I Fell For My Nemesis

Angelo messaged back the chemist furiously, asking specific questions about the hows, whys, and what the timeframe for implementing something like this might be. It didn't paint a very pretty picture. If Hunsacher managed to get all of his research back any time soon this could all be rolled out successfully nationwide in a couple of years. 

He cursed and hit his keyboard. No! They didn't have that kind of time!

What was he supposed to do? He was a hacker not a chemist. Not a political mastermind. Certainly not a miracle worker but he would need to be one in order to successfully shut down Hunsacher Inc. before they were able to put this horrible plan into action. 

"Güera, you better answer your phone," Angelo muttered fervently as he called her, typing away at top speed to inform the rest of their network exactly what had been discovered. 

They were going to need to work together in order to figure something out. This was a much larger scale than even the sweatshop had been! How were they even going to formulate a plan? All he could think of was taking out the scientists listed on the research but they tried to avoid killing people. 

They could have families. They could be working for Hunsacher unknowingly or against their will. Killing them wasn't an option but they had to be stopped at all costs. How were they going to pull THAT off?

"Angelo?" Avery asked sleepily. "What is it?"

He checked the clock and realized it was nearly midnight. She must have posted that picture right before trying to go to bed. But this was an emergency!

"The data from that flash drive you got. I figured out what's on it," Angelo said urgently in Spanish. 

He heard the sheets rustling as Avery sat up in shock. "What is it?"

"Mind control!" He called Nolan Hunsacher all sorts of terrible names before continuing. "That monster figured it out! We took the only copy of his research but it's only a matter of time before he uses the same people to recreate it." 

"You have GOT to be kidding me," she moaned, also in Spanish. 

"I wish I was. I'm talking to our network right now trying to come up with a plan but be aware you're going to have to do some extraction missions in the near future involving those scientists. I'm not sure where we're going to put them but they can't keep doing what they're doing. The stakes are too high."

A sleepy voice could be heard from through the phone. "Avery? What is it? Come back to bed."

"It's Angelo and it's kind of important," Avery told her boyfriend apologetically in English before switching back to Spanish. "Give me the information in the morning. I'm going to need to get the time off at work and come up with a plan to get all of this done. Send whoever I need to coordinate with my way and I'll make it happen."

It was nice to know that she could see the pressing nature of this matter instead of succumbing to the urge to be lovey-dovey for once. At least she hadn't lost her senses completely. 

"I'll keep you posted. I'll probably be up working on this most of the night but I should have the beginnings of a plan for you by morning. Get some sleep. You're going to need it."

"You know, you could have just told me this in the morning," Avery muttered before hanging up on him. 

Angelo scowled. So what? He was freaking out so she should be freaking out too. They were partners, weren't they? He couldn't sit on that sort of information alone. She needed to know even if she wasn't an idea girl. 

He got back to work but wasn't able to confer with people for too long because of varying time zones and people needing sleep. Unfortunately for him, sleep was out of the question. 

Continuing to dig was all he could do at this point. And while digging he discovered something very interesting. Something that might turn the tide of this entire war in their favor. 

A wicked grin crossed his face as he read further. Leah Hunsacher might be their ticket to defeat their foe. He would have to tread carefully—very carefully—but having her as an ally was too fortuitous an opportunity to pass up. 

He carefully composed an encrypted email five times to make sure he got his sentiment across correctly before sending it. He didn't receive an answer since it was the middle of the night but that was fine. Getting one by morning would be good enough for him. 

Angelo continued digging to have everything prepared before meeting with her (since his email had been asking for a meeting) and he pulled an all-nighter to make sure he had everything taken care of. He was too wired to sleep and clicked on her reply eagerly. She had agreed to meet!

He knew he would be able to hook her. One does not simply divorce the most powerful man on earth. Nolan Hunsacher wanted her dead so she couldn't be subpoenaed to testify against him when the divorce finalized. He didn't care about her or her children from a previous marriage. Promising to protect them would make any mother agree to cooperate. 

Well, any mother aside from Avery's. That woman was a real piece of work. 

But Leah Hunsacher wasn't that sort of woman according to all of the articles about her and her own social media pages constantly posting pictures of cute things they did. She was the kind of mother who would do anything for her children. Exactly the kind of person their side needed. 

Angelo wasn't the most diplomatic person in the world but he knew how to appeal to people. He knew exactly what to say when he arrived for their appointment over coffee in a hole in the wall place so obscure it didn't have security cameras. 

"You're out to get my estranged husband," Leah said simply when she sat down across from him. 

"Yes."

"You realize he's going to kill you."

"Not if I kill him first," Angelo said seriously. "And I will. But not before I dismantle everything he's tried to build by exploiting other people."

Leah looked at him skeptically. "You said you knew about…that room. Were you the one who destroyed it? That's the only reason I agreed to meet with you. If you were you might actually be able to help me."

"Yes and we also managed to get the people behind the intel safely on their way to a new life out of his clutches. Put out feelers on the internet and I'll always find you if you have dirt on Nolan Hunsacher."

"…how many people are behind you?" 

"Quite a few. But we could always use more. Especially someone like you. I know you're living in fear while trying to make your escape. We can get you out and give you somewhere safe to be in the meantime if you help us take him down," Angelo said seriously. 

"Can you protect my children? He's trying to take them…turn them against me and use them as tools so I won't testify against him," Leah said in a voice reeking of desperation. "I'm afraid we won't last the week with him trying to find us."

"I know of somewhere off the grid for you to go. Help us and we'll protect all of you and get you out of the country without him being any the wiser."

"I don't have any other choice, do I? If you did destroy that room you're my only hope."

"We'll keep you safe, ma'am. You're going to need to trust me though and find a way to avoid using your credit or debit cards and being seen by any security cameras without being thoroughly disguised. I'm talking hiding the shape of your face, your eyes, your hair, everything. He has people everywhere. I can put the security footage of you and your children in your hotel room on a loop. That should buy you some time but I don't know how much."

"I'll take whatever I can get." 

"Good. Meet me at this address once you have your disguises in place and I'll take you to the safe house," Angelo told her as he wrote down another hole in the wall place he knew lacked security cameras. 

Leah nodded sharply and thanked him before hurrying out of the café, looking over her shoulder. That was the look of a cornered rat. A cornered rat who had just joined their side. 

He knew his email would be effective. She was searching through the depths of the internet talking about how she was afraid of her husband and what he would do to her. Tracking down her IP address and email account linked to the anonymous post had been child's play. 

Angelo knew she was aware of what her husband was up to and that was why she wanted out. Reading between the lines, she was afraid of having the brainwashing chemicals used on her children to keep her in line. 

Despicable. Hunsacher truly had no mercy.