Page 37 of Dirty Minds

“I don’t know,” Jack said, “But it’s probably no coincidence that Doug was less than an hour away when he texted me. I have a feeling Carver’s close ties are with the CIA. I’m not sure Carver has ever exclusively belonged to one agency. Carver is too valuable an asset to world organizations for the FBI to go making a mess of things. Wherever and whoever is the cause of corruption is going to regret it. Never underestimate Carver. He may look like a pencil pusher in a wheelchair, but I would still pick Carver to have my back in any situation.” Then he winked at me. “If you weren’t available, of course.”

“Of course,” I said. “I’ll order the pizza.”

“Order enough for everyone. And Doug. I’m going to call the guys and we’ll set up the board here. I don’t want to have to explain outside these walls where we got some of our information.”

I was on the phone with the local pizza place when I heard the key in the lock and the front door open.

“I’m home!” Doug called out. “And I’m starving.”

“Jaye’s ordering food,” Jack said. “And the guys will be here in a few minutes. Do you have Mackenzie?”

“Never leave home without her,” Doug said as he came into the kitchen and dumped a duffle bag and his laptop case on the bar.

Doug was brilliant. Almost as brilliant as Carver, but he still had room to grow in both skill and common sense. When we’d first met Doug he’d been on house arrest for hacking the Pentagon. It had been Carver who’d caught him. Fortunately, Carver had put the fear of God in his nephew and he was on the side of law and order now.

I hung up the phone and said, “I’m sure Mackenzie is grateful to never be left out.”

“Last time I left her alone she threw a fit and didn’t talk to me for a week,” Doug said, and then he whispered, “You know how nosy she is.”

“She can hear you while she’s closed?” I asked, realizing I was whispering as well.

“Oh, yeah,” Doug said enthusiastically. “AI is progressing by leaps and bounds. There’s no need for a Wi-Fi connection. In fact, AI has made it obsolete.”

The doorbell rang and I heard male voices in the lobby talking to Jack. It had to be Cole and Martinez. And then I heard a lone female voice. Lily had come along too.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I told Doug, and then I whispered in his ear, “but your computer creeps me out.”

Doug winced. “She really hates to be called a computer. She’s got feelings.”

“I’m just saying, there are movies made about this. And it never ends well for the humans.”

He picked up the computer bag and followed me into the hallway, a goofy grin etched on his face.

“Hey, the kid is back,” Cole said. “I thought you took off for the weekend.”

“Yeah, that didn’t go as planned,” Doug said. “My mom is dating this guy. Their love is kind of gross. Besides, I had, uh, some stuff to do around here.”

Doug glanced at Jack and then looked away quickly. Doug was going to have to work on his poker face if he planned to stay in the subterfuge game.

“Fun that you guys are being watched by the feds,” Cole said, waggling his eyebrows. “They’re not even bothering to hide. Or maybe they are and they’re just bad at it. This bald guy in the driver’s seat looks kind of dumb.”

“They’ve got taxpayer money to waste,” Jack said.

“You think you’re bugged?” Martinez asked.

“I think they probably tried,” Jack said. “But Carver did our security system. They’re probably trying to figure out what’s wrong with their equipment.”

Lily wove her way through the large male bodies blocking the way and shed her coat and scarf. “I’m so sick of this weather. It’s the winter that will never end.”

“Technically it is still winter,” Martinez reminded her.”

“Shut up,” she said good-naturedly. “It just seems like it’s been longer than normal. I need sunshine and a bikini.”

“I’m a big supporter of both of those things,” Cole said.

“Did you get called into the crime scene?” I asked Lily as we made our way to Jack’s office.

“Yep,” she said. “They said you were incapacitated so I bagged the remains and escorted it back to the lab. Sheldon actually threw up. Then he told me that a study was done and most people couldn’t tell the difference between parmesan cheese and vomit. So I probably won’t ever enjoy Italian food again.”

---