Net Force - Tom Clancy [74]
I understand, Michaels said.
We need a victory, Carver continued. It doesnt have to be a major one, just something we can wave at the big dogs to keep them from gnawing on us. Sooner you come up with something, the better, and when I say sooner, Im talking about a couple of days.
Yes, sir.
Ill keep the Senate committee off your butt, but I need something on Days murder by Monday. Tuesday at the latest.
Yes, sir.
After Carver disconnected, Michaels stood. He needed to move, to burn off some of this nervous tension. It wasnt enough that hed almost been killed last night. Now he had the damned President of the United States after his hide. If he didnt come up with something, hed be dead in this town; if the powers that be thought he was a sludge, he could kiss his career good-bye.
Well, fine. He loved the work, it was satisfying, but hell, he could get another job, that wasnt the problem. As long as he got Steve Days killer before they threw him out, he could live with it. He hadnt wanted to sit in the damned chair in the first place-not given the cost.
He felt a sudden urge to call his daughter. He glanced at the time. Just after four p.m. here, but Idaho was a couple hours earlier. Would she be home from school yet? He didnt know. He should know, but he didnt. Did she have a beeper? He shook his head. He didnt know that, either. And even if she did, he wouldnt want to upset her by buzzing her in class. Shed worry, and what would he tell her when she called? Hi, honey. Guess what-Daddy almost got killed last night and probably is going to lose his job.
Yeah, right. There was nobody he could tell about this, even if hed really wanted to tell somebody. And he didnt want to tell anybody. He wasnt going to whine about how tough life was-that never solved anything and nobody wanted to hear it anyhow.
He was too nervous to sit still. Maybe he should go to the gym and work up a sweat. It wouldnt hurt anything, might make him feel better. And sometimes exercise cleared his head out enough so he got some good ideas. Sure, a session on the multiplex machine might be worthwhile. What the hell, he sure wasnt getting anything done sitting here.
Being stuck as an administrator, he had discovered, wasnt much fun.
Friday, October 1st, 4:42 p.m. Quantico
Jay Gridley walked into the VR Cane Masters store in Incline Village, Nevada. Given his choice, he would rather be hunting the robber in New Orleans, but the programmer would have to wait. He had gotten a good look at the guys vehicle, a feel for how he moved, and after backwalking the heist, he had a handle on the guys MO. Some things you could hide, some things tended to stand out. Mostly, it was style that separated one good programmer from another, and Gridley knew one thing: If he found the guys trail again, he would know him when he caught up with him. That was a big advantage, and he meant to jump on it as soon as he could.
But somebody had tried to kill his boss last night and that took precedence.
Inside the store, there were racks of gleaming, polished oak and hickory and walnut canes lined up neatly on the walls. Other martial-arts weaponry made from wood, too-staves, escrima sticks, plus exercise rubber bands, videos, books, jackets and T-shirts with Raising Cane on them.
An attractive Chinese woman behind the counter smiled at Jay, who had the weapon used in the assault on Alex Michaels tucked under his arm.
Help you? the clerk said.
Gridley handed the cane to her. Is this one of yours? He already knew it was, having gone through product descriptions and.GIF files of all the commercial cane manufacturers in North America until hed found a match.
The woman examined the cane. Yes, its the Instructors model, in hickory. Is there a problem with it?
No, it works fine, far as I know. But I need some information about it. Do you keep records of your sales?
Of course.
Is there any way to find out who bought this?
The womans smile faded. Im afraid our client records are confidential,