DeathWeb (Fox Meridian Book 3) (31 page)

‘Probably true,’ Fox said, ‘but you should at least know what you’re getting into.’

‘True, but there’s the other side of it. I mean to do acting, like stage would be nice, but I’ll end up on the IB channels. Bound to end up on those. But there are also sensies. I don’t know about those, but I may end up in them and you can’t fake a sex scene in a sensie.’

‘How the Hell do they make those anyway?’ Fox asked. ‘I mean, traditional porn is multiple takes and cuts, and a lot of angle changes, and… if you’re recording some guy’s sensory inputs while he’s banging away–’

‘Editing,’ Sam said. ‘Editing sensie porn is an incredibly skilled job. Editors get paid more than some of the stars. However, you’re right, and I suppose I won’t know how I feel about that until I have to deal with it. I suppose it would be hypocritical of me to take it badly, but emotions are strange things.’

‘Yeah,’ Marie agreed. ‘So we give it a go and if we can’t handle it, or I can’t handle it, then we each go our separate ways.’

‘After a lot of really great sex,’ Fox put in.

Sam laughed, and Marie giggled. ‘Yeah, that,’ Marie said. ‘Let’s get smashed and not worry about it for now.’

‘A simple solution to a complex emotional issue,’ Sam said. ‘I can get behind that.’

Fox grinned. ‘I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. Who’s got the wine bottle?’

10
^th
July.

‘Are you really so sanguine about breaking up with Marie?’ Kit asked.

Fox had just struggled up the stairs and was contemplating whether to just fall asleep fully dressed or risk breaking her neck while taking her bodysuit off. ‘No, why do you think I drank way too much alcohol tonight?’

‘Then–’

‘Because there’s no use crying over spilled milk and there’s plenty more fish in the sea.’

‘I’ll attempt to decipher that statement later.’

Fox sat down on her bed and then shimmied out of her clothes. Balance was not an issue, but it still seemed to take longer than it should. ‘Maybe I will see if Jason wants to stay in for a drink.’

‘Isn’t it “go out for a drink?”’

‘I was thinking of having the drinks in bed.’ Collapsing backward, Fox lay there wondering whether she had the energy to get under the covers. ‘I’m going to black out now. Goodnight, Kit.’

‘Goodnight, Fox,’ Kit said, but Fox had already done as she had indicated she would.

11
^th
July.

The storm had blown itself out before dawn, but the sky had remained dark for much of Saturday with a warm, muggy air mass sitting over the city to plague the recovery efforts. There had been no flooding. The primary defences had held up meaning that the secondary ones, formed from the defunct subway and road tunnel system, had not been needed. However, there had been a couple of problems with signs being blown down and impacting building frontages, and there was the general debris of a storm to clear away. City administration expected it to be clear before Monday.

Sunday had dawned bright and clear, the storm clouds swept aside with the promise of another scorching July day. Fox had felt the need for fresh air and no need to go anywhere to get it. Donning both parts of the blue bikini she had bought for her dust-girl disguise, she trooped up to the roof, laid a towel down, and laid herself out to catch a little sun before it got too hot.

‘The air is clearer,’ Kit said.

‘Often is after a storm,’ Fox replied, not opening her eyes. ‘Belle telling you that? Or are you patching into my nose?’

‘The house has air-quality monitors with the meteorology sensors. The particulate level has dropped by nought point five per cent.’

‘Nice to know.’

‘For the man responsible for LifeWeb, Mister R. A. Grant has little in his profile. He does not appear to share very much with anyone.’

‘So you can’t find anything on his reaction to being pushed out of the company, or what he’s been doing the last couple of years?’

‘No, nothing. His profile reads more like corporate publicity than a candid view of his life. Mister Dandridge is more open, but he clearly self-censors what he posts there. His daughter is a far more frequent poster. She uses LifeFit quite extensively and has a LifeMeet entry. Something of a social butterfly.’

‘We might be able to use that as leverage on Dandridge. A father should be interested in the safety of his daughter.’

‘One would hope so.’

There was the sound of a door opening and closing, and Fox opened her eyes, tilting her head back to look. She got an upside down image of Marie, topless and carrying a towel. ‘Morning,’ Fox said.

‘Morning,’ Marie replied, ‘and a nice one. You had the same idea as me.’

‘I wanted to relax in some fresh air. You wanted the sun, from the looks of it.’

‘Uh-huh. Top up that healthy glow.’

‘I’m wearing sunscreen. I just like the warmth.’

Marie grinned. That she felt at ease enough to do so was pleasing. ‘Up here, I can do it topless.’

‘Up here, you could probably do it naked. Considering the size of what you’re wearing, you more or less are.’

‘You’re one to talk. Is that thing the right size?’

‘No. I bought it for a sort of disguise and the look works best with a bra a size or so too small.’ Fox closed her eyes again, settling herself back down.

Marie giggled as she laid herself out in the sun. ‘Makes your boobs look bigger. Old glamour model trick.’

‘You are sounding really perky. Sam woke you up with a smile?’ Fox did not need to see to know Marie was blushing.

‘We… Well, yes.’

‘It is the sort of thing couples are supposed to do.’

‘It is. We did.’ There was silence for a few seconds, probably while Marie’s cheeks cooled down. ‘You know… Maybe when the dust has settled a bit and we see where things are going, maybe we should try a threesome.’

Fox’s eyes snapped open and she let out a sputter of something incoherent before managing, ‘Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?’

‘It’s just a thought. We all live together. Alcohol and a porn vid, and see where the mood takes us.’

‘I’m sure you were a sweet, innocent thing when we met.’

‘Oh yes. You and Sam have corrupted me horribly. My sainted mother is turning in her grave.’

Fox closed her eyes, a grin forming. ‘Pull the other one, it’s got bells on.’

12
^th
July.

‘Yum,’ Kit said as Deveraux stepped out of the elevator at the entrance level of New York Tower.

‘Yum?’ Fox replied.

‘Well, look at him. He’s… yummy.’

‘Okay, Kit, I’m convinced. I’ll make a play and see if he goes for it. Didn’t I wear a short skirt today? You can stop trying.’ The pinstripe skirt suit did indeed have a skirt which was short of mid-thigh, and Fox had decided to wear it without a blouse and with a bra which had a little uplift. Her heels were not too high, which gave a slightly more conservative look, but she had added grey, mesh stockings, making sure the tops did not show. She had told herself she was just trying to look her best for the meeting with Dandridge, but it had occurred that she had never bothered much with that previously.

Deveraux spotted Fox, smiled, and started across the concourse toward her. He did look yummy in a double-breasted suit made of a dark material with a sheen to it. Summer in New York and he was in a waistcoat. His straw-coloured hair was loose around his shoulders, and his blue eyes sparkled. Fox found herself wondering what those lips would feel like kissing her neck.

‘You are looking good this morning, Fox,’ he said as soon as he was close enough.

Fox lifted her arms and looked down at her outfit. ‘Thanks. I thought it looked professional enough.’

His smile took on a playful quality. ‘It does, but I was not referring to your clothes. Shall we grab a coffee and discuss tactics?’

‘He so wants into your panties,’ Kit commented.

‘You’re just getting back at me for teasing you about Vali.’ Aloud, Fox said, ‘Sounds like a plan.’

There were various small shops around the level, one of them a coffee shop which Deveraux assured Fox sold perfectly agreeable coffee and very good pastries, should one feel inclined. Fox decided that there was not time for pastries, but the coffee was not bad.

‘We need them to open up about the servers,’ Fox said as she sat across a small table from him. ‘If they’d take the possibility of a vulnerability in the LifeWeb software seriously, that’d be good too. And I’d like as much information as I can get on Reginald Grant.’

‘They will likely be reluctant on all counts. Rumours of a vulnerability might be enough to cause a stock drop and they will cite personal privacy laws concerning the servers. Laughable, I know. Their users publish almost everything about themselves without a single worry.’

‘Well, one of them isn’t. Marie was going through the entire thing with Belle, that’s my house AI, protecting things from anyone she doesn’t consider a close friend. She’s definitely gone off LifeWeb.’

‘This is a concern, yes? A rush to leave the system by a large number of users could kill the company, and they would be looking for people to blame.’

‘Oh, I know, but I’d rather not have people dying for their stock option values. Besides, the killer seems to have decided to target me. Not as a victim, but he’s rubbing my nose in what he can do. Maybe not me, specifically, but Palladium. “You think you’re clever, well I’m better.”’

Deveraux nodded. ‘I did some digging into Mister Grant. Following his board’s decision to move him off mainline development, he spent some time abroad.’

‘Cape Town and Berlin?’

‘Yes, and the dates match well enough, but then I suspect the same might be said for a number of people. Why do you believe he is involved?’

‘Technical knowledge. He created that software. His fingers are all over it. He would know if there was a problem with it, I think. From what I’ve gathered about him, he fits the profile. Now there’s the location data to give him opportunity. Harper August didn’t like him and helped slide him out, and August’s granddaughter was the first victim. That we know of anyway.’

‘We will need more than that.’

‘I know. If it’s him and we can get enough to search his home, we’ll find everything we need.’

‘How can you be so sure? Your killer is meticulous in eliminating forensic evidence, reducing risk. Would he keep souvenirs or leave other evidence there?’

‘This guy tortures his victims for days, Jason. Somewhere he has a place he can do that, probably with a lot of gear and very good soundproofing. It pretty much has to be at home. He won’t want his plaything far from him.’

‘You are good at this. I understood you were, but it is more interesting to see you at work. We should go, I think. Being late will not endear us to our subject.’

They took the maglev, the BQ-line past JFK and then changing onto the LI-line for the final leg. They had just changed over when Deveraux frowned. ‘A call I should take, excuse me.’

Fox nodded. They would be arriving at the LifeWeb building soon, but the angle made seeing it difficult. She had never paid much attention to it: just one of a number of corporate or residential arcologies that the maglev line passed through. She recalled seeing the older buildings at its base and wondering what they were. Why had Grant decided to preserve his old alma mater? Nostalgia did not seem to fit the profile, or the man’s personality.

Deveraux’s face cleared and he glanced out of the window to check their location. He was smiling. ‘My mother checking up on me,’ he said. ‘She worries that I do not eat properly.’ His accent was a little thicker after the conversation. Fox imagined he had been speaking French.

‘You’re close with your family?’

‘Yes. I visit them, in Toronto, whenever I can. I see my sister a little less. She is with the FPR in Montreal.’

‘Force de police républicaine. I hope I pronounced that okay. I can do Spanish, but not French. Not much call for French in Topeka.’

‘Your pronunciation was excellent, mademoiselle. Yes, Gabrielle is a computer specialist. I do not understand half of what she does except in the general. I was with the FPR myself for many years before the UNTPP was formed and I was put forward for it.’

‘You were in at the start, like me?’

‘Based in the Montreal office. You travelled more widely, I believe?’

‘Oh yeah. Me and my team went anywhere they needed us.’

‘Not easy to hold onto family ties in a life like that.’

‘Wasn’t a problem. We parted on somewhat acrimonious terms, but we made up recently. I guess I’ll be seeing more of them now, but I’ve had a decade to decide I can manage without so it’ll probably take a little time to adjust.’

‘A shame, but I am glad that you are reconciled.’ His eyes flicked to the window again. ‘We are here. Time to go to work.’

They were a couple of minutes early for their appointment and the building’s computer directed them to a mid-level floor where they were met by Dandridge’s assistant who introduced herself as Corrine and took them to an outer office with a huge, solid wood door on the inside which presumably led to Dandridge’s office.

‘Mister Dandridge is running slightly late,’ Corrine told them. ‘He should conclude his teleconference shortly. Can I get you anything?’

They declined, sat down, and waited.

‘She is Corrine Hoffman,’ Kit informed Fox. ‘She has been Mister Dandridge’s assistant for seven years. No rumours of a relationship outside the working one. She has a reputation for efficiency, discretion, and acting as an effective screen for her employer.’

Fox did not reply, but examined Corrine sitting at her desk. The PA was blonde, pretty, probably old enough that some of the looks were from cosmetic work, but it was clearly on a good base. The conservative but attractive business skirt suit suggested the lack of rumours was founded in fact. A secretary having an affair with her boss would wear a shorter skirt, even if she was discreet. Her eyes were unfocused now: she was working rather than observing the two cops waiting to see her boss, which spoke for the efficiency.