Shatter (Phoenix Rising) by Swan Joan

Author:Swan, Joan [Swan, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Brava
Published: 2013-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

Owen planted both elbows on his desk and rubbed his face. His laptop played the video surveillance tapes from the lab where Halina had worked seven years before, prior to leaving DARPA.

Working from the distant past forward to the day Halina disappeared, he’d already viewed four months of monotonous tapes. Now, two months prior to her disappearance, the activity had become far more interesting.

The same four sections were displayed on his screen—one corner visualizing a wide-angle shot of Halina’s lab, one of Gorin’s lab, one of Rostov’s lab, and one of a refrigerated storage area they shared. No audio accompanied the files, but Owen didn’t need any. After working with Schaeffer at DARPA before he’d become a senator, and now after watching the man work the Hill, Owen knew Schaeffer’s body language, his facial expressions. He knew his voice cues too, and although those weren’t relevant here, their addition in his head helped Owen understand the intensity of what Rostov, Gorin, and Beloi had gone through.

On the screen, Schaeffer duckwalked into Gorin’s lab. The two men immediately began to argue—Owen believed they were really finishing an argument they’d started the day before. And that’s where the power of the footage lay—being able to watch the progressing tangle of relationships and Schaeffer’s escalating manipulation and abuse.

The frequency with which Schaeffer visited all three labs increased over time. In addition to that common thread, the confrontations between Schaeffer and all three scientists intensified. The only difference he could detect was that the man’s confrontations with Halina took longer to develop—probably because she was far more congenial than the men. Far more eager to please. Definitely the hardest worker and the most brilliant of the three.

Schaeffer had tried befriending Halina first. Mentoring her. When that didn’t get the results he wanted, he’d moved on to seduction—which wasn’t just a joke, it was a sadistic joke. As time moved on, his tactics deteriorated to the same heavy-handed methods he’d used to control Rostov and Gorin. And while Rostov and Gorin had fought back—both verbally and physically—Halina had endured. When it had become too much, she’d escaped.

Owen found the footage increasingly difficult to watch. Day in and day out, Schaeffer’s demands, his rants, he threats continued. He’d become physically abusive with both Rostov and Gorin. Threatened Halina with physical abuse.

The varied responses to Schaeffer’s abuse fascinated Owen. Rostov battled back, full tilt. He and Schaeffer had the most volatile relationship. Rostov’s independence showed in the way he stood up to his so-called boss with both physical and verbal tactics. Gorin, far more interested in the research than people, tried to avoid Schaeffer by ducking out when he knew the other man was coming. By ignoring him when he came in. And when it all became too much, Gorin snapped. Went on destructive rampages through the lab, ransacking the place. Once Schaeffer tossed up his hands and walked out, Gorin would often dissolve into sobs and sit in the corner for hours. Talk about dysfunctional.

But Halina was different.

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