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single sheet with a printed photo. Lark— whoa , had she grown up!—stood in the shower, her hair slicked back, eyes closed. Luckily for Matt’s sanity, Jason thought, she had her arms in front of her.
Jason didn’t think that helped much, though, considering the red laser sight in the center of her forehead.

Chapter Four
     
“Hang on, I’m looking.”
Lark startled at the strange voice in what was supposed to be an empty, secure greenhouse. Wrist-deep in soil, she squinted through the leaves of the plant she was repotting, trying to see the person who’d spoken. He definitely wasn’t any of the BotMed scientists who had access.
The figure moved toward her from a few aisles away, but with an odd gliding step that seemed to indicate stealth.
She followed her instincts and warily shook dirt off her hands, sidestepping between the tables in the opposite direction of the person at the other end. He didn’t speak again, but she could see flashes of white between green leaves and purple and blue flowers as he kept coming her way. She shifted to stay out of sight, not frightened so much as suspicious and annoyed.
Fishing her cell phone from the pocket of her khakis, she kept moving, keeping some distance between them but not heading toward the door. Her father would freak if he knew she wasn’t fleeing, but she was not leaving sensitive, top-secret work at the mercy of this…whoever.
The call she speed-dialed went through and Phil’s voice said, “Security.” Lark ducked below the edge of a table and whispered her situation.
“Don’t hang up,” Phil told her. “People are on their way.”
She rose, trying to spot the guy. He could be innocent, a visitor or new employee Ralph had forgotten to tell her about. But the unease she’d felt in the shower the other day returned, and she wondered if this was connected. She had to get a look at him without getting in his way. The wooden tables supporting the plants had cross braces that made it impossible to crawl under them. She crouched low and settled for running along the end of the rows until she saw movement again, then got down on her hands and knees and eased forward.
Man, would she feel stupid if he was legit and caught her doing this.
The man was moving away from her down the aisle, his head turning back and forth as he checked the tags on the plants. The light on his Bluetooth earpiece pulsed, signaling an open call.
“I don’t see her. Not yet. Look, the tags aren’t in English. It’s not going to be easy—” He tilted his head back, an exasperated move. “Well, which do you want, the paperwork or the plants? I’ll try, boss, but if she doesn’t show up… Okay, fine. Girl, papers, plants. In that order. Yeah, I got it. I said, I’ve got it. No, you don’t have to—hey. Crap.” He ended the call and pulled a pistol from a shoulder holster under his preppy jacket, muttering something under his breath.
Fury and fear bubbled through her, making it difficult to hold her position. Fury won the short skirmish. This guy was after her work. Which study? His tag checking didn’t give a clue. Why would he want any of it? Her research was always preliminary. Development occurred in other departments.
His motives didn’t matter. She’d ferret them out later, after she saved the data.
She eased back on her haunches. She needed a weapon. Most of the stuff here heavy enough to do damage was also too heavy for her to lift. Or too short to use without moving within the guy’s reach, which would be stupid. She had basic self-defense and kept up with training, but there was no point in putting it to the test if she could avoid it. She watched him turn the corner into the main aisle, and then inspiration struck. She wound through the greenhouse to the room in the back. Her speed meant she wasn’t very silent, and her keys rattled when she opened the door, but she had one advantage. This was her place.
The man’s footsteps echoed as he hurried in her direction.