Page 192 of Deep Cover

5

Cole

Iran in the desert. I visited with Ariel. I stayed breathing down the necks of the hackers as they worked round the clock fueled by Red Bull and cheese snacks. Or in some cases, spring water and organic kale.

I contacted Claude and Chloe, and Dr. Andrews, and everyone just barely outside our circle but no one had heard from Vincent.

He'd vanished.

I destroyed three punching bags. I obsessively watched anything that might show celebrities of the financial world.

On day three I used my own discipline on myself and went back into my lab, working on several different synthetic and natural substances. Forcing my mind into new rhythms. Maybe something would come of it. I'd come out of a work session to find I had just remembered some random comment Vincent had made years ago, something about a vacation house or his own worst case scenario bunker or –

But nothing came to me. I distracted myself by thinking of how I would punish her when she came back to me. It didn't matter if it wasn't her fault. She'd be punished and I'd make damned sure she didn't enjoy it.

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