“I’m running out of patience, little one.”
I got out of the car. What choice did I have?
The inside of the building was less ordinary than the outside, mostly because of the armed guard. He sat at the reception desk, wearing black tactical clothing, but had been looking at his phone like any bored office worker. He snapped to attention when Domenic entered.
“Any issues?” Domenic asked.
“None.” The man, a Beta with a faint coppery smell, studied me curiously. “Is she—”
“This is mydaughter, Bridget,” Domenic said, then took me by the upper arm and pulled me away. I didn’t protest.
He led me down a spotlessly clean hallway, past four doors with inset windows. Exam rooms for pets that clearly weren’t coming here any longer. The whole place smelled of bleach.
Past the exam rooms, the hallway opened up into a lab area around a blind corner. Glassware, two microscopes, and a centrifuge, along with what looked like a hematology and a urinalysis machine sat on the countertops. A hulking old incubator sat in the corner. The hallway continued, but another black clad man guarded the way. This one didn’t have a chair to sit on.
“What is this?” I asked, finally breaking my silence.
“I told you, I need your help. I’ve invested quite a bit of capital into this venture, and I need a solid return.” Domenic gestured for me to sit on the only stool.
Annoyance at his arrogance rushed through me. “If you want me looking at stem cells, I need a biosafety cabinet—”
“All the specialized equipment is on its way to a better location. But I thought you could get a head start. I have fresh samples for you to analyze.” He pointed to the incubator. “Don’t worry about sterility. There is plenty more where they came from.”
“How? Where are you getting the samples?” I asked.
“Don’t ask questions,” Domenic snapped. His patience was clearly wearing thin, and I knew when to pick my battles. I looked down at my lap again. “Can you test the new samples with what you have here?”
I glanced around, then nodded. It was a complete lie, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Good. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, then,” Domenic said, showing his ignorance again. What could I possibly get done in a couple of hours? Hopefully I wouldn’t be here when he returned, anyway. He tilted my chin up to look at him. “It is so lovely to see you, little one.”
I forced myself to be still, to meet his flat black eyes. That was enough for him to release me.
“Keep an eye on her,” Domenic told the man guarding the hallway before leaving the way we came.
In the absence of anything else to do, I pretended to work. The man behind me watched as I looked in the incubator and found several unlabeled samples inside. I fiddled with the old urinalysis machine. It switched on with a rattling hum.
“I need a few things,” I said after a moment. The man looked uncomfortable. He was a Beta, like the guy at the door, and I tried not to notice the gun on his hip.
“What things?”
“Fresh distilled water. A bag of ice. Ethanol for sterilization. Nitrile gloves.” I ticked them off on my fingers.
“I’m not supposed to leave you,” he replied.
“Do you really want to explain to my father that I was unable to do what he asked becauseyoudidn’t get me the supplies I need?” Anyone who worked for him would most likely be terrified of retribution. It’s how Domenic operated.
“Fine. Say them again,” he said, taking out his phone to type in the list I’d invented on the spot. “We’re watching the doors so don’t get any ideas,” he said before leaving, and I almost thought I saw a hint of pity in his eyes.
I listened carefully until I heard him grumble to the man at the reception desk about the boss’s daughter, and leave.
As soon as he was gone, I peered down the hallway. The linoleum here was dingier than in the front room, but still smelled like bleach. There were three doors off the right side, and a set of double doors with small windows at the end. I could see the back of a man’s head through those windows.
I took a deep breath. I had at least five minutes before my babysitter returned, right?
The first door opened onto a bathroom with a bare lightbulb and no hand soap. Disgusting but not damning.
The second door was locked, but it had a window that showed a darkened room. A surgical suite. There were a few exam tables, one all the way in the corner of the room that I couldn’t see properly, a few IV stands whose dim lights were the only illumination in the room. As I looked, I got the sense that something was wrong but I couldn’t put my finger on what.
