The woman’s voice was unnaturally soft, yet there was no mistaking her disdainful tone. “I thought this was your specialty.”
Through the slats in the door, I saw Poe pull his mouth to the side, making his nose curve more prominently than it had the night he’d paid his visit to the Phone Company. “It’s been in my possession a week. Stop making me your errand boy and I’ll work on it.”
Her laugh was as soft as her voice. “Your skills and those errands are the only reason you’re still alive.”
“I suppose I’m to be grateful to you, then?” Poe looked much younger in the light of day than he had the night of the masquerade. “Since it’s thanks to you I still draw breath?”
“Yes.”
Poe set his jaw. His anger spilled across the thick carpet and seeped between the slats of the closet door.
“Have you made any progress?” the woman asked. “At all?”
“It shorts out everything I use. So, no.” He held up a slim silver device that looked like a laptop computer but was half the size. “Did you call him?”
“Only because you said ‘please.’”
Lily tried to stand up straight, and the boxes behind her shifted when her weight was no longer on them. She wobbled and almost fell when they hit her calves. I put one arm around her to keep her upright, and the other against the wall to brace us. It made a slight thudding sound.
The woman frowned and looked in the direction of the closet.
She tossed her dark hair over her shoulders and started walking toward us. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. I tensed in preparation, planning to get us out alive, no matter who I had to hurt. I didn’t know if I could get us both past Poe, but Lily would go free.
Teague walked past the closet and went to the office door. I heard a new voice.
“Hello, Teague.”
The woman was Teague. And the man addressing her was Dr. Turner.
Chapter 23
“Hello, Gerald.” Teague arranged her expression into a smile. “So glad you could come on such short notice.”
When Lily exhaled, I realized how tightly I must have been holding her. The fact that I hadn’t noticed spoke volumes about my anxiety level.
“I cancelled my afternoon classes. I hope the matter is as urgent as you made it sound in your message.” He’d taken one of the fedoras from the moose antlers in his office and clamped it down over his head of white hair. He removed the hat now, holding it in one hand and tapping it against his other palm. I noticed his suspenders for the first time. They perfectly matched his orange bow tie.
“You’ll have to ask Edgar how urgent the matter is,” Teague answered, nodding her head toward Poe, who’d taken a seat in the corner.
Edgar? I’d have gone with the nickname, too. I wondered briefly if his middle name was Allen.
“Hello, Poe,” Dr. Turner said kindly. “Teague didn’t tell me I was visiting for your benefit. I would’ve made it here much more quickly.”
Poe stood and held out his hand. “Sir.”
Dr. Turner shook it, and then his eyes caught the device Poe held. He looked from it to Teague, and back to Poe again. “Is this …?”
“We don’t know,” Poe said, and handed it over to Dr. Turner. Teague hissed between her teeth. Neither of them acknowledged her. “Unfortunately, I can’t get it open.”
Turning it over and over in his hands, Dr. Turner squinted before lifting his glasses and taking an even closer look. “Like a technological vault.”
“Precisely.” Poe continued to ignore Teague as she tapped one high-heeled foot. Both men stared at the device. “Whoever stored the information knew how valuable it was.”
Dr. Turner whistled. “Those won’t even come on the market for at least a couple of years.”
Teague’s thin patience ripped. “Gerald, can you help us or not?”
“I’m afraid I can’t.” A lie. One he was happy to tell. “I’ve only read about these, how much information can be stored on them. Not how to access it. There’s a USB port here, but if that’s what Poe’s been using—?” Dr. Turner dropped his glasses back down on his nose to look at Poe, and Poe nodded. “Then I have nothing more advanced to test it.”
Lily’s arms snaked around my waist. I looked down in surprise, and then realized she was about to lose her balance again. I pulled her close enough to feel the rise and fall of her chest.
“What about the university?” Teague asked. “Wouldn’t they have more advanced equipment?”
“You’ve been out of academia for too long.” Dr. Turner shook his head. “We have to fight to get funding for our most basic needs. Skrolls aren’t even in our orbit. Probably won’t be for ten or fifteen more years.”
“I can’t accept being this close to information and not being able to access it.” She walked to the window to stare out at the water. “We’ll just have to keep trying.”
Dr. Turner and Poe exchanged a look I didn’t understand. The emotion that went with it was mixed—both trust and fear.
“You know, Teague,” Dr. Turner said, “doing something rash to this piece of equipment could destroy anything stored on it. Why don’t you let me take it—”
“Oh no.” Teague spun around and held out her hand. “It doesn’t leave my sight.”
Dr. Turner didn’t let the Skroll go. “Where did you find it? That might give me a clue about how to manipulate it, the right kind of software and such.”
“Or give you a clue who to contact for leverage against me.” A history of betrayal hung between them, the kind that spoke to the fact that they’d once been allies. Teague wanted to tell him what she knew, and he wanted to hear it, but neither with the intention of helping the other.
Slimier than a snake pit, and even more twisted.
“We should find a way to work together.” Dr. Turner said.
“Why would we do that, Gerald? We don’t want the same thing.” The warmth in her cheeks didn’t match the coldness of her smile.
“That’s not always been the case. It was different when Liam was here.”
All my muscles tensed as a quick flood of adrenaline pulsed through me. Lily rubbed her hand across my back, intending to soothe. It did.
“Liam left because he’s entirely too honorable,” Teague said, lifting her delicate shoulders. “Always has been.”
“I don’t think that’s the only reason Liam left.” Before Teague could ask what he meant, Dr. Turner continued. “Maybe he left because he had information he didn’t want to share. With anyone.”
Teague frowned.
“Oh, and … his son is here, in Memphis. He doesn’t know anything about the Infinityglass, either.”
I tensed again under Lily’s hands. I could feel her heart beating.
“When did you see him?” Teague asked, her expression full of reproach.
“He was at my office.” Dr. Turner didn’t get into specifics about exactly when.
“And he knew nothing about the Infinityglass?” She assessed his reaction. “You’re a human lie detector. If you say he didn’t know, he didn’t.”