Shaun was sobbing on the phone, and Avery knew that she had to hurry back. Her mind went blank at the sudden turn of events. The core technology of Tate Industries had been stolen, and most pathetic of all was that they had no idea who had stolen it.

With Mike and Avery both out of the country, the miscreant had taken the opportunity to steal the technology.

The company's core technology was stored in a microchip behind layers of encryption. Hence, although the chip had been stolen, there was