I turned my attention back to Sam. “Our company has a security contract with Greytex Industries.” I watched Sam for a reaction, but his face remained blank.
“Last week, Ben and I were called out to their facility for an additional security evaluation. They were worried about someone being able to hack into their servers.”
“Paranoid is more like it,” Ben muttered, scooping pimento cheese onto the board. Good, that was Josie’s favorite.
“We found medical charts for a pilot program they’re running,” I said.
Sam’s gaze snapped to mine. “What was the name of the pilot program?”
“Project Excer,” I said.
“Fuck.” Sam’s gaze went back out to where Josie was sitting. He lowered his voice. “I’m assuming you know what the project is?”
“We didn’t when we read the files, but then after Josie told us…” I said, trailing off.
“Do you have the charts?”
“All copied over,” Ben said. “And I covered my tracks,” he added when Sam opened his mouth.
“We’re meeting with Charlie tomorrow and are giving her the files,” I said.
“Who’s Charlie?” Sam asked.
“She’s a hacker with the Alliance. We work together quite a bit,” Ben said.
“I’m assuming you’ve shown Josie what you found?”
I clenched my jaw, guilt swirling in my stomach. “No.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Why not?”
“We just realized the other night there was a connection.”
Sam looked at the three of us, his expression turning to one of disdain. “You’re not planning to give them to her?”
“We’re trying to protect her,” Theo snarled, finally breaking his silence.
The temperature in the room dropped. Fuck, I’d underestimated what Theo was feeling right now.
“You think I’m not looking out for her?” Sam asked, his voice low. He took a few steps towards Theo.
“We don’t know you,” Theo hissed out.
I grasped Theo’s shoulder. “Tone it down.” Ben was looking between Theo and Sam, wide-eyed.
“I guess we’re not done with the alpha posturing,” he muttered, pulling crackers out of the pantry.
“Can you tell us about the device?” I asked. “Josie said you were the one who removed it.”
Sam crossed his arms, leaning back on the counter in what some might have interpreted as a relaxed stance, but I knew he was on the defensive.
“Yeah, I removed it,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you get it out?” Ben asked.
The question broke Sam’s stoic expression and he shuddered. “It was the night before I moved to Sol. I’d just moved her into my apartment, and I forced her to tell me everything that happened. She told me the device was still in her and she needed it out. I told her we would find a doctor to do it or at least find a way to give her some fucking anesthesia. But she kept crying and screaming that I had to do it now. She said it had to hurt, that the pain was the only way she could be sure it was really out. I didn’t know what to do.”
My knuckles were white from squeezing the countertop. The haunted look in Sam’s eyes was the only reason I didn’t punch him. He had cut her open, dug out that device with nothing to block the pain. Flashes of Ben and Theo’s distress and anger radiated through the bond, but we all kept silent, needing to hear the rest of Sam’s story.
