Дэвид Балдаччи - King and Maxwell

“I bet they will too,” said Michelle. “The car just started driving itself. The agent at the wheel could do nothing about it. It just happened. It changed course, accelerated, and into the water we went. And then the oxygen system didn’t work.”

“The malware I’m sure had a part in that,” noted Edgar.

Michelle said, “If they could hack the Beast, no car is safe.”

“Absolutely true,” said Edgar matter-of-factly. “It really does show the good and bad of technology. We rely on it at our peril.”

“We still haven’t determined who the leak was,” said Michelle. “Grant knew about Wingo’s classified mission in the Middle East. He had to get that from somewhere.”

“What about the president’s itinerary?” asked Edgar. “Grant knew precisely when he was going over the bridge.”

“It was public knowledge that the president was attending the event in Virginia that evening,” said Sean. “But he couldn’t have known when the motorcade was leaving the city. Although he could have had eyes on it.”

Michelle said, “But unless he had inside information he probably wouldn’t have known until that day about the event. It’s not like the schedule is heavily publicized. Or the route the motorcade would take. And he might have wanted several options to nail Cole and picked the best one.”

“Well, he might have gotten the president’s schedule from someone. But that someone probably would be different from the person who knew about the mission in Afghanistan.”

“My money is still on it being Dan Marshall,” said Michelle. “He’s Grant’s father-in-law. I’m not saying he knowingly did it. Grant had some access and he might have exploited that access. And if he’s good enough to hack the presidential satellite, then maybe he hacked Marshall’s computer at the Pentagon.”

“If he did they would know,” opined Edgar. “The Pentagon does get hacked, but they quickly realize if they have been.”

Michelle looked doubtful but said, “Okay, if that’s the case what do we do now? Who’s our focus? Do we go to Trevor Jenkins’s place and poke around?”

Sean said, “The FBI has been all over it. And I highly doubt he’s going to come back there to pick up some clean clothes. He’s probably in Venezuela by now on his way to disappearing permanently. His share of a billion euros buys that kind of vanishing act.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” said Michelle. “Unless you have a better idea.”

“I knew you were going to say that,” he replied.

She rose and pulled out her keys. “So let’s go fishing.”

THEY DROVE TOWARD JENKINS’S HOUSE. It was dark now and the wind was picking up. The skies promised more rain and soon. Michelle shivered a bit and glanced over at Sean.

“I never thanked you properly,” she said.

“For what?” he asked curiously.

She looked incredulous. “Oh, I don’t know. Saving my life?”

“You saved your own life, Michelle. I just suggested how you might want to go about it.”

“You’re a hard man to compliment.”

“At least you weren’t stabbed this time. It was just the threat of drowning.”

“Are you going to go all grim on me again?”

He sighed and tried but failed to force a smile.

“Sean, we’ve had this discussion before.”

“And never had a resolution to it.”

“There is no resolution to it if we keep doing what we’re doing. And forget your suggestion that you keep being a PI while I go bake cookies.”

“I didn’t suggest that you bake cookies.”

“Good, because I suck at baking. You’re the cook, not me.”

He was about to respond to this when he glanced out the window and it finally hit him.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“What is it?” asked Michelle.

“You remember when we staked out South’s place before and I said it felt funny when we were driving through some of the neighborhoods?”

“Yeah, like you’d been here before but couldn’t remember when or why.”

“Well, I think I just remembered both. Only I really hope I’m wrong.”

“Is this about Grant?”

“No, this is about the leak.”

He pulled out his phone and punched in a number. “Edgar, it’s Sean. You think you have one more hack left in you tonight?” He added, “The Pentagon. Here’s what I need.”

It took two hours but Edgar came through and gave Sean the answers to his questions. He’d also managed to discover some additional information on the person in question. “People need to hide their tracks better online,” said Edgar. “Two proxy servers, three ghost IP addresses, a manufactured digital confluence in Hong Kong, and a byte dispersal program randomly free-riding on excess data streams with reassembly on a platform in Dubai just doesn’t cut it anymore.”

Sean rubbed his temple. “Okay, Edgar, I have no idea what the hell you just said, but can they track it back to you?”

“I’m cool,” said Edgar. “National security–”

“Trumps all,” finished Sean.

He put away the phone and looked at Michelle.

She said, “From your scowl I deduce your wish did not happen. You were really right, not really wrong.”

“I’ll give you directions to where we’re going.”

“Sean?” she said quizzically.

Sean looked grim. “Not now, Michelle. Not now.”

They walked up to the door of the substantial house set on a corner lot. Sean rang the bell. They heard footsteps approaching. A few moments later Curtis Brown, Dana’s two-star husband, opened the door. He looked surprised to see them.

“Jesus, I thought you guys would be making the major news show circuit by now. National heroes. Pretty damn impressive.”

“Can we come in, Curtis?” asked Sean somberly.

Brown took a step back. “Sure, what’s up?”

“I know it’s late, but I just wanted to ask you a few questions. About Dana.”

“Okay. She’s doing much better. Docs think she can be discharged in a week or so to rehab.”

“That’s great news.”

He closed the door behind them and led them into the living room.

Sean looked around at the comfortable furnishings. Everything had been done in fine taste.

“Do I detect Dana’s work here?” he asked.

“Yes. I can lead soldiers into battle. I cannot decorate a room or match colors to save my soul.”

Curtis sat and motioned for them to do so. “Now, what can I do for you?”

“You didn’t tell us you were retiring from the Army,” began Sean.

Brown looked surprised. “How did you find out about that?”

“Is it true?”

“Yes. Two stars are enough for me. I’d have to keep making the circuit if I wanted to keep moving up and getting one or two more. And I’m tired of the game.”

“And you’re moving to Malaysia?”

Now Brown stood and glared at Sean. “You’ve been spying on me. Hacking my personal records.”

“Not me, no, I wouldn’t know how. But a friend of mine is really good at it. Only Malaysia isn’t your final stop. You’re only there for a few weeks. You bought property, through a shell company, on an island in Indonesia. A lot of property, all oceanfront. Way more than a two-star should be able to afford even though you do have a trust fund.”

“And interestingly enough Indonesia has no extradition with the U.S.,” added Michelle.

Brown sat back down and said nothing.

Sean rose and looked around the room. “When we were staking out Leon South’s home we passed through this neighborhood. I recognized it, though I didn’t know from where. But I had driven by it once years ago.”

“Why?”

“I’d heard Dana had remarried. Did some checking, got the address. Just wanted to see if she was okay.”