Robert Ludlum's the Bourne Evolution - Brian Freeman Page 0,87

away from me. His entire world went online. But I never thought he was at risk for anything like what he did. I still can’t imagine why he killed those people.”

“Did you know he’d purchased guns? That he was training with rifles at gun ranges?”

“I had no idea.”

“The FBI said he wasn’t particularly religious and didn’t seem to have any strong political beliefs.”

Sylvia nodded. “Yes. Charles didn’t care about those things. He was a scientist.”

“Were there any groups of people he didn’t like? Or that he spoke out against?”

“No, nothing like that,” she said. “Actually, he was frustrated by the divide in the country. He used to say that the left and the right were so far apart that maybe it would be better if we all just divorced before we wound up in another civil war.”

Abbey took her phone out of her pocket and found a photo that Jason had texted to her. It was a picture of Nova. There was something about the woman’s fiery, confident face that made her a little jealous. She realized that she felt that way whenever Jason talked about her. She could see the emotion in his face when he did, and most of the time Jason seemed disconnected from any emotions at all.

She showed the picture to Sylvia Hackman. “Do you ever remember seeing your husband with this woman? Or do you remember seeing her anywhere else?”

Sylvia studied the photograph. “I don’t think so. She has a distinctive face. I think I’d remember.”

“What about this man?” Abbey asked, pulling up a picture of Peter Restak.

“No.”

Abbey sat back in the chair and frowned. She knew more about Charles Hackman than she ever had before, even when she was researching him for The Fort, but she still felt as if she knew nothing at all. Somehow Medusa had recruited him out of millions of other prospects because of his psychological profile. What had Hackman said to his wife? Prescix knew him better than he knew himself. Somehow, thanks to Prescix, Medusa had found him and brainwashed him. Radicalized him. Set him up in a hotel with a rifle.

That wasn’t just a software operation. It was more complicated than that. It may have begun online, but there had to have been a direct contact somewhere, too.

“Did you ever see your husband’s Prescix account?” Abbey asked.

“He wouldn’t let me see it. Typically, he and I used the same password on all of our online accounts, but he used a different one for Prescix. I tried to log in, which was how I found out he’d changed it. I asked him why, and he got upset. He said he deserved privacy and that I shouldn’t be checking up on him. I figured he must be having an affair with someone he’d met out there. But I never saw his account in order to know who it was. And of course, he deleted the account before the shooting. Or somebody deleted it.”

“Somebody?” Abbey asked. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, it was all very strange. The FBI asked if I was sure about Charles using the Prescix software, because they hadn’t been able to locate his account. They couldn’t even find archives of it anywhere. It’s like it never existed. I swore to them I wasn’t wrong. Charles used Prescix every day. If they couldn’t find the account, then somebody removed it. For all I know, it was the company itself. I’m sure they were worried about all the lawsuits if it came out that Charles was influenced by things he did online.”

Abbey shook her head. The social media trail had been wiped out of existence. Leave no clues. Even so, someone must have reached out to Hackman in real life. They had to have spent hours together, and that was harder to conceal. There had to be evidence. Witnesses. A location where they met.

“Was Charles away from home a lot during those last few months?” Abbey asked.

Sylvia nodded. “Yes, he’d be gone for long stretches of time. Often overnight.”

“Did you ask him where he went?”

“He said it was client work.”

“Did you look at his credit card statements?”

“I did, but wherever he went, he must have paid cash. There was nothing out there. I looked, Ms. Laurent. So did the FBI.”

“I understand, but the thing is, I’m convinced your husband didn’t do this alone. I think he had help. I need to know who helped him and where they met. Because this organization called Medusa is not done. The massacre