“Thank you.” He hung up before Danny could change his mind.I have got to get to the dojo or I’m gonna punch a fuckingwall.
“Nice job.” Decker stood and stretched. “My ass is killing me. I’m working standing uptoday.”
Ellen dropped off a cardboard tray of coffees and breakfast sandwiches. “Enjoy. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything.” Sheleft.
“Regardless of how this goes down, I couldn’t have done it without you,” Crockettsaid.
Decker smiled. “Youbetcha.”
Crockett collected his things and opened the door. “You staying inhere?”
“Guarding theevidence.”
“Door open orclosed?”
“Open. The room is starting to have that asylum feel toit.”
Crockett headed toward his office. After dropping his items, he sent Alexandra a text. “Danny swinging by later. How are youdoing?”
No dots appeared on his screen, so he took off for his HR department. His Director, Daphne Johnson, was on the phone, but she waved him in. He closed the door and eased into the guestchair.
“Good morning,” she said after hangingup.
“I’m here to discuss DeckerDaughtry.”
“What do you need toknow?”
After discussing Decker’s salary, bonus payout and opportunity for career growth, Crockett nominated him for the Wilde Employee of the QuarterAward.
“And I want to give him a salary bump, but no change intitle.”
Daphne glanced at him over her reading glasses. “You’re being mighty generous today. You feel like spreading that Wilde wealtharound?”
Chuckling, he said, “If you worked around-the-clock and slept here, I would certainly considerit.”
After finishing up with HR, he returned to his office where he spent the remainder of the morning doing little more than pacing. Just after twelve-thirty, Ellen knocked on his doorframe. “DannyStrong.”
Danny stepped in and Ellen asked, “Can I get either of you abeverage?”
“No, thanks, Ellen,” Crockett said. “Danny, something todrink?”
He shifted from one foot to the next. “I’m good,thanks.”
Ellen shut the door. Crockett rounded his desk and hugged his cousin. “Thanks for coming. Where’s your white collar crimeexpert?”
“He asked me to vet your information. If there’s anything solid, he’ll swing bylater.”
On a huff, Crockett dragged his fingers over his unshaven face. “Let’s getstarted.”
The two men strode down the hall, through the lab, and into theTank.
“Please record our conversation,” Crockett said toDecker.
Decker fiddled with his phone. “Recording.”
“I’d like to go on record that Crockett Wilde and Decker Daughtry have solid evidence that one of my employees, Lawrence Berry, has tampered with company products. Furthermore, we believe he’s colluding with former employee, Ruth Lizzard, who’s currently Director of Software Development at No Man’s Land. A competitor. We have reason to believe Mr. Berry has stolen surveillance devices that he provided to Ms. Lizzard for her to use during FBI product demos. And we also have reason to believe he’s stolen two additional surveillance craft for Ms.Lizzard.”
“And we’re back to the FBI product demo,” Dannysaid.
