Wildest Hearts

then?”

    “Well, yes.” Annie frowned slightly, wondering why the conversation was focusing so intently on the fact that she was here with Joanna. “Joanna was feeling kind of blue and wanted to come out here. I decided to join her. We'll be driving back in the morning.”

    “I see.”

    “Is anything wrong, Oliver?”

    “No.”

    But something in his voice alerted her. “Are you sure?” Then a thought struck her. Outrage poured through her, washing away the sense of marital warmth in a split second. “Good grief, don't tell me, let me guess. You're not absolutely certain it's Joanna I'm with, are you? This is probably Bolt's fault. What did he do? Did he imply I was out here having a wild orgy?”

    “Annie…”

    “That does it,” Annie announced. “I'm going to have a long talk with Bolt when I get back. And I'd better warn you, Oliver, if he doesn't shape up, I may fire him.”

    “Fire Bolt? That should be interesting.”

    “I mean it. I won't have him giving you biased accounts of my activities.”

    “I didn't receive a biased account,” Oliver said. “I got a very factual account. That's the only kind of account Bolt knows how to give.”

    “Hah. Never trust a robot. Inside they all secretly long to be human.”

    “Annie, calm down.”

    “No, I will not calm down. I'm annoyed, Oliver. Pissed off, if you want to know the truth. You're calling here to check up on me, aren't you?”

    “I called to talk to you,” he said calmly. “Is that so strange?”

    “I don't know. With you, it's sometimes hard to tell what's normal and what's not.” Annie's fingers clenched around the phone. “Do you want to talk to Joanna? That will at least prove I'm not here with some man.”

    Oliver hesitated briefly. “No, I don't want to talk to Joanna.”

    But his slight pause before answering was more than enough to further infuriate Annie. “You had to think about it before you answered, didn't you? Admit it! You'd really like some concrete proof that she's the one who's here with me.”

    “Annie, will you please calm down?”

    “No.” Annie thrust the phone toward Joanna. “Say something to Oliver, Joanna.”

    Joanna rolled her eyes as she took the phone. “Hello, Oliver,” she said ruefully. “Hope you're having a nice trip. Ours is turning out to be a little strange.”

    Annie snatched the phone back. “There. Did you hear her?”

    “Yes, Annie, I heard her.”

    “Of course, that doesn't prove much, does it?” Annie continued vengefully. “We could have brought along a whole car full of hot young studs to entertain us.”

    “I don't doubt that you and Joanna are there alone, Annie,” Oliver said.

    “Wonderful,” she snapped, still feeling disgruntled. “I do believe we're making progress. Now, then, how is your trip going?”

    “I thought you'd never ask.”

    “Did you make any progress with Featly and Moss?”

    “I think so.” Oliver was silent for a moment. “They seemed surprised to learn that Lyncroft was going ahead with Daniel's plans for the development of the new product line.”

    “Why did that surprise them?”

    “Apparently the rumor down here in Silicon Valley is that one of Lyncroft's rivals has made a sudden leap forward in basic developmental technology. It's expected to beat Lyncroft to market with its own line of wireless products.”

    “That's impossible,” Annie declared. “Lyncroft was way ahead of everyone. Daniel told me that himself.”

    “Not any longer. Lyncroft is still ahead, but the competition is catching up. And that competition was willing to cut a very good deal with Featly and Moss.”

    “So they're now getting priority on the parts that we need? Why those bastards. Oliver, you've got to stop them.”

    “I think I have,” Oliver said with a cool certainty that implied he knew he had. “For the next six months, at least, Lyncroft is guaranteed to receive the parts it needs on time. But that still leaves us with another problem, Annie.”

    “What's that?”

    Oliver allowed another long, exceedingly thoughtful silence to elapse. “There is some question about just how Lyncroft's rival managed to close the developmental lead that Daniel held.”

    “Maybe they made a technological breakthrough on their own,” Annie suggested.

    “Maybe they had help,” Oliver said softly.

    Annie's feet hit the floor as she sat up abruptly. “What are you saying? Are you talking about a leak?”

    “They call it