package, Jay tried the door’s handle. It opened, and he quickly slipped into the little room where the monitor and hard drive for the cam were. He closed the door behind him and crossed over to the computer.
It only took a couple of commands to start the playback. In the background of the video Jay could see a few parking spaces to the right of the wall of boxes. He narrowed the picture and located the box he wanted. There it was. He then sped through the data, hoping the owner of box 1147 had been in sometime within the past week.
Movement caught his eye and he slowed the recording.
A tall, dark-haired young man in a very nice business suit — Armani, it looked like — opened the mailbox, pulled out a parcel, and left.
Jay widened the frame. The man headed to a vintage Porsche Boxter parked just in front of the place.
Jay froze the image, narrowed the focus again, and got the license plate of the vehicle. He could just barely make it out: LAWMAN9.
Jay frowned. A cop? That didn’t make sense.
He made a quick copy of the video, sent it to his own e-mail address, and then bailed from the scenario—
In his home office, Jay checked the time. Almost midnight. Saji would be asleep; she was an early riser.
He did a quick check with the DMV databank and found a name for the owner of LAWMAN9: Theodore A. Clements.
Jay pulled down a few more files, a basic search, and scanned them quickly.
Not a cop. A lawyer. Clements worked for the Supreme Court. He was a clerk.
Well, well, well. Why would CyberNation be sending money to a Supreme Court justice’s clerk? Not for anything legal, he’d bet.
Just wait till Alex heard about
Commander Alex Michaels was not happy. It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet, and he needed another cup of coffee. Instead, he was due at a briefing session for a congressional committee.
The worst part was that there was nothing he could tell the Subcommittee on Internet Security that they couldn’t have gotten from a com or e-mail, nothing that an assistant couldn’t have delivered just as well. But of course, that wasn’t how things worked in this town. When a committee chairman wanted to be briefed, he didn’t want to hear it from some flunky, and he certainly didn’t want to actually sit down and
It was just another part of the political gamesmanship that went on every day of life here. Who had to go where, and say what, was part of how clout was defined in the corridors of power. Alex knew all this. He also knew that the head of a small agency like Net Force couldn’t say no to six congressmen, no matter how stupid those congressmen were being.
He was supposed to meet Tommy Bender here first. Nobody from Net Force, or even the mainline FBI, went before committees without a lawyer at his elbow.
He checked his watch and looked around again before finally spotting Tommy. The lawyer was talking to a tall blonde in a gray power suit, low heels, and red silk scarf. The skirt was cut just above her knees. She was gorgeous, no question about it, and Michaels thought she looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place her.
Tommy caught his eye and motioned Alex to join him. “Hey, Commander,” he said when Alex came over.
“Counselor.” Alex nodded.
“This is Corinna Skye. She’s a lobbyist. Cory, this is Alex Michaels, of—”
“Net Force,” the woman said. “Yes, I know. Commander, nice to meet you, though I think we’re on opposite sides of an issue right now.” She gave him a small smile.
He took her hand. She had a firm grip. He caught the scent of some subtle musklike perfume from her, just a hint. Very nice.
“What issue would that be, Ms. Skye?” he said, releasing her hand.
“One of my clients is CyberNation. I hope you won’t hold that against me?”
Alex didn’t reply.
Tommy glanced at his watch. “Sorry, Cory, we have to run. We’re in front of Malloy’s committee in five. I’ll catch you later.”
She smiled again. “Go. The congressman hates it when you’re late. Nice to have met you, Commander. Maybe we might get together later this week? I would like to try to correct some misconceptions about my client, if you wouldn’t mind?”
But he didn’t say any of that. He only smiled in return and said, “Sure. Give my office a call.”
As they walked toward the committee meeting room, he asked Tommy, “What do you think that was all about? And why were you talking with a lobbyist for CyberNation, anyway?”
Tommy shrugged. “Hell, Commander, I’ll talk to anyone, even the enemy — no, make that
Alex frowned. “Don’t you worry that they might pick up some information from you?”
Tommy laughed. “About what? Our strategy is no secret. The guys on that boat were criminals. They fired first, your guys reacted in self-defense. We don’t have any secrets to give away.”
“So you think I should meet with her if she calls?”
“Oh, she’ll call, Commander. And, yes, I think you should meet with her. A word of warning, though: Corinna Skye has a reputation for doing anything to get what she wants. And I do mean anything. So be on your toes.”
Michaels just shook his head. He had the feeling it was going to be a long day…
His virgil beeped. Great. Now what?
“Excuse me a second, Tommy.” He stepped to one side and glanced at the ID. “Jay?”
“Hey, Boss. I have something real interesting here.”
“Can it wait? I’m sitting in front of a committee in two minutes.”
“I guess it can. The quick version is, I traced a nice chunk of change from CyberNation to a clerk for a Supreme Court justice.”
“What? That’s incredible!” Michaels said.
“Yeah, I thought you’d think that. I’ll fill you in when you get back to HQ. Have fun at your committee thing. Discom.”
Michaels thumbed the virgil off. CyberNation was sending money to a Supreme Court clerk? If Net Force could prove it and backtrack the money, it would be a huge victory for them. Assuming, of course, the money was for something illegal, but it just about had to be. Jay had been working this one. If the money was legit, Jay would not have had so much trouble tracking it.
“Alex? We’ve got thirty seconds.”
Michaels nodded. “We can make it. The door is right there.”
They hurried to do just that.
12
Junior didn’t like small towns. He’d grown up in one, and he knew how they worked. If somebody spit on the ground at ten o’clock in the morning, they’d be talking about it at the barber shop by noon. Everybody knew
