The Jungle (Oregon Files 8)

“Ever jump the New River Gorge Bridge?” It was an 876-foot span in West Virginia and considered one of the best spots for jumping in the world.

“Of course,” she replied as if he’d asked if she breathed. “You?”

“Back when I was in training for an organization I once worked for, a bunch of us went over and did it.”

“Linda tells me you were in the CIA.” Juan nodded. “Was it exciting?”

“Most days, it’s as boring as any office job. Others, you’re so scared that no matter what you do you can’t dry your palms.”

“I think that is real danger,” she said. “What I do, it’s only pretend.”

“I don’t know. Getting shot by a border guard or having your chute fail at eleven thousand feet has pretty much the same results.”

Her eyes lit up a little. “Ah, but I have a reserve parachute.”

“You know what I mean.”

Her smile said that she did. “I guess what I am saying is that I place myself at risk for my own needs. You do it for others. I am very selfish, while you are generous.”

Juan broke eye contact and thrust his hands in his pockets. “Listen, ah,” he stammered for just a second and changed subjects. “I hate to bring this up, but we could use your help. I’m convinced that your father was targeted for a specific reason. There is something he has that Bahar wanted.”

He used the present tense when mentioning her father, though he knew in all likelihood Croissard was dead.

“We’ve snooped through his electronic files for everything he’s been working on for the past year,” he continued. “So far, nothing jumps out at us. I was wondering if you would take a look and see if anything grabs your attention.”

She caught his eye again, her beautiful face somber. “He is dead, isn’t he?”

“I can’t confirm it, but I believe so. I am sorry.”

“My helping you will punish those men?”

“That’s the plan.”

Soleil nodded slowly. “I will try, but I think I mentioned that we weren’t close and I know hardly anything about his business dealings.”

“Just do the best you can. That’s all I ask of anyone.”

* * *

CABRILLO WAS IN HIS CABIN later that night when there was a knock on the door.

“It’s me and Eric,” Mark Murphy said.

“Come on in.”

The two entered the cabin with the eagerness of puppies.

“We figured it out when Soleil was parasailing, and I think we confirmed it,” Mark said excitedly. “The computers on the oil rig were the alpha test for why Bahar needed those crystals.”

“The beta machine uses optical lasers,” Eric put in before Mark could.

“Alpha? Beta?” Juan asked. “What are you two talking about?”

“Bahar built a massive parallel processor, perhaps one of the top-five most powerful computer systems in the world, and then casually threw it away, right?” Murph said.

“Yeah,” Juan agreed cautiously.

“Why?”