"Oh really?" She said it softly, almost conspiratorially, hoping he might elaborate. It was either personal or someone big was coming to town. Cameron would not run out to the airport if he could simply send a car. She wondered exactly who it was that had gotten him to undertake such a mundane task personally. Unfortunately he merely nodded, no explanation forthcoming. She considered pressing a bit, even being playful about it, but she didn't think she could pull it off, especially in her current mental state and she did not want to do anything to make him suspicious. Or rather, any more suspicious than he normally was.
"What is giving you trouble there?"
"Trying to translate the latest round of tests for the monthly report, but my fingers and mind seem to be working against each other today." She smiled and hope it sounded natural. She was so wound up she wasn't sure how she would normally be acting. Should she be admonishing him for interrupting her work? Was that how she'd normally be?
"You should know better than to try and work now. You never can concentrate after seeing Jason."
He said it so off the cuff, so matter-of-factly. She shuddered and looked at him. His words sent chills of fear and anger racing through her. Fear won out and she remained silent.
He let out a soft chuckle. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. After our discussion the other day, he was on my mind and I called to check in on him. They told me you were with him."
She said nothing. Julie didn't believe a word he said.
"So," he said taking a seat. "Tell me, how is he doing?"
The fake sincerity, long practiced and likely quite convincing on most people, caused her anger to overtake her fear, but she forced herself to keep it in check. Come on keep it together, let him think you believe him.
Julie took a slow deep breath and let it out in a long sigh.
"Not well. They had to bring him out in a wheelchair today." She knew the distress in her voice was convincing because it was, in fact, quite real. She merely had to think about the morning and seeing Jason in the wheelchair.
"Does he still recognize you?"
She held up her hands and shrugged.
"I'm not sure. He looked at me, but...it just doesn't seem to be the same. I think he's in there enough to know he should recognize me, but I am not sure he does." She wiped at her eyes.
"Maybe we should dial down the dosage a bit," Cameron mused.
"What? Really?" She couldn't hide the shock in her voice. She hoped he took it as a sign of hope. "Do you mean that?"
"Maybe. After all, our deal doesn't mean much if he isn't there, now does it?"
Again her anger flared and this time she did nothing to hide it. This was classic Cameron and she knew exactly how to respond. He was jabbing her with a knife and twisting it to make sure she remembered just who was in control.
He stood and walked to the door. He paused, turned and smiled.
"When is the next dose due?"
She knew he was fully aware of the schedule, but said, "In a week."
He nodded, took half a step out of the office and turned back to her.
"Okay, then I have time to think about it. I'll let you know if you can dial it back before it is time for his next injection." Without waiting for a response he was out the door and down the hall.
She slammed her right hand on the desk hard enough to hurt her wrist. She winced and massaged it with her left hand. A sudden chill ran through her. He was obviously screwing with her, he never passed up an opportunity. But was it more this time? Was this his subtle way of letting her know that he knew what she was up to? Was that possible? How could he? And if he did, then what did that mean now? She had already set things in motion, it was too late to stop now.
She buried her face in her hands and again asked herself, "What the hell have I done?"
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
The flights were uneventful for Linda. It was the time before she left that was hectic. After getting off the phone with Cameron she had headed into the shower and lost total track of time. She had been flooded with relief at the thought that there would be no clean up crew knocking on her door and more then a little thrilled at his words that he needed her. She knew she was likely reading too much into it, but she allowed her imagination to run away while she repeatedly soaped up her body.
A phone call interrupted her fantasies some time later and she had slipped getting out of the shower. She feared it was Cameron calling back with further instructions. She had slammed her knee when she slipped and cursed when she had seen it was only Phillip calling yet again. Rather than continue to ignore him, she had decided she needed to unload on him. She had berated him for his repeated calls, insisting that she had told him that she would be in meetings and couldn't be bothered. She ignored him pointing out that it was after eleven at night and had then launched into the fact that the Hawaii trip would need to be put off and that she had an emergency trip that would leave her unreachable for the foreseeable future. She didn't give a damn what he might have thought she was up to.