Whitewash by Alex Kava Read Free Book Online Page B

process, more that of a brokenhearted widower than an abandoned husband. But among the scattered paraphernalia was also a crumpled set of staple-bound papers, official-looking documents with the first page stamped Divorce Decree.
    It wasn’t any of Sabrina’s business. Lansik was her boss, not a friend or a member of her family. What happened in his personal life was…well, personal.
    The phone started ringing in the adjoining office and all of them stopped and stared. Finally Sabrina pushed open the door, hesitating as she looked around, checking the blue sofa before she reached for the phone on her boss’s desk.
    “EchoLab,” she answered.
    “Ms. Galloway?” a woman’s voice asked, startling Sabrina so much she stepped back. Why would anyone presume she would answer her boss’s phone?
    “Yes?” she said so quietly she wondered if the woman had heard her.
    “This is Anita Fraiser from Mr. Sidel’s office. He asked me to contact you. He needs you to meet him outside Reactor Area #1 at one o’clock. You’ll be giving the VIP tour.”
    “Wait a minute. I had no idea there was a tour today. I’m sure there must be some mistake.” William Sidel was the CEO of EchoEnergy and Sabrina was quite certain she’d remember an appointment with him, let alone a tour.
    “No, no mistake. You were on the list.”
    “The list?”
    “Let’s see here,” the woman said and Sabrina could hear pages being flipped and shuffled. She glanced outside the office, into the lab, and everyone was now staring, not bothering to disguise the fact that they were straining to listen in. “Yes, it’s right here. Your boss has you listed as the lead if for some reason he’s gone.”
    “Has he called in sick?” Sabrina couldn’t believe he would purposely do this to her.
    “All I know is that Dr. Lansik will not be in at all today. So again, that’s one o’clock, Reactor Area #1.”

4
    EchoEnergy
    Almost noon and Sabrina still hadn’t been able to track down her boss. She was certain she could leave an hour or two early without his permission, but she’d at least like to clear it with him, especially if he had anything he wanted her to finish up over the weekend. Dr. Lansik was on the schedule but no one had seen him all morning. The man kept to himself and hardly ever left the lab or his small office at the far end of the lab. No one probably would have even noticed he was missing if Sabrina hadn’t started asking for him.
    “Maybe something happened at his home…a sick child perhaps,” Pasha Kosloff suggested in his Russian-accented English. He said this without looking up from the vials he was filling with a murky-brown liquid.
    Sabrina didn’t say anything despite knowing their boss didn’t have any children. Instead, she watched Pasha’s long, delicate fingers place each vial carefully into the centrifuge. His tall, lanky frame slouched at the shoulders and bent at the waist, hunched over the metal contraption. He moved in slow motion as if he were creating a masterpiece, every gesture deliberate, almost painstakingly so.
    Sabrina’s own work sat in the distiller that took up the far corner of the lab, an old monstrosity that would need to hum and vibrate for another half hour before she could check on it. She glanced at her watch and stuffed her hands into the worn and sagging pockets of her lab coat.
    “Maybe he’s having an affair,” Anna Copello suggested. “You know, sneaking out from work during the day so his wife won’t get suspicious.”
    Sabrina knew this explanation wasn’t possible, either, at least not the wife part. Though she wasn’t surprised at Anna’s suggestion. The young woman seemed to have a talent for seeing the very worst in everyone. Sabrina glanced at Michael O’Hearn, the oldest of the group, a fit, compact little man with wild black hair and a goatee that was almost completely silver. He would know their boss the best. Despite his thick protective goggles she could see him