Page 43 of The Lazarus Protocol

“It’s okay to cry. No one will think less of you, and I’m the only one who will see.”

She hugged the bags to her front. “We need to go to her apartment. I can access the network from there.”

Noah stared at her for a second, then nodded. “You have what you came for?”

“I don’t want anyone seeing me look in the bag.”

Neither of them glanced around at the busy street on the other side of the parking lot, or the evening sky darkening to the west with streaks of yellow and gray. A police car, lights and sirens going, sped by on the road.

“Let’s go.” Marina walked toward his rental car, where she tapped an address into the dash screen.

Before he pulled out of the parking lot, he said, “Do you know what you’re looking for?”

“Kathryn sent me a text. She’d noticed some odd transactions at work, and I told her to download everything and save it on a flash drive. That was the same night she was killed.”

“This isn’t your fault, Marina. It isn’t.” He backed out of the parking space, unsure of what else to say. “Do you think your cousin had the flash drive on her when she was killed?”

“I think if we have to fake our way into the FCC’s orbital policy office, we’re going to have a harder time than if it’s just here in her things.”

“Do you think it was something other than an accident?” Noah pulled onto the street, into the flow of traffic. “Because it seems as if there isn’t much evidence pointing that direction.”

“You think I’m seeing a conspiracy where there isn’t one?”

Noah shook his head. “I think we don’t have enough information to draw a conclusion.”

“How political. Keeping it neutral, not causing waves.” She glanced at him. “You should’ve gone into Washington politics.”

“I’d rather actually make a difference in the world.” Noah blew out a breath. “And I think you know what I mean. I’m trying not to dismiss your concerns, because you don’t need that. The situation is concerning enough, if your cousin’s death wasn’t suicide.”

“There’s no indication to believe it was a suicide. That theory makes the least sense. Why message me and then drive into that tree if she had no intention of living long enough to do anything about what she found?”

“So what are the other options?” Noah checked his mirrors. What if someone was tailing them, looking for the files Kathryn had downloaded? He wasn’t here to take chances. He was here to keep Marina safe. “She might’ve been forced off the road. Or someone in oncoming traffic swerved, and she overcorrected.”

“Both of which amount to an accident. Unfortunately, beyond that the ideas only get crazier from there, but I can’t confirm if they’re valid or not without getting access to the car’s onboard computer.” She opened the bag of belongings, the bloody clothes one by her feet.

“You think that will tell you—what?” He made a right turn onto a street with a park on one side. On the other were storefronts with four stories of apartments above.

“I couldn’t say without actually reading the car’s computer. But it could’ve been tampered with.” She rummaged in Kathryn’s purse. “It’s possible to hack a car, you know.”

“And you think that might’ve happened to your cousin? Over some files she downloaded at work?” An SUV buzzed past them, and he changed lanes behind it. “Any idea what she stumbled on that might have put her in someone’s crosshairs?”

Whoever they were, had this cousin of Marina’s found herself up against someone who would kill to keep their secret? Stuff like that happened in the world, sure. But in the FCC office?

Marina looked at him. “That’s what we’re here to find out.”

“You’re the one who asked me to come. Did you just need dumb muscle that kept his mouth shut?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have asked you.” She sat back in the chair, pushing out an audible breath. Holding a loaded set of keys in her hand.

Noah kept his reaction to himself, but as far as he could see, she’d made his point for him. They drove the rest of the way to her cousin’s apartment in silence, and when he pulled into the numbered space Marina told him was designated for her cousin’s use, he put the car in Park and turned to her. “Do you think she was murdered?”

She glanced from the window to him with tears in her eyes.

“Sorry, Marina.”

“If she was, I have no way to prove it. And if they’re able to cover their tracks to that extent, then what’s going to happen to me when I start digging into what she found and they get wind of it? I’ll probably end up dead like her.”

“I’m not going to let that happen.” He hit the button that turned off the car and grabbed the keys from the center console.