Sizzle and Burn (The Arcane Society #3)(41)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Cascadia Dawn did not manufacture and package its own products in bulk. It hired an outside firm to do that. But it did possess a state-of-the-art research and development lab where new nutritional formulas were developed and older ones were updated. The lab occupied a large portion of the basement of the building. It was divided into two sections.

He went down the last flight of stairs, opened a heavy steel fire door and walked into a small office.

An attendant in a white jumpsuit was seated at the desk. He got up quickly.

“Good morning, Mr. Nash. Do you want to enter the lab?”

“Yes, please, Miller.”

“I’ll get a suit for you, sir.”

Miller opened a cabinet and took out a sealed plastic packet containing a disposable lab coat, elastic-brimmed hat, gloves, mask and booties.

Nash stepped into a small chamber and donned the clean apparel quickly. When he was ready, Miller pressed a button that opened another door.

Nash walked into the pristine space beyond the door. The stainless steel workbenches and equipment gleamed beneath the bright industrial lights suspended from the ceiling. Technicians and assistants gowned in white from head to toe nodded and murmured greetings as he went past.

Everyone in the room was working on a variety of supplement products of the type found in health and fitness stores across the country. Nash knew that some companies in the field had gone under over the years but for the life of him, he didn’t see how anyone could lose money in the nutritional supplement business. Sheer incompetence was the only way he could imagine going bankrupt. It was astonishing how much money consumers were prepared to throw at any product that promised to help them lose weight, get an erection, reduce stress or improve their immune systems. And all the stuff could be legally sold without any evidence of effectiveness backed up by clinical trials.

Amazing. And profitable.

He nodded to several technicians and then went to the far end of the room. There he stopped in front of another stainless steel vault door and paused at the computerized lock. He was one of only two people in the entire building who knew the code. As far as the vast majority of the staff was concerned, the door to the second, smaller lab was secured in order to protect against industrial espionage and theft. The Cascadia Dawn supplement formulas were highly prized proprietary secrets.

Only a handful of people knew the true value of the unique formulas concocted inside the inner lab.

This secret facility was not the only lab funded by the organization. There were a few others, equally well disguised, scattered around the country. But he intended for this one to become the most important and successful of all the labs. It was going to be his ticket to the ultimate seat of power, the one held by the director of the organization. As John Stilwell’s descendant, that position should have been his by now. He had a far more legitimate claim to it than the current director. But he knew how to bide his time. He had been born a level-seven hunter. Thanks to the drug, he was now a ten. In addition, the latest version of the formula that had been specially engineered for him was expanding his range of powers. His natural business acumen had been enhanced to the level of a mid-range para-strategy talent. He was also developing some hypnotic abilities.

Now, however, after learning what had happened to Houdini, it was clear that it would be wise to back off from the attempt to expand his range of psychic talents.

The steel door opened. He stepped into the room and waited for the door to relock behind him.

Three people were at work at the lab benches. They all looked up when he entered. One of them, Dr. Humphrey Hulsey, regarded him with pale, emotionless eyes. Hulsey was a tall, thin skeleton of a man, with spindly arms and legs. Nash thought the safety glasses he wore made him look like an oversized insect.

“Well?” Hulsey demanded. “Did your operative get that information for me yet? I can’t proceed with the new experiments until I see the Tallentyre data. According to Quinn’s notes, it’s critical to stabilizing the formula.”

Nash resisted the impulse to pick up a nearby microscope and smash it against Hulsey’s shiny skull. Hulsey was the only person in the building who dared to speak to him as if he were an employee rather than the CEO. Hulsey got away with it because he was a brilliant research chemist. He was also a level-eight intuitive with a psychic talent for analyzing patterns—the kind that were hidden at the molecular level.

Hulsey was also the only other person on the staff who was a high-ranking member of the organization. The combination of his intellectual and paranormal abilities made him invaluable. Unfortunately he was all too well aware of his critical importance to the members of the Inner Circle.

“No,” Nash said. “I’m here to talk about the latest version of the X9 that you prepared for me.”

Thus far Hulsey’s greatest contribution to the ongoing research on the founder’s formula was a breakthrough that had made it possible to genetically tailor the drug to an individual’s specific psychic profile.

“I just altered the drug for you again a few weeks ago.” Hulsey sounded disgusted. “What’s wrong now?”

Nash moved closer to him and lowered his voice. His assistants had been cleared to the highest security levels but Nash made it a policy not to trust anyone any further than absolutely necessary.

“The surges haven’t stopped,” he said quietly. “They’re coming more frequently.”

Hulsey snorted. “Don’t blame the drug for your anger management issues. If you’ve got a problem with self-control, I suggest you take a close look at your own psych profile. You know the old saying it’s in the blood.”

He turned back to his microscope.

Nash managed, just barely, to clamp down on the tide of white-hot rage that threatened to consume him.

“You will prepare a new batch,” he said, “without the additional enhancement capabilities. I want to return to the original version, the one that jacks up only my hunter talents. Do you understand, Dr. Hulsey?”

Hulsey did not look up from his microscope. “Of course I understand. You can’t handle the other talents.”

Nash forced himself to leave the lab without giving in to the urge to slit Hulsey’s throat.

For the time being he needed Hulsey but eventually that would change. No one was irreplaceable, not even Dr. Humphrey Hulsey.

Thirty

Zack stopped on the sidewalk outside Incognito and studied the window displays. On the other side of the glass were two mannequins dressed in Victorian-era attire, an astronaut, a pirate and a familiar superhero. An array of elegant and fanciful masks dangled on long ribbons secured to the ceiling.