Page 86 of Static/Cling

“So not the actual point. And again, not my problem.” Though it hurt his heart a little bit to know Kassian was estranged from his family while he still cared enough about them to want to protect them.

“He’s the only one who could do this thing. And it had to be done here. I’m sorry. But it’s important.”

“I swear?—”

“If I could have done it myself, I would have, trust me.” He started to pace the confines of the tiny room. “But he’s the one with the brains. He’s the one with the right skill set. It had to be him. And he had to know he could get into the system uninvited to believe he could do this. He needed the confidence boost. Needed to feel the threat, but also to know he could outwit it.” He’d dropped into the peculiar tone Kassian often used when he was talking to himself. It made Bjorn wonder who Rufus was trying to convince.

“If he hadn’t been able to find the decoy, trace it, he wouldn’t think he could destroy it.”

“Wait. Decoy? Are you saying you lured him here? You dangled this file, or whatever, in front of him to get him here?”

“The file is real, believe me.”

“But the one he’s been so obsessed with all this time, that wasn’t even the real thing?”

“I couldn’t risk the real thing being out in the world, drawing attention, finding yet another person who wanted it for their own ends.”

“You tricked him.”

“I had to. I needed his help, but he never would have come if I’d asked. It had to be his idea.” He scowled again, deepening the lines around his eyes and mouth, carving a few more details of sadness into his handsome face. “It always has to be his idea, because he’s an arrogant, stubborn?—”

“Family issues aside,” Bjorn cut in. “If he hasn’t been chasing the real file, working so hard to make it invisible, then where is the actual file?”

“General Sherman George has it. And trust me, he’s made sure he’s the only one who does. That’s the only way it has any worth, either as a bargaining chip, or as a resource. Whichever gets him what he wants.”

“Which is what?”

“Who cares? All I want is for him not to have the power to destroy a bunch of innocent people. It can’t stay in the general’s hands.”

“You do know computers have a delete function, right?”

“It isn’t that simple.” Now he stopped, stance rigid, on the other side of the room. “We have to be absolutely sure it’s gone. Every trace. Completely destroyed with no chance of recovery.”

And there it was, Bjorn realized. Whatever Rufus felt for his brother, right now, Kassian was the tool he could use to get what he wanted. It sounded like what he wanted was what they were all after. So all Bjorn had to do was present Rufus with a different tool. A better tool.

“Whatever you’re having Kassian do with his coding, I can do it faster.”

Rufus frowned. “I doubt it. If I couldn’t, the only other option is Kassian. He’s a genius coder.”

“I’m not talking about computer codes. I’m talking about the hardware. Let me at the hardware, and nobody will be retrieving any files from it, like, ever.”

“You do know you can’t just smash it up. The server room is a room. An entire room. You wouldn’t get halfway through before you were swarmed by soldiers.”

“And there’s a backup on the top floor. Yes. I’m aware. But that isn’t the plan.”

“Then what is?”

“Take me to the server room, and I’ll show you.”

“And Kassian? You forget about him? I thought he was your main goal.”

“He is. But once there’s nothing left to retrieve, why keep him?”

“Why let him go? George isn’t just going to release him if he loses this file. He’s going to?—”

“Kill him.”

Rufus pursed his lips. His jaw muscles jumped.

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