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than none.
She learned one other fact from the Fort Bragg site, the Delta Force units based there
were responsible for military actions in Central and South America. Swell. That was a
whole hell of a lot of countries and no hint of where to start.
Mark. Can you hear me? I m trying. I swear to God. Can you just give me a little more of a
hint? Please? I swear I won t let you down. Somehow I ll find you.
By eight o clock that night she was convinced she wouldn t be hearing from Major
Gregorio any time soon. That meant she d need help getting in to see him. And help
discovering who else was in Mark s unit. Sighing she picked up the phone again. Time
to reach out to people.
* * * * *
I can t believe I let you drag me away from my favorite television program to hack
into government computers.
66
Jungle Inferno
Andy Moreil sat hunched at Faith s computer, fingers flying over the keys, a cold
can of soda at his elbow. Four years ago when computer hacking had been at the core of
one of her books, Faith had been referred to him as a resource and he d given her more
information that she d ever use. Under the condition, of course, she never use his name.
Andy did work for corporations and sometimes the government in the field of
computer security.
If the people who pay me mucho bucks knew I was doing this, not only would
they cut off my jobs they d probably put me in jail.
I swear on a pile of chocolate they ll never hear it from me. Faith replaced the
empty can with a full one. Andy lived on caffeine, in any form, at any time.
Oh, right. That gives me a lot of comfort. You d eat the chocolate before you ever
got to take an oath on it. He snorted.
Never mind the bad jokes. Just see what you can find. Okay?
Yeah. All right. Jeez. He ran his hands through his spiky hair.
Faith perched on the arm of the leather chair beside her desk and glued her eyes to
the screen, watching as numbers and letters flew by with dizzying speed. Every so often
a screen with a message would pop up. Andy would click some keys and he d be off
with the numbers and letters again.
How s it coming? she asked finally, unable to contain herself.
Holy cow, Faith. Don t rush me. The government doesn t make it easy for you to
steal their information.
I know, I know. I m just&
Impatient. He grinned. A terminal disease with you.
She jumped up and began pacing. But this time it s&
It s what? he prompted when she didn t go on.
Personal, she wanted to say but she couldn t. It s critical to my deadline, she
improvised.
Hah. Andy swigged from the soda can. When isn t it? Quit marching around me
like the infantry and I might get done sooner.
Faith dropped down into the big armchair but she couldn t make herself relax into
its soft leather embrace. She was as rigid as a guy wire and tense enough to nibble on
her thumb.
Mark. Can you hear me?
Need you& can t& bad.
Faith nearly bolted out of the chair, shocked that he d actually answered her.
I m here, I m here. No one will tell me anything.
Silence, while she twisted her fingers until they ached and tried to focus her mind
to a narrow channel, blocking out all interference.
Betrayed& can t trust&
67
Desiree Holt
Can t trust who, Mark? Someone in your group? Your CO? Who?
Don t give up&
Never. She pounded her small fist on the chair. Never, never, never.
Hey, Faith, banging on the chair isn t helping, Andy commented.
What? The connection was broken as cleanly as if a thread snapped. Damn Andy,
anyway.
I said, don t beat up the furniture. Anyway, I ve got something for you. Come take
a look.
Faith went to peer over his shoulder, staring at the information on the screen. Holy
shit.
Yup. I couldn t get everyone in the Seventh Special Forces assigned there but I did
manage to dig around, get the names of the men in Mark s unit. He glanced up at her.
That s all you want anyway, right?
Yes, She exhaled a breath she didn t even know she d been holding. Can you
print this list out for me?
Andy hit a key and the printer began to make noises. Anything else?
Yes. I want you to do a check on each of these men and see if there s any clue as to
where they might be right now.
Jesus, Faith, you don t want much, do you? He handed her the empty soda can. I
should charge you more than a night s worth of caffeine for this.
Just& can you do it?
He rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles. Can I do it? Hah. Andrew the
Magnificent can do anything. He accepted the fresh drinks she handed him. But
remember. I ve got a time limit here. I stay in their system too long and their electronic
patrols will catch me.
Damn. Well, just get as much as you can before you have to log off.
She went back to pacing while Andy started clicking the keys again.
Oh, by the way, he interjected. The Seventh Special Forces are responsible for
action in Central and South America. Did you know that?
Yes, I did. Thanks but keep going.
An hour later Andy pressed the printer button again and sheets of paper began to
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