32

THE RAIN HAD stopped, but it was still chilly. Addy was still in her yoga outfit, wishing she had packed a jacket. The impound lot was on the outskirts of the city in an industrial part of town. After passing several blocks of weathered warehouses, Addy reached her destination at exactly four-fifteen.

The small cinderblock building was perched in front of a large, gravel-covered parking lot filled with every make and model of car and truck, and a chain-link fence topped with spiraling barbed wire surrounded the impounded vehicles.

Addy pulled into one of the empty spaces and checked the dashboard clock. Nearly five minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Perry. She reflected on why Agent Long had asked her about Jerry Wilcox. She’d done some quick internet research, but discovered nothing.

She decided to wait a few more minutes before calling Perry. Three more minutes passed.

At this rate, the shop would close before they got Hindy. She snatched up her phone and was instantly reminded of her injured hand. She winced and tried to hold her hand still, hoping the shooting pain would subside. Just as she began dialing, Perry whipped in beside her, flung open the door and squeezed out of his car. Addy followed suit.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, buttoning his sports coat. “Been busy trying to tie up a lot of loose ends.”

“Were you followed?” Addy said, glancing back down the street.

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on. Let’s get this over with and get out of here.”

At the front of the cinderblock building, Perry tugged on a heavy metal door and waved Addy inside, where they were greeted by a heavyset woman wearing a police uniform. Addy and Perry introduced themselves and handed her a set of papers he’d snatched out of the printer on his way out. “We’re here to collect the hydrogen car.”

“I know which one it is,” she said slipping on a pair of bifocals that were hanging from her neck. She flipped through the documents without looking up, “Got any ID?”

Addy plunged her non-injured, “off” hand into her purse and fished out her wallet, then fumbled out her driver’s license that Perry had obtained from the FBI after her arrest at the patent office. The officer spun it around, then swiped the magnetic stripe through some kind of reader. She studied a computer screen, running her finger along as she read.

“That’s funny,” she said continuing to run her finger back and forth.

“Problem?” Perry finally asked.

“I’m surprised they’re releasing your car. There’s a lot going on here. I’m going to need to call the station.”

“That’s unacceptable,” Addy said slamming her good fist on the counter. “We have papers from the court. That overrides anything you have there on your screen.”

The woman snatched up the papers and read them again, shaking her head. “Well I guess so, but I’m still going to call in.”

Perry reached out his hand. “Call all you want, but give me the keys first.”

“And open the gate, please,” Addy chimed in.

The woman shook her head. “It’s in stall 86. You can pull the car up, but I can’t open any gate until I get the okay from HQ.”

Perry shoved his way through a side door that led to the lot where the impounded vehicles were parked. Addy scooted in front of him, studying the stall markers. In a few moments, she spotted Hindy, tucked between a monster truck and a VW bug. Addy snatched the keys from Perry and hopped into the front seat. “There should still be hydrogen in the tank,” she said flipping a few switches. “Enough to get it back to Palo Alto.” Her right hand flinched each time she lifted it up, and the ever-present pain ratcheted up exponentially. If Perry noticed, he didn’t stop her.

Then she noticed that none of the indicators lighted. “That’s funny,” she said. “There’s no power. I put in a new battery less than six months ago.”

She reached down with her left hand and pulled a lever. The hood popped up and Perry propped it open.

“You’re not going to like this,” he said shaking his head.

Addy shot out of her seat and shimmed around to the front end. The moment she looked beneath the hood, her jaw dropped.

There was nothing under the hood. Hindy, the already-castrated Shelby, was completely gutted.

“They can’t do this,” she shouted at Perry.

“No wonder they were willing to let us have her.”

Addy stared into her mentor’s eyes. He was staring blankly at the empty shell, arms folded. What about Perry’s $100,000 deposit? What about the commercial? What about her freedom?

“How much work do you think it’s going to take to rebuild her?” Perry said without feeling.

Addy shook her head. “A ton of work. I’d have to start from scratch. Even if your client could help me build a fuel cell, Hindy’s still missing all her internal organs. There’s no electric motors, no steering column, no nothing. It would take me weeks, if not months, assuming I could even get the parts I need. No way could it be finished by tomorrow afternoon. There’s not going to be a Super Bowl commercial in our future, that’s for sure.”

Addy folded her arms, rubbing her good hand over her bare skin to keep warm. She looked skyward, trying to think of a way out of their predicament. How could she demonstrate the catalyst without Hindy? There had to be a way they could still do the commercial, even if she didn’t have a car. But how?

She looked over at Perry and noticed his jaw muscles flex. She could tell his mind was racing, also trying to find a solution.

Then it hit her and she froze for a moment before reaching over and grabbing Perry’s arm.

“Perry, let’s get out of here. This is a trap.”

She watched his eyes widen. He understood. Before he could say anything, she began using both hands to tug him toward the office. She winced and stifled a whimper when her pinky finger flexed backward. “We’ve got to give up on Hindy. We’ve got to get out of here. The police officer saw something on the screen that prompted her to call HQ. If we can’t get through that office, we’re certainly not going to be able to hop this fence.”

Together, they zipped toward the cinderblock building, weaving through the mass of vehicles. When they reached the side door, Addy calmed herself, deliberately opened the side door, and quietly made her way down the hall. As they neared the front desk, she could hear the officer’s conversation. Something about a death.

She cocked her head so she could hear the discussion. It was about Examiner Johnston. Based on the officer’s responses, Addy surmised they’d found his body, with his red curls shaved off and his eyes missing. And apparently he’d been murdered only an hour after he called the police to report Addy’s theft of the vial.

She reached out her hand to halt Perry’s progress, then motioned with two of her fingers for them to dart past the lobby and out the front door. They took off in unison, Addy’s eyes fixed on the front door.

“Hey wait!” the officer said reaching for her holster. “You’re wanted for questioning. You can’t leave.”

But Addy’s shoulder was already slammed against the door, shoving it open. They each sprinted to their cars. “I’ll find you,” Addy yelled to Perry, nearly out of breath. “Let’s get the fuel cell built first. I’ll figure out the rest,” she said as she threw herself into her car. Addy slammed her door and started her ignition. With tires squealing, they both peeled out of the parking lot and into the darkness.

* * *

Keeping to side streets, Addy plotted her next move. Without Hindy, she needed another plan—another car, and a new fuel cell—otherwise the catalyst was of little use. And time was running out. The gridiron classic was less then twenty-four hours away.

Her eyes were burning. Oncoming headlights were no more than blurred dots on the horizon. She’d been wearing the same pair of contacts for two days, and they had to come out, but her glasses were still in her condo—a place she didn’t dare go.

But her fuzzy eyesight was the least of her worries. Her hand was throbbing, and a visit to any hospital was out of the question. If she went to her condo, she could probably jury-rig a splint and possibly replenish her supply of painkillers at the same time she retrieved her glasses.

She meandered along vacant streets, through Los Gatos, then Saratoga, and dropped down into Sunnyvale. She was just inside the city boundaries when she noticed a lighted yellow icon in the shape of a gas pump on her dashboard. Addy looked down at the dial. The red pointer was well below the empty line. She’d been feeling so crazed and cornered she had completely forgotten to check her gas level.

Her wallet was in her purse, on the passenger seat next to her. Keeping her eyes on the road, she reached over and rummaged through the contents, wincing every time she moved her fingers. When the pain was too severe, she relented and pulled over to inspect her cash. A ten, two ones, and some change.

Using her credit cards was out of the question. If she swiped her credit card or tried to withdraw cash from her bank account, there was no doubt they’d be all over her in a New York minute.

She needed to get off the grid. She was also going to need money for a hotel room. She could get cash from Perry, but she worried that if she got him any more involved, he could end up like Johnston. For now, she could pump in a few gallons with the money she found in her purse.

Addy pulled into a Shell station and pumped in a few gallons. She paid the attendant, then hung her head while she ambled back to her car, sorting through solutions. Where could she hide the catalyst? Not in the car; that would also be an obvious place to search. She decided it would have to be someplace easy to retrieve when she needed it, but in a location where nobody would think to look.

Addy noticed a row of hedges at the back of the gas station, separating it from an apartment complex. Cobblestones were stacked around the roots as ground cover. It was as good a place as any. Addy took out a Ziploc bag from her purse, emptied out the last of her pain-killers, swallowed them, and slipped the vial inside, and zipped it shut.

She looked around. It was a quiet evening. An elderly man was filling up his Cadillac, but otherwise nobody was around. She scurried over to the hedge, bent over, and hefted up a few of the cobblestones before gently nestling the vial in the dirt. Then she carefully replaced the rocks, taking special note of their arrangement. She studied her work. It was impossible to tell anything was hidden there.

By now, nearly blinded by her increasingly blurred vision, it was time for her to get back into her condo. Besides needing her glasses, she was thoroughly exhausted and needed some cash for a hotel room.

Her emergency stash of bills hidden in the freezer wasn’t a lot, a few hundred dollars, but it could get her a place to stay for the night.

Addy turned the key in her ignition, and stabbing pain in her hand dizzied her for a full minute. She blinked her eyes in a feeble attempt to clear her vision. As much as she hated the thought of what might happen, she must get into her condo, at least for a few minutes, to grab what she needed. To be incognito, she could park a few blocks away and sneak into her complex the back way.

As she crept closer to her residence, she peered into her mirror, trying to detect any would-be followers. She debated about how close she dared to park. She settled on five blocks, probably far enough away that anyone staking out her place wouldn’t notice her arrival.

The Crescent Condominium complex was laid out in the shape of a horseshoe, with the front office and pool at the main entrance. Addy’s condo was on the right leg, facing the parking lot. She decided not to try the main entrance, but to flank the complex on the left side, sneaking behind a four-foot brick wall.

When she was parallel to her unit, she put her hands on top of the wall, but her pain kept her from scaling the rampart. She jogged back and took a running start, leaping and pressing her foot a few feet up on the wall. The rubber on her sole gave her just enough traction that she was able to fling her left arm over the top of the wall, the cement cap digging into her armpit. She surreptitiously zipped between parked cars, crept between adjacent buildings, and made it to the inner courtyard. She looked around.

When the weather was good, teenagers tended to hang out and talk there. Luckily it was a cold night, and the courtyard was empty. Acting as casual as she could, trying not to draw attention, she ambled across the grass, inserted her key into her back door, and slipped inside.

In the mud room, the only light came from the courtyard lamps. Addy didn’t dare turn on any more lights. Feeling her way through the pantry, she entered her kitchen, mentally making a list of what she needed.

Eyeglasses were a must, so she scampered up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she took out her contact lenses, put in some eye drops, and slipped on her glasses. Then she opened several drawers and found an old ACE bandage. Downstairs she should be able to find something to use as a splint, maybe some spatula handles.

Back in the kitchen, she opened the freezer door and fished through a stack of veggie burger patties until she found the Ziploc bag containing cash. She tried to stash it in her pocket, but realized she was still wearing yoga pants. A pair of sweats would be nice, but that meant another trip upstairs, and she was worried that she was running out of time.

She needed something warmer to sleep in, though, so she shut the freezer door and went to the hall closet near the staircase where she kept her jackets.

She heard the floor creak somewhere near the front door. She looked out through the breakfast nook into the darkness, but couldn’t see anything. If the front door had opened, she would have noticed either the sound or the light coming through.

She slowly stepped back, reached out with her good hand, and opened the knife drawer. She slipped out her only butcher knife, holding it in a death grip, her heart pounding in her ears.

Heart thumping, almost panting with fear, she heard another noise coming from the front room. This time it was a rustling sound, almost like someone had rubbed up against her window blinds.

Knife in one hand, money in the other, she steadied her workout shoes on the tile and rocketed toward the pantry. The moment she did, there was a clatter behind her, like her blinds were being ripped from the wall.

She bumped into a shelf full of soup cans, which clattered across the floor. When she reached the back door, she tried to turn the knob without dropping the cash, but her fingers only slipped, and a sharp pain shot up her arm. She dropped the bag of money and, grimacing, turned the handle and pulled the door inward. As she did, a massive figure tackled her to the floor, pinning her arm beneath her. With all the weight on top of her, she couldn’t free her arm or use the knife. She could feel the cool concrete on her cheek.

She tried to buck her hips to throw off her assailant. But he was too heavy.

She opened her mouth and took a breath to scream, hoping someone would hear and come running. The moment she shrieked, a forearm smashed into her open mouth. She tried to bite down, but the man was wearing a thick leather jacket.

The fragrance. It was cologne she’d smelled before, but where?

Her hands were now free, and she swooped them across the floor, searching until she clutched the handle of the butcher’s knife. Then she heaved upward with all her might, ready to stab the man in his side. He sensed the movement and deflected the blow, crushing her arm to the floor with his knee. He reached out and dislodged the knife from her hand.

The next thing she felt was the cool steel blade pressed against her throat.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” the man said, easing his forearm from her mouth.

Now she remembered where she’d smelled the cologne. “Quinn.”

“Just hand over the catalyst, and I’ll be gone. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Funny, then why have you got a knife to my throat? Quinn, why are you doing this to me?”

“It’s for your own good. If you give me the catalyst, they’ll leave you alone.”

What did he know that she didn’t? And why was he threatening her?

“That’s not true. I know too much. I know the formula. All because of you.”

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with. You should be thanking me. Now tell me where you have the catalyst.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“We don’t have much time for name calling, Addy. Just give me the catalyst, go back to your old job, and nobody will get hurt. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.”

“I don’t have my old job, or did you forget that little detail?”

“Wyckoff will take you back.”

“I’m not going back, and I’m not giving you the catalyst.”

She felt the blade sink into her skin. He wouldn’t.

“You can’t beat the forces against you. Just give me the catalyst and this will all go away.”

“Do you really think that’s possible? Johnston is dead, and for all I know, you killed him. Am I going to be next?”

Addy began crying. “I trusted you,” she said between hiccupping sobs. “I can’t do this anymore. You win. The catalyst is in my car. Just get off me and you can have it.”

“You’re telling me the truth?”

“What, do you want me to take a lie detector test? Where else would I have it?”

“It’s not in here?” he said.

“It was so nice of you to invite yourself in. Now get your bony ass off me and maybe we can walk to my car like civilized people.”

She could feel the pressure on her throat relax and Quinn sat up straight, still pinning her to the ground with his legs. “Well, nobody has ever accused me of that before,” he said, lifting his left leg to unsaddle himself.

The moment he was in an unstable position, Addy bolted upright, slamming her forehead into his face and shoving him back. She heard the crack when the cartilage in his nose crushed. Dazed, he dropped the knife and grabbed his face.

Addy threw him onto his back with such force that his head crashed on the floor. She grabbed his thick black hair and pounded the back of his head repeatedly onto the hard tile, cringing every time his head hit the floor. When he stopped struggling, she fumbled for the knife, and brought it to his throat, making sure to nick him.

“If you ever treat me that way again, I’ll kill you. Understand?”

The fight drained out of her when Quinn started making strangled, gurgling noises. Oh, no! Was he dying? But then he coughed, and a thick plug of blood and mucus shot out from his mouth, some spraying onto her yoga shirt.

“Are you crazy?” he croaked, his pupils visibly dilated, even in the dim light. Then he coughed again.

“Now you know how it feels.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered.

Suddenly shaky, she tried to suppress her tears. “You were the one person I thought I could trust. I even thought I liked you.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m desperate. If I don’t get the catalyst and ensure my investors will be paid, they are going to make mincemeat of me.”

“Just like with Johnston? Are they going to gouge your eyes out, too?”

“The examiner?” he said through bloodstained teeth. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. But it couldn’t have been my people. Somebody else got to him, and they’ll get to us if we don’t leave right now.”

“Not until you tell me the truth about what you did to me.”

“Reader’s Digest version, then,” he said. “We’ve got to disappear.”

“I’m all ears.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them slowly.

“All right, I admit we used you to help spy on the US government. We suspected the US was taking our ideas and suppressing our applications, and we had been baiting them to find out for sure. I was ready to introduce our technology, but the Board wouldn’t let me do it until we had patents in place to protect us. We all wanted to know if the US was taking our ideas and putting them into applications with earlier filing dates. We used you to confirm this. It was wrong of us, but at least now we know. I’m truly sorry.”

Addy gritted her teeth. As much as she was furious with Quinn, the thought of a branch of the US government tampering with patent applications in order to steal foreign technology totally set her off. It was unconscionable.

“Wait, did you say that the patent applications I filed ended up in another inventor’s application, with a filing date that predated ours?”

Quinn nodded.

“I can’t believe it,” she muttered. The Patent Office had stolen their ideas, put them in another application, and given that application a forged earlier date stamp. Tampering with filing dates was nothing new with the Patent Office, but the last instance Addy knew of was over a century ago in a debate over whether Alexander Graham Bell’s patent application for the telephone was moved to the front of the line.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn repeated. “I wish is wasn’t true.”

Addy tried to process her predicament. WTG was stealing from the Department of Energy, and vice-versa. But if the DOE got the earlier filing date, they would be able to control the patents. And with her arrest, they could cover it all up rather neatly.

“At this point, an apology is not going to help,” she said.

“I understand, but at least I wanted to come clean.”

“You haven’t yet. How did you come up with the idea for a water-powered car? You never told me.”

“We’ve got better things to talk about right now.”

“Oh, really? What can you tell me about Jerry Wilcox?”

Addy watched as Quinn’s jaw dropped.

“Not now. We really, really need to get out of here.”

“We’re not going anywhere until I get an explanation. I want to know how you invented the catalyst.”

Quinn swallowed hard. “Okay, I did work for a company called HydroGen just after I wrapped up my dissertation. It was founded by Jerry Wilcox, but he didn’t invent the catalyst. Wilcox is crazy. He thinks I stole his idea, which I didn’t. Yes, I did get the idea of a water car from him, but his catalyst wouldn’t work, and he wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain why. I got fed up with him and left. I’m the one who found a better catalyst, but it was after I was already in Korea. I think his real problem is that the Energy Department owns the rights to all of his inventions, and he’s mad that I have my own company. That’s why he sicced the Justice Department on me. This bit about stealing trade secrets is nonsense. The reason they haven’t arrested me is because they can’t find any evidence that I stole anything.”

Quinn always had an answer for everything, but Addy wasn’t convinced, remembering the charges against her for stealing US technology. “There’s also this bit about hacking into the PTO database using my ID to lift a few ideas from the Department of Energy while you were at it.”

“Is that what you think? No, they were stealing my ideas.”

“So you never stole any intellectual property from Jerry Wilcox?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then please explain this bit about Sung-soo illegally accessing his patent applications, which, need I remind you, is what got me into this mess.”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time for this.”

Addy raised her fist. “You do that again, and I’ll pop you in the mouth. Out with it.”

“Okay. WTG knew Wilcox was crazy and would stoop to anything in order to stop me, including stealing my ideas. So they had Sung-soo watching every application with Wilcox’s name on it. None of his patents ever issued, probably because he didn’t invent anything. He couldn’t get his idea to work. I did, and he’s jealous.”

Addy shook her head. “But that’s not who took down my blimp. I know the guy. He’s Middle Eastern.”

“I’ve had more threats on my life than you care to know about. There are all kinds of people who don’t want this to come to market.”

“But what you were doing was wrong. Admit it.”

Quinn coughed again. “It was.”

“And Sung-soo was probably stealing technology, not just monitoring Wilcox’s applications.”

“I’m afraid so, but it was without my knowledge,” Quinn insisted. “In fact, I knew nothing about it until later. It was Sung-soo, under orders from Jeyhu. I’m so sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen. If I’d known WTG’s true intentions, I would never have involved you. Now I can never face my father. My whole family is going to be dishonored if this ever gets out. I need to find the catalyst.”

“Your family! You really want to talk about your father at a time like this?” Addy practically shrieked. “What about my father? At least yours is alive.”

Addy watched him struggle to swallow. Looking into his bleeding face, she felt a small niggling of compassion. There was a reason she’d had feelings for him.

“Did you really like me?” he muttered.

It sounded so pathetic, yet somehow sincere.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” Addy said. “We’ve got more important things to discuss.”

“I feel terrible about Johnston. My dream to change the world has turned out to be a horrific nightmare that keeps getting worse.”

“That pretty much describes how I feel, too.”

“You’ve got to believe me. When I met you in Vietnam, I really believed you could help me, not just as a patent attorney, but in seeing my vision and helping to bring it to the world. I loved your enthusiasm, your drive. I really was going to use Hindy to make the announcement.”

Addy nibbled on her lower lip. She wanted to trust him, but every time she had, it had brought an unbelievable avalanche of disaster, guilt, and heartache.

“This is my baby,” he continued. “Everything I’ve ever dreamed of accomplishing. I’ve put every emotion, every cent, every bit of energy into changing the world. And now I’m going to lose everything.”

“Unless you get the catalyst,” Addy reminded him.

“I’m not going to lie. I’ve got to get it back for there to be any chance to put this right.”

“I thought you could make some more; that’s what you told me.”

“Yes and no. I know how to make more, but the refining process is very expensive and WTG is out of money. I need the catalyst so WTG can show proof of concept to the investors, just like we did with Johnston. That’s why they didn’t want me to take it. WTG needs a massive influx of cash to finish the production facility. Without the catalyst, it’s really hard to drum up that kind of investment. And if I fail, my investors are going to come after me. It will be ugly.”

“Well, you can forget about the catalyst, because I’m not giving it back. And I think you’d rather deal with me right now than with them.”

“Then I’m a dead man,” he groaned. “You’ve made your point,” he said looking down at the knife. “Would you let me up? My head is killing me.”

“You know what I think?” Addy said ignoring his request. “I think getting the catalyst is the least of your problems. You’ve got to secure the patents, or your investors are going to get skittish. Why would they be willing to cough up that much money when it’s just going to be copied?”

Addy searched Quinn’s eyes. They were flashing back and forth like he was trying to process her logic.

“You should have thought about all this before Sung-soo did his little invasion of the Patent Office database. I don’t think the PTO is going to be too keen to give you anything since you’ve stolen the government’s technology, and it looks like you’ve knocked off one of their examiners. Have you mentioned that to your investors?”

Quinn remained silent.

“Well that’s all water under the bridge now,” Addy continued, trying to sound blasé. “I’m going to end up going to jail, and you will never get any patents. Seems to me like you’ve got a bigger problem. At least I’ll be safe in prison.”

Addy paused and listened, wondering if anyone was closing in on them. Except for Quinn’s heavy breathing, it was quiet.

“What can I say besides I’m sorry? I thought I had everything figured out, but I didn’t realize I was being used. I let my ego get to me, and now it’s going to cost me everything.”

“One thing is for sure, they won’t be selling water cars in the US If the DOE has patents on any part of your technology, they are going to put the hammer down. This little boy from Korea is not going to beat Uncle Sam.”

Addy expected another groan, but he was silent. Instead, Quinn’s face brightened with a wry smile.

“But you could.”

“Don’t try to sweet-talk me,” she said. “And I already told you, when this is all over, even if I can get out of doing any prison time, I’m not going to have a license to practice law.”

“I know you have a plan,” Quinn persisted. “You wouldn’t go to prison without a fight. Whatever you’ve conjured up, I want to help. It will be my way of making things right.”

“What makes you so sure I have a plan?”

“I know you too well. You do have a plan. Admit it.”

“I do, but I’m not going to tell you what it is.”

She stopped. She was almost certain she heard the hum of a car’s engine. It could be one of her neighbors, but it could be someone else.

“Did you hear that?” Quinn said. “We need to get going. Now will you accept my offer?” He reached up slowly and took the blade of the knife between two fingers and pushed it away. “I want to see everyone driving a water car. I don’t care about the money. The only thing I want is credit for my invention. I’ve studied history. I don’t want to be another Eli Whitney, who spent his life trying to enforce his patents. Life is too short. I’ll leave WTG, and we can work together.”

Addy set the knife down on the floor, but stayed atop his chest. She didn’t trust him, but he had something she still needed. She could use him just as he’d used her.

“There’s more,” Quinn continued. “I think there’s something between us—”

Addy could feel the heat in her cheeks. Even if she did have feelings for Quinn, she wasn’t about to admit it. And she was still too furious to even like him. But when she gazed into his bloodstained face, something struck her heart.

“Maybe I do too,” she muttered, “but there’s still this trust issue.”

“You can trust me. Is there anything I can do to prove it?”

Addy sensed her chance. “How much are you worth—in cash?”

“If that’s what we’re going to talk about, can’t you at least let me sit up?”

Addy got up and off him and waited while he hoisted himself up. Quinn rubbed the back of his head.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve got a goose egg the size of a softball.”

“I’m sorry about that, but I think you understand. Now, about my question.”

“How much do you need?”

“A little over four million.”

Quinn’s head whipped around, his eyes wide. “What, are you kidding?”

“You said the money didn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t. But what makes you suppose I have that much money?”

“Your stock in WTG. How much is it worth?”

“I couldn’t sell it all at once. They wouldn’t let me.”

“Don’t you have a marketing budget or some kind of other slush fund?”

“Getting that much money isn’t easy. It will set off all kinds of alarms.”

“Tell you what, you come up with the money, and I’ll trust you. Perry needs it by tomorrow morning.”

Quinn grunted. “You know we’re not exactly on speaking terms.”

“I know how Perry is, but he still needs the money—by ten tomorrow. You know how to contact him.”

Quinn smoothed his hair and tapped his fingers gingerly around his contusion. “You really need that much?”

“You were right. I do have a plan. I’m going to tell our story to the world, tell them that if it weren’t for a few corrupt governments and some unsavory companies, we’d all be driving cars fueled by water. Then I’m going to recruit humanity to fight for me. It’s the only way I can prove my innocence.”

“I agree with you, but I don’t see how you’re going to do it.”

“Just trust me with your money and you’ll find out.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You’re the one who said something about becoming mincemeat.”

The sound of a car door closing interrupted their conversation. Addy flinched, quivered, then whispered while she felt around for her money, “Let’s go.”

They slipped out the back door, scrambled over the brick fence, and made their way to Addy’s rental car. Addy fumbled with her keys to unlock the door.

“Where’s your car?” she said pressing the key fob.

“I took a cab,” Quinn said, staring at her swollen hand. “I don’t dare get in the same car twice.”

“Get in. We can talk while I drive.”

“I think you should let me drive. What happened?”

“Never mind,” Addy said opening her door. “We should be going.”

Quinn winced the moment his head encountered the headrest. Addy started the car and pulled into the street. “Where can I take you? Half Moon Bay?”

“No, they’d find me there. I gave up that place. How about the Stanford Park Hotel?”

“Got it,” she said as she turned north toward Palo Alto.

“Where are you staying?” he asked.

“I can find a place,” Addy said, since she still had serious trust issues.

“Have it your way. So tell me about your plan.”

“I need another Hindy,” she said without further explanation. “Perry and I went to get her out of impound, but she was gutted.”

He laughed, then grabbed his head and moaned.

“What’s so funny?” Addy said. “I’m being serious.”

“I know you are. You forget that using Hindy to announce the discovery was my idea. You stole my idea.”

“I had that idea long before you ever did,” she said, then pursed her lips. “Anyway, Hindy is out of the question. She’s still in the impound lot, doesn’t even have a transmission or drive train, and I can’t get her out, even if you gave me a fuel cell.”

“So, let me see if I understand. You don’t have a fuel cell that will work with the catalyst, and you don’t have a car for the fuel cell.”

“Something like that,” she admitted.

“And you need me, not only to get your hands on a few million dollars, but also to provide a car with one of my fuel cells in it.”

“We can call it an even trade. You get me the money and the car, and I’ll forgive you for ruining my life.”

Quinn took a deep breath. “Let me get this straight. You want me to give up my company, get you a few million in cash, add to that a new car, and risk my life, all without telling me what you are planning.”

“That’s right. You’ll need to trust me.”

“No. You won’t be safe. You need to let me help you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Addy insisted.

Quinn raised his eyebrows, then adjusted the rearview mirror and studied the headlights behind them.

“Why won’t you tell me? I want to be a part of what you’re doing. After all, it is my invention.”

Addy sighed. He was right. He needed to be as passionate about her plan as she was. Just asking for money and a car wasn’t going to do that.

“I suppose that’s fair,” she began. “Perry and I have planned a massive public relations campaign. We are going to make this story go viral. We’ve set up everything we need for it to take off, social media, major news networks, freelance reporters, everything. But we need a spark, something to get the world’s attention. If we could do that, everyone would want to chatter about it. Everyone would demand a car that runs on water.”

“And what kind of spark are you thinking about, the one that is going to cost me the pittance of four million dollars?”

Addy paused to let the tension build. Quinn shifted in his seat, turning to face her.

“A Super Bowl ad,” she finally said.

This time Quinn didn’t laugh. “So you’re going to make a commercial, driving a new Hindy that runs on water.”

“Actually, it will be a personal appearance on the playing field, but you get the point. It would be seen by more than a billion people. And when they realize there might be a world without gas stations, and all the pollution, poisons, and politics associated with the petroleum industry, they are going to want to know more.

“We’ve got websites, pages on social networks, everything set up to feed them the truth. Your patent application is going to be published for all the world to see. And I’ll have a blog with my story, how I was set up, how our government tried to stop this. I’ll plead my case to the world.”

Quinn’s face remained stoic while he absorbed her idea.

“Well?” Addy said when he didn’t respond.

He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.

“What?”

“It’s a good plan,” he finally said, “but—”

“But what?”

“The Super Bowl is tomorrow.”

“And that’s why I need the money pronto, and a new Hindy. It’s going to be a live commercial.”

Quinn clapped his hands. “I like it,” he said. “In fact, it’s brilliant! It’s worth betraying WTG, and it might just work.”

Addy felt herself grinning, the first time since she’d walked up the steps of the Patent Office with Quinn before their fateful interview with Examiner Johnston.

“I’ll see if I can get the money, but it’s not going to be easy. I’m not sure what restrictions our banks have on our accounts, especially for a transfer in less than twenty-four hours. And it is the weekend. All I can say is that I’ll give it my best shot.”

“And the fuel cell?”

“That one is a little easier. We always knew we’d need a show car when the catalyst was finished. We built one each for Asia, Europe, and the US To avoid problems with US customs, we had it built here. It’s got the same fuel cell that we showed to Examiner Johnston, only on a much larger scale. I would have brought it to the interview, but you said a small model would be good enough, so I didn’t bother with the car.”

“Where is it?”

“Good question. We keep moving it around so it won’t be discovered. But it’s somewhere close. It hasn’t left the Bay Area.”

Addy smiled. Looked like her plan just might work.

“The problem is that you have the only available catalyst,” Quinn said.

“Understood, but I won’t give it to you. That’s my only leverage.”

“If I’m going to get the money, it would really help if could show them I have the catalyst.”

Addy knew she wasn’t going to give in, no matter what Quinn offered. “I’m confident you can find a way without it.”

Quinn raised his eyes, fiddled with the rearview mirror and said, “I need you to hang a quick left, then floor it. Now!”

Addy obeyed, squealing the tires and sending agonizing bolts of pain from her injured hand while she cranked on the wheel. Quinn gave her a few more directions, telling her to keep her foot glued to the pedal. Every time she turned, he looked into the mirror and shook his head. “We’ve got to shake them.”

“How? I can’t drive any faster without killing us. We’re going to run into the Stanford campus.”

“That’s the idea,” Quinn said. “I’m taking you close to the dorms, where there will be plenty of students. Then we’re going to ditch the car and make a run for it. Find any way you can to blend in. We’ll find each other later.”

Addy wheeled the car to the right, feeling the tires separate from the pavement and settle back down as they shot onto Campus Drive, Addy doing her best not to hit one of the students pedaling away on his cruiser.

Quinn pointed to her left, and she screeched into a small parking lot next to a two-story sandstone building. “This is as good a place as any,” he said. “Leave your phone in the car.”

“It’s okay. I bought one of those cheap reloadable ones.”

“No,” Quinn shot back. “As long as you are connected to the phone network, the feds will find you. They know where you’ve been, and they can map that up with calls made from the same area. By now they know your phone number.”

“Then how can I call you?”

Quinn dove his hand into his jeans pocket and fished out a smart phone. “Here, use this one. It can’t connect to the phone network. The only way it works is using local Wi-Fi hotspots. Coffee shops are usually good places. You can’t be tracked this way. And, it’s got some apps that might come in handy.”

Addy pulled in behind a row of scooters and shoved the car into park. She swiveled around to see who had been following her. Quinn yanked on his door handle. “Don’t look, just disappear.”

“Wait, how will I find you? And the money? And the car?”

Quinn reached out for her hand and slipped a wadded-up gum wrapper into her uninjured hand, closing it into a fist. “Don’t lose this. It has my phone number along with a simple code to decrypt my geolocation, just in case our messages get intercepted.”

“You’re going to send me GPS coordinates?”

“Yeah, like in Vietnam. I’ve got to find the car, then text you the location, but I can’t risk letting anyone else find it. I’ll set up the warehouse as a cache, then encrypt the location coordinates. We’ve got a lot of people chasing us right now.”

“But you said our phones were safe.”

“They should be, but with technology these days, you never know. If the text is discovered, I suspect some of them are smart enough to crack the code and figure out it’s a geographical coordinate, but the encryption will slow them down enough to let you make your Super Bowl appearance.”

Addy raised her eyebrows.

“You have a better plan?”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “It’s brilliant.”