“I don’t understand what this has to do with Maddie. She doesn’t write that kind of code—certainly not ransomware or malware.”
“I assure you she could. She might not deal with basic coding anymore, but I looked her up and she could easily learn anything she needed to. A ransomware attack would be basic for her. However, it wasn’t that kind of attack,” Adam replied. “The plants were attacked by what I can only describe as an artificial intelligence.”
Fuck. He felt his jaw clench. “She did not do this. She would never do anything like this, Adam. I know her.”
“You know who she used to be.” There was a deep sympathy in Adam’s tone. “I understand that you were close back in high school, but it’s been a long time, and you’ve both changed. Can you honestly say she knows you? The Deke Murphy who went through the military and the Agency? The one who’s been in Dallas for over a decade?”
“The core of who I am hasn’t changed.” There was zero chance Maddie Hill had anything to do with an attack that could kill people. “And it hasn’t changed for her either. She is incapable of this level of evil.”
“All right. Then I believe someone might be using her work for criminal purposes I don’t even understand at this point,” Adam allowed. “I get that you like the lady, that you’re probably still half in love with her, but she’s in a dangerous position if she’s working with Byrne.”
He didn’t want to even think about Maddie being involved with people who could try overloading a power plant. “Why do you think the AI that tried to take over the plant is Maddie’s?”
Adam leaned against the locker. “Chelsea managed to keep records of some of what she did. She’s been examining the code, and she says some of it is very similar to Byrne’s previous work.”
“Okay. Then Byrne is the problem, not Madeline.” He was completely sure of that.
Adam’s dark head shook. “But Madeline is the head of his artificial intelligence team, and she’s the one working on the AI for the satellite system that—if it works—will likely form the basis for all US satellites in the foreseeable future. If this works, Byrne will likely be given anything he wants to build satellites for this country, and if that AI does what I suspect it does, think about what kind of access that will mean.”
It meant Byrne would have his hands in all the nation’s security systems. “Then maybe what I should do is pull Maddie out of that company altogether and let the Agency handle it.”
“We don’t know if the Agency is handling anything at all. Why do you think I’m asking you? Do you think we haven’t tried to take these questions to them? Our only contact is Drake Radcliffe, and he’s not answering Chelsea’s calls at the moment,” Adam shot back. “He told her she’s overreacting and to stand down.”
Deke didn’t see the problem. He’d met Drake Radcliffe a couple of times, and though the guy was young, he seemed solid. Drake was in his late twenties now, but he’d started working for the Agency years before. He was their wunderkind, and he’d been the one handling Chelsea for a while now. Chelsea and Adam weren’t direct employees. There would be a limit to what the Agency would tell them. “Then he’s handling it. You know they can be secretive bastards.”
“They can also go bad.” Adam’s eyes had taken a steely look. “You should know that better than most. You watched what the Agency did to Ten Smith. They chose to disavow him when he wouldn’t allow Hope McDonald to continue her work. They chose Levi Green over Beck and Solo. Do you honestly believe Drake is incapable of turning? Hell, he might even be under orders to let this thing play out. If the government believes the tech is worth it, they’ll sacrifice lives and cover it all up. He’s been acting weird the last year or so. He’s distracted by something, and I worry when a man who has always been so focused is acting even slightly out of sorts.”
His head was spinning with the implications. “Again, then maybe I should pull her out.”
“Then they would know something is wrong and they’ll go underground,” Adam argued. “We’ll lose our chance to figure out what they’re trying to do.”
Deke shook his head. “This is far above my paygrade. Talk to Tag, man. I’m not a spy. I never really was. I was muscle for way smarter guys than me. I’m going to do the job Tag asked me to do. I’m going to protect Maddie, and I’ll try my damnedest to ID our mystery lady, but I’m not going to work behind Maddie’s back. Let’s sit her down and tell her what we know.”