Leverage

by Janie Crouch

  “You really don’t have one?”

  “No.” Megan shrugged. “I told you that.”

  “Megan, where is this data from if not a drive?” The man’s curiosity had obviously outweighed any ill feelings he had toward Megan.

  “Jim, I know you and I have had our differences, but this is important. We’re the good guys here. But—” Megan looked around casually at the men sitting in the room and lowered her volume “—perhaps not everyone in this building is.”

  Miller looked at Dylan, then back at Megan and Shelby. He nodded. “I’ll let them know that there’s no hard drive. But I’m supposed to stay here and report on what you’re doing.”

  Shelby and Megan were already back at work, both of them frantically scanning data. They were running out of time with the bomb.

  And with Dr. Jim Miller here to report on every move they made, things had gotten just about as bad as they could get.

  Or so Dylan thought.

  Because then Dennis Burgamy walked through the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Shelby heard somebody else enter the room behind her and cringed, gritting her teeth. It was getting really crowded in here.

  She knew things were falling apart around them. That the mole—Burgamy or whatever his name was—was closing in. Maybe the computer would be taken away at any moment. Heck, for all Shelby knew, maybe they were all about to be thrown into some dark cell or killed.

  She could hear talking going on all around her, could feel all the people, but tried to stay focused. She had finally found the thread she was looking for, the one that would lead to the code needed to disarm the bomb.

  What time was it? How much time did they have left before the bomb went off?

  All the voices in the room were driving Shelby crazy. She wished she could poke her fingers in her ears. But her right hand wasn’t working anyway, still cramping every time she tried to move it, so that couldn’t happen. She was already feeling sick from the effort to get the data in earlier. She needed quiet. She needed to be alone.

  Damn it, she needed to know what time it was.

  “Dylan.” Shelby knew he was talking to someone, could hear their voices louder than the rest. But Megan was too busy talking to the other computer guy who came in to ask her.

  Dylan was by her side in just a moment. “Hey.” He brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes. “You okay?”

  She was so tired.

  “I’ve almost got what I’m looking for—the code to shut off the...” Shelby trailed off. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say anything in front of these people. She had no idea who was good and who was bad anymore. “What time is it?”

  “Almost eight o’clock. Keep working, okay?” He kissed the top of her head and Shelby almost believed that he cared. “Everyone is waiting for our call.”

  “I’ve found the right string. I just need a few more minutes to follow it.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s getting crowded in here, Dylan. That’s hard for me.” Shelby desperately wanted Dylan to understand. She wouldn’t be able to function for much longer.

  Somebody said something from across the room, but Dylan held out an arm to silence the person. He crouched down next to Shelby, giving her all his attention. “Shelby, I know how hard this is for you.” His words were whispered so no one else could hear. “You’ve already been so strong, baby. Keep it up just a little bit longer, okay? Get that code for my family to dismantle the bomb and I promise I will get you away from people for as long as you want.”

  Dylan did understand. He didn’t think she was making stuff up just to get attention, as Shelby’s mom had always felt.

  Shelby nodded and turned back to the monitor. Using the last of her strength and focus, she pushed all the voices and presence of others to the background.

  She saw the trail she was looking for in the massive amount of code. She began to follow it, reading the numbers the way most people read books.

  She only needed one small group of numbers. She knew they were there. But it was like finding one particular sentence in the middle of a large legal document. Even though you knew what to look for, it was hard to find.

  But people, children, were going to die if Shelby didn’t find that code.

  So she shut everything out and focused.

  There. There it was.

  “I’ve got it,” Shelby announced.

  “She’s got what? What has she got?” Shelby heard the angry words from behind her, but didn’t know who said them.

  “Go, Shelby, I’m ready,” Dylan said, also ignoring the man who was yelling.

  Shelby read off the eight-digit code. She looked over to find Megan with her cell phone also. Both she and Dylan were sending the code to the bomb site.

  “Anything else they need to know?” Megan asked.

  “No, that’s it, according to this data.”

  Shelby sat back and spun the chair away from the computer terminal for the first time since she’d sat down in it. There really were a lot of people in here. No wonder she had been going a little crazy.

  One guy in particular, Shelby had to guess he was Burgamy, based on what she had heard, was pretty livid.

  “Why the hell didn’t you notify me that you were here, Branson?” Burgamy asked Dylan. “And are you okay from your crash?”

  “My plane did go down, but we somehow managed to survive. We somehow managed to survive a lot of things over the past few days.”

  Burgamy’s eyes narrowed at that. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, Branson, but we have protocols and rules that have to be followed. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that in the years since you’ve last worked here.”

  Burgamy didn’t show any signs of stopping his tirade anytime soon. Shelby wasn’t sure how long she could listen to him before she did or said something really inappropriate.

  She just needed to get out of here for a while. As far as Shelby could tell, neither Megan nor Dylan had heard anything back from the bomb site. That was a good thing, right? Shelby hoped so, because she didn’t think she could get back on that computer with all this human nonsense going on around her.

  Chantelle DiMuzio, the lady who had been here earlier, came back in the room.

  “Chantelle, why wasn’t I notified that Dylan Branson was in the building? I thought he and Ms. Keelan had critical information that we needed.”

  “I did update the status report when I found them here earlier, sir. But Mr. Branson informed me that the hard drive with the data they were meant to deliver had been destroyed in transit, so I lowered their rank of importance in the system.” Chantelle’s voice was tight but level. Obviously she was used to this sort of conversation with her boss.

  “At least you sent in some other Omega employees, as per protocol.” Dennis Burgamy straightened his tie. Obviously protocol was the most important thing to him.

  Shelby really didn’t like that man.

  She could feel something inappropriate building inside her. If she punched Burgamy, would she be arrested for attacking an officer of the law? Did that law still apply if the guy was obviously a total jerk? Shelby actually took a step toward the man.

  It was Chantelle who stepped in and saved the day. She set her tablet down on the table and turned to Burgamy. “Sir, these ladies have been in here all morning working. It looks like they need a break. If it’s okay, I will escort them to get some coffee and will stay with them the entire time.”

  Burgamy hesitated and then nodded. “Fine. I want to talk to Branson anyway. About, for example, why none of his siblings seem to be here today.”

  Shelby looked over at Dylan and he nodded. Shelby sure hoped Burgamy was the mole and that Dylan would find a way to prove it or else it looked as if all the Branson siblings were
going to be looking for new jobs.

  Megan and Shelby followed Chantelle out the door.

  “Thanks for getting us out of there, Chantelle,” Megan said as they walked down the hall. “I think Shelby had had all she could stand and might have been about to do your boss bodily harm.”

  “Dennis can be a little much sometimes,” Chantelle said.

  “A little much?” A gross understatement, if Shelby had ever heard one.

  “Okay, a complete pain in the ass most of the time,” Chantelle snickered.

  All three women laughed.

  “How well do you know Burgamy, Chantelle?” Megan asked.

  “We’ve worked with each other every day for four years and I constantly ask myself why I don’t quit.” Chantelle laughed again, shaking her head. “Hey, do you gals want to get coffee at the place next door instead of the break room? I could use a little fresh air.”

  Shelby could, too, and they readily agreed. It didn’t take them long to work their way out of the building.

  Shelby barely refrained from throwing her arms out and spinning around once they made it outside. She finally felt as if she could breathe. There was nobody around her and all she could hear was the sound of traffic and construction.

  It was like music to her ears.

  Shelby knew she had done a good job. She had gotten all the data in the system and she and Megan had found what they needed to stop the bombing.

  She’d been an important part of saving a lot of lives today.

  She and Megan would figure out what the other parts of the code meant and hopefully put a stop to even more of DS-13’s plans.

  But Shelby also knew this meant that she and Dylan would be going their separate ways soon.

  She’d accepted that he hadn’t really meant what he said in the kitchen. Dylan wasn’t cruel; he wouldn’t say something unkind to hurt her purposefully, even if he didn’t want to continue whatever was between them. But the fact was, they hadn’t made any promises to each other, and it didn’t seem likely that Dylan was going to be ready to make any promises anytime soon.

  If there was one thing Shelby knew from programming, it was this: timing was everything. She and Dylan had the chemistry for sure, and cared about each other. But the timing wasn’t right.

  Shelby was brought back into the present by Megan linking arms with her. “Did you hear Chantelle’s suggestion?”

  “No, I’m so sorry, I was in a different world.”

  “There’s a new coffee place that opened the next block over that has fabulous chai tea. Chantelle thought we could try it out.”

  “Sounds great to me.”

  Actually, nothing sounded great to Shelby, but she knew she was just going to have to move on. The wind picked up. She wished she had a jacket.

  “Let’s cut through this alley,” Chantelle said. “It’ll get us out of the cold quicker.”

  “Good. I’m freezing,” Megan said, grabbing Shelby’s arm more securely.

  “So what were you guys working on so hard in there? Shelby looks like she’s been through ten rounds,” Chantelle asked. “It’s such a shame that hard drive was destroyed. There weren’t any other copies?”

  “Not to speak of,” Shelby said.

  “So I came to realize when I checked you out a little further, Shelby...” Chantelle said.

  Megan and Shelby both stopped walking. Shelby realized the wind wasn’t whipping around them any longer.

  Because Chantelle had led them down an alley that had no opening on the other side. It was a dead end. And there wasn’t another soul around.

  Chantelle didn’t even look like the same woman who had been up with them in the computer lab. This woman wasn’t browbeaten by an overbearing boss. She was someone very much in control.

  And she was someone pulling out a gun and putting a silencer on the end of it.

  “You’re the mole, not Burgamy,” Megan said.

  Chantelle rolled her eyes. “Burgamy is a sycophant and a moron. He doesn’t have enough intelligence to play both sides. Especially not to work for DS-13.”

  Chantelle pointed her gun at Shelby. “You. I can’t believe someone like you, who can hardly have a coherent conversation with more than one other person, is the one causing DS-13 so many problems.”

  She twisted the silencer the rest of the way onto the muzzle of the gun. “I spent too much time trying to keep any sort of hard drive out of the building. I thought that would be enough. Shame on me for assuming. But honestly, who even knew that someone like you existed? Someone with all the codes in her head. Freak.”

  Shelby and Megan looked at each other, but said nothing.

  “I want you to take out your phone and call Dylan,” Chantelle continued. “Tell him you made a mistake with the bomb-disarming code and that you just figured out it was wrong. Give him a new number to relay to his siblings.”

  “No,” Shelby told her. “I don’t care if you shoot me. I won’t do it.”

  “Oh, but, Shelby,” Chantelle said with a half smile that almost looked friendly. “I won’t shoot you. I’ll shoot Megan here. Right in the belly.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Dylan watched Burgamy dismiss three of the four guards that had been posted in the room. Dr. Miller had ducked out as soon as possible after the women left. That left one other Omega employee, Burgamy and Dylan.

  Dylan had no plan to leave Burgamy alone in this lab with the computer if he had any other option.

  “What’s going on, Dylan?” Burgamy asked. “Where are your siblings?”

  Dylan knew he couldn’t tell Burgamy anything. Hopefully, Burgamy had no idea that they knew about the scheduled bombing. Dylan didn’t want to give him the opportunity to tip off DS-13 before the bomb unit and his family had a chance to disarm the bomb.

  “I don’t know where they are.” Dylan shrugged. “I don’t work in law enforcement, so they’re not at liberty to tell me all of their whereabouts.”

  Burgamy rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll deal with them later. Tell me what was going on in here. Why would you sneak in here? You’ve walked through the doors like you own the place enough times.”

  Maybe it was time to start putting a little pressure on Burgamy. “I just thought it was pretty interesting that the first time I pick someone up for Omega, both engines on my plane suddenly fail.”

  “It was sabotage?”

  Dylan nodded. “Somebody trying to kill Shelby Keelan and make it look like an accident. But you know what’s even more interesting? There were only a few people who knew I would be the one flying her in.”

  “What are you trying to say, Branson?”

  “I’m not trying to say anything. I’m just pointing out some facts the way they happened.”

  “What? Are you kidding? When Chantelle and I heard that you had made it out of the crash alive, I was thrilled. You can ask her. I wasn’t sure why you hadn’t reported in.”

  Something wasn’t right, Dylan realized. When he first talked to Chantelle this morning, she had said she thought he had crashed. Then asked about the hard drive. Why would she do that, unless...

  Dylan’s phone began to vibrate. He took it out of his pocket.

  Shelby. Calling him. On the burner phone they had bought. He distinctly remembered her aversion to talking on the phone. She’d even let him listen to her voice-mail message while they had joked at Sally’s that first night: Sorry, I can’t take your call. Please hang up and text me.

  Shelby Keelan did not talk on the phone if she had any other option.

  “Hey, Shelby. Everything okay?”

  “Hi, Dylan.”

  Dylan could tell immediately that Shelby was on speaker and outside. “Are you outside? Where are you?”

  “Um, yeah, Dylan. We’re just
going to get coffee at that new place around the corner. Look, this is important. Do you mind reading back to me that number I gave you earlier to pass along to your brothers and sister and the bomb squad.”

  Puzzled, Dylan grabbed the notepad and read them back to Shelby.

  “Yeah, that second-to-last number isn’t right. I’m so sorry, Dylan. I just made a mistake. It should be a three not an eight. I feel so terrible making a mistake on something so critical. It’s really important that you call them and let them know I made a mistake.”

  “I will, Shelby. You don’t worry about it, okay. Just go enjoy your coffee. I’ll see you soon.”

  The phone instantly cut off.

  “Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?” Burgamy roared.

  Dylan had been wrong about Burgamy. He wasn’t the one who worked for DS-13.

  Chantelle DiMuzio was. And she had Shelby and Megan.

  “Your assistant is a double agent for DS-13. And there’s a bomb in DC about to kill a bunch of people if Omega doesn’t stop it.”

  Burgamy’s curse was vile. “I knew we had a leak, but I didn’t know who.” Burgamy cursed again. He walked over to the other Omega employee still in the room. “I assume you’re carrying?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I need your weapon right now.”

  The man handed it to Burgamy. Burgamy turned and handed it to Dylan.

  “Let’s go get Shelby and Megan. And take that bitch Chantelle down,” Burgamy told him.

  Dylan was already running out the door. He went straight past the elevators to the stairs and began taking them two at a time.

  “I assume your siblings are already at the bomb site? Don’t you need to call them?” Burgamy asked between breaths. The older man hadn’t seen active duty in a lot of years, but he was managing to keep up.

  That was good, because Dylan wasn’t going to wait for him.

  “No.”

  “I thought Shelby told you to call them. What were those numbers you were writing down?”

  “They were nothing. Shelby was buying time and Chantelle was trying to make sure the bomb goes off.”