Greg was grinning as he drove away from Justin’s house. He’d been delighted to learn that Justin was gay and single. And witty. He chuckled at the memory of Justin’s words to that doofus ex-boyfriend. “It’ll be too late for all of us because that’ll be the day that hell freezes over.” But somewhere along the line, Justin had bought into a negative self-image, and Greg would bet that ol’ Clay had something to do with that.
If he ever saw that Prius again, he’d pull it over. Just on general principle.
He drove back to base, where he found Zach and Mindy in his and Mindy’s office. He asked, “Learned anything?”
Mindy said, “I talked to Cabo Barnes. He said Shaw was a stellar employee, no problems. He gave me a couple of names that Shaw would have been working with at Ideodax. Sam Boone and Glenn Pietras. We’ve added them to the list of suspects.”
Greg’s ears perked up. “No shit. Harris—the reporter—told me he met those two at Preacher yesterday. Said they were extremely pleased to hear that no word of the payload had leaked out.”
Mindy leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the edge of her desk. “Why would they care? It had to be a public communications satellite, right?”
Zach said, “Call ‘em. Put them on speaker.”
Greg dialed Glenn Pietras first. No answer. He left a voicemail: “Mr. Pietras, this is Special Agent Marcotte, AFOSI. It’s imperative that I speak with you within the next twenty-four hours. Otherwise you will be charged with obstruction of justice in a federal investigation. I expect to hear from you soon.” He ended the call.
Mindy laughed. “Go get ‘em, cowboy.”
Greg stuck out his tongue at her as he called Sam Boone. No answer. He left the same message.
Zach said, “Maybe they’re traveling. If they were in town yesterday, they might be en route back to California.”
“Maybe. That’s why they have twenty-four hours.”
Mindy said, “You’re in a generous mood.”
“Don’t get used to it. Who else is on our suspect list?”
“Everyone from either company that was in town for the launch. Cabo Barnes, Lyle Briggs, Sam Boone, Glenn Pietras, and two Skyose engineers.”
Zach said, “You need to call Mrs. Shaw.”
Greg spluttered. “Why me? I always have to call the families.”
Mindy said, “Because you’ve got the skills. You’re a kind person, and it comes through. You can ask questions without making it sound like the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know I’m right.”
Greg sighed. “Yeah. I do.”
“So you’re saying I’m not kind?”
“Argh! I can’t win with you.”
Zach laughed. “Use my office.”
“Thanks.” Greg went across the hall and closed the door, took a deep breath, and called Mrs. Shaw from Zach’s desk phone.
A woman’s heavy, tentative voice answered. “Hello?”
She sounded too old to be married to Shaw. Greg said hello and introduced himself. “I’m investigating the disappearance of Mr. Roy Shaw. Are you Mrs. Shaw?”
“Yes, but I’m his mother.”
“Would it be possible to speak with the other Mrs. Shaw?”
“I think so. Hold on.”
Greg waited for a full minute until a younger woman’s voice said, “Hello?”
He introduced himself again. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Shaw. We’re trying to locate your husband.”
Young Mrs. Shaw sounded angry. “I’m glad someone is. Those fuckers at Skyose won’t tell me anything.”
Greg bit back a smile. “What did they tell you?”
“That he disappeared before the rocket blew up. What the hell does that mean? How does someone just disappear from an Air Force base? How dare they keep information from me!”
Greg winced, thinking of the information he was keeping from her. “Mrs. Shaw, do you have any idea where Roy might have gone? Or why?”
“Not specifically, but I know it must be related to the launch. And there wasn’t a soul at that fucking company that he could trust, especially that moron Cabo Barnes…”
“That he could trust with what, ma’am?”
“I don’t know.” Mrs. Shaw sighed. “A week ago last Thursday he came home from work highly agitated. He’d uncovered something off with the launch. I don’t know what; he wouldn’t tell me. But whatever it was had him up pacing the floors at all hours of the night.”
“Did he specifically say it was something to do with the launch?”
“Yes. So Skyose must know about it, right? But Barnes won’t tell me shit.”
Greg was growing to like Mrs. Shaw quite a bit. “Does the name Ideodax mean anything to you?”
“No. What’s that?”
“It’s the company whose payload was on the failed rocket. Mr. Shaw never mentioned that name?”
“No. An odd name like that, I’d remember.”
“Does Mr. Shaw talk much about his work?”
“Only in general terms. I know there’s a lot that he can’t be specific about. When he comes home for the day, he wants to leave it behind, you know? Have dinner, watch a movie, help the kids with their homework…” Her breath caught in a sob.
“How old are your children, Mrs. Shaw?”
“Fourteen and twelve. They’re frantic.” She started to cry.
“Mrs. Shaw, I’m going to find your husband. Let me give you the direct line to my office. You can call me at any time.”
She snuffled. “Okay. I need something to write with…” He heard muffled conversation. “Go ahead.”
Greg recited his number. “If I’m not in, leave a message, and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Agent Marcotte. You’re very kind.”
Yeah, I’m the kind one… “You’re welcome, Mrs. Shaw. I’ll speak with you soon.”
He crossed the hall to his own office and told Zach and Mindy about his conversation. “We need to talk to Cabo Barnes again.”
“That’s on my list.” Mindy lifted the receiver of her phone. She dialed, waited, then mouthed, “Voicemail,” to Zach and Greg. She left a message—“urgent that I speak with you”—then hung up. “So no one’s returning our calls. Think we can convince Vernon to spring for a jaunt to New Mexico?”
Greg sighed. “I wish.”
By the time Col. Vernon arrived, Zach, Mindy, and Greg had completed their assigned tasks and learned nothing new. Vernon called them together for a report; when he heard of their unsuccessful phone calls, he scowled. “I’ll call Barnes right now. Any of you have that number handy?”
Zach found it on one of Tom’s spreadsheets. Vernon called, but his experience matched the others’. He left a clipped voicemail then said, “All right. You three, write up your reports, then take the evening off. If no one has responded to any of us by tomorrow morning, we’ll ask our colleagues at Holloman and Travis to visit Skyose and Ideodax. Up close and personal.”
Mindy said, “Aw, Colonel, we were hoping for a road trip.”
Vernon snorted. “Not this time, Agent Leonard.”
It took about an hour for the three of them to complete their reports. Mindy said, “We didn’t get to the Preacher yesterday. How about it? Maybe we’ll find all of our missing executives there.”
Zach agreed enthusiastically. Greg said, “You two go on. I need a nap.”
Mindy threw an eraser at him. “Hot date tonight?”
“Ha-ha. Text me if there’s actually anyone there worth seeing.”
Zach said, “We will. Come on, Min.”
Greg said goodbye to the others and drove home. He set his alarm for 5:30 pm, kicked his shoes off, and fell into bed and dreamless slumber.
It felt like he’d been asleep for only twelve seconds when his alarm went off. He sat up to get his bearings, then texted Justin. Dinner at 6:30? Any requests?
Sounds great. I’ll eat anything.
Siam Orchid?
Perfect!
OK. C U at 6:30.
Justin returned a thumbs up. Smiling to himself, Greg stripped off his clothes and headed for the shower.