“You’re dispensing with the small talk. I admire that. A woman after my own heart.” Rita’s eyes sparkled with the thought of an exclusive scoop.
“And you’re still the most persistent reporter in the universe.” Kate remembered how Rita resorted to blackmail, and her cheery smile faltered. “You’re very famous these days.”
“I know. Have you seen my Pulitzer? Oh wait, I didn’t bring it. It’s enshrined on my mantelpiece. Can you believe I actually acquired a new 19th century mantelpiece from England and had it transported brick by brick to my new townhouse?”
“Life is treating you well.”
“I went out and grabbed the bulls by the horns.”
“I know you do. Which is why I need your help.”
“If there’s something in there for me, you can always count on me.” Rita lowered her eyes to Kate’s tummy. “Are you going to give me first dibs on that?”
“Better. You’re going to get first dibs on everything. But you’re going to have to do a lot of legwork.” Kate leaned forward. “And I mean really a lot.”
“OK. Shoot.”
“They are going to take me in soon for multiple reasons. And this is what I would like you to do.”
7
Alyssa watched Rust through the hidden cameras in his bedroom. He was sleeping on his large bed. He had been sleeping a lot in the past five days.
She was worried about him.
Although he checked out OK medically after the electroshock stimulation, there was still something ‘off’ about him. Maybe she should send in a shrink to talk to him.
A shrink to talk to a shrink.
She had checked with the other handlers as to the progress of Rust’s parents. They were just as stubborn as he was with what they chose to reveal. His father, in particular, offered to go under the knife for them to get tissue samples from all his major organs for analysis – just so that his wife and son wouldn’t have to go through with it.
She felt really bad for being part of the organization which was tearing his family’s lives apart, but it had to be done in the name of discovery and mankind.
Still –
She composed herself, walked down the corridor to his (locked) apartment within the complex and rang his buzzer as was the custom to allow him to get decent, if he wasn’t already decent.
She waited for a moment, and then she swiped a card, scanned her retina with the camera mounted on the panel beside his door, and let herself in.
Rust was sitting up in bed when she entered.
“Hello, Rust.”
He did not acknowledge her.
“I know you’re angry with me,” she went on.
“Why should I be angry with you?” His expression was neutral.
“Because I tortured you to get a reaction out of you.”
It was best to have it out in the open. She hated cat and mouse. And ‘reaction’ was an understatement.
“You were doing your job,” he said.
She was aware that he was playing mind games again. Placating her. Trying to catch her off guard. What was he playing at? Didn’t he know there was no way out of this?
“Sometimes, I hate my job,” she said.
“Sometimes. But other times, you absolutely soak in the power you have over other people.”
“Are you trying to tell me that I have power over you?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“Do you resent it?”
“I resent having a gun held to my head, and I don’t mean it only as a metaphor.”
“I know. I have experienced the full brunt of your resentment towards me. I find it interesting that, out of all the people in the room, you would make a beeline for me.”
“You haven’t experienced the full brunt of my wrath. If you had, your head would be unattached from your body.”
Was that a threat? Her pulse took an uptick. She was aware that he could transform in this instant and tear her throat apart. If he wanted to.
She said, “Is that wishful thinking or are you planning to carry it out in the near future?”
“I’ll leave that for you to psychoanalyze.” He sat up straighter in bed and the sheet fell off, revealing his well-structured chest. He always slept naked, as if he knew she was watching and he wanted to mock her attraction to him.
Perhaps he knew she was very attracted to him.
Which was what she came to talk to him about.
In a way.
“Thank you for your cooperation so far.”
“I wish I can say ‘my pleasure’, but you and I know better.”
“Your ‘pleasure’ is what I came to talk to you about.” She pulled a chair to seat herself beside his bed. “We want to stimulate you. Pleasurably. To see how you would react.”