16. Scarpetta (2008) by Patricia Cornwell

Author:Patricia Cornwell [Cornwell, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780425230169
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: 2009-08-25T05:00:00+00:00

Fractured data streamed across dark screens, reattaching at mind-numbing speed, as if it were fleeing and being caught.

Maybe Berger was getting acclimated to cyberspace. Her headache had mysteriously vanished. Or maybe adrenaline was the cure. She was feeling aggressive because she didn’t like being bucked. Not by Morales. Certainly not by Lucy.

“We should get started on the e-mail,” Berger said, and it wasn’t the first time she’d said it since Marino had called.

Lucy didn’t seem the least bit interested in Marino or what he was doing, and she wasn’t listening to Berger’s insistence that they turn their attention to e-mail. They had the passwords right in front of them, but Lucy refused to change her focus until she had a better idea why her aunt’s name continued to appear with alarming frequency in the fragmented revisions of the thesis Terri, or perhaps Oscar, had been writing.

“I’m afraid your interest is too personal,” Berger said. “And that’s exactly what I’m worried about. We need to look at e-mails, but you’d rather look at what’s been written about your aunt. I’m not saying it isn’t important.”

“This is where you have to trust that I’m doing things the right way,” Lucy said, not budging.

The legal pad with the passwords written on it remained where it was, on the desk, next to Lucy’s keyboard.

“Patience. One thing at a time,” Lucy added. “I don’t tell you how to run your cases.”

“Seems that’s exactly what you’re telling me. I want to get into their e-mails, and you want to keep reading this thesis or whatever the hell it is. You’re not helping me.”

“Helping you is exactly what I’m doing—by not deferring to you or allowing you to tell me how to do my job. I can’t allow you to have any influence over me and direct me, that’s the point. I know what I’m doing, and there’s a lot you don’t understand yet. You need to know exactly what we’re doing and why and how, because if this becomes the big deal I’m sure it will, you’re going to be asked and attacked. It won’t be me in front of the judge and jury explaining the forensic computer part of this investigation, and you probably won’t be able to call me in as an expert witness for at least one obvious reason.”

“We have to talk about that,” Berger said bluntly.

“The relationship issue,” Lucy said.

“You would be discredited.” Berger seized the opportunity to voice her misgivings and maybe put a stop to things.

Or maybe that’s what Lucy was about to suggest. Maybe Lucy was about to quit and put a stop to things.

“Frankly, I’m not sure what to do,” Berger added. “If you could be objective about it, I’d ask you for a suggestion. You started something not knowing it personally involved you. Now what? You probably don’t want to continue with this, either. I suspect you’re realizing it’s a bad idea and we should shake hands and walk away, and I’ll find another company.”

“Now that we

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