Karla Raven thought the house was downright nice. Way better than anything she’d ever lived in. Seven bedrooms, a wonderful great room, four baths, three-car garage, hot tub, gourmet kitchen, and all in a tony and upscale neighborhood contiguous to the Broadmoor resort. Who’d think a bank would have to foreclose on a property like this?
Edwin had found the place last night while searching bank records, figuring correctly that no one would think to look for them in a foreclosed house.
Furniture would have been nice, though.
She reclined on what she supposed was the dining room floor, her back against the wall, her butt cushioned by thick hundred-dollar-a-foot carpeting. Her index finger pressed the send button.
On the third ring, the Skipper said, “Hello?”
“Hi, Skipper. What’s your status?”
“Karla?” He sounded incredulous. “Are you all right? Where are you?”
That was the Skipper, worried about other people first. “Just collecting our thoughts and planning the mission, sir. You’re getting a bum rap over Gray’s escape. And, excuse me, sir, but that guy Daniels is a real REMF.”
“Chief, you’re in bucketloads of trouble. Is everyone there with you? How’s Falcon?”
“Yes, sir. All fine.”
“I’m sitting here with General Grazier and Major Savage. You, and Gray, have been the topic of considerable conversation.”
“To be expected, sir.”
“Where are you?”
“Someplace nice, sir. And tell them not to worry about a trace on this cell phone. ET corrected the GPS in all the units.”
“How’s Edwin doing?”
“Finally asleep, sir. He’s been up for almost two days now.” No need to tell Ryan about the extent of ET’s remarkable talents.
“Chief, we need to talk. Circumstances have changed. While I figure that you escaped in an effort to find Gray and clear my name, I’m sitting in my office. It’s bare, but it’s mine again.”
“Glad to hear that, sir.”
“Can I put you on speaker? Well, as much as this thing has?”
“Is that advisable, sir?”
“I think so, Chief. This thing with Gray turns out to be a bit bigger than anything we expected. Um, national security bigger.”
“Falcon came to the same conclusion, sir. He says Gray is the key. And a company named Skientia may be involved in her extraction from Grantham.”
“Let me put this on speaker.” A pause. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did Falcon conclude?”
“That Skientia is somehow at the bottom of it, sir. He seems to think that they have Gray. By whatever means they extracted her, you were to be left ass-deep in the shit, sir.”
She heard shuffling as if the phone were being transferred. “Chief Raven? General Grazier here. I believe I owe you an apology. Despite opposition from some quarters, it would seem that we’re headed in the same direction. I’d really like the opportunity to make you an offer.”
“Thank you, sir. At the moment, however, there are extenuating circumstances which might make that unwise on both of our parts.”
“The helicopter? And the Hertz cars?”
“Yes, sir. And the evening we spent at Best Buy has depleted their stock of certain computers, cell phones, GPS, cameras, and other electronics equipment. Please tell the manager that the keys I borrowed are on his desk, and the security system will work fine when he turns it on again. We do apologize for the messy scatter of miscellaneous parts we left on the floor. Edwin doesn’t think he damaged any of the unnecessary components during their removal.”
“You stole computers from Best Buy?”
“We would like to think we just took them in advance of payment, sir. Unless, of course you would like to reimburse them as a matter of good will. We’re still a couple of days out from receipt of the funds we’ve . . . um, liberated. But be assured, sir, Edwin informs me that the accounts he raided were not from what you might call the more productive of our citizenry, and DEA would have seized them eventually anyway.”
She waited through a long pause.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to simply requisition equipment from here on out?” Grazier asked dryly.
“Perhaps, sir. But Falcon thinks there’s a high probability that your communications are compromised. Have been as far back as that blown operation of Major Savage’s that you had him working on. He suspects the probability that Doctor Ryan’s personal cell phone would be monitored is relatively low.”
“Speaking of which, how’d you get this number, Chief?” Ryan’s voice sounded faint.
“While he was in the cell phone company’s computer establishing accounts and activating our new phones, ET happened to stumble across your number, sir.”
“ET was in the cell phone company computer? You all have cell accounts now?”
“Communications are a basic operational requirement, sir.”
“And you looked up my number?” Ryan’s faint voice asked.
“Possibly a random discovery, sir.”
Grazier again. “Chief, why don’t you come in, and we’ll compare notes. I’m not about to throw the book at you.”
“With all due respect, sir, given the research we conducted last night, we think we have a very limited window of opportunity with regard to Skientia. If the general would permit, we’d like to investigate a lead before we talk.”
She again listened to a long hesitation, heard the sounds one would expect if a phone were being muffled.
Grazier’s voice again. “Dr. Ryan is concerned about Captain Falcon’s medication.”
“We brought sufficient with us.”
“And if you need more?”
“Nothing fancy about pharmacy locks or security, sir. Besides, Cat’s with us. She’ll keep an eye on things.”
“Chief, I’d really rather have you come in. We’ll work out the—”
“Excuse me, sir. You seem to be fading. Now I have signal lost, sir.” She thumbed the end button, braced her arms on her upright knees, and considered.
“What did they say?” Cat Talavera asked.
“Skipper says he’s off the hook. But as to General Grazier? I’m not sure I trust him.”
“So, what do we do?”
Karla glanced around. “As nice as this place is, one of the neighbors is eventually going to get nosy. That address in Aspen that Edwin found in the Skientia files? I think Falcon’s right. It’s a hideout. Maybe we ought to go take a look.”
“How long a drive to get to Aspen?”
“Drive?” Karla gave Cat a chiding look. “If I don’t put Winny back in something that flies, she’s going to wig on us when we really need her.”
“And where are you going to get an airplane?”
“Saw lots of them where we left the helicopter at the airport. Besides, if we tried to sneak into Peterson Air Force Base, she’d want a fighter, or something equally impractical.” Karla rubbed her face. “God, the downside of command. Keeping everybody happy!”