“In actuality, the top secret orbiter is a combination laboratory and habitat.” General Gunner continues his briefing.
“It’s simply designated on satellite maps as T-Oh-One.” Benton looks at me. “Or what those in the know refer to as TO-One. T-O as in Thor Orbiter, the first of its kind.” He finally tells me what he couldn’t before.
“Thor Laboratories is where Gwen Hainey had been working for the past six weeks.” It’s the director of the Secret Service speaking, and I’m stunned by the mayhem this murdered woman has caused.
We’re informed that in recent hours, the phones have been ringing nonstop. Information has been coming in from people who had contact with her, and the more we learn, the more suspicious she looks.
“Benton?” the director of the Secret Service says to him. “I’ll let you fill in the blanks about what it appears Gwen Hainey was up to.”
“Nothing good,” my husband solemnly says.
He explains that she was in and out of a number of biomedical companies. It was her habit to skip around, to gather what she wanted. Then she’d move on to her next industrial victim. He repeats what Lucy told me about his conversation with Jinx Slater.
“The one thing every company has in common is it works on top secret projects with various governments, most of all ours,” Benton explains to the Situation Room. “Other information we’ve gotten since her name hit the news is equally disturbing.”
It would seem that Gwen already had set her sights on another high-value target. Intuitive Machines in Texas has created the next lunar lander, the first one made in America in more than half a century. It will bring small payloads down to the surface of the moon, and this could include the sorts of biomedical technology experiments that were Gwen’s specialty.
“It would seem she was prepared to steal Intuitive Machines blind like everybody else,” Benton says. “I’m sure you can imagine the proprietary nature of these new lunar technologies, not just to the Russians and Chinese but to any competitor.”
“Well, it won’t happen now, for which we can be hugely grateful,” says the senator from Texas. “Not that I’m glad she was murdered.” But he might be, based on his demeanor.
“Obviously, she knew what she was doing,” says the CIA.
“Likely this has been going on for years,” Benton replies. “But she wasn’t on our radar until her former live-in partner called us yesterday morning.”
Jinx Slater was voicing his concerns over what Gwen likely had gotten herself involved in. He’s certain it’s connected to her murder. Benton continues to offer new information. That, in combination with Jared Horton making an Internet call to her missing cell phone.
“This was just hours after his orbiting lab was disabled,” Benton says. “His call to her is how we were alerted that they know each other, likely in a significant way.”
“We’re to assume her identification has been confirmed by now?” Homeland Security directs this at me.
“Using her toothbrush and other personal items from her residence, my labs made the comparison earlier this morning,” I reply. “Rapid DNA testing verified her identity, and her next of kin have been notified.”
Screwing the cap back on my water bottle, I hope we take a break in the not-too-distant future.
“And you’re convinced that she was murdered on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving,” General Gunner says to me.
“That’s correct. Late afternoon, early evening based on her postmortem findings at the scene and other information.” I give them the details as they continue taking notes.
“The question is whether what happened to her is connected to her alleged spying,” says the president. “Most importantly, how involved is Jared Horton? We don’t know because he’s not talking to us. Maybe because he can’t. Or maybe he won’t.”
“I’m not much for coincidences, Mister President, Madame Vice President.” Benton directs this at them. “And I don’t think we’re dealing with one here. This disaster in space happened not even twenty-four hours after it hit the media that Gwen was the murder victim from several nights earlier.”
We should expect Horton to have a meltdown, to decompensate. A violent death is the worst of tattletales, and whatever Gwen had to hide was going to be discovered.
“He knew he was going to be busted,” Benton says. “And if the two of them are as dirty as it’s looking, her murder would have pushed him over the edge. Simply put, he knew he was going to get caught if he didn’t think fast.”