Read Online Code Black by Philip S. Donlay - Free Book Online

the corner and found the room he’d directed her toward. She pushed open the solid wooden door and let herself in. The light was on and at the far end of the table she found Matt, a surprised look on his face as he hurriedly dropped his cigarette into a soft drink can he was using as his ashtray.
    “Sorry.” Lauren’s heart went out to the young man as she studied him, she could clearly see he’d been in here alone, crying.
    “My Dad’s not coming in here, is he?” Matt asked, guardedly.
    “No. I had to escape the Operations room. We still don’t know much. Can I join you? I’d love a cigarette.” Lauren rarely smoked, but right now she craved the calming effect a cigarette might provide.
    “Really?” Matt reached into the inside pocket of his oversized coat and pulled out a pack. He shook out two, then handed one to Lauren. He lit hers, then his.
    “Thank you.” Lauren blew out the smoke without inhaling. She saw her hands shake as she held the cigarette away from her. She guessed Matt was sixteen or seventeen years old. He had brown eyes like his father. His long, stringy hair framed a handsome face, but his skin was broken by patches of acne. There was a faint blur of whiskers above his upper lip, which looked more like a smudge than a mustache. A single stud protruded from his left ear lobe and she could just make out the edge of a tattoo that crept up above the collar of his baggy sweater. By all appearances he looked like a punk, but during his earlier exchange with his father, Lauren had sensed an intelligent mind behind his anger and defiance.
    “You have someone on the same flight as my mom?” Matt took a vengeful drag off of his cigarette and bitterly blew out the smoke toward the ceiling.
    “Yes,” Lauren said and nodded, then looked down at her cell phone, relieved to see that opposed to the war room, in this part of the building, she had a good signal. “Would you mind if I made a phone call?”
    “Do you want me to leave?” Matt exhaled heavily, a crestfallen expression spread out on his young face.
    “No. Not at all. I want you to stay right where you are,” Lauren said quickly; she’d seen his obvious disappointment and she knew she couldn’t bear to cast him away as his father had. “You’re the only one in this place that knows what I’m going through. Please don’t go.”
    “Really?” His eyes filled with gratitude at being allowed to stay.
    “Yes. I didn’t want to appear rude by talking on the phone without asking first. After all, you have the cigarettes.” Lauren winked at him as if they were newly bonded co-conspirators. The last thing she wanted right now was to be alone, or to be surrounded by Henry or any of the other Wayfarer executives.
    “Cool. Let me know if you want another one.” Matt slid the soda can between them.
    Tucker pushed the door open with his back as he entered the room with a cup of coffee in each hand. “Here we go.” He stopped, as he looked first at the cloud of smoke, then at Matt and Lauren.
    “You caught us,” Lauren offered, though she didn’t really care.
    “This whole area is non-smoking,” Tucker said abruptly. “And Matt, for God’s sake, your Dad would have a hemorrhage if he caught you.”
    “Screw him,” Matt muttered.
    “Can you excuse us for a little bit?” Lauren knew she had a small window to be alone before Calvin might call back. “I need to make a phone call and then I want to talk to Matt. We’ll be fine in here. Just come get us if you hear anything.”
    “Are you sure?” Tucker paused as if he needed to hear more.
    “Positive.” Lauren reached out for her coffee, then gave Tucker a dismissive look to let him know he’d just been excused.
    As Tucker quietly shut the door, Lauren rose and locked it from the inside. She sat back down, dropped her cigarette into the can, and picked up her cell phone.
    “This won’t take long.” She tried to smile at Matt, but just couldn’t find one to give. The young