Lynne Heitman - The Pandora Key aka The Hostage Room

“Who’s Lyle?” She scooped out a handful of popcorn and passed the bowl to Harvey.

“Lyle Burquart. He was a local journalist who was trying to do what Kraft is doing. He wrote an article, an exposé on Blackthorne, four years ago. This must have been before the hijacking.” I hadn’t paid much attention to the dates. “Anyway, no one ever read it, because Thorne killed his son to keep him quiet.”

“My God.” Harvey reached for Rachel’s hand. He looked pale.

“I went back to talk to Lyle, and he’s gone. Packed up his family, left his job. But he left me all his notes.” I took the microcassettes and player from my backpack and threw them out there as exhibit two. “These are interview tapes. The interviewee was Tony Blackmon, Cyrus Thorne’s partner. I haven’t listened to everything, but from what I heard, he disagreed with the direction Thorne was taking and was ready to speak out about it.” A thought occurred to me as I was talking. “I wonder if Thorne killed Blackmon.”

“Why would he?” Harvey asked. “Is there an indication on the tapes that he was threatened?”

“The feeling comes more from Thorne. He told me Blackmon died on a mission. He had this incredible crystal eagle commissioned in his memory. It’s like protesting too much, you know? And it sounds as if Thorne is capable of anything. But listen to the tapes. See what you think.”

“Why do we have to listen to anything?” Rachel had her feet on the table, her knees up, and the popcorn bowl in her lap. “Let’s just get this deal done and get on with it.”

“I’m trying to, Rachel. There’s just one problem. No one can access the files without the key. Kraft won’t show up until we have the key.”

“What key?”

“The key to accessing the money files. It’s also called a decryption token, and it looks like this.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the copy of the KryptoDisk page Felix had printed for me. “It’s the size of a credit card, only thicker. Here…” I unfolded the page and handed it to her. “It slides into a PMC slot on the side of the machine.”

Harvey leaned over from his chair to see the picture. Rachel handed it to him with barely a glance. “I didn’t know anything about a key or a token. How was I supposed to?”

“You stole the computer for the files. I have to think you knew what was needed to access them.”

She sat up straight and put her feet on the floor. “How many times do I have to say this? I didn’t steal the computer for the files. I didn’t even know about the files. I took it because Roger had said it was worth something.”

“When Roger came to take it from you, did he try to boot it up?”

“He tried, but-” Her eyes widened. “He couldn’t get it to work.” She reached over to snatch the page back from Harvey. “Let me see that.”

“Roger took it even though he knew he couldn’t get in?”

“Sure he did. He was on the run, especially after that fed got killed. He said he would find a hacker to crack it.”

“Felix told me there was no way to hack it. Roger probably had some hacker tell him he needed the key. You can’t access the files without the key or the password.”

“But we don’t have the key,” Rachel said, “which means we don’t have the money, which means we must be planning on handing the reporter over to those Blackthorne people.” She blinked up at me. “Right?”

“No, we can’t do that.”

“You just said if we can’t give him the money, then Drazen comes looking for whoever killed Vladi. If he gets the video, he knows who to come looking for. Am I right?”

She was right, and it started to sink in that I might have overstepped my bounds just a tad. “When I made the deal, I didn’t know I needed a key.”

“But you did make the deal, which means you gambled my life on finding some key that has been lost for four years.” She passed the bowl to Harvey and roared to her feet. “How in the hell do you make a deal like that?”

“Drazen has no idea you’re even involved.”

“If he gets the video, he’ll know.”

“Rachel, dear…” Harvey tried to calm her.

“How do you trade my life for something you don’t even have, and have no real chance of getting?”

I looked past her to Harvey. I could see him struggling, torn between Rachel and reason. He wanted to please us both. He cleared his throat. “It seems the strategy you chose is very high-risk.”

“Thorne will kill Kraft, and Hoffmeyer, too, if he can find him. We agreed we wouldn’t facilitate something like that.”

“But you’re happy to hand me over.”

“I didn’t say that.”

The room went quiet as we both waited for Harvey to answer. He stared down at the low coffee table and spoke slowly. “I am not disagreeing with the choice.” He glanced up at me, then away. “But it was a choice that affected us all. You could have discussed it with us first is all we are suggesting.”

All we are suggesting? Rachel could not have looked more smug. I got up and walked away from them, finding my way over to Harvey’s bookcase. Some of the titles had been put back in upside down. Having to deal with all the interpersonal stuff on top of all the life-and-death stuff was getting to be too much, but they were right. I had made a somewhat large decision for the three of us. Perhaps they should have had some say.

I flipped a few of the titles right side up and turned around. Harvey was blinking at me intently, but Rachel stood with her arms folded and her head cocked to one side. She would not be easily placated.

“I’m sorry, okay? I got going too fast, and I didn’t do things…right. You deserved more consideration than I gave you…both of you. We can talk about it now, but I still think a solution where no one gets killed is worth trying.”

“I accept your apology,” Harvey said. “And I agree with your reasoning.”

“You’re agreeing with her?” Rachel stood up and threw both hands in the air in disgust. “That’s great. Just great. I’m so glad you’re on my side.”

“Rachel…” Harvey maneuvered his chair so he was facing Rachel. She had moved to a spot across the room from me and behind him. “We will take care of you. You must believe that.”

“I know. I’m just…” She’d lost some of her self-righteous rage. She came over to him and encircled him from behind, hooking her hands together at his sternum. He pulled her hands close to his heart. She leaned down and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m scared, Harvey. So many things could go wrong.”

He turned back to me. “Are you sure this Kraft has the files?”

“No. That’s why I think we should get Rachel out of town.”

Harvey actually beat Rachel to the punch. “What? Why? Because you object to her?”

“Because you’re right. Both of you. This is a very risky way to go. There are too many assumptions, and any one of them could be wrong. Even though Drazen has agreed to take the money and call it even, the biggest assumption of all is that he will keep his word. I think she’s in danger if she stays here.”

Harvey turned to Rachel, but a moment too late. She had already disengaged and moved away from him. She was across the room, plucking her tooth with that right thumbnail, working out the odds in her head. I knew what would happen next, and I didn’t want to see.

“You two decide, but first, I need you to tell me where you buried Vladi.”

Harvey was aghast. “For what?”

“I think Vladi took the key to his grave.”

“How could you possibly know?”

“Roger didn’t have it. Rachel here says she doesn’t have it. I saw the video, and I never saw her take it off the body. I assume you didn’t take it. We know Roger was looking for the body. It can’t be the corpse he wanted. It has to be the key.”