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Mac cursed at the slow, incompetent console, and slowly typed the information in. Again.
He had them, for a hot second. And lost them before he could fix a location.
Now he worked his way through multiple searches, using what he got from Elizabeth as keywords. He would have been done with his list an eon ago if he hadn’t been working with the oldest system on the stinking planet.
“Damn stupid, ancient—” He was about to kick it, and probably bruise his toes, again, when he heard something his didn’t expect in this part of the building. Other voices.
Worse—Dr. K and that snake Harper were the voices.
Mac hit the shutdown and ran across the small lab, forcing himself under the old desk. The kneehole was made for knees—not a six foot man. A two year old would have fit just fine.
He stopped cursing the new bump on his head and the ache in his injured right side as the door squeaked open.
“This is a part of the building we no longer use, Mr. Harper, because the equipment is obsolete.” Doc’s voice echoed in the mostly empty room.
“I heard—rumors, that an employee was seen here. An employee I was told had evaded my Security, and should no longer be in the building.”
“Mr. Macaffrey?” Mac could almost see her eyebrows raising behind those thick glasses. “Even if he was still here, he wouldn’t touch something this old. He is a technology snob, Mr. Harper. This is so far below his standards it is laughable.”
You can say that again.
The silence was excruciating. Mac pictured every worst case scenario before Harper’s oil slick voice finally broke that silence. “I see what you mean, Dr. Kinimoto. Even my technicians who enjoy the anachronistic equipment would not go near this. I wanted to squash any rumor before it turned into ghost stories of a former employee haunting the halls of the old lab.” His false laughter set Mac’s teeth on edge. “You have eased my concern.”
“Excellent. Then if I may escort you—”
“Wait.”
Mac stilled, afraid he might have left something that proved he’d been here. After Colette’s tongue lashing about his mess and the fact that one candy wrapper could kill him, he was careful not to leave anything around.
He jerked when Harper started talking again.
“If I do discover that anyone without authorization has been using any of the labs,” Mac swore he could feel Harper’s icy gaze, knew he was focused on the desk, “they will be dealt with, severely. Please pass the word.”
“Of course, Mr. Harper.”
Footsteps bounced off the walls as they walked across the lab, and out the door.
Mac waited until he was sure they were on the other side of the building, then waited a few more minutes, just to be safe.
By the time he crawled out of the kneehole, every muscle threatened to cramp. He leaned against the side of the desk, his hands shaking.
If he understood that rat bastard snake, and the way Dr. K verbally bowed to him, then Harper was in charge now. Which meant MI-6 was in charge.
And if that was true, they were royally screwed.