Triple Threat (4 page)

“Sorry, Kate. You can make your offer.” Whatever it was, he was inclined to accept it. Kate was incredible in every sense of the word, and he wanted time to get to know her.

“You've caught a glimpse of what it's like to work with me. If you're still interested, we can talk when we get back to the lab.”

So she hadn't written him off entirely. He was still in the running and definitely interested.

Kate shook her head and mumbled something about geeks. “I can't make any friends with them. Never have been able to. They're all too intimidated.”

He glanced her way and grinned. “Gee, I can't imagine why.” The words slipped out before he could stop them. He followed them up with a cheesy smile.

Kate looked at him and burst out laughing.

It sounded like music. Was the song a parody? Was he the subject of ridicule? His smile inverted.

She must've noticed. She stopped laughing. “Josh, I wasn't laughing
at
you, just
about
you.”

“Not much difference, Kate. Am I just an amusement to you?”

“Please don't do that. That's what other guys do. When I start to enjoy their company, they get offended because I'm not tripping all over myself to praise them. If you ever needed to prove yourself to me, you've already done that. Can we please just enjoy our time together?”

So that's what life was like for Kate. Sure, she was intimidating, but even more, enticing. And for someone as beautiful and intelligent as Kate to have any interest in him was—

“So that's what Joshua West is really like? Just like the other—”

“No, Kate. You can laugh at me, about me, or with me. I don't mind.” He gave her his most convincing smile, hoping it didn't look cheesy this time.

Was that a smile on her face? Yeah. An enigmatic Mona Lisa smile. Regardless, he would take it. “Would you like me to let you off at the door?”

“No. Put your car in the parking garage. Then I can say I've actually parked with a guy.” She grinned.

He pulled into a parking space on the first floor, cut the engine, and turned to Kate in the semi-darkness of the garage. “Were parked. So, what do we do now?”

“I'm not sure. But I can tell you what we
won't
do.”

“Yeah. We wouldn't want the security guard to catch us, would we?”

“We've already been caught by the FBI today. So let's just go to the lab, where I'll make you an offer you can't refuse.”

They got out of the car and walked toward the exit nearest the computer science building.

“Kate the Godfather… uh, Godmother.”

“I
do
have an offer, but it's not like your life is on the line here.” She looked at him from the corners of her eyes.

“Just like it wasn't on the line a few hours ago?” Why did he say that?

Her expression switched to that serious look. “I was in total panic mode then. I…I wasn't even thinking about you. I'm so sorry, Josh.”

“Kate.” He pulled her to a stop. “Even the remote possibility that the Nigerian dude might shoot at three-year-olds, including Grady and Grace, would've driven me to instant insanity. I would've tried to unscrew the guy's head.”

“Now you know what it was like for me.” She turned and continued toward the computer lab.

“I'm glad, Kate.”

“What? You're glad that a terrorist almost shot my family?”

“No. That I finally understand something about Kate Brandt.”

The corners of her mouth curved upward. Kate was smiling.

Like Joshua West's heart. He would learn about this incredible woman. Everything that was possible to learn. But for now, she remained mostly a mystery. Maybe her mysterious offer would reveal more about Kate Brandt, the woman who was stealing his heart in huge chunks. His heart. If the process continued, he feared there wouldn't be enough left of it to sustain life…without her and the part of his heart she held.

Kate keyed the cipher code into the lock. When it clicked, he pulled the door open and followed her into the computer lab.

“Come here, Josh. I want to show you something.” Kate picked up a roll of paper from her desk and unrolled five feet of fan-fold computer paper. It had a drawing of some sort on it. “Do you know what this is?”

He surveyed the long sequence of arrows, boxes, diamond shapes, all annotated with text. “It's the specification of some algorithm. But I hope you don't want me to tell you what it's for, or what class of problems it belongs to in only a few seconds.”

“Did you read the title at the top?”

“Uh…no. I'm an idiot, Kate. You don't want me to work—”

“But suppose I
do
want you to work with me on this?”

“All right. The title says this is an NP-hard data-mining problem.”

“Which means?”

“That we don't know if there's a workable solution or not.”

“In layman's terms, you're right. But what if I restricted the size of the input data store to a few million values?”

“Then we could probably tweak our algorithm to solve it in some workable timeframe. The time won't tend to infinity unless we have to deal with all of the combinations and permutations of the data.”

“We don't.” Kate watched him with her enigmatic smile.

“Then, with enough computing power, we can solve the problem.”

“Exactly.”

“So what is this algorithm?”

“The one I ran to find the collaboration of our Nigerian shooter with Al Qaeda, and certain wealthy Saudis.”

“You have a real-world problem and a solution. What all can this be used for, Kate?”

“Anything involving Internet communications. I haven't explored other possible applications because I became intrigued with catching bad guys who use the Internet.”

“But there's still some magic happening, magic I don't understand. Just like when our professors make a logical jump in a proof. It's so obvious to them, so baffling to their students.”

“I'll remove the appearance of magic later. But, Josh, there are two parts to this research that can be very nicely separated, the development of algorithms and their application. There's more than enough room for two dissertations here. Way too much for one. So I need someone to work with me on—”

“I'll take the algorithm development part, Kate.”

“So I wasn't mistaken. You
are
smarter than you look.”

“Are you saying I look dumb?”

“No. Furthermore, I have nothing to say at this time about how I think you look.”

“Do you mean it's something you don't think about? Or are you thinking about it and not telling me?”

“I'm not telling.”

“What you're thinking?”

“Josh, do you want to work with me on this or not?”

He wanted that more than anything he'd wanted in a very long time. Just like Sartre and the other existentialists said, one had to create meaning in life or one would have none. Most parents at least tried to pass their cherished values and beliefs to their kids. But not Josh's mom and dad. Their indifference to life's deepest questions left him feeling uncared for and defective—a kid with no answers. Kate gave him meaning. Something to live for. Today, even something to die for. When he was with her, he didn't feel defective. Inferior perhaps, but not defective.

“Well…if you have to think about it that long—”

“I'll help, Kate.” He met her gaze. “I really want to do this.”

Kate's eyes widened. For the third time her cheeks turned pink. She turned away from him, rolling up the computer paper.

What was that about? Kate gave him so many signals it would take a crypto analyst to decipher them. Maybe he could devise an algorithm for solving Kate Brandt…given enough time.

 

 

 

 

5

 

Jennifer had said she wanted Katie home by dinner time, 6:00 PM, for a discussion. After talking with Josh until 5:30, the bus couldn't have gotten her home before 6:30. Josh had a bit of a lead foot, but he got her safely home. Reliable, handsome Josh had saved her again.

Katie's watch said 6:01 when she waved goodbye to Josh and stepped through the front door of her home.

Lee, the only Dad she'd known, met her at the door. He was never at a loss for words, but his wan expression and speechlessness told her that Jenn had briefed him on the day's events. He wrapped her in his arms. “Katie, I don't know whether to spank you or kiss you.”

“Dad, how about neither? So…Mom told you about the shooter?”

“The duty forecaster heard it on TV before Mom called me. I could've lost my entire family today.” He hugged her again.

“But you didn't. I don't think God would have wanted that.”

“Kaykay!” Grady.

“Kaykay!” And Gracie.

Grady and Grace ran from the hallway, hands dripping water. Their cold wet fingers gripped her bare legs as they each picked a leg to hug.

Lee released her to the arms of the twins. “Looks like you're in good hands.”

Grady stepped back and looked up with a serious expression. “The bad man got locked up in jail, Kaykay.”

“Yeah.” Grace said, looking up from the leg she still clung to. “We saw it on TV. They showed your picture and Mommy, too.”

“Mommy's gonna talk to you after dinner.” Grady's words became serious, accompanied by melodramatic facial expressions.

Grace tugged on her arm. “And Mommy cried, Kaykay.”

Grady tugged on her other arm. “We told her to be happy because Josh catched you and Peterson catched the bad man.”

Katie suspected Mom had more on the agenda than worries about a terrorist. “Mommy is happy, Grady. I think she just needs some time to forget about the bad man.”

And to get used to seeing Josh around, at least until our dissertations are written.

As they finished dinner, Lee's gaze darted from Jennifer to Katie. “You want me to clean up Grace and Grady?”

Jennifer looked his way and gave him a weak smile. “Would you, please?”

“Sure.” Lee raised his eyebrows. “You'll cover for me, right?”

Everything had seemed different while they ate. The usually warm atmosphere and loving glances were absent, replaced by a tension that flowed through them like an electric current. Even the twins were a bit subdued.

“Katie,” Jenn…Mom, nodded toward the family room. “I need to have a word with you.”

‘A word'. It was going to be a lot more than a single word and more than a single subject. For the first time in five years, Katie didn't know what to expect. She had done what in her heart she knew God had wanted her to do. She had nothing to apologize for, so why all the apprehension?

She moved Grady's computer toy and sat down on the couch.

Jennifer closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in the family room. She took a seat in the easy chair next to the couch.

Katie couldn't hold in her words. The apprehension pushed them out, but in hushed tones. “Mom, am I in some sort of trouble with you and Dad?”

Jenn shook her head. “No. You're not in trouble. Lee and I just have some concerns. Me, more than your dad.”

“OK.” She met her mom's gaze and saw watery eyes. Jenn almost never cried. Whatever it was couldn't be anything good.

“I didn't complete my PhD program.” Jenn started slowly. “When I took the research position with NSA, I switched gears and explored wireless communications. So…I'm glad you were able to pick up my research and carry it forward.”

“Thanks for helping me get started, Mom. You saved me at least a year of spin-up time.”

“Katie, let's cut to the chase. I know what you must have done to further my work enough to find that Nigerian terrorist. Now that you've had one success, I know what you're going to do next.” She paused and wiped her eyes. “You're just like me, Kate.”

Kate? For the first time Jenn had called her something other than Katie. It derailed her train of thought. Josh…he called her Kate, too.

“You're all grown up. About to turn twenty-one. I want you to turn twenty-two. I want Lee and me to enjoy your kids, our grandkids. So please promise me this.”

Katie tensed at the words ‘please promise', anticipating what was coming.

Jenn sighed. “I have no problem with your dissertation probing the theoretical aspects of your research. But promise me you'll not delve into the practical application.”

“But, Mom, I know I can unravel some well-hidden terrorist conspiracies. Stop them before they can attack. This framework takes Internet forensics and data mining to a whole new level of capability.”

“See. You
are
just like me. Except for being nearly eight inches taller, your blue eyes, and blonde hair, it could be me sitting on that couch. That's what frightens me, especially after today.”

Katie couldn't make that promise. She had planned to give Josh the theoretical part, while she took the application side of the research, the kind of work she hoped to do for the FBI someday. “Mom, I won't do anything stupid. I—”

“But, Kate, you take risks. Too many of them. You don't have to do that to make us, or anybody else, need you. Or to make us love you more. You know that.”

“I know you and Lee love me. I've enjoyed that love and your blessing for five years. But I don't know where this research will lead, and I've already split it between Josh and me. I promise to be very careful and keep out of trouble. But I must do some probing over the Internet. If I find anything significant, I'll turn it over to the FBI, to Peterson, immediately.”

Her mom nodded, slowly. “That's the answer I expected. Not what I hoped for. Please, Katie…”

Back to being her child again.

“…Be careful. When I recognized you on the roof today, I…”