exactly how you plan to solve the problem.”
“Do you really care about the method, or just the results?”
“Indulge me with your brilliance. I recall you often enjoy doing that.
Just don’t sound so damn professorial when doing so. I have been out of
university many years now.”
Goldman raised an eyebrow at the CEO’s remark. “You seem to know me all
too well.”
“You are one of the few attorneys in my acquaintance who thinks like a
businessman. Winning is king. Fuck the law!” ‘
Goldman accepted one of the cigarettes from Porcher and took a moment
lighting it. “A very recent development has occurred that has given us
a golden opportunity to gain firsthand, almost real-time information
about Triton’s proposed deal with CyberCom.
We’ll know Triton’s best and final offer before they even have a chance
to communicate it to CyberCom. Then we march in a few hours earlier,
present our proposal and wait for Triton’s deal to come in. CyberCom
rejects it and you become the proud owner of another jewel in your
far-flung empire.”
Porcher slowly withdrew the cigarette from between his lips and stared
wide-eyed at his companion. “You can do this?”
“I can do this.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Lee, let me warn you, he can be a little abrasive at times, but that’s
just the man’s personality.” Frank Hardy glanced back at Sawyer, and the
two men walked down a long corridor after exiting a private elevator
onto the top floor of the Triton Global building.
“Kid gloves, I promise, Frank. I don’t usually pull out my brass
knuckles on the victims, you know.”
While they walked, Sawyer reflected on the results of the airport
queries about Jason Archer. His men had dug up two airport personnel
who had recognized Jason Archer’s picture. One was the Western Airlines
employee who had checked in his bag on the morning of the seventeenth.
The other was a janitor who had noticed Jason sitting and reading the
paper. He remembered him because Jason had never let go of his leather
briefcase, even while reading the paper or drinking his coffee. Jason
had gone into the rest room, but the janitor had left the area and had
not noticed him coming back out. The FBI agents could not question the
young woman who had actually collected boarding passes from the
passengers on the in-fated plane, since she had been one of the flight
attendants on Flight 3223. A number of people recalled seeing Arthur
Lieberman.
He had been a regular at Dulles for many years. All in all, not much
useful information.
Sawyer refocused on Hardy’s back; he was moving quickly down the plushly
carpeted hallway. Gaining entry to the technology giant’s headquarters
had not been easy. Triton’s security had been so zealous that they had
even wanted to call the bureau to verify the serial number on Sawyer’s
credentials until Hardy sternly informed them that that would be
unnecessary and that the veteran FBI special agent deserved a lot more
deference than he was being shown.
None of that had ever happened to Sawyer before in all his years with
the bureau, and he jokingly let a sheepish Hardy know it.
“Hey, Frank, these guys hoarding gold bullion or uranium 235 in here?”
“Let’s just say they’re slightly paranoid.”
“I’m impressed. Usually we FBI types scare the crap out of everybody.
I bet they thumb their noses at the IRS guys too.”
“Actually, a former head of the IRS is their top tax guru.”
“Damn, they really do have all the bases covered.”
An uneasy feeling crept over Sawyer the more he thought about his chosen
profession. Information was king these days.” Access to information was
ruled by and large through computers. The private sector was so far
ahead of the government realm that there was no possible way the
government would ever catch up. Even the FBI, which in public sectors
had state-of-the-art technology, would have existed far down the
technological sophistication list in the world where Triton Global did
battle. To Sawyer the revelation was not a pleasant one. One would
have to be an imbecile not to realize that computer crimes would soon
dwarf all other manifestations of human evil, at least in dollar terms.