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“I’m sorry.”
Turning her head toward the window, she blinked back tears. Max’s sincerity ran deep. Maybe because he was in danger of losing his emotions, he relished them more than the average man.
There was no way she’d let him morph into Simon. She’d mix up a batch of that antidote if she had to hijack a hospital to do it.
A few hours later, they started seeing signs of civilization. Max pulled off the freeway, and they spotted an outdoor mall with several stores.
Max said, “We’re in luck. We can get computer accessories in that electronics store on the corner.”
“And find a place to work in one of the restaurants on the other side.”
They bought a power cord that fit Dr. Arnoff’s computer, a thumb drive and two temporary cell phones.
Ava nodded toward a coffeehouse at the edge of the mall. “If you’re not too hungry, we can get a snack in there and plug in the laptop. That’s probably the only place with an outlet for us to use.”
“That’s okay with me.”
They settled into a corner table next to a woman tapping away at her keyboard, and Max held up the plug. “Can I use the outlet beneath your table?”
The woman glanced up from her computer. “Sure.”
Leaning back, Max plugged in Arnoff’s laptop.
While Ava powered it up, he pointed to the counter. “Sandwich and coffee?”
“Just a latte for me.”
The laptop woke up, and Ava dipped into the plastic bag on Max’s chair and unwrapped the thumb drive. She inserted it into the USB port and navigated to the file containing the antidote formula. By the time she’d dragged the file to the external drive, Max had returned with her latte.
“They’re microwaving my sandwich. Did you copy it over?”
“I did.” She leaned back in her chair, wrapping her hands around the large coffee mug, inhaling the milky sweet aroma of her drink. “Now I can relax a little. You really had me on edge with that comment about a kill switch.”
“Like I said—Tempest has experts in every field.” He tapped the back of the computer’s cover. “Are you going to print it out, as well?”
“I think that’s a good idea. Did you notice a copy place in this shopping center?”
“I didn’t see one, but I’m sure we’ll find a printer we can use in this town.” He looked at his watch. “Now we just have eight hours until we get to Salt Lake. Are you going to call Cody now?”
“I’ll turn on my cell long enough to copy his number from my contacts into this temporary phone and call him from the car when we can get some privacy.” She scrolled through her contacts and punched Cody’s number into the new phone.
The barista called from behind the counter. “Sir, your sandwich is ready.”
As Max carried his sandwich back to the table, Ava pressed the button to turn off her cell phone and asked, “Who is behind Tempest, Max? Do you even know?”
“I know.” His lips formed a firm line, and she raised her eyebrows.
“Does he have a name?”
“He has a code name—Caliban.”
She snapped her fingers. “I get it. Caliban was the monstrous little character in The Tempest.”
“Yeah, emphasis on monstrous.” He picked up one-half of his sandwich and paused. “If I’d been more well-read, maybe I would’ve figured out the allusion. I didn’t read that play in school. Then I found out the Caliban character tried to kill Prospero, and the code name suddenly made sense.”
“Have you ever met Caliban?”
“No, but I know he’s former military—special ops.”
“Do you think someone turned him?” She blew on her coffee and took a sip.
“Someone or something, but he must’ve been off in the first place. You don’t flip a switch like that and become a bad guy overnight. He definitely used his time in the military to make contacts. Tempest is a worldwide organization. It has no boundaries or loyalties—only to itself and its agenda.”
“How do you know all this and the other agents don’t?”
“I told you, Ava. The T-101 never worked right on me, or Simon. I don’t know who else. I have to believe there are others. So, we suspected something was not right. I did some investigating while I was still in the fold. That’s why I warned Simon to hang tough, but he couldn’t do it.”
