The Uber was nearing the north exit of the Golden Gate Bridge when Hi Kyto’s phone buzzed. Her warm hand slipped away and she pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket.
“Oh shit,” she said, looking at the message.
“What?” Jalen sat up. “What is it?”
“I totally screwed up … I’ve got a deadline. Back at the lab. I’ve got to get back right now.”
“Now?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry.” She tapped the Uber driver on the shoulder. “Sir, can we please turn around? I’ll pay the extra fare.”
Jalen’s heart thrummed in his ears.
“Miss, I’ll try,” Uber driver said. “But look.” He pointed to the wall of red taillights ahead of them. “It’s a parking lot.”
“You’re right. You know what, I’m just going to get out right now. I can walk to the other side and catch an Uber headed south.”
“Hang on.” Jalen tried to grab her hand.
“I’m so sorry I ruined the day, Jay.” She opened the door. “But I’ll call.”
“Julie, what the hell?” Jalen was so panicked he used her real name. “Please. Just wait.”
He grabbed her hoodie, but she jerked away.
“I told you. I have a deadline. One of my labmates just texted me. If I don’t get back, we can’t ship our product, we can’t ship updates.”
“What do you mean … ship software?”
“Jay, you gotta let me go. Look, we can do the hike another day. Maybe even today, but I just need three hours—I’m sorry.”
Jalen watched as Hi Kyto jumped out, bobbed through the cars, and began running south on the bridge. Dammit! He banged his fist on the seat. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his phone and called Darsie. “She’s running,” Jalen screamed as he jumped out of the sedan.
“What do you mean running?” Darsie yelled.
“Down the bridge. On the 101. Headed south.”
“Where the hell is she going?”
“The lab,” Jalen said, his legs pumping, cars honking, and he dipped and ducked through traffic.
“The lab?” Darsie said in his ear. “That doesn’t make sense. If she operates from the lab, we’ll be able to track her. Don’t lose her!”
“I’m trying,” Jalen said, watching as she slipped into a gray sedan with the U sticker in the window.
Jalen’s thighs burned, weaving between cars and pedestrians. He grabbed a bike outside a coffee shop and pedaled hard, trailing the sedan, a hipster behind him screaming, “Hey! Someone just stole my bike!”
He followed for at least eight or nine miles, but in one of the hilliest cities in America, on a two-foot peddler, it was a lost cause.
He watched the sedan hook a hard right and head north, in the opposite direction of the university, and speed-dialed Darsie.
“Tell me you still have eyes on her,” Darsie said.
“Lost her,” Jalen panted. “But I know the direction. She was lying about going back to the lab. The Uber is headed to the Mission.”
Jalen looked at his watch—12:45. Fifteen minutes. Leigh Ann must be arriving at the school.
“Think I can catch her,” Jalen said. “Traffic ahead.”
Thanks to some construction, Jalen caught up with the car and watched from a block and a half away as Hi Kyto got out and began walking briskly north, into the heart of Chinatown. He ditched the bike and ran, following her for a few blocks, the smells of food wafting out of the stalls, the streets bustling and busy. Hi Kyto, her hoodie now pulled up, was a dark figure, dipping and ducking just a hill ahead of him. He knew that running down the streets of Chinatown was attracting too much attention, so he slowed down to a fast walk and followed as she cut through a dumpling stall and down an alley. He peered around the corner, fifty yards into the alley, just as Hi Kyto entered the rear ground floor of a tenement-style building, a steel door slamming behind her.
Jalen dialed Darsie. “She’s gone into a building in Chinatown,” Jalen yelled. “Darsie, do you hear me?”
“What kind of place is it?”
“Don’t know.” Jalen looked at the steel door, which was spray-painted white with Chinese characters. “But I’ve lost sight. What do we do?”
“Could she leave out the front?”
“It’s possible, but she won’t, right? She doesn’t have time—she needs to log in.” Jalen kicked the steel door hard.
For a few seconds, they just listened to each other’s breathing. Jalen scrambled up a dumpster, thinking if he jumped, he could reach the cement ledge of the second-story window above him. He leapt, but it was still a couple of feet within reach, and he dropped hard to the street.
“My god,” Darsie said. “Encyte has hacked into the network.”
“What’s happening?” Jalen dusted himself off, still looking for another way in. “What do you see?”
“He’s cloning the school systems, the camera feeds, every piece of data coming in and out of the school … downloading them onto the on-premise…” Darsie muttered. “Through a VPN tunnel to another IP address. Yes.” Darsie paused. “Encyte is watching.”
Jalen banged on the steel door.
“Just wait. I’m coming right now. I can see your address. You’re just a few blocks away. My team will trace the hack and follow the IP trail. I’m coming for you.”
“I’m going to try the front door.”
Jalen ran down the filthy alley. He pulled the handle. “Locked! Dead-bolted from the inside! There’s no way I can get through.”
“Okay, hang tight. Be there in three minutes.”