I clicked to the next screen of images. Again the same construction. This time the images were older, going back through a century to the original illustrations in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. And then I saw it. The illustrations were credited to William Wallace Denslow. William Denslow as in Bill Denslow, as in Denslow Data.
I felt no doubt that I had just found the signature. The secret signature that Rachel had told me would be there.
I killed the screen and stood up.
“I have to go.”
I went around her desk and grabbed my backpack off the floor.
“Jack?” Fowler asked.
I headed toward the door.
“It was nice working with you, Dorothy.”
The plane landed hard on the tarmac at Sky Harbor but I barely noticed. I had gotten so used to flying in the last two weeks that I didn’t even bother to look out the window anymore to psychically nurse the plane to a safe touchdown.
I had not called Rachel yet. I wanted to get to Arizona first so that whatever happened with my information included my involvement. Technically, I was no longer a reporter, but I was still protecting my story.
The delay also allowed me to think more about what I had and to work out an approach. After picking up a rental and getting to Mesa, I pulled into the lot of a convenience store and went in to buy a throw-away phone. I knew Rachel was working in the bunker at Western Data. When I called her, I didn’t want her seeing my name on the ID screen and then answering with it in front of Carver.
Finally ready and back in the car, I made the call and she answered after five rings.
“Hello, this is Agent Walling.”
“It’s me. Don’t say my name.”
There was a pause before she continued.
“How can I help you?”
“Are you with Carver?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’m in Mesa and about ten minutes away. I need to meet you without anybody else in there knowing.”
“I’m sorry, that’s not going to be possible. What is this about?”
At least she was playing along.
“I can’t tell you. I have to show you. Did you eat lunch yet?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, tell them you need a latte or something you can’t get out of one of their machines. Meet me at Hightower Grounds in ten minutes. Take their latte orders if you have to. Sell it and get out of there and meet me. I don’t want to come near Western Data because of the cameras all over that place.”
“And you can’t give me any idea what this is all about?”
“It’s about Carver, so don’t ask questions like that. Just make the excuse and meet me. Don’t tell anyone that I’m here or what you’re really doing.”
She didn’t respond and I grew impatient.
“Rachel, will you be there or not?”
“That will be fine,” she finally said. “I’ll talk to you then.”
She clicked off the call.
In another five minutes I was at Hightower Grounds. The place had obviously been named for the old desert observation tower that rose behind it. It looked like the tower was closed now but it was festooned on top with cell repeaters and antennas.
I went in and found the place almost empty. A couple of customers who looked like college students sat by themselves with laptops open in front of them. I went to the counter and ordered two cups of coffee and then set my computer up on a table in a corner away from the other customers.
After I picked up the two cups I had ordered, I doused mine liberally with sugar and milk and returned to my table. Through the window I checked the parking lot and saw no sign of Rachel. I sat down and took a sip of steaming coffee and connected to the Internet through the coffee shop’s free WiFi.
Fifteen minutes went by. I checked messages and thought about what I would say to Rachel-if she showed up. I got the page of scarecrow images up on my screen and was ready to go. I was down to reading the receipt that had come with the coffee.
Free WiFi with every purchase!
Check us out on the net
www.hightowergrounds.com
I crumpled it and threw it toward a trash can and missed. After getting up and putting in the rebound, I opened my throwaway and was about to call Rachel again, when I finally saw her pull into the lot and park. She came in, saw me and diverted directly to my table. She was holding a piece of paper with coffee orders written down on it.
“The last time I went out for coffee I was a rookie agent at a hostage negotiation in Baltimore,” she said. “I don’t do this, Jack, so this better be good.”
“Don’t worry, it is. I think. Why don’t you just sit down?”
She did and I pushed the cup of black coffee across the table to her. She didn’t touch it. She was wearing sunglasses but I could see the deep line of purple under her left eye. The swelling of her jaw was completely gone now and the split in her lip was hidden beneath her lip gloss. You had to look for it to see it. I had been wondering if it would be proper to lean over and try to hug or kiss her but took the hint from her all-business demeanor and kept my distance.
“Okay, Jack, I’m here. What are you doing here?”
“I think I found the signature. If I’m right, McGinnis was just a cover. A fall guy. The other killer is the Scarecrow. It’s got to be Carver.”
She stared at me for a long moment, her eyes revealing nothing through the shades. Finally, she spoke.
“So you jumped on a plane, frequent flier that you are, to come over here and tell me the man I’m working beside is also the killer I’ve been chasing.”
“That’s right.”
“This better be good, Jack.”
“Who’s back in the bunker with Carver?”
“Two agents from the EER team, Torres and Mowry. But never mind them. Tell me what’s going on.”
I tried to set the stage for what I would show her on the laptop.
“First of all, I was bothered by a question. What was the plan in abducting you?”
“After seeing some of the video recovered in the bunker, I don’t want to think about that.”
“Sorry, wrong choice of words. I don’t mean what was going to happen to you. What I mean is why you. Why take so big a risk to go after you? The easy answer is that it would create a large distraction from the central investigation. And that is true, but at best it would be a temporary diversion. Agents would start pouring into this place by the dozens. Pretty soon you wouldn’t be able to run a stop sign without getting pulled over by the feds. Diversion over.”
Rachel followed the logic and nodded in agreement.
“Okay, but what if there was another reason?” I asked. “You have two killers out there. A mentor and a student. The student tries to abduct you on his own. Why?”
“Because McGinnis was dead,” Rachel said. “There was only the student.”
“Okay, then if that is true, why even make the move? Why go after you? Why not get the hell out of Dodge instead? You see, it isn’t adding up. At least with the way we’ve been looking at it. We think grabbing you was a diversionary move. But it really wasn’t.”
“Then what was it?”
“Well, what if McGinnis wasn’t the mentor? What if he was meant to look like he was? What if he was just a fall guy and abducting you was part of a plan to secure the real mentor? To help him get away.”
“What about the evidence we recovered?”
“You mean him having my book on his bookshelf and the leg braces and porno in the house? Isn’t that kind of convenient?”
“That stuff wasn’t left lying around the house. It was hidden and only found after an hours-long search. But never mind all of that. Yes, it could have been planted. I’m thinking more about the server in Western Data we found that was full of video evidence.”
“First of all, you said he isn’t identifiable on the videos. And who is to say he and Courier were the only ones with access to that server. Couldn’t the evidence on there have been planted just like the stuff at the house?”