Vendetta in Death (In Death #49)(41)

“Canceled it?”

“You’ll want EDD to have a good look, a more thorough one, but I’d say, on a quick dive through? His account was hacked.”

“Now that makes sense. Makes sense,” she mumbled again as she wandered the room, as she put it into her head. “She knows, if she’s hacked his system, Horowitz is leaving town, and he has a paid side piece coming in. She waits, cancels it, and she comes instead. Why wouldn’t he open the door when he’s expecting a woman? When he’s got the wine, the bed, the evening mapped out?”

She spun around. “Can you pin the hacker’s location?”

“Possibly. That would be the location where the hack was done, and would take a bit of work. Someone this good? Well, if it were me, I’d use an unregistered portable and hack it from a remote location. Still worth the look.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll look.”

“There’s a bit more, not a secret, but a bit of a surprise.” He waited until he had her full attention. “The fifteen million and change from a couple years ago? He got that from me.”

She stopped dead, stared at him. “What? Why didn’t you say you knew him?”

“Because I don’t—didn’t.” With a shrug, he rose. “I acquired, as I do, a small company a couple years ago. More absorbed it, and it was done through lawyers and brokers. It didn’t ring with me until I dug into his files. Data Point, it was. A private concern that manufactures droids and other complex electronics.”

Irritation flickered over his face—the sort she recognized came from him not being a hundred percent on every detail.

“I’ll need to check on it all,” he continued, “but as best I recall, the lawyer repping Data Point contacted one of my lawyers as Data Point looked to sell out. We had a look, the company seemed solid enough, the price was right—even what you could call a bargain. Pushing through my memory, I’m thinking the reason for it was divorce by the principals, but I may be projecting on that. I’ll check on it. But, bottom line, Roarke Industries acquired it, absorbed the company and its assets.”

Complication, she thought, and advantage. She’d take the advantage and deal with the complication later.

“Did you meet them—the DB or the ex?”

“I wouldn’t have on an acquisition such as this. A small one, as I said.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Fifteen million is small?”

“Twenty-two, actually. It appears the ex-wife got the seven, but the matter was done through lawyers and reps because yes, in the overall, it was a small addition. A solid one, but not a competitor or a major deal.”

“I want whatever you can get me on it. The poem mentioned greed. He got double what the ex got, and that could be part of the motive. Sex, greed, power. We’ve got sex with his use of LCs—and potentially Horowitz replacing the ex. We get greed with the money. That leaves power.”

She looked at her wrist unit. “I’m going to talk to the ex. Wake her up most likely. People don’t have their shields fully engaged if you get to wake them up. I need to grab Peabody and get to it. Do you need a lift?”

“I’ll find my way well enough. I may go straight to the office, get those details, as I’m curious about it now.”

“Get me what you’ve got when you get it.”

He walked to her, gave her a tug in for a kiss. “I’ll do that. Get yourself and our Peabody something to eat from the AC in your car.”

Distracted, she glanced back at the workstation. “I’m sending McNab up. He’ll have the unit transported.” Then she frowned. “You’re not dressed for the office.”

“Happens I have a suit or two on hand there. You take care of my cop, and see that you feed her as well.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She started for the door, glanced back. “This is good information. Maybe, before you go, you can scan for a safe—I got the jewelry ones in the bedroom already. But maybe they have another. Maybe there’s more good information inside.”

“More fun for me.”





9


She nabbed Peabody coming in as she was going out.

“Tell me in the car.”

“Okay, where are we going?”

“To talk to the vic’s ex. I’ve got some information. Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

“Okay, can I have coffee, too?”

“Two coffees.” Roarke’s words echoed in her ears. Annoying, she thought, but inescapable. “And there’s probably food. Like a pocket or something.”

Thrown off, Peabody blinked twice. “You want food?”

“Just program something easy, and start talking.”

Thrilled by the prospect of food, happy to oblige, Peabody searched the menu while she updated.

“The wit’s cooperative, but she barely caught a glance. She just happened to look out the window when she closed it—she’d had it open for the fresh air, and it was chilling down. So she saw the car, and thinks it was Pettigrew getting in, but barely saw him. She said the woman was—and this is all maybe—on the tall side, really built. She noticed that because she was wearing a really low-cut skin suit. And her hair was short and dark blond or brown with darker tips. Purple or black. Maybe.”