The Minoan Cipher (A Matinicus “Matt” Hawkins Adventure Book 2) by Paul Kemprecos Page B

loved the desert light and the abundance of birds—hummingbirds, in particular. She had little contact with the outside world until Matt Hawkins, a fellow soldier who was pretty much her only friend, asked her to put her computer skills to work providing intelligence for a secret project he was involved in. Neither she nor Matt had any idea that they’d been drawn into a Byzantine plot that would have worldwide impact. Her computer probes triggered an assassination squad who burned her house, her paintings, and sent her running for her life.
    Thanks to Sutherland, the plot had unraveled.
    With her house and paintings reduced to ashes, Sutherland hit the road. She bought a tent and sleeping bag and headed West. In Salt Lake City, she got up one morning and decided she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean. California didn’t appeal to her, so she headed to the Pacific Northwest and tarried a few days in Portland, Oregon. She’d liked the city’s quirkiness but not the traffic and crowds, so she kept on moving.
    She arrived in the town of Bend late one afternoon and pulled her bike up to the walking path that ran along the banks of the Deschutes River. When Sutherland chose to stretch her legs with a stroll, three strangers along the path had smiled and said hello. That night she stayed in a motel and the very next day she contacted a real estate office.
    The agent showed her a rental house outside town that offered a view of the mountains. She had vowed never to paint again, but she still liked birds. She switched to photography. Unlike a painting, a photo could be stored in a computer, or in the cloud, or sent off to places where it would be safe from harm.
    Sutherland invested in a high-end Canon digital single-lens reflex camera. The infinite patience that had made her a computer whiz allowed her to sit for hours waiting for the right shot. She became fascinated with raptors. During a visit to the museum, she showed the staff pictures she had taken of a Golden eagle’s nest. The museum asked to see more, and ended up mounting an exhibition of her photographic work.
    She started volunteering a couple of days a week. When the museum created the program that introduced raptors to the public, she joined the team. Sutherland was uncomfortable around other people, but enjoyed working with the birds and seeing the amazed expressions on the faces of the children. She spent more time in the field, and when she did go to her computer, it was only to download photos.
    Her major talent was the ability to worm her way into other computers, leaving no trail behind. Since moving to Bend, she had used her talents only once, after she’d seen a newspaper headline in the local supermarket:
    Congress Debates Bill
    Curbing Sexual Abuse
    In the Armed Services
    Molly had narrowed her eyes in a Clint Eastwood squint. Pictures flashed in her head…. Staring up at the stars, savoring the quiet desert beauty of an Iraq night; rough hands grabbing her by the shoulders, slamming her to the ground and ripping her uniform off. The rape was a painful blur. Even more awful was the stony face of the officer who’d listened to her story, then recommended a psychiatric discharge and counseling.
    In the days after she’d seen the newspaper headline, thousands of phantom e-mail letters in support of the bill went out to recalcitrant congressmen. The names of some senders came off lists of Civil War veterans. The modified bill was approved. Not perfect, but it was something. She felt like the token retired gunslinger who comes out of retirement to shoot up a town full of bad guys. As soon as she got home from the museum, she powered up her computer to download photos she had taken near Mt. Bachelor. She saw that she had an e-mail from Matt Hawkins. It was the same message he sent every couple of months.
    HI MOLLY. R U OK?
    She sent the same answer she always did.
    YUP. THX.
    Matt was the closest thing she had to a friend. They’d both been abandoned by