Page 84 of Savage Ruin
Philip’s phone rings. He raises it for Thiago to see David’s name.
“On speaker,” Thiago orders.
“What the hell happened? Harrison is furious, and so is she. They’re threatening to kill you.” David whispers loudly. Shouts can be heard in the background.
“You’re on speaker. Thiago, SEI, they know everything. They’re willing to make a deal for Harrison Langford and the woman,” Philip interjects.
Voices move closer to the phone.
“They’re coming,” he blurts out.
Given his background with Dr. Langford, the computer with the rootkit on it has to be David’s not Langford’s. “David, it’s Henley. We saw each other in Austin, remember? Write a time and place to meet and save it to the Henley code file on your computer,” I rush to spit out the instructions before he hangs up. “I’ll grab it.”
“How…” he gets out, then hangs up.
Philip looks at Thiago. “Now what?”
“You’d better hope David finds a time and place to meet, or you’re going to prison for a long time,” Thiago informs him. He jerks his chin. “Get him out of here. Put him in the holding cell.”
I open my laptop and access David’s computer via the rootkit. Finding the hidden files, I open the folder named Henley. No new files have been uploaded yet. Leaving it open, I lean back on the couch.
“What did Beau have to say?” I ask Thiago to pass the time.
“Epic’s thrilled to be a part of the launch. The glasses passed their rigorous testing and they’re ready to start production. The first batch should be here within thirty days,” he replies. He nods in satisfaction.
“What are we going to do about Philip?” Mateo wonders.
“If he does what we tell him, nothing. He’s fired due to espionage. No company will ever hire him again. How he moves on or recovers, I don’t care. He’s lucky I don’t kill him for his role in Marcos’ death. Would you rather go that route?” Thiago asks Mateo, his dark eyes glittering with anger.
Mateo groans. “No, I don’t like hearing he did it to save his son.”
Grayson scoffs. “He sold you, didn’t he? Philip Carlton lives in a multi-million dollar paid off house. His accounts are extremely healthy. And the software they pitched last year is solid. Worth probably three to five million. They could have sold it to someone. We offered to broker it, but they turned us down.”
Mateo freezes. “I’m so gullible.”
I lean forward and pat his leg. “If it makes you feel any better, you suspected CJ Tech. You were obviously wrong about me, but you didn’t dismiss the idea.”
He glares at me.
Thiago and Grayson laugh.
“Well, technically, you all suspected CJ Tech, but at least Grayson gave me the benefit of doubt,” I qualify my previous statement.
“Are you ever going to let us forget it?” Grayson muses.
“Maybe, with a lot of groveling,” I return cheekily.
A file appears in the folder. I sit up and click on it.
Tomorrow. Eight a.m. Vice City Bean. North Miami. Henley 1
I type a quick message onto the file.Not possible. Security
Okay, no cops.
Thiago looks thunderous. “You’re not going alone.”
“I’m not going alone. I’ll have security with me,” I retort.
