Page 28 of Broken Wheels
It didn’t take him long to find a way in, and he latched onto the payments made to Sprint every month as a good place to start. Getting into Sprint’s databases was surprisingly easy. He tracked down Cliff’s cellphone usage. He sure had used his phone a lot, and there were dozens of calls most days—until a month ago, when they stopped. No activity whatsoever.
Okay, that’s weird.
The other thing Josh noted was the number of calls to one specific number. He did a quick check and found it went to a computer network people used to make calls they didn’t want people to know about. That made no sense. Why would he use his phone to call another one? If he was trying to stay hidden, why hadn’t he used a VPN instead? They would have a harder time tracking him down, and for someone who was scared, it would make more sense.
Unless….
“Pad, call Dixon.”
That decidedly masculine voice responded instantly. “Calling Dixon.”
Dixon answered after one ring. “Why are you up, Doc?”
“Bad dreams and thoughts that wouldn’t leave me alone. Are you available right now? I want to talk to you about Tanner.”
“Sure. Give me a minute, and I’ll come back to the room.”
“Okay. I’ll pour you a cup of coffee.”
There was silence for a moment. “I do appreciate that, Doc. See you in a bit.”
He disconnected. Josh slipped his pad back onto the charger, then went to the kitchen and got a mug from the cabinet. He poured a cup, set it on the table, then took a seat at the computer again.
When Dixon walked in a few minutes later, Josh noted the dark rings under his eyes, his mussed hair, and the general air of exhaustion that hung about him.
“Where were you?”
“Pulling a double.” Dixon’s gaze alighted on the mug of coffee, and he grabbed it, practically chugging the scalding liquid. The heartfelt sigh that followed spoke volumes. “Trent has been out sick, and the guy who works second, Grayson, has been covering. He says he needs the money, and Michael said that was fine, but it’s been a week now of him doing extra shifts to plug the hole in the schedule.”
“Is Trent okay?” Josh brought the older man to mind.
“I spoke with him today, and he isn’t sure he’ll be coming back. His doctor says he has degenerative disc disease, and although they’re treating it, he could be out for months. He offered to resign so we could hire someone for the job. We told him we’d find something for him to do when he got back, if he wanted, but that he shouldn’t quit. He’d lose his insurance if he does that.”
Not for the first time, Josh reflected on how awesome Gary and Michael were. He’d heard too many times about people being forced out because they were sick, but those two seemed to care more about their workers than profits.
Then Dixon’s words registered. If his time was eaten up covering shifts, maybe it would be best for Josh to wait a while before revealing what he’d come up with.
Only, Josh didn’t think he could wait.
A wave of cold crawled over his skin at the memory of the little boy’s body. Josh couldn’t forget the lost expression on his mother’s face. He’d done his best to comfort her, but that wasn’t much. Josh understood loss and death, but he’d always viewed and experienced both with a clinical detachment. That day, however, was seared into his mind. The devastation, the heartache, the wailing of survivors who’d huddled over the bodies of dead friends and family members….
That day had changed him. Even if what Dixon had said was true and that Josh wasn’t responsible for the wanton destruction, he’d still had to watch a mother cradling her son as he took his last wheezing breath.
He glanced at Dixon, and those circles under his eyes seemed darker than ever.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” Josh suggested. “I have a few hours of work to do and?—”
Dixon finished his coffee and put the mug down. “I’ll have to go back downstairs until seven, so there’s no way I can sleep right now.” He fixed Josh with a stare. “You called, and that was enough to let me know it’s important.” Dixon folded his arms. “Talk to me, Doc.”
Josh sighed. “I don’t know a lot about Cliff Tanner. We only worked together a very brief time, but he was well-liked by the rest of the people.” He paused for a moment, trying to frame his thoughts. “The thing is, just like everyone else who was part of the projects, Cliff was a genius. He’s responsible for the inception of some of the things we were working on. If there’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty, it’s that Cliff Tanner wouldn’t do anything that would allow others to track him easily, and yet I did just that. I….” He hesitated, unsure what to say that wouldn’t make Dixon an accomplice. “I came across some information that leads me to believe he did it on purpose.”
Dixon snorted. “And by ‘came across,’ you mean you hacked into one or more databases and pulled information from them.”
So much for subtlety.
He met Dixon’s frank stare. “Yes, that’s exactly what I did.” He tilted his head to one side. “Is that going to be a problem for you?”
Dixon bit back a smile. “Just so you know, I’m not Gary or Michael. I believe sometimes the end justifies the means.” His expression grew grave. “If Tanner is mixed up with these people, we already know how dangerous they are and what they’re willing to do to get what they want.” He gave Josh an expectant glance. “What did you find?”