“What can we do?” asked Wingo.

Sean thought for a moment. “Satellite.”

Michelle looked at him quizzically. “Yeah. We already covered that point.”

“No, I’m not talking about that satellite. I’m talking about another one.”

She touched his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

“I wonder where Grant just came in from? It wasn’t his office downtown. It took him well over two hours after we sent the text for him to get here. This time of day the trip out of D.C. would take him thirty minutes tops.”

“That’s true,” said Michelle, looking thoughtful. “Well, he’s driving a pretty new Mercedes. GPS comes standard on those models.”

“And GPS is controlled by satellite,” remarked Sean.

“So how can we possibly get a satellite to follow his—?” Michelle stopped herself when Sean gave her a knowing look.

“Edgar,” she said.

“What is this Edgar you keep mentioning?” asked Wingo. “Is it an acronym for a computer system or something?”

“Or something,” replied Sean.

CHAPTER

73

THEY DROPPED WINGO OFF AT the motel and then drove out to Edgar’s farmhouse to meet with him. After coming to understand what they wanted, Edgar agreed to help.

“You really should be on our payroll, Edgar,” Michelle joked. “I think we’re using you more than the U.S. government. What a team we’d make.”

Edgar looked at her strangely. “How much do you pay?”

Sean interjected, “I doubt we could match what you’re making. We don’t have Uncle Sam’s pocketbook.”

“Or his debt, thankfully,” added Michelle dryly.

“What benefits do you offer?” asked Edgar. “I get four weeks’ paid vacation and a 401(k) plan. And catered breakfast and lunch. And a rental apartment in the city with nice views.”

“Uh, I think Michelle was just making a joke, Edgar,” added Sean, who looked perplexed.

However, Edgar didn’t appear to be listening to him.

“I’ll think about it,” said Edgar while Sean gave Michelle an anxious look.

“What just happened?” he mumbled to her.

“I’m not sure,” she whispered back.

He said in a normal voice, “So you think you can do it, Edgar? This tracking thing?”

“You gave me the license plate number of Grant’s vehicle. From that I can easily get the VIN. And from there lots of things open up.”

His fingers were flying over the multiple keyboards.

“Just curious, you ever get repetitive motion injuries?” asked Michelle as she watched him work away.

“No,” said Edgar.