Taking Passion by Storm (3 page)

She
knew what she wanted to do. She’d known it from the moment she’d read Merrill’s
email this morning. Nadine brought up her contacts list and stared at Addison’s
private phone number for several moments, gathering her courage. Then finally,
she picked up her phone and called him. He answered on the second ring.

“
Addison, I want to come with you.”

He
was silent for a few seconds and she thought she’d lost the call or that her
name hadn’t shown up on his caller ID. “Nadine, you want to come with me
where?”

“
To the surface. To find my father. I want to join your
team.”

Chapter
Three

Addison
had tried for close to an hour to convince Nadine there was no way she could
join them on the surface to look for her father, and then finally realized she
had more right to go up there and search for him than anyone. He insisted she
first get at least basic survival training, and since he planned to leave soon,
she had to do it immediately.

By
the time he set her up with Gina Westfall, his most trusted team leader, he’d
already fielded emails from George Markus, Merrill, and Alesia Gonzales. George
was a retired Storm Trooper who had known Dixon since they both worked for
NSSL. He was coming out of retirement to join the search. Alesia was only a few
years older than Nadine, but had long been an admirer of Dixon’s. None of them
were happy that Addison was allowing a civilian to join them, even if she was
Dixon’s daughter.

His
procurement team members, Gina, Lee Briarwood, and Suzanne Ross, were much more
understanding, but still skeptical. Addison emailed all six back in a group
email, telling them that Nadine was joining them, whether they approved or not,
and that he expected them each to treat her with respect and encouragement.

He
reminded them how far back he and Dixon went, and that Nadine’s mother hadn’t
been part of hers or Dixon’s life for thirteen years, so Dixon was Nadine’s
only family. He finished by telling them that he wanted all communication
between them to be in a group because this was a rescue mission, and they
needed to be on the same page. Nadine wasn’t to be made to feel like an
outsider.

Secretly,
he understood why the Storm Troopers and his procurement team members were wary
of this, but every one of them had been new to this at some point. Nadine had
more right to go up there than any of them, and he didn’t want her regretting
her decision before they were topside, or hearing anything from one of them
that would interfere with her total concentration.

He
then emailed all of the other Weathermen and told them what had happened and
where he was going. Grayson Jensen was going to help oversee his teams while
Addison was away, and he’d be working closely with Sally Rainer, his Vice
President of Operations. Sally had been part of his organization since before
they’d moved underground, and he knew she could handle things in his absence,
but he also wanted her to have the support of the Weathermen if she should need
it.

Addison
couldn’t think of one more thing to do, so he sprinted up the stairs to his
room to begin packing. When his phone rang again, he hoped it wasn’t Nadine
saying she’d changed her mind. It wasn’t Nadine. It was Grayson. “What’s up?
I’m packing.”

“
Remember that recent incident involving Rob Marin?”

Addison
rolled his eyes. “It would be difficult to forget.” Rob Marin had drifted on
and off their radar since before Ace had fired him for trying to frame Harper,
who was now his wife, for hacking into Ace’s personal accounts.

His
original user name was the first one discovered, accidentally, by Harper. Rob
had used it to post on both the PR boards at ACE Communications, and on several
hacker sites and boards frequented by weather geeks and conspiracy theorists.
He had also, unfortunately, worked on Ace’s team hacking into such boards to
try to find any clues to the people responsible for the Tommy Twister virus.

Two
new user names they knew Rob was posting under had showed up again when hackers
tried to use one of the old weather satellites as relay stations to hide their
online activity, and ended up encrypting conversation onto the data
accidentally.

The
satellite was shut down again, but not before Barclay Hampton, who owned
Hampton Data Recovery Services, and his friends at Homeland Cyber Security,
recovered the conversation and eighteen names.

Recently,
Santino Chavez, Damien’s lead IT tech, discovered that Rob had been in contact
with a foreman on one of Damien’s projects. This foreman had been fired after
he was discovered to be involved in a scheme that targeted Damien’s company and
others. Rob had told this man, who used the name
JackHammer
,
that he knew the hackers responsible for the Tommy Twister virus.

That
alone wouldn’t have been enough to force the Weathermen to do anything because
Rob was known for bragging about things he had no knowledge of, and he was
known for lying to people, but Rob had also told
JackHammer
details that only the original hackers would know.

Details
like how The Madeline Project was supposed to work, who was supposed to have
access to it, when and where the real time tests had been scheduled to occur,
and what fail-safes were in place in case something went wrong.

None
of the information that Rob told
JackHammer
would
have been found by hacking into the NSSL servers because that data was never on
them. All the Weathermen knew that, but the public didn’t. The information the
public believed the hackers had, and that had allowed them to access The
Madeline Project in the first place, was said to be on the servers at NSSL, but
that wasn’t true. It was what the public was told, but it was a lie. A decision
was made never to reveal the real source of the information the hackers used,
because no one wanted copycats.

When
this information came to light, the Weathermen had decided they’d had enough of
Rob’s shit and they needed to know for certain whether he was involved in the
original hacking, or had merely found the hackers and was now in with them.
Either way, he had become a key player.

They
had considered simply hacking into his personal laptop, but he’d know they had
tried to do it, and if he moved the information or disappeared again, they
might not find him again.

Viggo
Ingram, who owned Ingram
Properties and lived in
CentralWest
, knew people who
specialized in covert operatio
ns
. Rob and his wife were going to a
wedding in
SouthCentral
, and the plan was to make it
look like a burglary at their home in
NorthCentral
while they were away. They didn’t want anyone hurt, but they needed Rob’s
laptop.

 
“The
plan will take place one week from today, next Saturday
.”

“
I wish I could wait for the results,” said Addison,
“but I can’t.”

“
I know. I’ll email you. Let’s hope they’re successful
and we get the info we’re looking for.”

Addison
hoped so, too. They’d been underground now for seven years and had a list of
possible names. That was it. It would be wonderful to finally have one name, or
as they all hoped they’d find on Rob’s laptop,
all
the names, plus the code they’d used to send The Madeline
Project on a rogue course. One could hope.

****

Nadine’s
head swam with so many rules and particulars to remember, that she began to
seriously doubt her sanity in calling Addison and telling him she was coming
along on this mission. Gina was a patient and thorough instructor, but clearly
she was comfortable with being in danger all the time. A true adrenaline
junkie, she lived to go up there. Nadine had never done anything risky in her
life, but this was her father. She had to help them find him. She’d lose her
mind if all she could do was sit here and wait.

Sunday
morning, she woke up sore from all the fitness testing that Gina had put her
through the evening before. Nadine had thought she was in great shape from the
workouts she did at home. She’d been wrong. Gina told her she’d be fine, but
Nadine now realized this was far more than guts and glory. It was physically
demanding, as well as work that required complete and total focus.

She
was up to the challenge. She had to do this, as much for herself as for her
father. She had already called Brenda Washington, the principal at
NorthWest
high school, and explained what had happened.
When she told Brenda she wanted to go with the team, Brenda had told her to
take as much time off as she needed. Now, there was nothing left to do except
pack.

Gina
had advised her to pack mostly clothes and travel size personal items, but also
told her the likelihood of being able to shower or even wash her hair regularly
would be slim. She told her not to bother with a laptop because even inside the
shelters there was limited space to charge them, and having to run to escape a
storm with one in a backpack usually resulted in damage to the computer, as
well as slowing down the runner.

Nadine
planned to pack her phone and charger, but made sure they were well-insulated.
She emailed the management company for her apartment complex and asked them to
keep an eye on her apartment and hold her mail at the office.

She
hadn’t heard back from her mother, but then she hadn’t expected to. Still, she
sent an email letting her know she was joining a team on the surface to look
for her father. If anything would elicit a response that would.

Nadine
had trouble sleeping Sunday night. She vacillated between excitement at this
incredible adventure and fear that they’d find her father dead. Addison had
called her before she went to bed to let her know they were first heading for a
bunker that Merrill and other Storm Troopers had built during the past three
years. It was located under what used to be downtown Seattle, so it wouldn’t
take them too long to reach it once they were on the surface.

He’d
explained they were going to wait there for George Markus to arrive, who was
traveling from what used to be Tennessee. When Nadine asked why he was coming
from that far away to join their team, Addison told her that her father had a
lot of friends across the country who wanted him found.

Now,
lying in bed trying to sleep, she wiped away tears as she recalled that
conversation. There were so many people who loved him and were looking for him.
Each time she drifted off to sleep, her dreams were vivid and frightening. By
the time she decided to get out of bed and take a shower, she was beyond tired.
It didn’t matter. Trying to sleep anymore tonight was pointless. It was time to
get ready.

Nadine
checked her backpack three times before Addison buzzed downstairs. She took one
quick look around her apartment and left. The office already had a key, and
someone had emailed her back saying they would keep her mail and check the
apartment periodically. She turned off her phone and packed it away. The next
time she’d be able to use it would be inside the bunker. She had nothing left
to take care of.

Addison
was dressed in gear that looked fit for a ski slope, as she’d expected. It was
March by the calendar, but the temperatures in the underground cities were kept
at a constant seventy-two degrees during the day and fifty-eight degrees at
night. She had no idea what the surface would be like.

Gina
had told her to dress for cold weather, so she wore a ski parka and ski pants,
but hadn’t put on her gloves yet. He smiled at her, his gaze traveling lazily
over her clothing and then her face. She didn’t miss the admiration in his
eyes, and wished she could do something about that, but this wasn’t the time to
allow memories to surface again or to decide to fight them. She had a job to
do.

“
Are you ready?” he asked.

“
Yes.”

“
All right. Let’s go then. The nearest air lock is
about ten minutes north of here. Gina, Suzanne, and Lee are already there.”

Gina
had explained that the surface could be reached by a series of viaducts,
protected by air locks, at various checkpoints around the city. Addison had
procured clearance for her in record time, but the others already had papers
and were allowed travel back and forth. She didn’t expect any problems since
she was with Addison.

She
met Lee and Suzanne for the first time once she and Addison reached the
viaduct. Both, plus Gina, talked excitedly, like they were embarking on a
vacation instead of a rescue mission. They lived for this, and while that was a
foreign concept to Nadine, right now she was grateful for their enthusiasm
because it meant they wouldn’t stop until her father was found.

They
presented their papers to the guards, and then walked single file through a
series of air locks. Addison was in front of her, and the others were behind.
After she climbed endless stairs and swallowed multiple times as the air
pressure changed in each lock, she finally caught a glimpse of sunlight—real
sunlight for the first time in seven years. She emerged into fresh air and
stood next to Addison, glancing around, as the others came up behind them.

The
constant howling wind noise she’d been warned about was more sinister than
she’d been imagining. She moved closer to Addison out of instinct, and he gave
her a sympathetic look.

“It’s
horrible, isn’t?” he asked quietly.

She
nodded. Seattle was nothing more than scattered piles of rubble that she
imagined used to be buildings which hadn’t yet been swept away by water or
wind. Most of the trees were gone, and as a consequence it took her a few
moments to breathe normally. The air here was thin. That was the best way she
could describe it in her mind.