He sat back, putting his feet up on the desk. “It’s been really nice catching up with you, man. I’ll have the company car sent up. They’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Go back to your fire-scorched home, maybe. Is it true that ash falls from the sky?”

“They’re overcharging you, too. It’s not ready, they know it, and I can prove it.”

Steel stiffened. “Overcharging me? How?”

“It comes down to the technology,” Chip said. “It takes time to get all of these factors into the program, to test them, to make sure they’re right.”

“I know that,” Steele said.

There it was. Bravado. “Exactly. You’re a smart guy. I know that from working with you. I’m going make a call to one of the first programmers of SureFired, and you can decide for yourself.”

Chip waited as Steel seemed to debate this.

“Unless you don’t want to hear it,” Chip added.

Steel sat back and waved a hand. “I don’t care. Call him.”

Chip nodded, dialing his home number and setting the phone on the table between then.

Marty answered as instructed. “Hello?”

“Marty, it’s Chip. I’m here with Steel Montgomery. Have you two met before?”

“We’ve had phone calls twice before,” Marty said.

Chip looked at Steel, who nodded. “Nice to hear from you again, Marty.”

“You too, sir.”

Chip suppressed smile. Smooth move on Marty’s part, calling him “sir” – Steel loved that kind of stuff.

“Marty, tell him what you told me.”

It was like releasing a herd of bulls into the office – facts, figures, differing values. Marty was convincing, even without his pictures, and on top of that, he managed to keep it brief.

When he stopped talking, Steel spoke. “Why wasn’t I told any of this?”

“I tried, sir. When I brought up my concerns to the CEO, I was locked out of the building. Now the FBI is looking for me.”

“The FBI?” Steel stood again, pacing.

There it was.

“Everything I do is above board,” Steel said. “Everything. Why is the FBI involved? Is the SureFired team involved in fraud?”

“Not yet, sir. They didn’t like what I had to say, so they claimed I was selling proprietary information to China.”

Steel rolled his eyes. “Even the Chinese wouldn’t pay as much for this company as I’m paying.”

“SureFired needed to get ahead of this,” Chip said. “They needed to leave you holding the bag.”

Steel crossed his arms and faced Chip. “How do I know that you’re not trying to buy the company out from under me?”

Chip laughed, loudly. “I’m broke, Steel. I work at a hotel. I have no interest in buying the company. I just don’t want to see that headline about the little girl who didn’t make it out in time – because her parents trusted SureFired.”

Steel cringed. “What a nightmare.”

“Yeah.”