Atomic Beauty by Barb Han

might have been her father’s target, only the wrong person ended up dead. Or whoever killed her father was after Carter, too. “Could he have been escaping after my father’s murder?”
    â€œIt’s possible. Plus, his financials revealed large cash infusions and I couldn’t find any correlating payments from our government. There have been unexplained deposits from overseas banks since they opened their doors fifteen years ago. I tried to track the deposits and kept running into dead ends.”
    â€œAll that money had to come from somewhere. Any ideas?”
    â€œCould be from foreign interests. I found something else. Carter had another partner, but don’t get too excited because he’s dead.”
    The flicker of hope died out before it had a chance to take seed. “Hard to get answers from ghosts.”
    â€œHe drowned in a boating incident last year.”
    â€œI’m guessing that’s where the trail gets cold.” Erika would have liked to interview at least one of the men.
    â€œThere haven’t been any deposits in the past year, but CorMeds hasn’t shut its doors, either.”
    â€œIf both partners are dead then who’s keeping shop now?”
    â€œThere’s at least one more person involved, always has been, but that’s where the trail ends. I just know there’s another person somewhere in the shadows. And someone is going to great lengths to keep his identity and this company a secret.”
    â€œSo, someone is still working with Exacto?” There were several possibilities rolling around in Erika’s head. One of the original two could’ve decided to blow the whistle on the operation. Or, the third person could’ve gotten greedy and decided to keep all the profits. He was most likely connected to whatever Jace had discovered. “Keep looking for the shadow for me, will you?”
    â€œYou bet.”
    â€œAnd, Stacy, be careful with this one. Something’s got my radar up.” Everything about this had Erika off balance.
    â€œI hear you. And I feel the same way.” She paused. “You should know that Murdock reached out to me this morning.”
    â€œWhy would he do that?” Erika made a mental note to run through the data again with the new keywords, tamping down her fear the answer would lead her right back to Sanctuary.
    â€œAsked me if I’d spoken to you.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œI told him no, of course. But he sounded stressed.”
    â€œWhen has he ever sounded relaxed?” she joked, trying to ease the tension. The thought of Murdock following up on her didn’t do good things to her brain.
    â€œGood point.” Stacy laughed.
    â€œI spoke to him earlier. He said there was a lot at stake.”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound good.” Stacy paused. “You need to be careful.”
    The line went dead silent.
    â€œWhat is it, Stacy?”
    â€œYour father’s name came up when I poked around about Carter.”
    Erika already knew her father was connected, but did that relationship have something to do with his murder? Lead sat in the pit of Erika’s stomach. Was that why Murdock had been so cryptic before? His instructions had been explicit: find out what Jace knew and send it back to Sanctuary. She’d been ordered not to review the contents.
    And the files?
    Did they house the reason her father had been killed?
    â€œDo me a favor?” she asked, working to keep the anger out of her voice. She fisted her right hand and dug her fingernail into her palm, itching for a cigarette.
    â€œAnything. Name it.”
    â€œDon’t mention any of this to Murdock.” Had he known all along? And what about Jace? He’d wanted her to find this. Did he know?
    â€œI’m insulted that you think I’d do that to you.” Stacy blew out a puff of air.
    â€œI don’t. He can be persistent to the point of pushy. If he suspects you’re