Page 80 of Deep Tide

He just stared at her.

“By the way, how’s that phone number coming?” she asked him.

“I haven’t heard back yet.”

“No?” She tipped her head to the side, watching him. She was putting a lot of trust in this federal agent. And so far, their “cooperative” relationship had been exactly what she’d expected: a one-way street.

“When do you think you’ll hear back?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Soon, I hope.”

“So, here’s another question,” she said, purposely leaving him hanging about his beer can.

“Yeah?”

“Who is Virgil?”

That got his attention. “Where’d you hear about Virgil?”

“Around.”

“Around where?” The sharp edge in his voice told her Virgil was important.

“I overhead the chief talking to someone about him in his office yesterday.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. They were together in there for a while. I think he may have been one of you guys.”

“What did he look like?” Sean asked.

“Big. Around six four. Black. Probably midforties.”

“That’s Dwight Moore, my boss.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. Who is Virgil?”

He looked at her for a long moment, and she could tell he was debating—once again—how much to tell her. But she still hadn’t agreed to handle his evidence for him, and she wasn’t going to unless she got something in return. He wasn’t the only one running an investigation here.

“Virgil isn’t a person,” he said.

“No?”

“It’s an op. It’s the reason I’m down here.”

She hadn’t expected that.

“So, why is it called ‘Virgil’ if the target is Luc Gagnon?”

“It’s named after a Roman poet. And Gagnon’s not really the target. We’re focused on his company.”

She watched him, trying to fill in the gaps with what she already knew. “The company makes software that encrypts communications.”

“Yes. And he also makes a line of super secure encrypted devices.”

“He does?”

“For some VIP clients, yes. We have reason to believe he’s getting a shipment of those devices soon. That shipment is very important. We’re trying to intercept it.”

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