Page 113 of Storm and Tempest
“She and Maizie are good?”
Bear nodded. “Tucked up safely back at the office. They’re digging into their whole computer system. Giving them a little payback. So far, they’ve backtracked the worm in Maizie’s system and dug out what was in the FBI network. They wrote a program that erases the worm and everywhere it’s been, repairing all the damage that was done. Don’t ask me how they’re able to do that. And they said it might take weeks to complete the job because it goes slow through each byte of data, backtracking what the worm altered or restoring what was deleted.”
Thank You.
Maizie had managed to salvage the damage their enemy had done to the FBI network, destroying the chance for real justice for too many people and bringing in their own agenda. The young woman could repair what she caused, even if it was originally done to save Kenna’s life.
He needed some time with Maizie so they could talk it out and get to the place they were good with the fact she’d withheld all that from him. Probably they both needed to forgive the other as part of it. But it seemed as if they would get the chance and Maizie would have a clear conscience. So one way or another, it would be resolved. Jax could teach her about forgiveness like Ramon had suggested.
Beyond that, he wanted them to deal a blow toDominatus.
In fact, an idea began to coalesce in his mind. Jax had been fighting being two steps behind their enemy this entire time. But what if they could get a chance now to reverse that and finally be a step ahead ofDominatusfor once? Like a punch their enemy didn’t see coming. Or a virus they didn’t notice had infected them until it was too late to repair the damage.
Good idea.Thank You.
He wasn’t going to quit being grateful to God for anything. Not until the day he died and couldn’t be thankful anymore. And after that, he would spend eternity being thankful, so it wasn’t really as if he was going to stop ever.
No matter what happened.
Jax checked the hall behind him and followed Bear. “Let’s get out here and go find Kenna.” Once they were clear, he told Bear his idea.
“Exactly what I was thinking.” He moved down hallways, around corners, until Jax had no clue where they were.
He’d been unconscious when they left him in that room. How was he supposed to find his way out now? The futility of it hit him in a way he knew Kenna had felt the same emotion. Yet another way God allowed him to understand what it had been like for her.
“This way.” Bear headed through a set of double doors, in front of which was a desk to the side.
Jax spotted a guy behind the desk, a hole in his forehead.
As he stepped into the room, smaller than his office at the FBI, Jax pulled up short. Doctor Buzard sat behind a desk, both hands on the surface. Palms down. Sweat on his forehead, and over that bald dome. Jax wondered that it only took two trained private security officers to make the guy sweat.
Apparently, he wasn’t as unflappable as Jax had thought.
“Figured you’d want to do the honors.” Hollace took a step back.
Buzard eyed him. “After everything I’ve done for you?”
“Shoot him and let’s go.” Hollace turned away from the desk, disgust in his expression. “I don’t wanna be here any longer than we have to be.”
The idea that had been assembling in his mind clicked into place a little more. “You know how much intel is locked up in that mind?”
“He isn’t gonna talk.” Hollace shook his head.
“Maybe not for a while. Depends how long you keep him. Who knows what he’d be willing to trade in exchange for concessions, or a sweet deal in protective custody?” Jax shifted his stance, aware this needed to be wrapped up quickly but unwilling to lose a golden opportunity.
Bear took a step closer to Jax’s side. “Shoot him, or I will.”
“Everyone step back.” Jax looked around. Two men, one of them Hollace, and Bear. He had to convince them. “Take a breath. Killing assets to tie up loose ends is what they do. That’s not who we are. We’re supposed to be better.”
Hollace said, “You wanna let him go so you can feel good about yourself? Clearly you don’t understand what they’re capable of.”
“You think I don’t know?” Jax shot the guy a look.
“If you’d suggested we bring him before a court, maybe I’d have believed that. Or if you said to torture him until he squeals because it’s what he deserves. If you’d saidthat, I might have gone along with it. But altruism? No way. The moral high ground doesn’t make us the winners here. It leaves us with nothing.”
“How about this, then,” Jax began. “None of what happened here gets out. You guys settle in and take over operations—at least as far asDominatusis concerned. Keep things running at this facility. Check in, file reports. Do whatever he does to provide evidence of what he’s doing to the higher-ups. Feed them information like nothing has changed.”
“Take over and pretend nothing happened?” Bear looked intrigued. “We could tell them whatever we wanted. Find out information we never would’ve known otherwise.”
