Page 89 of Once a Killer

When they walked into the lab twenty minutes later, Jameson avoided his office. He set the cooler on a table in the large common room of the lab, put the glasses he’d bought beside it, then drew out one of the bottles of Dom and held it up. “Great news, team,” he said with a huge smile. “Time to celebrate! Patent for my program should come through in a couple of days, according to my attorney.” He glanced around the room, meeting every engineer’s gaze. “First celebration, but not the last,” he said. “I’ll spring for the Dom Perignon when each of you patents your program.”

He removed the foil and twisted the metal holding the cork in place. Removed the cork carefully, then poured the golden liquid into a glass. Handed it to Hayley. “Ladies first,” he said.

He tried to hand one to Bree, but she shook her head. “I don’t drink,” she said. She turned and handed the glass to Stu. “Give me one sip.”

After pouring Bree a tiny splash of the Champagne, Jameson poured a glass for Joe and Brewster. Then he poured one for himself.

“A toast,” Brewster said. “To patents. And may we all be as successful as Jameson in finishing our programs.”

Everyone raised their glass, then took a sip. Hayley stared at it as she swallowed. “Oh, my God. That’s amazing.”

They went through all three bottles of Champagne, and Jameson realized Bree was watching to see how much each engineer drank. He sipped his own glass slowly, and when no one was looking, dumped the rest in the wastebasket beneath the table.

Finally, when the third bottle was gone and everyone had finished their glass, Jameson glanced at his watch. “Sorry, guys, I’ve kept you all late.” He grinned. “But it was worth it to celebrate with my friends.” He shoved the empty bottles into the cooler, then headed toward his office. He deliberately walked a little unsteadily, and when he reached his desk, he dug into his briefcase and pulled out a black hard drive.

He turned his back on the people in the other room, being careful to let them see the hard drive but blocking them from seeing the safe’s combination. He yanked open the safe’s door, shoved in the hard drive, then shut the door and spun the combination lock.

By the time he stumbled into the outer room, all the engineers were gathering their briefcases and getting ready to leave. Everyone slapped Jameson’s back or shook his hand, congratulating him again.

When they were all out of the lab and the door locked behind them, Jameson dropped to the table. “Well?” he asked Bree. “Did I sell the careless drunk guy?”

“Perfectly,” she said, her eyes gleaming. “You let them see the hard drive, but not the combination. And you didn’t stumble too obviously. You were just a little unsteady.” She smiled. “If I didn’t know it was an act, I’d buy it completely.”

“Good,” he said. He gathered his papers and shoved them into his briefcase, then nodded at her. “You ready to go?”

“I am.” She flexed her fingers. “I’m ready to wrap this case up. Let’s head home.”

Jameson froze for a brief moment. He loved hearing Bree call his place ‘home’. And he hoped she’d be calling it home for a long time. But before they could talk about that, before they could make any plans, they had to catch the thief in the act.

Within the next twelve hours, he hoped the thief would be caught and he and Bree would be celebrating for real.

Chapter 31

“You know what car all my engineers drive, right?” Jameson asked her as he paced the living room.

“Yeah. You want me to recite the list for you again?” she asked, softening her words by putting her hand on his arm.

“No,” he said, resuming his pacing. “Just trying to distract myself.”

“All of their cars were gone by the time we left the lab,” she said. “I checked, then checked again. Even looked behind the building. No one was there.”

“Okay,” he said, passing her as he circled the living room. “What time do you think we should head back to the office?”

As he went past her, she snagged his arm. “Your pacing is making me dizzy, Jameson. Come sit down.”

She drew him toward the couch, and he resisted for a moment. Then he sank into the cushions. She nodded at the window. “It’s still light out there,” she said. “No one’s going to show up in the daylight. They’ll wait until dark. Late. No one around to see anything.” She twined her fingers with his. “Let’s figure out our strategy while we eat dinner, then head back to the lab.”

“This is our only chance,” Jameson said, his gaze boring into her. “If we screw this up, they won’t try again.”

“We’re not going to screw this up.” She swiveled to face him. “What do you want for dinner?”

He shuddered. “Not sure I could eat.”

“It’ll be a long night if you’re hungry the whole time. I saw you had some tortellini and a jar of red sauce. Let’s make that and a salad. Quick, easy and filling. Okay?”

He drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “Yeah, okay. I’ll heat up the tortellini and sauce. You can make the salad.”

It took less than a half-hour to fix dinner, and another half-hour to eat. When they’d finished, Jameson leaned back in his chair. “You were right,” he said. “I needed to eat. You probably did, too.”

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