Clark collapsed into the armchair as his legs gave out. Another unwelcome realization struck. Embray had access to dozens of top tier scientists and fully equipped laboratories. Some of his labs would be equipped with atomic force microscopes. No wonder Winchester had found out about the NNB26 prototype before Hurley.
The dead SEALs had disappeared along with Winchester. Embray must have dissected them and discovered the nanobots clustered in their brain. Had anyone in the billionaire’s lab been infected, like Doctor Comfrey and her assistants? And what of the dead SEAL? Had they revived like the Karaveht specimens?
He strangled on a choked cough as he imagined the look on Embray’s face as the dead came back to life, or at least the bots’ facsimile of life.
The consequences of Winchester and Embray working together were disastrous. Winchester had a deep, personalcommitment to find and punish the people responsible for the slaughter of his SEAL team. He had the discipline to continue driving for the truth. He wouldn’t give up. And Embray had the resources to help the SEAL discover the who and why behind the murders.
With the two working together, Clark’s secrets had an expiration date.
Chapter forty-two
Day 41
Shadow Mountain Base, Alaska
“I’m telling you, bro.” Aiden snarled as he paced from one end of the war room to the other. He paused beneath the overhead computer screens to scowl. Frustration seethed below his muscle. A pressurized force trying to rip through blood and bone. “Clark Nantz is behind this. All of this—what happened in Karaveht, what happened to my brothers. He’s behind every fucking moment of it.”
And he’d been in the same room with him, with the bastard who’d slaughtered his team and every single soul in Karaveht.And he’d let him get away. He’d walked out of that office with his teeth clenched, but his tail tucked.
“I should have grabbed him,” he added, more quietly but with no less vehemence. “I should have dragged him out of that office and onto the Citation. The fucker should be here, right now, answering our questions. He holds all the answers, and I just let him go.”
“You would never have gotten him out of his building, let alone onto the jet.” Embray interrupted Aiden’s rant. “Nantz has top notch security. Trying to grab him then, back there, would only have exposed our hand and warned him of what’s to come.”
“You think Nantz was lying too?” Wolf asked, holding Embray’s intelligent gaze.
“No doubt of it.” Embray’s confirmation came instantly.
Wolf frowned, studying the billionaire’s face. “Why? From what both of you have said—” his gaze skipped down the room to Aiden and back again. “He admitted to nothing.”
Embray cocked his head, his gaze turning inward, as though he were thinking the question over. “His answers to your brother’s questions were too perfect, as though he’d rehearsed them. But the real tell was when he asked Aiden how he survived the infection. He looked...thirsty. Like someone desperate for the answer.”
“Do you think he created the nanobots? Or just tested and sold them?” Wolf asked, his gaze never wavering from Embray’s face, even when Aiden stalked back over and dropped into the chair beside him.
“Does it matter?” Aiden snapped, the frustrated fury finally subsiding, even though his legs jiggled and his fingers twitched. “If we grab him, we’ll find the rest of the assholes behind this weapon.”
“If he didn’t create the prototype himself, he has the resources to hire others to develop it for him,” Embray offered. “At the veryleast, he’ll know who did create the weapon. Hell, I predict he’ll throw them under the buss to save his own ass. Your brother’s right. Nantz is our starting point.”
Wolf stared vacantly across the table before scrubbing his palms down his lined face. There was weariness in the gesture. “Why would he create such a terrible weapon? He must know it would end civilization. What good is his money whenHokalitaends?”
Embray shrugged, a far more cynical look in his eyes. “I doubt he intended to allow the bots free reign. I’m sure he programmed a mechanism—a kill switch, if you will—into the prototype to control them.” He was silent for a moment. His forehead crinkled. “The kill switch must have malfunctioned. If I could look into their original programming, I might be able to see what went wrong and reverse it.”
Aiden straightened. “You mean you could turn them off?”
“It would depend on how far the bots have evolved from their original programming. But yes, potentially.” He turned to Aiden. “If you took your suspicions about Nantz to Admiral Hurley, would he detain him and allow us to question him?”
Aiden’s bark of laughter was cynical. “Oh, Hurley would detain him all right. But he wouldn’t give us access. Hell, the brass would bury him so deeply nobody would hear from him again. Uncle Sam isn’t a fan of their government contractors turning to mass murder and threating the existence of humanity. It makes them look bad.” His voice turned thoughtful. “We’ll need to grab Nantz ourselves. If the Nantz Building is off limits, we’ll need to snatch him while he’s home.”
Wolf lifted his phone. “Capland and O’Neill’s involvement in this will be helpful.”
As Wolf rose from the table and left the room, Embray turned to Aiden. “I know Capland. Hell, I’ve tried to recruit him—repeatedly.” A wry look flickered across the billionaire’s face.“Alas, he’s disappointingly loyal to your brother. But who is O’Neill? I don’t believe I’ve met him.”
“He wasn’t around when you were on base,” Aiden offered. “Dude’s a bit of an ass. But his contacts make up for his attitude. He’s come through for us recently.”
“What kind of contacts?” Embray seemed more quizzical than suspicious.
“He hasn’t said.” Aiden rolled his shoulders, sprawling back in his chair. Now that Wolf was on board with grabbing Nantz, anticipation had pushed aside the frustrated rage. “He’s a cagey bastard. Ignores any questions about his former employers. The prevailing theories alternate between the NSA and ODNI.”
Embray whistled as Wolf returned to the room.
