Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(22)

“Seems like a long shot.”

Clay shrugged. “Not as much of a long shot as finding out the Chinese destroyed their own ship.”

“True.” Langford turned to Borger. “So where is this man and his case now?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m…going to need to find a way into their systems and see what I can find out.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

Borger grinned. “I’d rather not say.”

Langford’s lip curled. He was well aware of Borger’s background. Having worked as a network security expert in his former job, he was known as a “white hat.” A computer hacker who caught other “black hat” hackers. It was how they came to hire Borger. He was the only outside expert who had been able to catch two hackers trying to break into one of the Navy’s computer systems.

Langford hired him on the spot. Now, sitting across from him, even if Langford wanted to know what Borger had in mind, he sure as hell wouldn’t understand it.

“Fine,” he said, sighing. He placed his hands on his desk. “So, it appears we have two problems. If the Chinese do have the DNA from those plants or their crews turn something up from the Corvette’s wreckage, they could have the means to become the most powerful army on the planet.”

“They would be unstoppable.”

Langford eyed Borger. “In more ways than one.”

“Well,” Clay spoke up, “there is a third option.”

“Which is?”

“The monkey.”

Langford rubbed his forehead. “Right. The monkey. Have you gotten anything more on our new friend Otero?”

Clay nodded. “We think he’s going back to finish what Alves started.”

“So if the monkey is still alive, it could be a third source of the DNA.”

“Correct.”

Which means we’d better find it first,” Langford said. He stared at both men. “Where’s Caesare?”





Steve Caesare had just reached the single story terminal building of the Mercedita Airport. With a heavy bag slung over his good side, he climbed two steps and walked through a set of automatic sliding glass doors just beneath the giant earth tone letters reading “Aeropuerto Mercedita.”

It was a small airport whose runway had only recently been expanded to accommodate larger commercial jets. An expansion that now enabled the airport to process four times as many passengers to Ponce, Puerto Rico’s largest city in its southern region.

However, for Caesare, the airport’s importance was its convenient location, less than fifteen miles from the research center and Alison Shaw’s team.

The air conditioning inside created a light chill on his arms and neck. As Caesare approached an open row of seats near the back wall, he dropped his bag to the floor with a loud thud. He eased himself into the black vinyl chair with a quiet groan and peered up at the display hanging overhead. It listed arrivals and departures in bright green and amber letters. He found the flight he was looking for and checked his watch.

Less than fifty minutes left.





10





Sofia was beaming from alongside the tank as her father gently wrapped a towel around her wet body. On her other side, Sophia’s mother Lara slid a pretty scarf back over her head and tied it beneath her chin. Sophia’s giant smile was pure and beautiful as Alison bent down in front of her.

“Pretty great, huh?”

“Amazing!” Sofia answered excitedly through chattering teeth. She peered past Alison to Dirk and Sally, watching her with their heads bobbing above the water. “I can’t believe it!”

Alison winked. “No other kid has ever done that.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

The expression on Sofia’s face was priceless, but one look at her parents made Alison want to cry along with them. She couldn’t imagine how a parent could deal with losing a child. How they could even manage to go on, missing such a giant piece of their hearts. She was honored to have been able to make one of Sofia’s last days truly special, but now that she’d met her, Alison’s heart was already breaking.

She pursed her lips and straightened back up, just as DeeAnn stepped in closer. “Did you enjoy that, Sofia?”

“More than anything!”

“Excellent.” DeeAnn glanced at her parents kneeling behind her. “Do you need to leave or do we have a little more time?”

Lara placed her hands lightly on her daughter’s shoulders. “How do you feel, honey?”

“Really good.”

Lara nodded. “We have more time.”

“Good,” DeeAnn smiled. “So…Sofia, do you like gorillas?”