[Note: This is a romance story with some erotic scenes. It is
not
a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]
Chapter 14: Greg
"Goldie?"
"Yes, my love?"
Lately she had been calling him that more and more. In some ways, it irritated him, because he knew at some point it all would come crashing down when she was deprogrammed. But in other ways, he found it so endearing. "Yes, Goldie?"
"What have you found?"
Harry had been working on deciphering more of the portion of the database he had downloaded from The Foundation. Each section was encrypted using a different method, but Harry had cracked one of the codes, and found references to a facility of some sort, in Kansas City. He told Goldie as much.
"Any reference to what they're doing there?"
Harry shook his head. "It's just mentioned as a shipment point. It might be nothing more than a warehouse."
"Or it might not. Let's go and take a look."
********
Their destination actually turned out to be a small office building. But when they got there, they found the perimeter guarded by the police. And the FBI.
The agent in charge asked what they wanted. Harry told them that they were trying to track down Goldie's sister, who had apparently been kidnapped by The Foundation. The agent asked to see their identification. When he saw Goldie's, his eyebrows went up. "You're Goldie MacPherson?"
"Yes," said Goldie.
"Wait here. Don't go away," said the agent. He left in a hurry.
Harry looked at Goldie. "Do you have any idea what this is about?"
"No," said Goldie, shrugging.
But then a very unexpected sight came into view. A dark haired man wearing a business suit in front and an open FBI jacket on his back.
It was her boyfriend, Greg.
"Goldie!" he cried, embracing her in a bear hug. He kissed her passionately. "I thought I had lost you!" He kissed her a second time.
"Greg," said Goldie, in a surprised voice.
"I've been trying to contact you for weeks," said Greg.
"I had to ditch my comm. I've been on the run," said Goldie.
"Why didn't you come to me, Goldie? Why didn't you contact me?" Greg asked. His gaze slowly turned to Harry. "Who are you?"
"Greg, this is Harry Crater. Harry helped expose what The Foundation was doing in Boston."
They found an empty conference room in the building to talk. The entire building had been emptied out, just like the facility in Newton.
Greg explained that there had been a number of missing person reports nationwide connected to The Foundation. Most were scientists, but some were athletes and other professionals. When they had raided the Newton facility, they found nothing. Then they had gotten a tip on the Kansas City location, but also didn't arrive in time.
"They're very nimble," said Harry grimly.
"You're Harry Crater," said Greg. "I read about you in the initial report. What else can you tell us about The Foundation?"
"Only that we're trying to track them down."
"We?" said Greg.
"Greg, Harry is helping me find Claire," said Goldie quietly.
Greg looked from Goldie to Harry back to Goldie again. Realization started to dawn in his eyes. "Goldie... this is a job for professionals. Why didn't you come to me?"
"I... I...." Suddenly, Goldie didn't know how to answer. At the time it made perfect sense for her to go to Harry, and not Greg, but she found now that she couldn't explain it in words.
It was Harry who filled the gap. "Greg? Would you do me a favor? Would you give me a moment to talk to Goldie? In private?"
Greg looked warily at Harry.
"It's all right, Greg, really," said Goldie.
"All right," he said reluctantly. "I'll be just down the hallway. There's no other way out of this building, Harry."
"Thanks for the tip, Greg."
They watched him leave.
"He loves me," Goldie said immediately.
"And do you love him?" Harry asked.
"I...."
"Goldie?"
"I don't know," Goldie said, putting her hands to her head.
"Think, Goldie, think," said Harry. "You told me you were seeing him for eight months. What I heard is that you were considering marrying him. Were you?"
"I... I don't know," said Goldie.
"How can you not know if you were thinking of marrying him?" Harry asked.
"Of course the thought occurred to me," said Goldie, her eyes flaring beautifully. "I just don't know how serious I was about it."
"Goldie, why did you stop seeing Greg shortly before you met me?"
"I don't know!"
"Do you love him?"
"I don't know!"
"Do you have feelings for him?"
Goldie wordlessly nodded.
"Strong ones?"
Goldie nodded again.
"It's clear what happened," said Harry. "When you were programmed to love me, you were also programmed to stop loving Greg. Your love for him simply... got in the way."
"No," Goldie whispered. There were tears in her eyes now.
"What else can explain it?"
"I... I have difficulty committing to men. Settling down. I've always been restless. With Greg, I was trying to decide, trying...." her words trailed off.
"I think The Foundation decided for you," said Harry. "I think you should be with Greg."
"How can you say that, Harry?"
"It's the right thing to do. Your love for me is not real."
"But it
feels