Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(66)

Her father sighed. “I suppose he actually looks good on paper. Former decorated soldier. Raised himself up by his bootstraps. I could probably work with that. I need you to keep a lid on the weird lifestyle stuff, though. I suspect he’s one of your…I can’t remember what you call them.”

“Doms, Dad. Yes, he’s a Dom.”

“See, in my days a Dom was an amusing fat guy who backed up Burt Reynolds in movies. Now, your sister tells me you had some trouble with Kronberg’s vaccines. I’m meeting with some executives in a few days. Do I need to talk to them?”

She should have known her sister would go straight to their dad. Typical. “I haven’t gotten the reports back. I sent a sample to the lab. I’m expecting the results in the next few days. It’s probably nothing and I’m not planning on holding a press conference and denouncing anyone.”

“Good because Hope is working on a very important project, and I would hate to have her funding cut because her sister sent the company stock into free fall. I can count on you. Right, honey? You’ll let us handle it in-house if something’s wrong?”

“In-house” meant sweeping everything under the rug. It made her suspicious. “Dad, is there something going on here?”

A pause came over the line, and she could practically see the expression that would be on her father’s face. He would be trying to deal with her, trying to figure out the best way out of the situation he found himself in.

“I’m simply trying to watch out for both of you. What do you suspect is wrong with the vaccines, Faith?”

“I have no idea. It could be any number of things. I could have gotten a bad batch. The batch could have been switched out for a placebo.” The mob was known to do it. They typically took the original batch at a transportation site and switched it for something else. God only knew what she’d been putting in her patients. She was starting a new protocol. No one got a vaccine until she’d tested part of the batch. Every damn dose was precious, and now she would have to use a few to make sure she wasn’t giving her patients a shot of saline. Or worse.

They’d been confused, their memories odd and sense of time off. Saline wouldn’t do that to a person.

“But Kronberg was trying to do a good thing,” her father insisted.

And Kronberg obviously had a decent lobby. “Of course, Dad. I’m not accusing anyone. I just want to know what happened. I’m not calling a press conference and throwing my sister under the bus. You know I keep a low profile.”

“I do. And you know I’d love to have you at my side when I announce I’m running for president. Have you thought about the ramifications for you and your work?”

Only a bajillion times. “Oh, yeah. It’s going to make my life hell. If you win, I get Secret Service guys, don’t I?”

“Pessimist. I was talking about more pleasant aspects, Faith. How do the words surgeon general sound to you?”

Like hell. The surgeon general was a figurehead. “How does the word nepotism sound to the press?”

“That’s the beauty of the presidency,” her father insisted. “Nowhere to go from there. I can do what I like, help who I like, and it doesn’t matter. Now, you think on that for a while and I’ll see you in a few weeks. I’ve told my assistants to clear my schedule. No working while I’m with my baby girls. Though you should expect I’ll want to get to know this Ted Graham person.”

She didn’t correct him. Ten didn’t go by his real name anyway. She hadn’t heard a single person call him Tim. If she told her father he preferred Ten, she would likely get an earful about how the name Tennessee would alienate voters not from the south. She would let her dad call him whatever he liked. “I’m sure you will. Love you, Dad.”

She hung up with the strange certainty that Ten could handle her dad. He might not like her father, but he would be able to deal with him. Of course, Roger had dealt with her father by being a preening sycophant anytime he walked in, but Ten wouldn’t do that. No way. Ten wouldn’t care what her father could do for him. It was nice. All her life she’d had to worry about people getting close to her so they could be near her father and his influence. She didn’t have to worry about that with Ten and Theo and Erin.

Erin wouldn’t go anywhere near politicians to save her life.

She felt something bump her hard. She whirled around, barely managing to stay on her feet. A figure in a black hood jogged away, and that was when she realized she’d dropped her phone.

“Jerk.” She sighed. Manners were lost on people these days. She glanced around, searching for her phone. Nothing. There was nothing on the concrete except a few cigarette butts, a gum wrapper, and someone’s receipt for lunch.

Damn it. He’d stolen her phone. She needed her phone. She started to take off after him.

“Hey! What are you doing out here?” Erin strode out with a frown on her face.

“That guy stole my phone. I’m going after him.”

Erin got a hand on her elbow. “No, you’re not.” She looked back in the restaurant. “I’m going to kill Murdoch. He was supposed to be watching you.”

“Why? I thought he was here to make sure we could have a few cocktails with lunch.”

“Go and find them,” Erin ordered. “I’ll see if I can nab the guy who took your phone. What did he look like?”