“I didn’t know she was one of the women in their control. I’ve only recently gotten into the group and they held me at his mansion most of the time. I just had to kill the roommate because she was going to tell one of the men in his command who Marissa is, who she is related to.”
“Why does Gorbeva want Marissa?” asked Christopher.
“Whatever she was writing her thesis on is of interest to him. He believes she’s found a way to create a neurotoxin that will paralyze a man with just a small puff of the solution.”
“Does she know she’s found that?” frowned Ham.
“I think she knew she was on the right track. Her roommate took her notes one weekend and their scientist reviewed it all. She’s almost there and they think they can force her to finish the work.”
“Well, they’re wrong,” said Christopher folding his arms across his chest.
“I know they’re wrong, Uncle Christopher,” smirked River. “I didn’t know it was Marissa. They just kept saying ‘thegirl’. Then I heard her name mentioned this morning and knew. I mean, I know one woman with that name and she’s my cousin.”
“Where is Gorbeva?” asked Ham.
“That’s what I don’t know yet. He’s on his way here but I’m not sure from where or by what means. I know that he won’t give a damn that Giamanco is dead. He’s still going to want Marissa.”
“What does he plan to do with the potential formula?” asked Bullett. “Sorry, I’m Lando Myles but they call me Bullett. I’m a teammate of Joey’s.”
“Lando?No shit,” smirked Ham.
“No shit, sir. So, what do they want with it?”
“That’s easy. Recreate the old USSR.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Giamanco is dead,” said Joey staring at Marissa.
“That’s great! I mean, it’s good for us, right? I can go home now?” she said.
“Not yet, honey. The man that really wants you is far more dangerous. His name is Vasily Gorbeva. He wants a formula that you’re working on that will deliver some sort of neurotoxin via a puff air or something, like an inhaler.”
“Th-that’s my thesis work. I didn’t share that with anyone.”
“Marissa, why in the hell were you working on something like that?” he asked.
“I wasn’t working on it. You forget that I was assigned this by my professor. I had to do the work. That’s why he was fired.”
“Right,” he nodded. “Well, for now we have a bit of a breather until they think we can get out of here. We want to make sure no one is in the area. Tanner is sending drones and adjusting the satellites.”
Marissa shook her head, circling the big table in the center of the room. She pushed her hair from her face, then adjusted her ponytail. The cabin was warm but a snowstorm was brewing outside. They could be stuck for days.
“What are you thinking?” asked Joey.
“The other students in my class. What if they were assigned things that are like this; that someone might want? What if it was planned by the professor and these other men?”
“That’s fucking scary,” said Joey. “Do you know what they were working on?”
“No. He didn’t want anyone talking about what their assignment was. He wanted you working on it individually, no help, and no input from others.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Not really. The challenge was that we were told to stay off digital resources as much as possible.”
“Meaning?” asked Joey.
“Meaning, stay off the computer resources if you can. It was nearly impossible to do in this day and age. I mean, when was the last time you saw any resource materials in writing?”
