“Yeah,” Kincaid said.“You’re right.He could still be useful if I take another approach.Get back here.I want a proper report on my desk, and when the sister gets here, you can take point on that.You already have a rapport with her.”
He hung up.
Javi leaned back against the car and tilted his head back, eyes closed and sun warm on his face.He clenched his jaw and just imagined screaming instead.
Back in Phoenix, there had been a graveyard of abandoned hobbies in Kincaid’s office.He’d take up something focused and fiddly, then just lose interest and leave it half-finished on a shelf.
Unfinished model planes, a book nook, a handful of sports memorabilia from the UK.
He was the same with people.Once he was done, he just cut the strings and didn’t even bother to clean up the mess.
That’s what he’d done to Javi.He didn’t like Kincaid much these days, but he could still remember how addicted he’d been to the heat of Kincaid’s consuming, mercurial interest.And the way it had just switched off between one breath and the next.
It felt like Kincaid had just done the same thing to Eric.
The “we” hadn’t lasted long.
Chapter Twenty-One
Theideawasthatthere had to be someone in a position of authority at State of Mind Security who could answer Cloister’s questions.
Evidence was piling up against that, though.
Behind the desk, the receptionist left another message, hung up, and gave Cloister an ingratiatingly apologetic smile.
“Sorry,” she said.“There’s a security conference in Reno?A lot of senior engineers and our owners are there and…I guess they are in panels or on panels.Um…”
She trailed off and spread her hands in a “the ball’s in your court” gesture at Cloister.He was pretty sure she hoped he’d take the loss and leave.He would have to eventually, but he could stretch this out a bit longer.
“So, if I was a client, I’d just be locked out of my property until they came back?”he asked.
The receptionist looked over her shoulder to see if anyone else had turned up in the office to field his questions.They hadn’t.She swiveled back to Cloister.
“We have protocols in place,” she said, “for remotely accessing our systems.”
“Who has access to those protocols?”
She was used to that question.Cloister could see the way she relaxed as she parroted the party line.
“They are strictly regulated,” she said.“Only the senior engineers can get into those systems…”
“So I’d be locked out?”
“No,” she said quickly and then grimaced.“Come on, man.You know how often people forget their code, cut their thumbs, or don’t want to have to be on-site to let a tradesman in and out?The senior engineers got sick of being on-call 24-7, so…we came up with a workaround.It’s still secure.”
“What’s the workaround?”Cloister asked.
There was a pause, and then the receptionist reached under the desk and pulled out a yellow Post-it.There was a list of five codes on it, scrawled in a strong black Sharpie.
“Only the senior engineers' accounts can access the override,” she said.“We can just access the senior engineers' accounts.But I’m the only one with the codes, and I only give them out to our junior engineers if we get a call.”
“Was Brian Fowler one of those engineers?”
“I…maybe,” she said.
Cloister’s radio crackled.He tapped it off and gave the receptionist his best smile.
“I can’t hang around much longer,” he said.“Could I just see Brian’s desk before I go?Then I can come back at a more convenient time.”
