Total Control

by David Baldacci

  "Kay, has anyone actually been into Jason's office?"

  "Well..." Kay's hesitation allowed Sidney to come up with another inquiry.

  "But how could they, with all the extra security measures on his office door?"

  "That's the problem, Sid. No one had the code or Jason's security card. The door's three inches of solid wood set on a steel frame. Mr. Gamble and Mr. Rowe haven't been in the office this week and I think no one else really knew what to do."

  "So no one's been in Jason's office since it... it happened?" Sidney looked down at the smart card.

  "Nobody. Mr. Rowe was in late today. He's having the company that installed the lock come tomorrow to open it."

  "Who else has been around?"

  Sidney could hear Kay let out her breath. "They had someone over from SecurTech."

  "SecurTech?" Sidney shifted the phone receiver to her other ear as she continued to eye the shadow. She inched toward the door. She was not concerned that it was an intruder. Plenty of people were still working at the office. "That's Triton's security consultant, isn't it?"

  "Yes. I was wondering why they were called in. The word is it's pretty normal procedure when something happens like this."

  Sidney was now to the right of the door, her free hand inching toward the doorknob.

  "Sidney, I've got some things of Jason's at my workstation. Photos, a sweater of his he let me borrow one time, some books. He tried to get me interested in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, although I'm afraid I never did."

  "He did the same thing with Amy until I pointed out it would probably help to have her learn her ABCs before she plunged headlong into Voltaire."

  The two women laughed together, which felt very good under the awful circumstances.

  "You can come by whenever you want to pick them up."

  "I will, Kay, maybe we can have lunch... and talk some more."

  "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

  "I really appreciate what you've told me, Kay. You've been a big help."

  "Well, I cared a lot for Jason. He was a good, decent man."

  Sidney felt the tears start to bubble to the surface, but when she looked at the shadow under her door again, her nerves hardened. "Yes, he was." The last word she uttered contained a dead-cold finality.

  "Sid, you need anything, and I mean anything, you just call, you hear me?"

  Sidney smiled. "Thank you, Kay. I may just take you up on that."

  As soon as she clicked off the phone and laid it down, Sidney yanked her office door open.

  Philip Goldman did not appear startled. He stood there calmly staring at Sidney with his balding head, expressive face, protruding eyes, slender, rounded shoulders and the beginnings of a belly. His clothing appeared to be and was indeed very expensive. Standing in her shoes, Sidney was taller than Philip by two inches.

  "Sidney, I was passing by and noticed the light on. I had no idea you were here."

  "Hello, Philip." Sidney eyed him closely. Goldman was a slender notch below Henry Wharton in the Tyler, Stone partnership pecking order. He had a substantial client base and his life was focused on his own professional career enhancement.

  "I must say I'm surprised to see you here, Sidney."

  "Going home right now isn't such an appealing idea, Philip."

  He slowly nodded his head. "Yes, yes, I can well understand that."

  He glanced over her shoulder at the phone receiver lying on the shelf of one of the bookcases. "Talking with someone?"

  "Personal. There are a lot of details I need to go over now."

  "Of course. Death is terrible enough to confront. Sudden death even more so." He continued to stare pointedly at her.

  Sidney felt her face flushing. She turned away, grabbed her bag off the couch and pulled her coat from behind the door, partially closing the door on Goldman, who had to step back quickly to avoid being struck.

  She put on her coat and poised her hand over the light switch.

  "I've got an appointment I'm late for."

  Goldman stepped back into the hallway. Sidney made a show of locking her office door before shutting it.

  "This may be an awkward time, Sidney, but I wanted to congratulate you on your handling of the CyberCom transaction."

  She jerked her head around. "I'm certain we should not be discussing that subject, Philip."

  "I know, Sidney," he said. "However, I still read the Wall Street Journal and your name has been mentioned several times. Nathan Gamble must be very pleased."

  "Thank you, Philip." She turned to face him. "I have to go now."

  "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

  Sidney quickly nodded and then moved past Goldman. She walked down the hallway toward the firm's main entrance and disappeared around the corner.

  Goldman strode quickly down the hallway in time to see Sidney enter the elevator. He then walked casually back down the corridor to Sidney's office. After looking in both directions, he pulled out a key, inserted it in the lock, opened the door and went inside. The lock clicked into place, and then there was silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Sidney pulled the Ford into Triton's vast parking lot and got out.

  She buttoned up her coat against the chilly wind, checked her purse once more to make sure the plastic card was there and Walked as normally as she could to the fifteen-story building that housed Triton's world headquarters. She identified herself into the speaker located next to the entrance. A video camera mounted over the doorway was pointed directly at her head. Then a compartment next to the speaker swung open and she was directed to insert her thumb into the fingerprint scanner that was now revealed. Triton's after-hours security measures probably matched those of the CIA, she surmised.

  The glass and chrome doors slid noiselessly open. She walked into the building's lobby, which featured a soft waterfall, soaring atrium and enough polished marble to have emptied a good-sized quarry.

  When she walked toward the elevator, the lighting automatically illuminated her path. Gentle music also followed her and the elevator doors opened as she approached them. Triton's headquarters building had received the full benefit of the company's immense technological muscle.

  She rode the elevator to the eighth floor and got off.

  The security officer on duty there rose and walked over to her, grasping her hand. There was pain in the man's eyes.

  "Hello, Charlie."

  "Sidney, ma'am. I am so sorry."

  "Thank you, Charlie."

  Charlie shook his head. "On his way to the top. Worked harder than anybody here. A lot of times it was just him and me in the whole building. He'd bring me coffee and a little something to eat from the lunchroom. Never asked him to, he just did it. Wasn't like

  some of the big shots here who think they're better than you are."

  "You're right, Jason wasn't like that."

  "No, ma'am, he wasn't. Now what can I do for you? You need something? You just tell old Charlie. what it is."

  "Well, I was wondering if Kay Vincent was still here."

  Charlie stared blankly at her. "Kay? I don't think so. I come on duty at nine. She's usually gone around seven so... I wouldn't have seen her leave. Let me check."

  Charlie strode over to the console. The holster housing his revolver flapped against his side and the keys clipped to his gun belt jangled as he walked. He put on a headset and punched a button on the console. After a few seconds he shook his head. "I'm just getting her voice mail, Sidney."

  "Oh. Well, she had some things... some things of Jason's that I wanted to pick up." Sidney looked down at the floor, apparently unable to continue speaking.

  Charlie walked back over to her. He touched her arm. "Well, maybe she has them at her desk."

  Sidney looked up at him. "She probably does, I would think."

  Charlie hesitated. He knew this was against all the rules. But then, rules shouldn't always apply. He went back over to the console, hit a couple
of buttons and Sidney watched as the red light next to the door leading into the office corridor turned to green. He walked back over and, pulling keys from his belt, unlocked the door.

  "You know how they freak out over security here, but I think this situation is a little different. Nobody's back there anyway. Usually this place is buzzing up until about ten, but it's the holiday week and all. I've gotta make rounds now on the fourth floor. You know where she sits, right?"

  "I do, Charlie. I really appreciate this."

  He gave her hand another squeeze. "Like I said, your husband was a good man."

  Sidney moved down the softly lit corridor. Kay's cubicle was about halfway down, with Jason's office diagonally across from it.

  While Sidney walked down the hallway, she looked carefully around; all was quiet. She turned the corner and saw Kay's darkened cubicle. In a box next to her desk chair was a sweater and some framed photos. She probed underneath and lifted out a finely bound book with gilt edges. David Copperfield. It was one of Jason's favorites.

  She put the things back in the box and placed it next to the chair.

  She looked around again. The corridor was also empty. Charlie had said everyone was gone, but then again, he hadn't been certain about Kay. Satisfied that she was alone at least for now, Sidney reached her husband's office door. Her hopes sank when she spied the numeric keypad. Kay hadn't mentioned that device. She thought for a moment, pulled the plastic card out of her pocket, looked around once more, and then slid it into the slot. A light on the keypad clicked on. Sidney read the word "Ready" next to the light. She thought quickly and punched in some numbers; however, the light didn't budge from its position. She became frustrated. She didn't even know how many digits to punch in, much less what they were.

  She tried a few more combinations without success.

  She had almost decided to give up when she noted that there was a small digital screen in one corner of the numeric keypad. Apparently it was a time counter and it was now on eight seconds. The alarm light on the pad started to glow a brighter and brighter crimson.

  "Oh, shit," she hissed. An alarm! The counter was now at five seconds. She stood frozen. Flashing across her mind were all the re-suits that would occur were she found here attempting to infiltrate her husband's office. None of them rated less than a complete disaster.

  As her eyes locked on the counter, which was now down to three seconds, she broke out of her inertia. One more possible combination rocketed across her brain. Mouthing a silent prayer, her fingers punched in the numbers 0-6-1-6. She hit the last digit right as the counter clicked to zero. Waiting for the piercing alarm to explode, Sidney held her breath for one long instant.

  The alarm light turned off and the door's locks clicked free. Sidney steadied herself against the wall as she slowly started breathing normally again. June 16 was Amy's birthday. Triton probably had a policy about not using personal numbers for security codes: too easy to crack. For Sidney, it was proof positive that the little girl was never really out of her father's thoughts.

  She removed the plastic card from the slot. Before grasping the doorknob, she pulled a handkerchief from her purse and wound it around her hand to avoid leaving any prints. Acting the part of an intruder both exhilarated and terrified her. She felt her pulse hammering in her ears. She entered the office and quickly closed the door behind her.

  The flashlight she pulled from her bag was small but effective.

  Before turning it on, she checked to make sure that the window blinds were all the way down and completely closed. The thin light swept around the office. She had been here before, several times in fact, to have lunch with Jason, although they had not stayed long in his office. Usually it was just to snatch a quick kiss behind closed doors. Her light skipped to bookcases filled with technical tomes far beyond her realm of comprehension. The technocrats really did rule, she mused for a moment, if only because they were the only ones who could fix the damn things when they broke down.

  The light fell upon the computer and she quickly went over to it.

  It was off and the presence of another keypad made her decide not to push her luck in attempting to turn it on. She would be hopelessly lost even if she was fortunate enough to log on, since she had no idea what she was looking for or where to search. It wasn't worth the risk. She noted the microphone attached to the computer monitor.

  A number of desk drawers were locked. The few that weren't revealed nothing of interest.

  In stark contrast to her office at the law firm, there were no diplomas on the walls or other personal touches in her husband's office.

  She did note, with a glistening eye, that a photo of Jason and his family held a prominent position on his desk. As she looked around the office, it suddenly occurred to her that she had taken enormous risks for nothing. She whirled around at a sudden noise from somewhere within the office space. The flashlight collided with the microphone and, to her horror, the slender device bent in half. She stood completely still, listening for the sound to be repeated. Finally, after a minute of sheer terror, she turned her attention back to the slender microphone. She spent a couple of minutes trying to return it to its original shape without much success. Finally she gave up, wiped her prints from it, retreated to the door and turned off her flashlight. Using the handkerchief to grip the doorknob, she listened at the door for a moment and then exited the office.

  She heard the footsteps coming as soon as she reached Kay's desk.

  For an instant she thought it might be Charlie, except there was no jangling of keys against his gun belt. She looked quickly around to determine which way the sounds were coming from. Clearly the person was back farther in the office. She slipped across to Kay's cubicle and knelt down behind her desk. Trying to breathe as quietly as possible, she waited as the footsteps came closer. Then' they stopped.

  A minute went by and they did not resume. Then Sidney heard a slight clicking sound, as though something was being rotated back and forth, but only in a limited radius.

  Unable to stop herself, she cautiously peered around the corner of Kay's cubicle. A man's back was barely six feet away from her. He was slowly turning the doorknob on Jason's office door back and forth. The man took a card out of his shirt pocket and started to insert it into the slot. Then he hesitated over the keypad as if deciding whether to chance it or not. Finally his courage failed and he put the card back in his pocket and turned away.

  Quentin Rowe did not look pleased. He retreated down the hallway the way he had come.

  Sidney slipped out from her hiding place and walked in the opposite direction. She was moving rapidly when she rounded the corner and her purse hit the wall. The noise, while not loud, seemed to echo like an explosion through the quiet hallways. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the retreating footsteps stop and then turn as Quentin Rowe started to head rapidly in her direction.

  She hurried as fast as she could down the hallway, reached the main office door, was through it in an instant and found herself back in the reception area, staring at Charlie, who looked back at her anxiously.

  "Sidney, you okay? You look white as a ghost."

  The footsteps were nearing the door. Sidney put one finger to her lips, pointed in the direction of the door and motioned Charlie to go behind his console. He rapidly caught both the sounds of the footsteps and her meaning and quickly followed her instructions. Then Sidney slipped over to the rest room door that stood to the right of the entrance to the lobby. She opened her purse, poised herself at the door to the ladies' room, which she held partially open with one hand, and kept an eye on the door to the hallway. As soon as it opened and Rowe appeared, Sidney pretended to stroll out of the ladies' room, fumbling with something in her purse. When she looked up, Rowe was staring at her. He held the door to the secured area open with one hand.

  "Quentin?" She said it with as much surprise as she could muster.

  Rowe looked from Sidney to Charlie, suspicion written all over his featur
es.

  "What are you doing here?" He did not try to hide his displeasure.

  "I came to see Kay. We had talked earlier. She had some things of Jason's. Some personal effects she wanted me to have."

  Rowe snapped back, "Nothing can leave the premises without prior authorization. Certainly nothing having to do with Jason."

  Sidney looked at him squarely. "I know that, Quentin."

  Her response surprised him.

  She looked at Charlie, who stared at Rowe with unfriendly eyes.

  "Charlie already informed me of that, though in a much less offensive way than you just did. And he wouldn't let me back into the office area because we all know that's against the company's security policy."