"You were interviewed by Gorman?" Steve frowned. He had never met Mr. Gorman. That suddenly struck him as strange.
"All of us were approved by him. Weren"t you? I mean, you were transferred here with his approval, right?"
Steve wasn"t sure. After all, Mr. Gorman hadn"t interviewed him. "I thought I was transferred here with Harden"s approval, since he is ops chief."
Cam snorted. "Harden doesn"t have that power. Everything we do must be approved by the big guy himself. He doesn"t get along with Harden, either, but then our O.C. doesn"t seem to get along with many people. Anyway, Gorman has stood in Harden"s way to a promotion several times now."
"Why?" There was something wrong here. Steve could feel his instinct kicking in again.
Cam shrugged. "Politics, I suppose. It has to do with Harden"s past, the one that got him in hot water in the first place. I heard Gorman was promoted over Harden because he reported some intel Harden didn"t or couldn"t produce. Who knows? It"s history. Why the interest?"
Steve looked at Cam across the room. The lanky man and he had gotten along since he had started at TIARA. Cam munched on the rest of the chips with serious dedication, his intelligent eyes looking back at him. Steve took a chance. "I"m making a list of names of possible rats in TIARA," he told Cam calmly. He gave a condensed version of what had happened. "Someone has been leaking information for a long time now. I"m only aware of it now because Marlena"s files that you and Patty helped me compile were in Cunningham"s hands almost immediately."
Cam finished chewing as he continued staring back at Steve. "Could have been me," he stated in a matter-of-fact voice.
Steve nodded. "Yes."
"So why tell me?"
"You can help me prove it isn"t you," Steve offered, "or Patty Ostler."
"You mess with my woman"s integrity and I"m going to s.h.i.t all over you." Cam crushed the empty foil bag in his hands.
Steve studied his friend. There was no anger in his manner. Yet. But he wasn"t smiling any longer, he noted. "I"m just making a list, and I"m not Harden, Cam. I know how to do things without twisting everything into a battle of friendship and hatred. If it"s nothing, you and Patty and anyone else on my list would never hear a thing about it. If it"s treason, then I"ll track it down. It"s my job."
"But you aren"t working for Harden on this."
Steve shook his head. "It"s more than that now. I"m taking a chance by letting you know."
"Think I might slit your throat after this?"
"That would save me from buying you that dinner I owe you."
"Ha, you aren"t getting out of that so easily, pal. A real meal, man. Like at one of those hundred-dollar restaurants." Cam stood up from his chair and picked up Patty"s handbag. "Let me go get Patty. Maybe she"ll treat me better when I tell her you think she"s a rat."
Steve grinned. "Yes, use me to deflect danger, I don"t mind." He turned to the desktop. "I"ll be here for a couple of hours. I really need your help to get some info."
"Patty"s department." Cam opened the door. "Okay, I"ll use you as an excuse to get back into her good graces. She thinks I can"t kiss like you. That was a demonstration I was giving when you came in earlier."
Steve glanced up, surprised at the statement. "Well, h.e.l.l, tell her I"ll gladly give her a kiss to compare, if she"ll help me out."
"Like h.e.l.l you will," Cam returned, his tone fiercely possessive. "You do that and you"ll kiss your a.s.s goodbye."
"Fine," Steve retorted. "I"ll kiss you and you can tell her I"m no good."
Cam made a face. "You"re disgusting, you know that? I don"t know how I put up with you," he shot back, and closed the door behind him.
"So what did they say?" Marlena asked as she turned on the replica laptop she had brought to D.C. with her.
Tess slipped her cell back into her purse. "The encrypted programs are all original. Command double-checked the codes. It"s the right laptop."
Marlena nodded. There had been a possibility that Cunningham had somehow broken the encryption and copied everything on a similar laptop. The only way to detect a fake was checking for special laser codes embedded in the hard drive in all government-issued laptops. Most civilian labs wouldn"t know about this, and even if they did, the chances of someone able to copy the exact laser depth and burn mark in a specified location onto an exact laptop was low. Only a few people in the field would have the ability or technology to do that. Like her agency, for instance.
The laptop she had with her was one of a kind. Some ent.i.ty or country, owning sophisticated encryption devices and the technology capable of detecting the laser codes, would find it an authentic United States specially embossed laptop. Even the codes were sequenced in the exact manner of the missing laptop she had regained.
"So my projected calculations that the seller"s secret weapon actually was the missing laptop were right," she said with smug satisfaction. She always liked to be right.
Tess placed the real laptop side-by-side with the other one. "Yes. And of course you were right that the culprit would try to sell it to middle men like Max Shoggi rather than deal with the emba.s.sies himself."
"That"s an easy calculation," Marlena said. She turned on the real laptop. "The probability of someone without influence getting hold of this baby is very low. It had to be someone at that meeting, able to get very near to the demonstration and discussions."
"And someone who could go in and out of NRL without thorough security checks."
"Someone who works there," agreed Marlena.
"Like Cunningham," continued Tess.
"Yes." Marlena took out the disk Tess had given her at du Scheum"s party from a panel under her oval compact powder. Its surface shone like polished silver. "You said this thing would do the necessary work to create the worm?"
"Yes."
"Who wrote this?"
"Someone named Nick Langley. Heard of him?"
Marlena looked up sharply. "The Programmer? I heard he"s dead."
"Hmm." Tess smiled. "So he is."
"Does Alex know?" Marlena asked curiously. "They were best friends, weren"t they, before the explosion?"
Tess turned away, tapped a few keys on the keyboard. "No, Alex doesn"t know. I didn"t get the chance to tell him that before we...parted ways."
"So he still thinks they all died except him?" Marlena studied Tess for a few moments. "That"s not right. He should be told."
"He"s no longer my concern. If Nick wants him to find out, I"m sure he will contact Alex." Tess looked up, her gaze blank. "Ready to start this? I"m sure Pierre will make sure Mad Max Shoggi is the highest bidder and the next phase of our operation can start."
Marlena looked down at the disk in her hand again. "Hard to think this thing will direct all communications back to us, telling us what they are doing with the program."
"That"s why it"s like a virus program, except this one had our Nick"s modification, transmitting back to its originator with the same micro-solarbot technology that they are trying to copy."
Marlena had read up on the subject of solar robotics before going to D.C. It was essential to understand the importance of what was stolen, why it could be a weapon in the wrong hands. For so long it had always been weapons of war that attracted arms dealers, but technology had changed supply and demand. Solarbot, using solar energy and robotics, was getting popular in the scientific community. Experiments were done on solar robotics for low-end as well as military technology. There were deep-sea probes called aquabots being perfected for oceanic mapping. There were equally devastating opportunities to use the new technology for destructive weaponry and international espionage.
"Let"s hope Stash can help find our leak," she said, inserting the disk. "One slip that we"re offering a modified one for sale, and we"re done."
"That"s why we haven"t told anyone about our laptop. If there is a leak, we can narrow this down." Tess frowned. "Did you show it to anyone?"
"Stash searched my things before I was hauled in," Marlena informed her. "They were looking for weapons, didn"t touch the laptop."
"I don"t like it, what with a leak in TIARA."
"How do you know it"s not Steve?" challenged Marlena.
"He"s too new there. There"s been a leak in TIARA long before that, and that"s why the admiral transferred him there." Tess angled her head. "If you think he"s on the other side, why don"t you stop taking him to bed and just let me take care of him?"
Marlena paused in the middle of typing and gave Tess her full attention. Her friend returned her gaze with a serenity that didn"t hide the small lift at the corners of her mouth. "What are you going to do-cancel him?" asked Marlena.
"What is it to you? Unless you really want him around..."
Marlena went back to typing. She couldn"t have a man around. It hadn"t worked before. She had given everything she had, only to be called all sorts of names for not giving up her job, then betrayed for being too trusting. But the idea of Stash no longer there left an empty feeling inside. Could she walk away when this was over?
"Better think quick before you lose him," Tess advised softly. "Then he"s fair game, right?"
"Don"t even think of it right now," Marlena countered just as softly. "He"s mine."
"For now," agreed Tess calmly. "Now, let"s hurry up and do this, shall we, darling, so I can get the laptops separated? Dangerous to have two of a kind together for too long."
Marlena smiled. Tess, as usual, had the last word.
Chapter Eighteen.
W hatever Cam did or said must have worked. Patty Ostler came back into the cramped office with him. Her hair was tightly pinned again; her silk blouse returned to its impeccable neatness. Her stormy eyes warned Steve not to mention the earlier incident, and he wisely took heed, trying to sound as businesslike as he could.
It wasn"t easy, especially with Cam acting without a shred of regret. In fact he looked d.a.m.n pleased with himself. Steve took in his friend"s smug openness and Patty"s cool remoteness. Cam had a small ketchup stain on his unironed shirt. Patty didn"t look as if she ever ate with her hands. He needed a haircut, what with that long tied-back mane. She probably never had a hair out of place. He seemed to take great pleasure in annoying her, whereas she took great pains to show nothing but cold disdain. What a pair.
Steve gave an inward sigh. Who was he to say that a relationship between the two wouldn"t work? He certainly had enough problems dealing with his feelings about Marlena. And what a pair he and his mermaid would make, too. Hot and sweaty, constantly yelping, never boring, filled with wonderfully, incredibly, mind-blowing...Let"s not start with the M words again, he cut through his daydreaming. He needed to keep his mind on work.
He had just given a short take on what had been going on with TIARA and their current a.s.signment that had started with Marlena. He had followed his gut, trusting Cam. After all, he had worked with the man for a year, long enough to know that Cam was exactly what he looked like and how he behaved-a half-wild party animal who used only half the IQ he had when it came to work, but also someone who saw more than his teammates gave him credit for. Cam never seemed to mind going along for the ride, never taking the initiative. Steve supposed ambition was second to having fun, a code Cam certainly lived by.
Patty Ostler was sitting on the edge of Cam"s chair, a serious expression on her face. From Steve"s angle, he could see that she was agitated by Cam standing right behind the chair, and every time he moved or shifted position, she nervously tried to see what he was doing back there without showing it.
Steve rubbed the smile off his face. "So can you help me?"
"I prefer that we use the proper channels," she said, "but since you brought up the leak issue, I suppose that"s not a wise idea."
"Patty doesn"t like to do things that aren"t according to the rules," Cam chimed in, leaning his elbows on top of the leather seat.
It didn"t seem possible, but the woman managed to edge even further forward in her seat. Steve wondered whether she would fall off it if Cam let go of the chair. "That isn"t true," she said, looking at Steve as if he"d spoken. "I don"t want to circ.u.mvent rules just because some people want to do things their way. There are certain procedures that must be followed. If not, chaos ensues." To make her point, she looked around Cam"s half of the office.
Cam snorted. "Coward."
Patty"s lips pursed for an instant, then she straightened her shoulders. "Agent McMillan, I cannot work with that man making noises around me."
Leaning on his elbows, Cam leaned further forward and whispered something in her ear. She flushed, then glared stonily at Steve. She looked ready to scream.
Steve tried to play peacemaker. Not too good with computer know-how, he needed their cooperation. "You can use my desk, my laptop, whatever. I just need an hour or two of your time at most. This isn"t really breaking any procedural rules, Patty. The only thing I didn"t do is make a formal request, so that there is no paper trail. If I access information from my own computer, with your help, then I"m not requesting cla.s.sified access from your department, right?"
Patty nodded cautiously. "Right."
"And if I catch whoever is leaking information from your department, then you have actually stopped possible chaos in your life. You know what Internal Investigations can be like. They will tear your department inside out if they want."
Patty shuddered. Cam discreetly gave Steve the thumbs up, mouthing "Yeah," showing approval that Steve had brought up the thing Patty hated most-chaos in her surroundings. Steve tried not to grin back at his incorrigible friend.
"All right," she finally said. "I"ll do this. It sounds like your girlfriend is in danger."
Steve blinked. Girlfriend? He had been so busy chasing Marlena Maxwell in so many ways, he hadn"t really thought of her as his girlfriend. It occurred to him that he had referred to her in the oddest terms. His mermaid. His woman. What he felt for her was more primitive than a bland "girlfriend." He wanted so much more from Marlena than a mere relationship.
He studied Cam and Patty again. Cam was lazily rocking the chair, trying to get his lady interest"s attention. And succeeding. She had half turned in her seat, and Steve couldn"t see her expression, but Cam was enjoying the view, amus.e.m.e.nt lighting up his mischievous eyes as he looked down at her upturned face.
That was what he should do with Marlena, Steve thought. Keep her off balance. However, he had to concede that it was much tougher to keep his mermaid in that state.
He shook off his daydreaming. Geez, he had thought Cam had it bad. He couldn"t function for an hour without thinking about Marlena and what he wanted to do with her. "So," he said aloud, regaining the other two"s attention, "who do you think could access Marlena"s files without your knowing it?"
Cam and Patty proved to be a wealth of information. They didn"t have much time since Patty had to go back to work, but Steve managed to upload enough files to read. He couldn"t print them, of course, so that meant staying at the office a lot longer than he wanted. No matter. Harden hadn"t returned his message.
As she was leaving, Patty turned to Steve. "Thanks for the ticket. I"ve been wanting to see the show, but everything sold out months ago."
From behind her, Cam made a cutthroat gesture to Steve. "No problem," Steve smoothly said, having no idea what she meant. Cam was obviously behind it.
"Should I walk you back to your office, my love?" Cam offered, opening the door.
"When h.e.l.l freezes over," she returned sweetly, and walked out.
Cam closed the door and sighed. "Isn"t she romantic?"
Steve c.o.c.ked a brow. "Mind telling me about the tickets?"
Cam grinned. "Oh, that. Patty wanted to see this opera thing but couldn"t get the tickets. I told her you had an extra one, if she would come back here to talk to you."
Steve shook his head. "Man, I don"t know about you. I don"t even like opera."
"Me neither. But that"s beside the point. My Patty does. It"s some show called Turandot or something like that. Any idea what it is?"
"How would I know? If it"s sold out, how am I supposed to get her a ticket?"
"Not a ticket. At least three. I"m going, too."
"Are you mad? I"m not playing third wheel to you and Patty h.e.l.l-Freezes-Over."
"So bring Marlena Killer-Figure." Cam wrapped his arms across his chest. "I help you get your woman, you help me get mine. It"s a cool setup, I think."