Page 6 of Protecting the Nerd

I digested the implications of that information. “For them to recommend us and expedite my security clearance, it has to be a serious threat.”

“Yeah. I’m trying to get clarity on the kind of threat, if we’re talking possible kidnapping, accessing his files, taking him out, or something else. They’re not divulging that yet.”

“He works on top-secret defense weapons. So it could very well be that a foreign nation is involved, in which case the CIA would want a word.”

“Which would explain the stonewalling. I had the same thought. We’ll see. I’ll keep pressuring them, and if we don’t get more in forty-eight hours, I’ll escalate.”

“Sounds good.”

“Keep your eyes open, Q. They suspect an inside leak at EDS, so until that’s confirmed and neutralized or proven wrong, the threat could come from anywhere.”

“Gotcha.”

I ended the call, took a deep breath, and knocked on York’s door. I’d promised him as few interruptions as possible, but I couldn’t avoid this. We needed access to his apartment.

When nothing happened, I knocked again. No response. What the hell? Was he deliberately being rude?

I opened the door. York was bent over his desk, staring at the biggest computer screen I’d ever seen. Actually, he had two screens side by side as well as three different keyboards. He was writing on a tablet, and whatever he wrote appeared on the screen, and it was all math. I didn’t recognize the majority of the symbols, but he kept writing equation after equation, mumbling as he erased a line and rewrote it.

He hadn’t noticed I’d opened the door, completely in the zone of whatever he was doing. I didn’t dare move, worried I’d break his concentration, so I stood motionless as I watched him work. His brows were furrowed, deep lines marred his forehead, and his cheeks sported bright-red splotches. Every now and then, his tongue peeped out between his pressed lips, an almost childlike habit that made him adorable.

It took him a good ten minutes to look up. He shook his head as if pulling himself out of a daze, turned his head to the right, held that position for a few seconds, and then turned left.

“Jesus Christ!” His hand flew to his mouth. “You scared the crap out of me. How long have you been standing there?”

I checked my watch. “Thirteen minutes.”

“Thirteen minutes? And you didn’t think it necessary to let me know you had come in?”

“Didn’t want to break your concentration. You seemed in a daze.”

“Flow.” He took a deep breath and stretched his neck again. “It’s called flow.”

“Flow. Okay.”

He extended his arms above his head and bent his torso to the right, wincing at the stretch. “It’s a concept made popular by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and describes a state of perfect concentration in which your creativity can flow freely, and you feel deeply connected to yourself and what you do. It’s the optimum state for what Calvin Newport calls deep work.”

Wow. I’d pegged him as a tech and math geek, but clearly, his interests extended beyond that. “Fascinating.”

He blinked and turned toward the window. “Anyway, you couldn’t be interested in all that. Was there something you needed?”

“The code for your alarm system.”

“My alarm system?” He spun around.

“Our team needs access to do a security sweep and install extra safety measures, like cameras and sensors. But they need the code. Apparently, it’s a system they’ve never encountered, or they’d be able to bypass it.”

York’s mouth curled into a grin. “It’s a unique system that can’t be easily bypassed.”

“So they discovered. My coworker, Julius, our friendly neighborhood hacker, was rather impressed from what I understand. He would’ve loved to try and crack it, but the boss wouldn’t let him.”

York’s smile widened. “If I refuse to give the code, he’ll have to try it, right?”

“Yeah, but why not… Ah, you want him to try. Why?”

“I designed it myself. It would be interesting to see if he can break it and, if so, how long it would take him.”

He’d designed it himself? I should’ve figured that out. The man did make military-grade defense systems, after all. “I’m sure he’d appreciate the challenge, but I doubt my boss can wait that long.”