felt the chill they provoked as his eyes slowly looked her over; assessing
her, judging her, challenging her.
She felt the chill deepen as he turned his cold snake eyes
on Dillon.
*****
Dillon also felt the icy chill settle into his spine when
Demase laid his eyes upon him. He watched earlier as the millionaires’ reptilian
gaze lingered over Jana and felt himself stiffen, every nerve on edge, no thanks
to the rude reception they received with the body guard.
The body guard was just a lecherous baboon, but, Demase was
one cruel, evil son of a bitch. His eyes registered no emotion, no depth. It was
as though he was looking into a dark and strangely twisted soul. He quickly
realized he had seen eyes like that before; on terrorists just before they
assassinated their hostages.
Demase began by stepping forward and offered his hand.
Dillon saw Jana hesitate slightly, not wanting to touch him any more than he
wanted too.
Jana began, “Mr. Demase, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
pumping his hand gracefully.
Quickly pulling his hand away, he let it drop to his side
and said, “Let’s cut through any small talk Ms. Jones and get right to the
point, shall we. I am a very busy man and my time is limited.” His German accent
was very pronounced, and he spoke his words in a deep, articulated and clearly
enunciated manner. Jana wondered if as a child he’d had had a speech problem and
had attended speech class.
“It is true, I have procured a fine specimen of the
‘undead’ kind, and I intend to keep said fine specimen in my possession. I only
granted this little visit as a courtesy to my fine friend Peter, (Pee-tar)
having met him on one of my expeditions to South America. I felt it was the
least I could do. Such a worrisome little man, wouldn’t you say?”
“I wouldn’t consider Peter a ‘worrisome’ man, Mr. Demase,
just overly cautious. Peter has seen too much death and destruction when a specimen , such as the one you have purchased, gets loose and into the main
stream. You may want to be a little cautious yourself. So, yes, let us get
right to the point.”
Jana took a deep breath and began, “Mr. Demase you have in
your possession a very dangerous creature. It is neither dead, nor alive in any
sense. It is controlled by a malicious virus that quickly adapts to any
antivirus or antiserum created to destroy it. I know firsthand what this
creature is capable of, should it get loose.
‘I am also confident that you understand the grave danger
you put yourself in, and especially anyone who may come into contact with her.
If it would happen to get, let’s say, loose and run amuck, the very state of
California not to mention our very existence may be in jeopardy.”
Demase smiled quickly and with a huge exhale began again as
if he was talking with a child.
“That’s all well and good Ms. Jones but I assure you, I am
a big boy.” The multi-billionaire spread his arms wide to justify his next
point. “I also have a very safe and secure enclosure for that creature. Nothing
can penetrate it and nothing can escape from it. Now, Ms. Jones if you would
kindly excuse me, I must be getting back to work.”
Abruptly dismissing her, he turned his back to her and
walked over the glass floor stopping in front of the window to gaze into the
surf below. The view was magnificent Dillon noticed, if not a bit intoxicating.
Directly below Demase’s feet the surf pounded on the jutting rocks below,
spraying sea foam into the air, barely misting the glass above.
Dillon saw Jana bristle under that cool exterior of hers.
God she was so sexy when she was aggravated. He watched as she walked across the
room toward Demase.
“Mr. Demase, surely you must understand the danger you are exposing yourself too; and not only to yourself but to your scientist as
well. That ‘creature’ as you so aptly put, is dead. One bite from it and you
will be too and you can kiss this