Passionate Immunity (4 page)

“Where’s the rest of it?” Kimberly asked, glancing first at Lucas, then turned her head to capture Tristan’s gaze with her own.

For the second time in as many minutes Tristan felt his brain fry. Forcing himself to stick to the subject at hand, he cleared his throat and answered before Lucas could. “We’re only part way through,” he explained. “The records are a mess, presumably any number of agents have gone over them. Lucas and I were in the process of chronologically ordering everything as best we could. So far we haven’t found more than those two sheets for any of the subjects mentioned.”

“Subjects,” she repeated with an emphasis on the ‘s’. “How many have you found?”

“Four so far,” Tristan replied.

Understanding dawned across Lucas’ face. His partner cast him a knowing smile, sat back and began to once again go through the paperwork. Tristan easily shrugged his partner’s humour off.

Kimber appeared unaware of the silent exchange between the two men.

“Well, I guess I should start reading and catching up,” she said. Her light tone and happy smile clearly conveyed her excitement. Tristan shook his head. Her pleasure at such a simple, usually mundane task was contagious.

“Are you always so thrilled by paperwork?” he asked.

Her answering grin was enormous. “I’ve read more spy thrillers than I care to think about,” she replied. “I know Preston insists this will be boring, mundane and totally anti-climactic. But something deep inside me insists this is my big adventure. I’ve craved excitement and action since I was a little girl running around playing thieves and coppers. I can’t explain why I know this will be huge for me, but I just do. I’m thrilled to be here.”

Lucas and Tristan exchanged a look. Despite the fact Tristan had her pegged somewhere in her mid-thirties, right now Kimber could pass for an eager schoolgirl about to go out on her first real date. She all but hummed with vibrant anticipation.

“I hope you’re as thrilled after you’ve spent two or three hours on these uncomfortable seats, reading through mounds of this paperwork,” Tristan finally replied, unwilling and unable to squash her pleasure.

Kimber met his gaze, her blue eyes sparkling.

“In such company, I’m sure I’ll be just as exhilarated,” she said.

Heat seared through Tristan, his cock hardened at the sensuality in her words.

Did she just…?
His brain registered the dual meaning of her words. Part of him refuted the hidden meaning she alluded to, while the naughty smile and wicked glint in her eyes assured him that yes, she had meant for her words to hint at what he’d thought.

Saucy wench!

Tristan grinned more slowly this time, the taunting smile melting over his face as his blood thickened with wicked lust.

“Well then,” he purred. The day suddenly had an unexpected depth to it. “Never let it be said I wasn’t accommodating to a lady’s desires. Where would you like to start?”

Kimber’s gaze turned sexy.

Tristan couldn’t wait for this sensual game of back-and-forth to unfold.

Chapter Two

Kimber had craved adventure and passion for so long. Now that she was here she could hardly believe it. Ten minutes after sitting down she still felt the electric hum of excitement racing through her body, keeping her faintly on edge and jittery. Having Tristan seated next to her in no way helped calm the thrills arcing through her system. The man was living and breathing
sex
. She felt overly aware of the fact that her skin prickled with sensual awareness of him.

How any female could do the least bit of work around this man eluded her. His body was strong and lean—an athlete’s form full of sleek muscles. Kimber found the mixture of strength and agility he showed in his every move intoxicating.

Warm eyes crinkled around the edges with barely suppressed laughter, his amusement clear. Dark brown hair had been mussed by, she suspected, too many finger-combings, showing the faintest hint of silver at the edges. Kimber hazarded a guess that Tristan was very close to forty, perhaps just scraping past the important milestone by no more than a year.

Even more attractive to her was his calm demeanour and take-charge attitude. As a scientist she found all too often men became uncomfortable and even put off by the fact she had a solid, working knowledge of many convoluted processes. It became frustrating after a while, especially when work was the furthest thing from her mind.

While Tristan had barely said more than a dozen words in the time they had been studying the plethora of documents, Kimber had enjoyed his quiet, masculine assurance. He appeared neither impressed nor cowed by the fact she had a brain and understanding beyond his ken.

This pleasure, mingled with her fierce physical reaction to him, heightened her anticipation of what lay before them, both with their adventure and their sexual potency. Arousal made her mind sharp, and her heart pound furiously.

Despite the mammoth drain on her attention, Kimber somehow managed to force herself to pay attention to the documents she surveyed.

“Much of this appears to be background research,” she finally spoke after nearly a quarter of an hour studying the various piles Lucas and Tristan had been sorting. “I’ve found photocopies from various medical texts, journal articles, magazines and the like. It’s a real mishmash of sources all somehow connected to the immune system and different research projects that are both ongoing and recently presented.”

“Can you give us the short and sweet version?” Lucas asked, a hopeful lilt in his voice.

Kimber chuckled, enjoying his enthusiasm. “If it’s needed I can explain as much or as little as you both require. Right now I’m trying to make sense of how this all pieces together.” Kimber frowned as she moved the papers into different piles while speaking her thoughts aloud. “All this seems to be general background like I mentioned,” she said slowly, trying to put it together in her mind. “Other than the fact it’s all related to the immune system, healing, white blood cells, that overall area, it doesn’t seem specific in any other way.”

The silence in the conference room felt weighted for a moment. The prickling sensation that she was missing something had Kimber looking up, glancing between the two men. They watched each other, appearing to almost communicate without words.

“What?” she interjected, feeling as if she had interrupted them despite the fact that they remained silent.

It was Lucas who replied after another long moment. “This was Henley’s project, Preston’s predecessor. From what I’ve heard she was a regular manager and agent, no special interest in science. It makes sense she’d need background information if she was focused on a medical project like this.”

“Okay.” Kimber nodded. “These are what I find really interesting though,” she continued, picking up nine slim folders. “There are nine folders here, seeming to represent nine individuals. Eight appear to have died if the big, red ‘Closed’ stamp is anything to judge by, but the final one is still open.”

“We’ve already checked those.” Tristan frowned as he spoke. “We couldn’t understand their importance.”

“That’s because my money would be on your old manager, this Henley woman, having copied these without permission,” Kimber replied. “Medical records are sacrosanct. I can guarantee she wasn’t supposed to have these. There’s so little information here I can’t understand why she’d have risked everything to take these two sheets.”

“There’s plenty of data,” Lucas protested. “Their application form has next-of-kin contacts, all their physical details, personal information. It’s an identity thief’s wet dream.”

“I think that’s why she photocopied these pages,” Kimber agreed. “To keep a record or maybe do a search on these people. It’s this second sheet that really intrigues me.”

Kimber spread out the nine files. She opened the folders and collated the second, briefer sheet from four of them to show how similar they all were.

“I still can’t read it, this is incomplete,” she explained almost apologetically, “but I understand enough for us to get a start on it. This number here, one-twenty over ninety, is the subject’s blood pressure. And here, I’m confident this is their temperature and weight, their reflective reactions and so forth.”

“So these files are just annual check-ups?” Lucas said, clearly dismayed.

Kimber shook her head.

“No. I think they’re baseline physical statistics,” she said. The moment the words were out of her mouth she hoped she wasn’t making a fool of herself and jumping the gun. She pointed to the last few lines midway down the sheet of paper.

“See, they’re all dated. And this is the amount each individual was injected with, calculated from their age, race and weight. In any experiment you need the control levels, the baseline with which to compare whatever data you seek to interpret. I think Henley copied these files at the start of the experiment to have the personal data of each test subject and unwittingly copied this sheet too.”

“You really think this was some sort of experiment?” Tristan repeated.

Kimber searched his face, worried. He appeared thoughtful, reflective. He didn’t look sceptical or disbelieving, but she could tell he wasn’t sold on her idea.

“Without the rest of the files I can’t be certain of anything,” she admitted. “I need to see the full data, even if it’s cryptic or in some form of shorthand I should be able to get a far better idea.”

“We can get you copies,” Lucas agreed.

Kimber shook her head.

“It would be better if I go to the facility and look for myself,” she insisted. “Copies could prove bothersome in a legal sense. The Agency currently can deny knowledge of this invasion of privacy. If you wilfully and knowingly copy these medical records it could prove sticky in court. All I’d need would be a few minutes to sort out what’s happening. From there Preston or his managers can make the call.”

Tristan shot her a hard look.

“This isn’t a game,” he said firmly. “You’ve got stars in your eyes, and believe me, it suits you. Regardless, there’s not a chance in hell you’re breaking into a medical facility with us.”

“It can’t possibly be that dangerous,” she protested. No way did she want to be left behind. This was her chance for adventure, damn it. If Tristan thought she’d smile meekly and sit on the sidelines he was so wrong.

“Teenagers break and enter buildings every day,” she said. “Junkies steal drugs, children sneak things into their pockets. The police almost never catch anyone who doesn’t fall into their lap for these small offences. You’re a professional. I bet you can have the three of us in and out of there in fifteen minutes before anyone even realises what we’re doing.”

“Preston would skin me alive,” Tristan refused. “He’s sworn to unleash his wife on us if we put you in the least danger.”

Kimber snickered, unable to help the humour of the situation. “Felicity is barely five foot two,” she replied with a laugh. “I bet she doesn’t weigh fifty kilos soaking wet with her favourite knee-high leather boots on. A big, strong, manly man like yourself should not be terrified of such a small woman.”

“Lady, I could probably lift you with just one arm,” Tristan countered, not deterred in the least, “and your blinding determination to seek adventure and danger petrifies me. Any man who doesn’t fear a headstrong woman even a little is a fool.”

Kimber couldn’t stop the grin spreading over her face. The more she bantered and spoke with Tristan, the more she liked him. He held a maturity and understanding most men she had met lacked. Better still, he easily held his own against her.

Not that she planned to let him win this particular struggle. It meant too much to her.

“With you there to protect me what could possibly go wrong?” she wheedled, her eyes innocently wide and her smile as charming as she could make it. “You can crack the lock, I can review the data and files super quickly and we can be back out in no time.”

“Lucas and I can handle it,” Tristan said. “We might let you wait in the car.”

“We need Lucas to scout the exits, to…umm…” Kimber thought quickly, mentally reviewing the books and movies she had spent half a lifetime watching. “He’ll need to guard our escape route, to check all is well outside and keep in touch with us inside. We need him to cover us.”

A small quirk of Tristan’s eyebrow showed Kimber he was struggling not to laugh. She didn’t believe for a moment he wasn’t taking this seriously, but it heartened her to see he could still understand the humour in their argument.

“Lucas and I are partners, a team. I’m not going to let him—”

“It’s okay,” Lucas interjected. Tristan shot him a hard, scowling look. The blond man winked cheekily at Kimber. She grinned in response, her spirits lifting.

“The more we argue about this, the bigger deal it will become to us,” Lucas said. “If we just organise ourselves, get in and then out again, it shouldn’t be a problem. Let her have some fun.”

Tristan snorted and cast a disbelieving glance at his partner.

“So you’re happy to take the heat from Preston if this all goes to hell then?”

Lucas beamed charmingly and shrugged.

“As she said, it’s a simple thing. We’ve both done far more dangerous, complicated missions. It will be a snap.”

“Neither of you would know a blood workup from a DNA profile from an electrophoresis gel analysis if it shook your hand and introduced itself to you,” she concluded, trying for once to sound as snooty as possible. “Admit it, Walters, you need me there. Lucas can cover our arses and you can do all the dirty work. I’ll do my best to sort out what’s actually happening over there. Can we move on and brainstorm now, please?”

Tristan glanced from Lucas to her, then back to his partner again. Kimber could see the relaxing in his tense facial expression when he appeared to give in to the inevitable. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of spending more time in an intimate surrounding with this delectable man. The conference room had little privacy with the floor to ceiling windows, anyone in the entire office area could look their way and see straight in. Privacy was not an option.