"But I have a meeting with..."
"No Cameron, no you don't. Clean up your mess and perhaps that can be rectified and restructured. I might even let you continue on."
"It is my project, Dillinger," he snapped.
On the other end of the phone dry laughter echoed.
"Of course it is. And as I said, I have made sure that will be entirely clear when it blows up in your face."
Before Cameron could respond the line went dead, the tone on the other end of the line changed, lowering an octave or two and he knew what that meant. If he tried to redial the previous number he would only be greeted by an out of service message. In fact, he was quite certain that a great deal of numbers were now out of service for him. He also now understood the origin of Jimmy's computer problems.
He loosed a cry of pure primal rage, ripping the phone from the wall. It joined the computer mouse on the other side of the room.
"Cut off? Self contained? You son of a bitch."
He paced around his desk, taking slow deep breaths. He had been in tight situations before. He had been screwed over before and now he had confirmation that Dillinger had been responsible for at least one of those times.
"Probably responsible for this too," he said and then stopped dead in his tracks. His face went a deep shade of red and his hand shot out, knocking over his computer monitor.
"You son of a bitch. This was you again, wasn't it?"
His desire to punch or throw something else was almost overwhelming, but looking around his office he saw the mess he had already created. He forced himself to relax a little. He cursed himself for allowing Dillinger to push his buttons, for allowing himself to lose control. He could fix this, nothing was beyond his control. So he was limited with what he had to work with, he would deal with it.
He reached out and righted his monitor. His eyes fell on the print out of the picture that Linda had obtained.
"Let's start with you," he said to the picture of Nathan. "Who are you and why do you look so familiar?"
He stood there for a moment looking at the picture, then stormed out of his office.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jimmy answered the buzzing phone immediately.
"Sir?"
"How did he respond?"
"He's so flustered he isn't thinking straight. Took only a minute or two to run the names and faces from the inbound flights. I assumed you didn't want me to suggest that to him?"
"Nope, but if he does think of it, give him the information. Send me what you have and keep me in the loop."
"Of course. Sending the information now."
"I want to give this asshole plenty of rope to hang himself with."
"Yes, sir."
"I appreciate the assistance, Jimmy. You'll have your choice of assignments when this is over."
"Thank you, sir."
The line clicked dead and Jimmy dropped the phone onto his desk. He didn't care about the power play he was in the middle of. He knew who was higher up on the ladder and aimed to keep him happy. Besides he could handle whatever jobs either of them asked him to do in his sleep. He turned his attention back to the more important matter of retasking the Chinese satellite he'd taken control of. He'd heard that Kate Upton liked to sunbathe nude and intended to find out for himself.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Nathan grabbed his laptop bag and then joined Paige in her room. She had left the door open and when he entered she was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at the picture.
"Paige, I think we should get your stuff together and get out of here."
She continued to frown at the picture in her hands.
"Paige?"
"This doesn't make any sense. I know Linda. Why would she have to make a fake picture of us together? And why this picture?"
"Paige, let's get your stuff, okay?"
She got up off the bed and walked slowly across the room. She unlatched the door to the balcony and stepped out.
Nathan watched her. He didn't know if she hadn't heard him or was just not listening to him. He shook his head. He found her lack of urgency disturbing. She seemed detached from the moment. He felt his palms go sweaty and his breathing quickened.
"Paige?"
In his mind he saw it all. She stepped to the railing and ran her hand along it. Her other hand released the photo and, caught by the breeze, it fluttered out over the balcony and then down. She turned to him, a slip of a smile on her face. She opened her mouth and said something and though he couldn't hear the words he knew it was goodbye. She hoisted herself up onto the railing then spun around until she was facing him, staring at him, the smile still on her lips. She wobbled slightly and it looked like she was giggling, but still Nathan could hear nothing but the thundering rush of his own blood in his ears. She winked at him and then leaned back falling off the balcony.