Loreth Anne White - Safe Passage

A sound at the far end of the darkened lab crashed into her thoughts.

She jerked back, knocking a petri dish off the counter. It clattered to the floor, the sound disproportionately loud in the deserted laboratory.

Skye peered into the night shadows.

Her heart thumped a steady beat against her chest wall. Nothing. No movement.

She chided herself, turned back to her beetle. The Kepplar labs were perfectly safe. Even at night. Still, more than ten years down the road and she hadn’t stopped looking over her shoulder. She was still seeing ghosts in shadows. Hearing sounds in the night. Afraid he’d find her.

Then she heard it again.

She froze. “Who’s there?” She could hear the brittle edge of panic in her own voice.

Neon light flooded the lab, exploded into her brain.

She blinked against the brightness.

Jozsef stood beside the light switch, a wide grin on his face. “What you doing working in the dark at this ungodly hour, Dr. Van Rijn?”

Skye sucked her breath in slowly, trying to steady her popping nerves. “Good grief, Jozsef, you startled me. What in heaven are you doing here? When did you get back?”

He walked forward, arms behind him. “I thought I’d find you at home. I didn’t. So I came looking here.”

“You could’ve tried my cell.”

“I wanted to surprise you.” He grinned broadly. “What are you working on so late…or should I say so early?”

“My beetles,” she snapped defensively, anger edging out fear.

“The ones for the whitefly epidemic?”

“Jozsef, how did you get in?”

He laughed, held up an access card.

“That’s mine. That’s my spare.” She reached for it.

Jozsef held it playfully out of reach. “You left it at my place, sweetheart.”

“I thought I’d misplaced it. Besides, you still had to get by security.”

“When’s that ever stopped me.” He smiled warmly, slipping the card into his back pocket.

Skye frowned.

“C’mon, Skye.” He lifted a hand, brushed a tendril of hair from her cheek. “Marshall Kane gave me the all-clear with security. They know I’m with you.”

She hesitated, suddenly strangely unsure of the man in front of her. The man she was going to marry. “I bet Marshall didn’t think you’d be trying to get in here after hours.”

Jozsef shrugged. “Enough of this already. You’re way too jumpy.” He stepped closer. “Besides, I got a surprise for you. Guess.” His words were warm against her ear.

Skye forced a smile. “What?”

“I said guess.”

She sighed. “A rose?”

“Nope.”

“Chocolate?”

“Come on, Doctor, I’m a little more original than that. You got one more guess.”

“I give up. Look, we should go. You really shouldn’t be in here—”

Jozsef Danko raised a finger to her lips. “Shh.” He winked. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” With his other hand he brought a small box out from behind his back. It was a deep burgundy-red. He set it on the lab counter, a smile playing around his dark eyes. “Open it, Doctor.”

The light in the man’s eyes was infectious. Skye relented. She peeled off her latex gloves, picked up the box and lifted the lid. Nestled in shiny black satin was a tiny gold bug with glittering emerald eyes. It hung from a gold chain.

She looked up at Jozsef. “You get it in Europe?”

“It’s a little token to celebrate the completion of your big project.”

“I’m not finished yet. They’ll only be ready for release in another two weeks.”

“Yes. But the bulk of your work is done, not so?”

“I guess.” She lifted the chain and pendant from the box. “It’s so unusual. Where’d you find it?”

“I had it made. Here, I’ll put it on for you.”

Skye lifted her hair, bent her head forward as Jozsef fastened the clasp behind her neck.

She turned to face him. “What you think?”

“Take a look in the mirror.”

“There isn’t one.”

“There is, in the washroom. Go on. Humor me. I’ll wait here.”

Skye made her way to the bathroom, pushed open the door. She stared at her reflection under the harsh washroom lights. It was certainly a perfectly proportioned little bug. And knowing Jozsef, the gold of the carapace nestled at the hollow of her throat was as real as the glittering emerald eyes of the beetle. It really was perfect. But it wasn’t her. It didn’t go with her coloring. She preferred silver.

She shrugged. So what? It showed he cared. It showed he’d gone to the trouble of finding something tailored specifically for her.

When had anyone ever done that?

But a little niggle of doubt ate at her as she headed back down the empty corridor to her lab, the heels of her boots echoing in the empty gloom. It summed up her relationship. Jozsef Danko seemed so perfect, but everything about him was always just slightly off center. It hadn’t worried her before. But today it did. Maybe she was making a mistake. Maybe she just needed a holiday. The stress of this project had been getting to her.

Or maybe she’d just been unsettled by the mysterious man who’d moved in next door.

She shoved open the lab door, gasped.

Jozsef had the lid to the box of larvae open. She rushed forward. “What are you doing?”

He glanced up, smiled that nonchalant smile of his. “Just peeking at your babies.”

“You shouldn’t—”

“Oh, come on. It can’t hurt. So, do you like your pendant?”

“Yes.” She moved over to make sure the lid to the larvae was properly secured. The ugly little grubs, her pride and joy, represented a fortune to Kepplar Biological Control Systems. And there was stringent protocol on secrecy. A leak could spell the loss of millions. She couldn’t understand why Marshall would clear anyone with security. Even her fiancé. It just didn’t make sense.

“Come.” She turned to Jozsef. “Let’s get out of here before you ruin me.”

Jozsef chuckled. “Now that would be the last thing on my mind.” He lifted his hand and brushed her cheek softly with the backs of his fingers. “Come, let’s go grab some breakfast. My place or yours?”

Skye hesitated. “Actually, Jozsef, I’m really tired…and I’ve got a meeting with Marshall in a couple of hours.”

He studied her face. Then he nodded. “Sure.” He took her arm. “It’s okay, I understand.”

Skye felt everything but sure. Or okay.

Jozsef halted at the door, grasped her shoulders, turned her to face him. “Skye—”

The sudden severity in his eyes startled her. “What?”

“Promise me you’ll wear that beetle always. No matter what happens. Can you promise me that?”

She reached up, fingered the gold carapace. “Why? What’s going to happen, Jozsef?”

“Just make me that promise.”

She tried to read his eyes. Couldn’t. “All right,” she said tentatively. “I’ll wear your beetle…no matter what happens.”

Scott’s phone beeped. He flicked it open. “Yeah.”

“The plate’s registered to a Jozsef Danko.”

“That was quick.”

“He’s in the system. Landed immigrant, a Hungarian national. Investor, stockbroker, importer-exporter, all-round international businessman. Travels a lot. Works from an office out of his residence. Wonder why an international player like him has set himself up in a place like Haven.”

“He found something to keep him here. He’s getting married morning after next.”

“What?”

“He’s the fiancé.”

“What fiancé?”

“Dr. Van Rijn’s.”

Silence. “We didn’t know there was a fiancé.” There was a new bite in Rex Logan’s voice.

Scott felt a wry smile tug at his mouth. The Bellona boss was suddenly taking this mission a little more seriously. “Well, there is one. And do me a favor. Have someone check into Danko’s recent investment history.”