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She made a lithe move across the room and I stepped aside. When I followed, I found her sitting on the wide starting step. The staircase led to a door, then a walkway that spanned the interior courtyard to the garage apartment. She put her head in her hands. I touched her shoulder.
“And you’re a deputy sheriff again. Working for this racist pig.”
“It won’t last,” I said. “I wanted to buy time.”
She turned her shoulder to avoid my hand. I sat in the leather chair and pressed ahead.
“We need to talk to a lawyer. This is serious stuff, Lindsey. I’m worried.”
When she spoke again, the sarcasm was gone. “I was loaned out to an interagency unit, CIA, NSC, DIA, that’s the Defense Intelligence Agency.”
She looked up. “Did you think I was in D.C. dealing with Nigerian email scams? My God, you’re naïve.”
“I guess so. You told me it was a temporary job at Homeland Security.”
“Look, Chinese hackers got a bunch of information on the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35, by penetrating a British contractor. That’s not news. You can find stories about this on the Web, at least the defense press.”
“So you don’t have to kill me if you tell me?”
She didn’t laugh and I regretted interrupting.
After a moment, she continued. “The efforts to steal information didn’t stop there. Our job was to find out who were the bad guys, how big the breach was—what had they learned? Then the task was trying to feed them false information, flawed design elements. I also created a back door into their network and a malware bug that would have rocked their world, but they wouldn’t let me use it. Said it was shot down by the White House.”
I wasn’t surprised her work would attract attention in high places. She was so damned smart and good at what she did.
She sighed. “The damage was much worse than the brass feared. They stole design elements and critical systems information involving not only the F-35 but the F-22.”
“Did you find out who they were?”
“Unit 61398. No surprise, probably.”
When she saw the My-God-you’re-naïve expression on my face, she explained.
“It’s one of the most important hacking groups of The People’s Liberation Army. The Internet is a battlefield.”
I let out a long breath.
“So why would Melton have his story backward? Why did he say I needed to buy you some time because you had given the Chinese information?”
“Because he’s evil. Because he’s using you!” Her shoulders stiffened and she used both hands to whip back her hair. She stood and walked past me to the picture window, staring out on Cypress Street.
She whispered, “My God, you believe him!”
“I do not.” I said it forcefully. And I meant it.
I stood up and embraced her from behind. She pulled away.
“Part of you believed him when he was telling you about…whatever he told you went on with me in Washington. I could see it in your face, Dave. I know you.”
This is where I should have stopped it. Diffuse the situation. Go to bed, safe in our cocoon, you and me against the world, babe. But the alcohol truth serum was still in my bloodstream.
I said quietly, “Maybe he was misinformed. When you came home, you told me that your security clearance had been revoked and they confiscated your laptop. Can’t you understand why I was concerned after what Melton said? Somebody could be out to get you. Blame you for something that went wrong. I’m not so naïve that I don’t know how shit rolls downhill in government agencies.”
“You don’t know anything,” she said, her voice rising uncharacteristically. “Jesus, David…”
It was the first time I could recall her ever using my full given name.
“Lindsey, please sit down. Let’s work this out together. I only mention the security clearance because…”
