Page 2 of Death Wish

“For this kind of specialized work, I have two hackers in my arsenal. Zane and Simone.”

He scowled. “What about Jon Smith? He’s in the same league as Z and Simone.”

“He’s tied up with something else at the moment.”

So, Jon was out, too. “What kind of work are we talking about?”

“Tracking down the creator of a computer virus being developed to steal information and blackmail governments and companies around the globe.”

Jesse frowned. “The program isn’t finished?”

“No, and your job is to stop the development before the program is completed.”

“If we stop the program development, what’s preventing some other hacker from coming up with another program capable of the same destruction?”

“Cybersecurity is part of our service, Jesse, and we’re being offered a lucrative contract to find the creator of this virus and stop him before he succeeds.”

To risk bringing in a rookie to take on an undercover assignment meant something bigger was at stake than a nasty computer virus. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“The program targets the military and private companies who provide services and products to the military and governments.”

Jesse whistled. “Who’s the client?”

“Our government.” Brent smiled. “For a pretty penny, of course.”

The medic rolled his eyes. “Of course. Brent, I don’t want to make you angry.”

“But….”

“Simone has only been working at Fortress for a few weeks.”

“Remember the discussion earlier? You’ll go in with either Simone or Zane. Frankly, I can’t afford to have Z gone that long. He’s vital to our operation. Simone is our only other option. No one else is in their class. I need her to do this.”

He still didn’t like it. “So many things could go wrong.”

“And will. That’s where you come in. Your job is to make sure she’s safe, no matter what happens.”

“Can’t she do this from the comfort of her couch or here in the office?” Hacking was hacking, right? Simone could do the work anywhere.

Brent shook his head. “We have rumors. No computer footprints to follow back to the source. Zane thinks the programmer is creating the virus on a computer disconnected from a network. Simone won’t be able to locate and destroy the program if the computer isn’t online. She has to have a target. Right now, she doesn’t have one.”

Jesse stood and paced. “She’s too green. Do you have any idea where she should start looking?”

“Again, we have rumors that pinpoint a specific company but not the designer. Simone will have a starting place. The problem is she’ll have to be on site to accept a job offer and work for the company.”

“Which company?”

“Dragon Alley.”

He stopped pacing, his head whipping toward his boss. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Dragon Alley is a huge outfit of computer programmers.”

“Exactly. Their services are in high demand, especially in Europe, Mexico, and Central and South America. Their presence here is already established, but they have a lot of competition.”

“If we agree to do this, where would we go?”

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