Gary, John, Jared, Juanita, and Sir Richard’s team in Shreveport engaged in a conference call to discuss their plans. Gary and John in the UK; the rest in Shreveport. “Either way we do this, our timing has to be exact,” John said.
“Absolutely,” Joe Islington agreed. “We don’t know what precautionary measures Forrest has taken. He may have alarms set up to go off if anyone breathes too hard.”
“Agreed,” Jared said. “I say, our first move should be for me and Juanita to get into D’Netics and use one of the computers in the mailroom to upload ‘Dessert’ to their mainframe.”
“That would be the safest place,” Gary responded. “That way, I can use VICi to monitor the rest of that level and let you know if someone is coming.”
“If you could cut the security cameras in the mailroom, I would only need a couple of seconds – assuming it doesn’t take all day for your virus to upload.”
“I got your back Jared,” Gary laughed. “It will take about ten seconds to upload ‘Dessert’. I think I can safely create that much static without drawing attention.”
“You’ll need to wear some latex gloves or spray on some liquid glove,” John said.
“Got ‘em in my back pocket,” Jared chuckled. “Before you ask, Gary, I have an untraceable micro USB pen drive. I’ve installed a text file of some corny jokes and some fleshy shots. I figured when it was uploaded, you could delete your program, and all that would be left behind would be junk files from the Internet.”
“God, I love this guy!” John interjected.
“He was taught by the best,” Gary added.
“Yeah – right,” Jared snorted. “In your dreams, Pal. I’ve lived my entire life glancing over my shoulder. It seems when people want to take potshots, they pick me as a target.”
“So, what you need to do baby, is get Jared in D’Netics.”
Juanita tightened her jaw and frowned. “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t call me baby! I don’t need you to tell me what to do. Jared and I have already discussed what we’re gonna do. You just worry about your end of it, baby!” she snapped.
Jared cleared his throat. “I think you’d better go light on those endearments and be thankful she’s not standing in front of you. If looks could kill – anyway – let’s do this. One other thing, I don’t want Donna to know I’m involved. It might be a good idea not to let her know Juanita is involved either.”
“Yeah…” Gary sighed. “We’ll do the best we can from this end. Once you’ve uploaded ‘Dessert’ to D’Netics mainframe, I can find out what I need to do to disable security on the top levels. The ones that concern me most are in Forrest’s private lift and apartment. We may have to kill the bastard.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. “I’m praying he’s there. Ripping that fucker apart would be the icing on the cake for me. Just get rid of security – I’ll do the rest.”
“That’s just it. I can’t get rid of their security. I’ll have to find a way around it. If I disable it Forrest will know, and our element of surprise will be gone.”
Jared’s top lip curled; he growled low in his throat. “Fine - I don’t care,” he grinned, patting his top pocket that contained an EpiPen full of Propofol. “Just leave the goons and the asshole to me. When I’m done, the goons will be taking a nice long nap. As for the asshole – if he should be there – it depends on what he says and how much he pisses me off.”
“OK, Joe,” John said. “It looks as if Jared has D’Netics covered. Is our Wilson team in position?”
“Yes, Sir. Waiting for your word.”
“OK, Jared. Put your ear buds in and I’ll let Sir Richard know we’re ready.”
Jared stood and tucked his long hair behind the collar of his lab coat. “OK, sweetheart…” he said, studying Juanita’s eyes as he clipped on his fake D’Netics ID badge, “…it’s showtime. Are you nervous?”
Juanita swallowed hard as she stood beside Jared. “A little,” she sighed.
Jared wrapped an arm around her waist; Juanita stiffened. “Relax, sweetheart. This is just for show. We have to make it look good.”
Juanita drew in another deep breath and nodded. Jared grinned. “Is my touch that appalling?”
“No! Knowing how you feel about Donna, it’s just a little uncomfortable.”
“You’re beautiful, Juanita, but my heart still belongs to one woman – even if I can’t be with her. No offense, but touching you means nothing to me,” he said seriously. Juanita nodded again as they approached the entrance to the building.
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Sir Richard sent Richard, Sam, and Donna to the Centre. Sam and Donna rode in Sam’s new upgraded BMW; Richard took his black Mercedes. The team were told to start working on the CTZ5 treatment. Sir Richard needed Gary to help coordinate the operations in the States. Donna was a little reluctant, but truthfully, she didn’t need Gary to start the tests. She’d been working on her own at D’Netics for several years. She said they could manage until he got there. As far as Richard was concerned, his drama classes paid off. He acted as if seeing Sam and Donna together didn’t affect him. By doing things this way, at least for the moment, Sir Richard solved the problem of Donna finding out about Jared and Juanita.
John, Sir Richard, and Gary used the chopper and flew to the complex so Gary could use VICi directly, increasing her response time. While Jared and Juanita were making their way to the mailroom, Gary scanned Kevin Wilson’s house to see how many of Forrest’s men he’d left in place there. Joe Islington was in position with the rest of his team a short distance away from the house. “What are we dealing with, Gary?” Islington asked.
“According to VICi’s scans, there are three people in the house. VICi’s sensors are picking up some metallic readings on two of them, so I assume those will be Forrest’s men. As far as I can tell, there are no alarms in place.”
Islington grinned. “Then this will be a piece of cake. We’ll wait for Jared’s signal. As soon as he’s got Miss Hart, we’ll move in.”
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“Gary… are you there? Are you communicating with the security cameras here?”
“Yeah Jared.”
“How are we doing? Anyone around?”
“No, Jared. Get ready – wait! Someone is headed that way. Hold off.”
Jared pressed his back against the wall and pulled Juanita into his arms, kissing her thoroughly. She gasped when he cupped her bottom and pressed her body hard against his. Juanita’s heart pounded. She felt as if she might faint, but Jared showed no sign of arousal. Juanita’s eyes were closed, but Jared kept a wary eye on the middle-aged woman, using the copy machine next to them.
Jared pumped up the passion, moaning and rubbing against her, sliding his hand up the back of Juanita’s lab coat.
Gary listened and decided he was glad he couldn’t see anything, but his imagination told him enough.
Juanita couldn’t fight it any longer. She gave in to his kiss as her body responded to his touch. Jared stopped kissing her and moved his lips to the side of her neck. Juanita groaned as he kissed a trail up to her ear. “You’re enjoying this too much, sweetheart,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered back. “I can’t help it.”
“Just remember what I said.”
Juanita nodded. Finally, the woman prepared to leave. She gave them a disgusted look. “You’re on company time,” she growled. Jared flipped her off. “Pervert,” she hissed and left.
Jared immediately broke the kiss. Juanita’s face was flushed. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he said, studying her wide eyes. “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.”
Juanita cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”
Jared grinned. “Yeah – OK. Come on Gary, let’s get this done,” he said, slipping on his latex gloves. “Am I clear?”
“OK, Jared – go – now!” Gary said.
Juanita’s breath caught as Jared disappeared beside her and appeared next to the computer across the room. She blinked and jumped when he reappeared beside her. He slipped off his gloves and stuffed them in his back pocket. “OK, Gary, get at it. We’ll head for the elevator. I assume you’re going to take care of the camera feeds. It would be better if no one could prove we were here.”
“Of course, Jared!” Gary snapped. “I wouldn’t want to relive the mailroom incident.”
“I might,” Juanita softly chuckled.
“Damn! This is going to be harder than I thought,” Gary announced. “I’ve found out why VICi can’t scan the top levels. Forrest has used something to erect an EMP shield around those areas. Electrical signals can’t penetrate it.”
“Shit!” Juanita hissed.
“Change of plans – go to the cafeteria and give me a minute to figure this out. I’ll let you know when we can proceed. This is going to be tricky.”
“Gary, we can’t wait. Mother says time is of the essence. That means Missy is still alive. I want her kept that way.”
“I have a suggestion,” Juanita spoke up. “If it’s an EMP shield, then we won’t be able to get a signal through it.”
“That’s right.”
“Forrest is a miser. Despite the amount of money he has, he hates spending it. When he took over as CEO at D’Netics, he replaced all the fluorescent lights with LED bulbs. We should be able to use modified LED bulbs to capture our signals. We could then modulate the light output of the bulbs. Switched on or off they would emit infra-red light carrying the signal. We could pick that up from miles away - anywhere in line of sight.”
“That’s true, baby, but unfortunately we would need time to set this up. It’s a brilliant idea, but we just can’t use it this time.”
“Time is something Missy doesn’t have,” John agreed.
“What do you suggest, Jared?” Sir Richard asked, speaking up for the first time.
“Will you trust my suggestions?”
“That’s why I’m asking, Jared.”
“First off, no cameras. I know it’s possible without them. You can have cell phones, but no cameras. Do we agree?”
“Jared, we won’t be able to help as much.”
“I don’t need help, Sir Richard. Do we have an agreement? One way or the other, whether you’re part of this or not, I’m going in to get Missy. This is what I suggest….”