Missing (25 page)

“
My secretary?”

“
Yeah. She was on the interview today too.”

Fitzpatrick shrugged. “I‘ll just tell them I went to lunch with my wife and then checked with some suppliers. No one will question it.”

Maggie shrugged. “Yeah, they might buy it. For a while anyway.”

“
Of course they will.”

“
But, you will have to check in pretty early. I would imagine by the time you normally get into work the action would be really building then. So, you will do what? Go in and play the hero. That should make some points with your boss. Or is it someone higher up that you want to impress?”

“
You’ll have to wait and see.”

“
No, actually I already know. I heard your last conversation. How well do you trust the man you hired to do this?”

“
I trust him explicitly.”

“
Really? And are you sure the list of codes he gave you is what he really put in?”

“
Yes.”

“
And do you know what the codes mean? You obviously don’t know anything about computers, based on how he had to show you about what he had put on your computer. Who’s to say he didn’t just fabricate something just to pacify you.”

Fitzpatrick stood up, a worried look came over his face, and then he shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t do that.”

Walter coughed. “Actually, Jim, I think he did.”

Fitzpatrick whipped his head around to look at Walter. “What are you talking about?”

“
Remember when I said I thought they had done something. I just remembered there was another time yesterday when I overheard Michael tell the girl that he put a little ‘action’ in.”

He narrowed his eyes at him. “Action?”

“
Yeah. I don’t know what, but he said you might be in for a surprise.”

Fitzpatrick shook his head. “I don’t understand. What exactly was he talking about?”

Walter shook his head. “I don’t understand computer talk. I had gone to the kitchen with the dishes and they were in here by themselves. The other two had gone upstairs to sleep. I heard Michael and the girl talking, so I came back and stood outside the door so they couldn’t see me. I heard them laughing after he said that. He didn’t say what it was or where.”

“
Oh my God. Are you kidding? This wasn’t part of the deal.”

Walter shook his head and shrugged.

Maggie listened to the conversation. Fitzpatrick began pacing; ignoring the fact that she still had her gun on him. It didn’t bother her though. She was enjoying the show.

“
He may have set up who you wanted, but it also looks like he set you up too. What happened? Didn’t you give him enough money?” Maggie asked.

Fitzpatrick stopped and looked back at her. His face showed anger, and frustration. What had looked like an easy thing to do, was now falling back on him.

He shook his head. “No. I paid him more than enough.”

“
Really? Since he’s a hacker, maybe the ‘action’ he did was hack into your checking account.”

Maggie was sort of kidding, but Fitzpatrick sucked in his breath. He pulled out his iPhone and dialed a number. He flipped through the apps and selected one. Then he punched in a few numbers. There was a look of relief on his face as he looked at the screen. Guess it hadn’t happened, but now she had put fear into him of what the guy might have done.

“
Oh, and you might want to have your computer checked when you get back to Washington. You have no idea what he put on your computer. He might not have gotten into your bank account, but you never know what else he might have done. He is a pro. He could do something and you would never know it. That is until it was too late.”

Fitzpatrick slowly nodded. “Yes, I think I’ll have to. It won’t be a problem. I can have undone anything he might have done.”

“
Guess you should have gotten a signed contract and given him more money.”

“
We did have a signed contract. And I gave him more than he asked for.”

Maggie was sure she had gotten him rattled enough. If the FBI didn’t hurry up, she was going to have to find a way to take him into custody. She didn’t want him leaving with the laptop. There was too much information on it.

Suddenly, Fitzpatrick glared at Maggie. “How did you know anyone was here?”

Maggie wondered why it had taken him so long to ask. “I’ve been watching this house for a few days now. I saw the Lexus come, the tour bus, all the people that got off, the delivery truck that came three times a day and I saw you come in late this afternoon. So, yes, I saw everyone who came in here.” She wasn’t sure who the man in the pickup was, but since he had mentioned Jack, she wondered if it really was him. Whoever it was, he had come twice, but not tonight.

A look of shock came over Fitzpatrick’s face. “No way. There is only one house over there that has a view of this place, and the old woman who lives there is half-blind.”

Maggie’s mouth dropped open. How would he know who had lived in her house? “Who told you that?”

“
I did,” the voice behind her said.

Maggie closed her eyes for a moment and blew out her breath. She knew the voice, unfortunately, all too well. A voice she hoped she wouldn’t have to hear again. She turned to look at him. He had his gun pointed at her.

“
Nice to see you again Maggie.”

Jack Westin was dressed in jeans and a grey sweatshirt, and had his service belt on. Where had he come from? She hadn’t heard any vehicles come in. No matter, he was here now. She dropped her gun hand.

“
Yeah, you too Jack.”

“
You know her?” Fitzpatrick asked.

Jack nodded. “Yes, I do. She’s my ex-wife.”

Maggie glared at Jack. “Guess you didn’t follow up on the house very well, Jack. My renter moved out a month ago.”

“
So, what are you doing in town? I thought you said you’d never come back here?”

“
Yeah, well, things change.” She looked him a moment, then realized it was his pickup truck she had seen twice. Maggie shook her head. Of all people, she would not have thought he would get involved in something like this.

“
So, what happened, Jack? Did you get passed over for the chief of police position again?”

Jack laughed. “No, I was elected two years ago.”

“
Then why?”

He stepped forward, taking the gun out of her hand. “Because this area is dying.”

Maggie shook her head. “You have got to be kidding. This area never has had much and that will never change. Besides, the people here don’t want it to change.”

“
Oh, yes they do. They just don’t know it yet. More money will be coming into the area. Once they see that, they will want to improve their lives.”

“
Oh, so that’s what this is all about. Fitzpatrick gets some good publicity when he comes in looking like a hero and gives people the aid they need. Maybe even takes over his boss’s job. And you, you get what? A kickback?”

“
Of course. You think this town pays much? After all my years of service, I deserve it.”

“
And I suppose you are responsible for telling Fitzpatrick about the house.” She almost mentioned he was probably responsible for making the changes in the basement, but caught herself before she did. She didn’t want them to know that Captain Murphy and his crew were no longer there.

“
Yes, I did.”

Maggie glanced at Fitzpatrick, and then looked back at Jack. “How did you two ever meet?”

“
Two months ago I made a trip to Washington, as part of a county group, to see what aid we might get if something happened to the hydro-electric dam. Then, one thing led to another and we ended up helping each other.”

“
So, you knew what he was going to do here?”

“
Nothing big is going to happen.”

“
You think so?”

“
Yes, I do.”

“
And do you think Fitzpatrick doesn’t want anything bad to happen? He wants to get a better job. He wants to get even with his boss. To do that, something big and dramatic has to happen. I have no doubt people will be more than just a little put out with what is going to happen to them. As a matter of a fact, I believe there is going to be a lot of danger to the people in this area, and the other areas.” She walked over to the map and looked at where the pushpins were located. She had noticed one nearby and now she knew what it was. She pointed to it, and then looked at Jack.

“
This one here is the Bluestone Hydroelectric plant, just a few miles away. The river runs south. There has been a lot of rain up north, which means there will be a build up of water. If the power shuts down, then there is a high potential of the water overflowing the dam. Do you know how many towns there are along the path of the river to the south? Several towns down river will be devastated if the river level goes up. Have you thought about that? Who knows how much further the damage will be as the river rises all along its path. That river is hundreds of miles long. How many towns are along the whole path of the river?”

Jack’s face showed little reaction. Maggie wasn’t sure he really understood or cared. Then again, he had been a cop for many years. He had perfected the impassive look she was seeing on his face. She shook her head, and then looked back at Fitzpatrick.

“
I heard there were six people on the plane. Only four stayed here. So, where did the other two?”

Fitzpatrick shook his head. “I have no idea. Probably with the tour bus.”

Maggie narrowed her eyes at him. “How could there only be six people on an international flight?”

“
Yeah. A tour group canceled out at the last minute.”

She knew there was no way he would know this if he wasn’t the one who set it up. “So you were the one who arranged to have a full flight just so the six could be on the plane by themselves?”

Fitzpatrick shrugged.

Maggie continued. “So, then, two flew the plane. One did the hacking. Three who did who knows what. Then there were the two bodies on the plane. Were they part of the group?”

“
No. They just got in the way.

“
Who shot them?”

Fitzpatrick shrugged again, but said nothing.

Maggie knew someone in the hacker’s group had killed them. She would have to leave that to the FBI to figure out. Right now, she needed to get other information out of Fitzpatrick.

“
Was it just the one man who was doing the hacking?”

He shook his head. “No, the blonde was helping too.”

“
I see. So, in the last three days since they have been here, they have hacked into each of these six companies. So what are they? Power grids, nuclear plant and the hydro plant? And, they have put a timer on each of the companies they hacked.”

“
How do you know that?” Fitzpatrick demanded.

“
I told you. I heard your conversation with that man before all of them left.”

Maggie really wanted to get behind the desk and see what the file was that gave the command for the house. She also wanted to see how much more time they had. And, where is the FBI? She had a lot to tell them.

Then she got an idea.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Maggie sidestepped to her right, bypassing Fitzpatrick and went around the end of the desk.

“
So, what do those screens look like? I’d like to see them,” she said.

Walter was still sitting in the chair. She walked behind him and sat on the edge of the desk, turning the laptop towards her. On the screen were six small screens, with a clock in the middle of each one. The first one showed there was five hours and thirty minutes to go.

“
Maggie, get over here,” Jack demanded.

“
Never mind, Jack. Let her look. She’s not leaving here,” Fitzpatrick said. He paused a moment, then looked back at Jack. “I’ll let you take care of her.”

“
What?”

Maggie looked at Jack. A look of momentary shock came over his face. When he looked at her, his face softened, and then he shrugged.

“
You might as well agree,” Maggie said. “Between the two of us, I’m sure you are the better shot.” Of course, he didn’t know about all the gun shooting practice she’d had in the past six years. She was pretty sure she was better than he was, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

She looked back at the computer. Reaching down, she put her finger on the center pad and moved the pointer symbol over the first screen, and clicked. A computer graphic came up showing the tentative damage that would occur as the power grid shut down. The area shown was a large area that looked to cover four or five states, Ohio being the originating state. Also included were all of the major cities inside each state. She shook her head. The devastation of the power outages would disable more than just residential areas. It would shut down businesses, hospitals, police and fire departments. Everything would come to a halt. She couldn’t even begin to fathom the damage that would happen. And, it all starts at two o’clock tomorrow morning. No one would have a clue what was going on until it was too late.

This is exactly what Fitzpatrick wants to happen. It would cost the government a lot of money, but he would be the savior who came to the rescue and helped with the needs people had. He would probably make sure the press saw what he was doing, just like the news program she saw yesterday. The idea of what he was about to do made her sick. In the news report she had seen, he stated he was concerned for the public. All it really was, was publicity. Probably to show up his boss. Maybe even get his boss’s job. Then again, maybe he did want to serve the public, but at the same time he was looking for his own reward.