The Leaves in Winter by M. C. Miller Page A

Riya named him as her contact at GeLixCo?”
    “Of course I am.”
    “But not enough to ask him.”
    “Have you heard anything I said?”
    “How convenient.” Malcolm checked the time by glancing at his phone. “I’ve got to go.”
    “Just like that? And what do we do about all of this?”
    Malcolm looked Janis up and down. “That’s one big fucking question. What do you want to do?”
    Janis stared out at nowhere. “I don’t know. If in doubt, I go the way I feel. Especially if what I know doesn’t make sense.”
    Janis opened the car door to go but Malcolm stopped her.
    “Here – take these.” He handed over his laptop and cell phone.
    “What’s this?” Janis had them in hand but froze.
    “I’ve got this assignment to do. I don’t want to risk having Riya’s backup found on me. My private phone has emails from Knockout Mouse. I still have my work phone. Keep them for me until I get back. I’ll give you a call.”
    Janis accepted the laptop and phone with a nod.
    Malcolm stopped her again as she leaned out the door.
    “Hey – it’s better knowing what we know.”
    Janis muted her reaction. She stepped out of the car and held the door open. Within her, a sinking feeling told her the world had changed. The sunlight felt foreign, lighting a place where darkness hid in plain sight.
    The impulse to answer Malcolm passed.
    She shut the door and walked away.

Chapter 7
     
    Near the Forest of Soignes
    South of Brussels , Belgium
     
    Plush carpet muffled the hurried steps of Leah Mass. The estate house was large but Leah knew right where to find her husband. With each stride along the hallway, sounds of conversation and family laughter faded from the first floor below. So did the warmer light.
    Eugene expected his wife to barge into his study any second. His meditation had overstayed its welcome yet, as the door opened and Leah rushed in, he couldn’t move from the window. A dutiful diversion had become a brooding daydream. All sense of purpose was lost on a higher but elusive focus. It was all he could do to watch the last light of day fade from the woods in the west.
    “There you are…” Leah pretended her discovery was incidental. “Is everything all right?”
    “Everything?” Purposely not loud enough, the word couldn’t be a question.
    Leah closed the door behind her. She was accustomed to maintaining privacy in the study. She approached her husband from behind and laid hands on him with gentle reserve, as if not to startle him.
    “Everyone downstairs misses you.”
    “I was just about to come down.”
    Eugene Mass turned and read the concern on his wife’s face. She was still a beautiful woman, at least to him. Sixteen years younger than he, she was his second wife and far more of a kindred spirit than anyone he had known.
    “I was getting worried. What was the call about?”
    “You can imagine.” He brushed his fingers through her hair and stepped away.
    “I take it the news isn’t good.”
    “Nothing I can’t contain.” The inference was clear.
    “Someone else might know – besides Riya?”
    Eugene nodded, prompting Leah’s sighs of desperate disappointment.
    “I warned you this was not the way.”
    “Don’t start.” Eugene tamped down on a simmering frustration.
    “You didn’t need to go down this path. It’s so unnecessary.”
    “Under normal circumstances, none of this would have to happen.” Restless, Eugene searched his desk for answers that couldn’t possibly be there. “You said it yourself – we live in a time that forces good people to embrace drastic measures.”
    “The whole situation’s drastic! That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. You’re risking so much more by this foolishness. Doing nothing would have served us much better.”
    “Where’s the guarantee? There’s no way of telling what might have happened if the information got out.”
    “You have resources. Who is everyone going to believe? It’s far better to force them to