“Forrest is going to be pissed,” one technician said to the other.
“Yes, and I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him,” added the other technician.
“Tell him what?” Wilson asked.
“That we’ve been unable to break the encryption code or recover any lost data from the main frame.”
Wilson exhaled forcefully. “What have you found out?”
The technicians exchanged weary looks. “Dr. Rigden’s hard disc has a real nasty worm on it. It passed the virus scans but, when we connected it to the mainframe, it started altering files and sending them out over the Internet.”
“Were you able to trace where the files were sent?”
“They went to a server in China, but that server is no longer functioning. We’re assuming someone retrieved the files from it before they shut it down. We’ve worked through the night to remove the worm from the mainframe. We’re still not certain we were successful. When staff start logging onto their work stations again tomorrow, the server may be re-infected. We’ve managed to restore some of the files from backup but not all of them.” He paused. “I don’t know who wrote this encryption program, but I’ve never come across anything like it before. I’ve never seen such a complicated algorithm.”
Wilson looked at the screen and sighed in exasperation, “I have - once.” He left the room. The technicians looked at each other in confusion. As soon as Wilson was out of the room he unlocked his cell phone. After several rings, Linda’s voicemail picked up. “Hi honey. I’m still waiting on your call. Call me when you get out of the tub. I’m on my way back to Forrest’s office now. See you soon.”
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Forrest watched the video footage again in slow motion. He furrowed his brow and unlocked his cell phone. “Did you get a lock on the transmission?”
“Yes Sir, it’s coming from somewhere in Europe. We’re unable to access the conversation or pinpoint its source, but it’s definitely coming from there.”
“Pinpoint its source immediately!”
“Sir, I can’t. The source has stopped transmitting.”
“Did you trace it?”
“We did Sir. It’s coming from Melissa Hart’s cell phone.”
“Get the bitch and bring her to me!” With a wave of Forrest’s hand, Melissa’s fate was sealed. “One down – one to go,” he mused, his mouth spreading into an evil grin.
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John Liu approached Melissa’s desk. “Mr. Forrest would like a word with you. Please come peacefully, and do not make a scene, Miss Hart.”
“Who are you?” Melissa frowned and slipped her hand into her pocket to press the emergency distress beacon on her cell phone.
“Pressing your distress beacon would have been a waste of time, Miss Hart,” Liu said, jerking her hand away and confiscating her cell phone. He flipped it over and took out the battery. “It wouldn’t have penetrated the EMP field around this area of the building, or where you’re going. I am sorry for what’s about to happen to you, but you made an extremely foolish judgement call when you sided against Mr. Forrest,” he said jerking her to her feet.
Melissa narrowed her eyes. “It’s you!” she gasped. “You were the man in the cafeteria, that day. Where are you taking me?”
“I think you already know the answer to that, Miss Hart. Unfortunately, your debriefing is out of my hands. Mr. Forrest seems to think pain is a more effective way of extracting information.”
Fear rose to the back of Melissa’s throat as she was pushed into the foyer of Forrest’s penthouse apartment. “Put her in the bedroom,” Forrest said without turning as he sipped his glass of brandy. “Give her something to help her relax. I’ll be back to deal with her later.”
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Wilson called Melissa’s workstation as soon as he stepped in the lift. “GW Forrest’s office. This is Haley Dodd.”
“Haley, this is Kevin Wilson. Where’s Melissa Hart?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Wilson. She was gone when I got here. Personnel called me and told me to come up here. She mentioned the position might be permanent. Was Missy planning on leaving?”
“If she was, she hadn’t said anything to me about it. I’ll check into it, though. Could you ring Mr. Forrest on his cell phone and tell him I had to make a quick trip to the mail room, but I should be there by the time he gets there.”
“Mr. Wilson,” Haley interjected. “Mr. Forrest is already in his office. Would you still like me to let him know?”
“No, Haley. That’s fine. I’ll do it later.”
Wilson stepped off the lift and approached Forrest’s temporary secretary. “Haley, has my wife called?”
Haley checked the stack of messages. “Yes, Mr. Wilson. Your wife said to tell you she was unable to book a flight to the UK until tomorrow morning.”
“Did she say why?”
“No, Sir. She didn’t. That’s all that was on the message. I think you should go in. Mr. Forrest is waiting on you. He seemed upset.”
Wilson drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He tapped on the door and went inside. Forrest’s attention was focused on the stack of printouts in his hand. He glanced up and waved to the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat, Kevin. It seems we have a few things to discuss concerning Donna Rigden and what’s been going on for the last two months. Where exactly is Rigden?” he asked, locking his eyes with Wilson’s.
“Sir, since she resigned on Thursday, we’ve been doing everything we can to ascertain her whereabouts.”
“I know where she is, and so do you. She’s in England with Triplet. I’ve dealt with it! You’re going to England to find her for me and bring her back. You see, Donna is being charged with attempted murder.”
Wilson’s mouth dropped open. “Donna is not a murderer, Mr. Forrest. She may have breached her contract with D’Netics, but that’s all.”
Forrest narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to protect her, Wilson? Perhaps you were her accomplice. I doubt the little hothead had the brains to pull this off alone.”
Wilson frowned. “Pull what off, Mr. Forrest?”
“Pumping me full of mind altering drugs that made me do all kinds of irrational things, make stupid investments that cost the company billions. I have a mole at D’Netics, Wilson. In fact, I have two. I don’t suppose you would know who they might be?”
“Mr. Forrest, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I believe some of the medication you’re taking may be clouding your judgement. Perhaps you should consider taking that vacation, after all.”
Forrest leaned across the desk, glaring at Wilson. “I don’t need another vacation, Wilson. I’ve been gone for two months and what do I find when I return? What the fuck have you been doing behind my back? Where did all this money for a new research building come from? Who is Kim Gentry and why were her remains found among what was left of this mysterious research building? What did you do Wilson? Play boss while I was gone? Now that I’m back you’re trying to make people think I’m crazy? What were you planning on doing? Declaring me mentally incompetent so you could take ownership of D’Netics back? What were you going to do then, give it back to the Triplets? Is that what this was all about? You’re trying to get back in his good graces? You fucked his wife. Do you think he’s ever going to forget that? You could have stopped her marrying Triplet, but you didn’t have the balls to stand up to the one you knew was responsible. So, you see, Wilson, it’s your fault Martha Triplet died.”
“GW, you should be committed. I loved Martha Allen. Apart from Linda, she may be the only woman I ever loved. Martha died of cancer. No one but fate was responsible for that. I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you have no evidence to back up any of these slanderous accusations, especially the ones about Donna Rigden.”
Forrest jutted his chin and arched an eyebrow. “Don’t I? Are you willing to stake your life on that?” Forrest slid a copy of Donna’s expired contract with D’Netics, a fake copy of an active contract with D’Netics and a copy of her active contract with Triplet International in front of Wilson. “Is this evidence enough?” He walked to the window again.
Wilson glanced over the three contracts. His face paled. “I had no idea this was going on!”
“I had a feeling you would say that. You still don’t have any balls, do you Wilson? You’re a worthless leech. You see this window I’m standing in front of?” He paused briefly. “I’ve got a good mind to throw your spineless ass out there and see how many of your bones break when your useless body hits the pavement. I may be dying, but I’m not stupid. If you weren’t useful to me, you would already be dead. One of my private jets is sitting on the runway. A car is waiting for you at the front of the building. You’re leaving for London, Wilson.”
“I won’t leave Linda.”
Forrest held up a hand as he stared out the window. “Do not test my patience. You are not that useful to me any longer, but I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself – somewhat. If you do not wish to consider my offer, then you can walk away now, but you leave with nothing. Do I continue?”
“I’m listening….”
“There is a reservation waiting for you at the Savoy.” Forrest turned. “Ten hours from now, I will call your hotel room. If you don’t want to lose everything you’ve worked for, including your wife, you’d better be there to answer that fucking phone. Do I make myself clear?”
Wilson’s mouth dried with fear. His heart began to pound. His chest ached. “Please don’t do anything to Linda.”
“Why would I do anything to hurt your beautiful young wife? She’s carrying my heir. I’m not going to hurt her! Why, if you should have an unfortunate accident while you’re away, Linda will live in the lap of luxury. I will see she wants for nothing, and I will give her more pleasure than you ever could.”
“Linda would never have anything to do with you!”
The corners of Forrest’s mouth turned up. “Are you sure about that, Wilson? I’ve come into some interesting information, about a lot of things that went on behind the scenes while I was away. You see despite Rigden trying to halt our mind control research, EIA went forward without her help or approval. In fact, there’s a mild version of it being tested in perfume shops all over the globe.”
“That stuff is unstable, GW. It opens people’s minds to the most unimaginable nightmares possible. It does irreversible damage.”
Forrest grinned. “Yes, it does, but it’s the ultimate weapon of war. Enemies do not deserve mercy.”
“But in some cases the enemy are children. Innocently led down the wrong path. Programmed to be thieves and killers. It’s not their fault. They don’t deserve to have their sanity eaten away by an endless nightmare of their worst fears!”
“Enemies come in all forms, Wilson. I’m not debating the issue with you. Rigden is to blame for what happened to our first test subject, and all the others. They were extremely cooperative. Too bad those experiments ended poorly, but then we didn’t know about the genetic incompatibility issue, did we? That was Donna’s contribution. If she’d helped us, we might have had better results. I’m sure Linda will make a much more appropriate test subject. If anything should go wrong, I’ll make sure my son lives to inherit his dues. You will find Donna, and you will do whatever it takes to bring her back. Remember, Kevin, ten hours. You’d better get to the car – time is ticking. Oh, and don’t call Linda. You wouldn’t want to upset her in her very delicate condition.”
Wilson slowly stood to leave. “I’ll be there when you call,” he said. His hand shook as he reached for the door handle. He didn’t even bother to speak as he passed Haley, sitting at Melissa’s desk. A sick feeling roiled his stomach as he thought about her. Forrest had probably caught her and tortured her if not killed her, but Wilson’s main concern now was that of his wife and their unborn child. Despite who its father was, the child was innocent and part of the woman he loved.
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“Cancel the rest of my appointments for today,” Forrest said as he passed Haley’s desk and stepped into his private lift. “Time to have some fun – real fun,” he grinned as he approached the two bodyguards at his apartment door. “Have you managed to extract any useful information from the fucking bitch?” Forrest asked as he opened his bedroom door.
Liu shook his head. “No. I warned you, she was one of Triplet’s best. She’s had special training. Maybe Triplet had her slowly exposed to the drug until her system built up immunity to it. If I give her much more, it’s going to kill her.”
Forrest reached into the drawer of a small table and slipped on a set of brass knuckles. “Maybe Miss Hart needs a little of my special treatment.”
Liu groaned and stepped aside. “I’ll be on the balcony if you need me.”
Forrest frowned. “You don’t want to watch. You might learn a few things.”
“No, your men have beaten her to near death, and she still hasn’t talked. I suppose you’ll go in there and finish the job. I prefer to be more constructive with my interrogation. Your methods are too… messy. Pain is not always the easiest way to get answers. If she’s dead you won’t find out anything,” he said and left.
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Forrest stepped into the bedroom and closed the door. “Missy, why are you being so difficult? You know you can’t win.”
Every breath Melissa took was like a knife stabbing between her ribs. She’d been strong, but it was getting harder to resist. Whatever drug they’d given her was starting to cloud her judgement.
Forrest straddled her partially naked and bleeding body. He grabbed her long blonde hair and jerked her neck back hard, adding to her already excruciating pain. She cried out in agony.
He put his face in hers. The smell of his breath was making her nauseous; it had a sickening scent she couldn’t recognise. “Tell me where Rigden is!”
Melissa stared back at him with raw contempt and said nothing. Mustering her last bit of strength, she smiled scornfully.
Forrest backhanded the side of her face. Something snapped, and Melissa nearly lost consciousness. She prayed for death, but it didn’t come. “Liu, get in here!” he shouted. Liu clenched his teeth and opened the door. “Start the EIA drip on her.”
“Where are you going?”
“Back to Mobley’s office, and then home.”
“What about her?”
“There’s no need to stay with her. Missy’s not going anywhere, are you? Give her the drug and do whatever you want to. If she lasts through the night, I’ll try talking to her again in the morning. If not….”
Liu waited until Forrest was gone. Instead of starting the drip as he’d been ordered, Liu put a strong dose of morphine in her IV. As he saw it, Melissa wouldn’t last until morning. There was no need for her to lay in agony until she died. It wasn’t going to accomplish anything. At least this way, she wouldn’t be in so much pain. He tossed a sheet over her body, turned out the light and left. “Barbaric bastard,” he mused as he stepped in the lift.