The Price Of Secrecy Read Online Free PDF Page A

single mother who apparently had
not listed her father’s name on her birth certificate. She had a social
security number, no arrest records, and had begun a bachelor of science in
business with an IT concentration at Golden Gate University. She’d transferred
to the same program at CentralWest University at the age of twenty, had earned
her undergrad degree, and had then earned a master of science in their information
technology management program.
    She
lived on Sagebrush Lane in the Desert Springs apartment complex, and had worked
at Painted Dragon Internet Café, two blocks from home, for the past six years.
Her mother still lived on Palm Tree Way in a modest three bedroom home, and
worked downtown as a medical biller and coder in the CentralWest Health Center.
    Marilyn
Teresa Davidson’s past was as bland as her daughter’s. Everything was in its
place. Why did that bother him so much? Especially now that he’d hired Angela
and she was starting in the morning? If he’d had concerns, the time to address
them had passed.
    He
rose and poured himself another glass of fine Kentucky bourbon. It was hard to
come by these days, but with enough money and patience, you could procure
anything. Or rather, a team of highly skilled and absolutely insane
professionals could procure anything.
    It
was still possible to go up to the surface and poke around in places, but you
had to be quick to find a shelter when the unpredictable storms rose up, and
you had to go up there knowing you might die. That’s why only the chosen few
with enough cash had things like Kentucky bourbon and antique artifacts.
    He
glanced around his penthouse apartment. Most of the things in it had been
salvaged in time before he moved underground, only because he’d done so months
ahead of almost everyone else. As soon as The Madeline Project had been
compromised, Dominic hadn’t waited for the storms to start. He knew they were
all fucked, and he knew the only way to survive until they could take back
control of the program or shut it down was to live underground.
    Dominic
loved his home as much as he loved running his company, but he led a lonely
life despite the work and the material possessions. To allow anyone to get too
close meant opening himself up to exposure, and that meant someone could get
too close to the truth and his past.
    It
had happened once, and only by sheer luck had he outwitted the Trapani family
and thrown them so far off course they were now looking for him underneath
Eurasia. If he hadn’t changed his hairstyle when he walked away eighteen years
earlier, or kept his picture from being shown online for the next ten years,
and still made sure he was only seen in profile, they might have found him and
his new name.
    He
might not get that lucky again. Next time, he might end up dead, and then his
entire company would be at risk. His own life was his own life, and he didn’t
want to lose it, but that wasn’t the only thing that kept him from doing
anything to expose his past. He employed over ten thousand people. They
depended on him for security and protection, and he wasn’t going to let even
one of them down.
    Not
even for all that dark, curly hair and big brown eyes the color of a chocolate
bar.
    But
oh, how he’d love a taste. Just one.
    Dominic
returned to his laptop, drained his glass of bourbon, and laughed softly. Right. As if having her one time would
be enough and he could simply stop after that.
    He
studied the online information again. No pictures. Not one. No prom picture, no
graduation pictures from high school or college, and no family or candid photos
posted anywhere that he could find. Not even an online newspaper announcement
from her hometown. Odd. Disturbing. Familiar.
    That
was the kind of thing you came across when someone in one of the families was
trying to hide, or was in witness protection. Granted, there could be a
reasonable explanation each time. In her high school yearbook it said “Absent
due to