Hard Line - Pamela Clare Page 0,56

up in the lounge watching Citizen Kane. He knew so much about it. We’re having dinner tomorrow.”

Thor hadn’t imagined Lance as a classic film buff.

“March 23: The sun dropped below the horizon today. We won’t see it again until September 21. I wrote a little song in honor of the event and tried to play it on one of the guitars in the music room. I haven’t touched a guitar since high school. Still, I think the lyrics were a smash hit.

“‘There goes the sun, doo da doo doo/There goes the sun/And I say, it’s all night.’

“Lance started banging on the cowbell and dancing. People shouted, ‘More cowbell!’ Poor Samantha stood there looking confused. ‘Why more cowbell? What’s the big deal with the cowbell?’ Oh, my God, I laughed so hard. I just love her.”

Thor could see why people described Patty as being full of life—and why Samantha missed her so much. He’d begun to feel it, too—a sense of loss.

He read through the rest of March and then started April, the next entry bringing him fully alert.

“April 2: I saw something in the science lab here in the main building that I couldn’t understand. It looked like someone was running hacking software on one of the desktop computers. I’m not a computer expert, but I know enough to recognize hacking software when I see it. I’m not sure whether to report it since I have no idea who was running that program or why.”

Thor kept reading, a knot in his chest.

“April 4: I lied to Lance again. I feel so bad about it. Poor guy! I’ll have to make it up to the both of us soon. I’m sacrificing a night of sex for this, after all. Tonight, I’m going to hang out in the science lab and do busywork. If someone is up to something illegal there, my presence might prevent them from continuing. If it’s all in my head, then I get ahead of our workload.”

So, that bastard Barclay had told them the truth—at least about this. Patty had deceived him, but she hadn’t done it to hook up with another man. She’d seen hacking software and had taken it on herself to figure out who was behind it.

For helvede! Damn it.

Some part of Thor wished he could warn her, tell her to stay with Lance and forget what she’d seen. The satellite would have been hacked anyway, but she would still be alive.

He came to her last entry.

“April 5: No one showed up last night, so I logged onto the computer that had been running the hacking software. I dug around a bit, and it looked to me like someone had been tracking a US military satellite. Maybe one of the other scientists is working on a secret project for the DOD. I don’t know. I enabled logon auditing—it had been disabled—so that I could find out who is using that computer and when. I thought about telling Samantha and asking her to come with me. But if I’m wrong, I’d be wasting her time. If I find proof, I’ll report it.”

Thor stared at the page, dread hitting him in the chest as he realized how close Samantha had come to getting caught up in this—and possibly ending up dead, too. Patty had gone to the science lab alone that night, tried to get proof. But the person behind it—the person who’d brought down the satellite—had given her wine poisoned with methanol, using their friendship as a weapon against her.

Forbandet røvhul. Fucking asshole.

Anger and sadness welled up inside him, Patty’s words enough to make him feel connected to her—and her murder. But now the truth would come out. Thanks to Patty and her journal, they had more information.

Thor set up the scanner, scanned the relevant pages, and emailed them to Shields, the sense of loss staying with him.

“I’ll do my best to find this fucker, Patty. I promise.”

16

Thor moved through the compound, rifle raised, night vision goggles turning the world a ghostly green. He and Jakob had already taken out six guys guarding the place, so whoever was inside knew they were here.

A man with an AK stepped out a side door.

Rat-at-at!

Thor dropped him with a three-round burst.

Women’s screams. Children crying.

Jakob’s voice came over his earpiece. “Hvad gør vi så hvis al Harzi er gået?” What are we going to do if al Harzi is gone?”

“Han er her. Hold dig skarp.” He’s here. Stay sharp.

The muzzle of another AK peeked out from around the corner.

“Han er