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“Manny. ”
“No!” Manny swung around on him and pointed a shaking finger in his face. “No! You know how I feel about this. I do not take chances with my safety, or Pansy’s. Not anymore. ” He left the room and slammed the door so hard the entire clear plastic structure of rooms rattled uneasily.
McCallister watched him go, and took another bite of his sandwich, which he chewed and swallowed before he said, “Pansy will calm him down. ”
“Is he always like this? Or is this just a really bad day?”
“Actually, it’s a fairly good one. ”
“God. And you trust this guy?”
“Yes. ”
“Why?”
McCallister glanced at her, then went back to watching Manny stalk around the lab, randomly touching things as if it were a calming ritual. “Manny had a very bad time a few years back. He worked with the FBI. ”
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“One of those profiler people?”
“No. He was a rock star in the lab. A genius, but a pure science geek. He never wanted to be out in the field, not for any reason. ”
“But something happened. ”
McCallister loosened his tie and sat back with a sigh. “He put a puzzle together, a serial killer’s messages to the agents who were hunting him That brought him to the killer’s attention. As soon as Manny identified him, the killer grabbed him at his apartment, gave him a paralyzing agent, and buried him alive in a graveyard, with one air tank. ”
Bryn shivered. That was one of her nightmares now—being sealed in a body bag alive, being buried alive and conscious. That was all too possible a future for her, and she could well imagine the terror. “He got out. ”
“No,” McCallister said. “He was found. The tank had run out. ”
“You found him, didn’t you? That’s what he owes you for. ”
McCallister looked away. “I helped find him. I provided information, and led the FBI to him. ”
“God, that must have been … How long was he down?”
“Two hours. One hour breathing from the tank, one hour breathing the foul air in that coffin. He had to force himself to take slow, calm breaths, and he didn’t know whether anyone would find him. ” He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know how he did it. I would have died before help arrived. But … he came out different from the way he went in—there’s no question about that. He was always OCD, but now he’s completely off the reservation about personal safety. He quit the FBI, took up private practice, and he moves around. A lot. He’s got patrons. I don’t even know how many, but enough to keep him funded. ”
“That’s … kind of horrible. ”
“It’s a reasonable reaction,” McCallister said, very quietly. “The coffin was already occupied. He was trapped in there with a body, in the dark, dying alone for two hours. It’s a miracle he’s sane at all. ”
Manny had stormed off into some private sanctum with what looked like a panic room door. Pansy came back instead. She opened the door and looked in at them, eyebrows raised. “Should I even ask what brought that on?”
“He thinks Pharmadene will trace us here. ”
“Does he have a point? Don’t bullshit me, Pat. Even paranoid people are right sometimes, and I’m not risking his life. Not again. Not even for you. ” Pansy, Bryn realized, might look sweet and gentle and practical, but she had a core of steel that even McCallister might envy. “I will toss your ass out to the wolves before I let him go down. I’ve worked hard on this relationship. ”
“I know,” McCallister said, and put all the warmth and conviction he could into the words. “I swear to you I will protect him. And you. They won’t get to you through me, or Bryn. ”
She stared at him with such intensity that even Bryn felt the burn, and then slowly nodded. “All right. I’ll talk him off the ledge, but if anything happens, swear to God, I will go nuclear-option on you, McCallister. He may owe you his life, but I’m more interested in preserving it. ” She swung the door all the way open. “Go. He won’t come out until you leave, and I can’t make him see reason until he’s calmer. ”
“Pansy, I need him to keep making the inhibitor for her. It’s important. ”
“I get it. ” Pansy met Bryn’s eyes briefly. “And I’m sorry for everything that’s happened to you. I wish we could help you more, but I’ll do what I can to keep that going, at least. Manny’s good at this. Very good. But he’s fragile, you understand? And this Pharmadene thing—it’s bad. You know that. ”
“I do. I woke up dead. I understand … a little of how that feels. ”
