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“And in record time,” he replied. “Any problems?”
“Nope.” Emma shook her head. “Your app worked great. As did I.”
He chuckled. “No self-esteem issues, huh?”
“Not when it comes to this, no.” Emma turned to face him. “There were a few additional perks I brought to the table. They could mean nothing or they could mean something. I’m just the uninformed messenger.”
“Meaning?”
“Mr. No-name wasn’t with a bunch of guys, just one. They were definitely talking tech. It was about some company called NanoUSA and the chance that someone could be trying to steal new technology.”
Aidan’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me exactly what you heard.”
Emma did just that.
“Damn,” Aidan muttered. “I wish I knew who the other guy was.”
“Check the new photos on your phone. They might answer that question.”
Without a word, Aidan opened his photos and checked out the zoomed-in shots Emma had taken. Given that Simone had provided him with full bios, photos, and background data on all the key players, he instantly recognized Ethan Gallagher.
He raised his gaze to meet Emma’s. “You’re a real asset, Artful Dodger. Casey is lucky to have you.”
“Promise to tell her that?” Emma asked with a smile.
“You couldn’t stop me.”
Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto
28 February
Wednesday, 10:15 p.m. local time
Aidan let himself into Simone’s hotel room after putting Emma back on the plane to Disneyland and calling their usual pricy but lightning-fast courier service. This package had to go out tonight.
He could hear the shower water running and Simone singing a lovely song in French as he walked in. As much as he would have loved to join her, he had urgent work to take care of first.
He locked the hotel room door and headed straight for the desk, whipping out his cell phone as he did.
“Yes?” Terri answered his call.
“I’ve got what we need off David Cheng’s phone,” Aidan said without preamble. “The courier service is on its way. You’ll have the copied phone first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll begin the analysis as soon as it arrives.”
“I also need you to find out whatever you can on Ethan Gallagher.”
“Pennington’s assistant?”
“Yup. He was talking Nano business at the bar with Cheng. Could be a coincidence. Could be more.”
“I’ll start that process now.”
“Thanks, Terri.”
Disconnecting the call, Aidan sat down and took out a black box with two wires hanging out of it. He set it on the desk. First, he plugged the red wire into the phone he’d given Emma. Next he plugged the black wire into a new phone that Terri had provided for this purpose. He pressed the button on the machine. It came to life, the status light flashing orange. Fifteen minutes passed.
The status light turned green.
