'I shouldn't laugh. I don't think he's necessarily Hispanic or Latino,
Boss. Those are all names of Los Angeles freeways.'
Michaels nodded.
'Okay, so he knows about Batman and the SoCal highway system. What
else do we have?'
'Zip. I looked in the phone directories,' Jay said.
'He ain't listed, and we haven't been able to get a facial-points match
on any police agency computers. Man has a very low e-profile.'
Michaels looked at Toni. He had to ask.
'You're going to take the job with mainstream, aren't you? Working for
the director?'
'I--yes.'
'So is the information flow going to be both ways?'
'That's what the job description says.'
'Okay. See what you can get from them on this.'
If they could find out who this Ventura character was, if they could
background and history him, they might be able to track him down. And
if they found him, they'd find Morrison.
The intercom blipped.
'Yes?'
His secretary said, 'Sir, we have an incoming call from the director
for Toni Fiorella.'
Michaels frowned. He waved at Toni, who picked up a handset on the
table.
'Yes, ma'am?'
The director said something, and Toni nodded.
'Yes, ma'am, I have decided.' She glanced at Michaels.
'I'll take it.'
His gut twisted a little at that, but she was a grown woman, she had to
make her own choices.
'Yes, ma'am, go ahead.'
Toni listened for what seemed like a long time. Neither Michaels nor
Jay made any pretense they were doing anything other than listening to
her end of the conversation.
'I see. Yes, I'll tell them. Yes, ma'am, I'm glad to be onboard.'
She cradled the phone, looking disturbed.
'What?' Michaels said.
'Sheriff's deputies in Woodland Hills, California, were called to a
disturbance at a movie theater there a few minutes ago. Inside, they
found more than a dozen bodies, all shot dead, plus a locked storeroom
full of screenwriters.'
'Corpses and a room full of screenwriters? This concerns us how?' Jay
put in.
'One of the bodies was IDed as a man named Qian Ho
Wu, a registered foreign lobbyist who the FBI Counter Espionage Unit
has tagged as a probable spy for China.'
'Uh-huh?'
'One of the bodies has been identified as Dr. Patrick Morrison.'
'Oh, shit,' Jay said. Then he thought about it a second, and said,
