Hot Ice (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 7) by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

combination was getting out of the laboratory. No one here was that irresponsible—that suicidal . The lab was professional and safe.
    And she was still the only one who knew how it was done. The existence of the slides wasn’t enough, not yet.
    “My research—”
    “Work on the paper for the WHO conference, Grace. You can do that from home. When everything dies down again, you can return. Your slides will still be here.”
    She stood there in shock—and then she stiffened her spine and lifted her chin. “Why can’t the director tell me this himself?”
    Tim shook his head slowly. “He’s trying to contain this thing, Grace. It’s a PR nightmare and you know it. The shareholders are demanding answers. The media is whipping this thing into a frenzy. It looks really bad right now… and it would be best if you weren’t here.”
    She swallowed, her throat aching with the effort. “All right. I’ll get my things and go.”
    She turned away, going back to her desk to put her paperwork in her briefcase. Tim cleared his throat. She whirled around. Garrett was standing behind Tim, frowning hard. His gaze flicked over her, sympathetic and concerned.
    “If you could leave the, er, brief on the findings.”
    She stiffened. They wanted to send her home but wanted the road map for how she’d done what she’d done. It belonged to the lab because they’d funded the research. And yet it made her sick inside that he could ask.
    “Of course. I’ll send you an e-mail.”
    Tim nodded. “Great. And Grace, I’m sorry. But this will blow over soon and you’ll be back. We’ll go to Rome and present your findings. The world will thank you for it, you’ll see.”
    “Yes, of course.”
    He still didn’t leave, still stood there looking at her with that combination of sympathy and speculation. “I’ll call you,” he said. “For that drink.”
    “Please do.”
    He threw a look at Garrett and then turned and left the room. Garrett’s mouth turned down in a frown.
    “Seriously, cupcake, you can do way better than that guy.”
    * * *
    Grace was quiet. Garrett had called Flash and told him to pick them up, then he’d hustled Grace into the Escalade and made sure she was lying down in the back with a blanket over her before he got up front with Flash. They drove away from the laboratory with only a few words hurled at them by protestors. No one realized Grace was in the car, which was precisely what he wanted.
    After they’d gone a mile or so, he’d told her she could sit up. She had, her face dark and her eyebrows lowered. He knew pissed when he saw it, and Grace was definitely pissed. And probably hurt as well.
    They returned to her town house in Alexandria. It was quiet, but he wasn’t certain how long that would last. The media would figure out she lived there soon enough, though he supposed her father was running interference from his end. The town house was a Campbell property, but it was part of a trust that wasn’t immediately identifiable with the Campbells. Not because they were hiding anything, but mostly for privacy.
    He took Grace in the back way after checking for any intrusion. She flung her purse and briefcase on the counter and stalked over to the refrigerator to yank it open. When she pulled out the pizza box and took out a cold slice of pizza, he grinned at her.
    “Not even going to heat it up?”
    “Cold pizza is the nectar of the gods—or didn’t you know?”
    “Of course I know. It’s practically a bachelor staple.”
    She ripped off a piece with her teeth and chewed. “Were you married to Cammie’s mother?”
    His gut clenched. Yeah, she was pissed and hurting, and he was the lucky recipient of her wrath. But she’d just been dealt a blow back there at the lab, and he knew she was upset.
    “Yeah, I was. Almost nine years.”
    She choked on her pizza, then grabbed a bottle of water and twisted off the cap. After she had a swig, she gaped at him. “Nine years? Wow.”
    He sighed as he