She had the feeling that her being here was actually part of his plan. She would feel the most pain if she was involved and in the middle of it. Had Julian been part of a ruse to get her here? Or had Nebulous 2.0 simply played him, suspecting he would warn Mackenzie and set things in motion? She needed to learn if the hit-and-run driver had been found. The less cybercrime she committed through this ordeal, the better it would go for her on the other side.

Nora sighed, the sound bringing Mackenzie’s thoughts back to the present.

“I know who’s behind this. I recognized the code of the cybercriminal while hacking into the network at the lower level.”

“You what? No wonder he tried to kill me tonight! You don’t know what you’ve done!”

“He wanted me in the system.” Or did she have it all wrong?

Nora rose and fisted her hands. “Are you saying it’s the same guy you were in cahoots with years ago? And he’s back now? Because if you are, then . . . then you brought this down on us. We’re being punished. Rowan is dead because of—”

“Stop it,” Alex said as he stepped into the room. “Mackenzie isn’t to blame. We have a mad hacker on the loose. We need to report this.”

“We can’t. We’ll lose our contracts. I can’t be the reason for Hanstech’s downfall.”

“You won’t lose your contracts unless you handle this cybersecurity breach poorly,” Alex said.

It could be much too late for that.

“The security threat is only part of what’s at stake,” Nora said. “Our lives are too. Then there’s the prototype drone lost somewhere in the Montana wilderness.”

Mackenzie climbed to her feet. “What kind of drone? You mentioned the Iron Dome, but I need to know details.”

Nora pursed her lips as if she feared saying more, but then finally said, “I . . . I shouldn’t be telling you, even in this situation. But our enemies are using autonomous lethal drones powered by artificial intelligence to engage soldiers. Our government and military are falling behind in this technological landscape, and this lethal threat is only going to grow over the months and years. It’s an unacceptable risk level for our military forces, and for civilians right here at home.”

Nora hadn’t exactly answered the question.

“So Hanstech has built a weaponized drone with special capabilities?”

“No. It’s next-level threat detection technology that will protect against explosive attack drones. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when those attacks will occur, and we’re running out of time.”

Alex’s tone was somber. “And if someone gets their hands on the technology, they could develop the countermeasures, taking out our defense system against the weaponized drones.”