He shook his head. "I haven't seen anything to indicate a level of animosity between the two of them that would warrant such a heinous crime.”
My phone buzzed with a call from Isabella.
"Excuse me, I need to take this.”
"Can I go now?”
"Yes. We may have more questions for you later.”
He left our compartment, and I swiped the screen and took the call.
“Well, this just got interesting,” Isabella said. “You’re never going to believe who Nathan Mercer called in Coconut Key.”
24
"You know a guy named Nathan Mercer?" I asked Tristan when I called.
"Yes. How do you know him?”
"I don't, really. But I know he is dead.”
"Dead!?" he said in shock. "That would explain why he missed our meeting.”
"You were scheduled for a meeting?”
"He no-showed. I called, texted. Couldn't get hold of him. I figured he had gotten cold feet. Nathan was an odd bird. He could change his mind at the drop of a dime. It wasn’t the first time he had scheduled a meeting with me only to no-show. Brilliant guy, but eccentric. My patience was running thin with him. What happened?"
I told him the story.
"I saw that on the news, but they never identified the victim.I got so busy, it just didn't click that it could have been Nathan.”
"What was the meeting about?"
"I can't discuss that at this time.”
"He was assassinated.”
Tristan went silent. "Concerning, but not surprising. Do you know who’s responsible?”
"We're still trying to figure that out.”
Tristan paused again.
"I need to know what Nathan was working on.”
"Not on an open channel,” Tristan said. “We can talk on an encrypted app. But even then, I'm cautious.”
"He had a briefcase with him. Do you have any idea what was in the case?”
"Yes.”
"It's safe to say that somebody wants it.”
"If what he claimed was true, I can think of a lot of people who would want that prototype."
“Prototype?”
“That’s all I can say.”
