The Harbinger Break by Zachary Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

that would prevent those with IQ's well below the average from having children. "For the advancement of our species," they justified. The nearby aliens were always on the backs of minds, influencing decision making from afar.
       Searching the area for the Honda to no avail, he decided to call it after about an hour–no sign of the car or its drivers. Even the motel clerk had no idea whom Summers was talking about. He called the bureau, and then decided to return to base and reevaluate his approach to Patches Shane.
     
       Back at his motel room, Summers logged into the net and queried 'Claire Waltz' from his conversation with Higgins. He found the one he was looking for, and the face of a beautiful blonde in her late twenties stared back at him from his screen. She  currently resided in New York. It was a three hour flight from Jacksonville, and after a quick word with Barnes, the Raleigh FBE chief, he packed up a few things and made for the airport.
     
    ◊   ◊   ◊
     
       Claire Waltz worked marketing and sales at Precision Efficiency Advancements, and the running gag around the office was that she was the princess of the PEA, alluding to the old fairy tale. The company sold specialized software that tracked the efficiency and profitability of a company's workforce, minimizing excess spending. The company itself monitored these findings, and every few months they sent their clients a detailed analysis of their spendings, and where cuts could be made.
       In a penthouse suite on the 70th floor, blue label flowed as profits expanded, and Claire sat at the top of it all, meeting with CEOs and CFOs multiple times a week–courting them, taking them out to lunch, a laugh, a touch of the hand, a fluttering of eye-lashes. "Oh yes, the software" she'd say with a laugh. "I'd almost forgotten. Oh no, it doesn't matter to me–I'm having a wonderful time."
       She was good. Not as much cajoling and outright manipulation as she was simply charming, knowledgeable and beautiful, and she earned PEA millions.
       Her paycheck was considerably more than the paycheck of PEA's CEO, a secret he shared with no one. She was a (if not 'the') main factor for the company's success, and losing her would be cataclysmic for business.
       But she could leave at any time–in fact, she could retire and throw money at anything she desired and still remain well-off for the rest of her life. But she loved her work, so she kept at it. She knew she intimidated all but the men too dumb to be afraid.
     
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       Summers adjusted his aviators and knocked on the door of Claire Waltz's two story estate, where she lived alone in a community that simply referring to as expensive would be a gross understatement. He put his fingers in his pockets and rubbed the outer fabric of his pants with his thumbs as he waited, studying the row of tulips that lined her front pathway.
       After a moment she answered the door, wearing nothing but a silk bathrobe. She had brunette hair, as opposed to blonde from her picture in the government database, and looked stunning. He glanced up and his brow narrowed–who answers their door in a bathrobe? She took one look at him and his badge and her curiosity turned to a smug grin.
       "About time. I'm flattered, but tell the FBE no thanks."
       His eyes became slits as he studied her smug expression. "It's not about that, Ms Waltz."
       "Call me Claire, agent…?"
       "Agent Summers, and I'm–"
       "–Charmed" she said, holding out a hand.
       Summers paused, then took his hand from his pocket and grasped it. "Yeah. Likewise. Ms Waltz, I'm here regarding–"
       "–I said Claire, Mr Summers."
       Summers stopped. This is not how he envisioned this going. She was messing up his routine.
       "Claire. Sure." He took off his aviators, folded them, and put them in his front pocket. "I'm here regarding Pat Shane."
       The smug grin fell from her face. "Patches…"