Midnight Fever (Men of Midnight #5)(68)

"This is Felicity's genius idea. She wanted ASI to get into the cloud business and wanted to assure clients that it was super secure. So, we have two server farms, but one is air gapped. The client info streams into the first server farm, is thoroughly checked for viruses and is super sensitive to attempted hacks. Every half hour, after the check, the shuttle automatically carries powerful flash drives to a second server farm, which isn't connected to the internet, as it's air gapped. We've never had a hack, and I think we never will."

Kay gave a half laugh and shook her head. "Felicity's amazing. I hope you guys treat her right."

Nick smiled. "Like royalty. And if we didn't, Metal would whup our asses. The bosses really appreciate her. This business alone brings in over ten million per annum and that number is rising. It'll be more like fourteen million next year. Not to mention what she does at HQ."

"I wonder what'll happen when she gives birth. Twins. Boys." Kay shook her head. "That's a lot to take on."

"She'll manage. And the bosses have been talking about setting up a daycare center."

Kay blinked. "A daycare center? At ASI? The place made up of tough guys?"

"Well, there are areas where the tough guys aren't so very tough. You should see John with his two daughters. Toughest dude in the world has a spine made of pudding when it comes to his girls. Thank God Suzanne is tough. And I just heard the Senior's wife, Allegra, might be pregnant. And Joe and Isabel are talking kids. It would make sense to have a company daycare center, then everyone's mind would be put at ease. It would be off premises but nearby. On the same block."

"Who'd be responsible for bulletproofing the walls?" Kay asked.

"Metal and Jacko." He glanced over at her. "Oh. You were kidding."

"I was, but whoa. And I'm sure they'd ask for the employees to all have combat training. I am absolutely certain that ASI's daycare center would be the safest daycare center in the country. In the world. In the history of the world. There was a little movement starting up to have a daycare center at CDC, but, you know. Deadly viruses."

This was going to be tricky. Nick looked down at Kay's hand in his. Long, delicate but strong fingers, fingers that dealt with potential death daily and did it superbly well, in her mission to save human lives.

"You know," Nick said, toying with her fingers, "you're never going back to the CDC. It's lost to you."

It was true. Even if they nailed every single bastard involved in the bio-weapon scheme, whistleblowers never had an easy life. She'd be looked at with suspicion for the rest of her days. Nobody would trust her. She'd slowly be shut out of doing sensitive, interesting research. She'd end her days there shunted to some basement office doing scut work. If she even kept her job at all.

She looked down at their joined hands. There was a long silence then she sighed. "I know," she said quietly. "I think I knew right from the start."



       
         
       
        

And yet she planned on blowing that whistle anyway. Even knowing that it would wreck her life.

It didn't seem possible but his respect for her went up another notch.

"You know," Nick said again, bringing her fingers to his mouth, kissing the soft skin. "ASI is looking to beef up its ability to deal with bio-weaponry. We've had a few offers for missions in the Congo and Pakistan, but we had to refuse because we don't have the equipment, and we don't have the expertise to buy the right equipment. We've got some ancient MOPP suits, but nobody trusts them. I think ASI would jump to have you as a consultant."

She smiled faintly. "You think?"

His heart leaped in his chest. "I do. In fact-"

The shuttle came to an abrupt halt and they both jerked forward. Kay would have fallen off the seat if he hadn't shot out an arm.

Goddamn. Keep your head in the game. He'd been so excited at the thought that maybe she'd stay in Portland, maybe she could work even just part time for ASI, maybe they could live together …

And he'd completely lost sight of the fact that to do all that, she had to be alive. No good mooning over Kay staying in Portland if she was doing that six feet underground.

The shuttle stopped. They'd reached the end of this server farm, too.

So, he pulled his head out of his ass, helped her down from the shuttle and pointed at the door ahead of them. She pushed the panic handle on the door.

And screamed at the top of her lungs.

Nick nearly had a heart attack as he lunged forward.





Kay's thoughts were buzzing around in her head, together with her emotions. Fear, pleasure, terror, warmth, she felt them all, all at once. It was enough to give anyone whiplash.