Where the patooties had that come from?
Hmm, she said, and stepped back fast.
The instant she let up pressure, unfortunately, the scrape on his neck immediately started bleeding again. It needed to be cleaned. Then she had to wait until the moisture dried before applying antiseptic. That had to dry before a bandage could conceivably stick, so that took another wait. Obviously, none of those minor actions took longbut all of them took touching him. She was close enough to smell and sense and see. To be aware. Too aware. So she started asking him nosy questions. She sensed he wasnt normally into chatting up strangers, but maybe he was just uneasy enough around her to open up. Either that, or he was actually interested in spilling about his company and his current situation.
So, she started out with, is your first name Harm symbolic of what youre like to be around or what?
He chuckled. Nothing that interesting. Harm is just a Dutch name. Means ruler or leader or something like that. My dad was Scottish, my mom Dutch. Inherited stubbornness from both sides, or thats what the parents claim.
Are they right?
I plead the fifth.
It was her turn to smile. So whats the deal with this company of yours?
He took his time answering, but eventually, out it came. I never anticipated having anything to do with the company. Thats the problem. My uncles name was Dougal, hit a mother-lode lottery when he was twenty-five. He was only married a couple of years when his wife got cancer, pancreatic, which is one of the wrong kinds, the kind where theres just not a lot of hope. Anyway, he was nuts about her, and thats how it all started-he was supposed to be an engineer, but when she died, he poured everything into a research lab, determined to find a cure. Didnt know shoes from shinnola when he first started.
But he learned?
He more than learned. He spent his life at it, and like I said, Connollys seem to have that particularly stubborn gene. The first really great drug he patented over twelve years ago. By then he was almost broke, but that brought in a new flood of money. He wasnt interested in living high. He wanted the infusion for the research. The two areas he never stopped targeting were pancreatic and ovarian. Just when the lab had come up with an outright miracle drug, he fell ill. And right after that, the guys came through with an even more incredible breakthrough.
For one of the biggies he cared especially about? Pancreatic or ovarian? It was a relief when she could step away from those eyes, that skin, the feel of him. She piled the first-aid supplies back in the box and whirled around, happy to talk-but with a little distance between them. It wasnt as if she couldnt find dinner chores to work with by then.
Pancreatic. Two new drugs had passed FDA by then, and a brand-new one-the best, a true miracle drug-was a pinch away from the last clinical trials. Thats when Dougal died. I knew he wanted me to have the company, to continue with his work, but man. Harm scrubbed the back of his neck. I was in the military. Mechanical engineer. Built bridges, roads, had a ton of math but never much straight science. Only my uncle, he had a terror of the firm getting sold, falling into the hands of certain pharmaceutical corporations-he wanted it kept in the family, with people who had the same goals, to conquer this cancer thing. Not to just be about profit.
So he passed it on to you She put a little plate in front of him because thats what she did-fed people. A few wedges of bread, fresh herbs in a dip for him to dunk, one of the hors doeuvres shed put on in the salon in a bit.
Yes. Only the will was barely read-Id just found a place in Cambridge, wasnt unpacked-when the clinical trials for BROPE, the new drug, disappeared-
BROPE?
Bright Hope. The guys named it-
Okay. Got it. So the drug was stolen?
No. The trials were. The data. The proving data. Damn, this is good- He motioned to his decimated plate. Anyway, that crisis took place my first week. Then Fiske, our financial guru, comes into my office the next week looking gray and sick. The funds allocated for the last trial disappeared. They exist on paper. Theres no record of anyone unauthorized-or authorized-touching the account. Only the moneys gone. And Fiske is beside himself, worried Ill accuse him.
BROPE?
Bright Hope. The guys named it-
Okay. Got it. So the drug was stolen?
No. The trials were. The data. The proving data. Damn, this is good- He motioned to his decimated plate. Anyway, that crisis took place my first week. Then Fiske, our financial guru, comes into my office the next week looking gray and sick. The funds allocated for the last trial disappeared. They exist on paper. Theres no record of anyone unauthorized-or authorized-touching the account. Only the moneys gone. And Fiske is beside himself, worried Ill accuse him.
She rolled her eyes. Just like a child, he was holding out the empty plate, begging for more. But you didnt?
No. Theres no way Fiske did anything wrong. Fiske is good to the bone. Cant say hes a twenty-first-century economics man-he was my uncles crony in age, old-fashioned in his thinking. But hed have gone to the wall for Dougal. They were like brothers. But to sum up this cyclone-Ive got this company that on paper is thriving beyond all anyones expectations, with a cure for pancreatic cancer, a real damn cure, on the cusp. Reachable. Only now the whole thing is at risk. Someone inside has to be the problem, but its not that easy figuring out the who. Yale and Purdue claim it was their research that was suddenly obliterated, so theyd hardly be guilty of any wrongdoing. Theyve been set back several years. And Arthur claims hed been pushing Dougal for more careful recording and reporting practices for years, couldnt get anyone to listen to him, so finding him guilty doesnt make any sense, either.
And theres no one else who could be the thief?
Not really. Theres other staff, but theyre clerical or broom pushers, some apprentices coming up. But no one who had access to those studies, the specific private lab or those computers. The thing is, over time, the whole formula could be recreated, but thatd be a matter of years. And literally millions of dollars. Probably more than millions.
Eek, Cate murmured.
Yeah. Thats what Ive been saying.
So youre in quite a mess. She wasnt exactly alarmed when he lurched up from the stool. It was just that her heart rate tripled when he stepped toward her. His eyes were on hers, a flash of flirting, a flash of stark, sharp sexual intent. Thankfully, she saw his hand aim for the bowl on the counter before she leaned into the kiss she thought was coming.
She slapped his hand.
A major mess, he agreed-although he tried one more time for a lick of batter from her bowl. Then he gave up, eased away, got serious again. I closed the lab for a couple weeks. Took them all here. None of us can escape from each other, not on this boat, in this environment. I had to do something. This was the best choice I could think up.
She nodded. I think you made a great move. Thats what I do with a soup sometimes. Put the ingredients together, then just let it cook, see what happens.
Something will.
She nodded again. Something has to happen. When you mix ingredients together, the tastes start blending. Different flavors show up. Flavors that never existed before.
Thats what I need, he said grimly. Something to forcenew information. To bring more out in the open.
Harm She couldnt believe he had the nerve to go behind her back with his finger. This time she just motioned for him to remove his hand. He tried giving her a meek, apologetic look-but he couldnt sell meek in this lifetime. I heard something this afternoon. The fight? You heard it?
He quit playing around. What fight?
Two men. I dont know which two, but they were really going at it. She rinsed her hands, wiped them on a linen towel. At first I thought everyone would have heard them. But then I realized, of course no one would have, below deck-or in the pilothouse, with those doors closed and the engines going. Still. You didnt hear anything at all?
He shook his head. After lunch, I grabbed a catnap. Hadnt slept in two days. I went down so deep I wouldnt have heard a cannon. He cocked his head. You didnt see who it was?
No. But, as you may have noticed, Im not the shy, retiring type. A little argument wouldnt have bothered me. Id never have thought twice about it. But this fightit waswrong.
Shed have said more, but the side door to the galley suddenly opened. Ivan popped in, his jaw dropping when he saw Harm in the galley with her. Hey. You letting the guests get hors doeuvres ahead of me? Where is the justice in life?
She shooed them both out, snapping her towel, warning theyd get no food at all if they didnt let her get back to it. By then, she had to buckle under and get serious about her dinner prep. But her conversation with Harm still troubled her.
It was over, she supposed. There was nothing else she could have told Harm, beyond what shed overheard. It was his problem, and he already knew he had a big problem. There was nothing she could help with or do anything about.
But it worried her, once hed let out how huge the stakes were. A cure for one of the scariest cancers. That was big medical stakes. Big hope. Big money. Big risks.
As she unlocked her knife chest and chose her favorite paring knives-what her chef cronies called the Sheeps Foot and Birds Beak-she thought that Harm didnt seem the kind of guy who let information slip. Whatever hed shared with her, hed wanted to. Possibly, she considered, he was trying to warn her again about avoiding getting close to his men.
She started pulling out pots, cutting boards, ingredients, but an alarming thought kept going through her mind. This trip was enabling Harm to get closer to his team. The closer he got, the more danger he could be in himself.
The fury and tempo of the argument shed heard earlier kept replaying in her mind like a mosquito bite that wouldnt quit itching.
It wasnt her business, she reminded herself, any more than Harm could ever be her business. That unexpectedly sharp buzz of attraction to him needed to be cut off at the pass, pronto. Cate was no idiot. Harm came from a completely different universe than her life.
So for once she was going to be good, just do her job and enjoy the trip, not interfere or nose into anyone elses problems-and stay out of Harms way.
It was such a good plan.
Chapter 3
Marry me, Cate. Yale had a foot cocked up on the priceless wild cherry sideboard. I have a condo just outside of Cambridge. You can have it. You can have my life savings. My grandmothers wedding ring. My six-year-old BMW. Everything I have.
Thats sweet. Cate looked around the dining table. Anyone willing to up the ante?
Me! Me! Purdue was still hunched over the dessert, clearly trying to protect it from anyone else claiming thirds. God knew theyd all had seconds. Hes only got a condo. Ive got a house. A kitchen with a Sub-Zero freezer and stuff. Im not sure what all the appliances are, but I was told they were top-of-the-line. AndI put the lid down. When I remember, anyway.