Why was that? He had already seen them. Did they have something to hide?
He was distracted when the reporters suddenly began to fire questions at the lawyer.
“Mr. White, how do you account for the fact that both women were inside the building where three people were killed, yet they managed to escape without a scratch?”
Yes, very good question. He had promised Mary that anyone connected to Marsters would pay, but these two had eluded him. The slow, familiar burn of anger begin to simmer in his belly.
Robert White obviously had a lot of experience performing and took the question in stride. “Sheer luck, determination and a great deal of courage, but just because they were present for those horrific events doesn’t imply any knowledge of the suspect’s identity.”
Didn’t it? Why would the lawyer keep pointing that out unless they did know something? His massive brow furrowed at the implications.
The throng of journalists shouted questions, but one woman was particularly insistent and was heard above the others.
“Sources inside the police department have told us Ms. Donovan and Ms. Tierney saw the killer and were able to provide a description. If that’s true, wouldn’t the suspect see them as a threat?”
Were they a threat? Did they know what he was doing and why? He hadn’t considered it before, but now that the question had been asked, he wondered. Were the women absent from the press conference because they were planning how to stop him? Were they one step ahead, or was he?
“My dear, providing a description and actually knowing who the man is are two very different things. By implying otherwise, it is the media who are endangering these women. Now, if you’ll excuse me? No more questions.”
The reporters continued to shout questions, but the attorney stepped away from the microphone and allowed Ed Gilbert to take his place. Gilbert held his hands up for silence and waited until the crowd had quieted somewhat.
“The Chicago Tribune prides itself on accurate and unbiased reporting. On behalf of the paper, I apologize to Ms. Donovan and Ms. Tierney, and I assure you that the reporter responsible for that piece of tabloid journalism will be censored. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That’s all.”
But was it all?
He turned off the television and lay back on the dusty motel mattress to think. There was no question that finding them inside the office building had been coincidental, just as there was no question that he would have killed them. He had thought their continued existence was unimportant, but the reporter’s questions made him reconsider.
The small woman, Donovan, had been there from the beginning. He remembered how she walked through the crowd of protestors when the original suit had been brought against the research company. Someone said Marsters wanted the lady attorney to represent them, and he watched her.
At the time, his heart had been breaking with the knowledge of Mary’s illness, but Mary still insisted on being there. She sat in a wheelchair in front of him. Her long, golden hair was gone because of the radiation treatments, and her bald head was covered by a scarf, but she was there.
Erin Donovan walked right in front of them, and would have kept going if Mary hadn’t dropped her purse.
He remembered the sympathy on the small face, and the compassion in her eyes when she knelt to help Mary retrieve her belongings. Even then, he was confused that such a person would consider helping the enemy.
Shortly after that, Donovan disappeared from view and he forgot her. Now she had surfaced again and been present in the Holcomb Building. His appearance had changed in five years, with the beard and the longer, bushy hair, but what if she recognized him? If she did then her companion, the Tierney woman, would also know.
He didn’t care if they caught him. His fate was unimportant. But it must not happen until his work was finished. Before they got him, he would bring Marsters to its knees. He regretted it, but they would have to be eliminated.
Tomorrow, he decided. Tonight he had work to do in Columbus. Marsters had a lab along the Hoover Reservoir that would soon no longer pose a threat, but he had to wait until dark.
ERIN SAT BACK on the sofa pleasantly stuffed. Her father sat adjacent to her in the armchair while Carson sat next to Erin on the sofa, but at a discreet distance.
“That was wonderful,” Erin pronounced. “I can’t remember the last time I had pizza.”
“You eat at the RL too much. I knew that was going to happen when you took over the penthouse. You have to take more time for the simpler pleasures of life.”
“Like pizza and beer,” Erin teased her father.
“Like pizza and beer.”
It had been a pleasantly quiet day after the press conference. Erin wanted to celebrate after the workday was complete, and her father had suggested Malnati’s Pizza. Carson had been a little reluctant to join them, concerned that she would intrude on father-daughter time, but Erin had insisted. After several pitchers of beer, and two deep-dish supreme pizza pies Erin thought that Carson and her father were becoming fast friends.
“Oh, by the way Erin, I found out something you might be interested in.” When Sean Donovan had their attention he said, “I spoke with Josh Keyes today about the Marsters case.”
The name was familiar, and Erin was suddenly very interested. Even Carson sat forward, though she continued to insist that they leave the detective work to the police.
“Keyes? Wasn’t he one of the backers for the Dickson and Dickson law firm?”
Sean nodded. “Yes, the same firm that ended up representing Marsters five years ago. He had some very interesting things to say.”
“What about client-attorney privilege?”
The question was valid, but Erin knew that Carson didn’t understand all of the legal parameters to such a relationship, so she allowed her father to explain.
“The case was settled a long time ago, and is now a matter of public record. Josh did save me a lot of time digging, though. He said that the families were extremely upset by the court’s decision, and that one man in particular was very vocal. Apparently, this guy made a lot of threats against the company and the CEO in general.”
“Did he remember who this guy was,” Erin asked.
“No, but he promised to look through the records to see if he could find out. The man sent several letters to the firm, but everyone just thought he was justifiably angry about the impending death of a family member.”
“So they blew it off,” Carson guessed.
“It’s reasonable,” Sean pointed out. “If I had been in his position, I might have said some things I didn’t mean, too.”
“Or he may have meant them.”
Sean agreed with Erin. “Or it may not have anything to do with it.
Marsters is a chemical research plant, and they even have some defense contracts. I’m sure they’ve made more than one enemy along the way. Unfortunately, that’s the price of doing business.”
“How long will it take for him to get the information to you?”
Erin was glad Carson hadn’t pointed out that she had said the same thing, and merely asked a question. She just knew all of this had something to do with the old case.
“A few days. The file was sent to archives a long time ago, and it will take time to track it down.”
When no one said anything else, Sean stood up. “Well, it’s getting late and I should get going.”
Erin and Carson stood up with him. “Aren’t you staying here,” Erin asked.
Sean shook his head. “No, I’m going to stay at the club tonight. I’m supposed to meet some of my buddies down there and spend some time catching up, but I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Erin hugged her father goodnight, and walked him to the door. When she returned, Carson was leaning back against the sofa with her eyes closed. Erin slipped close up against her side, and wrapped her arms around Carson’s waist.
Without opening her eyes, Carson returned the embrace and sighed softly.
&nbs
p; “Tired,” Erin asked gently.
“Hmm, a little.”
“Are you ready for bed?” Erin hoped the answer was yes. She adored curling up in bed with Carson’s warmth next to her.
“Yes, unfortunately I have to go home.”
“Why?”
“I have some drafts at home that I need for a meeting tomorrow.”
“That’s too bad.” Erin tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice, but Carson heard anyway.
“I’m sorry, darling. I wasn’t really thinking that far ahead when I decided to stay here.”
“Could you come back? After you picked up whatever it is you need?”
Carson was quiet for a minute while she considered the question. “It’ll be awfully late.”
“That’s all right,” Erin smiled, and hugged Carson a little tighter. “I’ll just give you the key, and you can let yourself in when you get back.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Erin leaned away and looked up at Carson. “Of course not. That is, if you don’t mind driving back here? If you prefer to get more sleep, I’ll understand.”
“I think I’d rather sleep here,” Carson said, and then she leaned down to kiss Erin very softly.
Erin was tempted to deepen the contact, but Carson abruptly pulled away and stood up. “I guess I’d better be going then.”
They walked to the door and while Carson put on her coat, Erin grabbed her keys. They spent a few minutes kissing at the door before Carson finally left, key in hand.
Chapter Eighteen
THE TEMPERATURE HOVERED around minus seven degrees, and Carson tried not to shiver while she waited for the heater to warm up. Her breath plumed from her with each exhalation and fogged the windshield while she rubbed her hands together vigorously for warmth. Without the threat of more snow, the sky was painfully clear and the stars shone brightly overhead. Thoughts of Erin occupied Carson’s mind as she drove toward her home.
Carson sensed that Erin was finally ready to consummate their relationship, and bitterly regretted having to leave her, but she had no choice. Tomorrow she had to meet with the defense secretary’s aide again to finalize their contract. There were details of the contract that bothered her, and she wanted to discuss them with Erin, but Carson hated to admit that she was having trouble with all the legal double talk.
Technically Erin was her attorney now, and there was no reason why Carson shouldn’t be able to talk with her.
No reason except that a lot of the contract is top secret.
Carson frowned as she tried to work through the legal conundrum. She was a mathematician, not a lawyer, but if she and Erin shared client-attorney privilege, there shouldn’t be a problem. Carson wondered if she should clear that with the government aide first, and then snorted at her foolishness. If the government were trying to use her for their own purposes, Colonel Anderson would hardly encourage her to seek legal advice.
From what Carson understood, which she hoped was a great deal, Delphi would create encryption algorithms for government communications traffic as well as their supercomputers. The algorithms easily could be used for military applications, and if Carson went through with this, the government’s scientists could take the string of code apart, and put it back together for their own purposes.
But not for at least twenty years, Carson thought. That was one condition she had insisted on, that Delphi would have exclusive control for that amount of time. After that, the contract would terminate, and the government could do as they liked with the information. Computer information technology was expanding so quickly that by then, the data would be obsolete anyway. It was the only way Carson could think of to limit the military.
She realized that her imagination might be getting the best of her and that she was seeing government conspiracies everywhere. The technology could be extremely important if the United States were drawn into a conflict anywhere and the encryption data could save thousands of lives. Carson was reminded of World War II and how the government had used the Navajo language because the enemy hadn’t been able to translate it. Carson didn’t know if her abilities were on par with that but she liked to think so. She liked to think that her work had the potential to save lives, otherwise what was the point of a defense contract anyway?
Carson reached her decision just as she got ready to turn off onto her lane. She would show the contract, all of the details of the contract, to Erin and get her opinion. If there was a loophole, Carson wanted to know it.
Her heart rate picked up a little as she neared her home, and her thoughts turned from work to more pleasant things. She would run in and get the documents, her suit for the meeting, and then get back into the city as quickly as possible. Thoughts of a sultry redhead alone in a queen-sized bed occupied her fantasies.
The SUV’s headlights illuminated the snowy lane before her. Trees cast shadows across the white landscape, making it appear as though holes to infinity marred her path. Carson drove confidently over the smooth track with her thoughts centered on Erin’s compact form. She wasn’t really paying attention to anything until she got to the security gate that barred entrance onto her property.
Carson slowed down, and pressed the button on her visor to open the gate. It took a few seconds for her to register that it hadn’t started to move, and Carson had to slam the brakes on to avoid running into the bars. She reached up and pressed the button on the visor again, but this time she held it down. The red light clearly showed that the device worked, but the gate stubbornly refused to open.
Carson heaved a frustrated sigh before she reached down and put the SUV in park. Then she shoved open the door and hopped out into two inches of packed snow. Carson employed someone to keep the lane clear, and it had been plowed earlier in the day. She left fresh tracks all the way to the gate where she checked out the wires that lead into the solar panel. Everything looked to be in working order until she noticed the top of the panel. It was crusted in ice and snow, and Carson thought it likely that the panel had been unable to recharge, and with all the construction going on it hadn’t been hard-wired into the house for a back-up power supply yet.
It hadn’t bothered her that the security system wasn’t all it could be when she moved in, but after what happened inside the Holcomb Building things were different.
“That’s just great.”
Carson raised a gloved hand to swipe the snow from the panel. It wouldn’t do a lot of good now, but it would give the batteries a chance to recharge the next day. What she couldn’t figure out was why the heating unit had stopped working. When the fence company had installed the panel, they had discussed how harsh the winter storms could be. Carson specifically remembered that they had agreed to install a heating element to keep the panel clear of ice. Somehow, it must have malfunctioned.
She reached down and pulled out the bolt that would manually release the gate. It swung open easily, and when it reached its apex Carson propped it open with a rock. The rock wasn’t very heavy, but she thought it would hold long enough for her to drive through.
Carson retrieved her package from beside the front door, noticing along the way that footprints from the delivery driver led from the gate to the house. Apparently, the delivery driver had been serious about his duty, even climbing across an ornamental fence to drop off her package. She was as pleased by that as she was to be returning to Erin’s side.
The return drive to The Bernardin was quiet, but it was still past midnight before she pulled into the parking structure. No doubt Erin was already asleep and Carson had started to feel very tired as well.
Very few people were out at this time of the night, and Carson quietly rode the elevator to the twenty-sixth floor grateful that Erin had given her the key. She had left the folder and the box of microprocessors in the Lexus, but still felt exhausted before the lift finally stopped. It had been a very long day since meeting Erin’s father, the press conference, and then dinner in the evening. After the excitement at home a
nd the resulting adrenaline rush, she was completely worn out.
She stifled a yawn and slipped the key into the penthouse lock. The apartment was dark and quiet, though Erin had thoughtfully left the kitchen light on. Carson’s clothes were in the guestroom so she took a minor detour to put her suit in the closet, shower and change into pajamas before she walked back through the apartment toward Erin’s bedroom. Carson slipped beneath the sheets, and was surprised when Erin rolled over to put a sleepy arm around her waist.
Erin snuggled into her shoulder, but slipped easily back into slumber. With Erin’s head tucked under her chin Carson joined her there a few moments later.
CARSON AWAKENED WARM, comfortable, and completely aroused. A small hand covered her breast possessively, and idly played with the hard little bump that formed beneath the pajama top. Carson gasped, and her eyes snapped open to look down into Erin’s peaceful features. Apparently, Erin was still asleep, and didn’t realize what she was doing.
Gently, Carson rolled on her side and encouraged the smaller woman onto her back. Erin mumbled something and her hand flopped limply back to the mattress. Carson smiled as she looked down, and thought that two could be awakened in such a delightful manner.
She lowered her head, and slowly drew the tip of her tongue up the cords of Erin’s neck. The pressure was gentle, almost nonexistent, just enough to get Erin used to the contact without waking her. Erin’s breathing remained steady as she slumbered on, but she was completely still. Carson wondered if the woman was subconsciously waiting for something more.
She smiled again and laid a hand on Erin’s ribs before she tenderly began to explore the warm body still hidden beneath a silken emerald gown. At the same time, Carson’s full lips closed on an ear lobe. Carson felt the gasp of Erin’s breath against her neck as the smaller woman came fully awake.
Now You See Me Page 24