It Looks Like You're Writing a Letter
Chapter 7

Alan Doherty's arm piece pealed shrilly inthe darkness. He dived towards his nightstand, knocking various items to thefloor. He grabbed the flashing device and pawed at it. A familiar faceappeared.

"Stilson, what the fuck? It's 3am -don't you ever sleep?" The video feed showed Stilson fully dressed in hisstandard black suit.

"Doherty - switch to the news stream.Now. Channel 324," his voice was tight, excited but controlled. Dohertygestured and scrolled until the news anchor's beige face filled one corner ofthe display. He brought the sound up.

"... Big story of tonight is thatSenator Joseph Rigsby, known to most as 'Big Joe' has been found murdered in ahotel room in Oklahoma City. Security officials are confirming the cause ofdeath as we speak but initial reports claim he was killed by a PID - personalincendiary device. His aide Peter Shelworth was also fatally wounded in theattack."

"Shit!"

"It gets better, keep watching,"said Stilson from the opposite corner of the screen.

"The person responsible for the attackhas been confirmed as one Tanner Griffen, a known hacker, agitator and careercriminal. He was tracked leaving the scene of the crime and is currently on therun."

"Oh shit!" Doherty's voice wasincredulous.

"Security forces are closing in onGriffen and expect to have him in custody in the next few hours."

Doherty shut off the video stream andStilson once again filled his arm piece. "I don't get it Stilson, what thehell is Griffen doing in Oklahoma?"

"Assassinating senators by the looksof it."

"But why?"

"Why does he do anything? Money mostlikely. Rigsby was a known dissenter against OraCorp, which aligns him withGriffen, but Griffen would kill his own grandmother if the price was right."

"So, what about Thorner?" Dohertyrubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the bright screen in his darkened room, "ishe on a wild goose chase to Oregon or was he in on it and trying to throw usoff the trail?"

"Don't know. We have no idea howclever this Thorner guy is, or how connected he is to Griffen. All I know is wehave a lead - Griffen has resurfaced and is on the move. I've already called in- you and I are going to make the pickup. Put some clothes on, I'll pick you upin twenty minutes."

Doherty shut off the arm piece, bounced offthe mattress and switched on the bedside lamp. He sat on the side of the bedfor a moment, processing what he'd just learned. It didn't make sense. Whywould Griffen pull off a high-profile data heist, appear to travel to adustbowl town in the middle of nowhere only to disappear and murder Big Joehundreds of miles away?

Whatever was going on, they only had onelead, and it happened to be the perpetrator. He got dressed and made his waydown to the lobby of his apartment building. Stilson was already waiting in thecar, passenger door open and engine running.