Free Born with Secrets: A Political Thriller by Bowen Greenwood

forward
in his seat. He said, “Matt, I love you and you’re my friend. I do trust you.
But are you sure? Shooting at you?”
    Matt found it hard to
believe, too. Why? Why would someone want to kill him? Yes, he had just been to
talk to a famous criminal, but she hadn’t told him any information worth
killing over. She only said she interrupted a prison fight. Not that Matt ever
considered using his relationship with her for news but even if he did there
was nothing even close to newsworthy in that.
    He could not imagine any
reason to shoot at him, other than that conversation he’d overheard with Doyle
Cobalt. If there was something about the Genetic Probable Cause Bill, was that
worth killing him over? The trouble was, he hadn’t really heard anything. He
didn’t have enough to know why someone would kill over it.
    Matt finally replied,
saying, “I understand why you’re asking. I’m not offended. It seems insane to
me, too. But it happened. I’m sure about that.”
    Vincent sipped coffee,
leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. Matt assumed he was praying.
    Finally, the Congressman
asked, “Well, what should we do about it?”
    “That’s why I came here,”
Matt said. “You told me you had an experience like this once where someone
tried to kill you. Other than Alyssa, you’re the only person I know who might
have some advice to give. And she’s two thousand miles away. As much as I want
to see her right now, she’s not the easiest person to get to.”
    Vincent nodded and said,
“When Kathy and I met, she had made the wrong people angry. We spent some time
hiding and running. There was a company that made electronic surveillance
gadgets for the FBI and NSA and pretty much most of the Federal government.
Kathy had stumbled on some evidence that they were planning to massively
defraud not just the government, but everyone they could lay their hands on. I
helped get them shut down. You covered it, remember? The Electron Guidewire
scandal?”
    Matt replied, “Yeah, I
remember writing a few stories about it. So did the experience teach you any
lessons that I should know? I mean, I’m assuming the police and fire department
have shown up at my house by now. I want to be a good citizen and talk to them,
but someone was shooting at me with real live bullets. The last time I went
through that it was with Alyssa, so I want some guidance before I trust the
authorities.”
    “The cops themselves are
probably trustworthy,” Vincent replied. “But the problem is before and after
you’re with them. Sitting in an interrogation room, you’d be safe. If this
really is happening the way you describe it, then I wouldn’t place any bets
about how safe you’d be walking back to your car afterward.”
    Matt said, “That doesn’t
make me feel very good about talking to them.”
    “Go off the grid,” Mike
advised. “No phones and no credit cards. No going home. No going to work. No
place you’ve ever been.”
    Matt sighed and said, “I
don’t feel like I can just run away without telling the police something about
the attack. Wouldn’t that place me under suspicion?”
    The Congressman shrugged.
“Maybe. But if someone genuinely pulled the trigger on a firearm aimed at you,
then you’re in the middle of something big time. They’ll look for you to go to
the police. It’s what any ordinary citizen would do. If someone wants to kill
you, that’s the place they’ll look.
    “Here’s what I’d
recommend,” Vincent continued. “They’re looking for you, not for me. So let’s
use my plastic. I’ll check you into a hotel and get you a bunch of cash from an
ATM. That way you don’t show up in any electronic way. Once you get there, stay
off of anything electronic.”
    Matt said, “I don’t like
missing work, and I don’t like borrowing money from you.”
    Vincent clapped him on the
shoulder. “Don’t worry about the money, brother. I know you’re good for it. And
as for missing work, you’d