Juan sighed, hit the “compile” button, and sat back. It would now take hours for the program to churn through the millions of lines of genetic code and spit out the resulting updates. Only then would Juan be able to compare the results against the changes he’d expected in the genome.

On screen, the words “Darwin’s Cipher being calculated” appeared.

Juan smiled. Whenever he saw that name, he was reminded of Kathy. It was frankly a good thing he hadn’t had the guts to ask for her number, because if he did, he would have called her a hundred times by now. Her face had been haunting him ever since he’d first seen her at the airport.

And it wasn’t just her beauty. He was drawn to her intellect, her smile, her down-to-earth and independent nature.

Yes, it was definitely a good thing he didn’t have her number.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the screen.

Harry Winslow.

Juan was pretty sure the director had never before called him directly. Certainly not on his personal phone.

“Juan? This is Harry Winslow, am I catching you at a bad time?”

“Dr. Winslow, not at all, I’m just sitting at home. Good to hear—”

“Are you alone?”

Juan instinctively panned his gaze across his empty apartment and nodded. “Umm, yes.”

“I just got out of a meeting with two men from the FBI.”

Juan’s mouth opened slightly as shock registered. “FBI?”

“Listen to me, and just give me a yes or no answer. Do you know what I’m talking about when I refer to the Darwin Algorithm?”

“Yes.” Juan glanced at the desktop computer as it processed his latest changes.

“Good. Listen to me. I know what this sounds like, and I’ll explain it to you, but only in person. I’m sending the company jet up to Rochester. There’ll be a driver with an AgriMed ID at your door any minute now. Pack up anything you have at home related to what you’re working on and bring it with you to DC. The driver will help load it up.”

With his heart pounding, Juan glanced at the old and new printouts scattered throughout the apartment. Juan’s mind raced with a million questions. “Dr. Winslow, what is this all about? Are we in trouble for something?”

The line remained silent and Juan panicked, “Dr. Winslow?”

“No, Juan, nobody is in trouble. I’ll explain more in person. Don’t forget, don’t leave anything behind related to your work. You understand?”

“I understand.”

“Take a deep breath, everything is fine. Now go gather up your stuff. I’ll see you soon.”

The line went dead.

Juan stared at his phone. Why the hell was the FBI talking with Winslow? And why the rush to have Juan gather up his things? And take a private jet, with a driver?