Page 30 of Yankee in the Wind

Fox was already sitting at his computer, tapping away on his keyboard. He was a talented hacker, and even though Jack had a few skills like that too, Fox was a pro. “I’m checking. Give me a minute or two to get into their system.”

Meanwhile, Jack and Ace continued talking.

“So you think Thomas is really dead?” Ace asked.

Jack nodded. “I’m afraid so. If he’d been only faking his death, then Dr. Price would still be alive. No, it’s pretty clear to me now that he was killed by Smith and his cronies. And they don’t want us to find out what the manner of his death was. Otherwise, there would be no reason to kill the pathologist who signed the death certificate, nor fake the cremation certificate. Or to cremate him in the first place, when I know he was against cremation. They don’t want us to find the body, because it would help us figure out what happened.”

“And probably lead us to Smith. I agree,” Ace said. “The question is how.” He looked over his shoulder to where Fox was working. “Anything?”

“Looking through the file folders now,” Fox said. “But at first glance, there’s nothing on Thomas Reed. I’ve searched all folders. If there was a file about an autopsy performed there under Dr. Price’s supervision, then somebody’s deleted it. Though my guess? There was no file in the first place.”

Jack nodded. “Makes sense. They don’t want a paper trail about River’s manner of death. And with Dr. Price dead, this is a dead end.”

“Fox, can you think of anything else that would help us figure out where River was or what he did in the weeks before his death?” Ace asked.

Fox turned away from the computer. “If he had a cell phone on him, even if it was a burner, as long as we know the number, we’d have a chance of tracking his whereabouts. But you guys know as well as I do, that he would have been more careful and not have exposed his number to anybody he didn’t trust.”

“That’s it,” Jack said. “Maybe he called Lilly. They were close.” He rose. “Let me get her.” Before he reached the door, there was a soft pinging sound coming from a speaker on the ceiling.

“Michelle, can you please bring Lilly down to the computer room?” Fox said through the intercom.

Jack cast him a look. “Neat.”

Ace smiled. “Saves us a lot of running around.”

“You must have made a lot of upgrades to the house. Can’t have been cheap,” Jack commented.

“I put all my money into it, but maintaining this house is another matter.” Ace pointed to Fox. “Luckily this guy and his girlfriend had a brilliant idea: steal from the rich to support a good cause.”

“The good cause being getting Stargate back together,” Fox interjected.

“Are you saying you’re hacking rich people’s bank accounts to finance all this?” Jack asked.

Fox grinned. “Not just any rich people; rich people who hide their money from the tax man. So, we’re really government funded, because the money we siphon off would have gone to the IRS.”

“You’re a veritable Robin Hood.” Jack laughed. “Ace, what did you do for money until Fox and Michelle came along? I mean, they only showed up on your radar ten days ago.”

“Believe it or not, I repaired motorcycles for over three years and saved every penny. And there was a little money left from my father. It paid for all the legal maneuvering I had to do to keep this house and make sure nobody knows I still own it.” Then he tipped his chin toward Jack. “How about you? How did you keep your head above water?”

“Well, after spending my last dime on plastic surgery so I could stay in D.C., I freelanced for a bail bondsman whenever I needed cash.”

“Bounty hunter?” Fox asked and shook his head. “Why didn’t I think of that? Instead, I was slaving away as a freelance website designer.”

“You probably made better money doing that than the occasional bounties I brought in,” Jack said.

The door suddenly opened, and Lilly entered. “Hey.”

“Lilly, this is Fox,” Jack said.

“You can call me Nick,” he said and raised his hand in greeting.

“Hey, Nick. Nice to meet you.” Then she looked at Jack. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, we were just talking about Thomas and wondering if he called you in the weeks before his death,” Jack said.

“The last call I got from him was about two weeks before his death, I think.”

“Did you see the number that he called you from?” Jack asked.