“What did you do?” I murmur.
“I did what I had to. This morning I took a few caffeine pills, just to be, you know . . . excitable. And I fudged the protocols. But you put me in this situation. You and Levi. Because, Bee—oh, Bee, he was obsessed with you. The second NIH nominated you, he had to make BLINK happen. And I tried to do what I could—make you guys fight a little. Little delays. Missing files. For a while you seemed stuck, and I hoped time would run out and you’d go back to NIH.” His eyes are a little crazed. “But you cracked it. And . . . I had to do it. Today had to happen. They won’t let Levi stay on the project.”
“On Twitter. What did you do on Twitter?”
He runs a hand down his face. “That was— I wasn’t going to involve you, believe it or not. But when I found out that you weren’t really married, that Levi lied to me, I was very upset. It didn’t take long to realize that . . . I cannot believe you’re fucking him, Bee. Your Twitter was on your computer, and I’d been following your online identity, so . . . I knew what to do.”
“Oh my God.”
“You were supposed to hate him! When NIH selected you, Levi told me you had issues in the past. And I thought—perfect!” He sighs like he’s deeply tired. “And then you fell in love. Who does that?”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m angry. Because it would have worked out great if you hadn’t noticed the security footage. I guess I got a bit sloppy at editing myself out? Why were you looking at it, anyway?”
I shake my head. I’m not explaining Félicette to this asshole. “You are crazy.”
“Yeah.” He closes his eyes. “Maybe.”
I look around for— I’m not sure what. A siren? A baseball bat? One of those portable transporters from Star Trek? “Let me go,” I say.
“Bee.” He opens his eyes. “You don’t need to be an evil mastermind to acknowledge that I cannot let you go.”
“You sort of have to. You can’t do anything to me. There are cameras—”
“—whose footage we established I can doctor—thanks to your RA, by the way. I only got access to the surveillance circuit after catching her in flagrante.”
“You still used your badge to come in—”
“—I didn’t, actually. Pretty easy to clone an anonymous badge.”
My fingers shake when I grip my desk. “What’s your plan, then?”
He takes something out of his pocket. No. No.
No, no, no.
“Is that a gun?” I gasp out.
“Yeah.” He sounds almost apologetic. My entire world stops.
I’m used to being scared. I live my life in fear—fear of being abandoned, fear of failing, fear of losing everything. But this is different. Is it terror? Real, hindbrain terror? Is this how the lady feels in Scream and Scream 2, 3, and 4, when she realizes that the caller is in the house? Did they ever make 5? God, will I die before Scream 5 hits theaters?
“What— Where did you even— Is that real?”
“Yeah. Really easy to get one.” He holds the gun like he hates it almost as much as I do. “NRA’s crazy here.”
“I guess I’m having the full Texas experience,” I mumble, numb. This cannot be happening. I’m well-acquainted with stemlords’ disregard for women, but one wanting to kill me? A step too fucking far. “Do you even know how to use that?”
“They teach you. During astronaut training. Insert Space Force joke.” He laughs once, humorlessly. “But I won’t need to use it. Because we’re going up to the roof. Poor little Bee. In a few short days she lost everything. Couldn’t handle the stress. Decided to jump.”
“I will do no such—”
Guy points the gun at me.
Oh, shit. I’m going to die. In my stupid office. Killed by a stemlord. I’m going to die without having had a cat. I’m going to die without having admitted to Levi that I love him more than I thought possible. Without a chance to show him—to show myself—that I can be brave.
At least Marie had Pierre for a while. At least she took a chance. At least she tried not to act like the stupid coward I’ve been and oh God, maybe if I beg Guy he’ll let me text Levi and I’ll be able to tell him, I just want to tell him, it seems such a waste not to have told him, and—
A meowing sound. We both turn. Félicette is on the filing cabinet near the door, growling at Guy. He gives her a confused look. “What the hell is—”