Page 104 of Conrad

The light changed and they headed out across the street.

One more block, then they’d cross the street and—well, hopefully by then, Declan would trust her enough to want to save her.

“You submitted a paper on ethical concerns,” Declan said.

Well, Avery had. But poor Avery had gotten a severe case of food poisoning right before getting on a plane to Barcelona, so . . . “Of course.” They hit the sidewalk, kept running, stopped talking as she kept up with him.

Although he slowed a little, probably for her sake.

Stein ran behind them both. His gaze burned into the back of her neck.Calm down, sailor.She just wanted a little blood and she’d be on her way.

It still irked her that he’d chosen Stone for his comeback into the security world.

They slowed as they reached the next light, to cross over the double-lane road and head back to the hotel on the other side.

This felt too easy, really. “It’s not just about the efficacy of the prediction, but again, the human factor. Nuances and life events, the human heart. We can’t base our decisions on what might be, according to what AI says. Otherwise, we find ourselves inMinority Report,only with a computer deciding our fate.”

“Minority Report?”

“It’s a movie, sir. Starring Tom Cruise.” This from Stein, standing behind them.

She ignored him. “In it, people are targeted for the crimes they might commit in the future and jailed for those future actions.”

Declan raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I see the problem.”

“You can’t blame people for something they haven’t done.”

And just like that, her words pinged against her. Through her. Touched her bones.

No,this was different. Declan was a . . . well, he’d already sold dangerous technology to the American DOD, and she’d been privy to a conversation he’d had with at least two global leaders, from Germany and Ukraine.

He couldn’t be trusted. Frankly, no one with this kind of powerful technology should be trusted?—

She turned to him, standing on the edge of the curb, and that’s when she did it—lost her balance, her arms pedaling?—

Screamed—not a lot, but enough to enact whatever latent hero gene Declan had.

He reached out for her as she nearly dumped into the bike lane. She turned, as if trying to catch herself, andbam,just like that, brought her elbow up into his face.

He jerked back, one hand on her waist, the other to his face?—

Blood spurted out of his nose.

“Oh!” She turned, wore horror on her face.

The traffic whizzed by. He stumbled, holding his nose, blood pouring down his face.

“I’m so sorry—” She stepped up to him, grabbed the cotton handkerchief from her pocket.

She just needed a teaspoon, enough to extract the sample for the bio-key. Shoving the handkerchief toward him, she stepped up. “Let me help?—”

He’d backed away, thrown out his arm, and of course, Stein had jumped in.

Declan bent over, letting the blood spill on the sidewalk. She put her hand to his back, practically shoved her handkerchief in his face. He grabbed it, her hand still holding on.

And maybe it was her movement, maybe she’d stepped too hard into him, maybe she’d hit him harder than she’d thought, but he stumbled.

Fell.

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