CyberStorm Read Online Free Page B

still going full speed and dressed up in a suit for meetings.
    “We still have more than a week before Christmas. I’ll just get the one-day delivery. Amazon said this year—”
    “It’s not Amazon.”
    Picking up the remote from the counter, I turned up the volume on CNN . “FedEx and UPS have ground to a complete standstill today due to what they say is a virus in their logistics shipping software—”
    “That’s just great.” Lauren slapped closed the cover to her laptop.
    “—blaming the hacking group Anonymous after they declared their intention to punish shipping companies for halting shipment of flu vaccines into China. Representatives of Anomymous deny the attack, saying they only initiated denial-of-service—”
    “So where are you going today?” I asked.
    “—projecting hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue for this holiday season, driving the economy even further into recession—”
    “Meeting some headhunters downtown. Starting some dialogues to see if any low-hanging fruit comes loose.”
    I forced an encouraging smile. “That’s great, honey.”
    How was it that I’d had to start to lie to her about how I felt?
    She’d become withdrawn ever since coming back from Boston, keeping her distance from me. I was trying to give her space, letting her go through whatever process she had to go through, but it felt like I was losing her. I was behaving as if I didn’t care, when every fiber inside me wanted to reach out to her and shake her and ask what the hell was happening.
    She sighed, glancing toward the TV and then looking back at me. I met her gaze but then dropped my eyes, giving her that space. Lauren continued to look at me and then leaned down to give Luke a kiss, whispering something in his ear. Quickly, she picked up her laptop and made for the door.
    “I’ll be back just after lunch,” she called over her shoulder.
    “See you then,” I replied softly to an already closing door.
    She didn’t even give me a kiss.
    I cut up the last pieces of a peach and handed them to Luke. With a naughty grin he grabbed the fruit from me and then squealed with glee as he threw it onto the floor for an appreciative Gorby. For good measure, one of the chunks flew off and landed on the report I was trying to read.
    I smiled and wiped off the peach.
    “Done with breakfast? Want to play with Ellarose?”
    Picking up a napkin, I reached down to wipe his face and then gently lifted him up out of his highchair to deposit him on the ground. He stood unsteadily for a moment, holding onto the legs of my barstool for balance, before rocketing off toward Ellarose in the wobbling-on-the-edge-of-disaster run he’d been working on. Reaching out, he caught onto the front of the couch, stopping himself like an unsteady ice skater.
    He looked down at Ellarose and then up at me with a big smile.
    Ellarose, for her part, hadn’t yet mastered the art of turning onto her stomach. She was only six months old and was lying on her back on her play mat, looking up at Luke with wide eyes. Luke squeaked and plopped down onto his knees to crawl over to her, putting a hand onto her face.
    “Careful, Luke, be gentle,” I warned.
    He looked into Ellarose’s eyes and then sat upright next to her, protectively, and looked at the TV.
    “The extent of the bird flu outbreak within China is still unclear, but the US State Department has now issued a travel advisory warning against all regions. Combined with a growing anti-China boycotting movement—”
    “Crazy world, huh?” I said to Luke, watching him watch the TV. Gorby walked over to curl up behind him.
    Returning to my work, I continued reading a report on the potential market for augmented reality on the internet. I’d just been sent a pair of new augmented reality glasses by one of the big tech companies. It was a technology that fascinated me, and I wanted to get involved in a start-up, but Lauren said it was too risky.
    After an hour or so of reading and