Dan played the cops like a fiddle

Rick stood in his little closet for about forty-five minutes... Dan, of course, was late for his appointment, showing his power by making others wait. It had been a typical move he'd used back at bio-DNA and it wasn't a surprise he was sticking with what had always worked for him.

Rick schooled his patience and waited, breathing in the stink of sweat, stale coffee, piss, and fear that pervaded the police station like a fog.

When Dan finally arrived, he bustled into the interview room with an air of impatience, as if he hadn't kept everyone waiting. Dan was important, his body language projected. These mere peons were not. His expensive suit, cut to flatter the bio-DNA-enhanced lines of his body, made the suits Tiffany and Grunson wore look like they'd been picked up from the bargain rack at Men's Warehouse, which they probably had.

"I hear," Dan said, doing his best to take control of the conversation, "that you have information about the death of my wife."

"Ah yes," Tiffany said. "I wonder, Mr. Hughes, if you have any enemies. Anyone who would be targeting you and your family."

"Enemies?" Dan managed a convincing chuckle. "I'm a pharmaceutical executive. I suppose most liberals see me as an enemy. Aren't pharmaceuticals the standard badguy trope?"

Rick had to give Tiffany credit. Then again, police detectives, even detectives in affluent suburbs, were masters of the interview game. Dan didn't know it but he was playing in the big leagues and throwing minor-league shade.

"The reason I ask," she said, "is that we have evidence that someone, or some organization, was apparently targeting your wife." She took out an iPad, called up a photo, and passed it to Dan.

Through the one-way glass, Rick could barely make out one of the photos he'd taken at the Black Hat headquarters.

Rick literally saw Dan's brain shift into a higher gear. He had to decide whether to deny, to throw the blame on black hat, or to explain that black hat had been hired to body-guard his family.

"As I said, pharmaceutical companies have become favorite targets of eco-terrorists and the taker class who don't believe that hard work and innovation should be rewarded. My company recently contracted with a security company to provide security for its executives and their families. I believe that these photos may be associated with their work, not with anyone stalking poor Olivia."

Rick wasn't surprised that Dan managed a tear when he murmured his late wife's name. Bio-DNA gave him that level of control over his body. Still, he looked like the photo had shaken him. Rick wanted to get on his microphone and tell Tiffany to keep pushing but he remembered Grunson's warning just in time.

"They don't seem to have done a very good job," Grunson said.

Dan shook his head in fake sorrow. "Unfortunately not. Of course none of us believed that they would stoop to murdering family members. If they want to come after me, fine. I'm a man. But to go after poor Olivia."

His attitude made Rick want to puke but he forced himself to stay quiet.

"And now your daughter is missing," Tiffany continued. "You must be worried sick."

"Yes, well, she is eighteen. Still, I'm a father, worried about my daughter."

"Tell me, Mr. Hughes, how was your relationship with your wife?"

"What are you..." Dan stood. "This interview is over."

The door behind Rick opened and Nicki and officer Chuck came in. Nicki's face looked stricken. "I can't get it open."

Well, shit. Talk about things going to hell in a hurry.