Page 54 of Turn the Tide
“And what do you think? Of this place? Our headquarters.”
“It’sweird!” she said a little louder.
And that was when he knew for sure he had her. The rig thing was strange, but it was exactly the kind of strange she was into. His womanlikedweird, off-the-wall new experiences. It’s what made them perfect for each other.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Yes!” she yelled. “Hell, yes.”
His phone chose that moment to ring, but he ignored it. He refused to let anything take away from this. He bent forward, put his lips to hers, and kissed her. It was the kind of long, slow kiss a guy didn’t have time for when he was running for his life. The kind of kiss he’d keep giving her forever.
The phone chimed with a message, which he would have ignored, except that when he glanced at the screen, the number was weird. Was that a Russian prefix?
He called voicemail and waited for the message to come through, holding Zoe’s hand.
“Eric. Need…help.” Right away, every hair on his body stood up. Zoe must have heard it or felt it. She straightened and watched him closely. “…attacked…linked to the Chrono…”
The connection was so full of static that he could feel the distance from San Diego to Antarctica. Every mile was a crackle on the line. Frantic, he pushed the phone to his ear, hard.
“…my research… Headed to Volkov. You’ve got to find out…” When the talking stopped, Eric pulled the phone away, glanced at it, and shoved it back to his ear. It wasn’t a problem with this end, dammit. It was with Ford’s.
“…hear me? Shit. He can’t hear me.” Was he talking to someone else? “Volkov. Volkov! Call Volkov station! Tell them…less than…” Eric just about lost all hope when the static took over. But suddenly, Ford’s voice came back on. “The Russians know it. We could use help. And, hey, could you figure…what…want…my fucking virus?” Ford yelled that bit before quieting. “Love you…whatever happens. Love you.”
Eric waited a good ten seconds after the message ended before hitting Save and lowering his hand.
“Tell me.”
He blinked at Zoe and shook his head. “My brother. He’s in trouble.” Here, Eric had been on his cloud with this woman, while down there, at the bottom of the world—
“Where’d he call from?”
“Antarctica.” Eric frowned. “Someplace called Volkov, maybe?” He shook his head. “I’ll have to listen again.”
“Wait.” Zoe’s hand landed on his, solid and warm. “Call the number back.”
Hope swelled as he called back, but quickly died when it went straight to some unintelligible message. Definitely Russian. He hit the number over and over without any luck.
“Why’d my brother use a Russian phone? He’s on an American base.”
“Volkov doesn’t sound American to me.”
He blinked. “You’re right.”
They listened to the message a second time, together.
“Wait!” Zoe said. “He said Chronos.”
Skeptically, Eric hit Replay.
“…attacked…linked to the Chrono…” Something skittered down his back.
“Hear it?” Zoe put out her hand. “Let’s listen again.”
He replayed it.
“See? Thesis cut off, but it’s there.”
When he hung up the last time, Zoe watched him, her quiet, worried gaze the only thing keeping him from losing his shit.
“No idea what’s going on?”
“None.” He shook his head, unnerved at the thought that his brother was likely out there, alone, in Antarctica—the most inhospitable place on earth—and worried enough to call him. “But I’m gonna figure it out.”
“Weare,” she said and grabbed his hand, hard. Like she meant it.
And damn if he didn’t believe her.
