Colt rolled his eyes. The driver was none other than Thomas E. Richmond, the same CHAOS agent who had extracted Colt’s memories not long after he moved to Arizona. His partner was D3X, an advanced military robotic unit with hands that morphed into plasma cannons. Colt had seen it in action during the skirmish at Trident Industries, where D3X took out Thule warriors as if they were garden gnomes.
“Were you expecting visitors?” Colt asked the question loud enough that Grandpa could hear him through his office door.
“I asked Agent Richmond to keep an eye on the house until things settle down a bit. Why, is his car out front?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Do me a favor and start a pot of coffee, will you?”
“Does that mean you trust him? Because—”
“Just make the coffee.”
Before long, the distinct aroma of coffee grounds permeated the kitchen, and as the water percolated, Colt decided to lie down on the couch. The frozen peas stung his neck, but the cold brought some welcome relief to his pounding headache. He looked at his cell phone on the coffee table and wondered if he should call Lily. She was probably upset, and he was sure that her parents were furious. The problem—at least as far as Colt saw it—was that if he didn’t call to check up on her, it was going to make him look like an even bigger jerk. Resigned to his fate, he reached for the phone, but before he could dial her number, the phone beeped twice. According to the display, it was a text message from Oz.
He was about to open it when a thought popped into his head. There was a good chance that Oz knew something about Operation Nemesis. After all, he was always accessing files that he wasn’t supposed to see. So did that mean he knew that his dad had killed all those people? And that he was trying to kill Colt?
Colt tapped the video chat icon and selected Danielle’s name. He needed to sort everything out, and it was looking like she was the only person he could trust. When she answered, a video showed up on Colt’s display. She was sitting on her bed, and her eyes were red and puffy as her Pomeranian tried to lick her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I just got back from dinner with my parents, and I can’t stop crying,” she said, her voice shaky. “I don’t know . . .” She paused to take a deep breath. “Maybe I shouldn’t go with you guys tomorrow. I mean, what was I thinking? We’re going to be gone for what? Eighteen months? That’s an eternity. Besides, Oz probably had to beg his dad to let me in.”
“Yeah, right,” Colt said. “You have a gift . . . of course it’s a gift for breaking into other people’s computers and stealing their data, but it’s still a gift.”
“I guess,” she said. “How did everything go with Lily? Are you guys . . . you know, official?”
“Because that makes a lot of sense. It’s not like I’m moving away tomorrow or anything.” He sighed. “Besides, after tonight I don’t think she’ll ever talk to me again.”
“Yeah, right. You two are practically inseparable.”
“Would you believe me if I told you that I got arrested?”
“Are you serious?”
Colt told her everything that had happened over the last few days, and when he was done, she started to say something, but then she stopped. The long stretch of silence made him nervous. “I don’t even know what to say,” she finally said. “I mean, the whole thing is insane.”
“Tell me about it.”
She took a deep breath, like an actress composing herself before she went onstage. “Okay, do you have the flash drive?”
“It’s right here.” He reached into his pocket and held it up to the camera.
“I want you to send me the files—all of them—but make sure you use your phone, not your laptop. Your line isn’t secure.”
“Okay, but . . .” Colt averted his eyes.
“But what?”
“I don’t know,” he said, trying to avoid relaying the thoughts that were dancing around in his head. “Do you think Oz will see them?”
“Why? It’s not like he’s in on it.”
Colt didn’t respond.
“Wait, you think he is?”
“I don’t know,” Colt said. “I mean, I hope not, but . . .” He explained his theory, and when he was done, she just sat there and scratched her dog behind the ears.
“How many times could Oz have killed you since the two of you started hanging out?” she finally asked.
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I mean, I’m not saying that he’s not a part of some conspiracy to kill you, but one way or the other, we need to find out.”
“How?”
She shrugged. “We’ll figure something out. Look, I have to finish packing or I’m going to be up all night. Don’t forget to send me those files, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll all work out. Just make sure you act normal around him, or he’s going to think that something is up.”
Colt had no idea how he was supposed to act normal when it seemed his best friend wanted to kill him.