Leo stood at the window watching snowflakes dance in the darkness outside. Over the last ten minutes he had succeeded in calming his breathing, but his eyes still carefully avoided the reflection in the glass, focusing instead on the tiny specks of white. The door behind him creaked against its frame. Leo turned to see a gray-suited man enter the office. The fixer. The man acknowledged his presence with a nod, before following his gaze towards a pile of shredded paper on the floor.
The air conditioner blew warm air into the room, occasionally lifting a few scraps of paper into the air. Those reminded Leo of the snowflakes and for a moment he imagined that the body was covered with a light dusting of snow. The gray man walked towards Senator Harper, now lying face down in the pile of paper, and checked his pulse.
‘The chief is dead.’ He looked around the room, taking in the shredded documents. ‘You here alone?’
‘Yes. I called you straight away.’
‘You did right,’ the man studied Leo’s face. ‘You touch anything?’
‘No … But the documents—’
‘Never mind the documents. Harp had a weak heart and everybody knows that. I’ll do what needs to be done and you’re free to go.’
Leo nodded and hurried towards the door, straining not to look at the corpse.
‘Congressman Clark?’
‘Yes.’
‘Not a word of this. There will be an investigation, but we’ll keep it internal.’ The gray man waited for the nod of agreement before getting his cell phone. ‘I need a team of sweepers—’
Leo didn’t stay to listen. He left Senator Harper’s office, relief washing over him. It took all his willpower not to run, but once in the car, nothing could stop him from pressing the gas pedal to the floor and accelerating away. His hands felt sticky on the steering wheel, but the rush of cold air eased the pounding behind his eyes. He hadn’t expected to feel this bad. Three blocks away from the building Leo swerved the car towards the curb and cut the engine. He jumped outside, letting snowflakes cling to his hair and face, and dialed a number on his cell. As he stood waiting, his hand found a bullet-shaped container in his pocket, his fingertips unscrewing the cap.
‘Jason, I need your help.’ Leo emptied the contents into his hand, before hurling the silver container into the bushes, and then let the small white pills spill through his fingers and onto the road.
CHAPTER 1
A patch of sunlight lay resting atop the bed covers. It had been making its slow progress from the corner of the room towards the sleeping girl since early morning. Only a few inches to go now. It was early summer, the air filled with the scent of flowers and the insistent buzz of insects. Amanda slept, oblivious to the building heat of the day or the occasional misguided bee that entered her bedroom.
She had stayed up late last night and intended to sleep all through the morning. The sunspot, unaware of her intentions, crept a little further, finally resting itself across her face. Amanda squeezed her eyes tighter. The sunspot remained, tinting her dreamworld with red. She slid under the covers with a soft moan. That was when she first became aware of the heat. Oh well, she was awake now. Amanda opened her eyes, blinking in the sunlight, and smiled. Sitting up, she woke her laptop that passed the night by her side on the bed.
Instant Messenger brought up a window. CyberWizard. He always knew when she was online. Amanda never asked who CyberWizard was – it wasn’t polite to pry – but she suspected he was a boy, a slightly older boy. Accept. A sudden burst of sound from the built-in speakers made her jump. Amanda threw a guilty glance at the door and plugged in a pair of headphones. It took her a second to realize what the sound was. CyberWizard had sent her a Happy Birthday tune and an e-card of a most adorable puppy. Amanda logged in with her TechGenie credentials. So, what if TechGenie sounded a bit pretentious. Nothing wrong with that.
[CyberWizard] Happy 10’s kiddo!
[TechGenie] Thanks! Luv the pup!
[CyberWizard] You said it’s your dream present. Ur folks can hardly object to an e-puppy.
Amanda studied the e-card again, sighing. No, she’d never get a pet. Mom seemed pretty firm on that one.
***
Sally stood in the middle of a sun-flooded kitchen, sporting a brand new “Best Mom” apron. Her hands, with a skill of their own, worked on decorating a cake, while her mind rambled elsewhere. She turned her eyes momentarily away from her work, noticing the slow dance of dust motes in the sun. If days would always be like this, she might just grow fond of this place sooner than she’d thought. Despite her fears, she knew that changes weren’t always a bad; sometimes they turned out to be good. Fresh start, as they say. Sally’s reverie got broken by a short burst of music coming from upstairs. She glanced at the new wall clock. Just after 10 a.m.
‘I’ve got the present—’ Leo entered the kitchen.
‘Hush, Leo, Amanda’s up.’
‘Bit early for her,’ Leo put a small box with a large pink bow on a counter top. ‘You sure– ’
‘I’ve heard her laptop.’
Leo frowned. ‘She shouldn’t be spending all her time on the Internet.’
‘Look who’s talking. You were the one who got her interested in computers. Even the silly thing you got for her birthday—’
‘You know how she likes gadgets. Apparently, geek is the new cool.’ Leo looked around in search of something. ‘That cake sure looks nice.’
‘Stop changing the— Leo, no!’
Sally slapped Leo’s hands with a tea towel. Having made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at swiping a cream rose, Leo made a deceptive move away from the counter top. Before Sally could understand what was happening, he whirled round her and reached the cake.
‘Leo! How dare you!’ Her face flushed with frustration, but there was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes now. ‘You want cream? If you wannit, you’ll get it!’ She picked up a decoration cone and squirted the leftover chocolate mousse into her husband’s face.
After momentary disorientation, Leo mobilized himself and with one skilful move snatched the chocolate spraying weapon from her hands. He smiled wickedly, licked the mousse from his lips and fired perfectly at Sally. Before she had a chance to react, he seized her in his arms, slowly licking chocolate from her face. Sally tried to break free, then decided to surrender to the winner and kissed him back.
Their kiss only lasted seconds, before being interrupted by the sound of Amanda’s laughter. The girl leaned against the doorway, enjoying the look of embarrassment spreading across her parents’ faces and their awkward attempts to conceal the traces of the recent chocolate fight.
‘And what, might I ask, are you doing here? Food fighting?’ Amanda arched her brow.
‘Of course not, we’re merely making sure that this chocolate mousse is of good quality’, said Leo, his voice mockingly pompous, while his face remained an image of sincerity.
This caused a new bout of laughter, now from both Amanda and Sally. After the giggles died down, Leo picked Amanda up with a strained groan. ‘You’re getting too heavy, princess.’
‘Or, you’re getting too old, Father,’ Amanda regally wrapped her arms round her Dad’s neck and winked at her Mom over his shoulder.
They were already out of the room, Leo mumbling something about ill-behaved girls and their poor humble fathers, when Amanda spotted the large pink bow. She wriggled out of her Dad’s arms and snatched the box. Leo and Sally made a feeble attempt at singing a Happy Birthday, but Amanda was not one for formalities. She ripped off the bow and the paper, letting them fall to the floor, and jumped up and down laughing.
‘RX-500 Nano! How cool! I need to try it out.’ She gave her parents an obligatory hug and, before they got a chance to say anything, disappeared into her bedroom.
It wasn’t long after Amanda slammed shut the door to her bedroom, when a knock at the front door announced a visitor. Leo opened it, looked at the plastic animal cage in Jason’s arms and smiled. ‘Good to see you, old man.’
‘You too. Did you warn Sally about the gift?’
Leo grinned, ‘I thought I’d leave that to you.’
‘But—’ Jason stopped abruptly, hearing Sally gasp.
‘Oh no! Please don’t tell me this is what I think it is. Having a pet is like having another child.’ She looked at Leo and not finding any help there turned to Jason, ‘I work and Leo’s always away on business. I’m sorry, Jason, but we can’t possibly accept your gift.’
‘I understand, I should have asked—’
‘Daddy, it’s working!’ Amanda’s thumping footsteps announced her imminent appearance.
In the time it took her to run downstairs, Sally gestured Jason to hide the cage behind a squat wall cabinet, just wide enough to conceal it. He barely made it, when Amanda flew into the hallway, waving a small electronic device.
‘I followed all the instructions and it works.’ She spotted Jason. ‘Uncle Jason, hi! I didn’t know you were coming.’
‘I guess it’s a surprise,’ Jason said, feeling painfully aware of his lack of presents. ‘What’s that you got there?’
‘It’s a present Mom and Dad gave me. Stand still for a second. It came in parts and I had to assemble it myself. It works and I can now identify all the gadgets you’ve got on you.’ Amanda spoke at her usual million words per minute rate. ‘Aha! You’ve got a Sony Ericsson, K750 series. Wow, that’s old! A Blackberry and ...’ she stopped, puzzled, ‘an unidentified USB device with one terabyte capacity.’ Amanda frowned, chewing her lower lip. ‘That can’t be right. I don’t think thumb drives come with such huge storage. What is it?’ Her look was almost accusing.
Jason looked back bewildered. Scratching his head, he cleared his throat before asking ‘Uhm, what’s a terabyte, again?’
‘Thousand gigabytes, of course.’
‘Ah, I see. And what’s a—’ Jason’s further enquiries were cut short by a tiny whine coming from somewhere behind him.
Sally jumped with surprise. Leo made an attempt to strike up a conversation, while Jason suddenly had to clear his throat again. None of this made the noise stop. Instead, it grew louder and what started as a barely audible whine was now a distinctly identifiable bark. Amanda’s jaw dropped open. She crept towards the squat cabinet, stretching her neck to peek around it. Her breath caught, she shrieked and grabbed the puppy cage, hugging it to her chest.
‘Is it for me? Can I have a look? What’s its name?’
Amanda sat herself on the floor, placing the cage on the fluffy rug in front of her. Cooing to the puppy, she giggled with barely contained joy. She stuck her finger through the spaces in the cage and squealed: ‘Aw, he chewed my finger! Can I let him out? Puh-lease?’
Sally and Leo exchanged a glance. Leo smiled an I-knew-she-would-love-a-puppy smile and Sally gave a barely visible nod.
‘What do I call him, Uncle Jason?’
‘His name’s Sparky, but he’s small enough to respond to any name you give him.’
‘Sparky’s a great name. I like it.’ Amanda flicked a quick glance at her parents. Did they really approve? She couldn’t believe her luck. The elaborate excuses she got every time she asked for a puppy gave her an impression that she wasn’t going to get one.
She took a few steps back and called the puppy, who – faced with a choice of a cage or a girl who obviously liked him – did not hesitate. Sparky raised his chubby bottom off the floor and trotted towards her, not realizing that he had just done an equivalent of signing a declaration of eternal love and friendship. Amanda smiled; the pup was hers and he knew it.
‘Can I show him my bedroom?’ she asked.
In a brief moment of silence everyone turned to Sally.
‘Why is everyone looking at me? Of course you can, honey. It’s your present.’
‘Thanks, Mom.’ Amanda grabbed the puppy and skipped towards the stairs. ‘Thank you, Uncle Jason,’ she added hastily, suddenly remembering that it was him who gave her the present. She seemed to hesitate on the stairs, before deciding to award Jason a peck on the cheek as a thank you. That done, Amanda rushed up to her bedroom like a force five hurricane.
‘I’m sorry, Sally. I should have asked you first—’
‘Don’t worry about it. Responsibility will do her good. Still, I better go and check on the two of them.’
***
‘I see you are settling well into your new house.’ Jason slumped onto the tan leather sofa.
‘We are. It’s a good place. Big. I’m planning to repay the money you loaned—’
‘Jesus, that’s not why I asked. The money was nothing. You know what they say about disgustingly rich lawyers; well, I come from a whole family of them,’ Jason chuckled, ‘anyway, how does it feel being the new Chairman of Natural Resources?’
‘Not bad, considering,’ Leo’s smile faltered, ‘I still wonder if I’ve done the right thing. It eats at me. Ol’ Harp …’ he shut his eyes, ‘Sometimes, I wish I could just get away—’
‘Come on, you’ve got everything a man might want. Your family… geez Leo, I’d take your life any day.’
‘Yeah, but what if some of it comes out?’
‘Then I’ll stand by you and protest your innocence ‘till we both burn in hell.’
Leo laughed. ‘Nice image. Thanks buddy. Guess the reason I started this … well, I want you to promise that if anything happens, you’ll look after the girls.’
‘Nonsense, you’ve done nothing wrong and I’ve never let an innocent man go down.’
‘Don’t joke, Jason, promise.’
Jason sighed. ‘All right. If you want, I promise. You know Amanda and Sally mean the world to me.’
‘Thanks, Jay.’
‘Sure. No more talk of this.’
‘You’ve got a call.’ A soft feminine voice with just a hint of digital interrupted their conversation.
‘It’s yours,’ Leo smirked at the ringtone, ‘mine’s on buzzer.’
Jason got up and walked to the window before answering.
‘Mr. Munroe?’ Jason instantly recognized that voice. Judge Wilkinson. Was it just him or had the voice sounded more hostile than usual? ‘Have you read my message?’
‘I don’t believe I did. Is there a problem?’
‘You could say that.’ Judge Wilkinson sighed, his voice becoming tired, ‘I shouldn’t be calling you, but we’ve known each other for a long time. And though I always thought you were a royal pain in the butt, I never had any reasons to doubt your decency.’ He seemed to have had difficulty picking the right words, ‘I think you need to know that I’ve granted the FBI a search warrant. Still, despite the evidence, I can’t make myself believe that you’re involved. I told special agent Kwasniewski as much. That’s why I’m bending the rules and talking to you right now.’
‘Does this have anything to do with a case —’
‘No, Mr. Munroe, it’s to do with you. The search warrant is for your private property. I’m not going to tell you anything more. Just one thing, Feds left my office no more than ten minutes ago, but I don’t think they’ll hang around.’
‘Alright, but I’m afraid I’ve got no idea what this is about ...’
‘I hope for your sake that you’re telling the truth,’ Judge paused, only his breathing audible on the line, ‘Jason, do not let me down.’ He hung up.
Jason looked over at Leo. The other man’s face betrayed concern.
‘What’s up?’
‘Not sure, Geoff Wilkinson called to warn about a search warrant on my property. I thought the man hated my guts. Damn, this must be important.’ Jason looked at the stairs with regret, ‘I’ll need to go. Can’t have them in my house on their own.’
‘Has this anything to do with me?’
‘I don’t know, Leo. I’ll call you afterwards. Apologize to the girls for me… Damnit, they couldn’t have chosen any other day. Tell Amanda I love her and wish her Happy Birthday.’
***
Jason turned his Jaguar into an impeccably clean driveway. No sign of another car. Good, he made it here first. He went inside, pausing briefly in the hallway. This place felt so different from the one he’d just left. He let his eyes scan the spacious but deserted hall, his gaze sliding over the original marble staircase, over to the mezzanine above it. The house was peaceful. Quiet. It was always quiet these days, quiet and somber ever since she was taken away from him.
Jason sighed and walked across the hall towards the study. Three years had passed since his wife’s death. Car crash. He couldn’t even get the man who did it behind bars. Black ice, they said it was. Not the driver’s fault. A genuine accident. Not that he would have cared. To him, the man had been a murderer. It was probably a good thing that he hadn’t been the prosecutor.
Jason’s finger brushed the power button on his computer when a knock at the door stopped him. Jason checked his watch. Got here quick. Another knock; this one demanding, less tactful. Jason went to open the door before there was time for another knock. Two men in plain clothes stood waiting for him.
‘Mr. Munroe? Jason Alexander Munroe?’ asked the man, who looked the more senior of the two.
‘Yes. How may I help you?’ Jason gave them one of his politely cold smiles.
‘Short day at the office?’
‘How—’ Jason stopped himself. Watch yourself. ‘And you are, gentlemen?’
‘Special Agent Kwasniewski with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is Special Agent Newsak.’ The men produced their badges. ‘We have a warrant to inspect your computer and any data-bearing devices in your house.’
Jason felt a wave of anxiety sweep over him, but years of law practice helped to keep his emotions hidden. Instead, his face betrayed genuine surprise. ‘Do you mean my personal computer, or are you referring to one of my clients?’
‘I’m afraid this has nothing to do with your clients, Mr. Munroe.’
‘All right. May I see the warrant?’ He perused the document, making the agents wait and giving himself time to think. ‘This must be some kind of a misunderstanding, but do come in. I hope I’ll be able to help.’ Jason stepped aside, inviting both men to enter.
As they made their way to the study, Jason tried to place the second agent. The man had not uttered a single word so far, obviously letting Kwasniewski do all the talking. Jason felt certain that Kwasniewski was a cop – an FBI agent now – but a cop nonetheless. Agent Newsak was not. He was in his mid-twenties, skinny bordering on gaunt, and so pale his skin looked almost translucent. His long thin fingers twitched slightly as he walked. That twitch caught Jason’s attention and gave him a clue. Anticipation. Newsak was anticipating... Anticipating what? Digging into his computer. Damn. Newsak was a new breed of agent. He wouldn’t have stood a chance in a street fight and would never have run after a fleeing criminal. He was Cyber Division. A computer whizkid. Jason felt his stomach lurch when the young agent descended on his computer, totally in control, his thin fingers flying over the keyboard, humming something to himself.
‘Do you have any portable computer appliance?’ asked Special Agent Kwasniewski.
Jason nodded, pulling his laptop from the carry case that lay on the desk. ‘What exactly are you looking for? I never use these machines for anything but work and even then the actual data is stored in our office to ensure client-lawyer confidentiality.’
Kwasniewski managed to tear his gaze from the monitor and looked at Jason. He was about to reply, when Agent Newsak spoke for the first time.
‘Yep, it’s here, all right.’ His voice betrayed certain satisfaction at whatever he found.
Jason looked from one agent to another, noting the way their expressions became a practiced solemn. As if in a dream, he walked round the desk and peered into the computer screen. It took his brain a second to recognize what he was seeing. When he finally made sense of the images, he staggered back, his face contorting into a mask of horror. Agent Newsak was scrolling through what looked like hundreds of documents containing graphic child pornography.
Jason’s mouth opened then closed without producing a sound, his voice cords unable to work. ‘I don’t understand,’ he uttered finally. He glanced back at the screen and turned away from it, his gaze settling on Agent Kwasniewski, his expression now of fury. ‘Is this some kind of a sick joke? Did you put those images there?’ he whirled round, pointing an accusatory finger at the younger agent.
‘Mr. Munroe, you are a lawyer. You know how this goes. Special Agent Newsak has performed an authorized search of your digital data storage and I officially witnessed it. The question I want to ask you, is whether anyone apart from yourself has access to this computer?’
‘No, not that I know of,’ Jason said, fighting to regain his composure. ‘But then, I don’t know anything about computers. Maybe someone has managed to, you know, break into my home network and put those files there.’
‘Well, if someone did hack into your system, then they seem to have made a habit of it,’ said Newsak. ‘According to history, some of these files date back as long as three months ago and new files were downloaded more or less every day.’
‘Every day?’ Jason took a deep breath, his face losing all expression. When he finally addressed Kwasniewski, his voice was calm, ‘I guess, I need to speak to my lawyer. I assume you know that it means I will not talk to you until I do so.’
Kwasniewski studied Jason’s face carefully. ‘Of course, Mr. Munroe, that’s your right. In the meanwhile we will confiscate your computer equipment as evidence.’ He paused. ‘I do not yet have a warrant for your arrest and, because I have been assured of your good nature by Judge Wilkinson himself, I am willing to give you the benefit of doubt. You can rest assured that a careful inspection of your computer will be carried out to determine possibility of an infiltration or a virus. As for now, I would advise you not to leave town.’
Jason watched silently as the agents sealed his computer and laptop and took them away. He walked them to the door, not answering any more questions, then stalked through the house. His body on automatic, his mind distracted by other things. He needed a lawyer. Funny that. But he wouldn’t be able to defend himself if this came to court. Nobody in the jury would listen to him, no matter what he said. Jason walked into the study and stared at the suddenly spacious desk. He didn’t realize how much space his computer took until it was gone. Isabel smiled at him, her face forever happy inside a silver frame. Today even she seemed to accuse him.
‘I didn’t do it, Izzie.’ He choked back a sob. Instead, he picked up her photograph, catching the last shreds of the setting sun, and stood, staring at it for a long time.
He remembered the day he lost her as if it happened yesterday. That autumn evening, when a young driver couldn’t regain control of his truck and skidded across the wrong lane, Isabel’s heart stopped beating forever.
Isabel had phoned him that night. She sounded happy. Couldn’t stop giggling over the phone. They had arranged to meet at their favorite restaurant. She had good news. He thought she must have gotten that promotion she wanted so much. He remembered sitting at the table waiting for his wife, not worried at first. At first not even thinking about her; thinking about another... Guilt radiated through him, his pain a physical thing. He remembered phoning her work from the restaurant, calling her cell phone, their home. It was hours later – he got home hoping she’d be there – that police officers were at his door. It was days later that he found out what the good news was. When Isabel’s heart stopped beating, so did the other tiny heart within her. He lost a wife and a child on the same night.
Jason blinked back tears, returning to the present and to the photograph in his hands. Isabel kept smiling her happy smile and her eyes kept accusing him of things she never knew.
‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m so very sorry.’