The Enigma Strain by Nick Thacker

Author:Nick Thacker
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

Chapter Thirty-Three

AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER WITH THE shopkeeper in Mud Lake, Julie decided it would be best to check in with her office and see if they had anything new. As they drove in silence, she checked her phone again to see if she had service.

“Anything?” Ben asked.

“Not yet,” she answered, “but I remember there being a few bars outside of Twin Falls. Once we get back to the major highway, I’m sure it’ll work.”

“We’re only a few miles out. Keep checking.”

In a few minutes Julie saw her cellphone light up with a single bar of service, and a minute later, a quick vibration told her she had a waiting voicemail from Randall Brown. She played it over the phone’s speaker so Ben could listen in.

“Hey Julie, it’s Randy again. I checked SecuNet for anything strange. Everything’s working properly, but I did find something odd. Livingston put a mail forward on Stephens’ email account — anything he’s sent in the past forty-eight hours went straight to him. That’s probably why you haven’t heard anything.”

Julie looked up at Ben, shocked.

“Anyway, I didn’t delete the forward. Livingston would know that I was in there right away if he stopped getting Stephens’ updates. Still, if he decides to log in to SecuNet again, he’ll see my timestamp there. I’m kinda between a rock and a hard place on this one, Julie, so let me know what you want me to do.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Julie said.

“Do you think Livingston’s paranoid about something?” Ben asked.

“Think? I know he is. Livingston is the epitome of paranoia, but still — interfering with a government investigation like this? This is crossing the line.”

“He is your boss, though, right?”

“Yeah, he obviously has the power and oversight to be able to ‘listen in’ on field communication, but he can’t totally prevent the flow of information like this.” Julie shook her head, staring down at the phone.

“Well, what do you think he’s up to?” Ben asked.

“Nothing. I mean, I don’t think it’s like that,” Julie answered. “I think he’s just trying to reign me in. Seems like he’s always had a problem with me. I’m, uh, not really one to check in every ten minutes, you know?”

Ben smiled. “Yeah, I picked up on that. So, you think he’s just playing it safe? Trying to make sure he’s got all the cards?”

“I guess, but it still makes it a little pointless to be driving around out here, trying to figure stuff out, if he’s just going to block us at every step of the way.”

“No doubt, but it sounds like he’s not thinking in terms of what’s best for the investigation,” Ben said.

Julie nodded, looking out the window. A sign for Twin Falls alerted her to their distance from the metropolitan city. 135 miles.

“How far are we from Idaho Falls?”

“I’d guess about an hour, maybe less. We’re coming up to Highway 26, which goes back that direction. Why?”

“There’s a regional airport there. I can hitch a ride on one of the smaller jets if there are any going out today.

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