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“I feel so much better. How are you going to create a defense?”
The tunnel opened up a little, the ceiling rising. They stepped into another chamber. She turned to him. “We’re going to create a virus. Something we can download into anything that uses the AI program.”
He stared down at her, the planes of his face sharp in the shadows. His hair was a mess, late-night—or early-morning—whiskers skimmed his face, and his eyes were bold in hers. Yes, if she were to be trapped in darkness with anyone, it would be this man.
Even if he didn’t trust her.
“Luis.”
“What?” She checked her GPS.
“Don’t dodge me. You’re using Luis to create the virus.”
She looked up. “I think we’re close to that pit.”
“That’s why you needed him.”
Her mouth tightened. “Listen. Yes, he’s working for us now. At the time, he’d created a program to decrypt high-level encryption codes. We used that to... acquire information.”
“Like by breaking into DOD servers?”
“I don’t know. But...” She sighed. “We did use it to check on you after I saw you in Minnesota, at the wedding. Frankly, I almost didn’t recognize you. Not in a suit and tie.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You looked different back then. A beard. Longer hair.”
“Blood, grime?—”
“Maybe harder.” She lifted a shoulder. “When Nim found your medical records...” She let out a breath, ignoring the sirens inside. “I never got over leaving you, Steinbeck.”
He stopped, his voice soft. “I never got over thinking you’d died and I couldn’t save you.”
Oh.His blue eyes held hers.Oh.
And suddenly, the what-ifs weren’t so crazy. What if she could step up to him, grab him by his soggy shirt, and make it real? Or as real as it could be with her living her life out of a backpack.
It was possible he saw that thought in her eyes, the questions, the desire, because his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, and his gaze roamed her face... fell on her lips.
Yes—
Then he shook his head, winced, and held up a hand, stepping back. “Wow, I’m weak. Seriously.”
He brushed past her, what seemed like anger steaming off him.
She stood there, heart hammering.Yeah, well...“Aw, calm down, Frogman. We’re just cold and tired, and you started it with the wholejust trying to warm you upbusiness.”
This man.She had to get him out of her brain.
She hurried after him, catching up as he entered another tunnel, his light flashing ahead of him. “We’ll be out of here soon, and then I promise, you’ll never see me again.”
He grunted.
And weirdly, her eyes burned.
Fatigue, probably.
“Who’s Nim?”