The Speed of Sound (Speed of Sound Thrillers #1)(79)
She didn’t drink hard liquor very often, but tonight’s dinner was definitely going to be accompanied by three or four fingers of scotch. Maybe five.
CHAPTER 78
American Heritage Foundation, Alexandria, Virginia, May 27, 9:32 p.m.
The human body begins to cool immediately after the moment of death, which was why the heat signatures of the two bodies being carried from Gloria Pruitt’s property were different from those of the baseball fans carrying them, as indicated by the thermal-imaging technology being used to observe them. From her office, Caitlin McCloskey watched along with Daryl Trotter while they enjoyed deli sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s. She pointed to the dead bodies as they were carried to the Jeep Wagoneer. “They were killed at the same time, but their body temperatures are different. Why?”
Daryl corrected her. “They were shot at the same time, but both didn’t die right away. It took him several minutes longer.” He pointed to the brighter one.
“Nasty,” she said with a noticeable lack of emotion.
Daryl asked, “How will they get rid of the bodies?”
“Fish food, if I had to guess,” Caitlin answered with her mouth full of turkey and provolone.
Daryl concurred. “Cliché, but effective.”
Bob Stenson briskly entered Caitlin’s office. “How is our nurse doing?”
“Alive and well, thanks to the baseball fans.”
“Where are they now?”
“Disposing of the bodies.”
Satisfied, Stenson nodded. That was all he needed to hear. “I want you both to put all your focus back on the echo box. Homeland has no idea where either Drummond or Parks is. For all we know, they’ve left the city.”
“Only if they’re together,” said Daryl. He was thinking strategically. “The doctor wouldn’t leave without her patient unless she was forced to.”
Caitlin nodded in agreement. She was thinking emotionally. “She’d turn herself in before leaving him alone on the streets this long.”
Stenson spoke definitively. “She has not turned herself in.”
Daryl spoke quickly as his mouth tried to keep up with his brain. “The only conclusion is that they are together. The question is, did they leave the city, or are they hiding?”
Caitlin jumped in. “She has few other close relationships with people in the city.”
Daryl blinked rapidly as he factored in the additional data. “Edward’s behavior is unpredictable, and might draw unwanted attention. Her goal will be to get him out of the city, probably somewhere nice and quiet.”
Caitlin turned to Daryl. “Where?”
Daryl paused, his biological supercomputer running through an awesome number of calculations per second. He didn’t like his answer. “I don’t know.”
Stenson made sure to look genuinely surprised. “That’s disheartening.”
“Let me give it some more thought.” Trotter left the office quickly.
Stenson glanced at Caitlin, who couldn’t stop herself from smirking. Human beings, even the smartest of them, were very easy creatures to manipulate if you knew which buttons to push.
CHAPTER 79
Dr. Marcus Fenton’s House, Pine Hill, New Jersey, May 27, 9:35 p.m.
Butler McHenry sat in his car, which was parked in front of Marcus Fenton’s farmhouse. He had clearly been there for quite a while by the time the veteran doctor arrived home. Fenton seemed genuinely surprised to find that he had a visitor. “Can I help you?”
“Dr. Fenton, I’m Detective Butler McHenry with the New York City Police.” Butler watched the older man closely.
Fenton didn’t bat an eye. “Good evening, Detective. You’re a long way from the city. What brings you all the way out here?”
Butler said pleasantly, “I’d like to ask you a few questions, if that would be all right.”
“About what?” Fenton smiled innocently.
“I’d prefer we talk at the station.” It was, of course, a bluff. A big one. But he wanted the doctor on McHenry turf, not Fenton turf.
“You must be joking.”
“Not even slightly.” The hint of a smile crept into his face as he saw the frustration build in Fenton. The trip here was now officially worth it, even if the doctor called his bluff.
“And if I decline?” The contempt in Fenton’s voice couldn’t hide his anxiety.
McHenry knew he had him. “I’ll return with a warrant.”
Fenton’s face filled with rage. “You son of a bitch.”
Butler opened the rear door of his car and patted the roof as the doctor moved to get in. “Watch your head. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
CHAPTER 80
New York Office, Department of Homeland Security, May 27, 9:37 p.m.
Max Garber stared at the blinking yellow dot on his screen as it started to move. The dot was the location of Detective Butler McHenry—or, more specifically, his phone. The detective was now retracing the route he had taken to the Pine Hill residence, which meant McHenry was returning to New York. What Garber had no way of knowing was whether he was returning to New York alone or with Dr. Fenton.
A simple Google search had revealed that Fenton was the founder and director of Harmony House, which was a government-funded facility in Woodbury. It seemed to be some kind of psychiatric hospital where Edward Parks was a patient, and where Dr. Skylar Drummond had started working less than two weeks ago. Garber, a closet gumshoe, wondered how a doctor and a psychiatric patient could have come into possession of classified technology. It was curious.