A Touch of Defiance by Gary Ponzo

Author:Gary Ponzo
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Action & Adventure, Mystery & Detective, Fiction, Suspense, Terrorism, Crime, Thriller
Publisher: JK Publishing
Published: 2017-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Conference Room 3 inside FBI Headquarters was uncluttered and clean. It was just a long rectangular table surrounded by twelve leather swivel chairs with hydraulic lifts to adjust the height. The outer wall was one long window facing the inner hallway, which could be turned into a one-way mirror with a switch of a button. There were no exterior windows in the basement, but the ceiling lights were programmed to replicate the exterior weather. On a sunny day, the ceiling monitors replicated sunshine overhead, and when nighttime came, there were stars shining down to illuminate the rooms. It was socially engineered to allow busy employees to stay focused for long periods of time without feeling cooped up.

Currently the room offered a cloudy overhead illumination. Nick insisted Agent Moore sit at the head of the table for no other reason than professional courtesy. Nick sat with his back to the interior window as they discussed the strategy for their first meeting. Tommy was handling the Titus search, while Matt spearheaded the family side of the Titus equation. There was a task force of local police, FBI, and Secret Service Agents focusing on the Frazier manhunt.

The door to the conference room swung open, and Carrie Simpson led in a slender man wearing a dark gray business suit and pink tie. All dressed up on a Sunday morning. Nick and Moore stood up as Carrie introduced Carl Garvey. Nick motioned for Garvey to take a seat across from him and the man obliged.

Simpson nodded to Nick as she left the room.

“Mr. Garvey,” Moore began. “I want to thank you for coming down here on such short notice.”

“My pleasure,” the CEO of Garvey Space Systems replied, tugging on the white shirt sleeve peeking out from under his jacket.

Moore peered down at his legal pad and asked, “Help us understand the chemical qualities of chlorine triflouride.”

“Oh,” the CEO seemed surprised at the question. “I thought you were interested in finding my missing canister.”

“Oh, believe me Mr. Garvey, we are extremely interested in finding that canister,” Moore responded.

Garvey sat painfully upright, as if this were a board meeting with investors. “Well, sure I can tell you anything you want. We’re a space laboratory. We design and build rockets for civilian space travel. That’s our business.”

“Yes, of course,” Moore said congenially. “We’d like to know how dangerous this compound is, however. Say, if it were exposed to a large gathering of people.”

Garvey’s eyes opened—the questioning seemed to register something. “Ah, yes, this would be very dangerous if it were exposed to oxygen.”

Nick and Moore stayed silent, waiting for Garvey to continue.

“Well,” Garvey added, “it’s an interhalogen compound. It’s colorless and . . .” He swiveled his head back and forth between Nick and Moore. “Do you think someone stole this chemical for something criminal? Because I was convinced this was a corporate theft.”

“And what gave you that idea?” Moore asked.

“Because the break-in was so clean. Our security guard convinced me their computer tech was totally corporate, controlling the scene like a person who understood laboratories.

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