Bitter Harvest (Harvest Trilogy, Book 2) (7 page)

“I’m the one who made a mistake.” Her heels clicked over the polished marble floor of the lobby, and she glanced up at the enormous atrium that rose seven stories above. Two glass elevators moved rapidly up and down, taking people between floors. A third was at the ground floor, with a young woman standing by.

“Nonsense!” Morgan flashed his badge at the guards who manned the inside checkpoint. They called his name in greeting as he led the way through the security scanner. “For double the pay and the opportunity to work with Rachel Kempf, hard-nosed as she might have been, you would have been a fool not to take the job.”

The scanner went off as Naomi passed through. She stopped, turning to the guards by reflex. “It must be my phone.”

“You’re with me, Naomi. And I doubt you’re carrying anything more dangerous than that genius mind of yours. You’re a hero now, not a terrorist. Remember?”

He said it with a smile and winked, but his comment made her feel stark naked. After a year of living the life of someone else, of having her true name leading the list of hated terrorists, even ahead of Osama Bin Laden, it was unnerving to hear someone call her by her given name.
 

She felt her pulse quicken, and sweat broke out on her palms. The same thing had happened when she’d gone to the airport to return to San Antonio from Washington. She and Jack had been provided with new documents reflecting their true names, along with letters from the head of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration to help them through the security screens at the airport. Even though everything had gone smoothly, it had been a surreal experience, as if she were falling down the rabbit hole.

“I’m sorry, Naomi.” Morgan touched her arm. “That was thoughtless of me. I can’t imagine what a time you’ve had. I hope you’ll let me make it up to you.”

Shaking her head, she forced a smile in return. “Don’t apologize, Dr. Morgan. I’m just not used to being me again, I suppose.”

“Please,” he said as the two of them joined the young woman in the executive express elevator, “call me Howard.”

When the door opened and they stepped out of the elevator into Morgan’s penthouse office, he waved his assistant away, and the young woman disappeared when the elevator doors closed.

Naomi stood and stared at what lay before her. “Wow.”

The walls were entirely of glass, with stainless steel columns spread evenly around the circumference to provide structural support. Aside from three nearby buildings which were taller, the office offered an unobstructed view of the entire Los Angeles metro area. Off in the distance, she could make out the famous Hollywood sign. She also saw that there was a large patio with high end deck furniture, and that a number of the glass panels that formed the wall could be opened to let in fresh air.
 

Well, as fresh as any air could be in downtown LA
, she reminded herself.
 

A treadmill occupied one corner, a wet bar with a wine cooler was next to the elevator, and several comfortable looking chairs and two sofas were arrayed around a central fireplace. A desk with a glass frame and topped with what looked like black granite was set off in one corner, almost as an afterthought. There were no paintings or photos.
 

With a view like this
, she thought,
anything else would be superfluous
. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like at night.
 

“Come on in and make yourself comfortable, Naomi. Something to drink? Are you hungry at all?”

She sat down on one of the sofas.“I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine, but it’s a bit early for that.” She could have used something to soothe her worry over the strange call from Vijay.
 

Morgan cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well, it’s past noon somewhere in the world, you know. What would you like?”

“White Zinfandel if you’ve got it.”

He smiled. It was a warm smile, genuine, and Naomi decided that she couldn’t help but like this man. “My dear doctor, there is very little in this world that I either don’t have or can’t get. Especially for you.” He took a bottle from the wine cooler and poured her a glass. Then he went to the liquor cabinet poured himself a scotch. With a conspiratorial grin, he said, “I’ll confess that this isn’t the first time I’ve imbibed a little earlier than is customary.”

Handing her the wine glass, he settled himself on the opposite end of the sofa before holding up his glass. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” Naomi took a sip, savoring the flavor of the chilled wine..

After a moment of comfortable silence as they both enjoyed the drinks and the view, Morgan said, “Naomi, I have a vision of changing the world. Of leaving a true legacy, something I can be proud of.” He gestured toward the panorama of Los Angeles. “I’ve made my fortune. And I could just keep making that mountain of money bigger. But I want something more than that. I know this must sound like a lot of hogwash coming from a rich corporate suit like me, but I want to do something
good
.”

“Making vaccines and the other work your company has done in developing pharmaceuticals certainly qualifies as good, Dr. Morgan…Howard.”
 

He shook his head. “That’s not what I mean, Naomi. Those are the profit engines for the company. Yes, they go toward serving the public health, as it were, but we’re not doing anything that someone else isn’t already doing. In many cases we do it better, but it’s all old hat, and it’s all simply for profit. I’m tired of taking incremental steps. I want to make a quantum leap forward in the human condition, something for the history books.”

He set down his drink and leaned forward. “I know something about what you were working on before you left New Horizons.” At the change in her expression, a mixture of disbelief, horror, and outrage, he added, “Please, let me finish.”
 

Setting the wine glass down on a side table before her shaking hands could spill it, Naomi said, “Go on.” She felt as if the fabric of her dress had suddenly turned into shards of glass, gouging into her skin.

“I don’t know all the details, of course. But I know enough. I know that you perfected a food-based delivery system for RNA payloads that could be used to combat disease, or even correct genetic defects.” He leaned closer. “That’s my dream, Naomi. To take the revolutionary work you began and bring it to fruition for the good of the world.”

He picked up his drink and sat back, taking a sip. “I also know that something went very badly, terribly wrong at New Horizons, and I’m not interested in the whole business with the Earth Defense Society. I don’t much care about the past, except for whatever lessons we can learn from it. I’m interested in the future, and I want — I
need
— you to be part of it.”

It took Naomi a moment to gather her thoughts. She had never actually considered carrying on the work she’d done at New Horizons. Upon reflection, the role she had played, what she had created in her time there, had been groundbreaking by any standard. And it could have, should have, been used for good. Even though she had been driven by greed at the time, she believed that what she was doing would help people, and potentially end the suffering of millions.
 

And it would have. She knew that in her heart. While her main work had been focused on developing the delivery system, she had also learned a great deal from Rachel Kempf about the payload. Kempf had been a harvester, but the knowledge she had shared, and that Naomi had built upon, had opened Naomi’s eyes to unguessed vistas of genetic possibilities. She had the knowledge to recreate not only the delivery system itself, but to guide specialist researchers in designing payloads that could be tailored to destroy specific diseases. While Kempf had lied about the true contents of the payload New Horizons had designed, the truth was that the system worked. In the right hands, the delivery system could have saved untold lives. Naomi had spent more than one sleepless night wondering at how things might have been, had her work not been corrupted and twisted by the harvesters.

Looking up at Morgan, she told him, “I need some time to think about it.”

“No, you don’t.”
 

She felt a flare of anger, but Morgan spoke before she could react.

“Naomi, this is the best place for you right now. I’m well informed, and I know that the government has let you go. That’s fine, because you don’t belong there.” He waved his hand, a dismissive gesture. “Sure, you could find a job somewhere else, and you’d do well. But you won’t find any other place, no company or institution, that has resources and technology on a par with ours, and the very personal and direct interest of the CEO backing your efforts. Were you to take any other path, you would not only be shortchanging yourself, but would inflict a tragic loss on humanity. We might eventually be able to recreate what you did at New Horizons, but it’ll take us years. I have some very smart people working for me, and that’s what they’re telling me. But you could get us there in months.”

Morgan stood up and walked to his desk. Opening one of the slim drawers, he removed a piece of paper. He sat on the couch next to Naomi and handed the paper to her. “Here.”
 

She recognized what it was: a check, written out to her. She gasped when she saw the amount.

“That’s right,” Morgan told her. “Five million dollars. Consider that your base pay for the first year you’re with us, plus the usual laundry list of benefits and stock options that’ll easily double the value of that check.”

“Howard,” she said, “I still don’t know…”

“Listen to me, doctor. I can’t hold you down and torture you into taking the job.” He smiled. “I’ve tried brazen flattery and have now enticed you with gold. If those won’t work, maybe trust will do the trick. So here’s the deal. Don’t give me your answer now. But I want you to take that check to the bank as soon as you leave here and deposit it. If you decide to come work for me, show up for work tomorrow at your convenience. If you decide that you’re not interested, I want you to keep the money, no questions asked, on the chance that you may change your mind later.”

“That’s very generous, but I couldn’t do that, Howard.” She didn’t want to make the commitment without talking to Jack first, but she knew in her heart that she was going to take the job. She would be a fool not to, for any number of reasons.
 

Morgan crossed his arms, a knowing grin on his face. “I’ll be free at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon to walk you through the orientation.”

* * *

“Jack, he offered me the job, and I want to take it.” Back in her hotel room after having gone for a three mile run and taking a hot bath, Naomi had made a video call to Jack over the web. He had stayed in San Antonio to manage the shutdown of SEAL, which mostly meant doing what he could to alleviate the shock of the people who worked there, all of whom were being systematically kicked out on the street. The two week severance was a sop that would have brought cries of protest and outrage in any other federal agency. But SEAL was different. There were no civil service protections for its employees; they served, and could be dismissed, at the pleasure of the government. Jack did what he could to ease their pain, but they were all well and truly screwed.
 

It was nearly midnight in Texas, and Jack looked exhausted. But he visibly brightened at her words. “It’s nice to hear some good news for a change. We could use a lucky break after this cluster.” He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit. “When does he want you to start?”

Naomi saw movement in the corner of Jack’s video pickup, and Alexander’s big head appeared, his nose suddenly filling the view from the webcam. With a single meow, he jumped off the desk. She could hear him tearing off down the hallway, no doubt chasing after Koshka, her cat.

“He wants me to start tomorrow.” She was a little nervous about how Jack might react. He respected her freedom and her individuality, but they were also a couple very much in love, even if not married. Yet. She hated to leave him holding the bag in San Antonio, but she had to admit to her own streak of selfishness. She couldn’t wait to get started on the work Morgan had promised her.

“Tomorrow?” He sat back and pursed his lips. After a moment’s consideration, he said, “Hell, why not? I’ll have the mess at SEAL wrapped up by the end of the week. With that done, there’s no reason to stay here, and I sure don’t have anything cooking on the job front. We’ll have to sort out what we want to do with finding a place out there and selling the place here, but I can handle this end while…”

“Jack,” she interrupted him, “just finish up at work, grab the cats, get your tight little ass in that SUV, and head out here. Forget about the house and all the other stuff for now. We can deal with that later.” She touched his face in the monitor with her fingers. “I want you here with me. Right now.”

“There’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be, baby. Believe me. But we don’t have a lot of money in the bank to pay a mortgage on a house here and rent a place there until we find a house to buy. And a place out there is going to be a fortune compared to what we paid here.”

Naomi grinned. “Honey, cash right now is
not
a problem. Howard Morgan wrote me a check for five million dollars, and I deposited it in our account this afternoon.”

Jack’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit.”
 

Naomi nodded. “That’s what I thought!”

“Okay.” Jack blinked and shook his head. “Five mil? Seriously?”

“Yep. And his people are going to take care of finding us a place to live here and selling the house there. It’s all set. So get your buns out here as soon as you can.”

Naomi watched as a huge weight seemed to fall from Jack’s shoulders. Then a sly grin crept onto his face. “You know,” he told her slowly, “I could probably get used to being a kept man. Being a gigolo to a genius millionaire sure as hell beats working as a government manager or FBI agent.”

“I’ll still make you earn your keep, you know.”
 

“I’m counting on it.”

Naomi’s expression suddenly became more thoughtful. Troubled. “Jack, there’s one thing that I need you to look into. I got a call from Vijay Chidambaram this morning.”