The next morning, they caught a seven o’clock flight out of LaGuardia and into Dulles airport just outside of Washington, DC. West Investigations had accounts with all the major rental car companies. With a few swipes on the app on his phone, TJ was able to rent a midsize sedan. He’d discussed his game plan for the investigation with Alexis on the plane. Their first stop would be to TalCon. TJ didn’t hold out much hope that they’d get any straight answers from the company, but they had to at least try. Alexis had met Nelson Bacon, the CEO of TalCon, when she’d come to DC to claim Mark’s body and organize his affairs. Bacon had given her his personal cell phone number then, and she’d called that morning to set up a meeting with him and Mark’s direct supervisor, Arnold Forrick, at TalCon’s offices. He was interested in what Mark’s employer had to say about the situation.
TJ pulled up to the gates at TalCon’s headquarters at ten minutes to ten that morning and gave his and Alexis’s names.
The guard at the gate checked their IDs against his list, then gave them directions to the visitor’s parking area before waving them through.
TalCon’s headquarters was composed of three, three-story cube-like white buildings with windows too dark to see inside. They formed a U-shape around a large parking lot.
After another round of ID checking at the receptionist’s desk in the lobby of the building, he and Alexis were allowed to take the elevator to the third floor. After a brief wait, Nelson Bacon’s assistant, a young woman with sun-kissed blonde hair, led them down a long hall to a corner office.
Bacon rose from the chair behind a large black desk as they entered the office. In his sixties, with gray-brown hair and posture so straight, TJ would have pegged Bacon as a former military officer even if TJ hadn’t used West Investigations resources to look into the backgrounds of Bacon and Forrick.
Bacon had been a decorated retired Army General who’d left the military for an undoubtedly lucrative position in the private sector with TalCon. He’d been with TalCon for the last twenty years, working his way up to the position of CEO. His second-in-command, Arnold Forrick, had a similar military background with several awards and commendations to his name as well.
“Miss Douglas. It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Bacon stretched a hand across his desk, which Alexis shook. Bacon turned to TJ. “And you must be Thaddeus Roman.”
TJ shook Bacon’s hand.
“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Mr. Bacon.”
Bacon waved at the chairs in front of his desk. TJ and Alexis sat.
“As I said when we met some weeks ago, anything you need, we at TalCon are here for you, Alexis. I hope I can call you Alexis?”
“Yes, please do.”
“What can we do for you today, Miss Douglas?” Arnold Forrick had stood stoically beside his boss’s desk while they’d engaged in opening chitchat with a scowl that looked to have been etched onto his face.
Bacon’s eyebrows arrowed down in a frown. “Please forgive Arnold’s abruptness.”
Alexis gave a weak smile. “Nothing to forgive. I’m sure you are both very busy, and we’ll try not to take up too much of your time.”
“So what can we do for you?” Bacon said, reclaiming his seat behind his desk.
“I’ve hired Mr. Roman to help me look into Mark’s death. He’s a private investigator,” Alexis said.
Since neither had asked what he was doing there with Alexis, TJ had already surmised that they’d checked him out, and the lack of surprise from either man when Alexis pegged him as a private investigator convinced him he was right.
Now, though, Bacon did look surprised. “I’d been told that Mark took his own life.”
Alexis gritted her teeth. “I don’t believe that. It’s a conclusion based largely on the premise that my brother stole from this company, which I know he wouldn’t do.”
“I don’t know who you’ve been speaking to,” Forrick started angrily, “but the details of the projects this company is involved in are confidential. If you share any proprietary information, TalCon will take any and all legal steps to—”
“Mr. Forrick,” TJ interrupted, more than a bit irked himself. “Why don’t you hear Alexis out before you start threatening legal action?”
Forrick began to speak again, but Bacon raised his hand, stopping him. “Arnold, let Miss Douglas speak, please.”
Alexis glared at Forrick. “Mark was not a thief. Mark was a soldier, as were you, Mr. Bacon. You know how much the Army values honor, integrity and truth. Those values meant something to Mark in, and out of, the military.”
“I knew Mark,” Bacon said. “I would have never believed he was capable of any of this. I don’t know what you have been able to turn up or what the police have shared with you, and I’m not at liberty to share information myself, but I will say the evidence is pretty damning.”
“TalCon has been cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to do so,” Forrick interjected. “If you know anything about what your brother may have done with the missing program or who he might have sold it to, I strongly suggest you share that information with the authorities.”
“I assure you I have been questioned by the police,” Alexis growled. “Thoroughly. Mark never told me about the missing program because it was confidential and he didn’t take it.”
TJ scooted forward in his chair. “You can’t tell us about the program that went missing, but can you tell us more about why you are so sure Mark is the one who took it?”
“As I said, we can’t reveal—”
Bacon held up his hand a second time. Forrick fell silent, but his scowl deepened.
“TalCon was alerted that there had been an unauthorized download of the program. The warning was supposed to alert in real time, but it was delayed several days because of a system failure. Arnold is right that I can’t get into the exact nature of the breach, but we took the report seriously and immediately opened an audit.”
“And the audit implicated Mark,” TJ said.
Bacon gave a slight nod. “Unfortunately, our security cameras were down for maintenance on the night in question. But we employ some of the most advanced computer security available here at TalCon. Mark’s computer, ID, and randomly generated fob code were used to access the system and download the program.”
“Fob code?” Alexis prodded.
Bacon reached for a small gray square about the size of an eraser and held it out for her to see. “A key fob, or fob as we affectionately call it around here. It generates an eight-digit code that, along with an employee’s ID, must be entered into the computer in order to gain access to our system. The code changes every three minutes and is unique to every employee.”
TJ’s heart sank. Bacon was right. The evidence against Mark did appear to be damning, but that wouldn’t stop him from turning over every rock looking for an answer that didn’t involve Mark being a thief. He didn’t have to ask to know Alexis felt the same way.
“Can you give us some general information about your company? What kind of contracting do you do for the military, that sort of thing?”
“We can’t—” Forrick started.
“You’re a prominent weapons development company and a large government contractor,” Alexis said. “We’re not asking for any information we couldn’t find on our own, but getting it from you now would be a help.”
Forrick looked at Bacon, who stayed silent for a long moment before nodding. He launched into a mostly useless recitation of the company’s history.
“When did you realize that the software was missing from your inventory?” TJ finally interrupted.
Bacon’s expression tightened. “We were alerted by an internal source.”
“An internal source? What does that mean?” Alexis pressed.
“I’m afraid we aren’t at liberty to share that information,” Forrick said. “And I’m afraid Mr. Bacon has to leave now for his next meeting.”
Bacon stood, underscoring Forrick’s point. Meeting over.
It appeared they’d struck a chord, one TJ intended to keep stroking until he got a sound he liked. Who brought the theft to the company’s attention?
TJ and Alexis stood and turned for the door.
“Oh,” Alexis said, turning back to Bacon and Forrick. “I’d hoped to speak with Mark’s assistant, Lenora Kenda. She had such kind words to say about Mark on the condolence card she sent. I haven’t had a chance to thank her.”
The tightening in Bacon’s jaw was so slight TJ could almost convince himself it hadn’t happened. Almost.
“I’m sorry, but Ms. Kenda is out of the office. She decided to take a few weeks off. She and Mark were close coworkers. His death hit her hard.”
Bacon’s assistant was waiting for TJ and Alexis outside of the office. She stayed at their side until the elevator doors closed.
He and Alexis walked back to the rental car in silence, but once they were safely inside the car and headed back for the gate, Alexis spoke.
“That was a waste of time.”
TJ shot a glance across the car. “You think?”
“You don’t?” she shot back at him.
TJ chuckled. “Well, I learned that Bacon is hiding something. And that Forrick is his attack dog, so whatever it is Bacon is hiding, Forrick likely has a hand in it.”
“You learned all of that from the little bit those two said up there?”
“It wasn’t what they said, it was more what they didn’t say and how they didn’t say it.”
Alexis’s brow rose. “Okay. I’m going to have to trust your expertise on that.”
“More importantly, they gave us a lead to follow.” He navigated the car off of TalCon’s campus and turned onto the road leading to the highway.
Alexis’s eyes widened in surprise. “They did?”
“Lenora Kenda.”
Alexis’s expression took on a shade of skepticism. “Lenora? I only met her at Mark’s memorial, but he talked about her a little over the years. It seemed like Mark trusted her.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Mark had trusted the wrong woman, but he kept that thought to himself. “I’m not saying she had anything to do with the theft or what happened to Mark. But I do find it curious that she’s suddenly decided to take an extended vacation.”
The skepticism remained on Alexis’s face. “It could be just what Bacon said. She’s just taking some time to process everything.”
“It could be,” TJ said, keeping his focus on the road ahead of him. “But I’d like to hear that from Ms. Kenda.”