The perfect chance to find out the truth about his experiment. Unfortunately, the created wolf-men would find out he already had great strength.
Emma interrupted before he could answer. “Boris is retired from soldiering. Isn’t that right, Boris?”
“How well do you pay?” Nik asked.
Bolton laughed. “More than any soldier could ever dream of making.”
“Would I live here on this beautiful island?”
“My elite mercenaries are sent on missions to guard my interests, but when not working they stay here.” Bolton smiled. “Think of it as a vacation with occasional part-time work.”
Nik suspected his men had to stay here in case they lost control of their shift. He smiled and glanced at the beautiful women by the pool. “Sounds intriguing.”
Bolton laughed. “Feel free to swim with my other guests.”
Emma pointed her chin toward the women. “Go on, Boris. I think they’re really into you.”
Bolton’s phone vibrated and he stared at the screen. “I need to take this.”
“No problem.”
Emma leaned in to say something, but Nik moved a finger to his lips. She nodded and sipped her drink. Bolton walked toward the bar, out of hearing range. But not out of a wolf’s hearing range.
Nik pretended to admire the swimming beauties while listening to Bolton’s conversation.
Bolton’s face reddened. “About time you got back!”
A woman with an American accent said, “I'm in.”
Bolton ended the call and put it in his pants pocket. He must have texted the woman earlier since their conversation was cryptic.
Before he returned, Nik whispered to Emma, “Something about a woman being in.”
Bolton sat and pointed to the women. “Why don’t you think about my job offer while you swim with the ladies?”
Nik grinned. “Who can argue with that?” He stood and took off his pants leaving only black boxers. “Talk later.” He winked at Emma and walked toward the fawning women.
Emma did her best to remain focused as Nik let the topless women massage his back and perhaps other parts. She’d always been in control of her emotions, but for the first time, cold jealousy shaded the warmth
of the Caribbean. He was not Danny so why should she care? Besides, Danny had been too devoted to her to even flirt. She sipped the Mojito, then turned and smiled at Bolton. “Tell me, why are you of all people interested in wolf genetics?”
“I think you know why.”
“Chimera research?”
He slowly nodded. “Yes.”
“I figured you might use the retrovirus to create a new dog species or perhaps experiment on another mammal. As in making dogs even more human like.”
His head tilted as if weighing the evidence she was real. “Why are you so interested in this specific human endogenous retrovirus found in wolves?”
“I have a hypothesis that somewhere in our evolutionary history, a human virus infected wolves.”
“Interesting.” Bolton met her eyes. “I sense we have met before.”
“At a conference, perhaps.”
He shook his head. “No. Somewhere else.”