software was being cracked. People were able to intercept the data over the Internet and decrypt it. And the stories were making news, causing an uproar because businesses are nuts about Internet security. With good reason. Financial transactions are just the tip of the iceberg of what’s out there. Social Security numbers, private medical information.”
Then it clicked. A skeleton key. “It was Denny wasn’t it? He was doing it.”
Dominic’s fingers tightened over the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. “Yes. In an effort to make our software impenetrable he stumbled upon this program. He targeted a few major corporations. Two back east. One in L.A. Companies that pass personal information on their employees to insurance carriers. He was able to crack their network security and intercept the files. Then he unlocked the data and made it public. He promised me he didn’t do anything with what he found. Just let it be known to both parties who were transmitting the data to one another what happened. The story got leaked to some local press. Anonymous hacker steals Social Security numbers. Was it front page news? No. But imagine you’re a congressman sitting on a committee deciding which company you’re going to trust to encrypt data for the government.”
“Looks bad,” Caroline admitted.
“Bad for them. Good for us. I couldn’t believe it when he told me. I was furious. If it came out, our reputation would be destroyed. He’d be arrested. Not to mention what it would mean if people discovered there was a program that could make any protected data available to anyone who wanted it. It wouldn’t be long before the criminal element descended.”
“Why did he do it? Did this contract mean that much to you financially?”
Dominic paused obviously rolling the question around in his head. “Yes and no. We were doing okay. Taking jobs away from some of the bigger names in the industry. But this would have solidified us. It would have vaulted us from successful to the big time. But Denny doing anything for money doesn’t make sense. He didn’t care about the money. All he cared about was the work. The mental challenge of making something that nobody could beat.”
“Pride. He wanted to show off that he was better than anyone else at what he did.”
“Could be. But showing off usually entails two people. The person doing the showing and the person watching. I don’t think Denny had any intention of telling me what he did. It wasn’t until I pressed him that he caved first about the program, then about what he’d done.”
Caroline thought of another problem. “Where is it?”
“The program?” Dominic grimaced. “I don’t know. I know he wouldn’t have put it out there on the company network. He never went anywhere without his laptop. That had to be in the car with him, so I imagine it was destroyed in the fire.”
“Then the program is gone,” Caroline concluded.
“One copy of it, yes. Denny would have had a backup.”
“You’re going to look for it, aren’t you? That’s the other reason we’re going back.”
“Yes. I have to believe that his death and that software program are related. I need to know not just who killed him, but if he got his hands on that damn program.”
“Can I ask you if you’re more worried about somebody using it unlawfully or that someone might expose what Denny did?”
He rubbed his eyes quickly and then focused on the road. He didn’t say anything for a long time. “I wish I could tell you I’m some kind of hero and I want to do this to protect people’s private information. I can’t. That company is my life. It’s everything I’ve ever made of myself. I can’t watch it crumble. I won’t. I’ll find the program and destroy it along with any evidence of what Denny did. Then I’ll find Denny’s killer.”
Caroline wanted to ask what he would do once he found him but she didn’t.
“It’s getting late,” he said abruptly and pointed to an exit up ahead on the highway. “We’ll pull over for the night.”
The exit marked Radlytown consisted of a gas station, a fast-food restaurant and a one-floor motel that looked barely habitable. Dominic left Caroline in the car while he went to check in. He came back with a key and pulled the car around to the back of the motel so it couldn’t be seen from the single road that split the town. It seemed like an unnecessary precaution in such an isolated place, but he apparently wasn’t taking any chances.
They got out and Caroline stretched her legs and back, thinking a hot bath might help ease her tight muscles. When Dominic opened the door to their room, she immediately decided a bath was out of the question.
In a room that looked like this, even a shower might not be a good idea. Heck, she was pretty sure she would be better off using the ladies’ room at the fast-food restaurant.
“I’m sorry,” Dominic apologized, setting their bags inside by the door as he took in the accommodations.
“It’s all right.” Caroline pulled down the spread on the king-sized bed and examined the sheets. They were clean and smelled of strong laundry detergent. “It will do. But I am hungry.”
“I’m sure the convenience store has some microwave burritos. Or if you are looking for something a little more upscale, there’s a burger and fries.”
A chuckle bubbled up and out of her mouth. It was a joke. He’d made a joke and while it was a lame one, she still had a hard time stopping herself from hiccupping with laughter. Probably since it had been so long since she could laugh about anything.
“I’ll take upscale. I do have my standards.”
Dominic smiled. For a second she thought he wanted to say something, but he shook his head. “I’ll be back with the burgers and fries.”
“I am going to pray the shower head spurts out clean hot water.”
Dominic returned to the room with two bags of greasy food. He set them down on the single table in the room and stared at the bathroom door. The sound of running water told him she must have come to terms with the shower. He hoped for her sake it wasn’t too grubby. He didn’t like the mental image of her showering amongst the dirt. She was too good for that.
Too good for that, too good to be on the run with him. Too good for any of this. With a sigh, he sat down on the edge of the bed and for the tenth time wondered why he’d let her come with him.
Then he wondered what it would have been like to make this trip alone without her. Talking to him, pushing him to think, the whole time reminding him that he was in this with someone. A partner.
Dominic thought of Denny and how that partnership had ended. A swell of regret washed over him. It had been such a stupid trick of fate that had landed them together on the inside. Dominic had focused on maintaining his isolation. He hadn’t talked to anyone, no one had talked to him. Anybody who’d tried to give him trouble he’d been strong enough to beat off.
Not Denny. Denny had been a wounded zebra at a lions’ watering hole and the predators had known it. Bad timing had Dominic walking into a laundry room where Denny had been cornered by three thugs looking to do what predators did with the weak. There had been that moment, that split second where he had to decide whether to walk away and pretend he didn’t see anything or fight for someone he didn’t even know.
Dominic wondered if he would ever tell Caroline how close he’d been to walking out and what kind of person that made him. But in the end he hadn’t. He’d stayed and fought and got the shit beaten out of him. Before anything else could happen, the guards found them and pulled everyone apart.
They’d been forced to spend two days in solitary, but as soon as Denny got out he’d tracked down Dominic and had pledged his everlasting loyalty. And he’d given it. Right up until the end.
“Who else did you tell about the program, Denny?”
The sound of running water was his only answer.
Turning toward the door, he thought about Caroline standing underneath a spray of hot water. His wife. He’d never believed he would have been the type to be so territorial, but one of the hardest things about being away from her was knowing she was out of his reach. Knowing, too, that at some point someone would have told her the truth about his name and his past, essentially forfeiting their marriage.
That thin tie, the connection that kept her linked to him, snapped with a few words, making it okay for her to leave him. But she hadn’t. She’d stayed there in his house waiting. While he’d been waiting in hers. So desperate for any connection to her that he’d read one of her books searching for her in between the pages.
He looked down at his lap and saw that he was hard. Just the idea that she was so close, naked and wet had been enough to set him off. He wondered what she would think if he opened the door to the bathroom, pulled aside the curtain and joined her there.
