Page 4 of Ignite: Tony's Story
“BioCere, Inc. It’s a biomedical engineering company that Adley is part of.”
Jackson Adley is a major player in the pharmaceutical industry. It wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary for him to be part of research and engineering projects. He’s probably part of so many, this one wouldn’t stand out at all unless you dug deep.
Which I have. But I need to go deeper, and I need help to do it.
I can tell the man in front of me is interested. And from the reaction he had when I told him I work for Jackson Adley, it’s safe to surmise that he isn’t a big fan.
I’m not holding back. I finally see a way to shut down the company that killed my parents. And I’m taking it.
To accomplish what I need to do, I need this man to trust me. Which means I have to put myself out there.
With that in mind, I hold out my hand. “I’m Mara. Mara Wilson, but it used to be Smyth.”
He stares at me a moment longer, and then down at my hand. Just before I’m about to lower it, he wraps his hand around mine and shakes. His hand is warm and huge, and surprisingly rough for someone that works on computers for a living. My hand looks like it belongs to a child in his.
“Tony.”
No last name, but that’s okay. This is a good start. It’d probably take me less than thirty seconds to figure out the rest on my own anyway.
Our hands linger possibly a moment too long, and I’m struck by how sincere his deep brown eyes are. I feel like I could get lost in his gaze.
As if realizing that he’s been holding my hand and staring, he flinches away from me and looks around at our surroundings. Probably for the best, I didn’t come here to flirt.
“Where are we exactly?” His voice betrays his frustration.
“Look, I feel bad for stringing you around today, changing the meeting place, and then leading you down the beach like this. I’d say I’m not trying to be cryptic, but that’s a lie. I’ve been trying to get a feel for you, how much I can trust you.”
“Well, the more cryptic you are, the less likely I am to trust you.”
“Fair enough. I promise I’ll tell you more once we collect the other player.”
“Other player? What?”
“There’s one other person who I’m hoping to recruit, but don’t worry, he’s probably a shoo-in.”
“Why would I worry? Is it someone you know?”
“Yeah, we’ve worked together before. He helped me change my name so I could get a job at The Adley Corporation.”
“You’re really in deep with this. Are you sure you don’t need therapy?”
I choose not to be annoyed by that comment, and simply brush it off. “I’ve done therapy, thank you very much for the suggestion. What I need is vengeance.”
“You’re nuts.”
My eyes flash, “Call me what you will, but we have a common goal and we need each other to accomplish it.”
“How so? What is it you want from me?”
“You’ve heard of Anonymous, right?”
He answers me warily, a frown pulling his lips down. “Of course, but, wait… If you’re about to invite me to join a notorious group of hacker activists, you can just stop. I’m not interested in this prank anymore.”
It’s hard to suppress the eye roll. “It’s not a prank, and I’m not inviting you to join Anonymous. I was using it as an example.”
“So, let me guess, you want me to join a team of hacker nerds so you can carry out a personal vendetta against one of the most powerful men in the country.”
“Yes.”
