Discover Love(14)

 

At that, Bart, the most notorious, former chick-magnet of them all, had the good grace to blush. "Damn man, you know how to lay it on the line!"

 

"Just keeping it real, bro," Luke laughed. Sobering, he continued, "And you were probably that way in high school and college, if I had to guess. But in high school, for someone like Eli … and well, even me … whose social skills did not involve knowing how to converse with a girl, it was easier to throw myself in with the smart nerds. Now, college became a different thing for me. I was in the martial arts club sports and ran with the MIT running club as well as being an engineering student. Built the body up and finally managed to learn how to talk to girls. Sort of," he joked with a shrug.

 

"And you're saying that Eli didn't have anything else to fall back on?" Cam asked.

 

"Not from what I can tell. He threw himself into his classes, although he made a couple of friends. But even in that world of academia, he didn't step outside of his small group very much. He continued to be mostly a loner with just a few friends."

 

"And those friends?" Jack prompted.

 

"It appears he was closest to a group of three others. Tim Kelly, Hai Zhou, and Charlotte Trivett. From what I've been able to discover, those four met in a group project and remained friends. I've discerned that Tim Kelly is married with three kids, lives in Boston and works for an international accounting firm as a software designer. Hai Zhou went to California for about three years after graduating from MIT and then returned to China. I haven't had time to get a lock on Charlotte yet, but it looks like she lived in the northern part of Virginia, near the Maryland line."

 

"And Eli?"

 

"Eli took a job, similar to Tim's, in Baltimore and worked there for six months. Then he quit and, according to his tax records, he worked for himself. He never incorporated or set up his own business, but instead began to take private software design orders. From what I can tell, a company would contract him to work on a software project from home, he would design it, and then get paid. And paid well, I might add."

 

Monty's head jerked up. "You mean he just worked from home without any of the protections of having his own business? Why would he not set up an LLC or some business license?"

 

Shrugging, Luke answered, "From what I can tell from his bank and investment accounts, he was making serious bucks doing what he was doing, so it may have never entered his mind. Hell, he got paid and his bank account shows it."

 

Jack leaned back again, rubbing his hand over his face and asked, "Why do I get the feeling that you're going to tell us this guy left very little for us to go on?"

 

"One of his specialties was encryption and I'm having a devil of a time breaking it. So far, I can find out a few of the businesses that hired him and I'm not coming up with much in the way of who would want him dead."

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"What about his friends?" Patrick asked, hoping for a chance to interview. The newest Saint had recently joined after his tour of duty with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

 

"From what I can tell … he doesn't have any." Seeing the incredulous looks shot his way, he threw up his hands in defense. "Guys, I'm telling you this man had almost no virtual footprint. His encryption is brilliant." Shaking his head, Luke sighed heavily. "If he wasn't dead, I'd be trying to find him just so I could see if I could get him to work for us!"

 

"So we've got nothing?" Jack clarified, his piercing gaze staying on Luke, never having seen his computer expert so frustrated.

 

"Well, here's what I can get my hands on," Luke continued. "I can find a few of his contracts, I can see what he worked on up until about nine months ago. I can tell that he maintained a bit of communication with Tim Kelly and Charlotte Trivett. Tim, we can talk to. Charlotte, I haven't checked into yet, but plan on doing so this afternoon. I know the intel is there, I just have to discover it."

 

The group, almost in unison, leaned back in their chairs, the information swirling in their minds.

 

"Okay," Jack began, "I want Luke to dig more on Charlotte and see if there's anything on Hai from the time he left MIT, including what he worked on in California before going back to China. Once he's got that we'll go to Boston to check with Tim."

 

Most of the other Saints filed out of the room, their own assignments to accomplish. Marc and Jack moved to the equipment room to check on their weapons and ammunition. Luke sighed as his eyes traveled to his special coffee maker sitting neglected on the counter. Grimacing he rubbed his chest before turning back to his keyboard.