Chapter 76
The room was completely empty.
Eddy stood rigid, his features set in a grim mask. He had seen Blanche and a man slip into the emergency stairwell-so how could she just vanish?
He lifted his phone, checking the tracker. The signal was still somewhere in this building, unmoving.
“Find her,” he ordered the bodyguards, his voice icy. “And get me
Fernando.”
At once, the guards surged toward the stairwell, fanning out to search every floor, top to bottom.
Meanwhile, Eddy was led toward a large conference hall.
Behind him, the fire exit door closed with a soft thud.
On the far wall, the faint outline of a hidden door shimmered in the shadows-barely discernible, but there.
Just as Eddy had burst through the stairwell moments before, Fernando’s arm had wrapped firmly around Blanche’s waist. He pressed his
fingerprint to a sensor, and the concealed door slid open, drawing her into a secret lab.
Blanche’s back pressed against a cold steel panel. Her hands braced against Fernando’s chest, his palm searingly warm against her waist. His gaze, dark and stormy, locked with hers. The air between them was charged, heavy with unspoken tension.
Suddenly, the lab lights blazed on.
“Professor Reese, Miss Griffiths has finally arrived. You can finally relax,” someone greeted them.
“With Miss Griffiths on our research team, we won’t have to worry about
cyber attacks or data leaks ever again.”
“Who would have guessed that the infamous hacker ‘Cipher,’ whose name sends shivers down the spines of criminals worldwide, is actually Miss Griffiths-a woman as brilliant as she is beautiful.”
Footsteps echoed as staff filed in. Blanche and Fernando broke apart, glancing awkwardly at each other before looking away.
Blanche’s attention shifted to the people entering-respected scholars she’d seen at the Summit Grand Hotel conference.
Fernando regained his composure and began the introductions.
Felipa, his assistant, hurried in. “Professor Reese, Eddy’s bodyguards are tearing through the building, disrupting equipment and interrupting the researchers. They’re determined to turn the place upside down until they-” Felipa glanced at Blanche, “-find Mrs. Simmons.”
“Eddy’s at the press conference right now. He wants to see you.”
Blanche hated causing trouble for anyone.
She turned to leave, voice urgent. “I should go. I’ll come back when things calm down.”
But Fernando blocked her path, his tone as impassive as ever. “As long as you’re still wearing the tracker, he’ll always know where you are. You won’t be able to help me set up the firewall.”
“If you don’t remove it, and the Director-General takes you back, the base could be exposed.”
“We can jam all signals in the lab,” Blanche insisted. She had designed the security net herself; she trusted it completely.
“Even the smallest risk isn’t acceptable, right? Isn’t that your principle?” Fernando’s gaze was sharp and relentless.
Standing before him-someone she’d always admired, even
Chapter 76
idolized-Blanche felt a pang of defeat at his doubt. She knew her firewall was flawless. He never used to question her work.
Back when she watched over him in the network, guiding him, he would leap into any unknown at her command, without hesitation.
She lowered her eyes, avoiding his. “I didn’t think it through.”
“Go buy us some time outside,” Fernando said to the others, glancing away from Blanche’s pale face. His words weren’t meant as criticism.
Felipa looked like she wanted to argue, but another assistant, Hugo Black, gently tugged her away.
“Go into the inner lab,” Fernando said, turning his back. “Remove everything you’re wearing and lie in the scanner.”
Blanche didn’t hesitate. She stepped into the laboratory and slipped off her jewelry-a ruby necklace, her nine-carat diamond wedding ring, a slate-gray hairpin-and set them aside.
Then she lay down inside the scanning chamber, nervous, eyes closed. Memories of Eddy-moments of tenderness and fracture-flickered in
her mind.
The subdermal chip would have been implanted under full anesthesia.
When had he done it?
Fernando entered to find her already in the scanner, her body concealed by the gray casing, only her face visible-tinged with sadness. Eddy, no doubt, was the cause.
“We’re starting. You’ll feel some heat,” Fernando said quietly.
“I’m ready,” Blanche replied, her voice steady.
He flipped the switch. Warm air enveloped her, and soon her cheeks flushed red from the rising temperature.
Through the transparent shield, Fernando saw tears slipping down the
sides of her face.
They both understood the weight of what the chip meant. Unlike a pacemaker or bypass graft, this device constantly broadcast its signal, subjecting her body to a relentless, corrosive assault-a kind of internal chemotherapy, with damage that couldn’t be undone.
