Hard and Fast (5 page)

CHAPTER 5

Alex and her team arrived back at the Magnus building shortly after two o’clock in the afternoon. Once the damaged race car was securely parked back inside the shop, ready for the required repairs, they went to get lunch. As promised, Norma had ordered pizza from a local bistro and had the now lukewarm pies laid out in the largest conference room, across from Alex’s office. Half the food was already gone, presumably eaten by the other mechanics.

The Cicada team grabbed slices of cheesy pizza laden with a variety of traditional toppings. Alex placed two pepperoni wedges on her paper plate, then ate them while making notes on her iPad. The other engineers were talking about the damage to the Mitsubishi, listing the body repairs need to the backend.

“It’s almost two thirty,” stated Alex after her lunch was finished. “Are you guys good with what we need to do with all the files related to the Cicada? I promised Markie that they would be all cleaned up by the end of the day.”

Niles, Bobby, and Randy nodded, still working their way through the food.

“I’ve already set up folders for each of your projects, so just store everything you need on the portal. Delete everything else,” she continued. “Then tomorrow, we can start tweaking the powertrain for the Cicada in the Mitsubishi.”

“What about the body damage?” Bobby asked. “We’ll need to get the repairs on the schedule with Dale’s team so the car is ready for testing. Do you want me to talk to him?”

Dale Winters managed the Magnus auto shop and the team of eight mechanics. They were really good at doing any basic work on the racing cars when needed.

“Sure, that would be great,” Alex agreed as she pushed back her chair to stand up, grabbing her cell phone, iPad, and a diet cola from the table. “I’m going to be with the security guy for a little bit. But send me a message if you need me.”

The guys waved her off fondly, their mouths still full.

Alex walked down the hall to the small meeting room near Marco’s office where Lucas Johnson had set up shop. The door was open and she could hear the low, smooth pitch of his voice as she approached. There was a tingle in her stomach that caught her by surprise, causing her to pause outside the entrance for a few seconds. She took a deep breath and straightened her back, thinking well-worn work overalls weren’t exactly what she had fantasized wearing if she ever saw him again.

“I won’t bite.”

Lucas was now standing in the doorway with that charming smile on his lips and a teasing twinkle in his eyes. His cell phone was held up near his ear. He pressed what she assumed was the mute button and he went back to his conversation without missing a beat. Alex clenched her teeth with annoyance as she followed him into the room and closed the door behind her.

“I’ll meet Ned, Lance, and Michael at the airport tomorrow,” he stated into the phone, but his eyes were watching her every move. “Let’s leave Raymond on his current assignments. I can complete the system update.”

Alex unlocked her cell phone and scrolled through e-mails, but her attention was unwillingly fixed on Lucas. He walked two paces along the back wall, behind the round conference table, then back two paces. She scrolled through the same list of messages again.

“’K, call me if you need anything.”

Lucas put the phone on the table next to his laptop, and there was a small pause before she looked up. He wasn’t exactly smiling, but his eyes still seemed to be making fun of her. It made her stomach clench again.

“So, Alexandria Cotts, why don’t you have a seat.”

He pulled out the chair next to where she was standing, then sat in the one beside it. Alex wanted to refuse, but couldn’t find a justifiable reason. That only made her feel petty, and even more annoyed. She sat down in the chair offered, working to keep a neutral expression.

“So, is it Alex or just Lex?” he finally asked.

Of course Alex knew the question would eventually come but was still caught unprepared for how uncomfortable it made her.

“Alex,” she stated simply.

One of his eyebrows quirked up.

“Alex,” he repeated, as though testing it out. “Are you familiar with Fortis and our work for Magnus over the last nine months?”

His professional focus was both confusing and a relief. She put her things on the table and sat back.

“You installed our new computer network, right?” Alex summarized.

Lucas looked amused by her statement, though she could not imagine what was so funny.

“Yes, we did. But we’ve also monitored and administered it,” he added. “That’s how we discovered the attempt to access files last week.”

She nodded, recalling her meeting with Marco on Friday afternoon.

“So, how can I help you?” Alex asked, getting impatient.

“What’s your relationship with Adam North?”

His tone was still smooth and his posture relaxed, yet Alex felt an accusation in the question. She sat forward, with her arms crossed on the table.

“What do you mean, my relationship? We brought Adam on to provide the new battery technology for the Cicada,” she explained, sounding a little more defensive that she intended.

“How were you introduced to him?”

“Why?” she shot back, knowing there was more to the questions than idle curiosity.

He didn’t immediately respond as he looked back at her with an unreadable expression. Alex deliberately raised her brows to remind him she was waiting for his response. He smiled, as though her attitude amused him. She tried not to glower back.

“Marco hired Fortis to protect the new technology you’ve been developing,” he stated simply. “Until your new engine was built, we focused on the intellectual assets. The ideas, design schematics, and related notes. Anything that could be stolen and used by one of your competitors.”

“I know that,” Alex interjected. “But what does that have to do with Adam?”

“My team confirmed that the network intrusion we detected last week was done through North’s computer.”

“What? That can’t be true. Why would Adam try to access our network?” she objected. “You must be mistaken. How do you know that?”

That look of tolerant amusement was back on his face.

“We know it for a fact,” he replied calmly and simply. “But I didn’t say that North did it. Someone used his computer for the encrypted access to your file-sharing server and planted a bug, or Trojan horse program on the Magnus system. We detected it and shut it down.”

“So Adam had nothing to do with it?” she confirmed, feeling relieved. His work was too vital to the success of the Cicada design for Alex to imagine not trusting his motives.

“No. We’re fairly certain he was unaware of what happened. But someone knew enough about his work with you and Magnus, then took the time and effort to hack his system. With some sophistication, I might add,” explained Lucas. “Which is why I need to understand your relationship with North. How were you introduced to him and his technology?”

Alex looked down at her fingers, resenting the necessity to reveal details about her personal life to this frustratingly attractive man who was practically a stranger.

“I first met him a couple of years ago, at a racing event. We were introduced by a friend,” she explained.

“A friend?”

Alex swallowed.

“Yes, Jean Renaud.”

“You’re friends with Jean Renaud?” Lucas asked sitting a little higher in his chair. “French Indy car driver, Renaud?”

She shrugged.

“The racing world is small.”

“Go on,” he urged.

“Adam was a research professor of physics at the University of Illinois. We talked a bit at the event, and he told me a little about his work with high-capacity lithium-ion battery power,” Alex told him. “After some research, it got me thinking about car applications, like in a hybrid or electric engine. So, I arranged to meet Adam again at another event last year and asked him to design a battery for the Cicada.”

Lucas just listened intently, brushing an index finger slowly over his silky-looking lips. He made no attempt to make notes. Alex wanted to shift uncomfortably in her chair, but she resisted. The physical effect he had on her was very distracting.

“How do Renaud and North know each other?” he finally asked.

“I’m not sure,” she replied honestly. “But Adam is a big Indy car fan, so I assume they met in the industry.”

Lucas nodded, as though getting the details he needed.

“Lex, I need you to tell me what exactly your Cicada is,” he stated firmly. “From what I know about hybrid vehicle technology, what I saw today on the track was pretty incredible.”

Alex felt a swell of pride at his words, though she was certain he intended it as a statement of fact, not as a compliment.

“It’s Alex,” she pointed out.

He shrugged.

“The Cicada,” he repeated.

She sighed loudly, resenting his high-handedness.

“It’s a hybrid design, just more simple than currently used by the big car manufactures,” she explained. “There is a small gas-powered engine that’s used only for battery charging, while the electric motor powers the wheels.”

“Show me,” Lucas instructed, pointing to the large dry-erase board mounted on the far wall of the room.

“All right.”

Alex stood up and grabbed a black erasable marker from the small container mounted to the wall. At the whiteboard, she drew a simple diagram of the drivetrain mechanism behind her design.

“Almost all successful hybrids use both the gas and electric motors to run the car, switching as needed when the electric battery runs out,” she explained. “But that’s because the electric batteries are so heavy, and have limited range per charge. The best on the market can go four hundred, maybe five hundred miles, max, then need hours to charge. So dual-powered drivetrains are a good compromise, providing a longer driving range than pure electric cars, and more fuel efficiency than gas cars.

“But their batteries are still heavy and expensive, and speed is limited, right?” she continued.

“So, what’s different with yours?” he asked.

“The high-capacity battery attached to the series design,” she told him simply. “Adam’s rechargeable battery is smaller, lighter, and more durable than anything used in cars today. My electric motor is more powerful than almost all in production, providing consistent speed in flat and hilly terrain. Together, they have the torque and horsepower typically found in high-performance engines, with long-range capacity per charge. Just based on what we did today, I think we could eventually get zero-to-sixty in under three seconds, with top speeds north of two hundred miles an hour.”

Alex wrote out the numbers on the whiteboard and circled each passionately.

“And that’s just the racing application,” she added, tossing the marker on the table. “With the right configuration, my computer models project that you could drive coast to coast at a hundred miles an hour on a single tank of gas and never need a plug-in recharge.”

“How?” Lucas asked, now leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped loosely between his knees.

“Once the gas-combustion engine is ignited by the battery, its only function is to charge the battery, for ten to fifteen minutes every five to six hundred miles. With the right-size gas tank, a car could easily do four thousand miles.”

He looked at her rough sketch and the circled numbers for well over a minute. Alex sat back down about thirty seconds into his silent contemplation. The impact of her statement seemed to fill the air with thick tension.

“Who else knows all of this?” Lucas finally asked, pinning her with a sharp, assessing stare. There was no trace of his casual flirtatiousness.

“Marco, of course. And my team is now helping me with the final calibrations,” she stated.

“How much does North know?”

“Adam knows that Magnus makes racing components, and that I’m trying out electric motor designs,” she explained. “He’s also aware that we’re planning to launch it at the Sea-to-Sky Highway race. But I haven’t told him anything else.”

“Why not?”

“Marco and I decided not to tell anyone else about the potential for broader use in passenger cars, not even our investors. We’ve also only told them about the racing applications.”

“Well, someone knows something. And it seems that they’re going out of their way to steal it,” he stated in a deceptively soft tone. “Any suggestions?”

“No, I don’t have any. I mean, I’ve been concerned about something like this from the moment I gave Marco my proposal. And I’ve been racking my brain since Friday trying to think of anyone else who could know what we’ve been working on. I just don’t know.”

Lucas stood up and walked the few steps over to the room door, where he planted himself in a wide stance and crossed his arms across his chest. Alex knew she wasn’t going to like the direction of the conversation. She stood also.

“What does North get out of this deal? Why sell his design to you versus a company with deeper pockets? No offense to Magnus, of course.”

“Adam is a professor. His focus has been solely publishing his research to academia. I had to really encourage him to build us a power pack and sell us the patent, and we paid him a good amount for it,” Alex explained. “In his nondisclosure agreement, he’s then able to publish the results of the battery performance of the Cicada three months after its official launch.”

“What would happen if he broke the NDA?”

“We would sue him for damages. It would be millions, and would ruin his reputation.”

Lucas nodded.

“What about your team?” he asked.

“What about them?” she shot back obstinately, planting her hands on her hips.

He stared back at her hard, letting her know he wasn’t buying her sudden obtuseness.

“Could they have leaked information somehow?” Lucas finally added, still pinning her with his unwavering stare.