Page 67 of Fury In Death

Nodding, nodding, eyes flat, Feeney drank more coffee.

“That’ll make you think. You don’t blow up a building with a bunch of people inside to get a promotion. Easier just to off the one in your way.”

“I don’t think they blew it up, but I think—and Redman sure as hell must think—they knew. They took the deal, the money, kept right on working while he lost everything. His family. Banner-Wyst’s hiding something, Feeney, and this is part of it. I know it. Maybe Redman knew it, too. Maybe he tried blackmailing them. Maybe he found out and decided to blow the horn on them.”

“Whistle,” Peabody put in. “You blow the whistle.”

“A horn makes more noise.”

Eve gave Feeney a quick punch on the shoulder. “Right? They’re hiding something. Wyst is scared shitless, but when we ask about what happened in this time frame, why the big bonuses to each vic, he doesn’t say anything about this. Gave us the boot, went crying harassment to Tibble.”

“That makes him not just an asshole, but a dumbass. Doesn’t want you to know, thinks you won’t find out.” He gave her a punch back. “As if.”

Eve looked toward the door as she heard the bounce. Not McNab’s, she thought. Callendar.

“Callendar hit,” Feeney said just before she stepped to the door.

“Figured I’d pop down for this. Hey, it gets crowded in here real fast.”

“What’d you get?” Eve demanded.

“Still pulling, but I knew you’d want this. He kept really stellar records. Had them in a digital vault, but I’m a digital vault cracker supreme. Can I get in on the coffee while I lay it out?”

“Peabody.”

“A yay and a thanks. So, Roarke got you the first hit, the two mil? He’s been getting the quarter of a mil annually just like the first vic, only he gets another two hundred K that goes straight into the Caymans account. It’s all in his records.

“Thanks double,” she said when Peabody passed her the coffee. “Same deal even after he went to the part-time gig. Now, who pays the same bonus—about half of it under the table—for part-time consulting?

“Hell, sign me up. Who’s that guy?” Callendar asked, nodding toward Redman.

“Fairly certain he’s the guy they didn’t pay,” Eve told her. “And blew up his apartment building, and his family, instead.”

Callendar sipped some coffee, said, “Harsh. Extreme harsh.”

“When you’re in that digital vault, see if you can find anything on a major project—has to be major—in the time frame. Anything about Steven Redman, the explosion.”

“I’ll work that with you.” Feeney set down his empty mug. “I’ve got an investment here. Dallas, I’ll tag Susan Washington. I know her, and she’ll go through it all again. I don’t see how we missed anything, but she’ll go through it.”

“They’d be good at it. Or whoever they had cause it—if it was deliberate. Science.”

She looked back at the board. “Yeah, they’d figure out how to make it look like an accident.”

Chapter Ten

“While they’re clearing out Dent’s vault, we’ll go talk to the sister. She’s in New York. She works for Roarke.”

“That’s interesting. Not that she works for Roarke,” Peabody qualified. “Lots and lots do. But that her brother worked at Banner-Wyst, and she didn’t go there.”

“We’ll ask her about that.” Eve looked back at the board. Someone else was on the list, and Redman wouldn’t wait long.

“I’m going to tag Roarke, see if he can expedite this.”

“Bet he can, bet he will.”

Rather than bet, Eve pulled out her ’link.

“Another?” he said when he came on-screen.