Free Fall

Fifty-Six

Boston, Massachusetts

Rachel Rinchley twisted and untwisted the strap of her briefcase as she rode the T from MIT to the downtown City Hall stop.

Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this.

She questioned herself repeatedly while standing across the street from the nine-story, crescent-shaped complex known as Center Plaza.

No, I have to tell them. They have to know.

Rachel entered One Center Plaza, passed through security, clipped on her visitor badge and went to the sixth floor, the location of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.

She waited in the reception area until the agent she’d spoken with earlier on the phone, Kay Howard, came out and took her to a quiet office.

“We appreciate your coming downtown, Ms. Rinchley. What’s the important information you wanted to share with the FBI?”

Rachel withdrew her copy of Veyda Hyde’s troubling doctoral paper, passed it to Agent Howard, then proceeded to tell her why she was convinced that Veyda was the author of the Zarathustra emails.

“She’s brilliant,” Rachel began. “She used to be known as Veyda Cole, and she was originally researching aircraft systems engineering, computational engineering, controls, communications and networks, until her mother was killed…”