Part 9 (2/2)

Van Alen knew that for certain. She'd drawn up the doc.u.ment herself.

”I don't know what she was doing there,” Monteith said, ”but she seemed happy when she left.”

Van Alen frowned. Just then the search program ended. She got another confirmation, this one from more secure sources, that Monteith was exactly who he said he was.

”What happened next?” Van Alen asked.

”She wanted to have lunch at the Hunting Club. She wanted to show off, I think. That's what she said when she let us know that was the next destination.” ”How did she let you know?” Van Alen asked. ”Via link?” ”We have a secure link. She used that.”

Van Alen knew about the secure links. She also had the most tech-savvy person she knew, Miles Flint, try to break into Whitford Security's secure links. He couldn't, at least not on his first try.

”So you went to the Hunting Club,” Van Alen said. ”We sent a team ahead,” Monteith said. ”I wasn't on the team that was with her. I was trailing.” ”And?” ”She and one of the guards got slaughtered in the forest.” ”What?” Van Alen couldn't stop herself from blurting out the word. ”How is that possible?”

”I don't know.” He swallowed. ”I really don't. But she couldn't send to us for help because the Hunting Club shuts down all link access.”

”Not emergency,” Van Alen said. ”That's illegal.” ”Even emergency.” His voice was soft.

She felt the color leave her face. How many times had she eaten there? Dozens? A hundred? She never would have gone if she knew that she didn't have emergency link access.

”They were attacked in the forest?” Van Alen asked. ”How is that possible? Doesn't the Hunting Club itself have security?”

”I don't know,” he said. ”I entered the forest about five minutes after she did.” He paused. He was even greener than he'd been before. He put a hand on his stomach. ”I'm-I'm sorry,” he said. ”I've never lost anyone before. And now two-” ”You were protecting Roshdi Whitford as well?” ”No,” he said. ”I meant Ki Bowles and Enzio.” ”Enzio?” Van Alen asked. ”Enzio Lamfier,” he said. ”He's the guard who was killed.” ”You found them,” she said. He nodded. ”And what did you do?”

”I backtracked until my emergency links worked, then sent a help message. Some street cops were nearby. They showed up and I said something bad had happened in the forest.”

”You didn't tell them what it was?” He shook his head. ”I went to tell Roshdi. I figured he had to know because there was a failure in the system somewhere and he would find it. He had to find it before the police even started to work on this.”

She nodded. That was standard for a good security company. They didn't want to be well known, especially to the authorities. But they also didn't want to interfere with an investigation.

”But he wasn't at the office,” Monteith said. ”And our system told me he hadn't shown up yet, which wasn't unusual. Sometimes he worked from home. So I headed there. I didn't want to send anything on the links.”

”Even though they were secure,” Van Alen said. ”I don't know if they are.” He sounded terrified. ”I mean, Bowles told us where she'd be and now she's dead, and that might've come through the links, right?”

Van Alen didn't know. She could already think of a dozen ways the system could have been compromised.

Except for one. ”You've never lost a client before, right?” Van Alen asked. ”Not to my knowledge,” Monteith said. ”Shouldn't her guards have kept her alive at all costs?” Van Alen asked. ”That's the thing,” Monteith said. ”We're missing one guard.” Van Alen let out a small breath. ”Missing?”

”He might be deeper in that forest, but I don't know. We'd cleared the area before she arrived. At least, that's what I was told before we even sent her there. No one should have been in that forest with her, except her guards.”

And now, if Van Alen could believe Monteith, one of those guards was dead and the other was missing. She didn't like any of this.

Then her a.s.sistant appeared in the corner of her left eye.

”They found Roshdi Whitford,” the a.s.sistant said.

She sighed. She had been expecting this.

”He's dead,” the a.s.sistant said. ”Murdered. The police are on the way.”

She held up a finger, stopping the conversation with Monteith. Then she bent her head so that she could concentrate on the conversation with her a.s.sistant.

Where is he? she asked. she asked.

”In his house.”

Thanks, she sent as she severed the connection. she sent as she severed the connection.

She raised her head and looked directly at Monteith.

”So who killed Roshdi Whitford?” she asked. Monteith shrugged. ”How did you know to come to me?”

”I headed the teams,” he said. ”My emergency contacts for this case were Whitford first, which is normal for all cases, and you second, which isn't normal. Usually the secondary contact is some kind of money manager or something, not an attorney.”

”And that made you a.s.sume I'm paying for the contract on Bowles?” ”Aren't you?” he asked. Van Alen didn't answer. Instead she swept her right hand toward the nearest chair. ”I've treated you poorly,” she said. ”Have a seat. I'll be right back.”

As she walked out of her office, she linked into her own security system and had barriers placed over her desk and on her computer systems. She also made certain that all of the links inside the office were shut down, so he couldn't contact anyone.

She waved the opaque doors closed behind her and had them lock.

Then she walked through her waiting room, and down the corridors to her a.s.sistant's desk. He was pacing behind it, a thin dark-haired man who'd always seemed a bit too nervous for her tastes. He jumped when he saw her. ”Ms. Van Alen.”

”Let me use your outside system,” she said as she moved him away from his desk. She didn't want to use an internal or external personal link in case Monteith had used some high-tech way of piggybacking on her system.

She knew such things were possible-she'd learned a lot in the six months she'd known Miles Flint-but she didn't know whether men who worked for security outfits like Whitford's were capable of it. She wasn't going to take any chances, either.

She sat behind her a.s.sistant's desk. He hovered over her, making her even more nervous than she was. ”Go to my waiting room,” she said. ”Make sure nothing's happening inside my office.” ”Should I go in?”

”No,” she said. ”Monitor it using the waiting room's systems. And make sure he doesn't leave.”

”All right.” The a.s.sistant walked around the desk, looking at her as he did so. He bobbed his head once, then hurried down the hall.

She tapped the system in front of her, going through several layers until she reached the address she wanted.

Even the Detective Division at the police station had its barriers. She got some sergeant who monitored all the higher ups' links.

”Maxine Van Alen for Andrea Gumiela,” she said. ”It's an emergency.”

”Chief Gumiela isn't speaking to anyone right now,” he said. ”If it's a true emergency, I can put you through to the help line.”

”Tell her that I need to talk to her about Ki Bowles and the Hunting Club. Now.” He blinked at Van Alen; then his image disappeared. Not five seconds later, Gumiela's image appeared.

Van Alen had worked with Andrea Gumiela dozens of times, sometimes off the record. Gumiela was known as a hard-a.s.s particularly in her department, but she'd also helped half a dozen families Disappear by sending them to Van Alen on their way to the precinct to be booked.

Technically, Gumiela had broken the law she'd been sworn to uphold, but Van Alen never said anything and neither did Gumiela. In fact, Gumiela never asked after the families, either.

Van Alen admired that. She also admired Gumiela in court. The woman was ferocious on the witness stand, one of the few in the Detective Division that Van Alen couldn't beat on cross.

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