Chapter 38

If everything wasn't so fuckedup right now, Josh would be like a kid in a candy store. He'd clicked on the link, only to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data.

There has to be something useful here.

One look at a handful of the files Chalmers's boss had provided them revealed names, dates, times, and results of horrific experiments they'd conducted first on their own people, then on the towns they'd decimated. The amount of life lost was staggering, but what was even more so was how they'd covered it up.

The icing on the cake? Some people in the government had acted as though the tragedies were natural and not murder.

Now there's a great place to start.

Josh jotted down a list of all the former Congresspeople whose names appeared in the documents, and started digging into their financials. He wasn't at all surprised to find deposits made by an overseas company totaling hundreds of thousands, maybe more. And every deposit was made within a specific window—one week before each attack.

What shocked him was the amount of information that, even on his best days, Josh wouldn't have been able to access.

"I have got to meet Chalmers's boss," he muttered.

"Why?" Gary asked absently, as he examined his own files.

"I want him to teach me what he knows." He leaned back with a sigh. "Hacking isn't as simple as getting through a firewall and you're home-free. It evolves."

"But you're good at it," Gary protested.

"Sure I was—back in the day. But now? We're talking new security measures, more sophisticated equipment…. I've been stymied on more than one occasion." He stared at the screen. "I could learn from him."

"Josh," Gary said, a note of warning in his voice.

He held up his hand. "Nothing bad, I swear. In fact, it gave me an idea."

"Uh-oh."

Josh chuckled. "I was just thinking… we could open a cybersecurity branch, and I could head it up. Show people how to keep their precious things safe from… well, people like me. It would all be aboveboard, totally legit."

Gary narrowed his eyes. "Why would you need to do that?"

Josh met his gaze. "Am I the only one seeing the big picture here?"

"What do you mean?"

He pushed out another sigh. "My life is pretty much screwed."

"Hey, don't say stuff like?—"

"Gary, just stop, will you? Take off the rose-colored glasses and see what's really happening." Josh straightened in his chair. "With that bombshell of his, Spencer put out a hit on me. Now, there are people out in the real world who think Spencer walks on water. Okay, they're misguided, but they'll flock to his message. No matter how much proof they're shown, they're going to believe the lies—believe I did this—because they trust the source. I won't be able to go to the grocery store without being harassed or accused."

"But once we clear your name in court?—"

Josh shook his head. "People close themselves off to inconvenient truths, Gary. You know it, I know it. While the majority of them will accept it and move on, there will be a sliver of them that will refuse to believe I'm innocent." He grimaced. "He's framed this beautifully."

"You can't?—"

"Spencer will become a martyr to them," Josh blurted. "Even if he's found guilty and sentenced to prison, there are always going to be some nutjobs who are convinced he's innocent, the government's covering up the truth, Spencer's a political prisoner, and they're jailing him to keep him from becoming president. At least if we open a cybersecurity section, I can still be useful."

"Listen, Josh?—"

"It's okay," he persisted. "I'm a homebody. Now that we have a cat to keep me company, I have everything I need at CrossBow. Why would I need to go out? I mean, it's not like Dixon and I would ever want to go out on a date, right?"

Josh tried to bite back the tears, but it wasn't working. He'd finally found something—someone—to give him a reason to step out of the lab on occasion, but now?

Dixon would be better off with someone else.

Maybe it was time Josh faced that reality. He knew this was on him. If he'd released the info years ago, they'd never have gotten to this point.

A moment later, Gary's arms were around him, but it didn't help. It did, however, make him cry harder.

"Listen to me," Gary wheezed. "And make sure you hear what I'm telling you, okay? You know about Eric and how he died. When that happened, I was certain my life was over. If it wasn't for CrossBow, I would have crawled into a hole and let nature take its course. So what if we'd had a dream? I'd have given it up in a heartbeat." He squeezed Josh's shoulders. "Then I met this man, a scattered genius, who encouraged me to make that dream a reality, and he wondered if I'd allow him to stand beside me. Of course I said yes. What idiot wouldn't?"

Josh blinked away tears. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"What?" Gary chuckled. "No, this is just me giving you some off-the-cuff remarks." He paused. "Keep one thing in mind, though. Dixon has been trying to get you to notice him since he started here. When we were in the military, he was a hardass motherfucker. He took no shit, even from those of a higher rank. When he was told he had to go, he did, but on his own terms. He started working here, and he kept to himself. He was great at his job, but even I could see he had no real connections to anyone." Gary let him go and retook his seat, facing Josh. Gary looked him in the eye. "Until he met our resident genius, who tripped every trigger Dixon had. From that moment on, it was his hope that he could get you to see the world around you—and maybe him too." He held his hands up. "You're free to think what you want, of course, but I guarantee you without a shadow of doubt that if you could never leave the apartment again, he would be right there with you."

"But I don't want that for him," Josh retorted. "He's too big, too giving. He needs someone who can take him out and show him off."

Gary snorted. "Have you ever known Dixon to want to be shown off? Do you have any idea how long he's been taking care of you? On nights you stayed late, he followed you home to make sure you were safe, since you wouldn't sleep at CrossBow. He asked the kitchen to whip up your favorites every day, just so he could bring you something he knew would put a smile on your face. Does that sound like a man who's going to walk away?"

Josh averted his gaze, conscious of his warm cheeks. "Well, when you put it that way, I—" Something on the screen caught his eye, and he leaned closer. "Wait a sec." He scanned the page again.

Gary's phone rang. "It's Dixon." He swiped a finger over the screen, then pressed a button. "I've got you on speaker, so no sweet talk."

Dixon's snort was loud. "As if, Cross. You're not my favorite redhead."

Gary smirked at Josh, as if to say, "See, told you." Josh gave him the finger. "What's up?" Gary asked with a chuckle.

"The government boys are crawling up our asses, trying to get information on your whereabouts, but there's something strange. With the sheer number of people they have at their disposal, this is more like a skeleton crew. They're telling us what they want, but they're not really making an effort to find it."

"They're probably trying to flush me out," Josh said. "Honestly, I don't think they want to take me in—it's more a case that they want to take me out. My guess is Kathy's leaving with the laptop has changed their timeline, and for them to move forward, they've got to get rid of me."

"That won't happen," Dixon snarled. "I swear to God, I will kill Spencer myself if I have to."

"I'll help you," Gary promised. "But why are you calling?"

"Oh, sorry. I wanted to let you know Kathy's information checks out. Between what she has on the computer and whatever she's put away for safekeeping, she's definitely going to be on Spencer's hitlist too."

"Excellent," Gary said. "So we have her stuff and her testimony if we can get enough to take Spencer to trial."

"Which is my job," Josh added. "And I thought I saw something…."

He let his gaze wander over the page again, trying to find the needle in the haystack that would cement the case against Spencer. If only he could find?—

And there it was, in glorious black and white.

This has to check out.

His fingers danced over the keys as he searched for the link he believed he'd just found. And when he found it, neon lights couldn't have been brighter.

"Gentlemen, have either of you ever heard of Dynatex, Incorporated?"

Both Gary and Dixon said they hadn't.

"Well, this isn't the first time I've come across the name, but I'm only just now realizing what it means. Dynatex was a failed company, owned by Spencer, that shut down operations in 2020."

"Funny you should mention that year," Dixon remarked. "Kathy says that's when Spencer first started making noises about his intention to run for office. Except he didn't share that with the public until this year." He let out a growl. "So he has been planning this for a while."

"Tell us more about this company," Gary asked.

"It's linked to each of the towns where the attacks took place. After Spencer's people had gone in to do their cleanup routine, Dynatex swooped in and bought up the land for pennies on the dollar, then built on it."

"So you think Spencer caused the attacks in the first place, removed the people—in other words, killed them—then bought up the property?" Dixon sounded incredulous.

"And ended up a good deal richer in the process," Josh concluded.

"I'm not sure that's enough to?—"

"It's enough for us to open an investigation," Grady interjected.

Dixon spluttered. "Dude, you have got to stop sneaking up on people."

"Dr. Malone, how certain are you about this information?"

Josh thought about it again. He needed to be sure he was seeing this logically, and not as something to get Spencer off his back and out of his life.

"It's rock-solid," Josh answered. "And I'm sure if we go through these files with a fine-toothed comb, we're going to discover a lot more. It appears as though Spencer used shell companies to do the dirty work, then shut them down, which netted him tax benefits as well as garnering money from the land. And all it took was a little murder."

"Gee, is that all?" Gary murmured.

Josh sighed. "Sure, that might be spite talking, but you know what? I don't care." If Spencer didn't back down, Dixon would end up in prison for murdering the psychotic son of a bitch.

We have Kathy. Will she be enough?

Then it hit him.

"Chalmers, you there too?"

"Where else would I be?"

"We need your boss."

"You think I haven't had the same idea? I don't have a clue where Spencer has him, but I'm pretty sure he can't just up and leave. Sending us those links…. He's willing to risk his life to take Spencer down."

That only made Josh more determined.

"Then we need to get him out of there."

"And how do you suggest we find him?"

Josh smiled. "I'd say Kathy is a good place to start. Turn the heat up a little."

He didn't have any qualms about roasting her for information, and he'd lay even money Chalmers, Dixon, and Grady felt the same way.

"In that case, I'm gonna go talk to her right now," Dixon growled.

Josh had to remind himself that, one, he wasn't alone, and two, he had an audience, because betraying how that growl turned him on was so not a good thing.

"Just keep in mind one thing." Gary grinned. "We need her alive."

"Spoilsport."

Despite what he'dsaid earlier, Dix would give pretty much anything not to have to talk to this bitch. He had all kinds of ideas in his head about what he could do to her.

Sometimes watching horror films could be inspirational.

Chalmers gave him the lead, watching from the wall. Judging by the looks he was giving Kathy, he wasn't a fan either.

Kathy Robertson drummed the table with her fingers. "When will it be safe for me to leave?"

Dix let rip with a snort. "Never, if you've got any sense. You're probably going to be in his sights forever now. The best thing you can do is cooperate and hope we can get him put away."

She shuddered. "I never should have trusted him. It was stupid, but he said the right things and—never mind."

Now Dix wanted to know. "How did you even get mixed up with him? I know you said you believed in what he was saying, but what convinced you that killing innocent people was the way to go?"

She turned her head. "You don't want to hear about that."

"Obviously I do, because I'm asking. So?"

"Because people suck, okay?" Her face reddened, and the cords stood out on her neck.

He waited. He'd burst this bubble—it was time to let it all out.

Kathy got up and began pacing, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. "My father was the one who showed me the truth of that statement. The man who swore he'd always love me? Yeah, that went out the window when I got pregnant. Suddenly I wasn't his little girl anymore. I was a slut who was giving it to any boy in school. I tried to explain that I never gave anything to that guy—he took it by force." She swallowed. "It didn't matter. As far as my dad was concerned, I was at fault. And when I tried…." Her voice broke, and she swallowed again. "When I tried to do something about it, no doctor in Texas would help me." She glared at Dix, and he knew the anger he saw there hid a shitload of hurt. "Dad found out. The fact that I looked into an abortion? Now I wasn't just a slut, but a murderer too. And in the end, I didn't need to find a clinic. He beat me so bad, I lost the baby and ended up in the hospital for two weeks. He was arrested, and I never saw him again. When the news got out about everything that had happened, I was a pariah in that goddamn town."

"What about your mother? Didn't she have anything to say about this?"

Kathy's face fell. She was long gone. Whether she left or she died, I have no idea. The old man used to taunt me with it, saying he would tell me where she was if I behaved. Except he never did."

"What happened to your dad?"

"He went to prison for six months, then got let out for ‘good behavior.' Meanwhile, I had nightmares for years. He deserved what he got, and those others? The ones who wouldn't help? The people I'd grown up with? Fuck them all." She raised her chin defiantly. "And then I met Spencer, and right away I believed in him. He promised we'd change the world, so no other kid would have to go through what I did. He swore it." Her face hardened. "And then he turns around and kills a playground full of kids."

Dix had heard enough. Sure, he had sympathy for what she'd gone through—any decent person would—but to condone Spencer's actions was a step too far.

"Okay, so you finally gained a conscience. Congratulations. Personally, I want to toss you out on your ass and watch as the sharks circle before they eat you. The only thing keeping me from doing that is you have information. If you expect to get out of this with your skin intact, you'll tell us what we want to know."

She scowled at him as she retook her seat. "Stop treating me like a disease. I'm here, I'm trying to help, and?—"

"Don't get delusions of grandeur, honey. You're trying to save your fucking hide, nothing more, nothing less. No matter what you think of us, we aren't stupid. If you had another way, you'd take it. Now, are you going to work with us, or is this a waste of time?"

She glared daggers for several long moments, then sighed. "What do you want to know?"

Chalmers stepped forward. "Spencer took my boss. We think he's holding him someplace. What we don't know is where. Can you shed any light on that?"

She arched her eyebrows. "I don't know every person Spencer interacts with."

"That's a fucking lie!" Chalmers shouted. "You're in this up to your fucking neck, lady. Don't give me that bullshit." He came to the table and leaned toward her. "His name is David Carson. There. Does that jog your memory?"

Her brow furrowed as if she was deep in thought, and Dix wasn't convinced it wasn't all an act. Then she widened her eyes. "Feds? Yeah, Spencer had him in. Him and two others, because they knew the ins and outs of their departments and could give Spencer details he wouldn't be able to get any other way."

At last.

"Where would he put them?" Dix demanded.

Her mouth twisted. "Best guess? He has a facility in Santa Ana. He stashes people who have uses there until?—"

"Until they don't." Chalmers was already heading for the door.

Dix followed.

They had a rescue mission to organize.