Free Split Second by Douglas E. Richards Page B

of work,” he
explained. “It contains ink that will only show up under UV light. Ink that’s
waterproof and very permanent. Use it to mark Nathan’s thumb drive so we’ll be
able to distinguish it from the others,” he finished, handing her the pen.
    Jenna removed the memory stick
from her pocket and carefully drew an X on one end. Blake produced a tiny UV
flashlight from another drawer, a blue steel cylinder not much bigger than a
roll of quarters, and turned it on the flash drive. Sure enough, the invisible
X immediately made its presence known.
    “So I hide the real thumb drive
and put one of your decoys in my pocket instead, right?”
    “Exactly. You’ll most likely
never need a decoy,” said Blake, “but you never know.”
    “Why did you buy three of them?”
    “One for you. One for me to
keep. And one that I’ll hide in this apartment.”
    Jenna thought about this a
moment. “In case they somehow manage to connect you to me and search the place,
right?”
    “Yes. If a rabid dog is looking
for a bone, it’s probably safer to give him one. It’s highly unlikely something
like this will come to pass. But why not?”
    “I couldn’t agree more,” said
Jenna. She held Nathan’s flash drive out in front of her face. “So where should
I hide the real thing?”
    “I don’t know. But you need to decide
this for yourself. It doesn’t have to be this second, but when you figure it
out, I’ll make sure to leave you alone for however long it takes.”
    Jenna shook her head. “No. I
want you in the loop. If something happens to me, I don’t want to risk Nathan’s
discovery being lost to the world.”
    Blake nodded. “I think that’s
wise. But are you really willing to trust me with something this important?”
    “The fact that you even asked me
tells me that I can,” she said.
    She knew there was a small risk
she had misread Aaron Blake, but she had such a positive feeling about him she
decided it was very small. Given recent history, the chances were considerably
greater that she would be killed, and she was not going to let Nathan’s
discovery die with her.
    “So pretend this is your flash drive,” continued Jenna.
“Where would you hide it?”
    “I wouldn’t,” he said simply. “Not
yet. I’d recommend finding out what’s on it first.”
    “And you know how to do that?”
    “I don’t. But I have a friend
who does. More than a friend. A guy named Greg Soyer. We served together in the
military three years ago. I’m not sure you can truly understand how much going
through hell with another man cements a permanent bond. A friendship beyond
friendship. He saved my ass during an anti-terror operation, and I saved his
twice. It goes without saying that I still trust him with my life.”
    “Okay,” said Jenna. “I’m sold. If
you trust him, I trust him. And you’re sure he can access Nathan’s discovery?”
    “Positive. He left the military
years ago. But he’s as skilled as anyone I’ve ever known with a computer. And
speaks fluent Arabic.”
    “That must have come in handy.”
    “Very. But if you met him and
didn’t know, you’d never guess his military background in a million years.
Seems like the sweetest, softest guy you’ll ever meet. A blond-haired,
blue-eyed Jewish kid who grew up on the not-so-mean streets of Billings,
Montana. Double majored in computer science and Middle Eastern studies at
Princeton.”
    “Great,” said Jenna. “I’ve been
playing defense. But maybe with your friend’s help, I can begin going on
offense. So how do we get him involved?”
    “He lives in Orange County, so he’s
more or less on the way to Palomar Mountain.”
    “When do you want to head out?”
    “Immediately. There is no time
to waste. I don’t think Dan Walsh is in immediate danger, like I said, but we
need to know what he knows sooner rather than later. So after we visit Greg and
recon last night’s ambush site, connecting with Walsh should be our next
priority. During your