Page 30 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“There’s just one problem,” I said thoughtfully. “The men didn’t break into just one room that night. What else did they take?”

He took a deep breath. “No one else knows this but me. Not even the other three men. In order to start the program, you need a key of sorts. The original code Whitlock created was stored on a USB drive. One doesn’t work without the other.”

I sat back in my seat, finally understanding what he was getting at. But how could that be? Whitlock was dead, and if no one else knew, then who the hell would know to take both pieces?

“If he’s alive,” he whispered, his eyes glistening with tears, “he won’t stop at his original plans.”

“How sure are you that you actually killed him?”

“I…I didn’t watch him die, but he shouldn’t have survived either.”

“So, there’s still the possibility that he’s alive.”

“And if he is,” he said urgently, “he’s had ten years to perfect his code. Imagine how much further he could take this. We’re not just talking about hacking into the banking system. Think of every system that could possibly be hacked and what he could do with that. He doesn’t care about the money. The only thing he cares about is unleashing his technology and watching it all crumble. And our defenses are weak right now.”

“Taking out the power plant could just be a side benefit to what he really wanted.”

He nodded quickly. “If he created a second system, it would most likely be more powerful than the first. Who knows what he’s discovered over the years. This was what he did day and night.”

“If you had that first system, would you have been able to use one computer against the other?”

“It’s very possible. But there’s no way to track it. I made sure of that, because I was terrified someone might figure out someday what I was hiding.”

“Then why didn’t you just destroy it?” I asked angrily. “By keeping it under lock and key, all you did was provide the opportunity for the technology to get out.”

He scoffed, shaking his head at me. “Why do scientists keep deadly viruses in labs? To learn from them,” he answered, “to develop cures.”

“Then how do we find him?” I snapped.

“I don’t know. I thought he was dead up until a week ago.”

“Think!” I slammed my hand down on the table. “You knew him best. If the situations were reversed, how would he find you?”

His eyes shifted as he thought for a moment, then he looked up at me. “I need a computer.”

10

EVA

I satin the deluxe waiting room they shoved us in, filled with every type of food, several different drinks, and a luxurious bathroom that looked like something out of a freaking magazine. New Guy was devouring the food, trying everything they had. Rae was flipping through a magazine, and I was just twiddling my thumbs, feeling completely useless.

“He’s going to be okay, right?”

“Of course,” Rae said, not even bothering to look up from what she was reading. “It’s an interrogation.”

“Yeah, but why did I get the feeling that he didn’t really have a choice about whether or not to come here.”

“Because he didn’t,” New Guy said around a donut. “Government guys don’t ask permission. They do whatever the fuck they want.”

“But Cash made it sound like he knows Rafe pretty well.”

I looked to Rae for confirmation since she seemed to know the most about him. I saw the slight hesitation as she flipped the page. But then she continued as if I hadn’t said a thing.

“Rae, what do you know?”

“I don’t know anything,” she said, licking her finger before flipping the page.

“You’re lying to me. Is it bad?”

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