PAIN PULSED through my belly from the bullet wound that’d hit just shy of my intestines. Every time I shifted my position in the bed or, well, breathed, it turned into a sharper jab. The painkillers had numbed the worst of it, but this was hardly the most comfortable I’d been in my life.
I hadn’t let Julius dope me up too much. I could handle a little aching, and we had even more work to do than before now that all our previous leads had been called into question. Focusing on the data I could chase down and sort through on my laptop helped distract me from my physical discomforts anyway.
First I prodded at the image that had led us into the trap at the storage facility. It’d been well-positioned, but after several minutes of intensive prying, I dug up the evidence that it’d been posted to the internet only a couple of hours before the search had picked it up, not the many months the post that had held it had been designed to suggest. If we hadn’t been in such a hurry to make sure Dess was safe, I probably would have investigated further and noticed that before we’d left.
Of course, if we hadn’t rushed in there and Dess hadn’t been so cautious herself, those men would have taken her out easily while she was on her own. I might have saved myself from this stupid injury if I’d trusted her instincts more, but… it was hard to feel that racing to protect her had been a mistake. I liked the idea of standing back and expecting her to figure out all the threats on her own even less.
We couldn’t afford to step into any other traps, though. There weren’t any new image results so far anyway. Our best bet was something totally unrelated to the investigations our enemies were already aware of. Something that would never have occurred to them to use as a trap, since they didn’t know it’d appeal to us as bait.
There had been one line of inquiry I’d just started following up on the other day. I hadn’t mentioned anything about it to the others yet since I’d been half convinced it’d lead nowhere.
I dove back into tracing that thread, uncovering one bit of information and then another, examining each of the pieces from every angle to make sure it was legit before moving on. As the picture started to form in my head of what exactly I’d uncovered, a slow smile spread across my face.
This could be it. This could be the answer—an answer the pricks who kept attacking us couldn’t interfere with. Of course, there’d be a whole lot of other challenges to overcome, but the Chaos Crew had never shied away from danger. Still…
A knock sounded on my door. “Hey,” Dess’s voice carried through. “Steffie brought some fresh lemonade by. Do you want a glass?”
“Sure,” I said, though I was more interested in setting my eyes on Dess’s face than getting a drink. I’d been way too isolated in here thanks to my invalid status.
Dess slipped inside and set the glass of pale yellow liquid on the end table next to where I was propped up on multiple pillows. She took in my expression, and hers relaxed a little. “How are you doing? Can I get you anything else?”
“This is great,” I said to reassure her, and took a gulp of the lemonade—which was the perfect combination of sweet and sour; excellent job as always, Steffie. Dess had come in to check on me more than any of my other comrades, worry always darkening her eyes when she looked me over.
Now, she stepped closer and tugged the fleece blanket draped across my legs a little higher on my body. “Julius and Steffie said you wouldn’t want to let your muscles stiffen up with a chill.”
“I’m warm enough,” I said gently.
She backed up a step, her hands clasping in front of her with an awkwardness I hadn’t generally seen from her. Dess was usually so focused and self-possessed. I liked her that way… but I had to admit there was a certain appeal to her new role as concerned caregiver. I could see how hard she was trying to make things better for me even though she wasn’t sure how. Watching her like this set off a warm glow in my chest that told me I was falling for her even harder than before.
There was definitely no chance of me giving her up now, so it was a good thing the other guys had gotten their heads straight.
“How’s the pain?” she asked. “Do you need any more medication?”
I shook my head. “Less, I think. I can handle it. And I want my head as clear as possible. I think I’ve found a lead we can actually use—one that can’t be faked.”
Her face brightened, and she eased right to the side of the bed to peer at my laptop screen. “What is it? Did you find out something about the symbol or Malik?”
I shook my head. “Something totally different, which is why it should be safe from traps. Not that I didn’t examine it in minute detail to make sure it was legit on top of that. It’s not at all connected to anything else we’ve been doing, so there’s no way the people after you could know we’re looking into it now.”
Dess cocked her head. “If it isn’t connected to anything else, how useful can it be?”
I chuckled, glad to have the chance to surprise her. But I felt the need to clarify first, “It’ll be dangerous. Probably incredibly dangerous. But I think it’ll be worth it, because if we can pull it off, there’s a decent chance of us finding out exactly who you are.”
She sucked in a startled breath, her eyebrows rising. “Okay, now you really have to tell me. I don’t think dangerous is going to be a problem. It seems to be all of our middle names.”
“True. That’s why I bothered to track this down anyway.”
I swiveled the laptop toward her and motioned to the screen. It showed a blueprint for a four-story building in the shape of a segmented cube. Dess studied it, knitting her brow. “Where is this, and what’s so special about it?”
“From what I’ve been able to determine,” I said, “this is a secret, high security government facility that holds all the genetic information collected by various governments, law enforcement agencies, and companies around the world. Every record our government could get their hands on, by both legal and not-so-legal means.”
“Genetic information,” Dess repeated. “Like DNA. I thought you said running a test on that would be too risky.”
I nodded. “With any commercial company it would be. Your former captors could easily get access to those and put up alerts to notify them if anyone ran your DNA. But they may not even know this facility exists. I didn’t for sure until a few minutes ago. And even if they did, they wouldn’t have been able to plant code like that in its systems without the intrusion being detected quickly and destroyed.”
An eager gleam lit in Dess’s eyes, much better than the shadow of worry that’d lingered there before. “Then we could test my DNA after all.”
“Exactly.” I grinned at her. “Now, it isn’t a guarantee that someone related to you will also have their sequence in this database, but there’s a better chance of it than any other database in the world, since this is by far the most extensive. And it doesn’t put us or you in view of anyone who has it out for you.”
“That all sounds great. I’m guessing there are a few ‘but’s you haven’t mentioned yet.”
I waggled my eyebrows at her, my rising spirits making even the pain of the gunshot wound feel distant. “I’ll talk about your butt all day if you’d like.”
Dess snorted. “You know what I mean. What are the catches?”
I’d have pointed out that she was quite a catch, but then she might have smacked me even in my invalid state. I turned the laptop back toward me. “Well, for starters, I don’t know how to sequence your DNA myself, and the other guys sure as hell haven’t got a clue. So we’ll have to outsource that. To a private individual who’s capable of it, someone we can be sure isn’t compromised.”
“And?” Dess prompted, obviously picking up on the fact that the element I’d just mentioned couldn’t be the highly dangerous part.
“And in order to compare that sequence against the database, we’d have to actually get into the building and run the processes ourselves,” I said with a wince. “And it is a top secret, high security facility, as I might have mentioned before. There’ll be guards out the wazoo. Not to mention locks and other technical safeguards.”
Dess exhaled in a rush. “Okay. So we’d just have to get past all of that.”
“Yes,” I said dryly. “That’s all. Well, okay, that’s not totally all.”
She glowered at me. “What else?”
“I don’t think I’d be able to go in with you,” I admitted, as much as it pained me to say it. “Even at the best of times, I’m not the most physically coordinated guy around. With my injury on top of that… I’m not sure how well I can walk, let alone dodge a pack of elite security guards.”
“But wouldn’t we need you to get past the tech stuff and tell the computers to do what we want to search for the DNA match?” Dess said.
“Yeah. I can program some things ahead of time, but quite a bit I’d have to be talking you through remotely. Which does make it a more difficult proposition. More chance of human error. I’d try to cover every eventuality, of course, but it’s harder when I’m not right there.”
“Understandable.” Dess’s expression turned pensive. She gazed into space for a long moment as if gathering her thoughts.
I knew that figuring out who she was had always been the largest driving force behind her quest. She wanted to take the people who’d kidnapped her to task, sure, but mostly she wanted to know where she’d come from. What family she’d once belonged to. Even if it turned out they were jerks, I could only imagine the release that knowledge would give her. I had no idea what it’d be like to feel so adrift with no human connections to the most primal part of your past.
“I’m sure we could manage it,” she said finally. “You’ve had to instruct the rest of the crew from a distance for other jobs before, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, now and then. It’s not my ideal approach, but sometimes it’s necessary. Never in a situation quite this complex, though.”
She shrugged, a smile coming back to her face. “So it’ll be a challenge. We haven’t backed down from any of those yet. Unless you think we’re not up to the task?”
I shook my head. “It’s not that. I just—I hate the idea of all of you going in there and taking all the risks for a plan that’s totally my idea, while I get to hang out somewhere safe and sound.”
She patted my side, carefully avoiding the bandages there. “I think you’ve already proven very clearly in the past couple of days just how much danger you’re willing to put yourself in for me and the crew. No one’s going to criticize you for not being up to a high-stakes breaking-and-entering mission. I trust you to get us past anything we need your help with, and I know the rest of the crew will have no problem counting on you to look out for us too. If you believe we can pull this off, then I’m all in.”
Her words sent a strange sensation unfurling through my chest, a little giddy but also so unfamiliar I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I’d always been someone the guys could turn to for technical support and information, of course, and I’d helped in my own ways on the ground when I could, but the idea that people would trust me to protect their very lives made my pulse wobble.
I wanted to be someone my crew could count on that much, though. And this time—this time I’d do a good job of protecting everyone under my care.
Resolve rose up through me, and I shot Dess another grin. “All right, then. I’ll talk it over with the guys, and then we’re going to need to call in a favor. That DNA won’t sequence itself.”
