Drake’s jaw had gone tight. “I would like anything you have on this woman. Do you believe she’s been meeting with Byrne?”
“I know someone is.” Maddie put her glass on the bar. “A woman comes to meet him. She’s never on his calendar, and she doesn’t talk to anyone else. According to his secretary, Nolan books the appointment himself and simply tells her to block off the time.”
“One of our goals is to get a decent picture of this woman so we can ID her,” Deke admitted. “So what do microwaves have to do with the attacks on the power plants?” He wasn’t sure he understood the connection.
“Adam’s been talking. I should have known he would. I would have only dealt with Chelsea if that had been possible, but we were out of time. The attack was controlled by an artificial intelligence that resembles Madeline’s prior work. I think this was a test of the system.” Drake walked up and grabbed a glass, pouring his own wine. “As to your question, Madeline, I believe the two are going to be used in conjunction, with the AI controlling the microwave weapon, taking over the systems of whoever they want to target before they attack. Taking control of smart systems in homes or businesses could let the AI know if the targets are actually in the building. This is all conjecture, of course, combined with some of the intel I’ve put together. Since you were working on the AI, I had to make sure you weren’t the one in control of the weapon.”
“I haven’t seen anything like that, not in the plans, not on what we’ve put together so far.” Madeline had paled, probably at the thought of her work being used in such a potentially violent way.
“They likely won’t change anything until right before launch,” Deke explained. “I suspect you’ll turn in your finished work, and then I assume there’s a launch team.”
“Yeah, but the heads of the departments should all be on that team,” Maddie argued.
“Has he named the team? Announced who’s on it?” He didn’t like to shake her illusions, but she had to be less naïve.
“No.” Her face fell. “He’s really doing this, isn’t he?”
“I think he’s doing something, and it’s not going to be for the good of our country. Whether Drake is right or not is the question. And the only way we’re going to find out is to get into Byrne’s personal system.” It was exactly what he was here to do, but now he wasn’t sure he wanted Maddie to be the one to do it. Luckily there was a real live spy here, and he could do the dangerous stuff.
“I need to get into his personal office. The one at his home.” Drake seemed to be on the same page. “And that’s why it’s best if I’m the one dating Maddie. She can introduce me as her boyfriend, and I’ll work on the man. I’ve studied him. I can talk to him, get him to trust me, and then get on that system. MaeBe can work tech for me, and I’ll get what we need to put this guy away and make sure a dangerous weapon doesn’t go into orbit around the planet.”
“He’s got a point,” Kyle said. “Not about being Maddie’s boyfriend. That won’t work, but I would way rather we risk his life than hers.”
“Thanks, buddy. I appreciate your support.” Drake sighed. “Why can’t it work?”
“Because we’ve already set up our cover, and you’re not taking my place. Byrne is hot for a woman who’s interested in having him top her,” Deke explained. “Maddie and I are going to mentor him. Kyle and MaeBe are friends of ours who’ve been in the lifestyle for a while and who are regulars at the club Byrne wants to get in to. You’ll have to settle for sneaking in when we go to his place.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Drake’s head fell back on a groan. His head came back up, a gleam in his eyes. “But he hasn’t met you yet. I can answer to your name, and I’ve got Master’s rights at a lot of clubs.”
He wasn’t going to punch the man again. He turned to Maddie. “You want to go in with this guy, baby?”
Her eyes rolled. “No. Obviously not.”
He shrugged Drake’s way. “She’s not comfortable with you, and she’s a terrible actress. It wouldn’t work.”
“I’m not that bad,” Maddie complained.
She was. She was pretty awful, but he could make it work. “Byrne wants to bring his lady friend to The Reef.”
Drake whistled. “So he wants to bring some random woman to a club that just happens to be run by an ex-operative.”
“It’s also a bunch of Hollywood stars’ home club.” MaeBe had moved closer to Kyle while Boomer stood near the stairs, watching the whole scene playing out. “She might want to meet one. She might be using Byrne to get in so she can find a movie star hottie.”
“Somehow, I don’t think it’s that easy.” Drake nodded as though coming to a decision. “All right then. I’ll go in with MaeBe. We can have a few practice sessions, but we don’t need much. We both have plenty of…hey!”
Drake’s chest took the full power of the orange Kyle had just fastballed his way.
“He’s got more fruit,” MaeBe said, taking a sip of her wine. “Maddie’s fruit bowl is full of citrus. He’s not going to let me go in with you. I think you get to be the bartender or something.”
“I’m always the damn bartender.” Drake smoothed out his shirt. “Fine. I’ll hang back with Boomer. It’ll be a good way to make sure he doesn’t snipe me.”
“I’m good at hand to hand, too,” Boomer offered. There was a chiming through the room and Boomer perked up. “That should be the burgers. I hope I ordered enough.”
“All right, let’s sit down and talk this out.” Having Drake around would give him more options and potentially keep Maddie from having to do the really dangerous stuff. It also meant he would have to watch him like a hawk.
“Which room is mine?” Drake asked.
“Uh, the one at your house,” Maddie replied.
“He’s going to want to stay close.” Deke didn’t want the fucker around twenty-four seven, but it would make it easier to watch him.
“MaeBe, you got any room?” Drake ducked when a lemon went flying his way. “I’m just kidding. Jeez, Kyle, take a joke.”
Kyle would never joke about MaeBe.
“I’ll go and get the downstairs guest room ready for you,” Maddie offered. She went on her toes and whispered in Deke’s ear. “He won’t buy the whole we’re together thing if we’re in separate rooms. I’ll move your stuff into mine. Keep him occupied for a couple of minutes.”
She strode away.
Deke looked to the man who’d just handed him the keys to the kingdom. “You’ll be in the room down from ours. Now I want a rundown on everything you know.”
Drake sighed and started to talk.
All in all, not a bad night. And it wasn’t over yet.
* * * *
Nolan Byrne stared down at the laptop screen.
He’d sent off a text to Madeline Hill earlier in the afternoon to see if she’d made it back to LA on time. She’d read it and ignored him until now.