“So what did she want with the Mountain Blue and Gray?”
“I think she wanted Will Crawford.”
“Your friend? Wait, the one we’re heading to see right now?”
“Friend is a loose term. But yes. This is between us, okay? I don’t want you sharing it with Fletcher.”
“I can’t promise that. If it’s vital to the investigation, Xander, you know you can’t ask me to withhold information.”
“I’d never ask that of you, Sam. Not if it mattered.”
“Okay, then. I promise not to breathe a word.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you. I think Ledbetter was trying to find Crawford. She wouldn’t know his name—no one does. But Will...how to best put this? You’ve heard of Anonymous, right? The group of hackers trying to bring down big government across the world by creating as much chaos as possible?”
“The ones who use the mask from that movie, V, as their symbol.”
“Right. They are practically an open group, anyone who’s into hacktivism can join. But Will is also an anarchist. He is antigovernment, antijudiciary, anti-just about everything. He unconditionally rejects the concept of centralized political authority, and authority in general. His groups work behind the scenes to hack into the computer systems of the major corporations and governments who support democracy. It’s a war to him, just as sure as boots on the ground in Iraq was to America.”
“He’s the head of Anonymous?”
“No. They’re the kiddie pool. Will’s actions are much bigger, and much stealthier. His hackers wouldn’t dare draw attention to themselves. They get in, get the information they need, and get out with no one the wiser. They aren’t merry pranksters, or looking for any sort of vindication. Their reward is destroying the concept of a government by the people and for the people from the inside.”
“Good God. He’s not an anarchist, Xander, he’s a terrorist.”
“That may be,” he said. “But he wasn’t always like this. He used to do work for the alphabet suits. CIA, FBI, NSA. Something tripped his switch and he went out on his own, working against them instead of for them, stealing the information they’d need right out from under them.”
“So he’s a wanted man.”
“Yes. But he’ll make a mistake, and the feds will bring him down. That isn’t our problem.”
Sam disagreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment but kept her tongue. Xander continued.
“No, our problem is Will knows the attacker. Knows where he is, too. I’m sure of it. He lied to me before, sent me off thinking it was the work of the Farmer, but he’s covering for someone. I’m not sure why, though. I’ve never known Will to have any allegiance to anyone but himself.”
“Maybe he is the Metro killer, and he’s just trying to send you off his trail.”
“I thought of that. And I haven’t ruled it out completely. He wasn’t a part of the Blue and Gray, but it’s possible he has something to do with them that Ledbetter was after. The key lies there. If she is a broker, he would have been a massive coup.”
“What are you going to say to make him talk?”
“I have no idea.”
“Xander, think about it. He could easily have ties to all the victims. Marc Conlon was talking to someone who he thought he could research and write a thesis about. Loa Ledbetter was trying to broker the information to take him down. And Congressman Leighton’s appropriations bill has funding for massive increases in military spending. I’d say the three would be an anarchist’s field day, especially if one of them identified who he really was. Conlon might have picked up the banner where Ledbetter left off. If she lost her daughter in the process, maybe she threw up her hands and quit, went back to her research and stopped her spying because the cost was too great. And Conlon, having studied at her feet, was in the perfect position to follow in her footsteps and keep searching for answers. And he found them, so he had to be killed.”
“That’s a solid theory, Sam. I won’t discount it.”
“But?”
“Will isn’t a murderer.”
“You don’t know that. You of all people understand how hate changes a person.”
They were pulling into the Whitfields’ drive now.
“We getting your dad to come along?”
“Among other things.”
His tone was dark, and Sam could only imagine what he meant.
The dogs bounded up to the car, happy to see them. She assumed it was going to be the last welcoming committee they’d encounter for a while.
Chapter 46
He was running now, fighting to keep himself from screaming her name. If he could find her, there was still time. She was small, she couldn’t have gotten far. But he didn’t know that, not for sure. He had no idea when she’d gotten out of the truck. Had someone come by and seen her? That would have been impossible, she was on the floor. They’d have to climb the hood of the truck and look in the windshield to see her.