wanted to laugh. He’d known they
couldn’t buy off Romy Cadman.
Just hearing her name set off reactions
within him, part anger, part lust. Sometimes when he
was with Maria, moving inside her, he thought of Romy Cadman. Young stuff like
Maria pushed his buttons, all his buttons, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have
anything left over for a prime piece of mature tail like Cadman.
“Did you agree to pay it?”
Lister stared at him. “You’re not
serious.”
“You should
have called their bluff, just to see what they’d do. Because we all know
they’re not after money. But what does this have to do with a leak?”
“The Cadman woman said she’d come to
the Manassas office because she
wanted to know why a truck leased in Idaho by Manassas was driving around the
SimGen campus.”
“But…” Luca’s heart stalled, then picked up again. “But there’s no connection. Those
leases are paid through Golden’s credit card.”
Hal Golden was dead, but no one knew
that. His body lay six feet deep in a field in Thailand ,
but his credit record, active and pristine, lived on in the computers of the
finance world. Golden had never even heard of Manassas Ventures while he lived,
so how had Cadman and Sullivan linked him to the company?
“I know that. But at one time Manassas leased them directly. Somehow she made the connection. And I’m beginning to
wonder if she might have been tipped.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. If
someone’s leaking her information about Manassas Ventures, wouldn’t they tell
her everything?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you. But whatever her source, somehow this woman has
identified Manassas as the tie
between SimGen and our Idaho facility.”
“So then, why not just abandon Manassas ?
It served its purpose.”
“It’s not like some dinghy you can
cut loose at sea and forget. It’s part of a chain of
subsidiary corporate entities that this Sullivan fuck has already traced back
four or five levels. This has everyone upset.”
The way Lister emphasized “everyone”
made it clear to Luca that this went far up the SIRG ladder.
“They want the woman and the lawyer
stopped,” Lister added, staring at him. “And since you were in charge of the
Cadman woman when she saw the truck with the Idaho plates, that puts this square in your lap. They want
you to take care of it.”
“What? Take her out? If anything
happens to her, anything final , Manassas Ventures
will be a prime suspect.”
“I’m talking about information
, not termination. She’s obviously not alone in this. They want to know
who’s behind her. They want her source. And if there’s a leak in SimGen, they
want to know who it is. Word has come down: This has equal priority with the
missing sim. Understand me, Luca? This isn’t me talking to you.” Lister
suddenly looked uncomfortable. “This comes from the Old Man himself.”
The Old Man? Luca swallowed. That meant this went all the way up the ladder, and all eyes
would be on him. Damn Romy Cadman for mentioning that truck. It almost seemed
like she was doing everything in her power to screw him.
“Word is he’s raising hell how if
you’d done the job right the first time, when you rolled Sullivan’s
car off the Saw Mill, we wouldn’t be facing this now.”
Luca felt sick. “Jesus…”
“I went to bat for you, sent the Old
Man your record in Operation Anaconda and the Baghdad sorties, and apparently that carried some weight. You know, soldier to soldier.
He’s giving
couldn’t buy off Romy Cadman.
Just hearing her name set off reactions
within him, part anger, part lust. Sometimes when he
was with Maria, moving inside her, he thought of Romy Cadman. Young stuff like
Maria pushed his buttons, all his buttons, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have
anything left over for a prime piece of mature tail like Cadman.
“Did you agree to pay it?”
Lister stared at him. “You’re not
serious.”
“You should
have called their bluff, just to see what they’d do. Because we all know
they’re not after money. But what does this have to do with a leak?”
“The Cadman woman said she’d come to
the Manassas office because she
wanted to know why a truck leased in Idaho by Manassas was driving around the
SimGen campus.”
“But…” Luca’s heart stalled, then picked up again. “But there’s no connection. Those
leases are paid through Golden’s credit card.”
Hal Golden was dead, but no one knew
that. His body lay six feet deep in a field in Thailand ,
but his credit record, active and pristine, lived on in the computers of the
finance world. Golden had never even heard of Manassas Ventures while he lived,
so how had Cadman and Sullivan linked him to the company?
“I know that. But at one time Manassas leased them directly. Somehow she made the connection. And I’m beginning to
wonder if she might have been tipped.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. If
someone’s leaking her information about Manassas Ventures, wouldn’t they tell
her everything?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you. But whatever her source, somehow this woman has
identified Manassas as the tie
between SimGen and our Idaho facility.”
“So then, why not just abandon Manassas ?
It served its purpose.”
“It’s not like some dinghy you can
cut loose at sea and forget. It’s part of a chain of
subsidiary corporate entities that this Sullivan fuck has already traced back
four or five levels. This has everyone upset.”
The way Lister emphasized “everyone”
made it clear to Luca that this went far up the SIRG ladder.
“They want the woman and the lawyer
stopped,” Lister added, staring at him. “And since you were in charge of the
Cadman woman when she saw the truck with the Idaho plates, that puts this square in your lap. They want
you to take care of it.”
“What? Take her out? If anything
happens to her, anything final , Manassas Ventures
will be a prime suspect.”
“I’m talking about information
, not termination. She’s obviously not alone in this. They want to know
who’s behind her. They want her source. And if there’s a leak in SimGen, they
want to know who it is. Word has come down: This has equal priority with the
missing sim. Understand me, Luca? This isn’t me talking to you.” Lister
suddenly looked uncomfortable. “This comes from the Old Man himself.”
The Old Man? Luca swallowed. That meant this went all the way up the ladder, and all eyes
would be on him. Damn Romy Cadman for mentioning that truck. It almost seemed
like she was doing everything in her power to screw him.
“Word is he’s raising hell how if
you’d done the job right the first time, when you rolled Sullivan’s
car off the Saw Mill, we wouldn’t be facing this now.”
Luca felt sick. “Jesus…”
“I went to bat for you, sent the Old
Man your record in Operation Anaconda and the Baghdad sorties, and apparently that carried some weight. You know, soldier to soldier.
He’s giving
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