Maybe the guy was too smart for his own good. What he'd overlooked had
been so simple, so basic, that it seemed incredibly stupid on the face
of it. Like that mission to Mars a dozen years or so ago where the
scientists had mixed up English measures with metric and plowed the
little vessel right into the surface of the planet at speed because the
calculations had been so basic nobody had even thought about them.
Overlooking something as simple as a security guard's log was the kind
of thing a scientist just might do because it would never occur to him.
A mistake so basic he never even thought about it.
If Jay was right about the technology and the possibility of using it
in such a manner, then Morrison had had the means and opportunity, but
what had the motive been?
'Any leads on where he went?' Howard asked.
'Not yet. The mainline ops are on the case, and we've got bulletins
out to every state police agency in the U.S., as well as to the
Canadian authorities. Flight plans in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest
are all being checked.'
'I'm going to be out of here in a day or so,' Howard said.
'I'll get to the office--' 'You will go home. General. We will run
this guy down doing the things we know how to do. What we haven't done
enough of lately--computer detection.'
'I'll be okay to work.'
'Not according to your wife you won't. We'll keep you posted as to
progress.'
Howard wasn't happy with that, but there wasn't much he could do about
it. They said their goodbyes.
Michaels headed to Jay's office. He tapped on the door and stuck his
head into the room. Gridley was offline.
'Hey, Boss.'
'I just got off the com with John Howard. He is going to be okay, so
the doctors tell him.'
Jay relaxed a little.
'Good to hear it.'
'I trust you are well on the way to catching the man responsible for
shooting our teammate?'
Jay smiled.
'Oh, sure. Well on the way.'
'Which means?'
'We've got all his personal records. We know where he's been and what
he's done that required use of his credit cards, or his driver's
license. We have his work records, too, but there are some gaps. He
took out a second mortgage on his house and cleaned out his bank
accounts, so he has a big chunk of cash, and not everybody requires ID
for every transaction. He could have bought a cheap car, rented a
private plane, maybe even gotten himself some phony ID for whatever.
'We have a description of the guy who was with Morrison from the guards
at HAARP, but 'your average-looking science geek' isn't a lot of help.
No surveillance cameras managed to catch an image of 'Dick Grayson,'
and it was ole Dick who must have done the shooting-unless Morrison has
a stash of guns we don't know about and also practiced his fast draw
