Danger Close by James Sumner (classic novels for teens txt) 📕

cockpit. Collins stood and moved across the aisle. He sat in the chair opposite Julie and spun it the same way.

The screen flickered into life, showing Buchanan sitting on a similar private jet. His expression was one of fatigue. His face looked thinner than usual, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Julie waved a hand casually. “You look like crap, Boss.”

Buchanan rolled his eyes, which seemed to take more effort than it should have. “The pair of you don’t exactly look the picture of health, either.”

The three of them shared a weak but well-intentioned laugh.

“Any word on Jerry?” asked Collins.

Buchanan shook his head. “No. And that’s what I want to talk to you about.”

Julie and Collins leaned forward in their seats.

“I think I’ve figured out what’s really going on here,” he continued. “In part, anyway. My working theory is that Orion International are behind this.”

“Behind what?” asked Julie. “Paluga?”

“All of it. The meeting I had with one of their directors a few days ago didn’t end well. I think all of this is some elaborate retribution.”

“How bad was it?” asked Collins.

“Bad enough,” said Buchanan. “He threatened me in no uncertain terms. Said GlobaTech would regret getting involved in Orion’s and Tristar’s affairs.”

“But they own news networks, right?” said Julie. “Private security and international espionage seem a bit of a stretch.”

Buchanan shrugged. “We’ve long-suspected Orion’s claims of ignorance over what Tristar was involved in are bogus. If they’re really pulling the strings here…”

“I reckon ya might be onto something, boss,” said Collins. He looked at Julie. “Think about it. Jerry’s blind down there. How can a military coup, potential civil war, and the investigation into a presidential assassination not be on the news? Like, everywhere.”

Julie nodded slowly, putting the pieces together. “Orion control some of the biggest news networks in the States. They could easily manipulate the story so—”

“So that we’re made to look like the bad guys,” confirmed Buchanan. “Exactly. The assassination was on every channel around the world. But the story wasn’t the president dying. It was GlobaTech failing. Today, the world is shaped by social media and public opinion. You see it all the time—celebrities falling victim to cancel culture because the story was spun a certain way to suit one of the parties involved.”

“You think we’ve been cancelled…” said Julie.

Buchanan nodded. “President Herrera died on our watch. For twenty-four hours, the story was that GlobaTech let it happen. That story broke on every network Orion owns. I checked. All the others picked it up from them. The next day, I’m sitting in front of the U.N. Security Council, who react to the PR nightmare by immediately pulling our contract with them. The day after that… I’m on Capitol Hill having my company taken off me and broken up into tiny, harmless pieces.”

Collins let out a long sigh. “That’s… insane.”

“Honestly, it’s impressive. To have that much pull… to read the situation and orchestrate something so completely and effectively in less than two days… I think we underestimated Orion International. Spectacularly.”

It went quiet as Buchanan’s words sunk in. The sheer scope of what they had been battling against this whole time wasn’t easily comprehended.

Julie slammed her palm down on the arm of her chair. “Sonofabitch!”

Both Collins and Buchanan turned their attentions to her. She looked at them both in turn.

“Maybe we didn’t underestimate them at all,” she said.

“What have you got, Fisher?” asked Buchanan.

“Okay. This all started with Tristar, right? Last September, they stole the sixteen million dollars we secured from Daniel Silva’s client. A couple of days before that, Roachford’s old squad hit our guys in Cambodia and stole that tech from the warehouse. We know for sure both of those attacks were Tristar. We hacked their servers looking for dirt and gave what we found to Roachford so that he could use the information where we couldn’t. But Tristar found out.”

Buchanan nodded. “Yes. That’s why they went after him. They incorrectly assumed he had stolen the data himself.”

“Exactly. I imagine he’s still a little pissed at us for that. But that’s when we first found out Tristar was owned by Orion. We didn’t think anything of it because it’s not uncommon for large companies to own several small ones.”

Buchanan nodded again. “That’s what Hall said to me originally. Orion owns hundreds of assets and companies.”

“So, what if Orion knew about everything Tristar was doing all along? What if Tristar’s apparent war against us has been Orion’s plan from the beginning, and this whole Palugan thing is just an extension of it?”

Everyone went quiet as they rearranged the pieces of their own internal jigsaws to accommodate Julie’s new interpretation of the big picture.

It was Collins who broke the silence. “We have two main issues, right? We got Tristar stealing our shit, and we got Orion’s smear campaign that has a much bigger impact than it has any right to have.”

“Basically.” Julie shrugged.

“What if they’re not two issues?”

On the screen, Buchanan put a hand to his mouth. He leaned his elbow on the arm of his chair and stared blankly ahead. “Christ…”

Collins continued. “We’ve been thinking Orion knows everything Tristar’s been doing for months, right? So, let’s assume for a minute that Tristar has just been following orders.”

Julie shook her head. “Why, though? Orion don’t need sixteen million dollars. Hell, they probably make that every hour. We don’t fully understand what the tech they stole from Cambodia was, but I can promise you that whatever it was, it’s of no use to a news channel.”

Collins thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Perhaps from their point of view, them having it is better than us having it, right?”

“You think it’s that simple?”

“He might be right,” said Buchanan. “I think it could be that simple. We do good work here. We help the world. We’re a true global brand with a stellar reputation. The best way to beat someone who thinks they’re invincible is to show them that they’re not.”

“You think they’re proving a point?”

Buchanan shrugged. “Maybe. Taking the money was, for sure.