“That’s what they said about Jacob.”
He nodded again, sounding almost apologetic. “We get it right eventually.”
“Nothing will ever make this right.” She paused, increasingly curious as to why the senator was there. “What’s going to happen to Fenton?”
“New York City Police have opened an investigation into his involvement in the crime, but it’s unlikely anything will come of it.” He did not take his eyes away from hers, but she didn’t flinch. “The echo box. It doesn’t work. But you knew that, didn’t you?”
No, as a matter of fact, she’d had no idea. It was working just fine last time she heard it, but she was not about to let the senator know that.
“It was quite clever making Fenton believe the technology was functional.”
She nodded almost imperceptibly. Why do they think it doesn’t work? Is this what Eddie was referring to? What did he do? “Am I still under arrest?”
“No, you are not. You’re free to go.”
Skylar now believed she understood why the man was here. Damage control. They were concerned about what she was going to do. Which meant there was an opportunity. “What about Eddie?”
“He will be returned to Harmony House.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“You don’t.”
“Then why are we talking, Senator?”
“Because you could.” He proceeded to outline a scenario that had been carefully scripted for him. The plan put more than a slight smile across her face.
CHAPTER 110
Harmony House, Woodbury, New Jersey, May 29, 8:31 a.m.
The senior and most respected doctor on the grounds of Harmony House, Dr. Marcus Fenton, glanced out his office window the next morning. After spending much of the previous day at what was left of Michael Barnes’s residence, answering a repetitive litany of questions from a battery of Homeland Security agents and a pesky New York City detective, Fenton had decided to arrive in the office bright and early. Harmony House was his home. His sanctuary.
At least for the moment.
He watched as a limousine pulled up to the security gate at the facility’s main entrance, which was now being manned by one of several temporary security personnel employed by a third party with the proper government clearance. The firm, Oak Ridge Security, was the smallest of several competitors, but had been given a particularly strong endorsement from Senator Corbin Davis, whom Fenton had wanted to appease. He had assumed Davis had personal knowledge of the firm. That assumption could not have been further from the truth, but Fenton would never know. Due to the death of Michael Barnes and the still-unexplained disappearance of the rest of his security staff, Oak Ridge had been hired on an emergency basis twenty-four hours ago to provide the security needs for Harmony House until a more permanent solution could be worked out.
Fenton wasn’t expecting anyone that morning, so he pressed the intercom on his desk. “Stephen, are we expecting anyone?”
His assistant had no idea of the weekend’s goings-on. “No, sir, not until eleven thirty.”
Fenton glanced at his desk clock. It was only 8:47. “Then find out who the hell just pulled through our front gate.”
Before his assistant could get a response from the new gate guard, Fenton watched the limousine proceed to the building’s entrance. The driver got out and opened a rear passenger’s door. Senator Corbin Davis stepped out. Fenton knew this couldn’t be good. He stood up to greet the senator without waiting to see if anyone else got out of the limo.
Stephen Millard was on the phone with the front security gate as Fenton left his office and walked right by him. Millard quickly cupped the phone. “Sir, it’s Senator Davis and—”
“I know who it is,” Fenton interrupted tersely, heading into the front lobby toward his approaching guest. Fenton assumed Davis had come out to check on their temporary security arrangements. “Senator, what brings you all the way out here to Woodbury?”
It was only now that Fenton saw Skylar Drummond walking behind Davis, which stopped the older doctor dead in his tracks.
The senator’s response was cold and direct. “Let’s talk in your office.”
Fenton didn’t take his eyes off Skylar. “I thought she was in federal custody.”
The senator answered matter-of-factly. “I ordered her release.”
Fenton’s hands started to shake. “What the hell is going on?”
“The same thing that happens when a major drug bust turns out to be a truckload of baking soda. Changes are made so that it never happens again.”
“You’re being oblique, Senator,” the doctor sniped.
“Not for long. Like I said, your office.”
Fenton closed his office door and sat down behind his desk as if this was going to be a meeting like any other. He glanced with suspicion at Skylar, then turned to Davis. “Does she need to be here?”
The senator nodded. “She does.”
“You do know that whatever claims she’s made are lies.”
“She hasn’t made any claims.” Davis glanced at Skylar. “I have.”
Skylar sat directly across from Fenton in the uncomfortable folding metal chair, just as she had done during her job interview, which now seemed so very long ago.
Davis chose a more comfortable armchair as he addressed Fenton. “I’ll get right to the point. Pack up your things, Marcus. You’re fired.”
Fenton hung his head, but didn’t say a word.
The senator continued. “Dr. Drummond is here because I have asked her to be your temporary replacement until we can find a permanent one. She has graciously accepted, which means that as of this moment, she has operational control of this facility.”
Fenton shook his head in disbelief. “This is ludicrous.” He glanced up to the ceiling to see if his world was literally caving in.
Skylar stared across the desk at Marcus. She spoke with all the restraint she could muster. “You have thirty minutes to clear out your belongings.”
Fenton slowly raised his head to look at her. “You can’t do this to me.”
Skylar remained stone-faced. “Oh, but I can.”
Corbin Davis smiled ever so slightly. “With my full support.”
She stood up slowly, obviously relishing the moment, then looked him directly in the eyes. “If you are not off the premises by the time I return, I will have you escorted out by security personnel.” Skylar exited without another word.
Weakly, Fenton asked the senator, “Why?”
The senator got up and moved slowly around the office, glancing at the framed photographs of Fenton with various presidents and other notables. “You have wasted a lot of people’s valuable time, energy, and resources for years with this nonsense. This weekend was the last straw. You led us on a wild-goose chase over nothing. And you nearly ruined that young lady’s life.”
“What exactly do you mean, ‘over nothing’?”
“The goddamn technology doesn’t work. The echo box. It never has, and it probably never will.”
Fenton sputtered. His world was spinning. “What the hell are you talking about? It does work. That’s why she fled. Look, whatever she told you—”
Davis cut him off. “She didn’t tell me a damn thing, Marcus. I told her.” The senator moved to the door, where he paused to glance out the windows at several Homeland Security vehicles arriving at the facility. Fenton was about to speak, but Davis had no intention of listening to another word. “Homeland is arriving to take possession of all your computer records, both here and in your residence, so I wouldn’t plan on taking any with you. What you should consider is hiring the best lawyer you can find. Because if you or Michael Barnes were dumb enough to leave any kind of a trail, you’re going to need all the help you can get.”
Corbin Davis glanced at the security guard manning the front gate as his limousine exited Harmony House grounds. The senator took out his encrypted phone and dialed Bob Stenson to report that Marcus Fenton had been relieved of his duties.