprised you’d even consider it.”

“All people have layers. Even those closest to you don’t show everything.”

“The police think the kidnapping is somehow connected to Riya’s murder. They believe NCO is behind both.”

“I’m suspicious of quick and easy answers – especially from authorities. Everything I’ve seen tells me the truth is never that one-dimensional.”

“It’s clear they want to put pressure on NovoSenectus. NCO doesn’t care about grabbing
GenLET
secrets for themselves – just the opposite. They want to shut the whole thing down.”

“So what do we know for sure? Nothing. Even more reason to find out what’s on the computer backup. Once we read it, I think we’ll find the motive. The motive will tell us who’s behind this. Murder or kidnapping, it doesn’t matter. To answer both, we have to figure out why Riya did what she did and what it means.”

“Why
Puerto Rico
? I didn’t even know GeLixCo had a presence there.”

“They have a research facility. Very few know about it.”

“Sounds remote. An awkward place to do that type of business.”

“Not so.
Puerto Rico
’s the perfect place. It’s a territory of the
United States
; it’s not a State – it doesn’t have State restrictions. If a Federal agency needed a free hand to do whatever they wanted without State interference or oversight,
Puerto Rico
would be the perfect place to set up shop.”

Janis pushed her plate away. “Colin would never leave government service to go work for GeLixCo.”

“Who said he did? Bio-defense projects are carved up and farmed out by grant to universities and private labs all the time – over 1300 of them in the
US
alone. Fragments of bigger secrets are hidden in plain sight. Only the Department of Energy, the Army, Navy, or the National Institute of Health know how to put the pieces together. GeLixCo probably worked on a piece of something. Colin provided oversight for the government.”

“That’s a big leap. Even if true, it wouldn’t explain why Riya got involved.”

“Is there anyone else you know, someone with a line into GeLixCo or Colin?”

Janis shook her head. “No one. I’ll check, but I don’t expect to find anything.”

Malcolm eased back. His chest deflated.

Janis looked up from her drink. “What are you going to do?”

“I have no choice. I have to find out what’s on that computer backup.”

“If you read it, will you tell me?”

Malcolm hesitated. “You want your daughter back. Is that
all
you want?”

“I want Alyssa – and whatever else is good for her and me. I still work for NovoSenectus – just like you.”

Malcolm paid the check. “It might be easier not knowing certain things.”

“Easier, but not smarter. I want to know.”

“No matter where it goes?” Janis nodded as Malcolm stood. “I know someone who might be able to help. It’s the only way but it’s risky.”