IED had exploded under his badly-armored vehicle outside Nasiriyah seven years ago. He’d left his legs back in Iraq—but not his brains. He’d since recycled to become everyone’s go-to guy for intel.
“Yo, Hackerman. I’ve got myself a time-sensitive situation here. A possible kidnap victim, works for GenPlant Laboratories. What can you tell me about the company?”
“Hm. How you been, Maxie boy? You getting over your scratches?”
Max nearly smiled. Though Cory’s voice was slow and honeyed he could hear wild tapping in the background.
“Doing fine now, except for this woman. She works for the company, does research work for them. I think she’s come across some information that will hurt the company.”
“Oh ho!” Cory chortled. “Are we talking babe material, here?”
“Yeah,” Max said curtly. “And it’s a woman I care about. A lot.”
There was silence at the other end, but the pounding sounds intensified.
“Okay.” When he came back online, Cory’s voice was curt and serious. “Here’s what we’ve got. Big company, last year’s profits were half a billion dollars on three billion sales. Has come up with some killer apps—two new types of antibiotics that can overcome resistant e. coli infections and pesticide-resistant fruit trees. And that was just last year. Seems to be humming right along.”
Okay. “It’s got research facilities in Argentina. What can you tell me about that?”
Another minute as Cory worked his magic. “Yep. A big research facility four hundred miles south of Buenos Aires.”
“Anything wonky there?”
“Not that I can see.”
Max knew there was but it was clearly still hidden. Not even Cory, brilliant as he was, could see things that weren’t there yet.
“How about their security?”
After a minute, Cory said, “Oh.”
“What? What?”
“Not good. Someone’s been hiring from Magnum Secure lately. Hiring heavily. I’d say now a good 70 percent of their security staff comes from there. Bad juju, Max.”
Very bad juju. Magnum Secure was a notoriously corrupt private contractor that had operated extensively in the Sandbox. He’d come across MS operators a lot, and they were aggressive and greedy. The owner seemed to recruit men who cared for nothing but the bottom line. If someone in Paige’s company had been filling its security department with ex-MS contractors, Paige was in trouble.
None of the operators would draw the line at hurting a woman.
“The woman in question’s name is Paige Waring, Cory. Like I said, she’s a researcher there. I’m at her house now and there are signs of a struggle. I think she’s been kidnapped because she holds some information about something that went wrong at their lab in Argentina. Where do you think they’d take her? To headquarters? It’s about twenty miles from here.”
“Pulling up satellite images now… no. I don’t think so. It’s a busy facility. There’s a huge parking lot with cars going in and out constantly. My images are from fifteen minutes ago and there’s a lot of movement. Dunno, Max, just seems too public for a kidnapping. I can’t even see any outbuildings where someone could be held.”
The dog’s whining was stronger now, with a note of urgency in it. He was pawing Max’s leg. The dog went back to the front door, looking over his shoulder at Max, and barked.
Was Paige being held nearby? Is that what Max was trying to tell him?
“Listen,” he told Cory. “I gotta see about something. Can you send those images to my Gmail account and we’ll talk in five? And see if you can find any databases with other property the corporation might own nearby.”
“Sure thing,” Cory said. “A woman, huh?”
“Yeah. Smart and kind and pretty. Exactly the kind of woman fuckheads like to hurt.”
Max could almost hear Cory’s teeth grinding. His mom had been beaten to death by his dad. He was guaranteed to give Max his best.
Max opened the front door and the dog flowed out,
“Yo, Hackerman. I’ve got myself a time-sensitive situation here. A possible kidnap victim, works for GenPlant Laboratories. What can you tell me about the company?”
“Hm. How you been, Maxie boy? You getting over your scratches?”
Max nearly smiled. Though Cory’s voice was slow and honeyed he could hear wild tapping in the background.
“Doing fine now, except for this woman. She works for the company, does research work for them. I think she’s come across some information that will hurt the company.”
“Oh ho!” Cory chortled. “Are we talking babe material, here?”
“Yeah,” Max said curtly. “And it’s a woman I care about. A lot.”
There was silence at the other end, but the pounding sounds intensified.
“Okay.” When he came back online, Cory’s voice was curt and serious. “Here’s what we’ve got. Big company, last year’s profits were half a billion dollars on three billion sales. Has come up with some killer apps—two new types of antibiotics that can overcome resistant e. coli infections and pesticide-resistant fruit trees. And that was just last year. Seems to be humming right along.”
Okay. “It’s got research facilities in Argentina. What can you tell me about that?”
Another minute as Cory worked his magic. “Yep. A big research facility four hundred miles south of Buenos Aires.”
“Anything wonky there?”
“Not that I can see.”
Max knew there was but it was clearly still hidden. Not even Cory, brilliant as he was, could see things that weren’t there yet.
“How about their security?”
After a minute, Cory said, “Oh.”
“What? What?”
“Not good. Someone’s been hiring from Magnum Secure lately. Hiring heavily. I’d say now a good 70 percent of their security staff comes from there. Bad juju, Max.”
Very bad juju. Magnum Secure was a notoriously corrupt private contractor that had operated extensively in the Sandbox. He’d come across MS operators a lot, and they were aggressive and greedy. The owner seemed to recruit men who cared for nothing but the bottom line. If someone in Paige’s company had been filling its security department with ex-MS contractors, Paige was in trouble.
None of the operators would draw the line at hurting a woman.
“The woman in question’s name is Paige Waring, Cory. Like I said, she’s a researcher there. I’m at her house now and there are signs of a struggle. I think she’s been kidnapped because she holds some information about something that went wrong at their lab in Argentina. Where do you think they’d take her? To headquarters? It’s about twenty miles from here.”
“Pulling up satellite images now… no. I don’t think so. It’s a busy facility. There’s a huge parking lot with cars going in and out constantly. My images are from fifteen minutes ago and there’s a lot of movement. Dunno, Max, just seems too public for a kidnapping. I can’t even see any outbuildings where someone could be held.”
The dog’s whining was stronger now, with a note of urgency in it. He was pawing Max’s leg. The dog went back to the front door, looking over his shoulder at Max, and barked.
Was Paige being held nearby? Is that what Max was trying to tell him?
“Listen,” he told Cory. “I gotta see about something. Can you send those images to my Gmail account and we’ll talk in five? And see if you can find any databases with other property the corporation might own nearby.”
“Sure thing,” Cory said. “A woman, huh?”
“Yeah. Smart and kind and pretty. Exactly the kind of woman fuckheads like to hurt.”
Max could almost hear Cory’s teeth grinding. His mom had been beaten to death by his dad. He was guaranteed to give Max his best.
Max opened the front door and the dog flowed out,
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