Page 28 of A Rhapsody of Ravens and Revenge

“I hear a but in there somewhere.”

“But he’s gone missing, and we haven’t found a body. Or any parts of a body.”

“That is unusual,” Cal said. “Maybe Jenson got spooked and decided to take off on his own.”

“He would have to be a hell of a magician,” Atticus said. “Security outside his office saw him shortly before eight o’clock. He was due in a board meeting at eight fifteen but never showed. No one was logged coming in or out of his office in that fifteen-minute timespan.”

Cal grunted. “So where’s Taber now?”

“We’ve adjusted satellite imagery to try and track him along the highway. We’ve taken control of the cameras at intersections and toll areas. We know he’s heading east, so chances are Evangeline is next on his list. Nate and Eden should be there in the next few hours. And Max will take the red-eye so he can be there by morning. You’ll have the backup you need.”

Cal felt some of the pressure in his chest dissipate. Nate and Max. Warlock and Zeus in a former life. He knew he could trust them with his life, but more importantly he could trust them with Evie’s life.

“Good to know. I’m about to crack open Boulder and DyniCorp. I’ve been cracking their digital safe for almost two days, but I should be well entrenched in the next hour or so. Both companies should feel good about their security. It’s some of the best I’ve seen.”

“I’m sure that will warm their hearts once they discover the breach,” Atticus said.

“They’re not going to discover the breach. I know how to cover my tracks.”

“Or maybe it’s a good idea, as a courtesy, to alert them they’ve got weak defenses.”

“Eh,” Cal said. “You’re the one who has a moral compass about that kind of stuff. I’ll leave it up to you.”

Evie arched a brow at him and slid a plate in front of him. He winked at her and watched as she got fresh fruit, cream, and syrup and set it out neatly in front of their plates. She refilled her own coffee and took the seat next to his.

“What’s your take on Boulder?” Cal asked. “Maybe I can track Walker once I breach the system.”

“They’re a billion-dollar company,” Atticus said. “A competitive player in government contracts. Mostly aircraft for the military, but they dabble in a few other things. They’ve got restructuring problems. Charles Haywood was the CEO for more than twenty years, but he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year and has acted as CEO emeritus for the past six months so stockholders wouldn’t get nervous at a change at the helm. Everyone loved Haywood. He’s a good man.”

“It’s hard to be the guy that follows the guy,” Cal said. “Is Haywood’s diagnosis common knowledge?”

“They’ve kept a tight lid on it,” Atticus said. “The board of directors hasn’t even been officially notified, though most of them have to suspect. Haywood has always been good at making people feel at ease, even when things are about to hit the fan. He gave the standard speech about quality of life and wanting to slow down to spend time with his family, and that he fully supported Jenson Walker to take over as acting CEO. But that he’d see the transition through for the first year.”

“I take it people don’t love Walker like they loved Haywood?” Cal asked, digging into the food in front of him.

“That’s an understatement. Especially with Senator Biddle. Biddle and Charles Haywood go way back and they’re friends. But like most things when the government is involved, money talks and personal favors are granted with the expectation that they’ll be paid back when called in. And Biddle owed Charles Haywood a favor. It turns out Charles had a sound enough mind to call in the favor by asking Biddle to meet with Walker and give the contract to Boulder.”

“Would Biddle have honored the favor?” Cal asked.

“Possibly. If there was no other way to get out of it. Haywood does still have some very lucid days, but I’ve heard through the grapevine they’re becoming few and far between. Biddle probably hoped if he delayed long enough that Haywood wouldn’t have known one way or the other.”

Cal looked down at his plate and realized he’d eaten everything, and then he looked over at Evangeline. Her laptop was set up and it looked like she was getting caught up on work. His eyes started to glaze over watching her. He didn’t know how she’d stood doing such boring work all these years.

He took his plate to the sink and then walked over to the area where he’d set up his computers. Ferreting out information on three top clearance companies, pulling video from behind the walls of Langley, and infiltrating different areas of the Pentagon took time and patience. Thankfully he had both. Both Boulder and DyniCorp had safeguards in place to recognize patterns and anomalies that appeared when someone was trying to hack the system. The program he’d written edged in a little bit at a time, so it was a continuous job of moving in and out without being detected.

He was close. Numbers and symbols were scrolling rapidly across the screen and his adrenaline surged.

“If Senator Biddle was planning to give the contract to Boulder because of his deal with Hayward, and the competition is getting knocked off, first with John Amir at AeroNaut and now with Jenson Walker missing, it kind of leaves the smoking gun pointing at DyniCorp.”

“Believe me,” Atticus said. “I’m aware. I’ve been all over them like a rash. I’ve pulled all the financials for an audit and everyone associated is getting thoroughly investigated. Don’t worry about DyniCorp. If they’re involved in this in any way I’ll light the match to burn them to the ground.”

“I never doubted it for a second.”

“Things will ramp up quick, Cal,” Atticus said, his tone serious. “Taber doesn’t like to delay his jobs. Don’t let your guard down.”

“No worries. And good call sending Nate. He owes me a hundred bucks. Convenient how he always happens to be out on assignment when I’m in town.”

“He pays better bribes than you do,” he said, and then hung up.

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