Читать книгу One of These Nights - Justine Davis - Страница 7

“Hey, Professor, you’ve been ordered to the boss’s office right away.”

Ian Gamble swore that if one more person called him Professor, he was going to ruin his image and punch whoever said it.

At least they aren’t saying the absentminded part, he told himself.

But it didn’t help much when he knew they were thinking it. He was not absentminded, nor was he a professor. What he was was an inventor, and that, as he’d told them all more than once, should be enough of a job title. It had been enough for Joshua Redstone, after all. He’d hired Ian when nobody else would. Josh hadn’t cared about a piece of paper with the name of some college on it.

“Did you hear me?”

Ian gave his high-energy, and occasionally wearing, assistant a sideways look. The young college student was bright and had a lot of potential, but she was also in a very big hurry to receive the kind of acknowledgment she thought she already deserved. Even Stan Chilton, the easygoing head of this safety-oriented section of Redstone’s research and development division, admitted he sometimes found her tiring.

“Were you speaking to me?”

Rebecca Hollings let out an audible, put-upon sigh as she pushed a lock of rather dull brown hair out of her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Mr. Redstone ordered me to his office? That’s unusual.” He watched her steadily until she gave in sheepishly.

“Well, I guess what he really said was he needed to talk to you.”

That was more like it. Most of the time if Josh needed a face-to-face with someone in his own headquarters building, he went to them. Summoning the peons to the tower wasn’t his style. Besides, as he’d told Ian once, he wasn’t one to pass up any chance to get out of his office.

“But he did say soon,” she added. “And he was headed for his office.”

“Then he didn’t stay long,” Ian said as a movement at the doors to the research and development lab caught his eye. A split second later Joshua Redstone poked his head in the door.

Rebecca blushed and turned away. Ian supposed he should go easier on her. She worked hard, often late into the night. And she went out of her way to help him, even brought him sandwiches when he forgot to eat. It was just his own nature that made him feel she was hovering too much.

“Ian? Take a walk with me?” Josh said in that easy drawl that made it painless to follow what from another man in his position would have been an order.

Ian nodded at Josh, hit the keys to blank the screen he’d been working with, signed out and locked the system, then got up and headed for the doors. Without a backward glance at his assistant.

They walked in silence until they reached the end of the hall and the huge bay window that looked out on the courtyard. The building that was the main headquarters of Redstone, Incorporated, was built around a cool green garden with a big pond and waterfall. In the heat of a California summer, it was a favorite spot for all the employees, and this window alcove lined with comfortable chairs was Ian’s favorite retreat when he needed to get out of the bustle of the lab. He wasn’t surprised that Josh remembered that. Redstone people got used to that kind of thing after a while.

“How’s it going?” Josh asked as he folded his lanky frame into a chair. The laziness of his drawl, an odd combination of all the places he’d drifted through during formative years, didn’t fool Ian one bit.

“Backing up a bit after the last results,” Ian said as he took the next chair, “but we’re still on the right track.”

He knew Josh already knew this, because after the last round of experiments he’d filed a report that had shown they had further to go before the explosive-sensitive material he was working on would be effective in a configuration to be of use. Something else must be on his mind, Ian thought.

“If you can do this, it’s going to be a wonder, Ian. Maybe we can’t prevent everything, but I’d give a lot to never read about another Lockerbie or lose another of the family to a bomb on a plane.”

Ian knew he was referring to the death of Phil Cooper a few years ago. As it turned out Cooper hadn’t been the stellar citizen they’d thought, having died in the process of abandoning his wife and child, but that had all worked out for the best in a typical Redstone way, with new, happy beginnings for all.

“You’re already giving a lot,” Ian pointed out. “You’re supporting this research.” And if he could just figure out what was wrong and fix it, so the material could line the cabins and holds of any aircraft as he intended, it would be worth everything Redstone was putting into it.

“And I’m not the only one.”

Ah-ha, Ian thought. Josh was on that horse again. “Josh, the only one even close on this is Trektech, and Baron’s stumped.”

“He is?”

“I was talking to a old prof of mine at Cal Tech. He said Baron’s called him three times in the last month, with wilder questions each time. He’s lost. I know there are others working on it, too, but I’ll get there first,” Ian promised.

“I believe you. As long as you’re left alone to do it. And that isn’t what worries me.”

“Oh?” Ian said, fairly sure now of where his boss was going with this. And the fact that Joshua Redstone, founder of the entire Redstone empire and veteran of innumerable corporate and personal battles, looked uncomfortable told Ian he was exactly right.

“I got a call from a friend today,” Josh said. “He heard something interesting.”

Ian knew Josh had an incredible network of people who, thanks to his penchant for lending a helping hand, were more than happy to repay him with bits of information.

“Interesting?”

“TriChem has had some inquiries about two of the chemical components you’re using.”

“Two?”

Josh smiled as Ian zeroed in on the crucial word. One might be coincidence, two was suspicious but not conclusive.

As if he’d read his mind, Josh added, “One of them is the compound, Ian.”

Well, that changed things, Ian thought. It wasn’t likely anyone else would need that particular combination at this exact moment in time.

Josh’s voice was dangerously quiet. “I think we have to assume we have a leak.”

Ian hated to agree with that summation, but he knew it was true. “You’re right,” he said reluctantly. “It’s such an odd combination.”

“And unlikely someone else would have come up with it within a month of your breakthrough.”

Ian grimaced. Why couldn’t he just get on with his work? He hated to think about things like this. About someone he knew, someone he worked with and trusted, betraying him.

He glanced at his boss and saw something in his eyes that reminded him that this was a betrayal of Josh, as well. Josh, who’d earned the loyalty of everyone who worked for him. A generous, staunch ally who also made a dangerous, lethal enemy.

“There’s more,” Josh added. “Personnel caught another one.”

“Trying to get hired?”

Josh nodded. “He had the perfect credentials. Would have been just what we were looking for.”

“But?”

“A little digging turned up a JetCal connection. Not a close one—a roommate’s brother or something—but it was there. Again.”

This was the second time someone tied to JetCal had tried to get a job in Redstone Technologies’ research and development division. Ian knew Josh hadn’t thought much of Joe Santerelli’s business methods already, and this only confirmed he was right in his judgment.

“I’m not sure we can make the lab any more secure than it already is, without limiting access entirely,” Ian said thoughtfully. Josh had already spared no expense in setting up safeguards for the R&D section, Ian’s work in particular, but if the leak was already on the inside, that might not be enough.

“We may have to do that. But I’ll deal with the inside. Outside is where the real vulnerability is.”

Ian frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You, Ian.”

Ian blinked. “Me?”

“It’s not a secret that you do a lot of work at home. If they want this badly enough to try espionage from the inside at Redstone, they might try something there, too.”

“I’ve made some security arrangements there,” Ian said. “The work will be safe.”

Josh smiled, that gentle smile that warned Ian he’d somehow missed the point. “They might want it badly enough to come after you.”

“That would be crazy,” Ian protested.

Josh Redstone’s gaze never wavered. “Yes. But it’s a crazy world, my friend.”

Nobody knew that better than Josh, Ian realized. But the idea that someone might come after him seemed too absurd to Ian to contemplate.

“What good would I do them?” he protested. “It’s not as if I’d ever work for them.”

“Voluntarily.” Josh’s voice was grim. “I want you to have protection, Ian, until this project is concluded one way or another.”

Ian couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. “Protection? You mean like a bodyguard? You’re not serious!”

“I am, Ian. I don’t compromise when it comes to the safety of my people.”

Ian had never seen quite that glint before in the steady gray eyes of the man who was Redstone. But he couldn’t give in to this. He liked his life as it was. He knew his own mental processes well enough to know that the kind of disruption Josh was talking about would rattle his thinking, and he’d likely never achieve a breakthrough on this project. He didn’t like change, anyway, he needed things in his personal life stable so he could free his mind to think about his work.

“I appreciate your concern, but it’s out of the question.”

“Ian—”

“No,” he repeated.

It was not, he supposed, wise to interrupt and argue with your boss, but if Josh had been the kind of man who took offense at such things, Ian knew he would have been fired long ago.

“I mean it, Josh. Somebody around all the time, at my home and wherever I go? I can’t work or think that way.”

Josh studied him for a moment. “And if I made it an order?”

Ian let out a compressed breath. “Then, with great difficulty because of my tremendous respect and liking for you, I would disobey.”

Josh’s mouth quirked upward. “I was afraid of that.”

“Josh, I’m sorry, but—”

Josh waved a hand at him. “Never mind. I had to ask.”

“And I had to refuse.”

“I understand.”

Relieved, Ian stood up. Then he asked, “Was there anything else?”

Josh shook his head. “Just tell your assistant to lighten up.”

Ian chuckled. “I have. She’s a little hyper, so it hasn’t gotten through yet.”

Josh looked concerned. “Is she turning out to be a problem?”

Josh himself had talked Ian into taking the girl on, saying she was bright enough to learn from the best. Ian had a sneaking suspicion Josh also thought having the young woman around might loosen him up a bit. In any case, he didn’t want Josh to think he’d made a bad decision when in fact it was mostly Ian’s own problem.

“No, not at all. I’m just not used to her yet, and she’s anxious to do it all now.”

“Keep trying with her,” Josh said.

Keep Trying. One of the Redstone mantras, Ian thought as he headed back to the lab. Along with Hire the Best and Let Them Do Their Best, and Redstone Likes Happy People. To the outside world, he was sure they all sounded like idealistic dreamers, but everybody on the inside knew it was for real. Because of one man, Ian thought as he keyed in his pass code for entry to the lab. One man with a vision, and the determination to make it happen. Josh had—

Ian stopped dead in the doorway to his office. Rebecca was in his chair, at his computer.

“Looking for something?” he asked.

“Oh!” She jumped, spun in the chair, her hand pressed dramatically over her heart. “You scared me.”

Normally it would have been time for an apology, a statement saying he hadn’t meant to scare her. But Josh’s warnings were still echoing in his mind, and he stayed silent, simply watching her. He’d learned it was a rare person who could allow such silence, and Rebecca definitely wasn’t one of them.

“I was just leaving you a note.”

Her voice still sounded tight. Again he waited, and something odd flickered in her eyes.

“I need to leave early,” she said hastily. “I have a doc—er, a dentist’s appointment.”

If she’d only been leaving him a note about that, why was she so flustered? Had she been doing something else? Trying to access his files on the computer? The screen was as he’d left it, blacked out, but if she’d been here long enough…

As Rebecca scuttled out of the room, Ian told himself he was being paranoid. Yet he had enough respect for Josh to take his worries seriously. The man was no fool, and those who had mistaken him for such, perhaps judging him by that lazy drawl or the way he had of strolling along with his hands in his pockets, were the sadder for it.

He turned to his computer and did a quick check. He could find no trace that anyone had accessed any of his files in the past half hour. That decided him. In this case Josh was being overly protective. Wasn’t that part of the Redstone legend, taking care of his people? Wasn’t that why they were consistently at the top of the national list of the best places to work?

I want you to have protection, Ian….

No. No way. He couldn’t tolerate it. He hadn’t even been able to tolerate his wife around all the time. His need for space, while Colleen had needed people and socializing, had driven her away after a mere ten months of trying to put up with him.

No, he was a loner, a borderline recluse, as Josh’s personal pilot, Tess Machado, had called him more than once. And he would stay that way, happily. He didn’t need a wife, or any woman to complete him. He had his work. That was enough.

“Thanks for getting here so quickly, Sam.”

“No problem,” Samantha Beckett told her boss.

Actually it had been a problem—when he’d called she had just stepped out of the shower, her hair dripping wet. But she’d have dealt with a lot more than wet hair to come running at his call, and she hoped he knew it. Joshua Redstone had done more for her and Billy than anyone ever had, and she owed him more than she could ever repay.

“How’s Billy?” Josh asked, as if he’d read her thought.

“He’s doing great. That new residential skills center is working well for him. He likes the people and he’s really happy.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Sam knew he wouldn’t take it in words, so she tried her best to put her thanks into her smile. If not for Josh, Billy would probably be locked in an institution somewhere, taken away by some bureaucrat who thought they knew better than she did how to take care of her little brother. Instead they’d stayed together, and she was able to afford to have him well looked after when she had to leave on assignment.

Speaking of assignments, she thought, why was the usually direct Josh taking so long to get around to the point?

She studied him, thinking as she often had that you’d never guess by looking at him that this former pilot had built a small airplane design company into an international corporation the scope of which she could hardly comprehend. But she also knew that was one of his strengths. Josh didn’t come across as a shark, not with that tall, lanky frame, sometimes tousled hair and that lazy smile. He was very unassuming and laid-back, but people who assumed he was as slow as his drawl didn’t discover the sharpness of his teeth until it was too late.

“This is an unusual one,” Josh finally said, sounding a bit uncomfortable. That in itself was odd enough for Sam to sit up and pay close attention.

“In-house, I gather, since you wanted to meet here?” she asked, gesturing at the restaurant they were sitting in.

He nodded, confirming her guess that the “unusual” case involved something or someone inside Redstone, and that he didn’t want to risk anyone seeing them meet. This despite the fact that the Redstone security team was low profile by intention. They reported directly to Josh, had their own office off-site, and other than those in the upper echelon, like Noah Rider last month, the majority of Redstone employees wouldn’t know any of them by sight.

“Undercover, then?” Sam asked, already running through logistics in her mind.

“Sort of,” Josh said.

Sam looked at the man across the table from her. It wasn’t like him to equivocate. For the most part, Joshua Redstone preferred plain speaking. Which made this hesitancy even more interesting to her.

“Would you like to just cut to the chase, sir?”

“I need you to bodyguard somebody who doesn’t want one.”

Well, that was blunt enough, Sam thought. “All right,” she said. “How far under?”

“What?”

“You want me to sleep with him?”

Surprise flared in Josh’s eyes, as she had intended. “You know better than that!”

“Yes, I do.” She grinned at him. “You just seemed a little vague about the specifics here.”

Josh let out a wry chuckle. “Now I know how the guys who go up against you and lose feel.”

“Is there any other kind?” Samantha said, her grin widening.

“Not many, I’d guess,” Josh conceded, returning her grin finally. “I have to say I knew what I was doing when I hired you for this job.”

“And the people at the Sitka Resort are eternally grateful you pulled me out of there, I’m sure.”

And no more so than I, she added silently, knowing she would have gone slowly insane working in such a routine-laden world, even if it was for Redstone.

“You weren’t happy,” he said candidly, and for a moment Sam marveled at the simplicity of it; one of his lowliest, most distant employees wasn’t happy, so he took steps to fix that. Amazing. “I’ll have Rand relieve you periodically, because I don’t know how long this assignment will be.”

Samantha nodded. She and Rand Singleton had worked together frequently, often taking advantage of the striking resemblance between them. With matching nearly platinum-blond hair and blue eyes, they were easily able to pass as brother and sister. She thought of him that way, too, as a sometimes bossy big brother.

“So who’s this guy who doesn’t want to be guarded?”

“Ian Gamble. He’s in R and D.”

Sam frowned. The name sounded vaguely familiar. “What’s he need guarding from?”

“He’s working on a very important, very secret project for Redstone Technologies. He’s close to success, and there are a lot of other people who would like to get there first. JetCal has already tried twice to get a mole in. Plus, there’s a possibility we have a leak.”

There was an undertone in his voice that was razor sharp, and if there was a leak, Sam didn’t envy her or him when Josh found out who it was. Which he would, she knew. She thought about asking what the project was, then decided if it made any difference in her task, Josh would have told her. Besides, her mind had already leaped ahead.

“People who might want to interfere with him or his work in one way or another?”

Josh nodded. “Or stop him from working at all. On the financial front, the Safe Transit Project could be worth billions to whoever gets there first.”

“That’s a lot of motive,” Sam said. “Why the resistance?”

“In part because he doesn’t believe he’s really in danger.”

“Naive?”

“Not exactly. Ian is…different. Brilliant, but a bit eccentric.”

Eccentric, in her experience, was a kinder euphemism for crazy. A vision formed in her head, a sort of Einstein-needing-Prozac image that had her smiling inwardly even as she calculated just how difficult this task might be.

“He has a very particular way of working,” Josh explained, “and he refuses to let anything or anyone intrude on that.”

“Even for his own safety?”

“Especially that. He agrees his work needs protecting but won’t have anything to do with a bodyguard. And I can’t say that I don’t understand. He needs space and time to let that incredible mind of his run.”

“He’s that smart?”

“Not in the traditional sense. He thinks outside the box, as they say. That’s why he’s so good at what he does.”

“Which is?”

“They call him ‘the professor,’ but he’s an inventor.”

Einstein suddenly shifted to Edison in her head. “We still have those?”

“A few,” Josh said with a grin. “Most inventing is done by committee nowadays, but Ian is a throwback. Lucky for us.”

“And where did you find this one?”

It had become legend, Josh Redstone’s knack for finding gold in the most unlikely places. It seemed every employee had a story of how Josh found them in a place they didn’t want to be and gave them the chance to find the place they belonged.

“He was trying to market a new deicing chemical for planes that he’d come up with, and after he got turned down by all the big and small airlines, he came to Redstone Aviation. He’d already invented a new computer cable that reduced signal noise, and a fireproofing treatment for already existing roofs, but hadn’t been able to sell those, either.”

And on the strength of what would likely be seen in the business world as three failures, Josh had hired him anyway, Sam thought. Typical.

“They didn’t work?” she asked.

“They worked,” Josh said. “But Ian is in no way a salesman.”

Sam smiled inwardly. Not necessarily a bad thing in my book. “So Redstone took that off his hands?”

“And let him do what he does best.”

“Invent.”

Josh nodded. “And nobody else can quite follow the way his mind works, so he works alone. And lives alone.”

That could make things either easier or harder, Sam thought. “Not married?”

“Not for several years.”

Burned, or impossible to live with? Sam wondered. “How alone is he? A recluse?”

“No. He doesn’t socialize much, outside of Redstone, but he does get along fine inside. He works out in the gym with a regular group, that kind of thing.”

Something in Josh’s expression told her she was wasting her time trying to think of an approach. “You’ve already got this set up, don’t you?”

One corner of her boss’s mouth quirked upward. “I always did say you were perceptive.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“I hate lying to him, but I’d hate even more having to negotiate for his safety. Or go to his funeral.” Josh reached into his pocket and pulled out two keys on a ring, with a paper tag attached. He slid them across the table to her. “You just bought a house.”

Sam blinked. She looked at the keys, then at her boss. “Lucky me,” she said.

She picked up the ring, glanced at the tag, at the address scrawled on it.

“Let me guess,” she said. “The professor’s nearby?”

“Right next door.”

Already planning her packing, she lifted an eyebrow at him. “Did they want to sell?”

Josh’s mouth quirked. “They did in the end.”

“At twice market value?” she guessed, knowing how Josh worked. “Enough to set them up in a brand-new house with cash to spare?”

Josh shrugged. “The important thing was to get you close. So Ian’s got a new neighbor.”

Sam pocketed the keys with a grin. “There goes the neighborhood.”