Page 99 of Her Unflinching Warrior (Omega Sky)
22
Jada yawnedfor the second time in twenty minutes. “Do you want me to brew another pot of coffee?” she asked Gideon.
“Angel it’s after one in the morning.”
She smiled. “I can tell time, thank you very much, I just wanted to know if you wanted to join me as I have another cup of that delicious blend of Kona coffee that our hosts left for us.”
Gideon shook his head in defeat. “Yeah. That sounds good.”
She went over and kissed the top of his head, then left the office. Gideon picked up his phone and called Kane.
“I take it Jada’s not with you,” Kane said as he answered the phone.
“Affirmative.”
“Dex and Lark are going down a dead end, but that keeps Lark out of anything heavy,” Kane said.
“Agreed. I already explained that to Kostya. He was relieved,” Gideon replied.
“I don’t think it matters one little bit that your enemy is some history professor, we’re not going to find him that way. That was his backup-backup plan if he had to totally drop out. He’s not dropping out. He’s going to go for the gusto.”
“Not only that,” Gideon said. “Like this little side history thing he had going with Loyola, he’s had his big event planned for months or even a year. As you go through Bonham’s computer, check for any sign of a security breach. My guess is that Kendall has known about Bonham’s shadow computer since the beginning, and he’s already modified his firmware malware.”
“Okay, if that’s your supposition,” Kane mused, “then why kidnap and torture him?”
“My gut tells me they wanted to know if he’d shown any of the tech to anyone at Risk Guard. Remember, they said something about him leaking information.”
“I like it. You’re firing on all cylinders tonight, Chief. So how do we make sure that the women stay safe?”
“I want them all working with Rylie,” Gideon said. “Somehow we need to arrange it so they are all working on tracing Kendall via Loyola, while you, Dex, and me work on the firmware and how he might have improved it, then who he would target.”
“Why not Clint?” Kane asked.
“I’m thinking he wouldn’t be able to get this past Lydia.”
Kane chuckled. “I think you’re right. I also think you’re skating on thin ice, my friend.”
“I hope not. I want Jada safe. She’s been through enough.”
“You’ll get no objection from me.”
“Got to go, I hear her coming back.”
“Good luck, Gideon.”
* * *
Two dayslater the email came in a half hour before their Zoom call. It came to Gideon’s personal e-mail account that he only shared with his very close friends, and he didn’t recognize the sender.
He had a bad feeling.
“What’s up?” Jada asked as she continued to work on code beside him. She must have felt him tense up.
“We’ll see,” Gideon said as he clicked to open the e-mail.
YOUR FRIENDS ARE IMPRESSIVE. I LIKED ARETHA HEYER TOUCHING MY PERSONAL THINGS.
SO GLAD WE GOT A CHANCE TO CATCH UP. FINDING OUT THE PATHETIC LIFE YOU ARE LIVING GIVES ME PLEASURE. AND YOUR MOTHER? SO SAD THAT YOU DON’T TALK. IF YOU DID, MAYBE YOU’D LEARN SOMETHING.
