King and Maxwell (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 6)

“Mr. Bunting was very upset,” said Edgar as he stared off. “I don’t like it when people scream like that.”

“Me either,” chimed in Sean. “And we appreciate your running down those plates for us. I hope Mr. Bunting doesn’t find out about that.”

“Mr. Bunting is very smart. But he’s not that smart,” replied Edgar.

“Meaning you covered your tracks well?” said Michelle.

“I like helping you both,” said Edgar. “I know you’re trying to help other people. Just like you helped me.”

Sean glanced at Michelle. “That’s right, Edgar. And we wouldn’t come to you unless we really needed the kind of help you can provide. It’s important. We’re actually working for the president of the United States on this.”

“Then I’m sure Mr. Bunting will have no problem at all with me helping you. What do you need?”

They explained about Vista Trading Group and Alan Grant.

Michelle added, “Really, all you can find out about the company and the man.”

“He’s mixed up in all this?” asked Edgar.

“We suspect he might be,” corrected Michelle.

“I can get to work on this today.”

“What about the Wall?” asked Sean.

“Maintenance issues, so I have some spare time.”

“A break from saving the world?” said Michelle, smiling.

“What?” said Edgar, looking at her strangely.

“It was just a little joke,” said Michelle, looking embarrassed.

“Oh, okay,” said Edgar, and he attempted a smile. “But it will probably take some time.”

Sean said, “That’s okay. We have some leads to follow up at the Pentagon. Whatever you find you can just email to us.”

“Do you have good encryption on your end?” asked Edgar.

“Uh, password-protected,” he replied.

“Your password is oh-five-oh-eight. That’s not very strong.”

A stunned Sean said, “How did you know my password?”

“It’s your date of birth backward. I got it on the third try when I hacked you a while back. I would have gotten it on the second attempt, but I didn’t think you would be so obvious.”

“Why did you hack me?”

“I didn’t know you as well back then. I didn’t know if you were my friend or not. I never hack my friends.”

“So did you hack Michelle too?” he asked.

Edgar glanced at Michelle. “No.”

“Why not?” demanded Sean.

“I knew right away that Ms. Maxwell was my friend.”