targeted at the American side of things." Madison took another sip of wine, her mind turning over all that they knew, trying to assemble pieces into a recognizable whole. "At least that limits the investigation."
"But it still leaves us with a lot to prove. Although it goes a long way, three of six doesn't establish conspiracy." Gabriel's icy gaze encompassed them both.
"Don't forget the computers." Harrison leaned back in his chair, still playing with his beer glass.
"I take it you've finished your analysis?" Gabriel asked.
"I still have a few more tests to run." Harrison shrugged. "But I've exhausted most of my options. I even checked Cullen's tracking system. Old bastard designed a hell of a program. But whoever did this wiped it clean, as well."
"So you think they were after something of Cullen's?" Madison frowned.
"It makes more sense than wanting something off o f ours. All of the accord records are stored on his system. But it's still only an educated guess. One that I certainly can't prove. Once everything is back online, I'll finish the diagnostics. But I wouldn't hold my breath." Harrison sat back with a sigh. "Did Nigel find anything?"
Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing conclusive. Some partial prints. Most of which are probably ours. Anything that we can't identify will be checked against Cullen's employee list. He's got prints on everyone in the building."
"Nice of him." Harrison smiled. "And I suppose if we still have any unidentified we can run them through the computers at Langley and Quantico just to be certain."
"Exactly, but my guess is they won't turn up anything significant."
"Even if we don't identify the hacker," Madison said, "I'd still say the fact we had one, combined with the murders, is a pretty strong indication that we're on the right track."
"It would seem that way, certainly. But until we verify that the other three deaths were also intentional, I'd prefer we maintain our skepticism." Gabriel finished the last of his whiskey.
"Well, without an autopsy, how do you sugges t we proceed?" Harrison asked. "They're all in different jurisdictions."
"Divide and conquer." Gabriel smiled, and Madison was certain she wasn't going to like the rest of what he had to say. "Harrison, you can check out Macomb's death. The car wreck happened in Albany, so you should be able to request records from here and still finish your work on Cullen's computers. Payton and Nigel can head for Virginia. Dashal has family there. And we already have the police report."
Madison's stomach churned. Alan Stewart had died in Colorado. In a remote mountain town.
"And you and I—" Gabriel's gaze collided with hers, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth "—will head for the mountains."
Madison looked to Harrison for support, but he only shrugged.
Some best friend.
There had to be a way out. Something she could say. But her brain stubbornly refused to provide an excuse, choosing instead a completely reprehensible route, and before she could stop them, the words tumbled out of her mouth.
"What time do we leave?"
*****
CULLEN PULASKI SAT at his desk, staring at the computer screen. The list of files stared back at him, the cursor blinking, waiting for him to take action. He entered a series of keystrokes and a password, and the machine buzzed, then presented him with a list of documents. Opening one, he skimmed the pages, wondering if the intruder had made it this far.
He'd set up safeguards. But nothing was impregnable. Whoever had broken into the computer system had obviously known what they were doing, and what they were after. Cullen entered more keystrokes and checked the hidden log. He hadn't shared its existence with Harrison. The man had found the decoy. And searched it. But of course there was nothing to find.
Cullen had almost told him about the second one, wanting to share his genius with someone who could appreciate it. He'd designed the program himself. A way to track activity within his
"But it still leaves us with a lot to prove. Although it goes a long way, three of six doesn't establish conspiracy." Gabriel's icy gaze encompassed them both.
"Don't forget the computers." Harrison leaned back in his chair, still playing with his beer glass.
"I take it you've finished your analysis?" Gabriel asked.
"I still have a few more tests to run." Harrison shrugged. "But I've exhausted most of my options. I even checked Cullen's tracking system. Old bastard designed a hell of a program. But whoever did this wiped it clean, as well."
"So you think they were after something of Cullen's?" Madison frowned.
"It makes more sense than wanting something off o f ours. All of the accord records are stored on his system. But it's still only an educated guess. One that I certainly can't prove. Once everything is back online, I'll finish the diagnostics. But I wouldn't hold my breath." Harrison sat back with a sigh. "Did Nigel find anything?"
Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing conclusive. Some partial prints. Most of which are probably ours. Anything that we can't identify will be checked against Cullen's employee list. He's got prints on everyone in the building."
"Nice of him." Harrison smiled. "And I suppose if we still have any unidentified we can run them through the computers at Langley and Quantico just to be certain."
"Exactly, but my guess is they won't turn up anything significant."
"Even if we don't identify the hacker," Madison said, "I'd still say the fact we had one, combined with the murders, is a pretty strong indication that we're on the right track."
"It would seem that way, certainly. But until we verify that the other three deaths were also intentional, I'd prefer we maintain our skepticism." Gabriel finished the last of his whiskey.
"Well, without an autopsy, how do you sugges t we proceed?" Harrison asked. "They're all in different jurisdictions."
"Divide and conquer." Gabriel smiled, and Madison was certain she wasn't going to like the rest of what he had to say. "Harrison, you can check out Macomb's death. The car wreck happened in Albany, so you should be able to request records from here and still finish your work on Cullen's computers. Payton and Nigel can head for Virginia. Dashal has family there. And we already have the police report."
Madison's stomach churned. Alan Stewart had died in Colorado. In a remote mountain town.
"And you and I—" Gabriel's gaze collided with hers, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth "—will head for the mountains."
Madison looked to Harrison for support, but he only shrugged.
Some best friend.
There had to be a way out. Something she could say. But her brain stubbornly refused to provide an excuse, choosing instead a completely reprehensible route, and before she could stop them, the words tumbled out of her mouth.
"What time do we leave?"
*****
CULLEN PULASKI SAT at his desk, staring at the computer screen. The list of files stared back at him, the cursor blinking, waiting for him to take action. He entered a series of keystrokes and a password, and the machine buzzed, then presented him with a list of documents. Opening one, he skimmed the pages, wondering if the intruder had made it this far.
He'd set up safeguards. But nothing was impregnable. Whoever had broken into the computer system had obviously known what they were doing, and what they were after. Cullen entered more keystrokes and checked the hidden log. He hadn't shared its existence with Harrison. The man had found the decoy. And searched it. But of course there was nothing to find.
Cullen had almost told him about the second one, wanting to share his genius with someone who could appreciate it. He'd designed the program himself. A way to track activity within his
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