Wired - Douglas E. Richards [78]
“Did you?” said Desh softly.
She looked pale as she shook her head no.
Desh realized he had asked a stupid question. If Moriarty already had the fountain of youth, he wouldn’t be so desperate to capture her alive.
“I knew that Moriarty was a man without principles before his brain was rewired,” she explained somberly. “But if he had the secret to extended life, he could become the biggest monster in history. What could stop him? He could enhance his intelligence and could use the promise of extended life to amass power beyond imagining. The kind of power that Smith accused me of wanting.”
Kira stopped and a single tear shook itself loose and rolled slowly down her cheek.
Moriarty had forced her to make an impossible decision, Desh realized. He could tell this had caused a deep rift to her psyche that would never heal. “You knew the stakes, and you did what you had to do,” he said softly. “I admire you for that.”
She shook her head as tears now welled up in both of her eyes. “I wasn’t a hero,” she said miserably. “I was a weakling. I would have done anything to save Alan, even at the risk of unleashing another Hitler on the world. I tried to unlock the memory with all of my might. But I couldn’t,” she whispered. “The barrier I had constructed was too good.” Kira lowered her eyes. “It didn’t matter, anyway. I knew in my heart that Moriarty would never let Alan go. Once I gave him what he wanted, he would kill Alan and me both—and Lusetti as well. We would be dangerous loose ends.”
Desh realized her analysis was dead on. She had truly been in a no win situation. “So what did you do?” he asked.
“I needed to buy time to rescue my brother. So I told Lusetti the truth. I told him I was trying but couldn’t reach these memories. The software I had set up in my mind to guard them wasn’t fooled. I explained I was under more duress because of the threat to my brother than if I was being physically tortured.”
“Did he believe you?”
“I think so,” she said, absently wiping a tear away with the back of her hand. “I pleaded with him to make sure Moriarty wouldn’t hurt Alan for twenty-four hours while I found a way to unlock my memories. He told me Moriarty agreed to this.”
“And then you killed Lusetti.”
She nodded. “He untied me for a bathroom break right after the call with his boss. I knew I had the upper hand in any struggle. I knew he couldn’t risk killing me before he had the fountain of youth. I was able to hit him with a marble bookend while he was trying to incapacitate me. I didn’t want to kill him,” she insisted, her voice distraught. “It just happened that way.”
Desh’s eyes narrowed. “So you rushed to Lusetti’s apartment, hoping you could learn who was pulling his strings,” he said.
“That’s right. I took his laptop and a file I found with my name on it and went straight to the airport. I took the first flight to Cincinnati, using one of the false identities I already had in place. I studied the file and laptop on the plane, but neither contained Moriarty’s identity.”
Kira gathered herself. “I’m sure you’ve guessed the rest by now,” she said. “The plane landed and I raced to my brother’s house. I was determined to do whatever it took to save his life.”
“But you were too late,” said Desh solemnly.
A tortured expression came over Kira’s face and eyes. “I was too late,” she repeated softly, shuddering. She picked up a napkin and wiped away several tears that had begun to roll their way slowly down her face. “I had a special relationship with my brother Alan. He was five years older and always looked out for me. When other kids taunted me because I was different, or because I had skipped a few grades, he defended me. And then when my parents died—”
Her voice broke. She paused and fought to get her emotions under control. “Alan was in college then,” she said finally, her voice regaining strength. “At Ohio State. He took a year off to stay with me to make sure I would be okay. I pleaded with him not to put his own life on hold for me, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t go back to finish his degree