Page 15 of Power

I swallowed hard against the bile in my throat. “Why do you need me if you already have the software?”

“I am using it to find information about a specific person.” He had answered all my questions so far, but I got the sense he was holding back, only offering answers to what I asked. Nothing more.

Don’t ask.Curiosity got the best of me. “Who?”

“I will never lie to you when you ask me a question, so be careful of the things you wish to know.” His warning lingered over me like a dark cloud cautioning of a tumultuous storm. “Do you still want to know?”

Did I? Could I still get out of the underworld? I didn’t have to know his answer. I signed an NDA during the acquisition and legally couldn’t discuss anything I knew about the software, including this, with anyone. I could go back home to Seattle and pretend none of this had ever happened.

When I didn’t respond, he continued, “A competitor and my biggest enemy.”

“Another drug dealer?” I already knew what he was going to say.

“Yes.”

Dread filled my gut. “Why do you need information on him?”

“He betrayed an alliance set by our families generations ago. There are boundaries in this business, and he disobeyed them.”

“Where does he live?” I couldn’t stop myself from finding out more.

“India. I don’t have an exact location yet. His base is in Bengal, but he has been in hiding.” Shyam sighed, letting out some of the frustration he seemed to be holding in.

“And you need the tracking software to find him?” Our software would be useful for tracking down someone of color.

“He is the only person in this network that I do not have useful data on.” He tensed up, clenching his jaw.

“Why?” I found that perplexing. It was rare that anyone could evade tracking software. Every app collected some sort of data on a user. The only way someone could avoid having their data collected was for them to essentially live off the grid and not engage in any modern technology. No cellphone. No computers. No credit cards.

“He has an IT team of his own to block any tracking software we’ve implemented to collect data on him. It’s almost like he doesn’t exist.”

“And if you had facial-recognition software that was unaffected by cloaking, then you could accurately track him?” I was finally understanding Shyam’s need for our software, and why he needed it so quickly.

He stroked a finger along the side of my cheek. I closed my eyes, savoring the contact, drunk off his touch. “The software your team created would fill the void that my current software has. By combining the two, I can locate him. You have working knowledge of the facial-recognition component, and I need you to use your anti-cloaking feature to find Tarun.”

His name is Tarun?Knowing the name of Shyam’s adversary made it even more personal.

“Jessica mentioned this lab. Do all of your employees know it exists?” I couldn’t imagine why he’d let other people know about this lab or what his “night job” was.

“We do have other labs in the building used strictly for Sethi Tech development—that is, what our employeesthinkSethi Tech development is. Our employees have no idea about our drugs and our network. This lab is only used by Jai, our men who aid us in moving our product, and myself. Only a select handful of people know of it or have access to it. Jessica doesn’t know what it is used for. As for the location, the lab is most secure in the basement, where hackers are unable to fish for our internet signal and break into our system. We can work in privacy down here without worrying about prying eyes, both in the real world and the virtual world.”

“What will you do when you find him?” I regretted asking as soon as the words flew out of my mouth. He was a criminal. I didn’t have to be one to know how they treated their enemies.

He stood up straight behind me. The loss of his warmth was almost painful; up until now, it had kept me steady and grounded. “I think that’s a question that you don’t really want answered,” he said.

I changed my line of questioning, afraid of what he might say if I pressed him. I turned my face to look up at him. “What if I don’t want to help you?”

His hazel eyes fixed on mine. “Then you can sever all ties with Sethi Tech.”

I can leave?That would mean I would have to cut ties with Shyam too. “How do you know I won’t report you to the police?”

“You signed an NDA. Legally, you cannot discuss the software, or anything you have seen or heard at Sethi Tech, with anyone. And the police would never dare get in our way.”

Of course, he had the cops in his pocket. He owned the biggest tech company in America. He had enough money to buy the entire police force if he wanted to.

“Why can’t you just have Jai do all of this?” Jai was a tech genius and his most trusted confidant, since he was blood, so it would be more fitting for his brother to tailor the facial-recognition software.

“He’s a brilliant programmer like you, but he didn’t build this program. You did.” I blushed at his compliment. One minute, he was telling me he was an international drug dealer, and in the next, he was making me feel like a blushing schoolgirl.

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