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be Max Grissom. He’s reportedly very hands-on about hiring decisions.”
    Good.
She would apply pheromones. They’d proved to be effective in winning quick trust and affection in her last infiltration. “Is he my main target? Or does Mrs. Palmer have a sense of which executive is behind the sabotage?”
    “She overheard a suspicious conversation and thinks Max Grissom was the person talking. And Jana says Grissom is more aggressive and less ethical than Cheryl Decker.”
    That fit with what she’d learned. Decker had spent years working on a cure for a rare disease and never gave interviews for business articles. “What about Curtis Santera? I understand he has a significant financial stake in the company.”
    “You’ll have to target all three until you find something tangible. They could all be involved.” River reached for her briefcase. “We want to get ears inside their offices as quickly as possible. But we need something to justify a court order.”
    “What about accessing their computers and turning on the cameras?”
    “We’ll do that too, but we still need warrants. You’ll have to eavesdrop and elicit gossip to get us started.”
    A tremor vibrated up her spine. She couldn’t wait to get going. “How do you want me to contact you?”
    “Whatever is safest for you at the time. I’ve still got the same Gmail accounts. Do you need a burner phone?”
    “I’m covered. Where are you staying?”
    “In an apartment not far from here, but our future contact needs to be more discreet.”
    Fine with her. She enjoyed furtive conversations in moving cars and dropping evidence into pockets as she passed.
    River stood. “I’d better get out of here before anyone sees us together.”
    “I’ll be in touch daily.”
    “Good luck with your interview. If they don’t hire you, we’ll have to move to Plan B.”
    “Which is?”
    “A sting. But we would need to start over with a new UC agent.” River flashed a grim smile. “So nail this one please.”
    Dallas gave a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
    After River left, she read through the files again, refreshing her knowledge of the TecLife executives. Max Grissom was a doctor who’d gone straight from med school to a biological company, then eventually founded his own medical device startup with cutting edge technology. But TecLife had branched out, and news reports speculated that it was developing drug-device combinations. Cheryl Decker had a much thinner file. After leaving Stanford with a masters in molecular biology, she’d gone to work for ProtoCell, then four years later, joined with Grissom to form TecLife. But there were no online profiles or news stories, and the only picture they had of her was fifteen years old. A mystery woman or just a dedicated scientist who shunned social exposure?
    Dallas would soon find out.

Chapter 6
    Wednesday, July 9, 6:25 p.m.
    As the music stopped, Raul Cortez kissed the cheek of his partner, a lovely older woman he saw only in class. “I have to check my messages. Meet you back here in five minutes.” He hurried to the chair where his jacket hung, not wanting to miss even a moment of instruction. Tonight, they were learning advanced steps for the samba.
    He grabbed the phone and a wave of panic washed over him. He’d missed three messages—‌all from his supervisor, Sergeant Briggs. The first message told him everything: “Cortez. Team three has a homicide at an abandoned cannery on Sicard Street in the Barrio Logan area. Hawthorne is running the case, but he needs the whole team down there ASAP.”
    Another homicide to investigate. His already-thumping heart swelled with anticipation. He’d only been a detective for four months, but this was his dream job. Or, more honestly, a great backup plan. He knew he’d never be a professional ballroom dancer, but law-enforcement made him feel good about himself, and not at all like he was settling. And the promotion to detective had been a huge bonus. Cortez