Chasing Victory (The Winters Sisters) by Joanne Jaytanie Page A

of the bench until you find a small--”
    “Yuck,” Victory said out loud. “Sorry about that.” She whispered.
    “No worries. There is no one within one hundred and fifty feet of you, and yes you have found what I want you to. That is a synthetic chewing gum. Pull it free and be careful, it is encapsulating a tiny ear piece.”
    Victory pulled apart the gum and found the ear piece. She looked around and then quickly placed it in her ear.
    “Its sound activated. Say ‘go’ when you want to start the recording; ‘Back’ to rewind, and ‘stop’ to end the recording. Got it?” Tristan asked.
    Victory hand signed the instructions back to Logan and Tristan verbatim.
    “Okay. You need to memorize the plan recorded in this ear piece before you go back to the lab. We can’t take the chance that they might have sensors that can detect electronics. So when you are done with the ear piece put it back in the gum and throw it out into the ocean.”
    “Tristan, who are you, you’re certainly not a botanist.”
    “We’re the good guys Victory. I told you, part of a U.S. military team. It will all become clear after you listen to the recording. Learn the plan, and stick to it, verbatim, don’t deviate from it at all, and Victory?” She hazarded a brief glance in his direction. “Good luck,” he murmured.

    ***

    It was a few minutes before her meeting with Braxton. She got up from the bench to walk back to the lab and took a few steps towards the edge of the cliff to toss the gum into the water.
    She had to get back to her room in time to splash water on her face and take a breath without fear of being watched. She was wiping the water from her face when there was a knock on her door.
    “Man, they are nothing if not prompt here.” Victory hung her towel and headed for the door. There was a second knock.
    “Ms. Winters, Mr. Braxton doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Dave said from the other side of the door.
    Victory swung the door open before he finished his sentence. “Ah Mr. Anderson, my favorite kidnapper, shall we go?” She walked right past Dave without a second glance. For the first time since she walked into the coffee shop two days ago, Victory had a feeling of control about her situation.
    They got out of the elevator on the top floor and walked down the same stunning black marble hall to Braxton’s office. Dave knocked on the door and opened it for Victory to enter, closing it behind her. Lawrence Braxton snapped closed his cell phone and was working on his computer. Victory had picked up a few words of his conversation as she approached the door, but none of it made any sense to her; something about a meeting with kaleidoscope?
    “Good afternoon, Ms. Winters. I trust you have enjoyed your time on my lovely island,” Lawrence Braxton said from behind his antique cherry desk without bothering to look up from his computer.
    “Considering the fact that I can’t leave the island, it was fine,” she responded.
    Her abrupt response caused Braxton to stop typing, but his gaze remained on his screen. “Good. Have you made your decision about coming to work for me?”
    “I will give you three weeks under one condition,” she said.
    That got his attention. For the first time Braxton looked up and actually made eye contact. “And what might that be?” He raised one eye brow and asked more out of curiosity than compromise.
    “I need my lab assistant. He has been with me since the very beginning of my research. He understands my short hand, my train of thought, and my idiosyncrasies. It will take me longer than three weeks to get any of your people up to speed.”
    Braxton sat back in his oversized leather chair with a sneer on his face. He didn’t say a word for almost one whole minute. Then he asked, “is that all?”
    “Three weeks. That’s it. And you have to leave my sisters out of this.” Victory stared Braxton in the eye.
    “No problem.” He had no plan of honoring his promise, but being