Chapter 9 #2
She forced herself to face facts. They weren’t the police, and thinking they could investigate Damien’s murder was almost laughable. Especially if Richard had planned everything down to the last detail so that they might never figure out the truth.
Looking around the cozy cabin, Bryn realized this might be her last weekend of freedom. If they didn’t have something tangible to use in her defense by Monday, there probably wouldn’t be a way out of this mess.
It was only a matter of time until she was found and arrested. Her life would be over as she sat in jail and waited for her trial.
Worst of all, there was nothing Micah, Rex, or anyone else could do to save her.
Micah could read the despair on Bryn’s features and wished there was a way to reassure her that everything would be okay.
But he was very much afraid things would get worse before they got better. He tried to focus on researching the data center project, but every cell in his body wanted to pull Bryn into his arms to hold her close.
Maybe that is the right answer, he thought grimly. He went back to his earlier idea of liquidizing his assets to buy fake passports for them and disappear.
Forever.
The urge to sweep Bryn out of the country was strong. She’d resist, but he was confident she’d soon realize that starting over in some remote location far away from here was a better alternative to sitting in jail.
Or worse, being found guilty of first-degree murder.
“What’s that article?” Bryn’s voice pierced his thoughts. “Why are they talking about data centers from foreign countries?”
“I just did a general search. This is not necessarily related to the Wild Prairie Data Center.” He scanned the article. “It mentions data centers from foreign countries pose a risk to national security.”
“Why is that?” Bryn looked confused. “Aren’t data centers basically big buildings housing high-powered computers? I know the computers need to be in climate-controlled spaces, which is why the Midwest tends to be a good place to have them.”
“That’s true. The Midwest also has more open rural spaces to build them.” He glanced at her. “They like to be close to the city to attract employees, but at the same time, the amount of property needed factors out cities like Chicago or New York.”
“That makes sense.” Her brow furrowed. “But I still don’t see the risk to our national security.”
This wasn’t necessarily his area of expertise either. He continued scanning the article. “I guess there’s a concern about data security. Like maybe a foreign country will try to penetrate our systems for their own use.”
“Like information piracy?” She shook her head. “I guess, but can’t they do that without data centers? We’re always hearing about hackers from overseas who are working hard to scam their way into our personal bank accounts.”
“True. This could be a way to get data from other companies, though. Not just your bank information or mine. That’s like picking one apple at a time.
I’m sure the goal is to have access to information from several large companies.
Companies who would pay to have their data stored in a center like this one. ”
Like the company Bryn worked for? Maybe, although despite how well they were doing, that also seemed like small potatoes in the big scheme of things. He had to assume the ultimate goal would be to target even bigger fish, like billion-dollar companies.
Was that the play here? Was Bryn a sacrificial lamb in a much bigger conspiracy?
He wondered if he should float that theory past Rex.
Not that his boss was particularly happy with how things were going.
As much as Rex felt responsible for Tommy’s death, along with several of the other soldiers who’d died during the exfil that day, he knew Rex wasn’t convinced of Bryn’s innocence.
Maybe it was better to wait until they had something more tangible to go on. Right now, there wasn’t any concrete evidence to indicate the Wild Prairie Data Center was at the heart of Damien’s murder.
In fact, he was pretty sure the murder was related to the missing money, probably the cash from the data center project.
Why would Richard take money from his own company, blame Damien, and frame Bryn for the embezzlement and the murder? It made more sense that Richard would kill Damien in a fit of anger and frame that on Bryn, but that didn’t explain the missing money going through her account.
Unless Damien had done that.
Micah hoped he wasn’t going down the wrong path. They could be making more of this than there was. Revenge made more sense in the long run.
What did killing Bryn give Richard, though? Did he think that once Bryn was out of the picture the feds would return the missing money? The money wasn’t hers; it was proof of a crime. It was logical that the money could be returned to the rightful owner.
But that could happen even without Bryn’s death. Killing her would implicate someone else. Someone other than Richard.
Like one of her colleagues? Maybe.
“What are you thinking?” Bryn asked.
“Nothing really.” He didn’t want to upset her by outlining the various scenarios whirling through his mind. “Just trying to make sense of things.”
“Good luck with that,” she muttered. “If we don’t find something soon, you should turn me over to the police. Save yourself, Micah. There’s no point in both of us being arrested for crimes we didn’t commit.”
“Let’s just wait to see how things go.” He would rather disappear with her somewhere they couldn’t be found than turn her in, but that was a conversation for later. Once they’d run out of options.
He continued with his search, frowning when he found another article describing the construction on the data center being halted until further notice. He tapped the screen, turning to look at Bryn. “Did you know any of the details behind this?”
“No. I’m sure that was the reason our PR company was hired, though, right?” She shrugged, leaning in to get a better look at the caption. “Sounds like the plans went through, but then there was some glitch that caused the construction to grind to a halt.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t say much about why that happened. All it says here is that a city government official pulled the building permit until the issues could be resolved.”
“What issues?” Bryn shook her head. “Like using too many natural resources? Or something else?”
“No idea.” There was a picture on the screen of a shell of a building with a large backhoe sitting off to the side as if the operator had literally been dragged off the machine in the middle of his shift. “Possibly a paperwork glitch of some sort.”
“Maybe. Looks like the construction was halted almost four weeks ago.” She arched a brow. “That was right when Damien started meeting with the guy from the Wild Prairie Data Center.”
“Do you remember his name? Maybe we can dig into his background a bit.” He figured it was worth a shot.
She frowned in concentration, then nodded. “I remember now, he had two first names. I remember being confused at first if his first name was Phillip or Justin. Turns out his first name was Phillip.”
“Okay, let’s see what we can find on Phillip Justin.” He typed the name into the search engine, along with the phrase “data center.”
An image of a smiling man in his mid-forties bloomed on the screen. Beneath the photo was the caption, “Phillip Justin, spokesperson for the Wild Prairie Data Center, is scheduled to present his case to the Wild Prairie city council.”
“Does he look familiar?” He turned the screen so she could see better. “Did he come by the office to meet with Damien?”
“Yes.” She glanced at him. “But I only met him once. Damien took him out to lunch several times, but they only met in his office for the initial meeting.”
“He’s the spokesman, but that doesn’t tell us who the owner is.
” He tried another search to narrow in on the organization behind the development.
Another article caught his eye, and he realized there were hundreds of data centers across the US.
So many that one more being built in Wild Prairie shouldn’t have been such a big deal.
He worked for the next fifteen minutes without finding anything useful. He took a break when his stomach rumbled with hunger. They hadn’t stopped for groceries, so there was nothing in the cabin to eat.
“We should order a pizza or something.” He offered a wry grin. “I can’t think clearly on an empty stomach.”
“Don’t you need a credit card to order a pizza?” She frowned. “I think we’re better off going to pick one up. Maybe that town we drove through has a place that serves carryout pizzas.”
“Yeah, okay.” He glanced at his watch. The hour was going on five o’clock. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “I’ll work for another twenty minutes, then we’ll head out.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “I get the feeling we’re spinning our wheels with nothing to show for it.”
He couldn’t deny it. Still, he would feel better if he could at least identify the owner of the data center. If the building was being constructed by one of the big tech gurus, he figured they were less likely to be involved in anything nefarious.
After another search, he discovered the name of the company was Global Sun Technology. He frowned, wondering if the Global portion of the name was a subtle reference to some other country.
He continued searching and finally found yet another reference to Phillip Justin and a man by the name of Jin Yong Wu. “Bryn? What about this guy, Jin Yong Wu? Did you meet him?”
“No, I don’t remember meeting anyone by that name.
Or arranging any meetings with him.” She spread her hands.
“Does it matter if a person with a Chinese-sounding name is involved in the data center? For one thing, we can’t assume he’s not an American citizen.
For another, even if he is from China, they’re heavily invested in technology, right? ”
“They are, yeah.” He stared at the name for a long moment. “My point here is that I don’t think anyone would be happy to know that a data center that they didn’t want in the first place was owned by someone from China.”
“I’m not sure why the nationality matters.
” Bryn looked confused. “Regardless of who owns it, the data center is being opposed because of resource consumption. Not because of the origin of the company. Technology is a part of our every day lives. No matter how much we might not like to admit it, we couldn’t really function in a world without our phone, TV, internet, and other computer programs.”
“True.” Maybe she was right, and he was heading down the wrong path. Just because cyber crimes were on the rise, there was no reason to suspect a company owned by China would carry a higher risk of causing trouble for the community than any other data center.
Hackers were everywhere, here at home and abroad.
“Maybe we should eat,” Bryn said.
“Yeah, we should.” He didn’t move, though, as a new theory crept into his mind. “Did Damien say anything about the data center to lead you to believe he’d changed his mind on the project?”
“No, why?” She searched his gaze. “What are you getting at?”
“This could be nothing more than a wild theory, but let’s just talk it through for a moment.” He gathered his thoughts. “What if Damien discovered something about the data center that would put their company at risk? Something criminal that he felt he couldn’t afford to ignore?”
“What’s criminal about a data center?” Bryn asked.
“I don’t know, but let’s just assume there’s something bad going on there and Damien raised the alarm with Richard. He may have advised Richard that they should sever ties with the company, going as far as to refund their deposit to avoid getting dragged into whatever is really going on.”
He could tell by her skeptical glance that Bryn wasn’t buying into his theory. Still, he pressed on.
“Let’s say Richard is not willing to refund the money or give up the big project. So he decides to embezzle the money, making it look like Damien did the deed. Then he goes a step further to eliminate Damien from the equation permanently.”
Realization finally dawned in her brown eyes. “He shoots Damien, then frames me for both the embezzlement and the murder.”
“Exactly. Because Richard knows you and Damien were close, and he can’t be sure how much Damien confided in you about his concerns.” Micah felt an icy chill slide down his spine. Voicing his theory made it sound all too real.
And if it was true, they were ill-equipped to find the proof they’d need to get anyone in law enforcement to listen.