Midnight Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

with a napkin and sighed. “Real good. Thanks.”
    She sat back, crossed her arms, looked at him. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way...”
    “Yeah.” Jack placed the napkin delicately next to the plate, taking his time. Gathering his thoughts. As well he should, because he was going to have to explain why she shouldn’t go with a major story. And while he was at it, explain why he’d been in hiding for six months. And what the deal was with Hector Blake.
    A
lot
of explaining.
    Jack flexed his jaw.
    “What happened to your beard?” It came out without any thought.
    He sighed. “Really? I’m not dead after all, and that’s what you want to know? What’s with my beard?”
    Stupid, stupid question. But Summer doubled down. “And the dreadlocks. What happened to those?”
    He looked at her for a long moment. “I wear a wig and a false beard when I go out. They’re in that gym bag, as a matter of fact.” He jerked his head to the living room and Summer noticed the gym bag for the first time. Stupid. Usually she was more observant than that. Another sign that having Jack pop up had unsettled her a lot.
    “There are security cameras everywhere. And though my face has been removed from official records, I had to be careful. So the wig falls over my face and distorts the faceprint. The beard is fake, too. It would be easier to just grow a beard, but a fake beard doesn’t follow the natural contours of the face and makes facial recog even harder.”
    “Someone...
removed
your image from facial recognition databases?” Summer tried to think how that would be even possible. Whoever did it had to be extremely high up in the security community. Like the director of the CIA or NSA something.
    He nodded.
    “Sounds like...you’ve done this before. Evaded discovery.”
    Silence. “Not quite like this, but yes, I’ve done it before.”
    “For?”
    More silence.
    “That’s classified.” He sighed. “It’s crazy. I’m no longer operational. As a matter of fact, I’m dead. But I took an oath and I took it seriously when I did.”
    She digested that, thinking it over. “Okay. Let me tell you what I think. Word had it that you were making money and chasing girls as an investment banker in Singapore. But I’m guessing that’s not what you were doing. If whoever you work for has the power to wipe your photos from official databases, I’m guessing you’re in some intelligence service. But you were never really sharp at analytical courses at Harvard, so I’d say not in the analysis department. You’d be an operator, not an analyst. Not to mention the fact that you cut right through my building’s security and my apartment’s security, which is top of the line whatever you might say. So—not special ops because they don’t operate with official covers. My guess would be CIA. How’m I doing?”
    Jack’s face gave nothing away. But he wasn’t saying no.
    Summer looked at him, really looked at him. Seeing him as he was now and remembering him when he was a boy and then a young man. She’d been so in love with him she’d made him an object of study. She’d had a PhD in Jackology, though she’d made sure no one knew anything about her obsession.
    But she’d known him pretty well back in the day and some things did not change in people.
    “Like I said, you’re not particularly analytical. You were smart but it was a gift that you never polished. I’m guessing you got into Harvard as a legacy and because you were a gifted athlete, not because of your grades. Your grades sucked. So I’m ruling out the Directorate of Intelligence. You liked your gadgets but you weren’t a nerd so I’d rule out the Directorate of Science and Technology and I definitely do not see you in the Directorate of Support, fussing about with logistics and supplies. That leaves the National Clandestine Service. And if you’re pretending to be an investment banker that would leave you plenty of time to go on missions.”
    The