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.Competent IT professionals will jump at the chance to work for such a leading edge company.Sincerely,Eliza JacksonHis secretary beeped on the intercom, letting him know the first of his employees was here as requested.Tilman tossed aside the letter and bid her let the man in.The video wall had a number of possible scenes it could show, stored on the Electron Guidewire computer network, and he chose a visual of a steep drop off a cliff, to send a subtle message to whoever his secretary had come up with for his first victim.Tilman brought his facial expression under control and waited.Enrico Matzionne came timidly through his door and shuffled down the length of the big room.A fireplug of a man, he was wide from his shoulders all the way down to his waist.His curly black hair hung down over his ears.Tilman knew the man was popular with his coworkers for a wide repertoire of jokes, but the humor seemed drained out of him by the summons to the boss's office.About half-way across he said, "You wanted to see me, sir?""You were close to Eliza Jackson?"He stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped open."Were? Past tense? Has something happened to her?""Sorry, I misspoke," Tilman said."She's resigned.It comes as a big shock, and I want to know why."Matzionne made it to one of the guest chairs and slumped into it."Sir, that's a huge shock to me.As far as I knew she was totally happy with her job.Did she say why?""Yeah.Her letter says he was upset about what happened to Ivan."Matzionne rubbed his chin."Well, we all are.But I'm surprised that she would resign over it.""Did you talk to her yesterday? Did she say anything that gave any hint?"Matzionne rubbed his chin."We had lunch yesterday, and she didn't give me any clue at all.I would have expected her to tell me.""Well," Tilman continued, "Has she told you anything at all anytime recently that might explain this?"Matzionne fidgeted in his chair."Well, she was… Sir, I don't feel comfortable…"Tilman leaned forward behind his desk."Look, Enrico.I don't want you to worry that anything you tell me will hurt her professionally.I'm all about results, not personal details.She did good work for the company, and that's why I want her back.I don't give a rat about anything in her personal life except where it might help me hire her back."Matzionne nodded."OK.Still, it's her business, not mine, and I don't want to sound like a gossip.But Eliza had a bit of a gambling problem.I think she ran up a ton of debt on trips to Atlantic City.""OK," Tilman said, perking up."Now that's a problem I can solve for her.I'm going to try calling her later today, and maybe if I offer to take care of problems like that for her, she'll come back.""Um, sir… I'd feel better if you didn't come right out and tell her you know about that.""Relax, Enrico.I won't make any trouble for you," Tilman replied."Thanks for your help."Matzionne was smart enough to recognize that as a dismissal.He stood up and made the long trek back to the office door, making way for the next employee who knew Jackson.Despite his promise, Tilman proceeded to ask the next employee, and the three who came after that, if they knew whether Jackson was having money problems, possibly having to do with gambling debt.The last one left his office just as his secretary beeped through on the intercom."I've tried her home number and her cell number, sir, and I can't get her," she said."I just keep getting her voice mail.""Keep trying," Tilman replied, and clicked off.His next visitor came only a moment later, walking through the door unannounced.His security chief, as Tilman had expected."Talk to me about Jackson," he demanded.This was the only person in the company from whom Tilman would accept demands."I've got the whole company looking for her," he said."I've essentially told them all she may have been running from a gambling debt."The chief nodded."That's as may be," he said, "But I don't think we can avoid the fact that this looks a lot like a deliberate attack on the GigaStar program.""I know, but we've got to try to keep that impression from spreading.We don't want the NSA or Congress to start raising questions about the program.""It would have been better if this could have waited until after Congress approved it."Tilman shrugged."That just wasn’t in the cards."***The sun shone down brightly on them as they walked down the street.Kathy had realized she didn’t know any place nearby to suggest as a meeting place, so they went out walking together to find one.Mike felt like his whole world was glowing.Shot up house, disrupted schedule, staff irate at the canceled meetings… who cared? He was having one of the finest moments of his life.He'd had breakfast with a beautiful girl and was now taking a walk with her under a lovely morning sky.Things with Kathy were looking more hopeful than he'd ever had any right to hope.Michael was happy.He just enjoyed being near her."OK," Kathy said after the quick call."I'm meeting her in two hours at that coffee shop over there." She pointed."Why don’t you and I take a little walk while we wait for her?"She smiled at him and held out her hand.Mike looked down at her hand, up at her face, down at her hand again, and then a smile sprang from one ear to the other.He took her hand and they walked.Hand in hand they went down the busy street, ignoring the throng of pedestrians around them.Kathy tugged Mike over to look at a purse through the window, and then tugged him away from the store when he wanted to go in and buy it for her, reminding him that they couldn’t use credit cards.He stopped at a newsstand for a quick glance at the top of the fold headlines.They passed a chain clothing store, and Kathy again darted over to the store window to peer at a blouse.Seeing that, Mike would not be denied any longer, and dragged her inside."Oh, come on, we’re supposed to get by on limited cash, I can get by in these clothes.""Kathy, it’s not like we have to live for a month on the money.Let’s get you something new to wear, you’ve been in that T-shirt for days."In the end, she offered only as much resistance as modesty required.Truth to tell, she did feel grungy.But to avoid feeling singled out, she insisted that Mike buy something new as well.Mike barely noticed the wear and tear on his suit, but he was so happy to be buying clothes for Kathy that he gave in and picked some out for himself.He left the store wearing a new set of pleated khaki slacks and a blue shirt, and Kathy went for new jeans and the peach blouse she’d wanted.Still holding hands they returned to their walk, killing time waiting for Colleen.Only when they turned around to head back to the coffee shop did Kathy let go of Mike’s hand long enough to look at her watch, emit a small shriek, and announce that they were running late.They picked up the pace.***Just in front of their coffee shop, Kathy glanced over her shoulder and froze."Mike, is that van behind us following us?"Mike looked over his shoulder."Well, it definitely looks like it’s stopping right here…"They picked up their pace, not running yet but walking very fast.Mike turned around to walk backwards for a second and the black van behind them disgorged three men who rushed at them.The sight of them froze for a second like a flash picture in his memory – three anonymous forms coming at him.They didn’t look like the men from his house – no bullet-proof vests, for instance – but they were all dressed mostly in black, and looked just as threatening.Kathy had time to scream before one of them wrapped her in his arms.The second one grabbed her feet and between the two of them they carried her around to the side door of the van.The third tackled Mike, knocking him to the ground.He started to struggle, but before he could even throw a punch the man was back off him and running away
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