Innocent Conspiracy

by David Archer

  “Ow, Samson,” Sam said. “I am not your scratching post.”

  Kenzie laughed, and Bo took the bottle out of his mouth to join in.

  In self preservation, Sam reached down and picked up the cat. Samson was usually content to sit in his lap, and began purring almost instantly. Sam stroked him as he got himself into a comfortable position, and the cat was asleep within a minute.

  Sam and Indie chatted while she made dinner, and he told her all of the details of the case. Because Indie was one of the most accomplished hackers any of them had ever known, and had been instrumental in helping Sam during certain cases when he worked with Harry Winslow and the Department of Homeland Security, Windlass had authorized Sam to use her as a consultant on any case. Harry had seen to it that she had a top secret security clearance, which was still necessary since Windlass had a contract with the government and could work on cases involving national security.

  “So, you’re thinking someone was out to hurt the company, Web Wide Awards?” Indie asked. “You don’t think the kid was the actual target at all?”

  “That’s the way it looks to me,” Sam said. “The problem is that whoever’s behind it is going to be frustrated. So far, the company seems to be gaining greater sympathy from all of their supporters. The only detrimental effect so far is the possible loss of some sponsors, but one of them is Canterbury Soft Drinks. They’re the biggest sponsor, and the reason Web Wide Awards gets to use the arena for their annual awards show.”

  “That would definitely hurt them,” Indie said. “Imagine what it would cost to actually rent a venue like that.”

  “I don’t know that that would be such an issue,” Sam said. “The Canterbury Arena has eighteen thousand seats, and tickets for the event were like thirty dollars apiece and it was a sellout. I suspect the arena made some serious money that night; Web Wide Awards probably didn’t have to pay a dime, and most likely got part of the gate.”

  “Okay. Then Canterbury is probably the company that loses on the deal, if they drop sponsorship. It would seem to me that they ought to wait and see how this all turns out before they make any decision.”

  “And that seems to be what they’re doing,” Sam said. “Annie Porter said that they seemed to calm down a bit when they found out we were coming on board to handle security and investigation.”

  There was a knock on the front door, and then it opened as their mothers walked in.

  “Grandma!” Kenzie yelled, and took off running. Grace, Sam’s mother, caught her and snatched her up into a hug, then turned and passed her to Kim, Indie’s mom. Both women smothered the girl with kisses, then put her down and came into the kitchen.

  Kim sat at the table across from Sam, while Grace reached up into the cabinet for a couple of glasses and poured them each some iced tea. Indie, who had the roast in the oven by then, wiped off her hands and joined the rest of them at the table.

  Grace leaned close to Indie and whispered in her ear, “Send Kenzie out of here for a few minutes.” Indie glanced at her, then told Kenzie to go find something on the TV. She waited until the sounds of the latest Disney show could be heard, then nodded at her mother.

  “Okay, go ahead,” she said.

  “Sam,” Kim said slowly, “I know you don’t like it when Beauregard has a message for you…”

  “It’s okay, Kim,” Sam said. “He’s helped me out too many times for me to keep being a grouch about it. What’s he got to say this time?”

  She looked down at her glass. “He says,” she began, “that this case you’re working on now is going to be one of the hardest you’ve ever had. He said that if you’re not careful, you’ll end up hanging the wrong person for a crime they didn’t commit, and…”

  Sam looked at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to go on. “And?”

  Kim slowly raised her eyes up to meet his. “Sam, he says Death is stalking someone close to you, and will strike before you finally solve this case.”

  Sam’s eyebrows shot upward. “What? Did he happen to say who? Or how?”

  She shook her head. “He says he doesn’t know. All he got is that you may be going to arrest the wrong person, so you’ll have to figure that out, and that Death is after someone close to you. It sounds like someone you know is going to die because of this case.”

  Indie was staring at Sam. “Sam,” she said softly. “Oh, Sam, what are you going to do?”

  Sam was still staring at his mother-in-law. “This isn’t acceptable,” he said. “You tell Beauregard to go back to spook land or wherever and get me more information. I need to know who he’s talking about, or at least how it’s supposed to happen. Maybe I can stop it if I know how.”

  There were tears leaking down Kim’s cheeks. “Sam, you know he’s never been wrong, but he hardly ever has all the details. He says he’ll keep looking for more information, but for now that’s all he’s got.”

  “Well, then this is going to be a first. This time, he’s going to be wrong. First off, there’s no way I will arrest anyone unless the evidence is conclusive, right? That’s a given. If there’s any doubt at all, that’s not good enough for me. And as far as anyone getting killed, I’m not gonna let that happen. You can tell that old spook he’s way off, this time.”

  “Sam,” Grace said, “don’t take it out on her. As much as Beauregard irritates me, the fact is he’s always been right, as long as we’ve known Kim. It doesn’t matter whether he’s real or just in her imagination, he’s always been right, and you know it. You need to stop being stubborn and hateful, and be thankful that you’re getting any advance warning on this at all.”

  Sam forced himself to calm down, but his emotions were churning on the inside. He’d only known most of his team for a couple of months, but they had all become his friends. The thought of losing any of them was shocking, horrifying, and not something he was going to take lying down.

  “Okay, Mom’s right,” he said. “Kim, I’m sorry I snapped like that. I really do appreciate the warnings that Beauregard gives, but I can’t just accept this and act like there’s nothing I can do. If one of my team is in danger, I have to do everything possible to save them. Even Beauregard has to understand that.”

  “Of course he does,” Kim said. “He says he doesn’t know if you can change what he sees or not, but that’s why I had to tell you about it. You can’t possibly do anything to prevent somebody getting killed if you don’t know it’s coming, so he’s been after me all day to make sure I told you.”

  Sam looked to her. “But he thinks there might be a chance I can change it?”

  “He says he doesn’t know if you can,” Kim said. “The problem is that he can’t tell you who it is that’s going to die, or what they’ll be doing at the time. If you knew either of those things, you might have a chance. Other than that, there really isn’t much you can do.”

  Sam chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. “How about when? Does he have any idea how soon it will happen?”

  “He says it won’t happen tonight or tomorrow, but that’s as far as he can see.”

  “Then the first thing I’m going to do tomorrow is put everybody on the buddy plan,” Sam said. “Nobody works alone on this case.” He put his hands over his face. “I’ve got to find someone to work with Jade. She’s going undercover inside the company, to try to get into their computer systems and look for any indication that somebody inside was working with the shooter. At the moment, if anyone is at risk, it would probably be her.”

  Kim shrugged. “You could be right, but Beauregard doesn’t know. For what it’s worth, he says he’s really sorry he can’t give you more information.”

  Sam nodded but said nothing. He took out his phone and walked out the back door onto the deck, then sat down in one of the Adirondack chairs. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear.

  “Hello?” A deep voice answered the phone, and Sam couldn’t suppress the grin that it brought to his face. Rob Feinstein was a huge man, and a gentle giant unti
l someone was in danger. At that point, he became one of the deadliest men Sam had ever known. He was one of the supervisors in the security division of the company, and Sam had worked with him on the brain chip case.

  “Rob? It’s Sam Prichard. I need a favor, and I don’t know who else to ask.”

  “You don’t need to ask anyone else,” Rob said. “What can I do for you, sir?”

  “Well, I know you’ve heard about Beauregard, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” Rob said. “Ron told me a bit, and you filled in a couple blanks out in San Francisco.”

  “Well, Beauregard just informed me that—unless I can do something to change it—somebody close to me is going to die during this case that I’m on. The one most at risk would be Jade Miller, because I’m sending her in undercover. I need somebody who can go in with her, shadow her and watch her back. Got anybody I can borrow for that?”

  “Absolutely,” Rob said. “I’ll give you Stacy. Anastasia Stepanov is one of the few women who made it through Spetsnaz training in Russia. She came to the U.S. after she was discharged, and she’s been with us for a year, now. Excellent soldier, and exactly who you need. I would willingly let her watch my back, I can tell you that.”

  “Perfect. I’ll make the arrangements. Can you get hold of her and tell her to contact Jade? I’ll call Jade now and let her know what’s going on.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll tell her to wait fifteen minutes.”

  Sam cut off the call and dialed Jade’s number.

  “Jade, it’s Sam,” he said when she answered. “Listen, I have reason to believe that you might be in some danger on this case. I called Rob Feinstein, and he’s arranged for someone to cover your back. Her name is Stacy, and she’ll be contacting you shortly.”

  “Okay,” Jade said. “Can you tell me any more about what kind of danger?”

  Sam sighed. “You’ve heard about Beauregard?”

  She giggled. “Yeah, you told us about that,” she said. “I take it he’s predicted something?”

  Sam hesitated. “Yes,” he said. “He says there’s a risk that someone close to me is going to die on this case.”

  The giggling vanished. “Okay, so Stacy is going in with me. How do I explain her?”

  “I’ll handle that right now. You arrange to meet up with her in the morning, and both of you report to work at Web Wide Awards.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jade said. “Talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Later,” Sam said. He cut the call and then dialed the cell number he’d been given for John Morton.

  “This is John,” Morton said as he answered the call.

  “John, it’s Sam Prichard. I’m going to be sending a second operative with Jade Miller tomorrow. Her name is Stacy, and she needs to stay with Jade at all times.”

  “Stacy,” John said. “Okay. Any special reason?”

  “Let’s just say I feel the need to have someone watching Jade’s back. If I’m right about someone inside your company being involved in this mess, she could be in danger.”

  “That’s good enough for me, Sam. I’ll let Annie know.”

  Sam thanked him and ended the call, then went back into the kitchen.

  “Okay, I’ve got Jade covered,” he said. “She’s the one who’s on the front lines of this one.” He sat down at the table again. “Kim, if Beauregard says anything else, I want to know it immediately. Call me, and I don’t care what time it is or what I’m doing.”

  She nodded sheepishly. “Okay, Sam, I will,” she said.

  They sat and talked while they waited for dinner to be ready, and Sam tried to keep his mind on the conversation, and off the case.

  *

  Summer walked into Shanahan’s at six twenty and spotted Tom instantly. She was wearing a silky, short black dress over fishnet hose and shockingly red heels that matched the lipstick she had applied. Tom saw her a second later and almost fell out of his chair, then did a double take when he realized that the beauty walking toward him was actually his date.

  He was on his feet in an instant, standing there looking happily dumbfounded. Summer made sure that her walk was as suggestive as possible, and knew that she was capturing not only his attention, but that of almost every man and most of the women in the place. This was okay with her, because it would put Tom slightly on the defensive as he tried to keep her attention focused on himself.

  “Tom?” She said with her brightest smile in place. “I’m Candy, it’s great to meet you at last. Oh, my, you’re even taller than you look in your pictures.”

  Tom stretched himself up to his full five foot eleven and smiled. “I hope that’s not a problem,” he said.

  “Oh, no, not at all,” she said coquettishly. “I love to be able to snuggle in under a man’s shoulder, and you look perfect for it. Come here, let’s try.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him close, then wrapped it around herself as she snuggled up against his side. “See? Perfect.”

  She let go and sat in the chair across from where he’d been sitting, and instantly reached across and took his hand.

  “Wow,” she said. “I can’t believe we’re finally here together. Dave’s been trying to get me to call you for I don’t how long, but I had kind of a bad breakup a couple months ago, and it took me a little time to get past that. What all did he tell you about me?”

  Tom’s face froze. “Actually, well, I haven’t heard from Dave in quite a while. To be perfectly honest, the first time I ever heard of you is when you called today.”

  Summer looked shocked. “Seriously? That butt head. He told me that you were all excited about meeting me. Are you sure he never mentioned me? He said you really liked my pictures, did he ever even show them to you?”

  Tom grimaced. “I’m afraid not,” he said, “but I can tell you that I absolutely loved the picture you sent me today, Candy, I think you’ve got to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  Summer blushed, a talent she had developed in high school. She learned that whenever she needed to seem shy or innocent, all she had to do was think about the time her best friend Dena got her drunk and talked her into streaking through the old soldiers’ home when she was fourteen. To this day, the memory never failed to embarrass her, but the flush on her face always made her seem sweet and innocent.

  “See? There you go. Dave told me you were a real sweetheart.” She let go of his hand and stroked the back of it with one fingernail. “So, tell me about Tom.”

  7

  Stacy had called Jade just minutes after she got off the phone with Sam, and they made arrangements to meet at Starbucks the following morning. Jade was there waiting when she walked in, and the two of them got coffee and sat at one of the tables for a moment.

  “So,” Stacy said, with just a slight Russian accent. “What is it we’re doing at this place?”

  “Well, I’m going to be posing as Ms. Porter’s new assistant,” Jade said. “The idea is to make it possible for me to wander throughout the entire building and be able to watch everybody, as well as get into their computer system. I don’t know what they’ve got in mind for you, but Sam says you’ll be with me all the time.”

  “That works for me,” Stacy said. “My job is to keep you safe. I can do that best if we are together.”

  Jade smiled at her. “Then, shall we go? We have to go through the motions of getting hired, so we have appointments at human resources in half an hour.”

  “I’m following you,” Stacy said. She picked up her coffee and followed Jade out the door, then they each got into their own cars for the last short drive to the Web Wide Awards headquarters.

  The building was close to downtown, one of several modern structures made of steel and glass. It had its own parking garage underneath, and the two girls managed to find parking spaces side by side. They chatted like old friends as they walked to the elevator and rode it up to the second floor, where the signs told them they would find the human resources department.

  It wasn’t hard to spot. When the elevator
opened, they were looking directly at the main entrance to HR, so they stepped inside together. A lady at the front counter looked up and smiled.

  “Hi,” she said. “How can I help you today?”

  “I’m Jade Miller, and this is Stacy Stepanov. We were told to report for work today.”

  “Just a moment,” the lady said. She turned to a computer and tapped the keyboard, then smiled. “Okay,” she said. “You two are the new assistants for Ms. Porter. I’m personally very glad to see you, because that poor girl works herself just about to death. You might think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Hold on just a moment, while I get someone to get you both started on your paperwork.”

  “No problem,” Jade said.

  Five minutes later, the two of them were sitting at a table filling out paperwork. There were numerous forms, all of the normal paperwork that must be done when you start a new job, and they went through the motions of filling it out.

  It took almost half an hour, and when it was finished they were both escorted to the top floor, to Annie Porter’s office. Annie looked up with a smile and thanked the lady who brought them in, then closed the door behind them.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “John told me about Mr. Prichard calling last night. Stacy, it’s good to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is mine,” Stacy said.

  “Okay, well, I think what we’ll do is introduce you at the morning meeting. Ten o’clock every morning, we have a short meeting, usually lasts about fifteen minutes, and you’ll both be introduced as my new assistants. Jade, we’re going to say that you are here to learn all about the business so you can fill in when I need to be out of town, and Stacy, your story is that you are an efficiency expert. That way, the two of you should be able to ask any questions you want and get straight answers. Just the fact that you work directly with me should be good enough, but with some people, you just never know. Do either of you have any questions at the moment?”