Trove (The Katie Walsh Mysteries) (14 page)

“Well, I’ve never been spoken to by a subordinate like that before. I think I’ll lodge a formal complaint.”

“Save the paper, Lucy. It will be my word against yours… another stalemate.”

“Au contraire, Katie. I have a witness this time,” Lucy said as she brushed her body against Alec’s arm.

Katie narrowed her eyes, taking in Alec’s expression. He wouldn’t dare side with that witch over her. Lucy had provoked the whole episode. She tossed him a “you wouldn’t dare look.”

Alec cocked an eyebrow. “I’m afraid I’d have to support Dr. Millar in this instance.”

Katie gasped. “But she… you can’t…”

“He can and he will,” Lucy purred. It looked like she was going to stroke his hair but stopped herself at the last minute. Really? What the hell is going on? Katie felt her anger grow. She wanted to slap Lucy’s hand away from him.

“Katie, I’m ordering you to work from home today and tomorrow,” Alec said. “And if you don’t, I’ll write you up for insubordination.”

Her eyes swept from Alec to Lucy then back to Alec. She swallowed, trying to find her voice and the words she needed to say, but for one of the rare times in her life, Katie Walsh was speechless, absolutely freakin’ mute.

****

Katie stomped across the lobby’s tile floor. She was furious. Alec had kicked her out of the Institute and effectively barred her from coming back until she returned from Willowton. She muttered as she headed for the main door. “Who does he think he is? He’s a damn dictator.” He’d made it clear his word was law. There was no chance to reason with him. She believed he was probably one step away from physically pushing her out the main door as he watched her pack up her laptop and then escorted her out of their work area. The final insult came when Lucy Millar held the door open for her.

“Dr. Walsh, Dr. Walsh, excuse me…”

Katie spun around and scowled at the receptionist, but quickly morphed it into a neutral expression. “Sorry, Diane. What’s up?”

The receptionist held a manila envelope in her hand as she approached Katie. “This was delivered by bike messenger for you.”

“Thanks,” Katie said as she took it, tucked it into her laptop bag, and then headed for home.

She was still stomping as she entered her condo and kicked her heels off before she closed the door, sending one of them crashing into the sliding balcony window clear across the room. “
Argh
, I am so mad I could just kill him.” She seethed as she set up her laptop. “No, killing would let him off too easily. He needs to suffer some major pain. And that witch… what the hell was she up to? Besides getting into his pants.”

She set her cell phone on the desk and glanced at the missed call list. Laura had called three times. She was tempted to call Laura, but after the fiasco this morning she decided against it. She didn’t want Laura getting in trouble with the Dastardly Duo of Alec and Lucy. She’d call her at lunch.

She spent the rest of the morning working on the runes. “He thinks I’m goofing off… I’ll show him. I’ll finish his damn translation and then throw it at him. Then he can leave me alone and head out on his… his...” She stood. “That’s it,” she practically screamed. “He’s a damn treasure hunter, that’s why he wants the translation. He’s looking for something and there must be someone else seeking the same thing. He needs me to complete the work soon so that he can beat the other hunter to the treasure.” She shook her head slowly as the pieces fell into place. “It all makes sense, except… what is he looking for?” She called Laura at lunch to let her know she was fine. She warned Laura to keep a low profile and not give Alec any grief. She wasn’t sure if he would threaten Laura with work-performance issues but that was the last thing she wanted Laura to have to deal with. Laura agreed to keep working on her assigned tasks and promised to push any of Alec’s requests to the top of her priority list.

When Laura asked her why he’d treated like a disobedient child, Katie could only reply, “I don’t know. He won’t tell me what’s going on, but I think I’m beginning to understand. Rest easy Laura, I fully intend to confront him when I get back to the office.”

One thing for sure, Katie would make damn sure she’d get that witch out of the picture at the very least. She grinned. “Take that, Lucy Millar. You don’t stand a chance. If anyone’s going to find the treasure with him, it sure as hell isn’t going to be you.”

****

After a quick dinner of frozen waffles, canned fruit and coffee, she spread out her laptop, the dossier, and Laura’s data on the coffee table, determined to give the translation another try. It had completely frustrated her this afternoon, and she’d had to take a break. She’d played some music and loosened up by dancing around her condo and ended with a mediation session, giving her body and soul a much needed playtime.

Her never-give-up attitude forced her to continue with the rune translation even after the way she’d been treated earlier. She really wanted to discover what Alec was looking for. She’d already put in ten hours on the translation today alone. Plus, she had to admit, she’d just love to throw the completed translation at him by Friday, even if the “throw” would be an email. Not that it would make any difference to him on a personal basis.
That’s all he wanted
, she thought, her shoulders drooping slightly. Hadn’t he proven that today when he’d sent her packing but let Lucy hang all over him? Lord, she was so confused when it came to him.

She scrutinized the runes for the umpteenth time and sighed in exasperation. They didn’t make sense, but in a strange way they did. She was convinced now that these runes were incomplete, that whoever included them in the dossier
deliberately left out several important symbols. Without the missing runes, it would be impossible to provide a viable translation. She was no expert but she knew that with retail photo manipulation software almost anyone could create a realistic photograph, convincing the viewer that what they were looking at really existed in that form. This had to be what she was looking at. The only way to finish her work would be to see the original pictures before they were doctored, or see the original runes in person.

After hours of trying different substitutions for the missing runes, she threw her hands up in frustration. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed to ask for help. She picked up the phone then hesitated. She blew out her breath. “Get over your ego, Katie Walsh, and finish what you started.”

Straightening her back and holding her head high, she dialed Alec’s number. On the third ring, his voicemail engaged: “You want me, you got me. Leave a message, and I’ll be in touch.” She was about to hang up when she heard the beep. “Alec, this is Katie. I need to ask you some questions regarding the dossier you’ve assigned me, in particular the source of the runes.”

She hung up the phone and checked the time. It was a quarter to ten. She headed for bed determined to give her eyes a rest for a few hours.

Alec and Robert strode out of the conference room. “You know, Robert, this really isn’t a bad quarterly meeting. I’ve been to some real dog shows, but this is nice. The dinner was delicious and the presentations were enjoyable, for the most part, and there’s an open bar.
”

He stopped and faced Robert. “But I really think I should be home, near Katie. I’ve left her alone and unprotected.”

“Relax. You’ve left Willie at your place making sure no one shows up unexpectedly,” Robert replied.

“Any chance she would go out on a last-minute date?” Alec asked.

“No, she’s not seeing anyone right now and she’s not into casual relationships.”

Even though he’d hooked up with her seemingly out of the blue, Alec knew she didn’t casually sleep around. Hell, she even confessed that fact to him before they got busy getting to know each other. He often wondered why they honed in on each other that night. He shrugged. “Somehow I can believe that.”

“I thought you said we could get something to drink, not this fizzy Kool-Aid they’re handing out here,” Alec said as a waiter passed by with a tray full of champagne.

“Come on. The full bar is in the next room.”

Alec ordered two whiskeys and returned to Robert. Robert reached for one and Alec pulled his hands away. “These are mine. Go get your own.”

Robert returned with a single glass in hand. “You should slow down with the drinking, Alec. I’m starting to think you may have a problem.”

Alec shrugged. “I don’t have a drinking problem, so relax.”
I have a logistics problem by the name of Katie Walsh
, he thought. “Everything ready for tomorrow night?” he asked as he emptied the first of the two shot glasses.

Robert nodded. “All set. You just make sure she’s well protected.”

“Take it down a notch, will you? You’re acting like an overprotective father. I’ll take good care of her.”

Robert snorted. “Father? That the best you could come up with? I’m only eight years older than her.”

“What is it with you and Katie?” Alec growled. “Are you asking me to back off? I told you, we have a history, which is more than I can say about you, bro.”

“Katie doesn’t deserve you. She deserves better. You always leave a trail of collateral damage like a tornado behind you. Add to that the fact that Katie’s life is potentially in danger and I think you should just go take a cold shower. A really long cold shower,” Robert said.

Robert watched as Alec drained the second shot glass. “You’re drunk. If you weren’t I think I’d have to knock some sense into you. You just make sure she’s safe. That’s as far as you go with her. Got it, Alec?”

Alec looked at his brother and realized he was right. Katie’s safety trumped everything else at this point. He put her in harm’s way. She was his responsibility. He exhaled. “Yeah, I got the message, loud and clear.”

“Come on,” Robert said, “let’s head to my place. We can smoke some nice Havanas on my terrace while you sober up.”

“It’s been a while since I had a Havana. I won’t even ask how you managed to get them.” Alec laughed. “Let’s go.”

Katie slept a few hours and then tossed and turned for the next three. She knew that trying to sleep now was just wishful thinking. She glanced at the clock. The red digital numbers of 3:45 were taunting her, reminding her that another night’s sleep was slipping through her fingers. She got up and dressed in black jeans and a bright pink T-shirt before calling Eric in England.

“Hi, Eric.” She smiled as his webcam turned on.

“Hi, Katie. Up late or couldn’t you sleep?”

“Couldn’t sleep. I wanted to go over the overlay project. I thought I’d work on it today.” She pulled the laptop closer. “What’s up with the wrinkled brow?”

“Do you think all this encryption and coding is necessary?” he asked in a half whisper.

She frowned. “We need to protect our work. You know as well as I do that some of our colleagues are waiting for us to fail. They complain that we’re hogging too much supercomputer time. Others are just waiting to steal our findings and sell them to the highest bidder.” She took a deep breath. “If we’re successful, we can apply this methodology in search of a multitude of ancient sites. I just want to protect what is ours until we’re ready to unveil it.” She bit her lip, then asked, “I don’t think I’m being irrational here, do you?”

He shook his head. “No I guess not, but technically it is only partially our work. Nordstrom holds the controlling interest, at least initially.”

Katie sighed. “I know. I just don’t want someone pulling it out from under our noses. We’re doing all the modeling and testing. I want us to get the credit.”

“I understand that, but don’t you think it is a bit much with the encryption? What if something were to happen to you or me? How would anyone access our work?” Eric asked.

She could see the hesitation on his face. Thanks to the webcam, it was like he was in the room with her. Technology, in the right hands, was a wonderful thing. “Eric, I need to do this. Besides, you have all the access codes, and just in case, Dr. Austin has a master password that can access all files on the network. Maybe I’m a bit paranoid but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Alec shows up in London, asks about Norland, and becomes my boss all in the same evening.”
Never mind all the other currents swirling around me
, she thought.

Katie didn’t tell him everything that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. It would only upset him and possibly throw off the timetable she had established for the overlay project. Plus, there was nothing he could do to help.

“I agree it was very odd. I’m just not convinced that he’s here to steal your work,” Eric said. “He seems like a decent chap.”

“Think about this for a moment.” She looked straight into the webcam, as if she could squeeze herself into the lens and show up beside Eric to give him the reassurance he so desperately looked like he needed. “Here is this archaeologist and, granted, you know how I feel about them, but here he is asking about Norland. I’d never heard about him before that night in London, even though I am best friends with his brother. I mean, it’s like he crawled out of the woodwork.” She laughed. “Or the very least out of one of his holes.”