“And where you could be,” frowned April. “They were using me. All of them were using me and I can’t help feel that it was to get back at my grandfather in some way.”
“That’s a good guess,” said Victoria. “Although they wouldn’t take your grandfather’s suggestion to use our technology, they did agree to secure the technology they possessed a little better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I think I have some important calls to make,” said Ham. “April, stay with Quinn. We’re going to send a few men to pay a visit to Daniel.”
She nodded at the older man and then looked up at Quinn.
“I’m suddenly exhausted,” she said shaking her head.
“It’s been an eventful day. You’ve had a lot thrown at you all at once. Let’s head back to the cottage.”
“What about Greg Jones, or whatever his name is?” she asked looking at everyone.
“We’re still working on his identity,” said Matt. “Once we can figure out a name, we’ll find him. Don’t worry, April. We’ll figure all of this out.”
“Daniel said that I didn’t have my grandfather to protect me any longer,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe he meant that without my grandfather, they could download the information more easily. If they did that, they could blow a plane out of the sky. One that I was on.”
April said nothing else, just turning and walking toward the door. Quinn followed, knowing that the others would handle whatever came through during the night.
“Tanner, Bogey, and Benji are in Jacksonville finishing up some business. Get them over to Pensacola to visit this asshole, Daniel,” said Ham. Matt nodded, immediately communicating to the three men. It was perfect timing as they were planning to spend one more night and head home. Instead, they’d get up early and visit Daniel Harvey.
“What we still don’t know is why this Jones character was trying to take her. Was it all about the missing bag?” asked Gator.
“I have to believe it had a great deal to do with it. They wanted the information contained in those fibers,” said Ham. He looked at Victoria and she stared at him.
“What?”
“What? Victoria, where is the information from the fibers in that bag?”
“We downloaded it. It’s for flights beginning Saturday morning. All of them.”
“Saturday,” whispered Ham. “That’s why they needed her to get the bag for them. They couldn’t find it in her apartment, then couldn’t find her so they sent Jones or whatever the fuck his name is, to get her. They didn’t know the wheel broke.”
“We need to see those upcoming flights,” said Major, “and the passenger and crew lists. We need to know if there are any VIP passengers and where the hell they’re headed.”
“I’ll send it to you,” said Victoria. She stood and grabbed the bag, ready to head back to the lab.
“Victoria? Enough for tonight honey,” smirked Ham. “Lock up the bag and have dinner with your husband. It’ll be there in the morning.”
Victoria laughed, nodding at the group and left the cafeteria. Ham wasn’t surprised when Luke, Eric, and Cam walked over to their table.
“I hear our new guest is the granddaughter of Colonel Tom Lewis,” said Cam.
“Did you know him?” asked Ham.
“Luke and I didn’t. Navy, remember?” he smirked. “Eric knew him.”
“He was fucking awesome,” said Eric. “He was a soldiers soldier. Half the time you’d be in the middle of a fight and that bastard would show up next to you. He was in trouble all the time with the big wigs. Would have been a four-star general had he not taken so many risks.”
“Rafe and Baptiste said he was a young soldier when they were Rangers. Said he was amazing,” said Luke.
“We suspected he was legit,” said Ham. “Any suspicions on his death?”
“None,” said Eric shaking his head. “He was eighty-eight and his heart was bad, or so they said. Still too young to die in my opinion but maybe that’s because I’m inching toward that number every fucking year.”
“I hear ya brother,” laughed Ham. “Well, we’ll wait to hear from the boys in Jacksonville and see what they find in Pensacola.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
