“What’s up?” asked Tanner.
“We sent the address for Marilyn Sanders home but you need to know something else,” said Hex.“The team here has been searching the cameras in the area where Sgt. MacGregor was killed.There is footage of him entering the bar, then we found inside footage, good footage we might add, of him having a burger and a soda.”
The men all watched the footage, even Hiro looking over at the screen while driving, from time to time.
“He waited a little while, then left, turning right out of the building.He stops at the alleyway, we think because someone called his name.He goes into the alley, it’s dark, and then we don’t see him again.But we do see something else.”
Emerging from the alley, wearing dark dress pants and a windbreaker, was a woman.A woman with short dark hair, her hand in her pocket and the outline of a handgun.
“It had nothing to do with Anders.Nothing.It was about this,” whispered AJ.
“We don’t think she knew it was about Anders.We think she saw the cameras in the Pentagon and assumed it was about what you all were there to talk about.We can’t get positive ID but the basic description fits that of Marilyn Sanders.”
“One more reason to find her and kill her,” said AJ.
“AJ,” said Hex, “son, don’t do anything stupid.There’s a lot more to this and we need to find out what she knows.Then you can kill her.”
The car was silent as the men pulled into Marilyn Sanders neighborhood.The colonial style mansion told them everything they needed to know.No government employee could afford this house on their own.
Following the rules, they knocked several times.When she didn’t answer, they broke the rules, easily picking the lock on the door.The house was a mess.Clothes were strew everywhere and half-packed suitcases littered the bedroom.
“She was in a hurry,” said Tanner.
“Hey guys, come here,” said Hiro.“I’ve got a locked door and a lot of humming behind it.”
AJ lay his ear against the door and nodded to Tanner who broke the lock, pushing the door open.Inside were dozens of laptops, servers, and satellite links.
“Jesus,” muttered AJ.“She’s connected to everything.”
“We need to find out exactly what she’s connected to before we disconnect it all,” said Tanner.“Let’s do our thing.”
Five of the laptops and five servers were solely dedicated to a constant barrage of attempts to break through the Pentagon fire walls.Seven more were working on DOJ and DOD computers.The rest were randomly attacking shopping sites, gaming sites, and travel sites.
“This is sophisticated shit,” said Tanner.“If she’s responsible for developing and running these programs, she’s very good.”
“She might be very good at ripping people off, but she’s not very smart about covering her tracks,” said AJ.
Hiro stood in the doorway with more than a dozen bags lined up and down his arms.They were all luxury, each worth more than three or four thousand a piece.At least one worth as much as twenty-five thousand.
“It’s a new look for you, brother, but not sure it’s the right look for you,” smirked AJ.
“They’re full of cash and USB storage drives,” he said with a straight face.“It looks like she was trying to get out with them all but didn’t have time.It’s going to take us ages to go through all of these.”
“Maybe not,” said AJ.“I’m going to bet that those kids in the Pentagon would be willing to help.Let’s see if we can borrow some young brains to take a look at these.Download everything we can and save it, then be sure the computers aren’t set to wipe when we shut them down.”
Hiro and Tanner both nodded, knowing exactly what they needed to do.When they were just about ready to shut them all down, Tanner called AJ and Hiro over to his computer that he was working on.
“Hey guys, you need to see this,” said Tanner.AJ and Hiro stood behind him.“Dozens of e-mails back and forth, some text messages, to someone in the capitol.It’s a bogus e-mail but the IP address leads me back to them every damn time.”
“She’s got a friend,” frowned Hiro.“Maybe a powerful friend.”AJ nodded.
“Which only means we have to find out who this woman really is.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Marilyn Sanders gripped the leather steering wheel of her Lincoln SUV as dusk thickened over the empty two-lane road.The instrument panel glowed a cold blue against her hands, and every reflected glint in the rearview—fireflies, roadside glass, the pale sweep of a mailbox—registered as pursuit.She’d left Washington, D.C. behind like a house on fire, and the smoke was still in her lungs.
South was likely the only direction that wasn’t already mapped by people who wanted her contained—Legacy Security’s men.She’d stayed just long enough in the room next to Cain’s to figure out who they were and she knew she was screwed.They would come for her and most likely would suspect that she was headed north to Baltimore, Philly, or New York.
