WAR: Intrusion by Vanessa Kier Read Free Book Online Page A

vandalized.”
    The change in MacKay was frightening, and she wasn’t even looking at him. She simply felt the lack of oxygen in the air as his energy slid from mildly threatening to predatory.
    “Were you hurt?”
    She blinked. He almost sounded as if he cared. The thought sent warmth spiraling through her. No. He’s a threat. He’s just playing you. Stifling her disappointment, she answered, “Luckily, there were no casualties. The vandalism took place after hours when the clinic was deserted.”
    “Good.” He turned his head toward her. “What about the night watchman?”
    “Ah… We didn’t have one until after the break-in.”
    “Isn’t that against the Foundation’s security policy?”
    She shook her head. “Up until the break-in, I thought there was nothing worth stealing in the clinic after hours.”
    “Anyone looking to get high would want to get their hands on your medicines.”
    “True. If we left the medicines unsecured at night.”
    “I didn’t see a locked medicine cabinet.”
    “We have a safe place where each night we put all the potentially dangerous supplies, along with all the sensitive paperwork.”
    “Is that right?”
    She didn’t blame his skepticism. The lengths to which Layla’s Foundation took their security measures was definitely on the extreme side. She took a deep breath. “Look, I can’t tell you any more, okay? It’s against the Foundation’s policy.”
    She felt his gaze on her, but didn’t give in to the temptation to look at him.
    “If the vandals failed to get your medicines, what did they take?”
    “Everything else. Literally. I’d gone down to the regional capital earlier in the week to attend a mini-conference. When I had trouble sleeping the final night, I left early. I reached the road that leads past the clinic to my bungalow just before dawn and wondered why the front door of the clinic was open.” She shook her head. “I pulled into the driveway and discovered that the front door was missing. Inside, I found one plastic pen cap in a crack in my office floor, but everything else—from the exam tables to the wiring to the basket containing the children’s toys—was gone.”
    “That’s why the list of equipment in the loan documents seemed to be more suitable to a newly built clinic.”
    “Yes. Plus—” She bit her lip, realizing that she should probably stop talking.
    “What?”
    Cursing her slip and wishing MacKay wasn’t so observant, she added as nonchalantly as possible, “There were marks on the walls that appeared to be made by a crowbar. As if someone had swung at the wall in anger.”
    “Lashing out because they didn’t find any drugs.”
    “Yes, that’s what I thought.”
    “Why didn’t the insurance company cover at least part of the costs?”
    Helen tried not to let any of her tension show. “That’s not a question I can answer. Suffice it to say that my boss told me that no money would be forthcoming. She was ready to pull the plug on the grand opening and write the clinic off as a loss.”
    “What changed her mind?”
    “I did.” She gestured toward the red dirt road. “This area desperately needs adequate medical care. The people are barely living above subsistence level. Before we opened, the closest medical facility was the hospital in the regional capital. That’s a three-hour walk. If they were lucky, they’d need medical care on a day that the buses run. It takes only about twenty minutes to walk to the main north-south road. If the buses weren’t running, people would either try to hitch a ride with one of the few villagers who have a personal vehicle, such as Kwesi, or walk.”
    An odd tingle ran down her spine. She glanced over at MacKay to find him studying her with a slight frown, as if she were a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out. Well, she’d surprised herself by her heartfelt plea to her boss regarding keeping the clinic open. Letting the Foundation close it down would have freed Helen to take an