After talking to Peter that day, Selene felt a little better. They didn't really resolve anything or come to any conclusions, but Selene just felt better venting her feelings.
The next couple of weeks were filled with signing contracts, moving equipment, and Selene trying to avoid Ben as much as she could. It actually wasn't too difficult because Ben was not around as much as she thought he would be during this phase.
Instead, Ben was busy setting up the security protocols for the project and handling the new developments at the DA's office. "You said you had an update for me?" Ben asked Johhny and Max, with a frown on his face. The two men were sitting across from Ben, who was at his desk in his corporate office.
"So far all they know is that Solitos received money from Drakos Group before he hit Evans," replied Max.
Ben's eyes betrayed his pain as he said, "Good. Maybe we can help them out with by connecting some more of the dots for them. I won't have Evans's death be in vain. He was a good man. He was with us for what? 3 years?"
Johnny nodded with a frown on his face. "But here's the part that gets me. I was finally able to get into the cell to see Solitos. I had to go over budget to bribe the guards just to let you know, but when I was finally able to get him to talk, he said he didn't intend to kill Evans," said Johnny.
"What do you mean?," asked Ben, cautiously.
Johnny continued, "He was crying as he told me this, but he said that he was told to only hit him enough to cause a minor accident. Just to send a message. Plus, Solitos had thought Evans would be in a car that night, but Evans took his bike on that day of all days. Solitos said he drank a few beers because he was nervous. The Drakos Group had never asked him to do anything like that before. The jobs before were apparently smaller. Like threatening people with a gun. You know, stuff like that. So I guess he drank to calm his nerves. I don't know, man. I guess when he saw Evans was riding a bike, he thought he could still hit him just a little. He didn't mean to kill Evans."
"That bastard!," exclaimed Ben, angrily. "You're telling me this was an accident?," Ben said, followed by several expletives.
Max shook his head and said, "Unbelievable. Those jackasses deserve to pay for this."
Ben calmed himself down and said, "Ok. Let's do this. Max, you handle the DA's office. Make sure they find the middleman. Johnny, I'm giving you the go ahead now on your retaliation plan against Drakos. But remember, we're actually going to be just sending a message. I don't want any one to get hurt. We are not them, right? If anyone gets hurt, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to England!"
"At least I'd be able to visit my parents while I was there," joked Johnny.
Ben gave him a stern look and said, "Yah, but my shoe would be in your ass, so you'd have a lot of explaining to do." The three friends laughed. At times this, gallows humor was sometimes needed.
It was a beautiful Monday morning, when Selene entered the UniTech building. She had her own key card now, so she was able to go through the gates herself. She went straight to Ben's private elevator, which had now also been designated for use by the project team. Several employees waiting in front of the elevators gave her inquiring looks. Inside the elevator, were two armed guards. She'd seen them before so nodded her head and said, Good morning." They just stared ahead. To go to the 10th floor, which was where the lab was located, she had to slide her ID card, put her thumb on the reader, and enter in a code. For all other floors, only a thumb was required.
Selene snuck a look at herself in the shiny wall of the elevator. Her hair was up in a neat, but loose bun. She had on her special occasion make-up, with eyeliner and mascara that made her eyes look bigger. Her dark pink lipstick matched the pink wrap dress she was wearing that had an off-white floral design. Of course, she was wearing cardigan, as that was now her uniform on non-teaching days. It was a darker shade of pink than the dress. Her off-white closed-toed low-heel shoes completed the look.
The elevator doors opened, and Selene stepped out. The entire floor was dedicated to the project and was disconnected electronically from the rest of the building. In fact, there were walls built about six feet from each of the walls of the building going all the way around. These walls formed a protective barrier, so it was like the lab was within the office space but separated from it a little. A person could exit the elevator and there would be a path that they could take around the perimeter of this enclosed lab all around and come back to where they started. The reason for this was to control who could get into the lab once exiting the elevator. The walls were made from reinforce steel and were very thick, without being so thick that they would be too heavy for the floor to be able to withstand the weight.
Selene walked up to the only access door, across from the elevator on this interior wall. She said hello to the two armed guards that were stationed on each side of the large sliding door, and they greeted her back. To enter the facility, she had to again slide her ID card, put her thumb on the reader, and enter in a code. This time, however, it was a different code. Once she did that, the door unlocked, and she was granted access into the lab.
Inside, there was a hallway that had two offices on either side, one for her and one for Yakov. The rest of the floor was delegated for the lab itself. Selene was still blown away but what she saw. There were brand new computers and monitors, in addition to the ones they had brought. There were all sorts of new equipment that would be so beneficial to the team. Dianna and Darby were at their respective stations. Half of the assistants were there as well. Everyone greeted her with waves, but Daphne came up to her and let her know that Yakov was running a little bit late.
Darby said, "Also, Mr. Liu is in your office. He said he wants to talk to you about something."
Selene's heart fell into her stomach, but she quickly recovered and said, "Oh. I see. Did he say what it was about?"
"No. He just said he'd wait for you when I said you weren't here," replied Daphne after shrugging her shoulders.
Selene nodded aimlessly for a few seconds, smiled, and then said, "Ok, well, um, I guess I should go see him then."
When Selene opened the door to her office, she found Ben sitting at her desk, texting on his phone. He was wearing a dark green suit that set off the brown highlights in his hair. He had on a light tan button up shirt that was checkered with tiny squares of a darker tan color. The top buttons were open revealing the hollow of his neck. Selene was staring at that hollow when Ben looked up and said, "Ah, you're here!"
Selene walked through the door and put her belongings on the floor by her desk. She took a seat on the chair across from her desk and said, "Yes, I'm here. I heard you wanted to speak to me about something?" She tried hard not to stare at the little glimpse of his chest that was available to be seen. "He's doing this on purpose," she thought. "He knows how much I can't resist the hollow of his neck." She unconsciously licked her lips slightly.
Ben looked at Selene and couldn't help but smile. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And if it was possible, she had gotten even more beautiful with time. Selene noticed the smile and remembered it from all the times he would smile at her like that when they were alone together or when they were feeling especially close. She looked down.
Ben made a little coughing noise and said, "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about our dinner. It'll be Friday night, if you're free."
"So soon?," Selene asked, with surprise on her face. "I mean, I thought we'd sort of ease into that."
Ben gave her a mischievous smile and said, "It's not too soon. We did agree you would go to dinner with me once a week to, you know, keep me updated on things here, so why not this Friday night?"
Selene felt herself getting warm and she was sure her face was red. She touched her locket for a moment and then gathered herself together. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. She said, "I guess that sounds ok. But I have some conditions of my own."
Ben leaned back in Selene's desk chair and said with a calm demeanor, "Ok, let's hear them."
Selene said, "First of all, no more private rooms."
Ben thought about it and responded with, "That can be managed."
Selene looked at him and thought "That was too easy." She continued, "Second of all, we keep things strictly professional. We only talk about the project."
"But what if *you* want to talk about something else? Would that be ok?," asked Ben, almost too innocently for Selene's taste.
Selene countered with, "What do you mean? I wouldn't…"
Ben cut her off. "I'm just saying. You might bring up a different topic. Then can we discuss it?," he asked, again with an innocent face putting his arms up in front of him, hands waving.
Selene tried to respond with, "That's never going to…"
Ben cut her off again, "But it could, I'm just saying."
Selene retorted starting to get annoyed, "It would never…"
Ben cut her off once more, "You never know."
Selene was very annoyed at this point and said, "Well then I guess that would be ok, but that's never going to happen so it's a moot point."
Ben said very calmly and in a satisfied tone, "Ok then, that's settled. What's next?"
Selene calmed herself down, knowing Ben was up to something, and forgot everything else she was going to say. She said, "Well, that's it for now, I suppose. But there will be more and as I let you know you will have to abide by them."
Ben grinned and said, "Absolutely, Professor." Then he rose from the chair and continued, "Ok, so. Friday night. I will come get you from here at 7 o'clock. Sound good?"
Selene hesitated as she rose from the chair and said, "Sure."
Ben said his goodbyes and left, leaving the door open. Selene sent around and sat at her desk. She thought, "Focus. Let's focus on work. We'll deal with Friday on Friday." Then she slumped down and said, "Oh who am I kidding?" as she put her head on her desk.
That's how Dianna found her as she came into Selene's office. Selene always left her door open unless there was a reason not to.
"Are you ok?," Dianna asked.
Selene sat up and said, "Yes, I'm fine." She smiled and continued, "Just the Monday blues, you know? So what's up?"
"We just need your eyes on something," said Dianna.
Selene stood up and said, "Of course, let's go."
The next day, Selene had to teach her class in the afternoon, so she decided to work late in her office. She was the only one on the floor by the time it was 7pm. Her office became unbearably cold. She looked at the vent on the roof and realized the air conditioning was blowing. "What the hell?," she thought. It annoyed her because it meant she couldn't stay until 8pm as she'd planned. She gathered her belongings, locked the door and went down the hall just a little way to the door of the main office. She had a post-it in her hand and she put it on the door. It read, "Anita, please call facilities again. The AC in my office was blowing super hard at 7pm tonight. Tell them again it's a waste of resources and not good for the environment. Thanks, Selene."
After Selene got into the elevator to go home, a man with blonde hair dressed in clothes that looked like what a professor might wear emerged from behind a corner. He had been blending in all day, but to the astute observer it was clear he had been watching Selene. He walked over to the post-it and read what it had said. Then he took out his phone and sent a text message.
Meanwhile, Selene was taking the last step of the stairs that led to the underground parking where her car was parked. The area was empty but for a handful of cars here and there but. She couldn't see anyone around, so she quickly zig-zagged her way across the parking area to her car. As she was walking, Selene sensed that she was being watched. She'd had this feeling several times the last few weeks but didn't think anything of it. She reached her car, got in, and drove away.
Behind a pillar a few yards away from her car was a man dressed in dark clothes, holding a camera. He took several pictures of Selene as she was walking to the car, getting in the car, and driving away. He looked at all the pictures he had taken. Then he took out his phone and made a call. The person on the other end of the call said, "Did you get it?"
The man replied, "Yes, I know who she is."
"Good," said the man on the phone. "Send me the pictures."
The man did as he was told, but just as he sent the pictures, he received a sudden punch, and fell to the ground. He tried to fight but was kicked down and the blows kept coming as his camera was taken away from him. The beating did not last long but he was handcuffed and gagged. Suddenly, he passed out. When he came to, he was in the back of a black SUV with tinted windows. The last image he saw before he fainted again was of a man with blonde hair who was dressed like any professor closing the rear door.