Page 65 of Cole

"Sounds good." Penson waved him toward the study off the grand, two-story family room.

As they passed through the room, Cole spied a woman sitting on one of the sofas, sipping from a coffee cup. She looked up, held his gaze, then simply inclined her head in greeting, saying nothing. She was dressed warmly, but he noticed a Northern Summit Resources logo on her jacket.

He dipped his head in return, but since Penson didn’t introduce her, he just continued to the study.

Once inside the room and Penson had retreated, Cole got to work. He ostensibly measured distances and angles but was actually scanning for the best location to plant the devices. Penson's computer sat on a massive oak desk, the screen dark but the tower hummed quietly beneath.

Cole reached past the computer to fiddle with the blinds, his other hand slipping a tiny device from his pocket. The tracker was no bigger than a fingernail, designed to attach to any surface and transmit location data for up to six months. He pressed it against the underside of the desk, feeling the adhesive grip.

Cole casually moved around the room, planting a listening device behind a row of books and another beneath a side table. Each placement was smooth, practiced, and invisible to anyone not specifically looking.

The computer was trickier. He needed physical access to install the tracking software, which meant getting Penson out of the room. Cole pulled a USB drive from his pocket as he heard footsteps from the family room. He only needed thirty seconds for Sadie to get the connection she needed.

He moved to the computer, inserted the drive, then walked to the other side of the room, counting down the seconds.

"Mr. Iverson?"

Penson stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised. “How’s it going?”

"I’m looking at the desk placement from here," Cole said, his voice steady. "The computer cables could interfere with certain camera angles. I want to flag it for the proposal."

Penson's eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled. "Thorough. I like that.”

"Would it be possible to take another look at the basement access points?" Cole asked. "I want to make sure our coverage extends to all entry areas."

Penson hesitated. "The basement is primarily storage."

"Security is only as strong as its weakest point," Cole pointed out smoothly. "If there's an access route we haven't accounted for, it becomes a vulnerability."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Penson nodded. "I’ll take you down."

As Penson walked away, Cole hurried to the desk and slipped the USB drive out, shoving it into his pocket. The software had close to thirty seconds to install, hopefully enough for Sadie to analyze the data back at LSIMT. He walked quickly to catch up with Penson.

They were halfway down the basement stairs when voices echoed from the front of the house—male voices, rough and urgent.

"Mr. Penson!" someone was calling from the foyer. "Mr. Penson, we need to talk to you!"

Penson's expression flickered with annoyance, then calculation. "Excuse me for a moment." He brushed past Cole and headed toward the commotion.

Cole nodded, but followed at a distance, positioning himself where he could observe what was happening upstairs. Two rough-looking men stood in the foyer, both wearing Northern Summit jackets.

"We went to the cabin," one of them said, his voice carrying despite obvious attempts to keep it low. "The place was empty. Looked like someone left in a hurry."

Penson's back was to Cole, but his posture had gone rigid. "Empty?"

"Cleared out. No sign of the woman who’s living there."

A woman appeared from a side hallway, her expression carefully blank. "Sounds like your call to the university worked. They must have pulled her out quickly."

Penson laughed, the sound sharp and cold. "I told them I'd pull the million-dollar endowment I was going to give. Amazing how fast academic principles crumble when money's involved."

Cole kept his expression neutral even as rage boiled in his gut. So Penson had threatened the university directly, used his wealth as a weapon to force Janice out. The confirmation of his corruption should have been satisfying. Instead, it just made Cole want to put his fist through the man's smug face.

"Should we keep looking?" one of the goons asked.

"No point if she's already gone." Penson waved a dismissive hand. "The important thing is that she's not here to cause problems anymore. Let her run back to Seattle or wherever she's from. Without evidence, she's just another environmental activist with wild accusations and nothing to back them up."

Cole allowed himself a small, internal smile. Keep thinking that, you bastard. You have no idea what's coming. He walked back up the steps, keeping his expression neutral. “I’m finished in here. I’ll go outside and check the perimeter once more. Good sight lines, though the tree coverage on the north side will need addressing."