Beverly Connor - Dead Secret

Diane raised her eyebrows. “How scientific of you.”

Mike smiled, showing his dimples. He tried to stretch and winced from the pain. “Son of a bitch.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just a little pain. If I get my hands on the guy who did this. . Shit. Anyway, the experiment-I thought maybe we could recognize the formation if we ever ran across one again.”

“Can we?”

“Maybe-if all we saw was the plug. The rocks shift toward each other when they get stuck. You can sort of recognize it. But with other breakdown on top of the plug, the pattern was hard to see.” He shook his head. “You weren’t reckless. What brought this on?”

“It was just something I was thinking about.”

Mike squinted his eyes at her. “There’s something else that’s bothering you.”

“Just trying to make sense out of things. Why us?”

“I’ve been thinking. You know, there is one person who would like to do us both in.”

Diane lowered her eyes, then brought her gaze back up to Mike’s intent look. His light brown eyes still looked sleepy, but he had a strength in his voice just now when he talked about a killer that got away, almost taking their lives with him-the one who left Neva to die.

“I’ve thought of him too. But he’s dead. He has to be.”

“Does he?”

“Yes. There’s no way he could have survived. I believe that.”

“Is that why you scan the parking lot every time you leave the museum? I’ve seen you. I do it too.”

“It’s a good habit to get into.”

“It’s just a thought I had, trying to figure out who could be so damn mad at both of us. You’re right, though-he’s probably dead. I can’t imagine how he could have possibly escaped the cave, wounded like he was and with no light.”

“I’ll mention it to Garnett.” Diane stood. “I need to let you get some rest.”

“Wait. There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about while I’m laid up here looking pitiful and after having saved your life two weeks ago.”

Diane laughed out loud. “This sounds like you’re going to ask a really big favor.”

“It’s a proposal.”

Diane’s eyebrows rose a fraction. “A proposal?”

“Business,” Mike added.

“Okay, shoot.”

“It’s a job proposal, a rather unusual one. I’ve got it written out, but I don’t have it here. I’ll ask Neva to drop it by your office. However, I’ll tell you about it.”

Diane moved the chair closer to Mike’s bed and sat back down. “I’m listening. What is your unusual proposal?”

“Can I have a drink of water?”

A glass of ice water was sitting on the stand next to his bed. She helped him take a sip from the straw.

“Can I do anything else for you? Get you an extra pillow?” She felt helpless watching him lie there.

“I’m okay, really.”

But Diane had seen him push the button that gave him his intravenous painkiller. She sat back down and leaned forward.

“I’m listening,” she said.

“I’ve been asked by a biotechnology and pharmaceutical research company to search out and collect extremophiles.”

“Extremophiles?”

“Organisms that live in the most extreme environments on earth, conditions that would kill other creatures. Some grow in very cold or extremely hot temperatures, some in very high-or low-pH environments, and some live under high pressure or in high salt concentrations, and others have very limited nutrient needs.”

“And they want you to find these. . organisms? What does this company want with them?”

“Extremophiles have some very interesting characteristics. For example, you know that polymerase chain reaction test you guys do for the DNA in blood?”

“Uh-huh. It replicates small samples of DNA to increase the amount we have to work with. We don’t do it here. We send our samples to the GBI lab in Atlanta, but sure, I know what it is.”

“Did you know the Taq DNA polymerase used for the reaction originally came from Thermus aquaticus , a bacterium found in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park?”

Diane blinked. “Really? I had no idea,” she said, feeling oddly abashed. “Jin is more up on this than I am. He has a particular interest in DNA testing.”

“Does he know that for some other PCR applications, Taq DNA polymerase isn’t as useful because it lacks proofreading? It doesn’t have the ability to detect and remove replication errors.”

Diane shrugged and smiled at Mike, who was clearly having fun. “I’ll ask him.”

“The DNA polymerase from Thermococcus litoralis has an enzyme that has very promising proofreading capabilities. The point is that some of these extremophiles are like little engines that do really cool stuff.”

“It sounds to me a lot like nanotechnology.”

“Interesting you should say that. Some researchers are looking at extremophiles as a model for nanotechnology. Extremophile research has a lot of branches-medicine, environmental cleanup, food preservation and lots more. The characteristics that allow them to survive in extreme conditions are sometimes very useful for other kinds of work.”

“Fascinating, I agree. But your Ph.D. is in geology. What do they want with a geologist?”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “Some extremophiles live inside rocks.” He laughed. “I think I’m getting silly. This painkiller is feeling really good. Is my speech slurred?”

“Not much more than usual,” said Diane.

Mike clasped his chest with both hands. “Oh, now I’ve been stabbed through the heart. Seriously, sometimes locating extremophiles in their natural habitat is a geologic problem. That’s part of what geomicrobiology is about. But it’s mainly my skill set they are interested in-caving and rock climbing. Extremophiles live in remote, hard-to-get-to places-like ice caves and inside volcanoes. They need someone like me. I’ve climbed a five-fourteen rock face.”

The surprise must have shown on Diane’s face, the way Mike grinned broadly at her. She knew Mike was good, but they always had relatively easy climbs in the caves they visited. She could do a five-seven, a five-eight or — nine in a pinch. Only a handful of elite rock climbers could handle a rock face with a five-fourteen degree of difficulty-it required an enormous amount of skill and strength.

“Have I impressed you, Doc?”

“You’ve impressed the hell out of me, Mike.”

She didn’t think it possible, but his grin got even broader and a little more lopsided.

“I’ve sure been working hard at it.”

Diane suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Mike was an extremely talented and intelligent individual, and a genuinely nice guy. All that would be gone had he died. Twice now he’d almost been killed when they were together.

She fingered the locket that hung on a chain around her neck. It contained a photograph of her and her daughter. Diane wondered what Ariel would have become had her bright light not been extinguished so soon. Her eyes filled with tears.

“You okay, Doc?”

Diane blushed and hoped that Mike didn’t notice that as well as the tears. “Yes. . it’s. . I was just thinking about my daughter. Now you-twice-and Frank getting shot last year, too. It seems I’m not a lucky person to be around.”

“Doc, none of what happened to any of us was your fault. This time we were at a funeral, for heaven’s sake. Who knew?” He reached out his hand and Diane took it. “Thanks for riding with me in the ambulance. I have to tell you, I was scared.”

“Me too.”

She squeezed his hand, let it go, took a tissue from the box on his nightstand, and blotted the tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry. Please tell me more about your proposal. Where does the museum come into it?”