Chapter Sixteen #3
“Today? But—” She broke off, seemingly confused. “I thought it was tomorrow. It’s on my calendar for tomorrow.” She looked up as the droid came in with her tea.
“Martin, the Chu memorial.”
“Tomorrow at eleven, ma’am. I have the address for you, and the flowers are to be delivered to the memorial center this evening.”
“Excuse me,” Eve said. “Who gave you that information?”
“Mr. O’Brian, before he left.”
“This is a terrible mix-up. I feel . . . Jack had to go out of town, and I was just making arrangements to change my schedule so I could go in his stead.”
Clearly upset, Ellyn rubbed fingers on her forehead. “He was so rushed, he got the days mixed. Or I suppose his office did. Martin, see if you can have the flowers delivered to Director Chu’s wife, directly.”
“Yes, ma’am, right away.”
“She won’t be at their residence,” Peabody told the droid. “She’s staying with her daughter.”
“Thank you. Martin, double the order, have the card sent to Director Chu’s wife, and his family. I’m sick about this. Jack was Director Chu’s direct supervisor, and I should have been there representing him.
“I’m sorry, but do you know when Dr. Dent’s memorial is scheduled?”
“They plan to have a private family memorial.”
“I see. Understandable. We’ll arrange for flowers.” She picked up the teapot, poured it into a white cup. “Can we offer you tea, coffee?”
“No, thanks. Ms. Dossier, Director O’Brian left town suddenly?”
“Very. I wasn’t here when he left. He told Martin there’d been a major issue regarding work, and he needed to leave immediately.”
“Where did he go?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Central America, but I don’t have the exact location. He was to contact me, but he hasn’t. I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“Are you concerned?”
“No. Well, a little, but some of these areas he travels to are often spotty with communication. I did contact his office, but his she-wolf . . . Sorry, she’s very efficient, just a personal annoyance. His executive assistant said she wasn’t authorized to give me that information.”
She lifted her hands. “I realize a lot of Jack’s work is confidential, but really? She wouldn’t budge on it, and I haven’t been able to reach Jacob. Jacob Wyst.”
“Peabody, why don’t you go give Martin the addresses for the flowers.”
“Thank you for that. He’ll be to your left, then your right. I’ll send each a personal note in the next few days.”
When Peabody left, Ellyn turned back to Eve. “So. I don’t know what I can tell you to help in your investigation. It’s horrible, and my heart aches for the families.”
“I take it you wouldn’t know a great deal about your husband’s work.”
“Next to nothing,” she said with a smile.
“I have gone with him a few times on work travel, when that work allowed or when I could link my own work to that location. But science? A mystery to me. I know his work, and the work done at Banner-Wyst, is important, but the details of how that work’s done remain a mystery. ”
When Peabody came back, Eve read her look, rose. “We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.”
“Of course. I wish I could help. I’ll certainly let Jack know when I hear from him. He’s been so upset, as you can imagine. I hope the work he was sent to do takes his mind off it all, for a while. Should I tell him to contact you?”
“We’d appreciate it. Thanks again.”
“Oh, let me clear our elevator to take you down.”
Peabody reported as soon as the doors shut.
“The droid said O’Brian rushed in, told him to pack and fast, for an extended trip.
O’Brian packed another bag, and a briefcase, personally.
He instructed the droid to tell Dossier he’d been called out of town on a work emergency and was flying to Central America. ”
“He’s not anywhere near Central America.”
“Nope. The droid asked if he should book the flight, the car service, and O’Brian said he’d already taken care of it. He’d contact Dossier when he was able. To tell her he was sorry. Very sorry.”
“After you finish with the shuttle, check his financials. See how much he cleared out. His wife’s going to get one hell of a shock.”
“Yeah. She seemed like a nice woman.”
“Too bad she has lousy taste in husbands.”
Peabody wasn’t as fast as Roarke—nobody was—but she came through.
“Going by timing, and single male passenger? We’ve got a Seth Connor heading to Bora Bora.”
“Bora Bora?”
“Yeah. He may be sorry for ditching his wife, but it looks like he plans to enjoy himself in tropical breezes.”
“That’s probably accurate, but we’re going to check, see if he juggled names again, bounced from there. Financials first. No, look for the bounce.”
Eve tagged Roarke.
“And here we are again.”
“You’re wearing a T-shirt, and you’re all sweaty.”
Peabody looked up from her PPC, leaned to the left to check out the screen. And said, very, very quietly, “Oh yes.”
“I had an hour, so I’m using the gym.”
“That’s not our gym.”
“No, it’s the one at my offices. What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“I thought I’d give you another present.”
Laughing, he dried his face with a small white towel. “And whose financials am I prying into?”
“John—goes by Jack—O’Brian.”
“Done that, haven’t I?”
“Do a quick one, see how much is left in the accounts you looked at.”
“Ah. On the run, is he then?”
“Don’t think like a cop if you don’t want to hear you think like a cop. Either Peabody or I can do it, but—”
“I’ll keep my present, thank you. I’ll get back to you.”
When the screen went blank, Eve glanced at Peabody. “Don’t you think it’s unwise, at the least, to drool over your superior officer’s spouse right in front of her?”
“I did not drool. I made a concerted effort not to drool. Why are sweaty guys so sexy?”
“I’d say it depends on how they got sweaty, and that not all sweaty guys are created equal.”
“You know, that’s true. Very true. Anyway, I don’t have a single male bouncing. He could have a side piece in Bora Bora.”
“I don’t think so. We’ll start checking hotels, rentals. High-end. He’s going to try to catch his breath there. Scared, rushed, everything in a hurry, yeah, needs a couple days to settle.”
“We can’t pull him back unless—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But we’ll keep track of him until we can.”
Her screen signaled. No one was faster than Roarke.
“He’s transferred all but three million into a single account under the name Seth Connor. His wife has her own account, and he left that alone. The rest comes from his own, and their joint holdings. He’s in Bora Bora, by the way.”
“How did you—never mind. We had that data. Appreciate the rest.”
“I’ve a bit more to see to in Midtown, then I can head home or to you.”
She wanted to pull him in, have him join the geeks in EDD. But that wasn’t just stepping on Feeney’s toes. It stomped on them.
“Feeney’ll tag you if he wants you. I’m probably going to wrap things up here in the next hour, then work it from home.”
“I’ll see you there then. Hello and good-bye, Peabody.”
“Hi, bye! Sexy and smart,” she added when Eve pulled into Central. “McNab’s sexy and smart, in a different way. I like his way.”
“His way needs to break that goddamn code.”