Page 49 of Fully Loaded

“I’m sorry for the”—he waved his hand in the air as if searching for the correct word—“restraints. They must be uncomfortable. Please understand, it’s for your own safety.” He crossed one knee over the other and placed his hands on top. “I must warn you. I have a man stationed outside with a gun. Please don’t try anything.” He pursed his mouth in a placating manner.

She curled her lip. “The same gun that murdered the innocent people at the Eiffel Tower?”

His crisp green eyes, loaded with intelligence, sharpened. “The people you endangered, yes.”

“The people you killed.”

“You have something of mine. Something you never should have stolen. You’re working for terrorists and I ought to turn you over to the police, but if you do as I ask and tell me where the formula is, I’ll let you go—once it’s recovered, of course.”

Bullshit.

He wouldn’t keep her alive, let alone let her go.

“You’re right. I wish I hadn’t stolen it. Why would you make something like that? Other than to kill off half the planet.” The accusation came out hard.

He didn’t flinch but straightened his spine and grinned smugly. “I can see how it would seem that way, but I created it with the best intentions.”

“The only outcome for a virus like that is death, so please, enlighten me.”

He tapped his finger on his knee as if trying to decide if she was worth explaining it to. Then he pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. “I created it for the purpose of protection. If we come under attack, we need a weapon that would completely immobilize. It’s much better than a nuclear bomb, you see, and very simple to activate. People would die by the thousands and finding an explanation for or source of the disease would take months—or years—of research.”

“You planned to kill innocent people. Same thing.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong. I created it to use against countries that decide to attack France, the US, and our allies. The person who hired you to steal it planned to do exactly as you said—take out millions of innocent people. You and your employer planned a global terrorist act with my formula, which was secure in my lab.” He opened and closed his hand on his knee.

“You’re not worried about someone releasing the virus before you do. You’re worried someone will copy the formula and sell it before you get the chance.”

Anger flashed across Ubrigg’s face, but she didn’t regret her words.

“Believe what you will. But you, my dear, are the terrorist the police are after.” His tone broke the smooth wave of professionalism and boomed through the stark, empty space.

A tremor racked her spine, and she curled her fingernails into her palms. She hadn’t known, for god’s sake. He should have expected people would be out for the weapon of destruction he’d created. Arguing with him was futile and wouldn’t help her survive. She needed to stall and outsmart him.

She wet her lips. “Where am I?”

He surveyed her and rocked on the stool. “A lab owned by a French colleague of mine.”

Yes. That meant she was still in Paris and not far from Brock.

“You obviously didn’t find the formula on me or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“You’re right. We searched your purse.” He leaned over to the computer desk and grabbed her bone-colored clutch. He reached inside and flipped a card between his fingers. “Only thing we found is this room key and an encrypted cell phone. My friend Romy,” he said, nodding at the door, “is going to pay room 1912 a visit. I wonder what—or who, I should say—he’ll find.”

The threat hung in the air, and Dani’s guts churned. She clamped her teeth together and locked her stare on Ubrigg. If she got out of these ropes, he’d be sorry.

“You could save us the trouble and tell me where the formula is.”

She rolled her tongue along the inside of her cheek. She knew the exact whereabouts of the flash drive—in Brock’s suit-jacket pocket. Ubrigg wasn’t stupid. He already knew about Brock or he wouldn’t have made the threat. The evil glint in Ubrigg’s eye made her stomach muscles clench. They’d kill Brock if they found him. She had to throw him off Brock’s trail.

She shrugged. “Go ahead. But it will be a waste of time. We handed the formula off this evening at the Eiffel Tower.”

Ubrigg’s body tensed. His face didn’t change but his eyes darkened in his alabaster skin. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. We needed a public place to make the trade-off. The remainder of my pay was wired to my account while we ate dinner. We set the flash drive on the table when we paid the bill and the buyer collected it as soon as we left.” The lie rolled off her tongue.

“Who was the buyer? What did they look like?”

The blonde woman Dani had spotted on the train and hotel popped into her head. “A woman no older than forty, blonde, shoulder-length hair. That’s all I know.”