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  “What about it, Mr. Cooper? Did you have anything to do with the Creator going AWOL?” Mr. Taylor asked.

  Cooper lowered his head with a sneak peek at Geri for a hint of how to answer. She just shrugged.

  “No, he didn’t,” Ed said and took a step forward. “We have since discovered it to be a misunderstanding. Mr. Cooper had been investigating for a client and came up empty-handed. Geri must have caught wind of the Creator leaving while at the party and took it upon herself to help.” He stuck his chin up and looked out of the corner of his eyes over at Geri as if daring her to contradict him. “Mr. Cooper is free to go.”

  “Thank you.” Cooper knew he wasn’t free.

  “Well, Mr. Cooper. We are sorry for the circumstances that brought you here.” Mr. Taylor smiled as he walked over to shake his hand again. “I am glad to have met you. A shame Geri’s tale wasn’t verifiable. If you do find something for us, please ask for me personally and I assure you I will take care of it.”

  He patted Cooper on the back, then turned to Ed. “And if we need to speak with Mr. Cooper further, we will use a more direct approach. Right, Ed?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “I expect full reports from both of you on these recent events. By 5:00 p.m. today,” he said, holding his gaze on Ed, then Geri. “And they’d bettah be consistent.”

  They answered simultaneously.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. You are all dismissed.”

  As soon as they entered the elevator, Ed laid into them.

  “If there is anything floating around you’d better find it and bring it directly to me, a-s-a-p!”

  “Is that a threat?” Geri asked.

  “Sounded like one to me.” Cooper sniffed.

  Ed pointed a finger at Cooper.

  “You have no idea how deep this goes.” Then he aimed at Geri. “And I want your report sent to me by 3:00 p.m. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Geri answered.

  The doors opened at Ed’s floor. Before he got off, he finished his tirade.

  “Keep your noses clean and watch your backs.” He stomped away shouting, “Somebody get me some coffee!” And the doors shut.

  “That was definitely a threat. Did he seem a little on edge to you?” Cooper asked with a big smile.

  But Geri held her stoic expression.

  “I’ll find you a way home, Mr. Cooper,” Geri said formally.

  “What, you aren’t coming?”

  Rolling her eyes upward, she kept her head aimed at the doors. Cooper finally understood, following her gaze, and noticed the camera in the corner of the ceiling. After being watched for so long, he had forgotten about them. He nodded and followed her lead.

  When they reached the garage, Geri spoke to the manager and he gave her a remote key.

  “Follow me,” she said to Cooper.

  They got into a sporty, white Econ Car. As soon as she sat down, Geri whipped out a small, pen-like gadget from her pocket and waved it like a wand over everything inside. When Geri was satisfied, she started the car and pulled out of the garage.

  “Okay. We should be able to talk now. So what happened to the drive?” she asked.

  “I really don’t know. I planned to take it to the news station and have them send it over the satellite. I noticed Miki’s car and the lights on in my office, so I went to check on her. That’s when she clobbered me.”

  They looked at each other and it dawned on them at the same time.

  “Miki has it!”

  “As Hasan says, it’s time to blur!”

  d took the back stairs down to Nate’s station.

  “What’s going on?”

  Nate pointed to the blip on the imager.

  “Geri checked out a car and is headed west. But she disabled the bugs in the car.”

  “Good, she is probably taking Cooper home herself. Keep a lock on the car’s tracking device. We can follow them to the last piece of evidence. Get Lipton to intercept them,” he ordered. “Once he has what we need, he can take care of them however he chooses, as long as it looks like an accident. I’ve had enough of this.”

  “Yes, sir,” Nate said in a shaky voice. “Uh. Dawson is also on the move. He got a strange message this morning and left in a hurry. His car GPS showed him driving to another house, then to the Oakland Southwest Airport. He owns a small plane there. I had Paul tap the control tower. He flew to Monroe-Walton County Airport, scheduled to land in a few minutes.”

  “Play the message,” Ed demanded.

  They watched it.

  “It must be a code. Figure it out, face-match that woman, and get me Blake!”

  PTI Corporate Offices, Atlanta, GA

  9:00 a.m., Saturday, July 27

  “Tell me again, slowly. What happened in the lab?”

  As personnel scrambled around behind his chief security officer, Ray ran his hand through his hair. He knew he looked rough, and he felt rough. He probably had deep dark circles under his eyes and his stubble was turning soft.

  “The FBI agent Blake got something from the woman agent, then forced Hasan to test the new transport procedure on her. Hasan transmitted her. Then Blake threw a knife into the receiving dock. It looks like he wanted to kill her, but Hasan must have sent her somewhere else because she wasn’t there,” Manny said.

  Ray rubbed his temples. He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of pills. He shook a couple into his hand before he spoke again.

  “I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Everything is unraveling,” he mumbled to himself. “So she’s gone?”

  “Yes.”

  “And this Blake person is still in there with Hasan? And he has what? Did they say what it was?”

  “Yes. The woman gave Blake a couple of stick drives.”

  “If he’s armed, you need to get in there and protect Hasan.”

  “But we don’t think he intends Hasan any…”

  “Get in there!”

  “We tried. He won’t let us in!” a guard shouted over Manny’s shoulder.

  “You are letting that stop you? I said get in there!”

  “We’ll find a way in, sir,” another guard said. Ray watched two guards rush away in the background.

  “Without risking Hasan!” Manny called after them. He turned back to the imager. “There’s more, Ray.”

  “What?”

  “Hasan is refusing to do any more work unless he is guaranteed control of the testing and implementation. And more freedom.”

  “This Agent Blake person is putting up with that? Tell Hasan whatever you need to get him moving. I’m sure the agent will have no trouble agreeing with that. All the more reason for our guys to get inside. I have a few loose ends to tie up then I will pop back over. Keep Hasan safe! We’re so close!” He pounded his desk.

  “Yes, sir.”

  They disconnected.

  As Ray took some more Aceta 3, his vid phone indicator flashed.

  Great. What does she want? “Hello, Vivienne,” he said in a dour tone, opening the frame.

  “Hello, Ray.” She creeped him out with her extra-wide smile. “You look like hell. Everything all right over there?”

  “Certainly. Hasan is working on an implementation plan for the improvements to pop travel as we speak.” He ran his hands through what hair he had left. He hoped she couldn’t tell he was lying.

  “Wonderful. That’s exactly what Ed told me. No problems, then?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Now be sure to call me if I can help in any way. Got it?”

  “Thank you, Vivienne. Will do.” He disconnected.

  The mother hen is double-checking everyone’s stories now. If he had to kiss up to one more person, his lips would fall off. At least dependable Charles had sent him a decent get-out-of-jail speech. He hoped it was good enough. Then again, he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

  Walnut Grove, GA

  10:45 a.m., Saturday, July 27

  Dawson walked into Joe’s and g
rinned at Miki in her poofy, canary yellow bridesmaid dress. The yellow feathers in her hair were the best part.

  As she waved at him, she and Jared got up to meet him. Their forced smiles couldn’t hide their worry. They looked older, too. Dawson waited by the door and gave them a reassuring nod, even though he wasn’t sure what to expect.

  “What’s the emergency? Where is Cooper?” he asked when they got to him. He tried not to smirk at Miki’s outrageous dress.

  “Stop laughing at me! This is serious! Let’s go!” Miki huffed.

  Jared followed and made a flying birdy motion with his hands for Dawson who grinned back at him.

  Miki caught them and glared.

  “Sorry,” Jared said.

  They rode in Miki’s car, and she explained to Dawson what she and Jared had been through. By the time she told him about knocking Cooper out, taking the drive, and turning him in, they arrived at Jared’s house. Dawson sat in the car for a minute to digest everything.

  “Okay. So the FBI has him?” Dawson asked.

  “I guess so.”

  “Well, what was on the drive?”

  She sighed and her eyes drooped.

  “Come downstairs and see,” she said.

  “Yeah, it’s incredible!” Jared said.

  Miki swatted him.

  “I mean it’s incredibly awful.”

  They went down to the basement. Dawson scrunched his face but didn’t comment on the mess. Or the horrible smell. He’d have to remember this for a possible future line of defense.

  “You need to sit down for this.” Miki offered him the chair at the desk. Jared played the video for Dawson. It started with Hasan’s introduction.

  When it ended, Dawson felt nauseated. As he touched his temple, things fell into place.

  “I can’t believe Cooper didn’t say anything.”

  “So what should we do?” Miki asked.

  “We need to get this on the air. Maybe use the Qnet,” Dawson said, trying to figure out the best course of action.

  “I can help,” Jared said, but they ignored him.

  “Not the Qnet, the government monitors that,” Miki reminded him.

  “Right. I have tech people in my office that might be able to hook something up. But how would I get them the information?” he said, thinking out loud.

  “I can do it!” Jared piped louder. They still didn’t listen to him.

  “We have to hurry so we can help Cooper,” Miki added.

  “I know. I can call…”

  “I can do it!” Jared shouted.

  They both turned to him with wide eyes.

  “Did you say something, Jared?” Dawson asked.

  “All I have to do is hack into the major satellite networks. Once I’m in, I can access their outgoing feeds. My friend Warren showed me the trick to it so he could get free porn. It’s easy. It shouldn’t be hard to send a broadcast out the same way. And I know how to turn off the government eye—I’ve been under their radar for years.”

  “Impressive,” Dawson said. “And I didn’t hear that.”

  “I never knew you were so smart, honey!” Miki gushed.

  “When can you have it ready to go?”

  “I should be able to rig it in less than an hour. But I might have to call Warren for some help.”

  Miki lunged at him with a huge hug and whispered in his ear, “I am so turned on right now!”

  “That’s enough. Let him get to work, Miki. You can help me put together some comforting words to add to the video. Hasan did a good job, but he was very technical in his explanation. The people will need more personal reassurance after seeing that.”

  “So, how long have you been a spy?” Cooper asked. He couldn’t take the uncomfortable silence any longer. They had ridden for a while, not sure what to say to each other. In a few minutes, they would be in Walnut Grove.

  Geri glanced at him. “Eight years. Why are you a Peeping Tom?” she asked.

  “For the fame and fortune. Look where it got me.” He grinned.

  She stared at the road ahead. Another joke wasted.

  “I’m sorry about your wife,” Geri said, breaking the silence again.

  “Life goes on,” Cooper said. Where did that come from?

  “Has it?”

  He ignored that question and looked in the rearview mirror.

  “I think we’re being followed.”

  “Undoubtedly. These company cars all have trackers built into them.”

  “Are you setting me up?”

  “No. I thought you’d assume we would be followed.”

  “Thanks for the confidence in my skepticism. But you’re right, I expected it. So we need to ditch the dopes and the car.”

  “Good idea. This is your turf. Where to?”

  “The diner. I don’t want to lead them directly to Miki and her family. She’s got a wedding today.”

  “Aw, is she getting married? I haven’t been to a wedding in a while.” Geri didn’t seem too concerned about the guys behind them.

  “No, her sister. The diner is straight ahead.”

  “What a nice little town,” she said.

  “I’ll give you a tour someday.”

  “I’d like that.” She smiled. He locked her warm expression into his memory, not sure if he would be able to go through with his offer.

  They pulled over in front of Joe’s. The agents passed them, u-turned, and parked across the street. Cooper stifled the urge to wave at them.

  “Hey, Joe,” Cooper greeted as they went in.

  “Haven’t seen you for a few days. Where ya been?”

  “Had to do some business travel. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?”

  “Miki disappeared and gave her mom quite a scare. Little vixen stayed out all night at a concert or some such nonsense. This morning, she came in wearing her pretty, yellow bridesmaid dress. Then your brother came in—”

  Cooper cut him off.

  “Dawson? Was here?”

  “Sure. That struck me as odd, too. Especially without you. But it’s none of my business, I s’pose. He left with Miki and Jared. It’s been an eventful morning here at the diner.”

  “I guess so. Uh, Joe, could I borrow your QV?”

  “Of course. Here ya go.”

  As Joe tossed it to him, he caught a glimpse of Geri down the counter. Joe’s wife was serving her coffee. Joe whispered to Cooper out of the corner of his mouth.

  “Who’s the redhead?”

  Cooper looked over at Geri and let a grin slip onto his lips.

  “A friend.” Geri smiled back.

  “She’s a looker,” Joe said with a double eyebrow lift. The men looked over at her again. She waved at them.

  “Hello?”

  Cooper refocused on the QV.

  “Miki? It’s me.”

  “Oh, hi, Cooper. I’m sorry about your head. Hold on. Someone here wants to talk to you.”

  “Hey, bro.”

  “Dawson? Where are you?”

  “Jared’s basement.”

  “How did you get involved in this? What are you doing here?”

  Geri tapped Cooper’s shoulder to get his attention. He held up his index finger for her to wait a minute.

  “Miki called me. They showed me the video. I added some more to it and Jared has been working on getting it uploaded to broadcast via satellite.”

  “Jared?”

  “Amazing, isn’t it. He seems to know what he’s doing.”

  “What happens when it’s out there?”

  “He got me a secured line so I’ve been talking to my staff privately. They are coordinating with my highest contacts to start the process of suspending pop travel, alerting law enforcement to help at transport stations. I’ve left a message for the President, but who knows if they’ll believe me. It sounded a little crazy, listening to myself explain it all.”

  “How long until it’s on the air?”

  “Cooper!” Geri shouted.

  “Hold on, Dawson.”
He turned to her. “What?”

  “Our tail just left!”

  “Oh, no! They must be listening to Miki’s QV! Dawson, you guys need to get out of there. You’re about to have company!”

  “Jared has fifteen or twenty minutes to go.”

  “You only have ten! We’re on our way.”

  Cooper and Geri dashed out the door and jumped into Geri’s car with Cooper in the driver’s seat.

  “I know a short cut! Hold on!”

  Cooper steered them at a sharp right, through an alley, crashed a fence, ran over a lawn chair, through a sprinkler and another fence, then down a driveway and back onto a street. And right behind their escort.

  As the other car turned right, so did Cooper. The streets were all twenty-five miles per hour with four-way stops at every other intersection. Cooper blew threw them and squealed around a car, then turned up a street, swerved to miss a kid on a bike, and came crashing into the tail end of the other agents’ car. He sent the car across the street into a light pole. Out of the steering wheel and dashboard burst the polyurethane foam, to cushion the impact.

  “You all right?” Cooper asked. Geri rubbed her neck.

  “Sure, let’s go!”

  As they jumped out of the car, the two agents came at them, drawing their electroguns.

  Cooper kept his head low and slammed into the gut of the first guy before he could fire, smashing him into the car. He sank to the ground.

  Geri blocked the other agent’s shot with her QV absorber, recycling it and shooting it back at him, hitting him in the arm. He dropped his weapon but continued to charge her.

  She shot him again, this time in the leg, and he went down.

  Geri helped Cooper cuff the two agents and put them in the back of their own car and they ran the rest of the way to Jared’s house.

  Dawson, Miki, and Jared were ready to send out the message.

  “Thanks for coming down to help,” Cooper told Dawson.

  “I wish you had told me in the first place.”

  “You didn’t believe me!” Cooper said, raising his arms.

  Dawson smirked at him.

  “There it goes,” Jared said.

  Cooper held his breath as he watched the live broadcast air on Jared’s compucenter imager. This was it. This is what he’d been working for all this time. He hoped it worked. How would they know?