“I got you on the first flight out this evening,” Hawk said. “Six o’clock, BWI. There’s a secure computer in the car.”
“A secure computer?” Sophie asked. What the heck was that?
“As soon as we have the flash drive,” Chase said, “I’ll log on to the computer and send the information to Hawk over a secure connection. He’ll get to work decoding it. If we’re lucky, there’s something incriminating on there. If we’re not…”
Sophie swallowed. If they weren’t, then there was nothing to stop Grigori from eliminating her. “How do you know you’ll need to decode anything? Why wouldn’t he just password protect his files?”
The three of them exchanged a look. Chase was the one to speak. “We don’t… But Androv has a lot of, uh, businesses besides Zoprava. One of those is Open Sky. Hackers,” he added when she didn’t say anything. “They broke into an unsecured government system recently and left their calling card—a laughing demon with horns—on the screen. It was on all the news networks.”
“I remember hearing about that—I didn’t know it had anything to do with Grigori though. I thought his company prevented those kinds of things.”
“Technically, yes. But software has to be tested for vulnerabilities, which is what hackers do. Androv’s connection to Open Sky is not something widely known outside intelligence circles,” Chase said. “But now you can understand why he isn’t likely to use a computer or digital storage medium without securing the information. Encryption is one of the ways to secure it—and he’s got access to the best.”
“Don’t worry, Sophie,” Hawk said. “We’re pretty good at this kind of thing. We’ll break the encryption.”
Chase was still looking at her with a frown on his face. “You know, this would go faster if I went alone. Dex could stay here with Sophie and keep her safe. I’ll be back in a few days.”
Her stomach flipped at the thought of him leaving her. Her throat tightened and her eyes stung. Damn him for being so sweet and caring last night, for listening to her and telling her his own secrets, making her like him more than she should. He’d done that and he still wanted to ditch her. It hurt, even though it shouldn’t. He owed her nothing. Not only that, but he’d already done more for her in this situation than most men would have.
“I’d like to do that for you,” Dex said, looking a little sad and angry at the same time. “Really. But I’m waiting for a Red Cross call. My dad’s having emergency open-heart surgery this week. Soon as the Red Cross calls the commander, I’m on my way.”
“Man, I’m sorry,” Chase said, understanding now why Dex hadn’t left town like everyone else. “I hope your dad will be okay.”
“Thanks. The doctors say it’s pretty routine even though it’s critical they do it ASAP. He should recover fully. But just in case… I have to be there.”
Sophie offered her well-wishes even while she felt guilty for being relieved that Dex couldn’t stay with her. Hawk and Dex talked with Chase a bit more, and then they made for the door, though not before Hawk gave Chase a set of keys.
“Leave it in long-term parking and use it when you get back. We’ll be there to back you up if you need it.”
“Thanks, Hawk. I can’t say it enough, but I appreciate everything.”
Chase and Hawk clasped hands. “You’d do it for me. Hell, you have done it for me. Gave up your time off to help me find my son. I won’t forget that. Besides, once HOT always HOT. We stick together.”
“You’re damn straight we do.”
IT WASN’T YET dark when they left for the airport. Chase glanced over at the woman beside him and felt the same burning in the pit of his stomach he’d felt the minute she walked out of the bathroom with her new hair. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Sophie with black hair. He liked her too much.
She was gorgeous as a strawberry blonde. She was out of this world as a raven-haired goddess. When he’d handed her the hair dye Hawk had brought, he’d thought she would balk. She hadn’t. He’d apologized for making her cover up the red-gold beauty of her hair, but she’d looked him square in the eye and told him that wasn’t her natural color either.
“What is your natural color?” He’d thought she had sort of blondish hair as a kid. Or maybe brown. Hell, he honestly hadn’t remembered.
“I’m a dirty blonde,” she’d said with a shrug, and that had called up a whole host of thoughts in his head. Dirty blonde. Shit. “I like playing with color,” she’d continued. “Haven’t been black-haired in a while.”