by Andrea Kane
Aidan’s brows drew together in a frown. “Does that mean that, when this case is resolved, I should beat the shit out of him?”
Simone laughed. “Don’t waste your energy, mon amour. You have no competition.”
“That’s just what I wanted to hear.” Aidan’s frown vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “You mentioned Zoe’s ambition. So you do think that’s, at least in part, a reason for her meeting with Cheng?”
“Yes. I managed a quick glance at Jen’s calendar before Zoe left. Zoe and Robert had just finished up a meeting of their own before she made her unprecedented midday departure. I’d be willing to bet she gave him a career ultimatum, one he didn’t meet.”
“Okay, so she’s a woman scorned both professionally and personally. That gives her motive to seek employment elsewhere. And Franklin Wales is a well-respected executive recruiting firm. But David Cheng in particular—is the fact that he’s of Chinese descent just a coincidence or is there more to it? When and under what circumstances did the two of them meet? And is a career move the totality of their association? Even if Zoe is innocent of anything criminal, does Cheng have his own one-sided industrial espionage agenda?”
“I’m sure Terri will find answers to all those questions.”
“I’m sure she will,” Aidan replied. “The problem is, even though Terri’s a wizard, we don’t know what we’re up against, so we have no clue how long she’ll need. And timewise, we’re up against a wall. We’ve got to take a risk.”
“What kind of a risk?” Simone asked.
“One that involves my making some fast arrangements. I’ll call you back.”
Aidan disconnected the call only to make another.
Mickey’s Toontown
Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
28 February
Wednesday, 4:35 p.m. local time
“Hello?” Emma’s voice was breathless, as it always was when Aidan called her these days. His nonstop Abby was a little hurricane to survive, even for someone with Emma’s high energy levels.
“Bad time again,” Aidan deduced. “Sorry. Couldn’t be helped.”
“One sec,” Emma replied. Her next words were muted enough to indicate she was talking to someone other than him. “Joyce, could you just hang out with her for a little while?”
Joyce agreed at once, and Aidan could hear Emma’s breathing as she covered enough distance so that Abby would have no idea it was her daddy at the other end of the line.
“Okay, I can talk,” Emma said. “We’ve been character hunting for the past hour and Abby finally spotted Rapunzel. They’re in animated conversation. And they’re standing still, so Joyce can handle it alone. Which buys me some time.” A pause. “You don’t normally call in the middle of the day. What’s up?”
“What’s your schedule with Abby for tonight?”
Emma must have picked up on the urgency of his tone, because she got right to the point. “A five-thirty character dinner and then some souvenir shopping before we go back to the hotel and crash. Abby’s wiped. We’ve been racing around all day.”
“Good. Then Joyce can handle things there alone.”
“Alone? Where will I be?”
“Here, with me.” He continued, putting a lid on the onslaught of questions he knew was about to start. “I know I said I didn’t need you to do any investigative work. I lied. I’m sending the private jet for you. It should be there within an hour. Tell Abby you’re meeting a friend, but that you’ll be back at the hotel late tonight. Then pack an outfit—nice jeans and a blouse—and grab a taxi to the airport. I’ll meet you when you land.”
“I… Okay.” Emma sounded as if she’d been hit by a truck. “I’ll be there. But I don’t have the kind of clothes you’re talking about. All I’ve got is Disney T-shirts, shorts, and bathing suits.”
“What size are you?”
“Four.”
“I’ll take care of it. And, Emma, thanks.”
* * *
There was one more step to Aidan’s plan, a hunch he had to play. It would push the boundaries of his need-to-know philosophy with regard to his clients and elicit a slew of questions. But it was the only way he could ascertain if his hunch had merit.
When he returned to the Penningtons’ hotel room, it was armed with his laptop, which now contained the photos he’d emailed himself.
Susan opened the door. The dubious expression on her face told him she hadn’t believed a word he’d said about the communication he’d received not being related to Lauren’s kidnapping.
There was nothing like a mother’s instinct.
“Did you take care of your business matter?” she inquired, shutting the door behind him.
“Yes.” Aidan neither averted his gaze nor lied. “I didn’t think it would relate to Lauren’s kidnapping, but it might. I need you to tell me.”
“What does that mean?” Vance demanded. “How can we—”
“Not we,” Aidan corrected. “Susan.”
Susan’s brows drew together. “I don’t understand.”
“Let’s you and I sit down.” Aidan was already striding into the living area. He perched at the edge of the sofa and fired up his laptop, simultaneously gesturing for Susan to join him.
She did, and a few moments later, the photos of David Cheng appeared. Aidan zoomed in as close as he could without distorting the images.
“Look closely,” he instructed Susan. “Have you ever seen this man before?”
Susan peered intently at the screen, and the color began to drain from her face. “I think that’s the man who’s been watching us,” she whispered. “I can’t swear to it, but aside from the obvious fact that he’s Asian, there’s a certain tilt to his head and the way his hair hangs over his forehead… As I said, I can’t swear to it, but I think it’s him.”
Vance was beside them in a minute, searching the screen. “Who is he?”
“Right now, just a suspect,” Aidan replied. “If he’s the person who’s been watching you, then he’s probably working for the Chinese company that’s trying to steal your technology.”
“So what do we do with this information?”
“We exploit it, full force. I’ll be taking care of that tonight.” Aidan gave Vance a warning look. “You’ll be doing nothing with this. We’re close, Vance. Leave it to me and my team. No detrimental heroics. Lauren’s life is at stake. And figuring out which company—and who at that company—is orchestrating this industrial espionage can help lead us to the kidnappers.”
“And to Lauren,” Susan breathed.
“Yes. And to Lauren.” Aidan looked at Vance, a hard, penetrating look.
Briefly, Vance shut his eyes. Then he opened them and nodded. “Get us answers.”
21
Mountain View, California
28 February
Wednesday, 7:45 p.m. local time
The two-story apartment complex was new, sleek, and über-pricey. As if it deserved its own elite domain, it was tucked away on a private, tree-lined street, traversed only by a sidewalk where a few evening bicyclists pedaled past, lost in the music coming through their headphones or texting with one hand as they maneuvered along.
It was easy for the two men to slip in and out of Gallagher’s apartment, timing their entry and exit to the moments when the sidewalk was deserted. They knew they had time to do their job; Cheng was taking care of that right now.
They moved from room to room, checking both the accessible and the inaccessible areas, being careful to return things to their previous state so as not to clue Gallagher in to the fact that they had been there.
Mostly, everything was out in the open and contained nothing of interest. But in the spare bedroom, they encountered a locked drawer, which a knife blade took care of quickly. In the back of the bottom drawer, there was a surprising, if not directly relevant, discovery. The men took some photos. They then rearranged things and relocked the desk.
A half hour later, they were gone.
Once
in the car, the taller man texted the photos to Xu Wei. He waited a few minutes and then followed up with a phone call.
“Did you receive the photographs I sent you?” he asked in Mandarin.
“I’m looking at them now,” Xu Wei replied, also in Mandarin.
“We found nothing to directly tie Gallagher to Pennington’s activities regarding the Nano technology, but, as you can see, Gallagher has a very lucrative side job.”
“Indeed.” Xu Wei studied the photos more closely. A strongbox that contained numerous stacks of cash, all neatly rubber-banded together, along with dozens of plastic bags containing everything from pills to powder. “So Gallagher is a drug dealer,” he said. “And a man of so little character and conscience would have no trouble committing industrial espionage for the right price. He could be our proverbial fly in the ointment, and we cannot risk him interfering. I’ll call Cheng immediately and alert him to what we’ve found. The conversation he’s currently having will be moving in a less ambiguous direction.”
Jake’s Bar & Cocktail Lounge
28 February
Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. local time
Aidan parked his car in an alley just two blocks away from Jake’s. He flipped off the ignition and turned to Emma, who was wearing the dark-washed jeans and green silk blouse that one of Aidan’s female contacts had picked up for her.
“Let’s review this again,” he instructed her now. “I’ve shown you photos, so you know what our target looks like and you know he’s inside that bar, probably talking to a bunch of his tech friends.”
Emma nodded impatiently. “And for whatever reason you won’t tell me, this guy carries both a regular cell and a burner phone. Fine. I get it. I’m supposed to get close to him, and one of your team is going to dial his regular number. How do you know he’ll answer?”
“Once he sees the Caller ID, he’ll answer,” Aidan replied tersely. He had no intention of telling Emma that Terri had done her magic to ensure that the Caller ID would register as NanoUSA. But Aidan knew that once David saw that and assumed it was Zoe, he’d grab the call in a New York minute. “Watch carefully to see where he pulls his cell phone from. After that…”
With the confidence of a pro, Emma waved away the rest of Aidan’s sentence. “I don’t need to watch carefully. No one wears jackets out here. Which means he’ll either go for his shirt pocket or one of his front pants pockets. If he goes for the pants, I’m gold and can just target the pocket he doesn’t go for. If he goes for the shirt, I’ll have to check out which hand he holds his phone in, so I’ll know whether he’s right-or left-handed, at which point I can figure out which of the front pockets is where he keeps his burner. I’ll then borrow it.”
Aidan opened his mouth and then shut it again, giving a bemused shake of his head.
Emma shot him an impish grin. “You seem to have forgotten just how good at this I am. So I figured I’d remind you.” With that, she plucked something off the seat beside her and tossed it at Aidan. “I think that’s yours.”
Aidan caught the wallet and turned it over in his hands. “Shit,” he muttered. “You’re scary.”
“Scary good.” She turned to look in the direction of the bar. “So now that your worries are over, let’s deal with mine. We’ve established that I can steal anything from anybody. But what’s a Bluejack and how do I work it?”
Aidan handed over his cell phone and pointed at the icon for the Bluejack app. “Once you get the burner in your possession, open this app and make sure to keep my phone near his. Press the app’s red start button and the icon will start spinning. That tells you that it’s working. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. When it’s finished, you’ll see a big green check mark across the screen. Wipe your prints off his phone and slip it back in his pocket. Then you’re outta there.”
“I’ll be meeting you back here?” Emma confirmed, sticking Aidan’s phone into the pocket of her jeans.
“I won’t budge.”
With a nod, Emma reached for the door handle. “Now?”
“Now.”
* * *
Inside Jake’s, David was following orders.
Perched at a table, he was talking business with Ethan Gallagher. Despite Gallagher’s loyalty to Vance Pennington, it had been easy for David to set up this meeting. Gallagher was an upwardly mobile guy whose affinity for the finer things in life was consistent with his willingness to keep all his options open. All David had to do was give him a call, say he had a few high-paying clients who were looking for people with Gallagher’s experience for newly created executive positions, and poof! Gallagher appeared at the bar.
David had already run through a few fictitious opportunities, elaborating on the salaries and growth potential. He balanced out the career talk by engaging Ethan in personal conversation, feigning the desire to get to know his interests outside of work. His job was to pace himself to buy as much time as possible for Xu Wei’s people to complete their task.
Ethan was just describing his last ski trip to Aspen when David’s burner phone rang.
“Just give me one minute,” he said to Ethan. “I’ve got an urgent client call I’ve been waiting for.”
He stepped away, turned his back, and took the call, speaking very quietly in Mandarin, his voice swallowed up by the talking, laughter, and music of the bar.
“Yes.” He absorbed the information that was given to him. “Now that I wasn’t expecting. It’s not a direct link, but it’s an indicator. Let me see if I can learn anything more.”
He disconnected the call, slipped the burner back into the right front pocket of his jeans, and turned back to Ethan.
He’d barely opened his mouth when his regular cell phone rang.
* * *
Emma ordered herself a drink at the bar, watching as her target disconnected whatever call he was already on, pocketed the phone, and prepared to resume a conversation with the guy at his table. Abruptly, he paused, holding up one finger and plucking a different phone out of his shirt pocket.
This was the call that would be her cue.
She put down her drink, pleased to see that her target was standing. It would make her job a hell of a lot easier. Slowly, she weaved her way over, timing her approach as her target glanced at his Caller ID and immediately took the call.
“Hello?” He frowned. “Hello? Anyone there?”
With a frustrated shake of his head, he disconnected the call and dropped the phone back into his shirt pocket.
“Wrong number, I guess,” he told his friend.
Okay, Emma thought, lifting Aidan’s cell phone to her ear and pretending she was chatting with someone as she closed in on her prey. Time to get into the target’s right front pocket.
“…get their hands on the industry-changing technology that NanoUSA is about to release…” the target was saying. “…must be even higher levels of security to prevent leaks…”
The other guy seemed to tense up, but Emma didn’t dwell on it. She had one focus and one focus alone.
She eased her way behind the target, making her fictitious telephone conversation seem more and more intense.
“I told you, I was working,” she said into the phone, stopping just behind the target’s left shoulder. “There is no one else.”
Automatically, he averted his head toward the sound of the distressed woman’s voice.
“Sorry,” Emma murmured with an apologetic look. Boyfriend, she mouthed and pretended to shoot herself in the head.
The target gave her an understanding smile.
By the time he turned back to his friend, Emma was palming the burner phone. She walked a short distance away and then, with seeming annoyance, hung up on her boyfriend.
Fast as lightning, she opened Aidan’s Bluejack app and pressed the red start button. The icon started spinning. Holding the two phones low and close together, she waited.
A minute and a half later, she got the big green check mark she’d been waiting for. Whatever syncing Aida
n wanted was done.
She pocketed Aidan’s phone, reaching over to pick up a cocktail napkin. She wiped her prints off the target’s phone, carrying it that way as she retraced her steps to his table.
“…hard to believe the whole company is so loyal that no one would be tempted to work with any of the entities who are dying to steal the technology before it’s released…” the target was saying.
Emma bent down to adjust the strap of her sandal.
She slipped the phone back into the target’s pocket as she rose.
Discarding the cocktail napkin, she walked toward the entrance. Abruptly, she paused. Working at Forensic Instincts had honed her budding investigative skills. The snippets of conversation that were just now sinking in seemed like they might be of interest to Aidan. Also, if the guy whose pocket she’d just picked was important, maybe his friend was, too.
She wriggled Aidan’s phone out of her pocket and took a few unobtrusive photos of the men.
Hey, she thought, you can’t have too much information.
* * *
Aidan’s brows rose as Emma got back into the car and handed him his phone.
“Mission accomplished,” she said.
“And in record time,” he replied. “Any problems?”
“Nope.” Emma shook her head. “Your app worked great. As did I.”
He chuckled. “No self-esteem issues, huh?”
“Not when it comes to this, no.” Emma turned to face him. “There were a few additional perks I brought to the table. They could mean nothing or they could mean something. I’m just the uninformed messenger.”
“Meaning?”
“Mr. No-name wasn’t with a bunch of guys, just one. They were definitely talking tech. It was about some company called NanoUSA and the chance that someone could be trying to steal new technology.”
