“Wait,” I stopped him, needing clarification. “How do we know that the senator was actually after anything? I mean, logically speaking, he could just be an investor, right?”
“Do you know many low-ranking senators that invest in something like bioengineering on the salary they make as a junior senator?”
“We all know that anyone in Congress makes money on the side,” Blake interjected. “It’s not like their salaries are what they actually live on.”
“But they need to have connections,” Knight pointed out. “Someone to tell them what to invest in and how much.”
“You’re talking about insider trading. That’s illegal, even for members of Congress.”
“It still goes on,” Blake said. “You have to be able to prove insider trading, and with the way information flows in Washington, that’s very hard to prove. Taking down a Congressman for insider trading is more difficult than you would think.”
“What does this have to do with Cortez’s investments? Are you saying you have proof of insider trading?”
Knight flicked to another screen that showed Cortez’s personal accounts. I felt dirty just looking at them. It felt wrong to look into someone else’s accounts, and while I wasn’t an angel, I didn’t like invading someone else’s privacy. Especially without proof, and so far, I hadn’t seen anything that said we should be digging into the senator.
“I’m saying that the senator has been investing in this company for a very specific reason. I believe that he’s investing in this company to use it to his benefit.”
“How?”
“I think he’s planning something, and I need to get into the facility to get records on-”
“Whoa, hold on a minute. Do you hear how ridiculous this sounds? I’m sorry, but you sound like you’re pulling shit out of a hat right now and reading into things in whatever way suits you. Either give me something more substantial to go on or I’m walking.”
“I have to agree,” Blake said. “I’m sorry, I was willing to dig into the senator, and I put my job on the line for it. I know there’s something fishy going on, but you’re just speculating now. And you want to break into that facility? Give me a reason.”
Knight glanced at Hunter, but he just shrugged. “You’re not giving us anything to go on, Hud. You know I’m always with you, but if you want us to break into a company and dig into a senator, you’d better have a good reason for putting our asses on the line.”
Knight glared at us, his arms crossed over his chest, a stance I was getting used to seeing. Whatever he was hiding, he wasn’t ready for it to come out. So, it surprised me when he hit a button and the door closed and locked, and the windows went black. Lights turned on to brighten the room.
“Nice,” I said, waving to the door and windows. “I like the trick, turning this into the bat cave. Interesting that you need this level of security.”
“This isn’t the bat cave,” Cap said as his fingers moved underneath the table. I couldn’t tell what he was doing, but I had an idea. “That would be at the other end of the property.”
“Do we get a tour of that as well?” Blake asked.
“Not until you’ve joined the company,” Cap grinned.
“And that button you pressed?” Blake asked.
Cap smirked at her. “Can’t slip anything past you. It’s just a precautionary measure.”
“Because you think we’re recording you and we’re going to spill your secrets?” I asked. “You came to us.”
“He did,” he nodded to Knight. “I know about as much as you right now. So, why don’t we get on with whatever this is.”
“As you all know, Senator Brantley was killed in a home invasion almost a year ago. Through a source, I was able to get ahold of some sensitive information that he held in his safe. The senator was in the business of collecting information that he could use to blackmail others. One of the files I received points to something happening in the next year. There’s talk of the plan being in place in time for the election.”
My eyebrows shot up at that. That was definitely more than just a conspiracy theory.
“In that file, Senator Cortez is described as being their inside man. After going over his financials, his accounts point to SynGen. He has a few other investments, but I can’t see how any of them could in any way benefit the senator in an election.”
“Wait, you’re talking about swinging an election,” I cut in, just to make sure I was understanding him correctly.
“That’s what I’m guessing is going on. But like you pointed out, right now it’s a bunch of conjecture. I need to know what SynGen could possibly be developing that the senators could use to turn an election.”
“Why not just hand this over to the authorities?” Hunter asked. “If what you’re saying is true, they would be able to dig deeper and faster than we can.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Blake answered, taking all of us by surprise. “What? An anonymous source sent me that information on Cortez’s accounts and the moment I showed it to my boss, he shut me down and then had me fired. I wouldn’t trust any of them right now.”
“Alright, so we find a way to sneak in, and then what? How the hell do we even know what to look for?”
Knight sighed in frustration. “We’re still digging through the files Blake retrieved from the senator’s house. What we really need is for someone to go in undercover and then get to one of the main servers so I can tap into their system. Then I could do more research from here without putting anyone at risk.”
I snorted in amusement. “Just tap into their servers.” I laughed a little more. “At a bioengineering company, where they probably have the same level of security as the White House.”
“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Knight sighed. “Look, I would go in
