Still cranking away on the sequel to Tainted Blood. Here's an excerpt:
*****
“Could I see you alone for a
minute, Hauck?”
“No,” said Sveta, “you can’t see
him alone.”
Yuri had never seen her in a
dress before. She was draped over the
arm of a red velvet recliner trimmed with gold fringe, swirling an amber drink
before her at eye level. As she leaned
forward to look more closely at it, Yuri saw the hem of her black dress slide
up to mid-thigh. Black hose, black shoes
trimmed in gold. Hair long, thick and
colored blue-black like a Siberian sable.
Yuri tried to concentrate on the
liquor glass Sveta found so interesting.
“Thirty seconds,” said Hauck.
He stood on the far side of the
room watching seconds flick forward on a holographic presentation that floated
a foot above a digital map of Detroit.
“I’m trying to concentrate,” said
Sveta.
“It’s important, Hauck.”
Hauck pulled at his shirt cuffs,
tilted his head and looked into the full length mirror near his rosewood
desk. Perfect. Dark blue suit, brilliant white shirt, and a
stunning red tie designed for the French president to wear to the G8 conference
had not a friend of Hauck’s stolen it first to give him as a present. One final look. Excellent.
He could not see the scar that raked across the base of his neck no
matter how he turned his head.
The beauty of high collared
shirts.
“Fifty seconds,” he said.
“Hauck?”
“Just a few more seconds, Yuri.”
Sveta’s frustration was beginning
to show.
“I need to concentrate,” she
said.
“Too late,” said Hauck.
“Yuri, I’m going to kill you.”
“Sorry.”
“What was the trick?” Sveta asked Hauck. “How was I supposed to tell it was poisoned
if this was a real event?”
“But it is a real event,” said
Hauck over his shoulder. “You drank from
the glass and that was the first component.
You are in no danger unless you ingest the second component.”
Sveta’s eyes narrowed.
“You mean you actually put the
first part in my drink?”
She pulled a gun from her purse
and pointed it squarely at the middle of his back.
“If you don’t tell me the second
component I’ll shoot you.”
Hauck inserted a handkerchief
into his coat pocket, trimmed it and turned to face her.
“First you must tell me how I did
it. Our glasses were filled from the
same bottle, yet yours gave you the first half of the poison but mine did not
do the same to me.”
“It was already in my glass.”
“Bravo,” said Hauck. “But no. Try again.”
Yuri had never seen anyone so
furious as Sveta. He stood transfixed,
unsure what to do. In Hauck’s luxurious
apartment, which occupied the entire fourth floor of a renovated building on
the South side of Detroit, Yuri did not blend in well. In the living room,
where each lamp fixture was a work of art, each chair or sofa a masterpiece of
good taste, the disheveled computer genius looked like a sweaty rag tossed on
folded, fine linen. His long, tangled moustache was wet with perspiration as he
worried that Sveta really would pull the trigger.
“Just tell her the second
component,” said Yuri. “That way she won’t shoot you.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
A sudden thought struck Yuri.
“Weren’t you guys on your way out
to dinner?”
“One last chance, Hauck,” said
Sveta.
Hauck smiled.
She pulled the trigger.
“No,” screamed Yuri.
But all that happened was a loud
click.
“Caffeine,” said Hauck. “No
coffee, no tea or any kind of caffeinated beverages before midnight. Caffeine
will combine with the first component to create a poison in your bloodstream.
Alcohol is not a problem, of course.”
He was backing away from her as
he said it.
She looked at her pistol in
disbelief.
“You took my bullets,” she said.
“Knowing your temper,” he said,
“I didn’t want to get shot before dinner.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Now, Yuri, what is it you wanted
to tell me?” asked Hauck.
Yuri cringed.
“What, what is it that is so
important?”
“Well, first off,” said Yuri,
“she’s got another gun.”
Hauck glanced at Sveta, ignoring
the new pistol she was pointing at him.
“Lipstick,” he said. “I added the other component to your
lipstick.”
“You think you’re so smart,” she
said. “I’ve got news for you; I’m not a
pawn to be pushed around your mental board.”
“I can see that,” said Hauck. “I apologize.
Yuri, what was so important that you had to interrupt us?”
“Don’t ignore me,” warned Sveta.
“You’re my first thought when I
wake up and my last as I go to sleep, my dear.
Now Yuri, what is so urgent?”
The look on Sveta’s face as she
lowered the pistol was something Yuri had never seen before. Hope mixed with amazement. A touch of vulnerability. Hauck, of course, paid no attention.
“We’ve been hacked. No, that’s not exactly it. It’s more like our computer system has been
infiltrated.”
“By whom?” asked Hauck
impatiently.
“It’s more like by what.”
Sveta stepped over to stand next
to Hauck. They looked like a royal
couple on a wedding cake. Both of them
staring at him, waiting for an answer he didn’t know how to explain.
“You’ve got to see it for
yourself.”
“No time for that,” said
Hauck. “If we’re compromised, we’ve got
to wind up this operation and get out of here.
If they’ve penetrated our systems, we don’t have much time to act.”
“It’s not like that,” said
Yuri. “Just take a look. It’s been asking for you.”
And now it was Hauck’s turn to
look both amazed and vulnerable.
