Soul

‘You insure the army now?’ Julia replied deadpan. Jenkins broke into unconvincing laughter.

Cornered, Julia scanned the crowd—and thought she sighted an escape route. A man in his mid-thirties, suntanned, standing by himself near a drinks table, smiled at her. Julia automatically smiled back, even though she didn’t recognise him.

‘I need to circulate,’ she said. ‘You know how it is at these events.’

As she stepped away, Jonathan Jenkins grabbed her arm—tightly. ‘Don’t be such a party pooper,’ he hissed.

‘Hey, Julia, we have a conference call at nine,’ the suntanned man called out as he strode towards them. He was well built, his casual clothes hiding a body that looked threateningly muscular, and there was a vigour about his movements that suggested to Julia he could possibly be military. Now closer, Julia could see that the attractive symmetry of his face was muted by a nose that looked as if it might have been broken once.

He glanced at his watch. ‘That would be right about now.’ He put his hand firmly on Jenkins’ shoulder. ‘Now, if you would just let go of the lady.’

Reluctantly, the insurance representative released Julia. ‘Sure, can’t keep business waiting,’ he said, and turned to face Julia, the threat transparent in his countenance. ‘We’ll be tracking your progress, Professor.’

Julia watched him vanish behind the suits.

‘I’d thank you,’ she said, ‘except I don’t know you. Or do I?’

‘Not yet, but relax, I’m on your side.’

There was an air of quiet intensity about him, a feeling of self-containment. Julia gleaned he wasn’t entirely comfortable in crowds.

‘And it’s an honour, Professor Huntington, to have rescued you from some B-grade gorilla in a cheap suit. I’m assuming he wasn’t the boyfriend, right?’ In that same moment he noticed her wedding ring. ‘Oops, sorry, you must think I’m a compulsive flirter. I didn’t see the ring.’

‘I’m separated…recently.’

‘My condolences.’

‘Accepted.’

He smiled, his blue eyes crinkling up against the tan, and Julia realised, to her intense irritation, that she found him attractive. She walked away and took refuge behind a huge fern. He followed.

‘Can we talk about your research? I believe I have some information that could prove very useful.’

‘Which particular research? My laboratory covers a lot of areas.’

His relaxed attitude disappeared in an instant. He took her arm. ‘Hey, I’m risking my neck just talking to you, and I haven’t got much time, so if you cut the bullshit, I’ll cut the bullshit. This report for the DOD—it’s going to affect a lot of people. A lot of people I care about. Can’t we at least sit down and trade information?’

‘Who are you? Military?’

‘Kind of.’

‘How do I even know you’re US military?’

He pulled out a card and held it up. She read it quickly before he slipped it back into his pocket.

‘Okay, so you’re Delta, but that ID is obsolete.’

‘You know your protocol.’

‘I have to.’

‘I was court-martialled at the end of last year, for my involvement in Brazil.’

‘You know about the incident in Brazil?’

As two men wandered past, Julia’s companion broke into a Bronx accent. ‘That’s a really brilliant way of mapping gene clusters—maybe I can incorporate that into my own work…’

The men disappeared through the exit door. Julia turned back to her mysterious cohort.