The Chemist Part 41

She was still unconvinced. "But... she could do so much better."

Daniel laughed. "I won't argue with that."

CHAPTER 24.

Val's huge double fridge was much better stocked than Arnie's. In fact, it was much better stocked than the average restaurant's. It looked like she was planning to feed a dozen more guests than those she already had in residence-though she apparently had not been apprised of Alex's and Daniel's existence until moments before they arrived.

The incongruity bothered Alex a little, but not enough to deter her from the bowl of grapes. She felt like she hadn't eaten anything fresh in weeks, though it really hadn't been so very long. The ranch seemed months ago. She could barely wrap her head around how short the time actually was.

Alex sat on one of the pure white, ultramodern bar stools. It wasn't terribly comfortable.

Daniel was humming with pleasure as he examined the accoutrements. "Now, this is a kitchen," he murmured. He started sorting through the lower drawers, evaluating the pots and pans available.

"Making ourselves right at home, are we?"

Daniel jerked upright. Alex paused with a grape halfway to her mouth.

Val came into the room laughing, still in the brief kimono. "Relax. All this stuff is here for you. I don't really use this room."

"Um, thank you," Daniel said.

She shrugged. "Kevin paid for it. So, you like to cook?"

"I dabble."

"He's being modest," Alex told her. "He's a five-star chef."

Val smiled warmly at Daniel as she stretched her whole torso across the island toward him so her chin nearly touched the marble. "Well, that's nice. I've never had a live-in chef before. It sounds... fun."

Alex wondered how Val was able to load so many different implications into one common word.

"Er, I suppose so," Daniel said, flushing a little. "Where is Kevin?"

"Walking the dog."

Val turned her face toward Alex, and Alex braced for more aggression.

"I asked Kevin about you. Kevin says you tortured him." Val jerked her head toward Daniel.

"Ah, well, technically, that's correct. It was a case of mistaken ident.i.ty, though."

Val's eyes glowed with interest. "What did you do? Did you burn him?"

"What? No, no... Um, I used injectable chemical treatments. I find them more effective, and they don't leave scars."

"Hmm." Val rolled her body sideways along the marble so she was turned to Daniel again, then pillowed her head against her arm. The kimono was partially dislodged by this maneuver, and Alex imagined his view was quite interesting. He stood awkwardly, one hand on the refrigerator door.

"Was it really painful?" Val demanded.

"Beyond anything I'd ever imagined," Daniel admitted.

Val seemed fascinated. "Did you scream? Did you beg? Did you writhe?"

Daniel couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "All of the above, I believe. Oh, and I cried like a baby as well." Still smiling, he seemed suddenly comfortable; he turned back to the fridge and started rummaging.

Val sighed. "I really wish I could have seen that."

"You're into torture?" Alex asked, hiding her concern. Of course Kevin would move them in with a true s.a.d.i.s.t.

"Not torture per se, but it's so intoxicating, isn't it? That kind of power?"

"I guess I've never looked at it quite that way..."

Val c.o.c.ked her head, looking at Alex with undisguised interest. "Isn't everything about power?"

Alex thought about it for a moment. "Not in my experience. Back when that was my job, honestly-it sounds naive now, even to me-I was really just trying to save people. There was always a lot hanging in the balance. It was stressful."

Val considered that, pursing her lips. "That does sound naive."

Alex shrugged.

"It never gave you a rush? Being in control?" Val's wide lapis eyes bored into her.

Alex wondered if people felt this way in a psychiatrist's office-this compulsion to speak. Or maybe it was more like being shackled to Alex's own table. "I mean... maybe. I'm not a very dangerous person on the surface. I guess there were times that I appreciated the... respect."

Val nodded. "Of course you did. Tell me, have you ever tortured a woman?"

"Twice... well, once and a half."

"Explain."

Daniel's head was leaning back as he adjusted the flame under the stovetop grill; he was paying close attention. Alex hated talking about this in front of him.

"I didn't actually have to do anything to the first girl. She was confessing before she was even strapped to the table. She didn't belong in my lab anyway-any normal interrogation would have gotten the same results. Poor kid."

"What was she confessing to?"

"A terrorist cell was trying to coerce some suicide bombers in New York. They'd kidnap someone's family back in Iran-in this case, her parents-and kill the hostages if the subject wouldn't do as directed. The NSA had it under control before any of the bombs were detonated, but they lost several of the hostages." She sighed. "It's always messy with terrorists."

"What about the second?"

"That was an entirely different situation. Arms dealer."

"Was she tough to break?"

"One of the toughest in my career."

Val smiled as if the answer greatly pleased her. "I've always thought that women can handle a lot more pain than the so-called stronger s.e.x. Men are all just oversize children, really." Then she sighed. "I've made men beg, and I've made them writhe, and maybe there have been some tears here and there, but no one's ever cried like a baby." Her full lower lip pushed out into a pout.

"I'm positive they would if you asked them to," Alex encouraged.

Val smiled her glittery smile. "You're probably right."

Daniel was chopping something now. Alex decided she should slow down on the grapes. Dinner was sure to be worth the wait. Val rolled to the side again to watch him, and Alex felt a sudden urge to distract her.

"This is a beautiful place."

"Yes, it's nice, isn't it? A friend gave it to me."

"Oh, does he stay here often?" How many people were going to know about them? She'd already been stupidly and bizarrely honest with this strange woman. It would surely come back to bite her.

"No, no, Zhang and I broke up ages ago. He was too stuffy."

"And he let you keep the place?"

Val stared at Alex, disbelieving. "Let me? What kind of a gift is it if the deed's not in your name?"

"That's a good point," Alex agreed quickly.

"What was that you were saying earlier, about putting Kevin down?"

"Oh, can I tell the story, please?" Daniel b.u.t.ted in. "It's my favorite."

Daniel stretched the story out, milking it for Val's laughs and coos. He made Alex sound more in control than she had been and fictionalized the parts he wasn't awake for. It was a better story his way, she had to admit. Val's expression as she a.s.sessed Alex now was one hundred eighty degrees from what it had been at their first meeting.

Then the food was ready, and Alex stopped caring about much else. It had been a while since she'd had red meat, and her inner carnivore took over. When she came out of the frenzy, she saw that Val was watching her again, engrossed.

Alex glanced down-Daniel had given Val a plate, too, but she'd eaten only a few slivers off the side of her steak.

"Do you always eat so much?" Val asked.

"When it's available, I guess. When Daniel is cooking, definitely."

Val's eyes narrowed. "I'll bet you never gain an ounce, do you?"

"I don't know. I probably must sometimes, right?"

"Do you even own a scale?" she demanded.

"I've got one that weighs milligrams," Alex answered, confused.

Val blew out a puff of breath that ruffled the waves of hair over her forehead. "People with naturally high metabolisms p.i.s.s me off."

"Seriously?" Alex said, looking her up and down. "You're going to complain to me about our relative genetic heritages?"

Val stared at her for a few seconds, then smiled and shook her head. "Well, I suppose a girl can't have everything."

"And you're just the exception that proves the rule?"

"I think I like you, Ollie."

"Thanks, Val. It's actually Alex, though."

"Whatever. You know, you've got a lot of untapped potential. With decent hair, some makeup, and a midsize b.o.o.b job, you could do all right."

"Er, I do fine as is, thanks. I have lower expectations out of life. It makes things easier."

"Seriously, you cut your own hair, don't you?"

"I don't have another option."

"Trust me, there's always another option to this." She stretched across the counter and tried to touch the hair hanging in Alex's eyes, but Alex flinched out of her way. It was true that it was time for another trim.

Val turned to Daniel, who was trying to be un.o.btrusive, leaning against the counter directly behind Val as he finished his food, almost like he was hiding from her. Well, Alex could understand that. And she completely understood why Daniel had found Val frightening on their first meeting.

"Back me up, Danny. Don't you think Ollie could be pretty if she tried?"

Daniel did the blinking thing he always did when taken by surprise. "But Alex is pretty now."

"What a gentleman. It's like you're Bizarro Kevin."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is a compliment. Maybe the best I've ever given," Val agreed.

"How long have you known him?" Daniel wondered.

"Too long. I don't know why I keep opening the door when he comes begging. I guess it's that power thing." She shrugged, and one shoulder of her silk robe slid down her arm. She didn't fix it. "I like watching someone so strong have to do what I say."

A key jangled in the front door. Alex slipped from the stool to her feet, muscles tensing automatically. Val watched as Daniel looked to Alex, tensing, too, ready to follow her lead.

"You two are funny," she murmured.

Einstein ran panting into the kitchen, and Alex relaxed.

Val eyed the dog, his tongue lolling out and his eyes eager. "Does it want something?"

"He's probably thirsty," Alex told her.

"Oh." She glanced around the kitchen, then grabbed a decorative crystal bowl from the center of the island and filled it in the sink. Einstein licked her hand gratefully and then started lapping up the water.