"It bothered me, and I knew that the most … significant … thing we had in the lab was the sample and that the results of the trials we'd run were reasonably well known. I had to leave to get to the presentation, so I did the only thing I could think of. There was another thing I was working on, totally unrelated, so I switched the samples around. It seemed silly, but it was the only thing I could come up with."
"Ballsy move, Lou. So to the best of your knowledge, someone took the switched compound thinking it was the real thing and they've tried to re-create the test somewhere else but can't and now realize they don't have the real sample. And now they want you?"
Louisa chewed her food and nodded. "Or Ivan. But if Ivan or Vasilii are involved in some way, they could also be working their way through the lab trying to find it. Ivan and I cleared out the lab recently, but other experiments build up quickly. They may have figured out what I did and might try to identify which sample I switched it with, but that would lead them nowhere. I hate thinking of Ivan as the bad guy. He's been a good lab partner for a year even though he doesn't want to be on the lab side of things. Vasilii kind of insisted he had to spend time doing some of the research to learn about the business from the bottom up. I think it's a bone of contention between the two of them. But what I don't get is if they wanted me, it would have been easy for them to set up. They could have called me into a meeting anytime in the last week or so, and taken me from there."
They sat in silence for a few minutes as they ate their food.
"I know Ivan," Six said eventually, and Louisa's stomach dropped.
He said it so casually, like it was something she should have expected. Her gut told her Six was a good man, but it was hard to understand why he hadn't thought to mention that before. Confusion fought with trust at his revelation. She stood quickly, ready to leave if she had to. "What do you mean you know him? It's a little late to be telling me that, don't you think?"
Six grabbed her hand gently. "Sit down, Lou. I can't stand the sneaky asshole. He was a shit as a kid at school, and since his grandfather shared his money around, he's become an even bigger one. But we're growing our business, so we took the job at the fundraiser even though none of us like him."
Louisa's heart raced furiously, but she took a deep breath and attempted to not cave in to the panic. Nothing in her life had prepared her for what was going on right now. It had never been a life-or-death decision as to who she could trust. And truth was, she'd known Six such a short period of time, but his explanation made sense, and he'd saved her life twice already. Plus, even to her inexperienced eyes, there was something about the way he looked at her sometimes with a flicker of more than just friendship that gave her an unfamiliar squishy feeling of hope. "Do you think he could orchestrate something like this?" she asked.
"I honestly don't know, but I do know I've seen men do stranger things for weaker reasons."
Louisa pondered Six's comments. She might as well tell him the full truth. "On Monday, I got into the lab early, and destroyed the real sample. Nobody can use it for anything."
"Wow, Lou. Just when I think you're the toughest woman I've met, I learn something new about you that impresses me even more. That takes guts."
After they'd cleaned up from dinner, Six went outside to work out in the garden. As much as she'd vowed she wouldn't, she'd spied on him, watching as he performed pull-ups, pushups, and burpees in a pair of shorts that hung low on his hips and no shirt. The sight of his abs flexing while he did jump-rope cardio meant there was every chance she'd be unable to sleep tonight due to a frustration she was unused to feeling. It felt like an itch she had no clue how to scratch. Eventually she gave in to the tiredness she felt and collapsed into bed, but the sound of the shower running followed by the low drone of sports news from the bedroom next door made her feel even more uncomfortable.
She'd never thought of herself as particularly sensitive. Cripplingly shy, yes. But years of conditioning had taught her how to make the best of any situation. Intellectually, she knew she was safe. Six had walked her through all the precautions he'd taken, and even though she had no intention of picking up the gun he'd left for her in the bedside cabinet, she appreciated that he was looking out for her.
Perhaps it was leftover emotion from the car chase. Adrenaline and lactic acid buildup could make her feel out of sorts. Plus, her stomach had felt as though someone was standing on it for most of the afternoon, although she wasn't sure whether that was nerves from being around another person for such a prolonged period of time. Or maybe it was simply Six, and the fact that the sheets she slept in smelled like him, or at least the scent she associated with him. She closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.