Humming, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I don't know about that. Last night I felt ready to take on a lion barehanded afterward."
Cam laughed softly and gave me a light swat on my backside, making me yelp. I didn't want to sit down, but at the same time, I relished in the ache, feeling stronger and more powerful than I'd ever felt before. While my 'inner workings' felt fine that morning, my actual butt cheeks were deliciously bruised from the pounding of Cam's hips into mine the night before. "Okay, point taken. Still mortal. So back to the nefarious network of nasty nincompoops."
"Alliteration? Maybe you should be teaching English and not me," Cam chuckled, turning back. "Okay, so with Pinzetti's family taken out of the loop, we're left with a couple of other networks. I looked at his call log after I'd shut down his system before to make my next choice, and eliminated this particular network. It's his EPA branch, and while there are some inevitable connections to the other parts of the web, I don't consider them a major player, except for a few people who show up in other branches multiple times. So here."
Another two clicks of his mouse and another branch disappeared. We were left with one main branch that then split off and made up most of the rest of the screen. "That's still over half the names on the screen. Who are these guys?"
"They're dark matter," Cam said simply. "They're the people that I've been trying to stop, and trying to protect Albertine against. I'll be honest, this is a bigger network than even I imagined. Some of these people, I've known about them for years, and they almost never work together."
"Wars and politics make strange bedfellows," I commented. "I read that once."
"Mid 19th century, but it's been repeated by a lot of people since," Cam said, "and in this case, it's pretty accurate. So the question to determine is, which branch of this tree needs pruning?"
"Why not spank them all?" I asked. "They all were involved on some level."
Cam thought about it, shaking his head. "I'm worried that if we do, they're going to fight back without restraint."
I thought about it, then shook my head. "Then crush them. Any sort of sick asshole who would be willing to even do business with a man like Pinzetti, they deserve it.”
Cam looked like he was about to object, and I held up my hand. "I know what you're going to say. These people have power, and while they may not have the public faces of power, they are, what did you call them? The puppet masters? But people aren't puppets. You've been involved with these people for too long, and as wonderful a man as you are, you still have taken on a bit of their cynicism. But let me ask you, am I capable of taking care of myself?" "Of course," Cam said immediately. "You're just as smart and capable as I am. You didn't have any training, but you have good instincts. You reacted perfectly when Pinzetti attacked. You secured the laptop and trusted me to do what I needed to do."
"And I'm no different than anyone else," I said softly, sitting on his lap and stroking his face. "Yet you've trusted me with not only your love but your secrets and your mission. If I can be trusted with this, then the rest of the world can at least be trusted enough to not destroy itself if these people are taken out.”
I didn’t give him a chance to reply, continuing with my preaching. “Look at the state of the world over the past fifty years. Call them puppet masters, call them dark matter, whatever you want to call them, but they haven't made the world better, certainly not in my lifetime. The world's tearing itself apart. And this dark matter hasn't helped. By being in the shadows all the time, they've escaped real consequences. That's why Albertine is so scary and dangerous to them, it's the first time they've faced any sort of real threat."
"So you think that they should be dragged out of the darkness and into the light," Cam said. He thought about it, a small smile creeping out on his face. He was warming to my idea, and he nodded. "On one condition, and one condition only."
"What's that?" I asked, curious. I doubt any woman has ever been given such a statement.
"I want you with me," Cam said softly. "You're right, I've been hiding in the darkness for too much of my life. You've redeemed me, and you gave me love. But I need someone to guide me, to make sure that my decisions are the right ones."
"You want this to be a partnership," I said. "But I don't know how much help I can be.”
Cam nodded. "I obviously don't need advice on tactics. I'll give you options on how we can move against them, and you help me decide which to choose. Help me make sure that my decisions are the right ones."
"You want me to be your conscience," I laughed. "I've been offered a lot of things in my life. But to be offered the keys to the entire world . . . that's a lot for a girl to accept."