Page 109 of Kept in the Dark

“Suffocating?”

“I was going to sayconfining, but sure. Don’t worry, though—those three are the best at what they do. You won’t have to be in lockdown forever.”

“Right,” I agree, chewing on my lower lip.

“Nicole? Could you come into the study? There is something I think you will want to see,” Dimitri’s deep voice cuts through the swirling storm of worried thoughts.

We both turn, finding him in the doorway to the kitchen, eyes on me, and hand outstretched. I glance at Eleanor, who gives me a blank smile, so I know she didn’t hear the strain in his voice or see the slight pinch in his brow. Not as attuned to him, obviously.

“The USB?”

He nods.

I inhale sharply. “Time to find out what someone was willing to kill me for. It’s kind of like knowing what my life is worth.”

Eleanor reaches over and squeezes my forearm encouragingly. Heart racing, I hop off my stool and make my way down the hallway, pausing only briefly to take Dimitri’s hand and accept the kiss he places in the center of my forehead.

34

Dimitri

The nicest wedding present ever

What her life is worth.

I do not like the idea that she would think of her life this way—in terms of some arbitrary numerical value—but she deserves to know what is on the drive, after what she has gone through because of it.

Mid-planning session, Wesley’s scanning program reported something unusual in the drive, and he grew increasingly excited and agitated, clicking around and typing faster than James and I could follow. Knowing he was close, I left to retrieve Nicole.

As we enter, James stands and offers her his chair—and while there is a flash of irritation that he thinks to give my woman this comfort, no man who would call himself a gentleman should sit while a woman has no seat. Excluding Wesley, of course, who must sit while he does his important work.

“Ready? Among all the…” Wesley trails off, eyes darting to Nicole quickly, and clears his throat, “othernastybits on the drive, we have…”

“My breath is fucking bated,” James drawls.

With a flourish, Wesley hits a few keys and angles his screen so we can all see.

“I’m seeing… that’s a lot of numbers,” James frowns. “Enough dramatics, Short Round. The hell am I lookin’ at?”

“Bitcoin wallets,” Wesley replies as if the answer were obvious.

“Okay…” James says, scratching at the stubble across his jaw.

There is some silence between us, and Wesley looks around, his excitement slowly dying at our blank expressions. “A series of public and private keys for transaction ledgers that are untraceable.”

“I have a confession,” Nicole says, glancing at me, then directing it at Wesley. “I don’t really know what Bitcoin is… I only know enough to sound good, so guys wouldn’t try to explain it to me on dates. You’re saying this is money, right?”

James looks at me, relief plain on his face. Nicole saved him from having to ask. I have a rough understanding—enough to know that Wesley has found what basically amounts to an illegal gold mine. Or a platinum mine. Perhaps a diamond mine. Or all three combined, depending on how Volkevich managed his fortune.

“Lots of money. Things only have value—money, gold, whatever—because years ago we decided it did, right? Well, Bitcoin is like that. These codes are 2000-bit numbers that represent a blockchain, which is like a documented proof of historical ownership. Every transaction adds to the blockchain, changing it slightly. Having one of these private keys allows you to sign a transaction to add to the Bitcoin ledger, proving your ownership. Think of it like a code with a signature.”

As he speaks, he types one of the keys into a website that shows the value of the coin. “Having the private key means you have proof that thispublickey is something you own. This is a public key from the flash drive,” he says, pointing to the numbers he has typed into a search engine within the site.

“So, my life is worth…” she leans forward, finding the figure on the screen, then blows out a breath. “Half a million dollars. Okay… that’s… something. It’s more than an insurance payout might be, I suppose.”

Wesley shakes his head. “No, Nicole. That’s just one of the wallets on here. There are thousands of them.”

She goes pale. “Th-thousands of… I’m sorry, you’re saying I had thousands of millions of dollars in my stomach?”