Cantrell and Lansing looked at each other again. “There are people in important positions who are skeptical about your willingness to deliver Montez alive if you find him before we do.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Yes, I know. The NSA’s director called me. General Hawthorne was ordered to back off and not get involved.” She paused and slowed her speech for emphasis. “We need Montez alive. If he’s got a sleeper system in place to release damaging info upon a prolonged absence, we need to wring it out of him.”

“How did he find out where I live?”

“If you’re thinking he’s got a mole within our government, it’s a possibility, but we don’t think so.”

“Then how?”

“We can’t say for sure.” She looked at Director Lansing.

“We think it has to do with your trip to Lake Powell,” said Lansing.

Nathan squinted. Lake Powell?

Lansing continued. “The man you visited, the houseboat owner?”

Nathan recalled his name. “Lars Stiegler.”

“He’s missing, presumed dead. Sheriff’s deputies found blood spatter evidence inside his houseboat. Whoever killed him made an attempt to clean it up, but Kane County deputies used BlueStar and found trace evidence all over the place.”

Damn. Nathan had liked the crusty war vet. And now he was dead. Because of his hunt for Montez.

“We’re pretty sure he was interrogated,” said Lansing. “Did you tell him who you were?”

“I gave him my name, Harv’s too. I didn’t think—” Nathan stopped.

“What?” Cantrell asked.

“Harv, the guy on the dock. The fisherman in overalls.”

“Oh hell,” Harv said.

“What fisherman? What are you talking about?”

“We saw a guy fishing on the dock near Stiegler’s houseboat slip. Hispanic, kinda tough looking.” Nathan pursed his lips and shook his head. “The tail numbers,” he said. “Our mystery fisherman must’ve seen the tail numbers of our helicopter and traced it back to First Security.”

“Is that where it’s registered?” Cantrell asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“We’ll take care of that right away,” Lansing said. He pulled a small notepad and pen from his coat pocket. “We’ll hide your two helicopters within our system.”

“Thank you, Director, but this still doesn’t explain how he got my home address. All of our employees are super careful about protecting our personal information.”

“I’ll ask around the office and see what I can dig up,” Harv said. “It’s possible someone got careless. We certainly did.”

An uneasy silence took the room.

Cantrell leaned forward in her chair. “Both Director Lansing and I cleared our calendars to come here in person because of your distinguished service record, not because of who your father is. We can’t sanction your direct involvement in finding Montez, but we won’t run interference either. What we’re asking is twofold. Keep me personally informed of your efforts, and consider the bigger picture.”

“As in not killing him?”

“Yes.”