CL Hart -From A Distance (47 page)

"Waste management. That was another reason why I thought it was strange at the time. Trillium doesn't do any kind of waste anything."

"But I've never worked for this Trillium under any name."

"Are you sure you haven't, Katherine?"

"Judge, you know as well as I do, I've never had a job other than the military. I think I would know."

"You got paid, didn't you? Well, who paid you?"

"Yeah...but...I don't know..." Kenzie scratched her head. "It's all done by direct deposit. I've never paid that much attention to it."

"Let's follow the money then," Cori said.

"And find out who owns Trillium," the judge added.

They agreed the easiest way to find out who was behind Trillium would be on a computer, so they went looking for an Internet cafe. Flipping through the Yellow Pages, they found several, but they opted for one of two in the downtown area of Seattle, near where Cori said the offices of Trillium International were located. The judge had wanted to go to the courthouse where he would have federal access, but Kenzie was adamant that someone would be watching the courthouse. They left the motel in search of answers none of them had.

Zipping up Interstate 5 in the car the judge had borrowed, it took very little time to reach Seattle even though the traffic was heavy. Cori gave directions as Kenzie sat quietly in the backseat, alone with her inner turmoil. She paid little attention to where they were going, too concerned with where she had already been. Coming home, back to Seattle, she had hoped the feelings of disorientation would be dispelled, but she was disappointed. The familiarity of her surroundings only made her question herself more.

Looking out the window, she watched as they drove past Quest Field, home to the Seahawks, and Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners played baseball. It all seemed so normal, and yet she felt her world imploding. She had wanted to go straight to the base and confront Manuck, but the judge and Cori sharply disagreed with her.

"I think we should take it to the media. Let King 5 News sort through the shit and find the answers," Cori said.

"We can't do that, not until we have some answers. Katherine's work was under the umbrella of the government and we have to be careful. The last thing she needs is to be charged with treason."

"And let's not forget, the government declared me dead years ago," Kenzie said from the backseat. "And if it turns out I'm no longer working for them, then basically I've just been travelling around murdering people."

Cori turned around and looked at Kenzie. "You didn't murder anyone, you followed orders." She reached out to touch Kenzie's hand.

"That's a little hard to swallow right now," Kenzie said, keeping her emotions in check and her eyes away from Cori's.

The judge glanced in the rearview mirror and then turned his gaze back to the road. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We'll see what we can find out, and go from there."

Fingering the familiarity of the gun in her jacket pocket, Kenzie continued to process the flood of information and questions. A simmering anger was slowly replacing her disbelief. She was going to get answers, and they were not going to come from a computer.

The Internet cafe was easy to find, nestled on the corner between the high office towers on Pike Street. It was a cafe and coffee shop/ bookstore all rolled into one. Dark chocolate-colored leather couches made it homey and comfortable. Large pane windows on both sides gave it an open-air feel. The small coffee shop was nearly empty, allowing the trio their choice of computers. Picking one near the back of the art deco cafe, the three of them hunched around the monitor as Cori's fingers flew over the keys. Kenzie considered herself computer knowledgeable, however Cori proved to be very proficient. Trillium International was easy to find on the Internet, but getting into their computer system was proving to be beyond Cori's ability.

After a lot of keystrokes and a long wait, Cori leaned back with a defeated sigh. "I can't get passed their firewall. We need a real hacker or someone with a lot more experience than me. I can't even get beyond the login without - proper ID." She began to type rapidly. "I'm in," she said victoriously. "All that security and no one thought to erase my old login ID." She rubbed her hands together, "Now let's see what we can find."

The names of those running Trillium were public knowledge. The names of who actually owned it seemed to be more elusive. "Someone has put a lot of time and energy into covering up who the actual owner is." Cori scanned the scrolling lines of information.

"What did you find?" the judge asked as he peered at the screen.

"Not much really," Cori said, tapping away feverishly. "A lot of corporate names," she added.

"Let me try my way," the judge said as he pulled a pen from his pocket. "Give me what you do have, and the address of Trillium. I've got federal connections that should be able to bypass some of this."

"I can also try the back door," Cori said, looking from the judge to Kenzie.

"What back door?" Kenzie asked. She wanted to do something. Sitting around a cafe, idly waiting was not something she did well, and it was gnawing at her patience.

"Money comes in and money goes out," Cori said as the judge scribbled away on his notepaper. "There are taxes, payroll, electricity, phone lines. Somebody is paying for all that."

"I'm going to make some phone calls and see what I can find," the judge said.

"You look your way and I'll keep looking through the utilities. They're usually easier to get into," Cori responded as he moved to a different table and another computer.

Manuck was expecting the call. Palmer was getting antsy and Bucannon's backbone was disintegrating by the hour, but not Manuck. He was a soldier. There was a job to do, and he was going to get it done. He still had Viper at his disposal, and he had all the faith in the world that Viper could complete the assignment. He debated whether to answer the call, but the annoying buzz was just too persistent.

"Manuck."

"We are meeting today, with or without you," Palmer said without preamble.

"That wouldn't be my first suggestion," Manuck answered.

"It's not a suggestion, Colonel." Fury filled the senator's voice. "These phone calls aren't solving the problem, and the problem is only getting closer."

"And you think getting the three of us together, out in the open, is going to solve anything? Because it's not, it's just going to make us easier targets. She's in Seattle; we're sure of that."

"You have confirmation of that?"

"Cori Evans just hacked into Trillium's computer system."

"Oh my God... Wait. How do you know that?"

"Because she used her own login ID, but it don't matter, now. I think we should just see what they're going to do."

"You want to wait... Need I remind you that she isn't looking for us, she's looking for you. You're the only one who's had contact with her. You know her training better than we do, and you know exactly what she's capable of."

He had considered those elements himself, but still he didn't like being told what to do and where to do it. "What time are you meeting and where?"

"In the underground parking, level C, at three."

Cori and Kenzie were huddled in front of the computer monitor as Cori manipulated the mouse and ran the cursor over the screen. They were backtracking Kenzie's payroll deposits to her bank account. The amount she was being paid startled Cori. Kenzie had mentioned that she was financially comfortable, but Cori could see that was a gross understatement. It had never crossed her mind how much someone in Kenzie's line of work would be paid.

"The name of the company making the direct deposits to S. L. Etcher is not Trillium, but when you trace the transit number back, the money is coming out of their account." The judge read from a pad in his hand.

"So they were paying me?" The information only served to unsettle Kenzie further. "But why...and who?"

"The 'why' I don't know, but the 'who' is Palmer Tectonics." The judge slapped his pad of paper down in front of Cori and Kenzie. When they looked up at him in question, he continued. "It helps to be a federal judge when you're looking for information. Under all the paperwork and behind several dummy corporations, Trillium is owned by Palmer Tectonics...which is owned by...Winston Palmer." He waited for a reaction, but none came. "Winston Palmer?" Kenzie shrugged and Cori shook her head. "Senator Winston Palmer."

Kenzie's brow furrowed. "A senator? Are you sure?"

"He's a senior senator in the U.S. Senate," the judge went on as Cori turned back to her computer and typed in the name Winston Palmer.

"And he's worth millions," Cori added as she scanned the monitor in front of her. "He has his fingers in a lot of different pies, but mainly pharmaceuticals and real estate."

"So he owns Trillium and Palmer Tectonics," Kenzie repeated, trying to make sense of the information.

"Actually," Cori looked from her screen and leaned over to look out the window at the tall office building rising above the others, "he owns a lot more than that. He owns that entire building." Kenzie and the judge looked out the window to the skyscraper located a couple of blocks from them.

"Why would someone like that be paying the wages of someone like me?"

"And it wasn't just you, Kenzie. I saw other names on that list, too."

"Whose?" the judge asked.

"It doesn't matter, right now." Kenzie looked at the judge. "Right now I want to know why a senior senator, under the guise of being the government, would be paying an assassin?"

"I don't know, Katherine, but whatever it is, if he's mixed up in this, then so is your Colonel Manuck."

"But why? What are they up to?" Kenzie turned her attention back to the tall building towering above the Seattle skyline.

The senator's Bentley wheeled down into the underground parking of the Palmer building. The tires squealed as it turned the sharp corners, spiraling down, deep into the concrete parking structure. The further down they went, the fewer parked cars they saw. It was damp and cold, even for Seattle, but the occupant inside the Bentley was unaffected. On the last corner, at the very bottom, two cars sat side-by-side, waiting. There was no signal or outward appearance of recognition as the expensive luxury car pulled up next to them. The engine was turned off, leaving behind a cool silence.

"Keep it running. This won't take long," Palmer commanded from the backseat.

The driver restarted the car and watched in silence as the senator slid the solid, soundproof divider into place. Two men climbed from the first car: Colonel Manuck, wearing his military uniform, heavily decorated on the left side, and another man, wearing jeans and a brown leather jacket.

Terry Bucannon exited the second car, dressed in his usual dark suit thin dark tie. He looked around nervously before entering the rear of the car.

Manuck did not attempt to sugarcoat his annoyance. "Okay, we're all here. Let's hear what you have to say."

The tension in the car was palpable as the four men sat in weighty silence. The colonel looked at the deputy director, and then at the senator, but neither seemed to want to speak first.'

"Ah, for Christ sake, we're here. Isn't this what you wanted?" Manuck said.

"What I want is for your rogue agent to be found and disposed of. But since we can't find her and her computer hacking friend-"

"Did you bug the judge's house?" Manuck cut in.

"Yes " Bucannon said, "but he hasn't been back. There has been no action on any of his credit cards or his bank accounts, and he's cleared his docket for the rest of the week."