in which she was standing.
She pulled on the boots and stood, imagining herself in a video window on Daniel’s computer screen. She tucked her trembling hands into her jacket pockets, feeling for her pills. She wasn’t about to take more—she’d need every one of them, and besides, for what she had to do today, she needed to be extra sharp.
Running her hand along the wall to anchor herself, she followed the line of tape that ran down the stairs and through a doorway. It continued on across a floor of the mill and out into another stairwell. Up the stairway, through a corridor, and on she followed its circuitous path. Finally she came to the narrow, upward-slanted passageway that ended at the metal door to the silo. The surveillance camera over the doorway was pointed down at her.
Hesitantly, Diana tried the door. It wasn’t locked, but it took all her strength to push it open. When she peered inside, she saw Daniel at one of the tables. He turned her way as a breeze swept through the doorway, and it felt as if a pair of hands were trying to pull the door shut.
“Hey, close it, would you?” he said.
Diana stepped into the silo. When she let the door go, it banged shut behind her. The air went still. She realized what had created the draft—the hatch far up the silo wall had been open too.
“So you finally woke up,” he said.
He got up and walked past her to the door. He punched some numbers into the keypad on the wall, his back sheltering it from view, and the door lock clicked.
“Hungry?” he asked. Flint sparked in his dark eyes. “Got you a bacon-and-egg sandwich.”
Diana closed her eyes and swallowed. Just what she needed to chase last night’s greasy pizza.
“There’s coffee too,” he said. When he turned and pointed toward the counter, she saw he had a Bluetooth headset hooked over his ear.
“Thanks,” Diana said.
The carafe in the coffeemaker was nearly empty. She poured herself the last cup and added some milk from the little refrigerator. She turned off the pot. Beside it sat a grease-stained bag. She touched it. Cold. She shuddered, imagining the congealed bacon on fat-saturated toast.
The first sip of coffee with a hint of chicory was bracing but bitter.
Daniel returned to the table and focused on the computer screen.
“You didn’t come back last night,” she said.
“You weren’t exactly encouraging. Besides, there was a lot to do.”
Diana wondered what he’d been working on, and whether he’d been working on it for the last ten hours straight. She assumed that Jake had left to catch his flight to Baltimore.
She leaned against the wall and sipped her coffee. “You know, months ago, when we first started working together, I was amazed at how easily Jake was able to find and close Neponset Hospital’s security hole. It was almost like he was channeling you.”
Daniel stopped typing but he didn’t look over at her.
“How long have you been our silent partner?”
“Neponset Hospital.” He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, that was pretty slick, wasn’t it?” He spread both arms, arched his back, and stretched.
“But Vault—they’re a much bigger deal,” she said. “I mean, they manage insurance coverage for virtually anyone who works for the federal government, past and present.”
“Plus anyone incarcerated in a federal prison.”
She whistled. “That’s a lot of people. A lot of private information.”
He swiveled to face her. “Information that the government has no business knowing, if you ask me.”
“They must have paid a lot for that fancy new security system.”
“Supposedly impossible to crack.” Daniel grinned. “And then one of their employees goes and leaves his computer on a commuter train, a computer with a flash drive that never should have gotten out of the building. Got just what they deserved if you ask me.” He winked at her. “Arrogance will be rewarded.”
Those final words and the smirk that accompanied them were eerily familiar. Daniel had often used the phrase to underscore his contempt for his so-called enemies and the nobility behind the mayhem that he unleashed on them. He seemed oblivious to the irony, since his own arrogance easily matched that of the federal government and of corporations like Vault Security.
“So”—he yawned again—“welcome aboard. Have a seat.” He indicated her white tulip chair, which was pulled up to one of the systems on a worktable beside his.
She sat and rolled closer to the screen. The log-in box for OtherWorld was already up. She typed in NADIA VARATA and