At least I’m awake now. “What’s happening?”
“Bee, do you want to stay in Houston and work on BLINK?” he asks again, but this time after a pause he adds, “With me?”
That’s when I know that I’m a lunatic. Insane. An utterly insane lunatic. Because my alarm says six forty-five a.m., and a shiver runs down my spine—or where my spine would be if I had one. I screw my eyes shut, and the word that comes out of my mouth is:
“Yeah.”
* * *
? ? ?
I STUMBLE OUT of the elevator two minutes past seven, energized by a night of restful sleep and dressed for success.
Just kidding. I’m wearing leggings and a flannel shirt, I forgot to put on a bra, and having to choose between brushing my teeth and washing my face I went for the former, which means that when Levi spots me I’m frantically trying to scrape sleep boogers from my eyes. I feel jittery and drowsy—the worst possible combination. Levi is waiting by Boris’s office, put together like it’s not the middle of the night, and knocks on the door the moment he sees me. I break into a light jog, and by the time I get there I’m also sweaty and out of breath.
My life is so lovely. As lovely as a spinal tap.
“What is going on?”
“No time to explain. But like I said, it’s a gamble. Pretend you already know when we’re in there.”
I frown. “Know what?”
Boris yells at us to come in.
“Just follow my lead,” Levi says, gesturing me inside.
“We’re supposed to be co-leads,” I mutter.
The corner of his lip twitches up. “Follow my co-lead, then.”
“Please, tell me this mess doesn’t end in a murder-suicide.”
He opens the door and shrugs, ushering me in with a hand between my shoulder blades. “Guess we’ll see.”
Boris had no idea we’d show up. His eyes roll and narrow, a mix of I’m tired and Not you two and I don’t have time for this, and he stands from behind his desk with his hands on his hips.
I take a step back. What is this car crash of a meeting? What did I get myself into? And why, oh why did I ever think that trusting Levi Ward would be a good idea?
“No,” Boris says, “Levi, I’m not going to go over this again, and not in front of an NIH employee. I have a meeting that I need to prep for, so . . .” The annoyance in his voice fades as Levi, unruffled, sets his phone on the desk. There’s a picture on the screen, but I can’t make out what it is. I push up on my toes and lean forward to see, but Levi pulls on the back of my flannel and lifts one eyebrow—which I believe means You’re supposed to follow my lead. I frown in my best Sure would be nice to know what’s going on, but whatever.
When I glance at Boris, there’s a deep horizontal line in the middle of his forehead. “Did you make some changes to the helmet prototype? I don’t remember authorizing—”
“I did not.”
“This doesn’t look like what I approved.”
“It’s not.” Levi holds out his hand, and when Boris returns the phone, he pulls up another picture. A person, wearing something on their head. The line on Boris’s brow deepens even more.
“When was the picture taken?”
“That, I’d rather not say.”
Boris’s gaze sharpens. “Levi, if you’re making this up because of yesterday’s conversation—”
“The name of the company is MagTech. They are very well-established, based in Rotterdam, and do science tech. They’ve been open about the fact that they’re working on wireless neurostimulation helmets.” A pause. “They have a fairly long history of supplying armed forces and militias with combat gadgets.”
“Which armed forces?”
“Whoever can pay.”
“How far ahead are they?”
“Based on those blueprints and on my . . . contact’s information, pretty much where BLINK’s at.” He holds Boris’s eyes a little too intensely. “At least, where BLINK was at. Before it was shelved.”
Boris risks a quick glance at me. “Technically, the project was never shelved,” he says defensively.
“Technically.” There is something commanding about the way Levi talks, even to his boss. Boris flushes and returns the phone. I pluck it from Levi’s hand before he can pocket it and study the pictures.
It’s a neurostimulation helmet—the blueprints and the prototype. Not quite ours, but similar. Scarily similar. Oh shit we have competition similar.