Part 37 (1/2)

”Go ahead,” DeRicci snapped. ”But realize if you do, you'll guarantee that your employees and your family will pay for your mistakes.”

His chin wobbled and then the tears that had threatened became reality. He set the pistol down, and DeRicci grabbed it.

She had been playing a hunch, but it was a hunch based on countless arrests as a police officer. People who threatened suicide when they were about to be arrested were more afraid of the social consequences of that arrest than they were of going to prison.

He'd done something besides tamper with the information grids all over the dome. He'd done something that people would condemn him for, and he had probably done it for money.

She couldn't wait to see those files.

She cuffed his hands behind his back and tossed him to another security officer.

”Get rid of this idiot,” she said.

Then she turned to the computer screen before her. Even she could tell that the deletions had been extensive. All she could hope was that their techs could reconstruct the deleted information. She doubted that any of the employees outside knew what this idiot had done, or they would have been trying to cover up as well.

Her heart was pounding, but she felt better than she had in days.

She had an investigation to complete.

She had a bad guy in custody.

She had stopped a threat to the dome.

For once, she used every skill she had. And she'd stopped a problem before it threatened Armstrong or the United Domes.

Just as she'd been hired to do.

64.

The screens in front of Flint went dark.

”Dad!” Talia said. ”I just lost everything.”

Flint's connection with Gramming disappeared. DeRicci must have gotten inside the building and found a way to shut down the deletions.

He hoped her techs weren't good enough to trace this back to him.

”Dad!” Talia said again.

”It's okay,” he said. ”I expected it. Don't do anything.”

Van Alen was still at the table. She watched with concern on her face.

Flint went through the back trace and deleted any evidence of the work he did to get to Gramming's files. He did not delete the back trace, however. That would be suspicious. DeRicci knew he had figured out that Gramming had attacked Van Alen's office. DeRicci would expect the back trace.

After a few minutes, he was through. He stood up. His back cracked.

”Well?” Van Alen asked. ”Did you get the files?”

”I didn't capture them,” Flint said. ”I had Talia run a standard deletion program for the moneyed accounts that Kinoy kept in his personal files. Then I got rid of all the names that he mentioned in the years we agreed on.”

”If it's standard, Dad,” Talia said, ”they can reconstruct it.”

”No,” he said. ”That's why I had you do it. I followed you in and cleaned up the remnants of the information. They won't be able to find the information. They'll just find that it existed once and got deleted.”

”I hope you left enough to convict the b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” Van Alen said. ”Selling children.”

”I did,” Flint said. ”The old accounts and the pending ones are still there.”

He wiped a hand over his face. He hadn't worked that hard on a computer program in years. ”What about the kids?” Talia asked softly. ”Are they going to be okay?”

He looked at his daughter. He could see more than concern on her face. She was afraid. ”No one'll find them,” he said.

”I know,” she said. ”Is that going to be okay? I mean, did we make a mistake? Their parents paid for them.”

Second thoughts were common after an operation of this size. He'd tell her that later, though. ”It's the best we could come up with on short notice,” he said. ”That's all we can do.” Van Alen was nodding. Talia sighed. Early lessons in adulthood. Flint hadn't expected to do that. ”What about-you know-the others?” Talia asked. ”You saved that stuff, right?”

She was asking about the girls she called her sisters. The other clones of Emmeline. ”No,” he said. ”I didn't save anything.”

Except their names. Kahlila El Alamen and Gita Havos. He had their names and their family's names and where they were right now. And that information was in his memory, not in a network somewhere.

He would never forget any of that. He doubted Talia would, either. ”What now?” Van Alen asked. ”Do we find a new reporter?”