Restraint, page 8
She nodded, thinking over his answers, but after a moment a thoughtful frown tugged at her lips. She met his eyes. "How long have you been working for them?"
She was watching for his hesitation, or she wouldn't have noticed. The barest twitch, and then he said, "I've only been doing this work for a couple weeks."
She nodded slowly, and said, "And the other work?"
His face was the picture of innocence as he said, "Pardon?"
"What other work have you done for Shadow Mountain?"
He spread his hands. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Now's not the time to start lying to me, Ghoster. How did a company like Shadow Mountain decide to hire a private database cleaner for day-to-day security improvements?"
"It's well within my expertise—"
"I believe it," Katie said, "but these guys are a major contractor with the federal government, they're not going to risk losing lucrative business by bringing in a tiny firm like yours without a proven track record in the specific field. It doesn't make sense. More than that...." She clenched a fist and gave a little shake of her head. "You're hiding something from me, Ghoster. I can feel it."
He held her eyes for a long time, saying nothing, then reached for his handheld. "Hathor, set a mark now, minus two minutes. Delay archive actions for me, Katie, and this connection. Good." He shook his head, chewing his lower lip, then met Katie's eyes again. "You're going to get me in trouble, little lady."
She spread her hands, unrepentant, and he chuckled. "Fine," he said. "Yes, I worked for them before. Mr. Brandeis brought me on in June, for a smaller project, and I impressed him enough that he decided to put me on a retainer."
She nodded, and when she asked her next question, she sounded tired. "Who'd you ghost?"
"The last guy they brought in to do this job."
She sat back, suddenly exhausted, and said absently, "We're finally getting somewhere." She took a deep breath, and met his eyes. "Tell me about it."
"It's not as bad as you think," Ghoster said. "There was nothing nefarious here. Look...what I said earlier, about helping with the employee identities...that's just part of what I'm doing for Shadow Mountain."
"I know," she said. "I heard some of the advice you were giving to the guards, and it had nothing to do with that. Sounded like you were coaching them to beat an audit."
"Something like that," Ghoster said, nodding. "Shadow Mountain's lucrative business, as you put it, is under intense scrutiny. They've got enemies in the approval committee, so they need a little outside help to keep the lights on."
"Why didn't you say that earlier? Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I'm working under a strict non-disclosure agreement. I'm going to have to scrub this conversation all to hell, once we're done here, or I'm out of work."
She nodded. After a moment she leaned forward and put a hand on his knee. "Thank you, Ghoster. I appreciate the risk you're taking."
He shrugged. "Anything for you, sweetheart."
She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips, and got back to the point. "So what happened to the other guy? What, he screwed something up? Let a prisoner out or something?"
"No, no, LeClerc wasn't advising them like I am. They...this guy was a reporter. They brought him in to research their methods, prepare an official report, and then submit it as an impartial third party in the approval hearings. He had a pretty good track record with that sort of thing, and at the time, they thought a little good PR would do the job."
"So where do you come in?"
Ghoster frowned. "Well...let's just say LeClerc's report didn't end up saying what Mr. Brandeis wanted it to say."
"He found problems with the prison."
Ghoster shrugged. "According to Mr. Brandeis, he made up problems. They figured paying his salary for the investigation would get them a little bit of positive bias, but the man ended up displaying a deep and totally unwarranted hostility to the company, so it was a simple enough matter to—"
"Kill him off?" Katie said, offhand, and Ghoster gaped.
"What? No!" He shook his head, horrified. "No. Mr. Brandeis pulled the plug on the report. It was never officially filed, and LeClerc was under a strict non-disclosure agreement just like I am, but Brandeis thought it would be a good idea to bring me in and make sure all the preliminary work and early drafts of the report got destroyed as thoroughly as possible. In effect, I just enforced the NDA, retroactively."
"Interesting," Katie said. "And for your good work there, you got invited back to help them clean up their act."
"And I'm doing a damn fine job of it, too," he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really do have to run. I need to put together some recommendations to present first thing in the morning, and it's more than a little complicated." He stood up, then hesitated just shy of walking away. "Are you satisfied?"
"I am," she said, and then shook her head. "And I'm sorry for accusing you. You've been very helpful. Thank you."
He nodded to her politely, tugged at the brim of an imaginary hat, and whispered, "Goodbye." His avatar hung still in the air for a heartbeat, sincere eyes locked on hers, and then he was gone.
7. Closure
She stood in the empty room for a moment, feeling strangely alone. The screen of her handheld flashed to life, startling her, and she looked down to find a travel option for a flight back to DC tonight or one of three on the following day. Why was Hathor trying to send her home? She dismissed them with a sudden sense of unease and said, "Hathor, connect me to Reed." While she waited for him to pick up, she opened her casefile again and felt her stomach plummet.
The casefile was closed. There were recall orders to all the agents in the field, Katie first among them. Reed's voice spoke in her ear, "Hello?" but she didn't answer right away. She was too intent on the casefile.
There were notes from some of the others, at last, but the final one was from Dimms and said simply, "Problem resolved, cf J. Gustaud." That was it. Caught up in the discussion of Shadow Mountain, she'd forgotten all about his flimsy solution to the blackouts. On Ghoster's word alone—
"Hello? Katie?" There was a hint of fear in Reed's voice, and Katie's frustration flashed to regret.
"I'm here," she said softly. "Sorry, just looking over the casefile."
"Oh!" His voice brightened. "Good! You've already seen that."
"It's too soon," she said. "We can't call this off—"
"Oh, no, it's nothing like that," he assured her. "It's fixed. Everything's under control." She winced at those words again, as Reed said, "Hang on a sec. I want to bring Phillips in on this." He chuckled. "He won't be too happy."
She waited quietly, reading and rereading the case notes. There weren't enough. There were still far too many questions. This couldn't be left to Dimms and Ghoster to gloss over. Someone was using Velez's old code. Someone who might have gotten to Martin. It needed resolution. It needed a manhunt. It needed—
Phillips cut off her line of thought when he finally accepted the connection. "Hey boss," he barked. "What's the big news?"
"Our blackouts are fixed," Reed said. "We got some professional assistance, and things are looking a lot better."
"Better," Katie said, almost cutting him off. "But not fixed."
"Oh, no, they are," Reed said. "Check them out in HaRRE. All three blackouts are gone, as well as a new one that popped up just after three this morning. Their system works."
"But we still don't know who was doing it!" Katie said.
Phillips answered her. "We probably never will," he said, his voice a surly growl. "That's the nature of the beast. If we've got a clean fix in place, though, guess this means we're going home?"
"Sorry to say it," Reed said.
Phillips sighed. "It is what it is. Give me ten minutes to say goodbye—"
"No!" Katie shouted, then more quietly, "Phillips, we've got to stay here."
"What's gotten into you?" Reed asked. "I expected Phillips to resist the recall. I didn't expect it from you."
"And I didn't expect you to abandon this investigation so easily!" she snapped. "I said as much to Ghoster, not ten minutes ago. What's he doing here, Reed? Why's he involved with Velez's prison? That can't be a coincidence."
"Well," Reed said softly, "did you ask him?"
She ground her teeth at the careful diplomacy so heavy in his voice. "He claims he's working for the prison as a consultant—that he had no idea Velez was housed here."
"That...." For a moment Reed said nothing, then he sighed. "I'm sorry, Katie, but that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation." His tone was too polite, too careful with her. "It's his line of work, and Shadow Mountain's been fighting to hold onto their federal contract, so it stands to reason—"
"I don't like it, sir." She tried not to sound surly. "It doesn't feel right."
"What'd I tell you?" Phillips chuckled. "This girl don't know how to stop working."
Katie bristled at his dismissive tone, but before she could respond Reed spoke up in her defense.
"That's part of what makes her such a great agent, Phillips. It's part of why Hathor still exists, too. If she'd eased into the Linson case when she first came on, if she'd waited for the proper training, Velez would have gotten what he needed with no one to stop him, and you and I would just be doing whatever we could to help contain the riots and the looting right now."
"Fine," Phillips said. "I get your point, but this is different. We've got the software problem taken care of, and Velez is in the capable hands of Shadow Mountain Security—"
"Capable hands?" Katie sneered. "Now you trust those guys?"
"I'm not saying I'd want to work with them—"
Reed spoke over him, more concerned now. "Wait, Katie, what's wrong with Shadow Mountain?"
Katie shrugged one shoulder. "I dunno," she said. "It's that Brandeis. No, it's all of them. The way they do business isn't on the up-and-up. Brandeis was openly hostile—"
"He challenged your authority," Phillips said lightly. "That happens in this business. You can't take it personal."
"No," Reed said, thoughtful. "Katie's got a way of reading people, Phillips. I've seen it firsthand. I don't recommend ignoring her hunches."
Phillips didn't answer right away, and when he did he sounded almost timid. "Geez, no disrespect intended, but I just don't think her hunches mean much here. Brandeis and his guys came on strong—and I could see she hadn't dealt with that sort of aggressive behavior before—and then after talking with Velez she really flipped out."
"At finding Ghoster there!" Katie said. "I wasn't the one who got upset talking with Velez." She frowned. "See...that's the odd part about all this. So far, the most honest and straightforward conversation I've had with anyone here has been with Velez. There's something wrong with that."
"So what do you want to do about it?"
"I want to talk to Velez again."
"No," Reed said, cutting her off.
She blinked in surprise and tried to finish her thought. "I think he can tell me—"
"No," Reed said, more forcefully this time. "I've got Phillips's report on the interrogations you've already done, and straightforward or not, Velez hasn't proven at all helpful."
Katie took a deep breath before she answered. Her voice still came out a growl. "No disrespect intended," she said, "but Phillips wasn't very helpful, either. Just give me a few days, just until we get the court order signed, and then I can get in to see him again and I'll get Velez to tell me whatever he knows."
Reed didn't even think about it. "I'm sorry, Katie, but I need you back here. If anything else comes up, I'll ship you back to Atlanta post haste."
Katie whipped her head back and forth, furious. "That's not good enough, Reed. Brandeis isn't letting us in to see Velez without a court order, and you know how these judges are. If we drop the case, if we walk away, he'll dismiss the paperwork without a thought." Katie grunted in her frustration. "If something comes up again, we'll have to start all over. From scratch. And we may not have time for that."
"I'll take care of it," Phillips said, startling Katie to silence.
Reed seemed taken aback, too. "What?"
"You want her back home," Phillips said. "And...umm, I get that. But we all know I'm in no rush to get back. I'll stay here, lean on the judge a little bit, and get us an open-ended order to see Velez. I can handle that. Soon as it's signed...." He sighed. "I'll be on a plane back, too."
Reed hesitated. She didn't see much different in Phillips's proposal so she didn't have much hope, but Reed surprised her by saying regretfully, "That's not a bad plan. But I can't really justify keeping you there just for that."
"No problem," Phillips said. "I've got vacation coming to me. Just sign the papers."
Katie almost couldn't find her voice. "Phillips...you don't have to do that."
"Hey," he laughed. "Any excuse to keep me out of that hellhole. If I come off looking like a hero, all the better." He sighed. "That all, boss man? Because if so, I've got some serious blondes to attend to."
"Oh," Reed said. He sounded stunned. Distant. "Sure. Go ahead. Yeah." He paused, then said, "But you're coming home, Katie. Right?"
Something in his voice made her smile. "Sure thing," she said warmly. As long as they were waiting for the court order, she could do just as much at home as she could do here. She tapped the screen of her handheld to check the offers it had shown her earlier. "I'll be back tonight."
"Good. Good. Have a safe flight."
"Thank you, sir." She hesitated, just short of saying something more, but settled for, "Goodbye."
It took Katie no time to pack her stuff again. She grabbed her bag from the bottom of the closet and three hanging blouses from the top, and she took a neatly folded pair of jeans from on top of the dresser nearby. That was mostly it. She looked around the room, then peeked into the other room out of old paranoia, but she'd never taken anything in there at all. The sleek, expensive projector arrays still stood in a semi-circle around the center of the room, and she briefly debated whether she needed to do something about that. In the end, though, that was Ghoster's mess. She'd leave it to him to clean up.
She growled his name under her breath, irritated. Ghoster! After everything he'd put her through, the man had never said a word about her appearance. Not so much as a disappointed sigh. Why had he said anything in the first place, then? She caught herself stomping as she returned to her bedroom, and she had to laugh. She took a slow breath, and then stepped into the bathroom to gather her toiletries. Another breath, and a reminder that it wasn't really Ghoster she was frustrated with.
No, that was Reed. Too sweet Reed, who hadn't wanted to send her here at all, now anxious to have her back. And then there was the irritatingly confident Phillips, who'd made an unexpected hero of himself. She shook her head, still astonished at that. They were conspiring to keep her away from her case.
She blinked at that and shook her head. Not them. Why was it so hard to place the blame where it belonged? That was Velez, who wouldn't unlock his secrets, and Brandeis, who wouldn't let her at him. Brandeis and Shadow Mountain and all its ugly goons.
A knock at the outer door startled her from her thoughts, and before she could check her handheld to see who it was, he called out through the door. "Excuse me, Miss Pratt. You in?"
It sounded like Benson. One of those very goons. She took a step toward the door, all her toiletries gathered in her arms, and realized how silly she looked. She dumped them in the bag on her bed, discreetly drew her sidearm, and stepped back to the door just as another knock sounded. A word released the lock, and she kicked it halfway open with a toe.
It was the guard, and this was the first time she'd seen him without an assault rifle in his hand. He'd lost the oppressive black uniform, too, and stood in dusty jeans and a pristine white t-shirt that stretched tight on his chiseled torso. Katie pushed her gaze on up, to dark brown eyes waiting patiently.
"Mr. Benson," she said. She had to clear her throat.
"Miss Pratt," he answered, and he gave her a little smile. "I'm glad you answered. You can put that away."
He didn't even glance toward the gun in her hand. Katie didn't blush. She didn't put it away, either.
"Can I help you?"
His eyes flicked up and down the hall, then he said, "I don't suppose I could come in."
"I'm just leaving," Katie said.
"I know." He swallowed and shrugged one shoulder. "I heard about Brandeis's orders. I just found out your boss is calling you home. I wanted to convince you to fight it."
Katie's eyes narrowed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and took half a step closer. "Why would you...why?"
He opened his mouth to answer her, then shut it again. After a moment he dropped his gaze, almost shy. "I uhh, I'd like to get to know you better. That's all. If you were willing to stick around—"
He glanced up and caught her staring open-mouthed. He cut off sharply. She snapped her jaw shut, then fought to hide a manic little laugh. "I was willing, Mr. Benson," she said, as serious as she could make it. "I fought it, to no avail. I'm heading home."
"So Velez is just—"
She shook her head. She didn't want word getting back to Brandeis that he'd scared them off. "My partner's going to pursue a court order. We will get access to Velez, and I'll be back to speak with him."
Surprise and hope and concern played across the guard's face, all in the space of Katie's short answer, and then he carefully cleared them away again. "Good," he said, and after the flash of emotions the word rang with understatement. Katie didn't let herself shake her head.
"Good," the guard said again. "So you'll be back. But for now...."
"For now I'm heading home."
He nodded slowly. "I don't suppose...well, I know you need to get back to DC, but another hour couldn't hurt. Either way it'll be late when you get in. You should probably have some dinner before you go."
Katie's eyes widened in spite of herself. "Are you really asking me out?"
