Page 219 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“Babe,” Wyl whispered. “You won’t see me murdered.”
“How do you know that?” Rod whined, wrapping his arms around Wyl and burying his face in Wyl’s neck.
“Like James and Glenn pointed out, we have two highly experienced British agents working closely with us. The Irish Gardaí is at our disposal, and the United States government is supporting us. How much chance do you think a couple of amateur criminals have to get rid of us?”
“But a student was murdered by those amateur criminals.”
“Yes, but that student didn’t have the support we do, the training in spotting criminal activity, or the backup of security forces from three strong nations. That student had no idea he was a threat. He was an easy target. We are not, or will ever be, any of those things.”
Rod’s breathing eased, and he sighed deeply as Wyl’s words soaked in.
“You’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. When was I ever not right?”
Rod chuckled. “How long a list do you want?”
Wyl pushed him to arm’s length. “You have a list?”
Rod stroked Wyl’s face. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Wyl pulled him in for a kiss, then thumbed wetness from Rod’s cheek. “Now, are you okay?”
Rod wiped his eyes. “Not really, but I do feel better. Thanks for the pep talk. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”
“You need to tell me when you’re worried so we can deal with it.”
“I know. Sometimes it’s hard.”
Wyl winked at Rod, his arm still around his waist. “I like it when you get hard.” A sly grin crossed Wyl’s face.
Rod shook his head. “Show me what you found in Ailbe’s email.”
“Not until you give me the list.” Wyl raised a brow.
“You’re too easy.” Rod shoved Wyl. “There is no list.”
They crossed the room and sat at the table. Wyl went through the projects, explaining to Rod how one dovetailed with another.
“It’s good you know this, Rod. Since I’ll be working with Ailbe, you’ll understand what I’m doing with this project.”
Rod shuddered. “This also helps me grasp the seriousness of this crime and why we’re here to stop it.”
Wyl put his hand on Rod’s and squeezed. “Exactly. Now I need to call Glenn and tell him what we found.”
Wyl grabbed his secure cell phone to call.
“Glenn, Wyl Sterling.”
“Hi, Wyl. What’s up?”
“I have information on the papers Chief Superintendent O’Brien sent. How would you like me to report? Verbally to you? Written?”
“Tell me what you discovered, and we can decide what will work best for O’Brien.”
“I looked at the coding Fergus Rafferty sent. He was definitely working on a password algorithm. It’s difficult to know exactly how it fits with the remaining projects. MacGowan emailed a project overview to me, and I can see how all student projects dovetail.”
“At least we know there is a connection.”
