about that now.
Finally she dragged herself upstairs and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over herself the way she wished she could escape from the world and hide in a little hole.
* * * * *
“Damn it.” Chase slammed his hand on the guard’s desk.
“I tried, Mr. Carpenter. Honest. Whoever it was just hung up.”
“Not your fault, George.” Chase fisted his hands. “You did your best.” Dan had pulled out his cell phone and was speed dialing a number. “Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?” he asked while he waited for the call to go through.
George shook his head. “Sorry. The voice was muffled. And whispering. And spoke very quickly.”
“Figures.” Dan straightened and moved away from the desk to speak as his call connected. “Andy. Make yourself a gallon of coffee. I’m sending you an extremely large file of telephone records. I want you to pull off every incoming call to the main Carpenter Techtronics number yesterday and today and tell me where they came from.” He recited the main Carpenter number and had Andy repeat it back to him.
Andy’s laugh echoed back over the airwaves. He was rapidly getting used to his new boss and the ever-present crisis situations that involved the work he was given.
“And you want it five minutes ago, right?”
“I see you know me so well already, my hardwired friend. All right. Call my cell the instant you get anything. Oh and Andy? See if any of the numbers match up geographically with what you got on the email trace.” He snapped the phone shut and stuck it in his pocket.
“Are you ready to tell me now what you’ve got on that email?” Chase demanded, his body humming with tension.
“Yes.” Dan took him by the arm. “As soon as we’re back in your office.” Chase ground his teeth as they rode up in the elevator. He jogged down the hall, banged open the door to his office and strode inside.
“Now.” He turned to Dan. “Give. Whatever it is.”
Dan studied his face for a moment. “Do you make it a habit to visit art museums?” Chase’s jaw dropped. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You heard me. Do you spend a lot of time in art museums?”
“I guess I go to a benefit now and then with Joy. Why? What’s that got to do with anything?”
Dan dropped his rangy frame into one of the armchairs. “Whoever sent that email is very clever. They know how to build enough layers to create anonymity.” He grinned. “Except from the Dragon, of course. The Dragon can seek out anything.” He paused. “The email came from someone at the DeWitt Museum.” Chase stared at him. “But that’s absurd. What would anyone in a museum have to do with techtronics? Especially sophisticated robotics.”
“You’ve got me. What about your partners. Any of them doing a weird dance with museum people?”
“No more than I do. We all give a chunk of change to the art world and hoist a glass of champagne when we have to. Jesus. An art museum? Why would someone there want to steal Oscar?”
All humor disappeared from Dan’s face. “I don’t know. But someone’s trying to warn you about this and doing their damnedest to make sure you get the message. You think it might be a good idea for you to call your partners now and fill them in?” Chase shook his head. “Not until we know more about who this is. They’ll want specific information. So do I.”
“Okay. Meanwhile I want to meet with your security people. I’m calling Troy to send in some reinforcements. I think we should beef things up.” Troy Arsenault, among his many other responsibilities with the agency, supervised the training and assignment of field agents, juggling schedules as new jobs came up. “And I want to get hold of the director of the museum.”
Chase’s eyes widened. “You think he might know something?” Dan shook his head. “No. But I want access to all his computers. I want to find the right one before I confront whoever it is.” He stood up. “Okay.
Finally she dragged herself upstairs and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over herself the way she wished she could escape from the world and hide in a little hole.
* * * * *
“Damn it.” Chase slammed his hand on the guard’s desk.
“I tried, Mr. Carpenter. Honest. Whoever it was just hung up.”
“Not your fault, George.” Chase fisted his hands. “You did your best.” Dan had pulled out his cell phone and was speed dialing a number. “Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?” he asked while he waited for the call to go through.
George shook his head. “Sorry. The voice was muffled. And whispering. And spoke very quickly.”
“Figures.” Dan straightened and moved away from the desk to speak as his call connected. “Andy. Make yourself a gallon of coffee. I’m sending you an extremely large file of telephone records. I want you to pull off every incoming call to the main Carpenter Techtronics number yesterday and today and tell me where they came from.” He recited the main Carpenter number and had Andy repeat it back to him.
Andy’s laugh echoed back over the airwaves. He was rapidly getting used to his new boss and the ever-present crisis situations that involved the work he was given.
“And you want it five minutes ago, right?”
“I see you know me so well already, my hardwired friend. All right. Call my cell the instant you get anything. Oh and Andy? See if any of the numbers match up geographically with what you got on the email trace.” He snapped the phone shut and stuck it in his pocket.
“Are you ready to tell me now what you’ve got on that email?” Chase demanded, his body humming with tension.
“Yes.” Dan took him by the arm. “As soon as we’re back in your office.” Chase ground his teeth as they rode up in the elevator. He jogged down the hall, banged open the door to his office and strode inside.
“Now.” He turned to Dan. “Give. Whatever it is.”
Dan studied his face for a moment. “Do you make it a habit to visit art museums?” Chase’s jaw dropped. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You heard me. Do you spend a lot of time in art museums?”
“I guess I go to a benefit now and then with Joy. Why? What’s that got to do with anything?”
Dan dropped his rangy frame into one of the armchairs. “Whoever sent that email is very clever. They know how to build enough layers to create anonymity.” He grinned. “Except from the Dragon, of course. The Dragon can seek out anything.” He paused. “The email came from someone at the DeWitt Museum.” Chase stared at him. “But that’s absurd. What would anyone in a museum have to do with techtronics? Especially sophisticated robotics.”
“You’ve got me. What about your partners. Any of them doing a weird dance with museum people?”
“No more than I do. We all give a chunk of change to the art world and hoist a glass of champagne when we have to. Jesus. An art museum? Why would someone there want to steal Oscar?”
All humor disappeared from Dan’s face. “I don’t know. But someone’s trying to warn you about this and doing their damnedest to make sure you get the message. You think it might be a good idea for you to call your partners now and fill them in?” Chase shook his head. “Not until we know more about who this is. They’ll want specific information. So do I.”
“Okay. Meanwhile I want to meet with your security people. I’m calling Troy to send in some reinforcements. I think we should beef things up.” Troy Arsenault, among his many other responsibilities with the agency, supervised the training and assignment of field agents, juggling schedules as new jobs came up. “And I want to get hold of the director of the museum.”
Chase’s eyes widened. “You think he might know something?” Dan shook his head. “No. But I want access to all his computers. I want to find the right one before I confront whoever it is.” He stood up. “Okay.
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