Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
As he urged her toward the elevator with a hand at the small of her back, Hawking waited for her next protest.
“There’s nothing to do up there.”
“I think several things are in the wrong place. Could you look at all the things I unpacked before you helped me and see what you think?”
“You mean, organize it?” she asked as they stepped in through the elevator doors.
“That sounds like work. I think it’s more like putting them where you like them best.”
“Oh, I could do that. There were a few things in weird places,” she confessed.
“It definitely needs your touch.”
He dropped her off in the apartment, warning her not to move anything heavy while he wasn’t in the room. However, as soon as they reached the door, she was embroiled in scientifically placing the decorations where they would best be seen and enjoyed. Who knew that the vector of vision a person had upon entering would be so important?
Damn, I love her.
Chapter Nineteen
When he went upstairs to check on Celeste, he found her fast asleep on the bed in her playroom. Hawking looked around and smiled. She had completely changed the room around. Following his directions not to move the big furniture, she’d marked the dresser with a pink sock. The matching sock was carefully placed against the far wall.
Leaving quietly, he ran into Kestrel. “Hey! Can you help me move a dresser? We need to be as quiet as possible.”
“Lead on. My lips are sealed,” Kestrel agreed without asking a single question.
The two men tiptoed into the room, freezing when Celeste mumbled something about cell division and turned over. When she was still, Hawking signaled Kestrel to pick up one side of the dresser and pointed to the pink sock across the room. Within seconds, they had it placed in the spot she had requested.
Kestrel waved and left quietly with a smile. Hawking had a feeling Kestrel would be the next to find his Little. Two out of two were pretty good odds, making everyone suspect that the job they’d be asked to do would lead each of them to their Little.
With one final look at his sleeping Little, Hawking followed Kestrel out. The two men took the elevator down to the main floor together.
“You off on a helicopter tour?” Hawking asked.
“Yes. I wore my glasses back to the hotel yesterday and forgot to take them. It’s so sunny out there today, I’d be blind if I tried to pilot the helicopter without them.”
“I’m sure the guest will wait for a few minutes if you’re late. Thank you for helping me with the dresser. I didn’t realize I would delay you further,” Hawking apologized.
“No problem. Littles come first.”
When the doors opened, Kestrel jogged toward the helicopter pad to join the excursion. Hawking knew he’d show them something special to make up for the short wait. He’d love to have Kestrel take Celeste up to see the resort from the air.
Crossing his fingers, Hawking hoped she would be freed from this threat soon. When his phone signaled thirty seconds later, he expected to hear Celeste’s voice. Instead, Magnus’s name appeared on his screen.
“What’s up, Magnus?”
“I think you and Celeste need to see this. A national news service is broadcasting a cancer cure.”
“We’ll be there.”
Dashing up the stairs when he found the elevator busy, Hawking rushed to the playroom and found Celeste sitting up in bed. Thank goodness she was awake!
“Hi, CB. Magnus says something is on TV about a cancer cure.”
“Let’s watch it!” she cheered, jumping out of bed to rush past Hawking.
He followed her to the common area and flicked on the TV. Luckily, the news was playing on the channel that popped up first.
“…the credit for the discovery is going to Dr. Alan Hughes of the esteemed Rosenburg Research Facility. There are rumors that he is under consideration for the Nobel Prize in Science. This new innovative method of slowing down the division and spread of cancer cells could just be the key to ending cancer, or at least slowing it down significantly while more advances are made.”
Celeste looked at him with a bewildered expression in her eyes and blindly sat down on the couch. “I can’t believe it.”
“Is that your old company?” Hawking asked.
“And my old supervisor. They fired me, told me my research was shit, and stole it.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.”
“First, they shut you down. You thought it was because they didn’t want to lose the prescription income from the cancer patients and the proceeds from insurance payments.”
“They probably knew they couldn’t shut me up entirely because they couldn’t get to me. So, they changed tactics. They’ve figured out how to profit from this. I need a computer,” she said, standing up and walking to the elevator with a single focus.