W ith a couple of hours of daylight remaining, Vance pulled through the gate and drove up the road to the old missile base. Gravel crunched as he neared the building housing the elevator entrance. He shut off the ignition. A garage might be nice, especially in the winter.
Would the lack of one scare away a potential buyer? He hadn’t exactly had time to do research on missile sites converted to homes and how well they sell. On that, he’d given Andi his complete trust, hoping he wasn’t just another poor sap for a pretty face. But wasn’t every guy?
Vance dragged himself from the car and grabbed the two grocery sacks from the back seat, a box of Ding Dongs sticking from the top of one, and headed down under. He entered the living room, his eyes adjusting to the fluorescents. He set the bags on the counter just as his stomach growled, and grabbed a frozen burrito. Microwaves were a product of God’s mercy.
After eating dinner, he opened a bag of chips and plopped onto the sofa, the scent of Andi’s perfume in the air, a reminder of what he was missing. What he’d always missed, and what he would always miss—a girlfriend. A woman’s attention. Companionship. This place was the epitome of his life. Dark. Lonely. Boring.
Was this the plight of all computer geeks? His brother Matt was happily married, his wife expecting a child.
Vance blew out a breath. Hope yet remained.
The laptop sat on the coffee table where he’d left it open, applications running, and looked back expectantly. For once, he was tired of staring at his computer, but he had work to do, and procrastinating wasn’t getting him anywhere. Hard to imagine.
It was just that…he was fried. Having to use his so-called vacation, which should have been for rest and recuperation, to work on this…Well, he counted it as severe loss.
After running test data all day, he’d needed fresh air. Now it was time to get down to real business. What exactly was that second algorithm producing?
Though he wasn’t a data analyst, he could easily compare sample data output from both programs. The second data set produced by his government-contracted algorithm gone rogue appeared to produce a dissimilar data set. The records he’d flagged as the “bad guys” in his original algorithm weren’t being flagged as often in the second.
Serious bogosity was happening here—a sham he might even call mission creep: his proprietary algorithm was being used for an entirely different purpose.
It reminded him of when he’d watched two of his colleagues fired from the Texas-based company. They’d agreed to write the company’s proprietary software for someone else, in essence, selling company secrets.
But what happened when it was government secrets?
The sensation of being boxed into a small place came over him. An adrenaline rush sent sweat to his palms. His pulse raced.
Only one thought coursed through his burned-out circuits—someone wanted to produce output that was a less-than-accurate prediction of terrorists and their activities.
Could Peter be in on this? And if so, who had lined his pockets? The only reason Vance knew about it was due to a lost disk. Nothing was a coincidence.
“Okay, Lord, You wanted me to see this. I get it. Now what?”
What should he do about it?
Both hands on his head, he squeezed. Despite today’s adept computer forensics, Vance could potentially go down with the mission creepers, if they were caught. How could he prove he wasn’t involved? Especially since Peter was a long-time friend—even though he’d changed a lot. And if Peter—assuming he was involved—was willing to go this far, might he actually try to set Vance up?
The last thing Vance should do was touch this—but his fingerprints were already all over it. His impulse was to do something now. But that’s what he’d done when he’d joined ANND Systems. He’d listened to Peter’s persuasion, rather than praying first. No. This time he’d pray for direction.
Construction noise stirred Vance awake the next morning. He’d lain awake most of the night, his thoughts in turmoil, then finally fallen asleep in the early morning hours. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, sure Andi had a meager opinion of him for sleeping late and forgetting to let her in as per the agreed upon protocol. She’d shown him the intercom, but he never heard her calling. He should tell her to dispense with the protocol since it wasn’t working anyway.
After pulling on jeans, he headed to the kitchen where he poured a cup of coffee, compliments of the auto brew. He squeezed his eyes as the dark liquid slid down his throat. It would give him the kick he needed. After the first cup, he added fillers. Sugar, vanilla syrup, milk. That was more like it.
He hadn’t exactly gotten an earful from God last night, but he’d come up with a plan. He’d write a viral worm or some other slow-to-discover interference for their project until he could gather enough information to make a rational statement to the authorities.
Trading his algorithm out for the imposter was the only difficulty.
Cup of sweet coffee in hand, he propped his back against the kitchen side of the island in an obvious leave-me-alone-I’m-thinking manner.
“You really should take better care of yourself,” Andi suggested, her voice sounding lighthearted.
Couldn’t she read his mind? Didn’t she know he had to concentrate on his own problems?
Conceding the error of his thought, he turned around. “What are you talking about?”
Though his question had sounded much too brusque, Andi didn’t appear to notice. Leaning over the island on her elbows, she indicated the junk food he’d left out last night. “Let’s see, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, potato chips of every variety. What sort of diet is that?”
Vance watched her, confused by her unusually friendly demeanor. “Well, it gets me through. I need those sudden bursts of energy.” He couldn’t seem to inject any warmth into his tone this morning.
“That’s what you call brain food, yeah?”
Andi playful and teasing? Why couldn’t she act like this when he was in the mood to enjoy it? He frowned, studying the woman who looked similar to the photo on his desk. Andi Nielsen was nothing like he’d imagined the woman in the photo would be. Andi might bait him with her momentary charm, then an instant later her defenses would go back up, secreting her away behind guarded walls.
Was she a Christian? He didn’t see a cross hanging from her neck, or any action to indicate one way or the other. With what he was about to do, he had to wonder if he was a Christian himself. Trusting God had been easy enough while things were going smoothly at his job. While life was good. But when life became volatile, that’s where the true test of faith came in—how much muscle did he really have when it came to his faith?
He had a feeling he was about to find out.
Andi cleared her throat, causing him to realize he hadn’t responded to her question about his brain food.
“Well, I can see you’re one of those people who needs coffee before they become human.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind today.” Guilt threaded his conscience. What was the matter with him? The woman was actually paying attention. “Like your favorite mantra, I’ve got work to do.”
“Then you’ll need one of these for that brain of yours.” She pulled out a Hostess cupcake, unwrapped it, and stuck it out to him. Her hundred-watt smile burned away his irritation.
A grin broke through his frown, spreading until he laughed. How could he not? “Give me that.”
He grabbed the chocolate gooey-goodness and stuffed part of it into his mouth.
“There, that’s better. I’ve done my job.” She smiled again, then flipped her ponytail as she snapped around and waltzed away.
Enchanted by her spell, Vance was unable to do anything except gape.
Andi the builder had somehow wiped away his tension, using her strange magic. She was unpredictable. He weighed the trait, deciding he liked that about her, and finished off the cupcake and coffee. As he began work on his blindsiding tactic, he hoped he could be unpredictable as well.
He hoped he hadn’t made the discovery too late.
After picking Elisa up from school, Andi headed back to Ground Zero. Best not only to drop her troubled sister off, but to pick her up as well. That way she could stave off concern over Elisa getting into trouble. At least while she was working.
They’d spent the morning pumping out the water in the equipment building. Guy Landers had stopped in to do a quick electrical check afterward. He’d told her he’d discovered the problem right off, when she was leaving to get Elisa. Arriving at Ground Zero, she noticed Guy’s truck was gone now. She and Elisa rode the elevator down.
This morning she’d learned she’d won a bid on a job for Nielsen Remodeling. Things were finally looking up, putting her in a good mood, and for some reason, she found herself wanting to share the news with Vance. Since he’d not been in the greatest of moods, she kept the news to herself. Instead, she’d tried to encourage him, lighten things up, surprising herself. As she exited the elevator, she wondered how he was feeling now. Andi marched straight to the equipment room, the blast door propped open, and peered inside. The lights were on, lifting her spirits even higher.
She stepped through the door and looked around the large room—almost as big as a two-story house. The diesel generator as well as other equipment had been removed. All that remained were the four shock absorbers in case of a bomb blast. Though she grew up hearing stories about the Cold War era, it was difficult to imagine living with that fear, even though there were still plenty of armed missile sites around the country, especially in North Dakota.
“So this was why you were anxious to get back.” Elisa stepped into the room behind her.
“Yeah, I wanted to see if the electrician got the power working. We pumped the water out so he could work.” Andi motioned for Elisa to come all the way in.
“The place is a mess.”
“You think?” Andi teased, happy Elisa took an interest, no matter how small. “It feels good when you transform a mess into something beautiful.”
“So, why did I have to come? Why can’t you just drop me off at the Rhubarb Festival? It started today, you know.”
Andi kept her focus on the room so she wouldn’t react. Did Elisa honestly think with her attitude that Andi would drop her off for a little fun? She’d been having a little too much fun for months now. Hence, summer school.
“I wanted to check the power. But starting tomorrow, I’m going to put you to work so you can learn responsibility.”
“I’ve got homework, you know.”
This coming from a person who was hard-pressed to even attend school? Andi eyed her sister, soon to become a woman. She wanted Elisa to have every opportunity and planned to try a different tactic. Scolding her would only drive her further away.
“We’ll figure out how to make this work.”
“I doubt it.” Elisa turned on her heel and trotted out.
Andi sighed. She saw great potential in Elisa. If only her sister would see the same. Though Andi might listen to her own advice. Ever since Jorgen dumped her because she wasn’t as educated—would no longer fit into the life he wanted—she’d looked at the world differently, feeling anything but adequate. No one could ever accuse Andi of not trying, but now Elisa was the one with opportunities ahead of her, and Andi wouldn’t let her throw them away.
Elisa was right about one thing though. This room was a mess. Once Ground Zero sold, Vance would pay her the balance of her fee plus some, and that was enough motivation to wash away her fears.
She closed her eyes and imagined discovering what her grandfather had hidden. Was it a slice of history? Or was it something valuable in terms of cold, hard cash?
Guilt began dropping on her like splotches of paint. She’d almost told Vance about her search the other day when she’d shared about her grandfather working at the military base, but she’d been afraid of how he might react. She didn’t know him well enough. Would she ever?
Then he’d acted differently toward her this morning. She’d had to coax out of him the grin she liked. Did it have anything to do with the remodeling? She hoped not.
“Hey there.” Vance leaned through the open doorway and smiled.
Seeing Vance, Andi straightened. “Hi.”
He strolled the rest of the way into the room. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning.”
“Oh, you’re fine. We all have our good days and bad days.” And lately, she’d had her share of the latter.
“It’s just that there’s a problem at my company. I need to be there to work on it, but I can’t exactly work on it there.” He laughed and shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m not making any sense, am I?”
Andi laughed. “For a smart guy, no, you’re not. But I’m sure it has more to do with my ability to understand than it does with you.” Why had she said that?
A pained expression crossed his face. “You’re wrong, actually. You’re a beautiful and intelligent woman. On the other hand, I’m not so good at communicating.”
Andi felt herself blush at his compliment. She wished she could believe him, and averted her gaze. He was being so…honest, and she was being so…not. More guilt splotches.
“I’d like to know more about my uncle. You worked with him, knew him for a while. What can you tell me about him?”
What was he playing at? Did he know about her search? She studied him. The need to tell the truth chiseled at her. “Since you asked, there is something I have to tell—”
“Can we go already?” Elisa stood in the doorway, arms crossed. “I’m tired and hungry. You didn’t even let me get a snack.”
What are you, five? Andi didn’t want to argue in front of Vance. Her shoulders fell. “I’m sorry, I have to go. We can talk later.”
She stomped after Elisa into the elevator, swathed in guilt paint splotches because she’d just used her sister as an excuse to avoid telling Vance the truth, and was ready to throw out her earlier resolve not to lecture or scold Elisa. “Did you have to be so rude? I was in the middle of a conversation.”
When she received no response she glanced at her sister. That explained it. She was plugged into music.
Just as well. Drained, Andi didn’t have the energy to talk to the teenager at the moment. Once outside, they headed for the truck.
“Hey, wait up,” Vance called.
Andi turned to see him walking toward her, out of breath. He must have taken the stairs. She admired his lithe form, wondering how he kept in shape with the way he ate.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“I don’t feel like eating dinner alone tonight, especially in the dungeon. How about I take you and Elisa somewhere? Where’s a good place to eat?”
Andi stood speechless.
Elisa leaned out of the truck. “The Rhubarb Festival. They have food there.”
Talk about selective hearing. “Elisa,” Andi hissed. She hadn’t even accepted the invitation yet.
“Come on, Andi. We can make it a business meeting, discuss the work you’re doing.” He pulled his glasses off and hung them from the corner of his lip—a mannerism that was beginning to grow on her.
Why did she always have to like smart guys?