Richard scooped Donna up into his arms and carried her up the stairs to their bedroom. He set her on the floor. Donna’s eyes widened. “What are all these boxes for?”
“They’re yours,” Richard smiled. “I picked them up while I was in London.”
Donna frowned. “Why are you giving it to me now? My birthday isn’t until December.”
“Oh, I’ve got other plans for your birthday. These are just to let you know how much I love you, Donna. Besides, I wouldn’t get too excited. I’m not that good at shopping. You may not like any of them. Why don’t you open them up and see? While they ah – while they still fit you – that is.”
“Thanks for reminding me that, in a few months, I’ll look like a beached whale,” she groaned and sat on the side of the bed.
Richard chuckled and sat beside her. He brushed some loose hairs from her forehead and smiled. “When you need new clothes, we’ll buy them. Like I told you, I can give you anything your heart desires.”
Donna softly smiled and sighed. “Thank you, but all I want… is your love and understanding.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Taking advantage of the situation, Richard deepened the kiss and eased her back on the bed. Donna tried to push the thought aside that Richard was lying to her. But, I haven’t come right out and asked Richard if he knew why Jared left. Would he lie to me if I asked him?
------------
“I’ll admit the evidence points to Richard,” Gary said. “But, we need proof before I’ll even consider going to Donna with this.”
Sam unlocked his cell phone. “What’s the name of the clinic where Juanita works, and what’s Jared’s partner’s name?”
“His name is Terry Downing, and he co-owns Fairfield Clinic, but you can’t call now. They won’t be open. What are you going to say to him, anyway? If we’re wrong and Donna gets wind of this she’ll have our balls in a vise.”
Sam grinned. “Then I’ll just ask general questions, and lie, and be discreet.”
Gary arched an eyebrow. “You mean you’ll do what you do best.”
Sam frowned. “Hey, I have my talents.”
“Yeah, and if you don’t handle this right, your talents are going to land both of us in the Donna Rigden jailhouse! And, trust me that’s worse than being in Strangeways Prison.”
Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s not that bad – is she?”
“Oh yeah – piss her off and find out. She can be a little wildcat! I, for one, don’t want to be on the receiving end.”
“Are you having a meal with her and Richard tonight?”
“No, I hadn’t planned on it. Why?” Gary asked with caution.
“I might need your help to get around a few… obstacles.”
Gary frowned. “That much I had expected. I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do, Sam, but I won’t go against Donna’s wishes, no matter what! Understood?”
Sam grinned. “Yes.”
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Richard landed the chopper at Langston Castle and helped Donna out. Vera let them in. “Where’s Grandma? We have something to tell her.”
“I’m sorry, Master Richard. Your grandmother had to go out.”
Richard looked at Donna and frowned. “For how long? She never leaves the castle!”
“I’m not sure, but she took a small case with her, so I don’t expect her back until tomorrow. Jack took her to the airport, not long after you left, this morning.”
“She didn’t say anything about where she was going or why?”
Vera softly chuckled. “I’m just the maid, Master Richard. Your grandmother doesn’t confide in me, or Jack.”
“I’m sorry, pet. I guess the news will have to wait until tomorrow.”
“In that case, why don’t we go on up to our apartment, take a shower and change. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
“Sure. Vera, could you give us a shout when tea is ready?”
“Of course, Master Richard. Will Sir Richard and Dr. Browne be dining with you, as well?”
“Dad will, but Dr. Browne won’t. We’ll be upstairs.” Vera nodded and left. “Lift or stairs?”
“Lift, I think,” Donna responded.
“Are you sure. It’s an open cage lift.”
“You mean like the one on the movie Titanic?”
Richard chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.”
“In that case, let’s take the stairs.”
Richard took her hand and started leading her up the first flight of stairs. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“About our research project and the HIC. Can you get me as clear of an image of the HIV1 virus as you did our son?”
“Pet, you would be amazed at what VICi can do with it. She can enlarge the nucleus of any cell down to the base pair level. Why?”
“Can the image be manipulated in the same way?”
“You could play with it like a bunch of Lego bricks. What are you smiling about?”
“One more question and I’ll tell you why. Does VICi have the HIV1 genome in her database? It has to be of a live virus – not a dead one.”
“Of course. VICi has every known genome in her database, and we have teams all over the World, collecting more.”
Richard opened the door. “In that case, we may not have to wait for a live sample of the virus.”
“What – you think we can genetically engineer an HIV1 vector?”
Donna shrugged. “Why not? It’s worth a try. We can certainly run the simulation. That is if Gary can feed my calibration program into VICi. We could use the HIC like a 3D electron microscope.”
Richard snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her next to him. “You’re just a little genius, aren’t you? If we could do this, it would make our job a lot easier.”
------------
Richard showered first. While he was waiting for Donna to shower, he decided to call Sir Richard and see if he knew anything about Lady Triplet going on a trip. Sir Richard didn’t know anything and was just as surprised as Richard that she suddenly left the castle. He was even more surprised to find out that Jack had taken her to the airport. When Sir Richard checked with the control tower at Newcastle Airport to see if Lady Triplet had logged a flight plan, he was told she had gone to Amsterdam.
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While Sir Richard, John, Richard, and Donna sat down to an early evening meal, ten minutes before Mildred was due to go home, at the Centre, a strange man used Tina Phillips security key to get in the building. He went to the public toilet there, picked the lock to the utility closet and hid inside. He stayed there while the office staff left and security made their rounds.
Quietly, he eased the door open and glanced up and down the corridor. There was no one in sight. Further down the corridor near the entrance, the security guard had just settled at his desk. He didn’t hear the intruder creep up behind him. The cosh, which crushed the back of his skull left little sign of injury, and the guard collapsed without making a sound. The intruder disabled some of the security cameras, and then let in the rest of his team.
Using a security ID, they rode the lift to the top floor, and then made their way along the corridor to Sir Richard’s office.
With her back to the door, Mildred was sitting in her chair, gathering her things to go home. She didn’t notice the three ninjas until she turned. Discreetly, she pressed the silent alarm under the edge of her desk. “Who the devil are you?”
One of the ninjas stepped forward. “You’re wasting your time. If you want to remain useful, tell me where Dr. Rigden is.”
“Go to hell!” Mildred enunciated.
“Hold her,” the ninja said in Mandarin. He produced a small, wickedly sharp knife. “There is no one coming. The guard will not hear the alarm. Now tell me where I may find Dr. Rigden?”
“She is under Sir Richard’s protection, and you will be dead when he finds out about this,” Mildred snapped back as she struggled to free herself.
“No, Mrs. Hayes. That’s not good enough. I want to know exactly where she is. Now, for the last time tell me. Where is she?”
Mildred said nothing. She cried out as the man calmly proceeded to cut off the tip of her right little finger at the first joint. While the others put Mildred through agony, one of the ninjas proceeded to tear the office apart, looking for clues.
Despite the pain, no matter what they did to her, Mildred held her tongue.
After a while, a man approached. Mildred narrowed her eyes. “I might have known you would be behind this – you sick bastard!” she snapped.
“It’s unbecoming for a lady, such as yourself to use such vulgar language, Mildred.” He looked down at her finger. “You fucking idiots! What have you done? Give her something for the pain!” he ordered.
One of the ninjas produced a tourniquet and a hypodermic syringe filled with a clear liquid and injected it into the vein on top of Mildred’s hand.
“Now find something and clean her up. Mildred, where do you keep your first-aid kit.”
“Bottom drawer of the filing cabinet,” she motioned with her head. The ninja proceeded to gently dress her wound.
Forrest sighed and lifted Mildred’s chin, so their eyes met. “Mildred, they weren’t supposed to hurt you. Especially not cut off your finger. They should have known, for someone who has worked for Sir Richard as many years as you have that pain would be an ineffective way to extract information from you. Besides,” he smiled, “…there are much more pleasant ways, of getting the job done. I am so, so sorry. Is the medication helping?”
Mildred softly smiled and nodded.
Forrest continued talking to her while he waited for the drugs to take effect. “You’re not going to tell me what I want to know, are you Mildred?”
Mildred grinned slightly and shook her head.
Forrest sighed and crouched in front of her. “Mildred, I really need to find Donna. For one thing, I don’t want to die, and Donna has something I need. You don’t want to see me die, do you Mildred?”
The drugs were starting to take effect. “No… Mr. Forrest.”
“Please, Mildred, call me GW. You have such pretty eyes. Has anyone told you that, lately?”
Mildred shook her head. “No….”
“All Donna has to do is give me some of her bone marrow, and then I can live. You want to see me live, don’t you Mildred?”
“Of course Mr. – I mean – GW.”
Forrest patted her knee. “Good,” he said and patted her knee again. “Good. Now… the other reason I need to find Donna is so I can try and talk some sense into her. Donna and your genetics team are working on a drug that will mean chaos to the world. It’s going to cause a huge increase in the world’s population, and our food supply just can’t cope. There will be wars and people will starve. Billions of people will start fighting for control of it. You don’t want that do you Mildred? Innocent people fighting and killing each other over something like a tiny drug. You don’t want that do you?”
Mildred smiled and shook her head, her voice groggy. “No… GW.” Forrest’s kind and considerate tongue bemused her drug addled brain. She didn’t see the monster in front of her that the World saw. The men in the black suits were the ones who had hurt her. Forrest had made them give her something for the pain and bandage her finger. It wasn’t his fault. All he wanted to do was talk to Donna and stop a world disaster. “I… don’t know… exactly where she is,” she found herself saying.
Forrest clenched his teeth and reassured her. “That’s OK Mildred, but I have to find her. The fate of millions depends on it. Please, tell me anything you know that might help me find her. You see, Sir Richard has been lying to everyone. He’s going to kill Donna just as soon as she’s perfected the drug. I don’t want that to happen. Not just because I need her to live, but because I don’t want to see her die.”
“She is… in a safe place… underground. You’re lying… Sir Richard wouldn’t hurt Donna… she’s his… goddaughter. He won’t let you hurt her.”
“I don’t want to hurt her. I just need to talk to her,” Forrest persisted. “Where underground is Donna, Mildred?”
“In the hills… deep down... underground.”
Forrest was beginning to get aggravated. He fought to control his temper. “Where underground?” he said through slightly clenched teeth.
“In a mine... she might be… in the mine.”
“Which mine is she in Mildred?”
“It’s up high... away from everything… and everyone.”
“Do you know what’s close to it? What does Sir Richard call it?”
“Nothing... nothing is… close to it,” she replied. “I don’t know... what it’s called. Sir Richard just… calls it… the mine.”
“What kind of mine is it?”
“An old lead mine. Then... British Steel had it.”
“What does Sir Richard call it?”
Mildred frowned and looked as if she might cry. “Don’t shout… I’m… trying to help.”
“I’m sorry, Mildred. I didn’t mean to shout.”
“That’s OK… I forgive you… GW. Sir Richard just... calls it, the mine,” she said and softly chuckled.
Forrest rolled his eyes and sat in a chair across from her. Mildred was getting too relaxed, and she still hadn’t told him anything he could use. She dozed off; Forrest patted her cheek. Mildred opened her eyes and smiled. Forrest mirrored her smile. “Maybe you can tell me how you contact the mine?”
“I can call Sir Richard for you,” she volunteered, now eager to help. “He’s there too – they all are.”
“Is there a land line to the mine?”
“No… Sir Richard… didn’t want one. Cell phones... won’t work. No towers. Uses a satellite.” She slowly reeled off a twelve digit number.
“Write that down!”
Skilfully Forrest continued to question Mildred, drawing out information until he was certain she knew no more. “Thank you, Mildred. You’ve been very helpful.” He stood. “I’m going to let you sleep now,” he said kissing her forehead. “Have a nice long nap,” he added and walked toward the door. Turning, he blithely said to one of his men, in Mandarin, “Secure her and finish her.”