Read Online Tainted Hearts by Cyndi Friberg - Free Book Online Page B

take
this to my office. I still have scans to run.”
    Elijah followed him silently down the
concrete corridor. Exposed pipes and mildewed cracks completed the
dismal setting. Phil pushed open his office door and motioned for
his subordinate to precede him.
    Beyond the simple threshold, Phil’s spacious
office awaited like an oasis in the desert. Comfortable, clean, and
painstakingly organized, the room revealed more about Phil than he
cared to admit.
    Elijah looked around in silent awe. “You’ve
added a toy or two since the last time I came down here.”
    “Our current employer is generous in the
extreme.”
    Elijah scoffed. “Sinclair owes you his life.
Suck all the blood money you can out of that bastard.”
    “Maybe it’s best you’re out.” Phil studied
him through narrowed eyes. “You’re starting to sound like one of
them.”
    Elijah slipped his hand into the pocket of
his uniform pants and moved farther into the room. A faint bruise
discolored his jaw. Tension twisted inside Phil. Had Elijah blown
his cover?
    “What happened?”
    “So many of the PURE concepts make perfect
sense on the surface.”
    “Survival of the fittest, redemptive
purging, Job’s propaganda isn’t even original.” Phil dismissed the
nonsense with a wave of his hand. “Where does he think you are and
who were you referring to in the corridor?”
    “Working my way into Job’s confidence has
been time consuming and demeaning in ways I’ll never explain. But
I’m there. He trusts me implicitly and tells me everything.”
    Phil pulled out a chair and sat. Elijah
paced the short distance between the control console and the door.
“If you’ve achieved your objectives, why are you upset?”
    “Three weeks ago I was sent out on
recruitment detail with several other disciples. I had no choice
but to act the part and I found a woman who seemed more than
willing.”
    “You knew sexual interaction might become
necessary when you accepted this assignment. Has the woman proven
to be difficult? I still don’t see the problem.”
    Elijah huffed and plopped down in a chair
facing Phil. “I screwed up, Phil. This whole day has been a comedy
of errors. Job has developed an interest in Tuesday Fitzpatrick.
Interest, hell, it’s an obsession. He told me—”
    “Did you say Tuesday Fitzpatrick? Mr.
Sinclair asked me earlier if Job had shown any interest in her. Why
didn’t you report this to me? How many times have I told you that
nothing is incidental?”
    Elijah crossed his legs, his hands clenching
around the arms of the chair. “He has me run background checks on
all sorts of people. I included her in my last report.”
    Elijah was meticulous. The documentation was
doubtlessly there. It was only Marc’s request for information that
brought Tuesday to mind. “Go on. How did you screw up and what do
we need to do to reestablish Job’s trust in you?”
    “It’s complicated. Job ordered me to bring
Tuesday to him. I guess he’s tried to contact her and she’s playing
hard to get. He sent me to arrange a meeting.”
    “With or without her consent?”
    Without responding to the question, Elijah
went on. “Her schedule indicated she had a meeting with the
Sinclair-Dietrich team and the shuttle always uses a rooftop pad.
It’s more secluded and easier to access than the departure ring at
the mediplex, so I set up at SD Towers. She boarded the shuttle,
but the damn thing didn’t follow its flight plan. I have no idea
where she went.”
    Phil chuckled. This was getting interesting.
Had Marc taken an uninvited guest to his hunting lodge? Why? She
wouldn’t recognize him with his recent facial enhancements. Phil
gave a mental shrug. Perhaps that was the point.
    Elijah’s gaze narrowed. “Do you know where
she is?”
    “I might. Why does Job want her?”
    “This is where it gets really strange. Job
decided to use my trainee to punish me. He all but bent her over
his desk and made me watch.”
    “How did your trainee react? Were