Free Radioactive and The Decay Dystopian Super Boxset- A Dirty Bomb and Nuclear Blast Prepper Tale of Survival by Roger Hayden, James Hunt Page B
Authors: Roger Hayden, James Hunt
file. Jim could hear the creaks of the chair stressing under Locke’s weight. “Goddamn, I’ve gotten fat,” Locke said.
Jim had never had patience for admirals, generals, or commanders. They had long left the trenches of battle where Jim had spent most of his career. Jim surveyed the heavyset man in front of him with the cigar tucked into the corner of his mouth. His eyes finally came to rest on the nametag of the general’s fatigues.
“General Locke?” Jim asked.
“We can talk about your father later, Farr. We have other pressing issues to worry about.”
Locke motioned to Jim’s cuffs. “You can take those off,” he said.
“General, I highly suggest—” Chris said.
“Dammit, Chris, he’s not going to kill me. Take the cuffs off,” Locke said.
Chris hesitated for a moment, then walked over and set Jim’s hands free. Jim rubbed his wrists and Locke handed him a photograph.
“That’s your brother in-law, Matt Kearny. He was picked up during the evacuation of Phoenix two weeks ago. Do you know what he does?” asked Locke.
Jim looked at the photo of Matt in his hands. It had been taken somewhere in a downtown area. “He’s an engineer for some software company.”
“PamTech. They’re one of the military’s largest contractors. They handle a lot of our digital security platforms. Your brother-in-law was one of their lead engineers who handled a majority of our accounts. Our CIA boys picked him up and have him in a holding cell just east of Phoenix,” Locke replied.
“You think he has something to do with all of these attacks?”
“That’s something I was hoping you could help me with. Matt was in charge of all of PamTech’s digital security functions. He has a security clearance higher than anyone in the company, and we need him to grant us access to those files to see if they’ve been tampered with.”
“Why don’t you just break through their firewall? I know the military has enough resources to do it.”
“We tried, but the files aren’t on their network. We think they’re on a stand-alone hard drive. We need Matt to tell us where it is.”
“How long have you had him?”
“Jim, we’re running out of time. If we don’t get that data, then we could be open for more attacks. Hell, we still have riots happening all over the country. We need—”
“How long?” Jim repeated.
“Two weeks.”
Jim clenched his jaw. His hands curled into fists, crumpling the edges of the photo. He looked to Locke, but not before he noticed Chris’s hand at the firearm on his hip. “My sister has been asking about him since she got here, and each time you told us you didn’t know.”
“Well, depending on who you asked, that was true. Besides us, there are only a handful of people who know where he is and what this is about.”
“You want me to convince him to give you the hard drive,” Jim said.
“Yes.”
Jim’s hands relaxed. He smoothed out the edges of the photo he crumpled. “My sister and niece get to see him before I help you.”
“Done. You leave today.”
Jim extended the photo back to Locke.
“Jim, we need that drive,” Locke said.
Jim’s grip tightened on the photo when Locke tried to pull it away. “And my niece needs her father.”
Locke tapped his cigar with his finger. Bits of ash sprinkled to the floor. He gave a weary smile. “Let’s hope we both get what we want.”
Upon his release, Jim was met outside by Annie, Samantha, and Coyle. They each had a million questions, but mostly Coyle. Jim pulled Samantha to the side out of earshot from the others. “They have Matt,” Jim said.
“What? Where is he?” she asked.
“The military want something he was working on for his company. I think they were going to use you and Annie as leverage to get what they want.”
“They can’t do that!”
“Hey, we need to be
Jim had never had patience for admirals, generals, or commanders. They had long left the trenches of battle where Jim had spent most of his career. Jim surveyed the heavyset man in front of him with the cigar tucked into the corner of his mouth. His eyes finally came to rest on the nametag of the general’s fatigues.
“General Locke?” Jim asked.
“We can talk about your father later, Farr. We have other pressing issues to worry about.”
Locke motioned to Jim’s cuffs. “You can take those off,” he said.
“General, I highly suggest—” Chris said.
“Dammit, Chris, he’s not going to kill me. Take the cuffs off,” Locke said.
Chris hesitated for a moment, then walked over and set Jim’s hands free. Jim rubbed his wrists and Locke handed him a photograph.
“That’s your brother in-law, Matt Kearny. He was picked up during the evacuation of Phoenix two weeks ago. Do you know what he does?” asked Locke.
Jim looked at the photo of Matt in his hands. It had been taken somewhere in a downtown area. “He’s an engineer for some software company.”
“PamTech. They’re one of the military’s largest contractors. They handle a lot of our digital security platforms. Your brother-in-law was one of their lead engineers who handled a majority of our accounts. Our CIA boys picked him up and have him in a holding cell just east of Phoenix,” Locke replied.
“You think he has something to do with all of these attacks?”
“That’s something I was hoping you could help me with. Matt was in charge of all of PamTech’s digital security functions. He has a security clearance higher than anyone in the company, and we need him to grant us access to those files to see if they’ve been tampered with.”
“Why don’t you just break through their firewall? I know the military has enough resources to do it.”
“We tried, but the files aren’t on their network. We think they’re on a stand-alone hard drive. We need Matt to tell us where it is.”
“How long have you had him?”
“Jim, we’re running out of time. If we don’t get that data, then we could be open for more attacks. Hell, we still have riots happening all over the country. We need—”
“How long?” Jim repeated.
“Two weeks.”
Jim clenched his jaw. His hands curled into fists, crumpling the edges of the photo. He looked to Locke, but not before he noticed Chris’s hand at the firearm on his hip. “My sister has been asking about him since she got here, and each time you told us you didn’t know.”
“Well, depending on who you asked, that was true. Besides us, there are only a handful of people who know where he is and what this is about.”
“You want me to convince him to give you the hard drive,” Jim said.
“Yes.”
Jim’s hands relaxed. He smoothed out the edges of the photo he crumpled. “My sister and niece get to see him before I help you.”
“Done. You leave today.”
Jim extended the photo back to Locke.
“Jim, we need that drive,” Locke said.
Jim’s grip tightened on the photo when Locke tried to pull it away. “And my niece needs her father.”
Locke tapped his cigar with his finger. Bits of ash sprinkled to the floor. He gave a weary smile. “Let’s hope we both get what we want.”
Upon his release, Jim was met outside by Annie, Samantha, and Coyle. They each had a million questions, but mostly Coyle. Jim pulled Samantha to the side out of earshot from the others. “They have Matt,” Jim said.
“What? Where is he?” she asked.
“The military want something he was working on for his company. I think they were going to use you and Annie as leverage to get what they want.”
“They can’t do that!”
“Hey, we need to be
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