Page 82 of The Lazarus Protocol

Marina glanced over from her phone. “Did you tell your brother we’re going to see this guy?”

Noah shook his head. “If I find out anything, I’ll pass it to Caleb. But it could turn out to be a wasted trip, so there’s no point getting his hopes up.”

“He didn’t seem as interested in finding them as you are.”

“He hides it well, but he doesn’t want Tessa to get her heart broken. She wants a big family. Grandparents for their baby, not just her dad and Pops, but whoever she can pull together.”

“I like that for her.”

Noah heard an almost sad note in her tone. “We’ve worked together nearly seven years now. I don’t think I know anything about your family.”

Marina put her laptop on the back seat and grabbed the paper cup of coffee from the cupholder, sipping it even though it was probably cold by now. Noah’s was long gone, and he was ready for another.

“What’s to know?” she said. “My parents live in Key West. My cousin was killed in a suspicious accident. I don’t have siblings.”

“Do you get to see your parents much?”

“I’d have to want to see them.” She sighed. “They aren’t bad people, they just like their life. Soon as I moved out for college, they cleared out my room and turned it into a meditation space. My dad sends me an email occasionally, but other than that I don’t hear from them.”

“I didn’t see Caleb for a long time, and last year was the first Christmas I had at the ranch in years.”

“So why try to find your parents so badly if they don’t seem to care about you?”

“I’m not convinced they don’t,” Noah said. “I think they can’t contact us or it’ll put everyone at risk, and I’d like to know enough to understand the threat.”

The GPS filled the silence, instructing him to take a right up ahead.

Noah continued, “I guess part of me is still the little boy who watched them drive away so many times.”

“That isn’t a bad thing. They broke your heart. I know what that feels like.”

“I guess we’re destined to be sad together.”

“Speak for yourself.” She chuckled. “I hope you find them, but I figured out early on that I’m nothing like my parents and they’re never going to understand the difference. The sad truth is that they don’t care enough to try. They just want to go to the country club and vacation in Tuscany with their friends. The housekeeper would make me sandwiches. Eventually, I proved I could make them myself, and no one bothered me until I hacked a government server when I was twelve. After that, I was offered an um…internship. I went legit, and I’ve been trying to prove I’m worth noticing ever since.”

“On that we can agree.”

“I’m not neurotic, I just want to be impressive enough that people appreciate me.”

Noah chuckled. “Why do you think I went to BUD/S?”

“Pretty punishing exercise that leads to an anonymous career, where most people can’t know what you do. How is that being noticed?”

“The right people know what I can do.”

“You could always get a Navy SEAL tattoo. Then everyone would know.”

“Are you going to get a tattoo that says ‘I hacked the US government’?”

She grinned at him. “How do you know I don’t already have one?”

Noah cleared his throat. “Call me intrigued.”

“Hi, Intrigued. I’m Hungry.”

He shot her a smile. “We ate breakfast.”

She shrugged. “I was distracted. Now I’m peckish.”