Page 67 of Thin Ice

I glanced down the dark hall at the closed door.

"I'll be honest about it. I don't know," I said. "He talks to me about the case, but the rest of it isn't clear."

"Okay." I heard rustling papers. "For the record, the disclosure and the operational breach are now officially logged. Eamon will read about it, and I'll answer questions to the best of my ability. It's a hit, but you'll take it standing up, because that's the kind of operator you've been until now."

"That's fair."

"And accurate." His voice eased slightly. "You told me your head was fine three times this month."

"I know."

"We'll get back to that with us in the same room with Eamon. Right now you're going to do something harder than the disclosure. Tierney's dead and the timing stinks. It looks like somebody's converting names into bodies. That means you need to tell me about your St. Louis assignment. Go through a list of everyone you've talked to since you landed, every single name. Tell me what they gave you and what you gave them. Don't clean it up. This is only useful if it's ugly."

I paused.

"Start talking," Mac said.

"Doyle," I said. "Head of Steamers security. He has the protective plan and nothing else. He doesn't know the league retained us, and I haven't spoken with him about Halloran. He's never heard the word Tarn from me."

"Clean. Next."

"Kate Halloran. I talked to her twice. She gave me information. I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know through her father."

"Next."

"The league counsel channel. They have Halloran and Tarn. Tierney's name never went to them. Michael can confirm."

"He already has. Next."

"Reisner." I watched as drops of rain started falling against the living room windows. "I spent the evening with him at the Tarn event. He knows I'm close security for a hockey player. Half the people in the room knew that from the local news. He offered me a tour of their St. Louis clinic. I gave him shop talk from my teaching days."

"Did he ask specifically about Mercer?"

"Once. He asked, 'How's yours holding up.' I said fine."

"Good answer. Next."

"Tierney. We had two calls, and they are both logged."

"Who's Frey to you?"

I didn't know where he got the name, but it wouldn't be hard for Michael to dig it out of Tarn records.

"Colin Frey," I said. "He ran my tour of the local Tarn facility. Since then, we've met in a hotel bar, a diner in Boston, and we've chatted on four or five calls."

"What did he give you?"

"The Carolina contract. He found it and shared before Michael verified it. He told me the project was about suppression, not enhancement. Thene he offered to share anything I need that he can put his hands on."

"And what did you give him?"

That was the question I didn't want to answer, but I couldn't lie. I explained what I remembered without cleaning it up.

"Mercer's daily maintenance program. I told Frey that it exists, and that it's the best I've ever seen. I used the word 'disciplined.' He's up every morning before five, and I shared that with Frey."

Every item sounded harmless at the moment. None of it sounded harmless now. "And Tierney. He offered to put a feeler out to other old technicians. I gave him the name. He asked me to spell it." I paused. "I spelled it out for him, Mac, letter by letter."

Mac didn't fill the silence. I kept going because there was one more item.