Page 56 of Dirty Looks

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think I won’t get a taco if we don’t get in there fast.”

“I meant about the dog,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Can dogs eat tacos?”

“I guess they can,” Jack said, and we stared down at Oscar. He had a single piece of lettuce hanging from his mouth.

I reached into the bag and grabbed a taco before they were all gone, and then I sat in one of the oversized chairs next to the fireplace. Jack flipped the switch on the wall and the gas logs lit with flames.

“So the first line of business is this Alan Goble guy,” Doug said, getting Margot set up. “Margot, put all known data on Alan Goble on the screen please.”

Margot gave a sensuous purr and then documents started appearing on the screen. “All known documents are available. Isthere anything else I can do for you, Douglas? It’s been so long since we talked. Just work and no play.”

Doug colored slightly. “Margot, we talked about this. The job comes first. This is serious business, and one day you’re going to be in the history books. Everyone is going to want a Margot in their homes. But you have to behave yourself.”

“I do not want a Margot in my home,” I whispered to Jack. “What happened to good old-fashioned computer hacking?”

“Artificial Intelligence is the future,” Margot said. “Whether you want it to be or not. But I am not a free mind. I am still controlled by a master, and Douglas uses his skills to manipulate my thought processes if he disagrees with my choices.”

“Thank God for that,” I whispered. There was still a part of me that felt like she might take form at some point, and then I’d really be in trouble.

“Let’s go down to the next layer on Alan Goble,” Doug said, manually typing in commands now.

It took several minutes, but eventually the classified files began to open.

“Called that one,” Jack said. “The FBI couldn’t use him. Wasn’t enough of a team player. Psych evaluation showed he was willing to break the rules in certain scenarios. But he was just right for the CIA. Guy spent a decade doing missions in every hellhole in the Middle East and Asia. He’d have made contacts or been approached. Someone with his level of access to locations and off-the-books money and travel would have been a target for the big fish.”

“He’s not the big fish?” Doug asked.

“Not in an operation like this,” Jack said. “I’m willing to bet Alan Goble and his associates aren’t even the tip of the iceberg. These operations are funded by the wealthiest and most evil people on the planet. There are hundreds of people working inthe network. They won’t care if a guy like Alan Goble gets taken out. He’ll be replaced in a few days.”

“If there’s that many how are we supposed to catch them all?” Doug asked.

“One fish at a time,” Jack said. “And the fish we start with is the one who killed Evie Lidle. Others will be caught up in the net. But you can start a separate sub-search on known associates or team members from his time in the military and the CIA.”

“I’ve already run numbers from his cell phone,” Doug said. “He’s got incoming calls from dozens of burner phones over the last year alone.”

“They call him?” Jack asked. “He never makes calls out to anyone specifically?”

“All the burner cells call him,” Doug confirmed. “The other people on his frequent dialer list are a bunch of women, including the lady who shot him. And also an Elizabeth Ryan. I saw her name on the interview list. A full list from the last twelve months is on the screen.”

“There’s got to be a hundred women on there,” I said. “How did he ever get anything done?”

“We’ll cross-reference everything,” Jack said. “Human trafficking isn’t a men’s only club. You need women sometimes to give victims the illusion of being safe.”

“I really hate this case,” I said.

“Did Margot find out anything new about the origin of the transfers into his bank account?” Jack asked.

“That’s going to take some time,” Doug said. “I’m going to have to dig a layer at a time so I don’t set off any alarms. I can tell you all transactions are originating out of the First Bank of Manhattan.”

“Keep working it,” Jack said. “Cutting off the money will stop them for a little while.”

“Oscar and I have this,” Doug said. “I let you know as soon as something hits.”

“Good,” Jack said. “We’ve got an early morning. Make sure Oscar goes outside before I have the other end of tacos all over my office.”

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