(eng) Mike Resnick by Second Contact (2012)

Author:Second Contact (2012) [Contact, Second]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

13.

Jaimie fixed Becker a gin and tonic, then made the same for herself and sat back down in her easy chair.

“All right, Counselor. Let’s see if we can figure outwhy they still want you dead.”

“It can’t have anything to do with the Jennings case,” he said. “That’s as good as over.”

“It’sgot to have something to do with it,” she replied. “They didn’t start shooting until you tried to defend a plea of not guilty.”

“But they’ve got what they want from him. He’s pleading temporary insanity, the case will take all of ten minutes to resolve, and everyone will have what he wanted.” He paused. “Except Jennings. I’d have bet my pension that he’d have died before he agreed to temporary insanity.” “Forget about Jennings,” she said. “It’syou they’re after. Or, rather,us . Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t either, but they don’t mobilize all those hit men without a very good reason. What do we know that’s got them in such a panic?”

“Nothing,” said Becker.

“That’s not so, Counselor,” she corrected him. “We know a lot of things. We just have to figure out which is the one they want to kill us for.”

“All right,” said Becker. “We know that Montoya isn’t in Great Lakes. Or, at least, wethink the man I spoke to wasn’t him.” He paused, his face masking his frustration. “They don’t kill people for that.” “Keep going.”

“We know that they created a story about a drug ring, and even went so far as to plant phony data in their computers.” He looked at her. “They don’t kill people forthat , either. I mean, hell, the truth is that there’s no drug ring; you’d think they’d be out to kill people who spread the lie.” “What else?”

“We know that Gillette really is in deep space, and that Mallardi is on Mars. Probably Montoya’s there too.” He stared at her helplessly. “So what? Who cares? They didn’t have anything to do with a drug ring. As far as we know, they haven’t broken any laws or subverted the military. Why should anyone want to kill us because we know these guys are innocent?” “We also know they killed the wrong man in Lake Forest,” said Jaimie.

“You’ll never be able to prove the military was involved in it,” said Becker dejectedly. “Besides, he was supposed to be me. Which means that when it happened, we already knew something they thought was worth killing us for.” “Well,” suggested Jaimie, “let’s work backward, then. When did they first try to kill you?”

“When I called MacCarron and tried to arrange another meeting with Montoya.”

“In other words, when they suspected you knew Montoya was a fraud.”

“Right.”

“If Montoya was a fraud,” continued Jaimie, “what does that imply to you?”

“That there wasn’t a drug ring,” replied Becker. “But we already knew that. We found it out on your computer.”

She shook her head. “You’re answering it the wrong way.Why did they try to convince you there was a drug ring?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.”

Suddenly he stared at her.“Aliens?”

“See?” she said.

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