Here is the fourth excerpt from The Demon Maelstrom, the second book in the SubVersion Trilogy. I hope you enjoy, and I hope it keeps you guessing! Stay tuned for more news and content about the book, and as always, Let There Be Life!
Excerpt #4
“I'm
here,” Sam admitted, “to talk about one person in particular who
happens to interest me greatly. Someone who has been needing thorough
investigation for months now.”
Farkas
shot him a despairing look. “Is that person the next in line to the
Secretary's desk, perchance? Is it a woman? Is she the one
redesigning our entire computer and database system here at Central
Admin? And is her name Annalise McLean? Because if the person you're
talking about bears any resemblance to that woman then I can assure
you that I am not interested.”
Color
flushed into Sam's face and he moved to the edge of the seat in his
anger. “How could you not
be interested?”
“It's
easy, Sam,” Farkas shot back. “You have absolutely nothing on
her. I have nothing on her. She is as clean as a whistle, and I am
not interested. You've had seven months and you've failed to change
my mind.”
Sam
dropped his briefcase next to the chair and slammed a fist onto the
armrest, causing the metal to vibrate dully. With an oath he verbally
tore into the other man. “Her commex stayed in her house in exactly
the same place
for eighteen hours! And after she came back to Central Admin was when
everything began to fall apart! And speaking of falling apart, she fell apart when I- when Captain
James died, and now on top of everything else she's pregnant! There's a pattern here, I tell
you, and nobody else is concerned about it!”
Farkas
jumped to his feet and propped himself over the desk, his burning
eyes fixed in a glare on Sam's face. “She's clean, Sam! She's
clean, cleaner than anyone I've ever known! Jim Jarvis in IT has
scanned her personal office computer and found nothing, three
separate times! We've followed her movements throughout Central Admin
and they represent nothing erratic! We've run trace after trace on
the wedge file data dump that Vérité pulled on you and Jim, and the
only thing we've been able to find is that it ends in the UK, nothing
else. Miss McLean is either completely innocent of any attachment to
Vérité or she is one of the best hackers on the planet.” He
glowered at his old boss. “In short, if she is Vérité then she's
a ghost.”
Sam
stared back incredulously. “And you've done nothing else? Like have
her followed to her home?”
Farkas
groaned and sat back down. “Don't start on this again.”
“Answer
my question!” Sam insisted. “You didn't have her followed? Why in
the world not?”
“Because
I was not authorized to do so,” Farkas replied wearily. “As a
matter of fact, I was told to avoid doing so at all costs.”
