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DEEDECK DESIGN
Chapter 4
Poor Jaime almost had a stroke. Moira felt instant remorse and enormous embarrassment, but her stuttered apologies didn’t help either of them. Finally, she sent him back into the revival room for both of their sakes. Alone at last, she heaved a sigh and rested her hot forehead against the blessed coolness of the mirror.
“Bannen, you idiot,” she muttered, then winced at the low, masculine voice. Ugh.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened and resolutely turned away from the mirror. She could do this. As long as she didn’t look too much and didn’t think about it. Just think of him as a patient, she coached herself, and pictured being in a clinical setting. With her eyes straight ahead and hands moving with impersonal efficiency, she stripped off the robe and stepped into the hygiene unit. She let the scrubbers work without help from her hands and recited quarantine procedures to the blank wall while relieving the host’s bladder.
With grim determination, she began dressing the man. The more clothes she put on, the easier it became. When fully clothed, she took a deep, relieved breath and stepped out into the revival room.
Jaime turned away from the com unit and addressed her without meeting her gaze, his face still red. “Dr. Bannen, we’ve been able to reach Mr. Coltier, and he’d like to speak with you.”
She barely hid a flinch, reminding herself that she was not at fault here. She’d never had a choice. It didn’t help—she still felt like a thief confronted by her victim. Chest tight with dread, she stepped up to the com and braced herself.
“Mr. Coltier,” she began, but stopped when she met his gaze.
He was leaning forward with his hands planted on what looked like a desk, the lines of his face even harder with the force of his personality behind them and his dark brown eyes flat and cold. Dressed in charcoal with poised power in every line of his body, he looked predatory. It silenced her.
Then the severe lines of his mouth turned up just slightly. “Well, this is different,” he said in an absent tone, almost as if he were speaking to himself.
Moira realized that this had to be nearly as weird for him as for her, having a conversation with himself. It loosened the tightness in her throat enough for her to speak again. “Mr. Coltier, on behalf of the DDEC, I’d like to extend my regrets for the appropriation of your clone. I’m sure any reparations that you demand will be granted forthwith—”
“Dr. Bannen, I don’t give a rat’s ass about DeeDeck’s regrets or reparations. I am curious how you managed to get such a large stick up your ass, though. Your images don’t look this prissy.”
She felt the skin of her face prickle with heat and bit back a harsh response. Swallowing hard, she settled for, “And you don’t look rude, but apparently looks are deceiving.”
His eyebrows lifted and he rose, settling a hip on the surface he’d just been leaning on. As he moved, the suggestion of a crooked smile appeared and disappeared so swiftly that she could have imagined it.
“Beta 1 tells me the transfer might have been sabotaged, which is why you’re still appropriating my body. Enjoying yourself, by the way?” he asked with a flash of malicious humor in his eyes and another shadow of a smile.
She stared at him in stiff silence, feeling any lingering attraction drain away. The man was obnoxious.
“So who wants you dead, Doc?”
“How the hell—” she started, then gritted her teeth and finished a bit more politely, “I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt me personally. Perhaps it was an attack on the DDEC.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, but we’ll start with you. I’ll need your access codes.”
“Excuse me? For what?”
His expression didn’t change as far as she could tell, but somehow he still managed to convey impatient doubt about her intelligence. “Your personal info. I’ve started a background check on you, but I need your codes for financials and meds.”
“You started a what? Who the hell are you?”
That ghost of a smile was back, making her grind her teeth. “I’m in security, Doc. I’ll handle your case from here until they can pry you out of my clone, then I’ll be onsite.”
She spluttered for a second, not quite sure which aspect of this incredible situation to protest first. Jaime cleared his throat and stepped close to whisper in her ear, “He’s Jackson Coltier, of Coltier Intergalactic Securities. Very reputable, ma’am. He would be—”
“Mr. Coltier,” she interrupted Jaime in her iciest voice, “I did not hire you. I’m fairly certain the DDEC did not hire you either. They are very capable of running their own investigation into this matter. So no, I won’t give you my access codes, and I strongly suggest you back off and stop prying into my life.”
This time his smile wasn’t furtive or fleeting, but it also wasn’t very nice. There was a sharp edge to it that reminded her of a shark.
“Dr. Bannen, I also don’t give a rat’s ass about your suggestions. You’re in my body. That means I’m involved whether you want me to be or not. Don’t worry, though—I’ll make sure DeeDeck pays for my services. They can afford me.”
The suggestion that she might not be able to afford him ruffled her feathers, but she let it go. She had bigger issues to address.
“I realize that this is highly irregular, but I’m sure I’ll be out of your clone soon, so there’s no need—”
“And if somebody has another go at you while you’re in my body? You know how much a clone costs, Doc? Or doesn’t DeeDeck let you see the transfer financials?”
Moira felt the blood rush out of her head. “Another go?” she repeated faintly. “You think I’m still in danger?”
“You’re still alive, so if this was a hit, than yeah, you’re still in danger.”
Taking a deep breath, she tried to protest one last time, though her mind was whirling with alarm and she was starting to wonder if she should be protesting his involvement at all. “Mr. Coltier—”
“Call me Jax,” he interrupted with a glint in his dark eyes. “After all, Moira, you’ve seen me naked. A little like closing the barn door after the horse is out to call me mister now, don’t you think?” With a quick, surprisingly charming grin, he was gone.
Moira felt the blood rush back into her face in a hurry.
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