“And in return, I’ve agreed to provide America with a number of critical exclusive technologies. Certainly the Merge is more useful than obsolete aircraft carriers and fighter jet prototypes that have trouble getting into the air.”

“Do you think I just call the Pentagon and tell them to write a check?” Whitfield said, his voice turning menacing. “Making this kind of money disappear from the defense budget isn’t trivial. Even for me.”

“Obviously, I could go looking for the money on the open market. I imagine the Chinese government would be interested.

When Whitfield spoke again it was through clenched teeth. “Anything else?”

“In fact, yes.”

Dresner pulled up a photo on his Merge and was about to securely transfer it to Whitfield but then remembered the old soldier still refused to adopt the technology. Instead, he was forced to use a laptop lying on the seat next to him.

“What am I looking at?” Whitfield said, accepting the computer and examining the enhanced image.

“The two people sitting in the booth are Randi Russell from the CIA and Lieutenant Colonel Jon Smith, whom you’re familiar with.”

“What’s he holding?” Whitfield asked.

“A severed head that Russell found in Afghanistan.”

“Why do I care?”

“Because that particular Afghan was involved in an experiment you paid for almost four months ago. The skull has Merge studs in it.”

Still, nothing registered on the former marine’s face, but the rise and fall of his chest increased noticeably. “Where did you get this?”

In fact, he had quite a bit more—including photos of Russell actually retrieving the head. He couldn’t reveal that, though, without compromising his view into Whitfield’s world.

“Smith is in charge of the military’s adoption of my technology. It makes sense for me to watch him to the degree practical.”

“Why wasn’t I told about this experiment?”

“You never seemed interested in this level of detail.”

“Christ…” Whitfield said under his breath. “Does anyone at Central Intelligence know about this?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I don’t think so. She and Smith have a personal relationship—he was engaged to her sister when she became one of the first victims of the Hades virus. It appears that Russell came straight to him because of that history and his position as the director of Merge development. I take it you haven’t heard anything through military channels?”

Whitfield shook his head. “If Smith is concerned about this, he hasn’t gone up the chain of command with it.”

“Then there’s still time. Watching Smith is one thing, but dealing with him and a CIA operative is obviously beyond my experience.”

“Dealing with? Why the hell were you even following him? This isn’t your sphere of influence. If you feel people need watching—and goddamn well if they need ‘dealing with’—you come to me.”