Page 8 of The Knight
Freya prodded the skin around her eyes with tentative fingertips. The skin was taut and swollen, radiating heat like a small sun. If her appearance matched how she felt, Tinna was being remarkably tactful. “Yeah. I think it looks worse than it is. I can see now and breathe. Win-win.” She blew her nose.
Tinna’s brow furrowed. “What are you even doing here? You should be at home, resting.” She dumped her bag unceremoniously on the nearest chair. “Einar called me and filled me in. It must have been terrifying. I went past your house but?—”
“I couldn’t stay at home. I had to come in, try to find some sense of order, in my head as much as the lab.”
“I understand.” Tina gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze.
“Thank you.” Freya managed a weak smile. “Besides, I couldn’t wait for the cleaners. Everything has to be in order for the data transport on Monday.”
Tinna’s fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around Freya’s. “It’s all going to be fine now. Once the changes are confirmed.”
Freya gripped Tinna’s hand. “Changes? What changes?”
Panic flashed across Tinna’s eyes. “Oh,” she breathed, her voice small. “I think I just put my foot in it.”
“What changes,Tinna?”
“Um.” Tinna worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “The break-in has everyone freaked. Einar is reviewing all security measures. Including the team you chose.” She paused, swallowing hard.
“What?” Freya released Tinna’s hand. “Security intervened. They saved the research.”
Tinna’s gaze skittered away, landing somewhere over Freya’s shoulder. “I know. But Einar feels it’s a necessary precaution. He said if they let the intruders get that far, they weren’t doing their job properly.” She drew in a shaky breath. “He’s bringing in a new team.”
He was getting rid of the security team she’d carefully vetted, the ones she’d briefed so carefully on the transportation plans? It had taken her weeks to choose the right team, one she felt comfortable with. A muscle in her jaw popped as she clenched her teeth.
“How, Tinna? How is this happening?” Her words came out in a low, dangerous tone she did not recognize. “Security for transporting the archive is my responsibility. Why have I not been consulted on this?”
She fumbled in her hip pocket for her phone. She flicked through her contacts and hit Einar’s number. The phone rang out and after what felt like an eternity, her call going to voicemail. Freya thumbed the phone off with a frustrated noise. “He’s not answering.”
Tinna nodded. “He’s in some big meeting?—”
“He’s here? On a Saturday?”
“Everyone’s upset by what happened.” Tinna fidgeted with the cuff of her shirt.
“Why didn’t you say sooner?” Freya was already moving, nervous energy pumping through her. “I have to go speak to him.”
“Freya. I don’t think now is a good time.”
Freya headed out the lab door. “There’s never a good time.”
5
It tookFreya ten minutes to arrive at Einar’s office at the opposite end of the power station. His office was in a small management suite of orange-bobbled fabric chairs and glass-walled meeting rooms. His secretary Sylvie was behind a smooth curving pale birch desk.
Sylvie rarely worked weekends. Something was up.
“Sylvie.” Freya nodded her head in greeting. “I need to speak to Einar.”
“Einar’s in a meeting.” She pushed back from her computer workstation and gave Freya a practiced smile.
“It’s really important. Perhaps you could interrupt him.”
“He’s not to be disturbed, but if you want to take a seat.” Sylvie waved at the hideous orange chairs.
Freya ignored her. “When will the meeting be finished?”
“I don’t know.” Sylvie’s gaze was sympathetic, but her jaw was firm. Her reputation for protecting Einar’s time was legendary. “Einar will be free later today. I can get him to call you.”