Chapter 11 #2
“But…” She looked at him, her blue eyes full of emotion. “Someone made me realize that sometimes the good outweighs the bad. Miles will be furious with me when he finds out, but hopefully, he’ll see why I did it. I want these suits gone.
“Miles is a silent partner to the company that makes the polymers in their shielding. The other man who owns the company works part-time at Gray Tower. The Conglomerate can’t make more suits.”
Nate stared at her, processing this news. He had no idea about this. It must have happened when he was locked away.
“You’re saying if I destroy these suits, the Conglomerate can’t make any more—at least not easily?” he asked.
“I’m not sure at all,” she said and shrugged. “The special polymer formula Joel Keller’s father created was the key to the shielding. There was a special facility created just to make them. They’d have to start over to find a new shielding.”
“They’d have to start over to find a new armor design,” Nate told her. “I was told every component was specially created to go together. Not having one part would throw everything off. They’d have to start from scratch or completely redesign those suits. It would take years—if not decades.”
“Then, your mission is incredibly important to finish. No more unbeatable spec ops. The world would be much safer and so would the people of Gray Tower.”
Nate’s heart began to beat faster as he realized she might help him.
“What does this mean?” he asked cautiously. “Will you help? You do understand the risks, right? I don’t want you to go into this blind. I want to make sure you…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
Good job talking this up, dumbass, he scolded himself.
He sounded like an idiot. Why would she want to do anything for him when he was a mess around her?
She smiled and laughed, which started as a giggle and then progressed to an all-out guffaw.
“You’re really sweet when you’re not hopped up on drugs and not scaring me in my bedroom at night,” she said when her laughter died down. “I appreciate you looking out for me. Are you…having second thoughts?”
He was sweet? Second thoughts? Fuck. He had to get his shit together.
“No,” he told her. “But the Conglomerate could come after you if they find out you’re helping me. I don’t want you to get hurt. They’re…ruthless.”
She bit her lower lip in thought and finally said, “I’ll do it.
I need to make the right choices, even if it means I lose the people I love for a while.
Destroying these suits is the right choice.
If there are spies at Gray Tower—and we have already found at least one—then an operation there would be a terrible idea.
If you are certain that you can do it, then I want in. ”
Well, he wasn’t exactly certain he could do it, but he was going to die trying if that’s what it would take. This mission was all he had left. If he couldn’t get to Victor, then he’d never have a normal life.
“Yeah, I’m going to fucking finish them,” he told her, nodding.
Alex clapped her hands together and said, “Good. What do I need to get you?”
“All of your friend Kat’s notes on the suit’s code, the patched code, how she was controlling the suits remotely, if she built an interface for it, anything related.”
“Well…” she began. “…I can do it. I think. I’m going to have to lie to my boss and my best friend.
Those notes are on a private server in Kat’s office—for security.
Can’t hack something that’s not connected to a network.
I’d have to ask her for them. Sneaking in there and trying to find them would be impossible for me. ”
“She doesn’t worry about someone physically coming in to steal the data?”
Alex laughed.
“Good luck. She lives in that office. It’s on the most secure floor in the building. No one even knows to search for it, and it’s buried under a bunch of video game nostalgia.” Then, she frowned. “I’m just going to have to figure out an excuse to get copies.”
She looked forlorn. He had asked her to betray her boss and friend. He had made her feel like that, and he felt like shit.
Not thinking, he reached out across the table and grabbed her hand.
She stiffened and began to pull away from him but stopped.
A zing of electricity shocked his hand, and he wondered if she felt the same thing.
No. She couldn’t have the same attraction.
Still, he stared at her, feeling like an asshole for fucking up her life.
“I’m sorry for putting you into this situation,” he finally said.
“Don’t,” she said softly. “You’ve been through enough. Can you…tell me how you got to this point? What happened to you? I was over at Keira and Logan’s. I saw a young picture of you and—”
Nate’s back went ramrod straight, and he pulled his hand away. He immediately regretted it, missing his soft skin and the feeling of a human connection, but his life story was a raw subject. He knew he needed to tell her something. How much was up for debate.
“I’m so sorry!” she apologized, her hands covering her mouth in worry. “I shouldn’t have asked. That was rude.”
“No, no!” Nate assured her. “I just…only one person knows some of the story, and even then, it’s just parts. I wasn’t prepared to talk to anyone about my life, especially not a beau—”
He stopped himself before he let it slip that he thought she was gorgeous. Again. He needed to go about this in a completely different way.
“How about this: you get me Kat’s code and notes, and I’ll tell you the whole story of my life.”
Her lip turned up slightly before she said, “Deal.”
As Nate left Alex’s house, he got a text message from an unknown number. He frowned as he read it.
Unknown: You’re welcome.
He assumed it had to be John. The message was cryptic enough to be from him. So what had he done that warranted this reply?
Nate: ???
He waited, but there was never a reply.