The Last Protector(Clayton White #1)(38)

“Who’s asking?” White said, getting up from his stool.

“I’m Warrant Officer Ashby from CID, sir,” the man said. “We were told we would find you here.”

White saw the shorter CID agent nod at the two uniformed police officers as he stopped by the counter to order something.

“You pinged my personal phone to locate me?” White asked.

The warrant officer shrugged and said, “Our orders are to take you to a hotel so you can freshen up. Vice President-Elect Hammond will be here in a few hours. You really took a beating, didn’t you?”

“The other guy is in even worse shape,” White replied. “Why did the vice president call on CID to do this? This is out of the ordinary, isn’t it?”

The shorter of the two CID agents came back with a cardboard tray holding three coffees and a paper bag containing either a muffin or a couple of biscuits. “If I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s because the Secret Service and FBI have their hands full. Good morning, sir,” he said, after White nodded. “I’m Warrant Officer Tim Folsom. Coffee?”

“I’m good, but thanks anyway,” White said.

“Our commanding officer told us the order came to him directly from General Girdner, the provost marshal general,” Ashby added. “He specifically asked us to take care of you.”

“We made a short list of hotels that had vacancies,” he said, handing his phone to White. “You can pick the one you want. And we have clothes for you in the vehicle.”

White looked at the list on the screen. “Any of those will be fine, gentlemen,” he said. “But can we make a quick stop by Palo Alto first?”

“That’s a bit out of the way, isn’t it?” Folsom asked. “What’s so important in Palo Alto?”

“SkyCU Technology,” White replied. “Vice President-Elect Hammond’s daughter works there.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas

Veronica ignored Clay’s incoming calls. She needed to do this on her own. She had shared her concerns about her father with him, but she had felt some resistance on his part. She didn’t blame him. Clay’s complete trust in her father wasn’t uncommon. She had seen it before among officers who worked with her dad. Alexander Hammond was the kind of man people wanted to follow into battle.

She scrolled down her contact list until she found the number she was looking for.

Noah Larson. He was a software engineer at SkyCU. Though Noah was still in his twenties, he was one of the most gifted people Veronica had ever worked with. Without him, she doubted Drain would have launched.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and hesitated. Should she wake him up? Was she being crazy?

Maybe tonight’s attack had indeed thrown her off her game. Clay had told her this could happen. Why was not being able to log in to the servers suddenly such a big deal to her? Couldn’t she wait until morning like any reasonable person would?

No way, she thought. If something’s wrong, Noah will be glad I called him.

He answered on the first ring.

“Veronica! I’ve been worried sick,” he said, not showing any signs of fatigue. “How are you?”

She had kind of forgotten that the assault at the Ritz-Carlton was all over the news. It was normal her team would be anxious to hear from her. She should have reached out to them sooner.

“I should have called, Noah, I’m so sorry—”

“Nonsense! I’m just glad to hear your voice. I’m the one who should have called, but I didn’t want to intrude, you know? I’m sure there’s a lot going on, right?”

“I’m doing well,” she said. “But I need your help. Have you tried to log in to our portal or servers recently?”

“Not since I left the office. I’ve been glued to the television. Why?”

“I can’t access anything from my end, and I’m wondering if that’s the case for the rest of the team too.”

“Is Drain working?”

“It was last time I tried,” she said. “Let me check again.”

Veronica put Noah on speaker and looked at her screen, her finger hovering over the location the thumbnail for Drain should have been. It wasn’t there anymore. It had disappeared.

She swiped to the next screen. It wasn’t there either.

Had she deleted it by mistake? She tried to access Drain indirectly through an app store, but it wasn’t available. It was as if Drain had never existed. What the hell’s going on?

“I can’t find Drain, Noah,” she said, her anxiety rising. “Look at the app.”

She heard Noah curse under his breath, which did nothing to attenuate her fear. “Talk to me, Noah,” she pleaded.

“I don’t understand. I’ve never seen something like this before,” he said, his voice panicky.

“What are you seeing?” she asked, hearing the sound of his fingers typing on his keyboard.

Then Noah gave out a deep, throaty yelp, quickly followed by another curse. “We’ve been hacked. Holy shit, Drain’s gone!”

“What? How’s that even possible?” Veronica asked, stunned.

“It’s not. It’s not possible,” Noah replied. “Unless . . .”