“I came to see how you’re doing.”
“Okay I guess.”
“I brought flowers and a couple of magazines.” She put the magazines on the bedside table, but with Amada’s eyes so swollen she probably would be able to read.
“Thanks.”
“You're welcome. Maybe I can find something to put these flowers in.”
There was a green glass vase, the kind given out in florist shops, in a cupboard. She took it to the bathroom and filled it with water and put the vase of flowers on the windowsill. “There that's better.”
Amanda looked toward the window and squinted.
Could she even see the flowers?
“Nobody ever gave me flowers before.”
Kelly gasped. “Well, I'm glad I'm the first.” She tried to sound cheerful and managed an unfelt smile. She reached for Amanda's hand and gave it a light squeeze. To her surprise the woman held her hand for a moment before letting it go.
“Is there someone I can call, a family member?”
“No.”
The answer was so firm and final. She didn’t say anymore on the subject.
An awkward silence followed.
“He tried to kill me,” Amanda finally said.
“What!”
“He wanted to murder me. It wasn't an accident. The driver drove right at me. His car pushed me off the road.”
“Oh God!” It was so close to what had happened to her during the snowstorm, the night her Honda was almost run off Donner Summit.
“I was coming to see you. You helped me get my car back and I wanted to help you.”
Amanda shifted her position in the bed. She winced and took a slow breath before speaking again. “You took something from the men my boyfriend was working for. Those guy's said they were going to get it back, even if they had to kill you.”
“Johnny Vega?”
“No, some other dudes. There was this Asian guy. I think he’s a Korean dude. And some man from the government. My boyfriend was supposed to work for them, but he backed out. You met Norm. He doesn't scare easy. But these dudes scared him real bad.”
“You mean someone from the U.S. Government is after me? Amanda, that doesn’t make sense.”
“Norm said somebody in the U.S. government is out to get you. That's all I know. But I'm scared and you should be too.”
Ted Simmons was from the government and he died protecting me. Amanda must have her facts wrong.
“It’s hard to talk.” Her roommate moaned. “My mouth is so dry”
There was a plastic pitcher on the bedside table. She poured a glass of water, then helped Amanda sit up and take a sip.
Amanda lay back against the pillows. “Kell, whatever you took, give it back. It's not worth dying for. They'll kill you as sure as I'm sitting in this hospital bed.”
Kelly gasped again.
“I'm tired,” Amanda said as she slumped in the bed and closed her eyes.
“I'll let you get some rest.”
“You'll come and see me again?” Her eyes blinked open.
“Of course, if you want me to.” She gazed at the bleak, sparsely decorated room and shivered. “Is there anything I can get you before I go?”
“I can't watch TV. You have to pay for it and I don't have my purse. It must still be in my wrecked car.” Tears squeezed out from the woman’s puffy eyes, wetting her bruised skin and dripping down her gaunt cheeks. “I just have to sit here and look at nothing.”
How could Amanda see anything with her eyes almost swollen shut? Still, Kelly’s heart squeezed. “Don't worry. I'll have them turn on the TV for you. You helped me. I'll help you.” She smiled. What are credit cards for? Later she‘d worry about paying the debt she was racking up.
“Thanks Kell.”
“No problem. I'll come back and see you soon.”
Just as a she was leaving, a nurse entered the room.
“What are you doing in here? Didn't you see there are no visitors?”
She rushed out of the room without answering. As she left, she heard Amanda ask for something for pain.
Brick was down the hall talking to Officer Mullins. She joined them.
“The Doc said Miss Owens is in guarded condition,” the Officer said. “She’s got a broken arm, broken nose and a probable concussion. They’re watching for internal bleeding. She’s definitely going to require plastic surgery. But all and all, she's damn lucky to be alive.”
“What happened on the highway?” Brick asked.
“Hit and run. She doesn't remember too much about it. Can't tell us what kind of vehicle hit her, but something smacked her car so hard it sent her compact over the embankment. It should’ve dropped at least thirty or forty feet. But someone up there was watching out for the little lady.” He pointed upward. “She was above the tree line, hard to believe her auto found the only tree for miles on that embankment. The compact was wedged between the slope and a tree stump, preventing the car from going down the cliff.”
“I’ll be damned,” Brick said quietly.
“She's a little bit of a girl, but somehow she managed to get out of the car, crawl back up to the road and wave down a motorist. Good thing a car came by soon after the accident. The driver called 9ll and stayed with her until the ambulance picked her up. She's one lucky lady.”
“And you have no idea who did it?”
“Nope. She's the only witness, not much traffic on the road that time of day. And with that bump on her head, she can’t tell us much. We may never know exactly what happened.” Officer Mullins' eyes narrowed. “The doc said there’s a fifty-fifty chance she’ll remember.” He shook his head. “I'd like to get my hands on the jerk who did that to her.” He paused, then shrugged. “We can't solve them all. She's alive, that's what matters.”
“Right,” Brick agreed. “Thanks for the info.”
“No problem.” Officer Mullins walked down the hall toward Amanda's room.
On the way out of the hospital, Kelly stopped at the information desk and asked that the TV be turned on in Amanda’s room.
Back in the Volvo, she leaned against the leather seats and closed her eyes.
“You okay?”
“Seeing Amanda brought back all the memories of seeing my mom in the hospital just before she died.”
“Memories can be cruel.” Brick touched her hand. “Let’s get back to the cabin.”
“Yeah.” Kelly didn’t speak on the drive to the cabin glad in her emotional state she didn’t have to drive.
Back at the cabin, she checked the answer machine. No message from Carrie. She dialed her sister’s cell phone again. No answer.
With the portable phone still in her hand, she gravitated to the back deck. Lake Tahoe lapped serenely at the edge of her property and a cool breeze drifted off the water. She sat on a deck chair facing the water.
Brick joined her, a can of Cola in his hand. He sat in the deck chair next to hers and stretched out his long legs. “Want a sip?”
“No thanks.”
He took a gulp of soda.
“Brick, I was just thinking When Ted Simmons asked me to take the flash drive, he led me to believe that it had something to do with gambling.” She rubbed her temples. “Then James told us Johnny said I’d taken his system.” She paused. “Beside computer systems, how many different kinds of systems are there?”
“Uh, gambling, surveillance, alarm, information and guidance systems.” He paused. “That’s all I can think of.”
“Gambling systems I understand, but what would Johnny do with any of those other ones? I can't make sense of it.”
He shrugged. “We’re missing some information, why don’t you tell me everything you know again? This time don’t leave anything out.”
She sucked in air and held her breath as she recalled Agents Simmons warning about talking only to him. But he was dead. She exhaled and glanced at Brick. “Can I trust you?”
His eyes narrowed and then darkened.
“I’m sor
ry. I shouldn’t have asked that. But Agents Simmons died and I’m so afraid I could say the wrong thing and cause the death of another person.”
The heat beat down on her. Perspiration beaded on her forehead. She wiped it way. Brick was on her side. “I’ll tell you everything I know.” A sense of release spiraled through her as she talked. Finally, she said, “That’s all know.”
“And Amanda said someone in the government is after you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“If a government official wanted you, all he’d have to do is call you or go see you and present his identification. The government doesn’t send men to threaten you with death and ransack your house.”
“I took Johnny’s flash drive, so I assumed the intruders were his men. Now, I don’t know what to believe. Damn it. I wish I’d had a chance to ask Agent Simmons questions.” Her throat tightened and she wiped a tear from her cheek. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”
“You okay?”
“As good as I can be, considering.”
“Amanda said there was a Korean involved and I saw an Asian man in Johnny Vega’s office. What would a Korean national be doing in Vega’s office?”
Before she could answer, he said, “It’s a rhetorical question, I don't expect you to know.” He ran his hand though his hair. “I'm just thinking out loud.”
She sat back in the chair, turned her face toward the sun. “It’s so peaceful here on the Lake with nothing but the sounds of the trees rustling in the breeze. I can’t believe—”
“Yi Jun Kim, that’s the name. It just popped into my head.”
“What?”
“That’s the name of the man I saw in Vega’s office. Of course, it’s probably not the man's real name or the name he’s using now.” Brick put his empty coke can on the picnic table next to them.
“Years ago, I was in the Army and stationed in South Korea, when a news story broke.” He frowned. “I guess it didn’t get much media attention in the States. But it was big news in Seoul. A South Korean businessman had been caught selling restricted electronic parts to North Korea. His photo was on the front page of the newspapers and on TV. He disappeared before he could be arrested. Looks like he’s’ just reappeared in Reno, Nevada, of all places, in Johnny Vega's penthouse.”
“None of this makes sense,” She shifted in the deck chair to face Brick. “What does this man have to do with Johnny and the flash drive I took?”
“Good question. I wish I had an answer. My question is what the hell is he planning to do now?”
“I wish I knew.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, her face to the sun.
***
Brick watched Lake Tahoe lapping the shore just a few feet from the Shaw’s back deck. Damn. He needed a vacation. This was the perfect place. Too bad this wasn’t time off.
His phone rang. He recognized the number. A woman who worked at the phone company was returning his call.
“Hey Liza, how’s it going?”
“Don't take a two year old on a camping trip.” She laughed.
“Got anything for me?”
“The number you wanted me to check is a cell phone, part of a group of phones belonging to In-Tech, located in Redwood City. The report goes to the national headquarters of the company, but the end user gets a copy of the bill and I have his name, address, and credit card number if you want it.”
“Just the name and number will do.” He pulled a pen and a scrap of paper from his pocket and wrote down the information. He’d put it in the smart phone later.
“Thanks Liza, you never let me down. Give your husband a kick in the pants for me and tell him he owes me a round of golf.”
She laughed again. “Don’t be a stranger. Come to dinner when you get back.”
“Will do.”
He picked up the can of coke and started to drink, then remembered it was empty. He crushed it and threw it into the trash can next to the chair.
“Kelly, I have one more phone call to make.”
He called the FBI office and asked for Maryann. She could check on a George Nicholas Nickels, the name of the man Liza had just given him.
He'd never heard of the company In-Tech. What did they do? It was obviously something high tech, hardware or software? His father would know. An early software developer in the Silicon Valley, his dad knew most of the companies and their CEO's, if not in person at least by reputation.
He hadn't spoken to his dad for months. They butted heads more often than not. Most interaction with his father ended in an argument. He cared about his dad, but all too often it was easier not to see him. Still, he couldn’t think of anyone else who could quickly give him the information he needed.
He punched in his father's private number. A sense of remorse for calling only now when he needed information hit him.
“Hello,” a deep voice said.
“Dad, its Brick.”
The line was silent for a second. “Hello Brick”, Dad said gruffly.
“I have some FBI business to clear up and thought you might be able to help.”
“If I can,” Dad said, disappointment sounding in his voice.
“What do you know about a company called In-Tech?”
“That's a name I don't hear very often.”
“Really?”
“In-Tech keeps a low profile. Other companies are building a brand to increase their name recognition and have their names on glass and steel monuments across Silicon Valley. In-Tech’s buildings are nondescript structures in various parts of the valley, Mountain View, Redwood City, even as far south as Campbell.”
“Do you know what they do?”
“It’s all pretty hush-hush. Most of their work is for the Pentagon. The CEO is ex military. Rumor has it that In-Tech is working on a new long range missile guidance system, with a computer chip so accurate, it could send a missile into your morning cup of coffee without making a splash.”
Brick tightened his grip on the phone.
“Unless the man was bragging to me,” Dad continued. “If missiles were placed strategically throughout the country, a U.S. missile could land almost anywhere in the world.”
Brick’s back muscles knotted. In the wrong hands the system could be placed to send a missile anywhere in the United States.
“Brick, did you hear me?”
“Yeah. Good Intel Dad. Thanks.”
“Don't be a stranger. Your mother would like to see you.”
“I won't.”
“And Brick?”
“Yeah.”
Dad cleared his throat. “Never mind.”
“My love to Mom.” Brick broke the connection.
Damn it. He should have said my love to you and Mom.
When this case was over, he’d try to mend his relationship with his father. He forced stale air from his lungs and took a deep breath.
Could the system Kelly took be plans for a top secret long-range missile guidance system? The thought of her being involved in a theft of that magnitude was beyond his imagination. But he was now being forced to envision the unimaginable.
He glanced at her, in the deck chair next to him. Her eyes were closed and her expression was peaceful. He was reluctant to wake her. He grunted. “Kelly, wake up.”
He related the new information and watched the blood drain from her face. Good thing she was sitting down. He doubted she’d be able to stand.
“Johnny couldn’t have anything to do with a theft in a high tech company. He’s a gambler and a thug. He doesn’t know anything about high-tech.” He doesn’t even use a computer. I was a fool to have anything to do with him, but espionage? I don’t believe it.” She sat straight up in her chair. “The idea is crazy.”
“I find it hard to believe too, but those are the facts.” He held Kelly’s gaze. “Something has happened and Johnny’s in the middle of it.”
“I don’t—I” She paused.
They sat in silence.
He digested the new information. “In-Tech mu
st have several layers of security. Only an insider could arrange a theft like that. Someone with top secret clearance,” he said.
“If there'd been a theft wouldn't we have heard about it? It’d be on the TV news and make newspaper headlines all over the world.”
“Not if company officials don’t know there's been a theft or if the US government doesn't want anyone to know it.”
“How could that be possible?” She stared at him.
“The system would be in encrypted files and only a person with a password could access those. But what if one of the insiders, say one of the designers of the system, was willing to sell the plans? He could make a copy on a flash drive. No one would be the wiser.”
Brick thought for a moment. “Or if the owner of the company is greedy and wants to make money from other governments, not just from the U.S. he could—” He stopped, not wanting to believe that was a possibility.
“You think Johnny Vega somehow got a copy of the military plans from In-Tech and that’s what’s on the flash drive I took?”
“Could be.”
“I don't believe it.” She shook her head. “Okay, I broke the rules by getting involved with Johnny. But this is more than I bargained for.” She hesitated. “I remember Agent Simmons said something about US security.” Her voice trailed off into silence and she put her head in hands.
Finally, she looked up. A distraught expression spread across her face. “When I took the drive I was trying to do a good thing and make up for my mistake in getting involved with Johnny in the first place. Now Ted’s dead and Carrie could be next. I guess it’s true that no good deed goes unpunished.”
“Don’t say that.” He moved closer.
“That’s the way I feel. And how I’m I going to protect Carrie?” She hesitated. “Maybe I should give the drive back to Johnny.”
“You’re not serious. If there are plans for a US missile guidance system, you can’t let Vega have it again. You don’t want it to get into enemy hands, do you?”
“Of course not, but if I don’t give it back Carrie will die. I thought you cared about my sister.”
Shattered Rules Page 15