Authors: Julie Moffett
“Michael’s dad provided the start-up capital.”
“It was an amazing time, Lexi. Until then, everything had been theoretical. At last we had the chance to put our ideas to the test. But as our research and experiments grew and became wildly successful, we had to expand. We needed more money and staff to continue.”
“Enter Niles and company,” I said.
“The match seemed good at first. Things were fine until several months ago when Michael and I informed the board that we were at the
earliest
seven to ten years away for a working prototype. To our surprise, Niles was furious.”
Darren closed his eyes. “Neither one of us understood why he was so angry about our progress. After all, we were light years ahead of any other corporation on an operational prototype. It didn’t compute. So, Michael decided to do some investigating of his own. He hacked into Flow’s computer system and subsequently Niles’s account and that’s when he discovered the company was in serious debt. Niles had apparently led our investors to believe that my energy-replacement prototype was just three to five years out. He needed that prototype soon or we were sunk financially. Both of us were stunned he made such rash promises to investors without even consulting us.”
I held up a hand. “Why couldn’t Niles just tell the investors the truth? The work you’re doing, Darren, well, it’s breathtaking in scope. If it works, it will be a scientific breakthrough on a scale the world has never known. For heaven’s sake, you could single-handedly save the planet from pollution or eradicate hunger. Why wouldn’t the investors be willing to wait a few more years?”
“Money. It’s all about money, Lexi. Even if the prototype works, nanotechnology is inherently unstable. It’s more than likely the manufacturing process will encounter unforeseen issues that will make it another ten years or longer before anything can be produced on a mass scale. Twenty years or longer is a significant wait to see any cash flow.”
“But the science is sound.”
“Yes, the science is sound. I assure you, I know what I’m doing and what needs to be done. Perhaps it’s a gift or a curse, but for some reason, I’m the one destined to present this technology to the world. It
will
be fruitful…if I live long enough to finish it.”
“You’re truly in fear for your life?”
Darren nodded. “Michael’s death was not an accident. He was murdered.”
“You’re not the only one who suspects this. We did our own checking and the accident seems suspicious. The government agrees.”
He looked up in surprise. “The government?”
“Yes. They are looking for you, too, Darren. They’ve caught wind of the progress of your research and are naturally interested.”
“We have a spy at Flow. He’s been reporting on my progress. I don’t know if he’s reporting on me to another company or to the government, but Flow itself is no longer secure.”
I rolled my neck, trying to loosen the tension knot that had formed there. “Let me guess. You suspect Evan Chang is that spy.”
Darren gasped. “How did you know?”
“A hunch. He was visibly nervous talking to me when I interviewed him about you. Besides, it makes sense. He replaced Michael and would have the best understanding, not to mention access, of where you were with the research and development.”
“He seemed solid as a scientist, but I didn’t trust him.”
“You trusted no one,” I pointed out.
“Except for you and Dr. Gu.”
“Okay. But that still doesn’t explain why you are in fear for your life. Industrial or even government espionage is one thing, murder is another. Why would someone murder Michael or you? You’re the key to this entire technology—a walking gold mine—despite the fact that it could take years. Besides, Flow’s investors took out a twenty-five million dollar insurance policy to protect you as an intelligence asset. Okay, they may get the twenty-five million if you were to die in a so-called accident, but that’s a drop in the bucket in terms of their initial investment not to mention the billions,
maybe even trillions, they stand to make if they’d stay with you for the duration. I just don’t get it.”
Darren leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. “Lexi, the investors aren’t protecting me and they weren’t protecting Michael. They never were. It’s all a front. Michael and I…we were sold to the highest bidder.”
“Excuse me?”
“Think about it. How many oil-rich countries in the world would pay millions or even billions to stop this technology?”
“Every single one of them. Your work is a serious threat to their livelihood.” I paused for a moment, thinking it over. “You mean to say Flow agreed to or is actually a partner in a plan to
assassinate
you?”
“In a way. My death would have to look like an accident, just like Michael’s.”
“Unthinkable.”
“I assure you, it’s my reality. As it stands, there have been numerous technical and industrial malfunctions at the lab these past few months. Seeing as how I am pretty much the only one who understands the science of the process in its entirety, I’m also the only one who notices the small imperfections and have managed to avoid any unfortunate accidents. But my work and the lab have been tampered with on numerous occasions, certainly in the hope that I will be killed or seriously harmed.”
“Well, that points to Chang as more than just an industrial spy. He’s the only one with the science to be able to create such an accident.”
“Perhaps. Then again, I don’t know who frequents the lab when I’m not there.”
I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. “How can you be sure any of this is really true? Not that I don’t believe it, it’s just easy to get sucked into the paranoia of the moment when under severe stress.”
He paused for a moment, turning his serious brown eyes on me. “When Michael hacked into Niles’s account he discovered that an oil-rich company was setting up a company in the U.S. in order to launder and provide funds for Niles that would pay for the hits. That company turned out to be NanoLab.”
“Flow’s manufacturing company. Why didn’t you take this to the authorities?”
“Michael hacked in to Niles’s account. None of what we discovered would be admissible in court. Besides, we didn’t know who to trust. We didn’t know how deep Niles’s tentacles ran.
“In fact, we were still trying to figure out what to do when Michael was killed. We hadn’t realized the threat was so immediate. For the few months following Michael’s death, I was a mess. I barely functioned. They could have easily murdered me then, but they probably needed to wait a decent time before offing me as well. I suppose it would have been highly suspicious if both of us were killed in a matter of weeks.”
“Jeez.”
“I didn’t know what to do, who to turn to. The only person I had left in the world was Michael’s dad and the last thing I wanted to do was to endanger him in any way. I had to find someone to help me, someone who could understand what I needed to do. I went first to Dr. Gu because I remembered him from his lectures at Georgetown and because he was friends with Michael’s dad. He gave me a place to stay temporarily, but I needed to find someone with contacts both in the private sector and the government to take me to the next step because I didn’t know who to trust.”
“You found me.”
“Yes, because of Michael. He had a crush on you when we were at Georgetown. Then one night he got drunk enough to make a move. It was his experimental period.”
“Experimental?”
“Yes.” Darren ran his fingers through his hair and hung his head. “Oh, God, I loved him so much. You have no idea.”
The anguish in his voice stabbed at my heart. I reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Jeez, Darren. You okay?”
He nodded, but didn’t lift his head. “Yeah.” His hands trembled. “You see, I knew Michael loved me, too, but he needed time to figure things out. You were his first and only sexual experience with a woman. After that, he knew. Just knew. It was the two of us.”
I stared at him. Oh jeez. What should I say?
“Well, we only…um…met…um, once.”
Darren lifted his head. “I know. But the emotional attachment stuck around. He kept tabs on you. He often talked about a spectacular hack you made in one of your classes together. He admired you, Lexi, thought you were ace. I suppose it didn’t hurt that you aren’t all that bad-looking either, for a geek.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
“I was a little jealous of the way he followed your career. He knew when you got a job at the NSA. After he died, I checked up on you. You had left the NSA and moved to X-Corp. Then it hit me that if Michael had trusted you, so could I.”
“Okay, you’ve got my full attention. You can trust me. What do you want me to do now, Darren? How can I help?”
He hesitated, considering my words. “I have to continue my research, my work. But it has to be supported in the right way by the right people. I’m too paranoid now to figure out how to get the help I need.”
I considered for a moment. “Do you have to do your work within the private sector?”
“I can’t limit myself anymore. It’s too important now.”
“Agreed. And lucky for you, I know just the guy.”
It took Slash just under three hours to get to Cambridge. It probably involved a private jet and a car service, but I really didn’t care. He was here and he could help Darren. In the meantime, I’d called Finn and assured him I was okay. Darren still refused to meet with anyone other than me and Slash, so Finn had to wait it out—albeit impatiently—at Dr. Gu’s place. He sounded inordinately stressed and must have told me a half dozen times to be careful and not to take any chances on anything.
Darren permitted me to order pizza from some local joint he trusted and to my delight he also liked anchovies too. We gorged on pizza and beer while watching reruns of
Jeopardy.
Darren had a perfect record, answering every single question correctly, even those on sports, culture and entertainment.
“You do realize you have a future in game shows if this nanotechnology thing doesn’t work out,” I’d told him.
I’d almost forgotten the time when I heard the knock on the door. Darren must have leaped a good three feet off the ground.
I walked to the door. “Chill. Slash is a professional. I assure you, he wasn’t followed.”
Nonetheless, I looked carefully through the keyhole before I opened the door. It was Slash all right, but I hardly recognized him.
He entered quickly and shut the door behind him. I stared at him in amazement. “Wow. What’s with the suit?”
I had never,
ever
seen Slash in anything but jeans or cargo shorts. Now he wore a navy-blue suit with a light blue tie. His long black hair had been slicked back and secured at the neck and he carried a large black duffel bag. He looked amazingly handsome, but it was a more dangerous mafia-hit-man vibe than a nine-to-five-office-worker vibe.
“You like it?”
“It’s different.”
To my surprise he pushed past me and lifted a hand in greeting to Darren. “Nice to meet you. Now both of you go to the bathroom.”
“Huh?”
He slowly enunciated every word. “You and Darren go to the bathroom.”
“Together?”
He rummaged around in his duffel bag. “Yes. And put these on.”
He tossed something at each of us. I barely caught mine and Darren’s fell at his feet.
“A bullet-proof vest? What’s going on, Slash? I thought you said you’d take every precaution not to be followed.”
“
Cara,
please just do as I ask. You too, Darren. We are going to protect you and keep you safe. Then we’ll talk. But now you must follow my instructions exactly.”
Darren looked over at me with wide eyes and I lifted my hands. “I trust him, Darren. I don’t have a clue what he’s doing, but I really do trust him.”
Without a word Darren picked up the vest and carried it into the bathroom. I followed him and together we managed to get the things on and properly secured. The vest fit me like a cross between a very large padded bra and a life preserver. Darren looked completely swallowed up by his, but to his credit, he didn’t say a word. I guess the vests were sized for the average adult, not a couple of skinny geeks like us. I occasionally glanced out the bathroom door and saw Slash lifting the blinds and peeking out and then pacing back and forth across the room, pressing something to his ear.
Darren and I waddled out of the bathroom and Slash nodded approvingly. “Do you have anything essential that must go with you, Darren?”
“My laptop and some papers.”
Slash pointed to his duffel. “Put what you need here.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got my own bag.”
“Hey, are you going to tell us what’s going on?” I watched Darren close up his computer and slide it and some papers into a dark green gym bag.
“Not now. No time.”
Slash hoisted his bag over his shoulder, Darren grabbed his, and we dutifully lined up at the door. Slash stepped into the hallway first, looked up and down and then motioned for us to follow him out of the room. I had Darren go next and I took up the rear. I didn’t know what was going on, but my heart was racing like a jackhammer. On the other hand, Darren seemed eerily calm. Apparently he’d been preparing for this day for a long time and now that it had arrived, he was able to deal. I hadn’t had enough time to prepare and just felt sick to my stomach after all the beer and pizza.
We approached the stairwell and Slash motioned for us to wait in the hall. We pressed back against the wall as he opened the door and disappeared. After a few long moments, the door opened again and Slash indicated we should follow him. I’m sure the idea was to be quiet, but Darren and I lumbered along like whales in our vests. Darren’s duffel bag kept banging against the stair rail and every time it thumped, my heart gave a startled jump. We had gone down a couple flights of stairs when I heard a popping noise and the plaster on the wall behind my head disintegrated.
“Go back,” Slash yelled at us, crouching in the stairwell and pulling out a gun. “We’re under fire.”
Darren and I scrambled back up the stairway. The popping and pinging noise intensified.
“Fire as in gunfire?” Darren shouted.
“That would be the winning scenario, so move it.”
Darren gasped like a fish out of breath as I dragged him up the stairway. He kept stopping to rummage around in his bag with one hand until I yelled at him to knock it off.
We finally reached Darren’s floor and I flung open the door to the stairwell. I nearly collided with a guy dressed in black fatigues that said SWAT across the front of his chest. He held a gun and was apparently startled to see us because he took a step back and gave a shocked yelp.
“Ahhhhhh,” I shouted in turn, leaping back into the stairwell and instinctively shielding Darren behind me. “You scared the freaking daylights out of me. Thank God, you’re here. Someone is shooting at us down there.”
He leveled the gun at my head. “
Da.
That would be my partner.” He laughed and with one arm made the motion of snapping a neck while making a slicing noise.
I shrieked. “Oh, my God. You’re the neck-snapping guy from the garage.”
“Yes and looks like exercise won’t help you now.”
From that point on, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I noticed the way his nostrils flared, his finger tightened on the trigger and the jolt he gave when he was blown halfway down the hall.
I screamed again, glad I could be so helpful in this do-or-die situation. My ears were ringing as I turned and saw Darren kneeling, one hand beneath his elbow and the other holding the biggest freaking pistol I’d ever seen. He had a grim expression on his face, but otherwise he was utterly composed.
I yelped and jumped back. “Shit on water. Did you just shoot him?”
“Yeah. And you’re welcome.” Darren rose from his crouch just as Slash raced up the stairs and came to a sudden halt. Darren’s pistol was still smoking.
He looked between Darren, me and the guy lying in the middle of the hall. “That’s one hell of a gun.”
Hysteria bubbled in my throat as I pointed at the guy. “He freaking tried to shoot us. He has SWAT on his shirt, but he’s the guy who tried to snap my neck in the garage.”
There was no further time for comment because at that moment, complete pandemonium broke out. The stairwell was swarmed with police and a boatload of black-clad SWAT guys with radios and guns. Slash gingerly relieved Darren of his gun and gave it to a uniformed cop. Still in shock, Darren and I leaned back against the wall, trying to stay out of everyone’s way.
At one point, a guy identifying himself as a medic asked Darren and I if we’d been hit. We both shook our heads, numb from the events. Slash spoke furiously to a uniformed cop and a guy in SWAT fatigues, both of whom looked duly chagrined. Since Slash is Italian, or at least I
think
he is, there was a lot of hand waving and cursing going on. I don’t think I’d ever seen Slash so livid. After a few minutes he finally wound down and strode over to us, his face still thunderously dark.
“Che gran seccatura!”
He stopped, pressing a hand to his forehead. “The local police will be the end of me. Let’s get out of here.”
We obediently followed Slash down the stairwell, over the body of another black-clad guy who was surrounded by police, and out the front door of the apartment complex. There were more police cars with flashing lights, a couple of dark vans surrounded by a bunch of guys in black carrying rifles, and a gaggle of spectators who were being pushed back as uniformed cops ran yellow police tape around the entrance to the building. To the left of the building a black SUV sat idling. A guy dressed in black fatigues and an earpiece with a dangling cord waved to Slash. We headed in his direction and piled into the SUV, Darren and I in the back and Slash in the passenger seat.
Without a word, the driver jumped in, gunned the SUV and off we went.
“Where are we going?” Darren asked Slash.
“The airport.”
For a minute no one spoke. My stomach still felt queasy, so I pressed a hand to it and willed myself to calm down.
Slash turned around in the seat, facing Darren. “So, when did you learn to shoot?”
“After Michael’s death, I bought a gun. Practiced at the firing range.”
I snorted. “That wasn’t a gun. It was a freaking cannon.”
“A GLOCK 34. No way was I buying a sissy gun.”
Slash nodded. “Excellent for serious tactical duty or hunting large game. Not so practical for those who want to carry a concealed weapon.”
“Which is why I had the gym bag. It probably comes as no surprise, but I’m not a very good shot. I need all the advantage I can get.”
I snorted. “Good thinking. That gun could have brought down a herd of rhinos.”
Slash’s mouth twitched. “Quite true,
cara.
”
“Why does he keep calling you
cara?
”
I felt my face redden. “He has trouble remembering my name.” This elicited a wider smile from Slash. “So, who was that guy?”
“A hit man. Are you okay about shooting him, Darren? You did the right thing. He would have killed you both. That’s why he was here.”
Darren sighed. “Yeah. Can I get out of this vest now? I’m feeling awfully hot.”
“
Si.
You are safe for the time being.”
Darren and I wriggled out of our vests and tossed them on the floor of the SUV. Darren leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes and started inhaling deep breaths. He looked really, really pale. I probably looked like death warmed over myself. Being stalked by hit men can do that to a person, I guess.
“Okay, start talking,” I ordered Slash. “What’s going on?”
“Fair enough. However, you should know that what we are about to discuss is restricted information. You are both forbidden to discuss this matter in any way with persons unauthorized.”
“Fine. We’re sworn to secrecy. But what do I tell Finn? He’s entitled to know what’s going on. This is his case after all.”
Slash’s brows drew together. “Don’t worry about Shaughnessy. He already knows what he should.”
Since I was in no position to argue, I looked over at Darren. “What do you think?”
Darren lifted his hands. “I’m in. What else can I do?”
“We are all on the same side here, I assure you,” Slash said.
Darren shrugged and I adjusted my seat belt and relaxed back against the seat cushion with my hand still on my stomach.
“I’m sure it won’t be a surprise to you, but the U.S. government is also operating its own laboratory involving energy-replacement nanotechnology,” Slash started. “Unfortunately, our scientists have hit a blank wall on a number of key issues, which is why we’ve been watching your progress with such interest. We know it can be done, but the scientists at our disposal need help to progress. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to lure you from the private sector for more than a year now, but it’s not an easy feat given the current economy and severe budget constraints.”
“You’d been watching me?”
“With great interest. Our scientists were beyond amazed by your progress at Flow. Frankly speaking, the government is not nearly as far along as you. But you can help us catch up.”
“How do you know just how far along I am?”
“Evan Chang. After Michael’s death, we helped position him so he’d be the best replacement candidate for Flow. In all actuality, he works for us. But you did a good job of keeping him mostly in the dark.”
“Damn it! I knew he couldn’t be trusted. What the hell? I can’t believe the government is spying on me. That’s beyond illegal.”
Slash held up a hand. “We weren’t spying or stealing, only monitoring you, Darren. I’ll admit there is a fine line here. However, let’s be frank. Both you and I know there isn’t a soul alive today that could keep up with your thinking on this issue. You’re in a league of your own in this field and that’s an undisputed and unshakable fact. No one could steal what you have locked in that brilliant head of yours.”
Darren sniffed, but Slash’s comments seem to mollify him, probably because they were the unadulterated truth.
“I’m sorry to admit that Michael’s death caught us completely by surprise. At first we considered it an unfortunate accident. But after Evan reported on your state of mind and the fact that all progress on the program seemed to be halted, we began to wonder. We understood you would have to grieve, but it didn’t explain your increasing isolation or paranoia.”
“Michael was murdered. You’d have been paranoid, too.”
“
Si.
After that we conducted our own quiet investigation into Michael’s death. What we discovered was quite unsettling. We didn’t believe it had been an accident either, although we had no hard proof. However, Michael’s death led to our discovery that Flow was in more serious financial trouble than we had suspected.”
“Did Evan tell you that, too?”
“No. But he was in Flow’s system. You know full well it’s easier to do a hack from the inside.”
Darren pressed his lips together, looking increasingly unhappy.
Slash continued, “As soon as we heard that Flow had entered into a manufacturing partnership with NanoLab, red flags went up.”
“Why?” I interjected.
“It wasn’t sound financial sense that Flow would wholeheartedly enter into an agreement with a manufacturing partner when the prototype was still years away.”