Memoria by Alex Bobl Page A

how far Memoria has gone in its research. It is such a terrible shame that Ms . Baker is no longer with us, slain by an outcast. But her memory will al ways live on in our hearts. What a loss . The whole family seems to be hostages to ill fortune . Her father, as far as I remember, also died under suspicious circumstances."
    Just like Claney before him, the President pressed his right hand to his heart and lowered his head in an expression of his sorrow. Then he smiled and patted the Congressman's shoulder. "But life must go on," he said. "Russe l l Claney may be my Presidential adversary , but that's because not many people know we're big friends outside of politics. I admire his business sense and tenacity and w ould like to wish him luck in all his undertakings. See you all in New York."
    They shook hands, and the footage ended, replace d by the figure of the news anchor . He reminded his audience that the full report of the Vaccination project would be presented to the public t he next day at Memoria 's HQ in the presence of the President. Then he moved to other stories.
    Frank turned the sound down and walked away from the screen.
    "Tomorrow," the coach said staring in front of him. "It will all happen tomorrow. Then we could-" He stared at Barney in the doorway. "We need to get inside the HQ before the press conference starts and get hold of the data."
    "Still no reason to wake me up," reminded Barney .
    "Oh yeah," Max removed his glasses and wiped his red eyes. "I need some information on one of your taxi drivers. I've got the plate number."
    "Piece of cake," Barney said. "Give me the number."
    Frank grabbed the piece of paper, jotted down the car's make and color, and passed it over to h im. The coach opened his laptop. His fingers flitted over the keyboard.
    Barney in the next room bellowed in to the phone, " T hat son of a bitch cut me off on the Fifty-Ninth the other day. Exactly. Are you sure? All right, then."
    He popped his head into the room to tell them the news. Not only did the plates not match, but his company had only eight Fords which were all currently firmly stuck in major overhaul.
    "Can I go to bed now?" he yawned.
    "Please do," Max turned to Frank. " Get some paper out. We need to mull over these facts for a bit. Let's see where they take us."
    "And how about the news?"
    "We've already heard whatever they had to say. First, they're plugging this Vaccination thing in a bit of a hurry. Second ly , you're the scape goat."
    Fra nk reached for the remote and was ab out to press the off button.
    "Don't," said Max . "Put the sound down so it doesn't distract us. Let's do it."
    Fifteen minutes later, they had their first model. Someone had intended to intercept Frank on his way from the airport. They had sent a bogus taxi out for him. H is allergy had saved his butt. They had killed Kathleen while he was being driv en home, staging their date and removing her purse. Possibly, they had let the killer know that Frank was on his way and g iven the killer an order to smoke him, as well. But it hadn't worked because of the media crowded in the hall, and Kathleen had been the one who'd called them. She must have intended to break some news to them. She'd also backed up whatever information she 'd had onto the hard disk . Suspecting that they mi ght be after her, she'd mailed the disk to Frank. The killers hadn't learned about it early enough. Could Kathleen have tried to negotiate with them? What if she'd tried to black mai l them by threatening to go public with the information on the hard disk? Before leaving, the killer had removed her electronic bracelet and either destroyed it or placed it into an insulated container, preventing the po lice from detecting its signal.
    It was also possible that the bracelet chip was hooked up to some access codes. It could have been Kathleen's workstation , or it equally could have been some secret bank accounts. After all, the Bakers weren't exactly poor. One of the world's