“Don’t let anyone into the building except DruTech staff. If the police come, demand to see a warrant.”

“No problem, Dr. Boone. Everything all right?

Theena smiled thinly at the security guard. “No, Barry, it’s not. Has anyone else arrived?”

“Dr. Myrnowski went down to the lab a few minutes ago. She’s the only one.”

“Did the delivery come?”

“It came this morning. I signed for it, but the box looked damaged.”

A flash of fear. “Damaged?”

“Cracked on the side, top kind of messed up.”

“Was it leaking?”

“Didn’t seem to be.”

“Thanks, Barry.”

Theena went into the elevator, Bill a step behind her. If something had happened to the contents of that package…

“I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?”

Theena put her key card in the slot and looked away from Bill. He was so concerned. She felt a tinge of something in her gut, and wondered if it might be guilt.

From a very young age, Theena realized that men were the ones with the power. Her father had proven it time and again. Men controlled the money, the government, the world. They did it by threatening, bribing, blackmailing, fighting, insulting, extorting, stealing, and killing. None of these were inherent female traits.

But a woman could have power. All she had to do was learn to control men.

Theena was an expert at this. Flirting. Flattery. Seduction. Sex. They were all tools; a means to an end. Her personal taste didn’t interfere with her goals—sometimes she liked the guys she slept with, sometimes she didn’t.

Bill, she liked. She liked him so much it was messing up her game plan.

Theena glanced at him, his broad shoulders, the laugh lines in the corners of his eyes. For the briefest of moments, she forgot about N-Som, and power, and goals. She pretended that she was just a woman, and Bill was just a man, and they were together. No control, no betrayal, no ulterior motives. Just love.

It was a sweet little fantasy, but that was all it was. Real life conspired otherwise.

“I’m fine. This is a lot to handle.”

Bill nodded. He took her hand. She hugged him, unsure if her actions were real or pretend.

“I have to check something in the lab. If you don’t mind, I need to do it alone.”

“Not a problem. I want to look at the N-Som file anyway.”

She forced some crocodile tears and looked at him.

“With all that’s happened, you think the drug can still be approved?”

“If it’s safe, I’ll approve it.”

Theena hugged him again. The elevator stopped and Bill went off to the conference room, a folder tucked under his arm. She had a momentary spike of panic, but then she remembered that there was nothing incriminating in the N-Som file she’d given Bill—it had all been edited.

Her mind drifted to Michael Bitner. Another man she’d liked…

Dr. Julia Myrnowski was in the lab, peering through a microscope when Theena walked in.

“Hi, Julia.”

“Hi, Theena. How are you holding up?”

“Fine. The package is here?”

“In the freezer. I haven’t opened it yet.”

Theena took a white smock from her locker and removed a hair net from the side pocket. She put both on. After snapping on a pair of latex gloves, she went to the freezer.

The box was definitely cracked, and the tape on the lid looked like a repair job. This wasn’t Sully’s work—she paid the morgue attendant too much for him to make mistakes. The courier must have done it.

Theena made a note to change services. If they’d seen what was inside the box, she could explain it away. But dropping important material like this was inexcusable.

“I want to do the biopsy and convert right away. Can you assist?”

“Dr. O’Neil is better at it than I am.”

“Dr. O’Neil isn’t here, and I could use a second set of hands.”

Julia frowned. Theena couldn’t blame her. It was a pretty hairy extraction procedure. But there was no one else, and this had to get done now.

Theena placed the box on the table, next to the surgical vise. She snugged a pre-fitted plastic cover onto the clamps and turned the handle to open them wider.

Then she went to the autoclave and pulled out the sterilized instruments; enlarging burs, dura separator, skull traction tongs, cranial drill, saw blade and guide, and various retractors, curettes, forceps, and rongeurs.

After spreading out the tools on a tray, the moment of truth arrived.

Theena broke the seal on the box, letting out a breath when a wisp of carbon dioxide plumed upward. If there was still dry ice, perhaps the specimen hadn’t been compromised.

She unwound the tape and lifted off the top. The smoke dissipated, allowing her to see the perfectly preserved severed head.

Theena’s lower lip trembled. She pulled the wires out of its tear ducts and gently removed the head from the box.

“Daddy.”

The tears came. Theena gingerly placed Dr. Nikos Stefanopolous’s head in the vice, and after sniffling once, she reached for the scalpel.