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“What?” Her voice was sharp and accusing and exactly the sort of thing someone would do to deflect a question they didn’t want to answer. “You said yourself you didn’t think the threat was real. I do cancer research. Your guess is as good as mine.” She focused out the window. “If it’s not the article, then I don’t know what it is.”
He paused because he knew it would increase her discomfort, but he hated it. He was treating her like a criminal, but he had no choice. He had to know the truth.
When she started fidgeting, he said, “Syd, come on. You don’t get your life threatened because of a vague newspaper article. Unless you really are able to make super soldiers?”
She looked at him with a flash of anger and regret on her face. “No.”
“Then what exactly is it that you’re concocting in that lab?”
“I told you yesterday. Cancer tr — ”
“Syd. I can’t protect you if I don’t know why I’m doing it.”
“Yes, you can.”
He folded his arms and leaned back in the chair, feeling anything but the casual posture he put on.
She closed her eyes. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“It’s confidential.”
“To who? Because it’s not confidential to whoever sent those Russians.”
“No one is supposed to know.”
“But they do.”
Her head dropped. “I know.”
“So tell me what is going on.”
She studied him and he watched her face change as she fought the misgivings inside of herself. She said she trusted him, but it was clear she didn’t trust him with everything. If she gave in, he wondered, would it be because he was an FBI agent or because he was Aaron?
Her face deadpanned, all business, and she joined him at the table. She was talking to him as an FBI agent.
“Okay,” she said, “but what I’m about to tell you is highly confidential.”
“Yeah. I got that much.”
“And not in a self-important sense. This is big.”
“Okay. I’m listening.”
“It is a cancer treatment that I’ve been working on. Everything I told you before was the truth. But I haven’t been completely forthcoming about the unexpected side effects. The drug develops the body both physically and mentally. We haven’t done any trials on people, but everything about the research is very clear about its potential effects on humans.”
“You already told me that part. Enhanced but not superhuman. Nothing the military or a militia would be interested in getting their hands on.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, well, not for that anyway.”
Aaron opened his mouth but had to take a moment to choose his words. “What — exactly — would they be interested in using it for?”
“After the initial improvements, the body begins to see itself as a problem and it destroys itself. Almost like an allergic reaction.”
“And that’s why you haven’t finished with your research? Because you have to work out a way to keep the body from hurting itself after it improves?”
“Right, and I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. All the research that I’ve done will be useless if I can’t make the body accept the changes.” Sydney had become animated as she talked about her work.
