again.’
‘Why didn’t Dodd just go to the authorities and let them handle it? Quantrill broke the law, buying government secrets…’
‘Dodd didn’t want the original project exposed; the Pentagon was doing secret drug testing on veterans. I don’t think Dodd has a shadow; the man doesn’t see the light of day often.’
‘Connect the other players for me. Sorenson. Who’s he?’
Wallace sat down in the chair, mopped sweat from his forehead. ‘He’s a mean bastard. He worked security on Dodd’s projects. He was supposed to go to Santa Fe and protect Renee, help her if she needed to bypass security systems to steal the Frost research.’
‘Sorenson killed her.’
‘What?’
‘He planted the bomb that killed her.’ He told Wallace about seeing Sorenson enter and leave Allison’s office without his case, return and speak on the phone about Dodd.
Wallace paled, covered his eyes with his hand.
‘Would Sorenson have access to explosives?’
‘He used to be in covert operations for the Pentagon. He’s Dodd’s security guy. Dodd called me early this morning, in a panic, because he knew she’d sent the files to the server. I don’t know how he knew
…’
‘Early this morning?’ Miles said. Oh, Jesus. His mouth went dry. Nathan, putting the pay-phone receiver down, a sheepish look on his face, a lie on his lips about a weekly duty to call his mother. A call he could not risk in the same room, even with Miles asleep. Dodd was connected to Allison; Allison tried to help Nathan escape. So maybe… ‘I think I know who called him. Dodd ever mention a guy named Nathan Ruiz?’
‘No.’
It didn’t mean Nathan didn’t know Dodd. ‘So Dodd wanted the files she sent.’
‘But they’re not there. I use the server to run a small Web hosting business, and to hold my research database, run power-hungry apps I use in my work – I never saw any files, never knew they were there. You have to believe me.’
‘Dodd doesn’t.’
‘I gave him the access codes, he checked it himself. Someone accessed the server this morning using the admin password Renee and I used and ran a wiping program to destroy all the data on the drive… everything’s gone, totally overwritten. Nothing’s recoverable, and I’ve already tried. The only other person with the administrative password who could have done that was Renee. Unless she gave the password to someone.’
Miles thought it through. ‘Sorenson. Allison wasn’t hiding the files from him – she was stashing them to deliver to Dodd. So the files would still be available to him or Sorenson if Quantrill’s people caught or killed her. But she must have told Sorenson the code, or he found the password – people are always writing that stuff down – and he took the Frost research off the server, then wiped the server to destroy the files once he’d retrieved them.’
‘Dodd doesn’t believe me, he thinks I have Frost. He’s coming. That’s why I need to hide.’ A tremble colored Wallace’s voice.
The picture wasn’t fully clear and Miles shook his head. ‘Go back to Sorenson. Where’s he?’
‘Dodd said Sorenson went missing two days ago; Dodd thinks another man, a guy named Dennis Groote who works for Quantrill, caught up with him. Probably killed him.’
Probably after our escape from the hospital, Miles thought. ‘This Nathan Ruiz I mentioned. He was a patient of Allison’s. Sorenson went to a lot of trouble to try and kill him at Sangre de Cristo, but I don’t know why.’
‘I never heard of him.’
‘But you’ve heard of me. She asked me to help her before she died. If Sorenson was supposed to protect her, she sure didn’t need me. So… she must have suspected he was betraying her. He took Frost.’ But then why give him the key to the hidey-hole for the files? It made no sense, unless she’d given the password before she suspected him.
‘This is all Dodd’s fault,’ Wallace said. ‘If he’d left well enough alone…’
‘One more question. WITSEC vetted Allison, it did a background check on her.’
‘So?’
‘So Allison Vance isn’t a real person; she couldn’t have passed the check under false name.’
‘Well, clearly, she did. Dodd would have handled ensuring her background was impeccable.’
Still, it bothered Miles. ‘Why risk it, though? If she was there as a spy, why take on a client who might expose her?’
‘She must not have known at first that you were a federal witness – but I don’t know… Dodd ran her show. Listen, all I need is your help to vanish.’
‘Ask Dodd.’
‘No.’ Wallace shook his head. ‘No way. I want out. No more.’
Miles said, ‘It’s not right.’
‘What the hell do you mean?’
‘She died on Tuesday night. You say that the server was wiped today. Sorenson can’t be dead – if he did the wiping.’
Wallace blinked, nodded. ‘Well, yes.’
‘How do you wipe a server?’
‘Like you would any hard drive – you have to have the high-enough account level and then you use a specialized program that overwrites all the files on the drive.’
‘So why didn’t he clean it off on Tuesday? It doesn’t make sense
…’
‘I don’t know.’ Wallace stood. ‘I can’t stay. We’d better go.’ He paced the floor, talking to himself. ‘Mexico. Not far enough. I had to learn French and German for my doctorate in science, so Europe would be good…’
Timing, Miles thought. Days to notice the files, hours to run. Yet Wallace stayed, the fresh widower, the frightened lab geek, waiting for Dodd’s vengeance.
Wallace was lying, and Miles reached for the gun in the back of the pants just as Wallace seized his abandoned gun on the table and, with a runner’s grace, spun toward Miles and fired.
FORTY-FOUR
‘Mrs. Brent,’ the man repeated, and Celeste got to her feet, shaking, leaning against the wall. ‘My name is Dodd. Do exactly what I say and you’ll be safe. Please untie Nathan. Go wash your face. Sit on the bed with him. Do not leave the room, do not make a phone call. Do not scream. I will help you. Am I clear?’
Stunned, she nodded.
Dodd shoved Groote out of the room, pushed him against the wall, started searching him. His gun, she thought, and opened her mouth to speak: I kicked his gun under the bed. But caution made her be quiet.
Dodd glanced back at her. ‘Mrs. Brent. Do as I say, please, and everything will be fine.’
She worked Nathan’s gag free. ‘You okay?’ he said.
She nodded and untied the knots binding Nathan’s hands and feet. She was so glad to be alive she shivered, from head to toe, as though she’d plunged into freezing water.
‘Sir,’ Nathan said to Dodd, ‘thank you. Thank you.’
‘You’re all right, Nathan?’ Dodd asked.
‘Yes, sir.’ Crisply said, as though he were back in the military, ready to go fight the war all over again.
Celeste washed her face. Her lips were swollen and she’d bled from her mouth and her nose, but not much. The soap smelled of lemon and she scrubbed her skin hard.
‘Who are you?’ Celeste asked as she dried her face.
‘He’s my boss,’ Nathan said, a clear pride in his voice.
‘Boss?’
