Sea of Greed

“You,” Tessa said, “are here only as leverage.” She turned to Priya. “This one, on the other hand, has useful skills. Convince her to hack into NUMA’s computer system for me.”

Joe saw where this was going.

So did Priya. “I won’t do it.”

“Of course you will,” Tessa said. “The only question is whether your friend here will still be able to walk when you finally give in.”

With that, Tessa turned to her men. “Stretch him out. If she fails us, begin showing Ms. Kashmir what leverage really looks like.”

Joe’s wrists were wrapped in electrical cables and pulled wide. As one of her men moved in to administer the same treatment to Joe’s leg, Joe spun-kicked him in the face and then pulled his arm free.

The big fellow tackled him and put him in a headlock. Joe swung his head back, connecting with the man’s chin, but the blow wasn’t enough to set him free.

“Enough!” Tessa shouted. “One more act of resistance out of you and I’ll cut her throat.”

Joe looked over. Tessa had Priya by the hair with a knife against her throat.

“She’s such a pretty thing,” Tessa said, “but that can be changed.” The knife left Priya’s throat and migrated to her cheek, drawing a taste of blood.

Joe stopped struggling. Tessa had the upper hand. He could do nothing without them harming Priya. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Tessa turned her attention back to Priya. “You friend has chosen you over his own pride. What will you choose?”

Priya stubbornly kept her mouth shut. And Tessa gave the order. “Break his back, turn him into an invalid like her!”

“No!” Priya shouted, tears welling up in her dark eyes.

“You want him to keep walking,” Tessa said.

“Of course.”

“Then get on that computer, log on to NUMA and tell me what they’re up to.”

Priya looked at Joe, tears running down her face, dropping to the floor to complete Joe’s imaginary painting. Joe nodded softly to her. “It’s okay,” he said.

What he didn’t say was obvious. If they were going to escape, they first had to survive.

49

PRIYA WAS LIFTED from her spot on the ground and placed in a chair in front of an industrial-looking work terminal.

While the computer booted up, Tessa pressed an intercom button. “Extend the communications array,” she said. “Make sure to falsify our position and identity.”

A voice responded momentarily, saying, “Linkup complete. We’re connected through a false data node in Mumbai. No one will be able to trace us back here.”

“You’re now connected to the web,” Tessa said. “Log on to NUMA’s classified system, please.”

Priya tapped away at the keys, speaking at the same time. “I’m not going to be able to get in,” she insisted. “They know I’m missing. They probably know you have me. My clearance and access codes will already have been blocked.”

“I don’t expect you to log on like it’s another day at the office,” Tessa said, “I expect you to use your knowledge of NUMA’s systems and hack them so I can watch their every move. And before you think of sending them a message or triggering some alarm, let me tell you that one of my experts is watching everything you do on a remote screen. If you try anything foolish, your friend Joe will never walk again.”

Priya stared at Tessa. It was hard to believe she could be so brutal, but looking into the cold, malevolent eyes, Priya sensed her captor was capable of following through on every threat she’d uttered.

Turning back to the keyboard, Priya went to work, looking for ways to break into the NUMA defenses she’d helped Hiram Yaeger update over the last two years. The level of her own thoroughness now frustrated her. For half an hour, she tried without success, all the while the interior of the aircraft growing hotter.

“This is not going well,” Tessa said, now sitting on a foldout chair on the far side of the fuselage.

Priya wiped the sweat from her face, scribbled notes on a pad and continued to search for a weak link. Finally, she was able to penetrate some of the less protected programs. “I’ve broken into the travel procurement office.”

“What good will that do?” Tessa demanded.

“I’m not sure,” Priya admitted, “but it’s a start.”

She studied the documents available to her. Most were as mundane as rental car receipts and meal vouchers. Then she came upon something that made her heart hurt.

“Joe, they’re flying your parents to Washington. The tickets were coded under a bereavement program. They’ve listed you as missing and presumed dead.”

Joe shrugged. “Mom and Dad will be awfully surprised when I show up and they have to give back all that life insurance money.”

Priya almost laughed, almost.

“This is all very touching,” Tessa snapped. “I need to know more than the travel plans of NUMA families. Where is Kurt Austin and what is he up to?”

“He went back to Washington,” Priya said, finding another more pertinent record. “But he’s not there now. He’s in Crete.”