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“We had a bit of a dust up earlier today. There was some gunfire down the block and a woman named Anabella Foster sort of stumbled into the office. She’d been planning to come in to talk to us about the possibility of becoming a client.”
“Was anyone hurt?” asked King.
“Not anyone here at the office. It was pretty deserted…just Seth, Alicia, and I, and then Anabella.”
“What does she think Cerberus can do for her?”
“She’s a forensic accountant that Josiah Blackwood hired to do a forensic accounting of his corporate entities. She thinks she’s found something illegal and that it implicates the old man. She thinks someone’s found out and now they’re trying to kill her.”
“Has she told anyone?” asked King.
“She’s tried. The cops blew her off as did several of the alphabet agencies. She finally got some low-level bean counter at the DoD who wanted to play cloak and dagger and then didn’t show. But somebody, according to her, tried to attack her with a knife. I think she’s a lot more frightened than she’s letting us know.”
“Seth?”
“I concur with everything Coop’s said. It all sounds credible. I could take the lead as there will be a lot of technological stuff to do.”
“I disagree. Yes, tech support will be involved, but a lot of it is going to be keeping Anabella safe, while Seth digs up what we need to shut the company down. The thing is, I don’t think Anabella will just walk away.”
“If you think it’s a legit case, go ahead and get it started. We’ll do the actual staffing when I get back. Let’s put her up in one of the safe rooms, and until I get back, Coop, you’re in charge of the client.”
Coop returned to the conference room while Seth went to his bank of computers and began typing on the keyboard, sending and gathering information all over the world like some kind of pinball wizard of old. Coop shook his head. He liked Seth, but there were times he didn’t understand what made the guy click. He had been one of the best men in special ops he’d ever known. But something had happened, and Seth had become obsessed with the technology behind what made things happen. Coop figured between Seth and Sully, Seth’s counterpart in London, Cerberus probably had the best IT guys in the world.
He entered the conference room. “King will be back in a few days’ time. Until we have a chance to formally staff your case, I’ll be in charge. Given that the hour is late, and Seth wants to know a whole lot more about everything than he does, I think it’s probably best for you to stay in one of our safe rooms.”
“I don’t have anything with me. I mean I wasn’t prepared for you to just kind of sweep in…”
“What did you think would happen, Anabella? You come to a reputable black ops, security, and intelligence company and tell us you think someone is trying to kill you. Just exactly what did you think would happen?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think this.” He could see the brave façade she’d been hiding behind all day begin to crumble. “I guess I really hoped you’d tell me I was being foolish and had nothing to worry about.”
“And maybe you don’t. We won’t know for sure until a bit more time passes.”
The door swung open, and Seth entered on the heels of his statement. “And maybe you do. I pulled the CCTV footage from this afternoon. The whole cupcake robbery just didn’t make sense.”
“They weren’t trying to rob him?” asked Coop.
“I don’t think they were expecting him to have a shotgun under his counter. I think they wanted to make a lot of noise and create a distraction. They probably felt a cupcake baker was a safe bet for easy money. I haven’t had time to completely isolate the sound, but I have to tell you—I think the guys firing the handguns were providing noise cover for a sniper. Tomorrow when it’s light out, I want to go outside and look for a bullet.”
All the color drained from Anabella’s face. “I was right,” she whispered.
“I’d bet everything I have on it,” said Seth. “Nothing conclusive enough I can take to the cops just yet, but I told Alicia I wanted her to stay here tonight, too. I think we let everyone else know, we’re buckled up until morning.”
“I can’t impose. I shouldn’t have come,” said Anabella, gathering her bag together.
“As opposed to what? Let some sniper have a second shot at you? No. You absolutely did the right thing,” said Coop. “Good call. We can rustle up food from the club’s kitchen.”
Seth nodded. “No Chinese takeout tonight. Alicia and I can take two of the privacy rooms downstairs. You and Anabella can take the safe rooms up here.”
“Alicia should be safe. I don’t want her endangered because of me.”
“She won’t be in any danger if she does as protocol dictates, but thanks for being concerned. The fact is, we’re better off having an operative and a protectee close to each other. Like I said, Cerberus is pretty much impenetrable. Seth has installed an amazing security system.”
Anabella sat down and looked as if she might be sick. “Help me ensure my people are living up to the moral and legal values I uphold, he said. It’ll be safe, he said.”
“He lied.”
“Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t. I don’t know. He wanted me to check all the divisions, but I’m not sure he really understands forensic accounting. When my weekly reports contained information regarding areas he thought were secure, he told me I’d gone outside the parameters of what he felt I should be looking at.”
