by Lexi Blake
Did he want to lie to Noelle?
Did he even have a fucking choice?
Would it be wrong to ask for a session in the middle of an op?
“Have I lost you?” Kyle sounded irritated.
Hutch glanced back at his laptop. He had some programs running, trying to figure out the layout of Genedyne’s system. It was complex, but definitely not undoable. “You said you didn’t want to talk. So I thought we weren’t talking.”
A brow rose over Kyle’s eyes. “Aren’t you going to try to convince me?”
“Nope. That’s your damage, and until you’re ready to face it, no amount of me trying to convince you will work.” He might need to get into the server room. He’d hoped he could do it all from here, but it would be infinitely easier with physical contact. How long would it take him? The server room was on the floor below the business level. MaeBe was on standby. He could bust through the keycard processor easy peasy, but it might set off a security alert.
“You think I don’t face it?”
Now was the time when he would normally take a fucked-up dude out for a beer and gently coax him into telling the whole sad story. Dudes could be skittish, too. But Kyle wasn’t the normal life-fucked-me-over story. Kyle might be dangerous, and he couldn’t make him more suspicious than he already was. Telling him Tag knew he’d worked with the Agency was a calculated risk, but a fairly easy one to make.
Telling Kyle his uncle thought he might still be working for them would be a mistake, and Hutch didn’t make mistakes like that.
“I think you risked our client at two this morning because you didn’t want to face whatever you dreamed about,” Hutch explained.
Kyle stopped. “You might have a point. Maybe coming here was a huge mistake.”
“Where else would you go? I can assure you you’ll have to sleep there, too.”
“You’re kind of an asshole.”
“Well, somehow I don’t think me coaxing you is going to work,” Hutch pointed out. “You’ve made it perfectly clear that we aren’t friends.”
“How did I do that?”
“Friends don’t bust through other friend’s security systems when their friend’s girlfriend is in danger. I mean, I got the point from all the crap you’ve said over the last couple of days, but that really drove it home.”
Kyle’s jaw dropped. “Crap I’ve said? I was joking.”
He was missing the point. And rewriting history. “You literally said we weren’t friends. Several times.”
“Fine. We’re friends.” Kyle sat back down. “I’m not sure what to do or if I should even stay here. I can’t talk to my brother about this. He wouldn’t understand. David’s a freaking college professor. He’s never had to do the things I’ve done. The worst he’s faced is pressure over publishing. He talks about that a lot. It’s the pinnacle of bad shit in his world. How can I tell him I’ve killed people?”
Ah, now they were getting somewhere. It was hard for Hutch to believe that this was an act. He didn’t think Kyle was that great an actor. It was odd, but he wouldn’t peg Kyle as a brilliant operative. Kyle would be able to kill when he needed to, would probably be great at following a subject and analyzing a situation. But pretending would be hard for him. At least that was Hutch’s take on the man.
Unfortunately, Hutch was good at it. And his time was running out. The guards who worked the building were about to take their dinner break, and for thirty minutes or so only the lobby-level guard would be actively watching the cameras. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. The guards were scheduled to take separate dinner breaks, but the man and his woman counterpart seemed to be flirty according to MaeBe, who’d cut into the feeds days ago and watched the guards like a soap opera playing out for her amusement.
Hutch closed his laptop. “I think he probably knows since you were on a team. You were in the military and you saw combat. It wouldn’t shock him. He’s probably worried about you, too, but you have to be willing to open up to someone. I’ve worked for the Agency. I’ve worked dangerous undercover ops. I’ve come back from more edges than you could imagine. If you honestly think whatever you have to say is going to shock someone like me, then you’re wrong. So when you’re ready to talk, I’ll buy you a beer and you can tell me your shocking story and be disappointed when I explain the truth I’ve found out about the world.”
For a moment he thought Kyle wasn’t going to take the bait, but he finally looked Hutch’s way. “What’s that?”
“That when we feel our most alone,” Hutch began, “when we think we’re lost and in the woods and no one can ever find us, it’s only because we aren’t looking at all the other people who are in that dark place with us. It’s a lie that you’re alone. It’s a lie you tell yourself because not being alone means there’s no reason to turn away from the past. Not being alone means facing it all. It means letting it break you utterly because you can’t heal until you break. And if you’re not alone then it’s okay to break because someone will be there to help you mend.”
Kyle huffed. “Yeah. Sure. There’s someone else out there who’s been through what I have.”
And that was all he could do. He couldn’t force Kyle to trust him. He rather thought Kyle didn’t want to trust anyone. “Like I said, when you’re ready, find me or someone like me. Now I need you to make sure Noelle doesn’t get murdered while I take a leak. I’m pretty sure I remember where the bathroom is.”
“I think I can handle that.” Kyle sat back. “Be careful.”
“I’m going to the bathroom, man. Tonight all I’m doing is getting a feel for what it’s going to take to get what we need. There’s zero chance Noelle is done tonight. We’ll get a shot tomorrow.” He could always say he’d underestimated how fast she would work, but he was a bit worried that she would want to be back here tomorrow. Something had gone hinky with the MRI machine she’d been testing her theories on. She looked awfully cute with a wrench in her hand and goggles covering her eyes.
“All right. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Kyle promised. “I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I don’t like the fact that Jessica booted me tonight. She hadn’t mentioned anything about it up until I walked down to the limo. Then she dismissed me. I can assure you that she wasn’t thinking about dismissing me this morning.”
Hutch huffed. “Maybe she realized you’re a douchebag.”
“I’m serious, Hutch. Something changed this afternoon, and it affected the way she views me. I have to think she’s up to something.”
Perhaps Kyle was right. She’d changed her plans. She’d been going on a date and now she was having some kind of dinner meeting. “Do you know who she invited to that dinner?”
“I might have seen a list of names,” Kyle admitted. “Jessica’s assistant had it sitting on her desk. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I remember them.”
“Did you send the names to MaeBe?”
“I’ll do it now. Sorry. Like I said, I’ve got a lot on my mind. I’m going to focus.”
“You do that.” Hutch walked out, but not before he grabbed the small pack he’d left on the edge of the desk. It contained his phone and a couple of attachments that weren’t readily available in a tech store. When he was certain Kyle couldn’t see him, he placed the comm device in his ear. It was linked to another set and didn’t record, so it worked even in the presence of Kyle’s anti-bug technology. “You there, MaeBe?”
“You know I am.” MaeBe’s voice came over the line. “What on earth were you talking to Kyle about? I couldn’t hear anything, but that looked serious as hell. Is he like into Noelle? Is that what you’re fighting about?”
He moved down the hallway, keeping his voice low. “No. He’s not into Noelle, but I also think he shouldn’t be into anyone right now. His situation is complicated, and you should be careful around him.”
“Am I that obvious? Take the stairs to your right. The stairwells only require keycards on the ground floor,” MaeBe advised. “Also, you’re total
ly alone. There are a couple of people working late on the second floor, and some dudes hooking up hard on ten. They would not notice you even if you walked in. They’re totally into each other.”
It was good to have eyes on the building. MaeBe was at the McKay-Taggart building on a server that had been secured by Hutch and overseen by the goddess of the Internet, Chelsea Weston. She was safe. He, not so much. It had been a long time since he’d felt this kind of jangly anxiety that came with a boots-on-the-ground mission. Adrenaline made him chatty. “And you’re not obvious, but I know you pretty well. I’ve seen how you look at him, and you’re interested. I’m telling you to be careful, and that’s all I can say.”
“Huh, there’s one other person in the building. How did I miss her?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it was the two hot dudes hooking up,” Hutch quipped.
“It’s weird. She’s on the fourth floor, walking toward the elevators. I think she’s heading home.” MaeBe’s voice had gone totally professional. “Hey, speaking of the devil, I got a text from Kyle. It’s a list of names. What am I supposed to do with this? He is not very communicative.”
It was good to know Kyle was succinct. “Those are the names of the people who are taking a meeting with Jessica even as we speak. She changed all of her plans to meet with those people. I haven’t seen the names yet.”
“Well, there seems to be an international flair to her guests. Dimitri Sidirov. Igor Krupin. Saeed Nasir.”
Hutch stopped. “MaeBe, I need you to run those names now. Text Kyle and ask him for the name of the restaurant and figure out a way to break into the feeds around it. I want to know who they are, and I want recognition to confirm it.”
“What are you thinking?”
His mind was racing, making connections. “I think the fact that she dismissed Kyle says something. She thinks Kyle lives with Noelle, and she’s meeting with Russians and someone who could potentially be from the UAE. I want you to see if you can connect those names with natural gas companies.”
He could hear her typing as he moved down the hallway.
“Wow, that was fast,” MaeBe said over the line. “Okay, uhm, Mr. Sidirov represents a Russian energy company.”
“They all do. I need dossiers on every one of them.” Hutch took the stairs two at a time.
“Will do,” MaeBe said. “It looks like Nasir is also with an energy company. Is this about natural gas?”
“No. It’s about helium.” Noelle’s research was promising. He hustled up the next flight. He had to get the data he needed and then get Noelle out of here.
With her research. Every single file, every experiment. He could take it all and then erase it from Genedyne’s servers. Then he would get a good lawyer because hell would be coming for her, but if he was right, it might be the only way to save Noelle’s work.
“But Noelle’s research isn’t about finding helium,” MaeBe said and then a gasp came over the line. “Oh, shit. Her research is about conserving helium. If she’s right, the price goes down, and anyone who uses helium on their machines invests in her recycling techniques. You think Layne’s selling Noelle’s research to the people who will bury it.”
“Think about it. What’s really come out of Genedyne?” It was a question Cara had posed during the debrief today. “There’s been a whole lot of press, but what’s made it to market?”
“These kinds of innovations can take time,” MaeBe offered.
“I don’t think Jessica Layne has any plans to spend time and money to bring anything to fruition. Why would she when she can sell the process to someone who will or someone who will bury the whole thing? And she’s got the right to do it because she owns it.” This was why she hired young, hungry geniuses. She took their talent, made money off of it, and then buried them in legal fees. She was taking the best and brightest minds of a generation, wringing them dry, and tossing them out.
Anger thrummed through him, and he was happy he was about to take this whole house of cards down. If he could find what he needed in time.
“I’m approaching the server room.”
“I can see that,” MaeBe replied. “You should get in fast because the woman on the elevator pushed the number of your floor. She’s going up, not down like I expected.”
“Do we know who she is?”
“She hasn’t looked up from her phone, so I haven’t run her through facial recognition,” MaeBe admitted.
He didn’t like the sound of that. One thing went right though. The door to the server room came open, proving that days of learning this system had paid off. He slipped inside and immediately found what he needed. He pulled out a small drive and started to run through the company’s financial records, copying everything he could and taking a virtual picture of what the server looked like in that moment. He would try to get in and out quietly, but there was always the possibility someone would figure out he’d been inside and try to flush the system. He needed proof of what was on this system at the moment.
“Hutch, I need you to be quiet.” MaeBe’s voice was barely a whisper, as though she was worried someone might hear her from across the city.
A chill went through him. “What’s happening?”
“Our friend is approaching the door, and she has a keycard in her hand,” MaeBe explained. “She’s going in. Fuck. The system just registered Noelle’s card. She’s using Noelle’s keycard.”
The door started to come open, and Hutch realized he was in trouble.
Chapter Fifteen
Hutch glanced down and realized he was seconds away from finishing his download. He moved behind one of the large servers.
Someone had either stolen or duped Noelle’s keycard. Someone was setting Noelle up on the same night Jessica was meeting with men who would love to hide her research.
Whoever was coming through that door was actively working to steal Noelle’s ideas, to take a future she’d worked hard for. Anger started to war with fear, though his training had taken over and a calm started to descend.
“She’s moving in. She can’t see you at this point.” MaeBe’s voice had gone calm. “She’s pulling out a drive. Yours is finished, Hutch. It’s done and all you need to do is get the fuck out of there as soon as you can. She’s coming your way. Your best bet is to move around the opposite direction. She’s coming the same way you came in. I think she’s going for the same system.”
Was it possible Cara had sent in her own person? The special agent seemed like a woman who might get impatient and try to do the job with her own people. If whoever the intruder was worked for the FBI, they probably wouldn’t kill him. Of course they also probably wouldn’t have used Noelle’s keycard.
He couldn’t risk it. Whoever was coming around the corner likely hadn’t been trying to throw a suspicious coworker off the scent. If she was a pro, she would have a gun, and therefore the only advantage he had was the fact that she didn’t know he was in here.
He wasn’t carrying because Kyle would have asked why he’d grabbed a gun to go to the bathroom.
He hoped he had everything he needed because he was not going to get another chance at this.
He moved as quietly as he could, the hum of the machines around him giving him some cover. He caught sight of someone coming around the corner as he pocketed his drive and eased out of sight.
How quiet had the door been? He’d had to use a bit of force to push through, so it was probably on a self-closing hinge. Could he get out without her hearing or would the very act alert her?
“I’m in. Yes, I’m going to get it done, and I used the girl’s keycard,” a quiet voice said.
Hutch stopped, the idea of learning more information suddenly more important than getting out.
“I know. I can do things right sometimes. I only get tripped up over one thing.” She was quiet for a moment. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten for a second. I won’t let personal feelings fuck up this job. I’m going quiet now. I expect payment upon delivery.”
�
�Oh, I’m going to track this bitch,” MaeBe promised in his ear. “I’ve got a good bead on her. I think if you stay where you are, we’ll be okay. I’m watching her. She’s not pulling financial data down. She’s in another file. Fuck, she’s pulling research. Noelle’s research. She’s downloading everything they have on the helium project.”
He wanted to tell MaeBe to screenshot what she could, to capture the espionage in progress. They had to figure out who this was. If she erased the files…
Noelle was in the building. If she erased the files, Noelle would know immediately. Noelle would contact someone.
“I’ve got what we need. Tell our Russian friends I’ll let them look at the real data and they can decide if Layne’s insane offer is worth it. Hold on.”
“Hutch, she’s moving your way. I think she heard something.” MaeBe’s calm declaration sent a pulse of adrenaline through him. “And she’s got a Glock 9. She’ll be coming from your left. Quick but quiet.”
The ground beneath him was carpeted, and that would help enormously. He moved across the aisle toward the other side of the room, the one he’d come from. This was a game of cat and mouse, and he was worried he was about to be the mouse.
“Is someone here?” a feminine voice asked. “Sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t alone. I’m new.”
Sure she was. It was a good try, but he wasn’t going to buy it. No one would if they’d heard her talking. She was trying to figure out where he was. Any sound at all would help.
Hutch moved, flattening out against the side of the machine at the end of the aisle.
“She’s behind you, but she’s stopped halfway down the aisle. I’ll let you know if you need to move. For now, stay completely still. She obviously doesn’t have backup watching,” MaeBe pointed out.
If she did have her own MaeBe, the lady with the gun would know exactly where he was. She didn’t seem to.
“I’m fine,” the woman said, her voice quieter now. “Just out of practice and a bit paranoid. I’m on my way out, and I’ve already put the plan in motion. I’ll meet Sidirov at the time and place we agreed to. No. No one will be able to tell I was ever here. Including Jessica Layne. She’ll have to delete this chick’s lifework herself if our client decides to make a deal. I’m going to create some chaos on my way out. I have plans in place. Despite my previous issues, I’m still a pro. And yes, I intend to tie up loose ends soon.”
