There was no question it was her, and she stood beside Manny, older than he remembered. She had a scar on her arm from the accident,but other than that she looked good for a dead woman.
Tim. Tim would be able to tell if that picture was a fake. He would run it through all his software and tell Ben that it was an AI fake and here were all the reasons why.
Deanna wasn’t alive. He’d gone to her funeral.
Her closed-casket funeral.
His heart raced, brain throbbing. He heard Kenzie on her phone. Calling in the cavalry, he was sure.
He would be out of the building before they managed to catch him. He knew that café. It was bustling and right down the street. Smart of Manny to pick a place that was always full. He was sure Manny would try something, but it would be hard in a place so public.
There was a certain amount of safety that came with being surrounded by millions of people.
He stalked through the club level of the building, trying not to think about how at home he’d felt here once. He’d been becoming someone new here, someone happier and more settled. Someone who had a place in a family that didn’t only involve work. This evening when the space transformed into a sensual dreamland, he would be barred from entering.
He couldn’t think about that now. He had to concentrate on the mission. The mission was everything.
“Are you okay?” a quiet voice asked. Gabby. She was walking out of the hall that housed the privacy rooms. She was still in pajama bottoms and a tank top she’d gotten when Vivi and Sophy took them to an H&M. “Are you sick like Tim? He and Sosa are violently ill. Like terrible. I do not think they will eat again.”
Something about what she’d said sparked in his head, but he couldn’t think about it now. “I need his technical skills.”
He pushed through anyway and was greeted with Tim looking shaky and pale.
His cell buzzed again.
If you’re not here in fifteen minutes, the laptop will disappear.
Damn it. He should let it. He should put this in Big Tag’s hands and march into those Colorado woods with Kenzie and just be with her until this was over. If he did that, he might be able to save his relationship with her.
Deanna wasn’t alive.
The doctors had told him she died on the operating table.
The doctor in the hospital that likely had affiliations with the Huisman Foundation.
He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Not for all these years. He knew Manny. If he’d been hiding Deanna, he would have taunted him by now. He would have used it.
“I’m pretty sure I’m dying,” Tim said, his voice hoarse.
“I need you to look at something for me. Huisman sent me a picture I’m certain is fake, but I need you to verify,” Ben said and frowned. He was being an asshole. Tim looked real rough. “Do you need a doctor?”
“Cooper already looked me over. He’s a medic. No fever. Just food poisoning. Those girls must have cast-iron stomachs,” Tim said and paled. “Uh, you should ask Lou. She’s down here working with Kala on her nanite project. I have to…”
He ran for the bathroom.
Ben’s time was running out. “I’ll handle it and come back and help you. Don’t die, man. I’ll run out and get some electrolytes. Hang tight.”
He would have to go without verification.
He turned and ran straight into Gabby, sending his cell to the floor. It hit the carpet and bounced but didn’t break because Tim knew how to protect their tech.
“Sorry,” Gabby said, dropping to her knees. She reached for the cell. “I was worried about…”
He knelt down and realized something was wrong. Her hand started to shake. Was she getting sick, too? “Are you all right?”
“This,” she said, showing him the screen. The picture of Huisman and Deanna was there. “Where did you get this? Who sent it to you?”
A chill crept up his spine. She looked a little like Sosa had when she’d first seen a picture of Huisman. “Do you know that woman?”
