Chapter 16
The next afternoon, as Daisy had taken Gwen to get some clothes, Laura sat at a table, sipping a coffee while admiring the little “town square” Scott and Daisy’s new neighborhood had, surrounded by Tudor style buildings on three sides and the train station across from her at the fourth.
She heard the footsteps of another person walking up behind her and sitting down with their back to her own.
“You’re late.” She said to them.
“I got lost.” The other person said “Did you know the M line goes to Queens two different ways? I ended up in the middle of a bunch of cemeteries and having to take the bus. So confusing. Anyway… Do you have it?”
“Yes.” Laura said. She reached behind her and passed the person a USB drive.
“And the unit.” He said.
She reached into her bag and pulled out a small, handled device.
“I did what you asked.” Laura said, “Now let him go.”
“Well, I’m nothing if not a man of my word.” The person sitting behind her said. She heard them rustle through their pockets and pulling out their phone. “You can tell Mr. Goldmark our business deal is complete. He’s free to go.”
She heard them get up and pocket their phone “Pleasure doing business with you, and congratulations on being the future Mrs. Warrens.”
“Fuck you.” She said to him, without looking.
“Miss, you have every right to be mad at me.” He said “If I was in your shoes I’d be in the same mood. Good thing I’m not in your shoes. Have a good day.”
“They’re not idiots, you know.” She said “They’re going to find out eventually."
"Oh, we are counting on it..." He told her.
She waited until the sounds of his footsteps were gone before she pulled out her phone and called her brother.
“Milton?” She asked, “Milton are you alright?”
“Laura… Why?” He asked her.
“Are you okay, did they hurt you?”
“Laura, they just left. I’m fine… but why did help them?”
“I… I couldn’t let them hurt you.” She cried “I… I never wanted it to be this way… I figured… they just wanted one file… they didn’t even want me crack it, just get it.”
“What was the file?” her brother asked.
“I don’t know… Milton, it had a 1500-bit encryption. That’s four times NSA standard. It’s going to take them years to crack that.”
“Laura… these guys aren’t another Rising Tide splinter… they’re real deal. They came in here dressed like something out of ‘Call of Duty. Body armor, M-16s, the works.”
Laura sighed. “I don’t know what to do… If ether of us ever tells… they’re going to kill the other. And I love Gwen and if she finds out I what I did… I’m fucked. If Roxxon…”
“Roxxon?” Milton asked “Laura… They weren’t with Roxxon…”
“They… they weren’t?”
“No.”
“Oh… Oh God… What have I just done?”