Read Online The Associate by Phillip Margolin - Free Book Online Page A

length. Over the desk was a bookshelf filled with computer manuals and books on computer science and other scientific subjects.
    “Do you run a computer repair business in your spare time?” Daniel joked.
    “Something like that,” Kate replied as she removed Kaidanov’s hard drive from her jacket pocket. She tossed the jacket over a chair, brushed her hair back, and seated herself at the wall-length desk. In front of her was a removable hard-drive rack into which Kate inserted Kaidanov’s hard drive before snapping the rack into one of her computers.
    “How are you going to get around the password?” Daniel asked nervously.
    “No problem. I’ve written some software that has yet to meet a password it couldn’t break.”
    “Where did you learn to do that?”
    “Cal Tech.”
    Kate saw Daniel’s eyes widen. She laughed.
    “I was recruited into the computer crimes unit of the Portland Police Bureau out of college. It seemed a hell of a lot more exciting than sitting on my ass in some high-tech company. Now I do my own thing on the side. It pays well.”
    Kate turned back to the monitor and started tapping in commands on her keyboard. A minute later she smiled and shook her head.
    “It’s amazing. They all do this. I would have expected more from a scientist. His password’s six numbers—probably his birthday.”
    “You’re in?”
    She nodded. “First thing I’m gonna do is make a magnetic copy of this little devil, just in case something goes wrong.”
    Kate’s fingers flashed across the keyboard and lines of text began to appear on the screen.
    “This should be finished in a minute.”
    “How come you quit the cops to go to work for Reed, Briggs?” Daniel asked to make conversation.
    “That’s none of your business, Ames,” Kate snapped before swiveling her chair so her back was to him. Daniel was so surprised by her outburst that he was speechless.
    “The copy is complete,” she said a minute later, all business now. “Let’s bring up Kaidanov’s files.”
    Kate tapped in some commands. “The stuff that’s still on here isn’t about Insufort. If Kaidanov did have files about his monkeys, they’ve probably been erased.”
    “Shit.”
    “Not to worry. Unless special software was used, the files aren’t really deleted. They’ll still be on the hard drive. I just happen to have written a voodoo program that will raise the dead,” Kate said as she tapped the keyboard. More text appeared on the screen. She stood up and waved Daniel in for a closer look.
    “There appears to be a big block of files that was erased on March fourth. Sit down at the keyboard and hit ‘page down’ until you find what you want and we’ll print it out.”
    Daniel took Kate’s chair and stared at the monitor.
    “There’s a lot of stuff here.”
    “Give me some key words. I’ve got search software installed.”
    Daniel thought for a moment. “Try Insufort, rhesus monkeys, primates.”
    Kate leaned over his shoulder and tapped in some commands. Her hair brushed against his cheek. She smelled nice.
    Suddenly the letter from Kaidanov to George Fournet appeared on the screen.
    “That’s it,” Daniel said excitedly, but his excitement diminished as he scrolled through the files that followed the letter. When he stopped reading he looked grim.
    “What’s the matter?” Kate asked.
    “Remember I didn’t believe what I read in Kaidanov’s letter?”
    Kate nodded.
    “Well, the deleted files are the supporting documents for Kaidanov’s study. I’ve just skimmed them, but they appear to confirm his conclusions about the frequency of birth defects in the monkeys that were given Insufort.”
    “So the results of the study are real?”
    Daniel nodded. “Which means I’ve just made my situation worse.”
    “But you may have helped get Insufort off the market.”
    “At the cost of my job.”
    “Do you really want to help Geller if it’s marketing a product that destroys children’s lives.”
    Daniel