The Hermetrius Conspiracy Read online

  Jack sat in the desk chair and thought for a bit. Most agents had a special room they kept locked, where they did some of their work at home. They usually had a separate computer, internet access, a flat-screen TV, and a mini-refrigerator full of beer. Sometimes they just used it to get away from their families for a couple of hours, or watch a football game without being disturbed. Sometimes they surfed the internet for porn, but with the Government back-tracking from porn sites to users’ computers, that was fading fast. Get caught doing that and the agent would lose his job and his wife. Jack went through Foreman’s house one more time, looking for spaces where he could have built a secret room. No luck. Then Jack thought of his secret room, hidden at the end of a walk-in closet.

  Jack went into the master bedroom and checked out the closet. The end wall was just that – a solid wall with no hollowness when he tapped on it. He was about to turn and leave when he heard the floorboards squeak under his foot. He bent down and found the carpet wasn’t attached to floor there, so he pulled it up to reveal a two-foot by four-foot trap door. Jack opened it and climbed down the ladder into Jim Foreman’s secret room. It was small, six by nine feet, but had a desk with a computer, a printer, and two steel file cabinets. After picking the file cabinet locks Jack quickly went through the files until he found the CYA section. Foreman had stashed away some interesting information here. Rather than page through the files Jack just grabbed them all and headed back up the ladder. It would be nice to take the computer hard drive, but it was an old tower model and he would have to disassemble the case to get the hard dive out. No time for that.

  When he got upstairs he looked around for something to carry the files in and found an old briefcase in the coat closet. As he gave one last look around, he saw something he should have looked for when he first broke in – a micro video camera stuck in the corner of the kitchen ceiling. There had to be more cameras, but it would do him no good to look for them now. If they were actively monitoring the cameras they knew he was in the house and were probably sending someone here right now. He heard tires screech in the front driveway; they’re here! Jack sprinted out the back door and through the gate into the alley.

  He talked to Lynn on the headset as he ran. “They’re after me Lynn. I’m heading North in the alley and will stay on it for three blocks. That will put me out on 29th street half a block from the park. Go there now and pick me up.”

  “Roger that. I’ll be there in three minutes.” Lynn arrived just as Jack burst out of the alley. He jumped into the passenger seat and told Lynn to go fast, but not fast enough to get stopped by the police. As she got to the end of the block a black sedan turned the corned and blocked their path. She did a K-turn and was headed the other way, back to the park, when another car blocked the only way out of the park. “Jack. What do I do now?”

  Chapter 33

  “Willy Wonka,” – Alex was his real name – walked into George Jenkins’ office at Blackworth Security with the question “What’s going on here, George! I couldn’t tell you much over the phone, but there is something we need to understand.”

  “Sit down and tell me all you know, Alex.”

  After Alex had finished recounting his conversations with Gutierrez, George responded “We need to discuss this with the client. Is he’s involved with this latest file planting? If he is, then he’s keeping us in the dark for some reason, and I don’t like that. I’ll see if I can get him in here this afternoon.”

  “That’s a good idea George. But what about this DNI connection? Do you have any contacts in the organization that can get us information?”

  “Not all the way to the top, and if this is coming straight from the Director himself, there’s no way we can get to it. Let’s wait until we get the client in here to discuss it further.”

  #

  George’s secretary stuck her head in the door to say “Your visitor is here, sir.”

  “Call Alex and get him up here right away. And put some fresh coffee and pastries in the conference room. This visitor likes his sweets.”

  His client came charging into George’s office and demanded “What’s so important that I needed to be pulled away from a board of directors’ meeting to come over here, George?”

  Have a seat, sir. I let you hear it first hand from Alex, who has been interrogating Mr. Gutierrez for the past two days. He’ll be up in a minute. Why don ‘t we move to the conference room where we can see some video of the interrogation.”

  Alex showed up just as they were entering the conference room. “Good afternoon, Sir. I hope you had a good trip.”

  “Three hours on an airplane is never a good trip . . . even if you own the airlines.”

  He helped himself to coffee and two Danish rolls and turned to Alex. “I want to know everything that FRA agent said, starting from yesterday morning.”

  “Let me play the key parts of the video first, then we’ll get more from our discussion.”

  When the video recording got to Tom’s disclosure of the DNI involvement, the client slammed his fist on the table. “How the hell did they get involved in this? Why would they want to plant some files at Energy Resources?”

  George paused. He didn’t want to be the one to point out the obvious. “Maybe because they’re responsible for whistle blower investigations. Could one of your people be trying to stop this operation?”

  “That’s hard to accept. Only a half dozen of my most trusted employees know anything about this operation.”

  Alex interjected “Maybe the new files they planted are part of a sting operation to flush out who is behind it. If that’s the case, then the DNI is closer to us than I first thought.”

  “I don’t see how they could have put it together. I’ve put things in motion to effect election results at all levels of the Federal Government. And once my people are elected, they will have the power to get more of my people appointed to key directorships at the top level. Hell George, even you don’t know the full extent of what I have planned for this country.”

  That upset George a bit, although he didn’t let it show. Why wasn’t he using Blackworth for this other work? Maybe because he didn’t want anyone besides himself to know all the details. He was keeping the pieces compartmentalized like the Government did with its best kept secrets. “What’s our next move, sir? What do you want my people to do?”

  “Keep trying to find Jack Preston and his girlfriend! They seem to key to whatever is going on here. And see if you can wring more information out of Gutierrez, especially if he has had contact with Preston.”

  Chapter 34

  “They’re getting out of their cars, Jack. Think of something . . . quick!”

  “Shift into four-wheel-drive and climb up over the curb. We’ll drive through the playground into those trees over there.”

  As soon as the Jeep jumped over the curb the second car started to follow them. Lynn threaded her way through the playground equipment, side-swiping a swing set on the way through. Jack looked back and saw the car get a running start at the curb and bounce over it. “Floor it and head across the soccer field. I’ll look for a gap in the trees we can get through.”

  As they approached the tree line the car was gaining fast. “There, off to the left. The brush there is only a few feet high. We should be able push it out of the way and get through there. I don’t think they can follow us, but they will probably have a surveillance aircraft on the way in a few minutes.”

  “Where will we come out when we get through this brush, Jack.”

  “I don’t have a clue, Lynn. We’ll just have to improvise.”

  As soon as they were deep enough into the woods so their pursuers couldn’t see them, Jack had Lynn turn left into a more heavily wooded area to hide them from air surveillance. They drove over a flat stream bed and were headed up the other side when Jack told her to stop. “Back up and follow the stream downhill. We should be able make good time on that and hope we come out someplace far away from here.”

 
They drove over the rocky bottom of the stream for another ten minutes until it flowed into a small river. Lynn turned right and climbed up the river bank into a cul-de-sac in a new neighborhood under construction. She wound her way through the deserted streets until they came to a major avenue. “Which way, Jack?”

  “According to my cell phone GPS map, we should turn right. In about 3 miles we can get on I-95 south to Richmond, and take I-64 to our hotel in Charlottesville.”

  “Will you drive? I’m still shaking from all that adventure. It beats a Disney World ride any day.”

  They switched places and, as Jack drove, Lynn fell asleep leaning against the door.

  #

  Tom surveyed his surroundings. The pipe he was handcuffed to was too far away for him to reach the desk. If he could get his hands on a paper clip or letter opener, he could open the handcuffs, but there was nothing within reach of his hands or his feet. He inspected the walls and ceiling for anything helpful, but gave up after a few minutes. There just wasn’t anything in reach he could work with. After some thought, he looked at the floor. The desk was sitting on a carpet, and he could reach the edge of the carpet with one hand. Could he drag the desk over to him with one hand? He grabbed the edge of the carpet and pulled, but it slipped out of his hand. He couldn’t get the carpet in a tight enough grip to hold on as he pulled. He tried one more time, bunching up the carpet in his hand to get a better grip. He pulled as hard as he could and was able to move the desk about an inch closer. He repeated the move and got another inch, but it was wearing him out. He rested a few minutes and gave it all he had. This time it moved six inches. He kept at it until the desk was two feet from his outstretched hand. He was breathing hard and the sweat on his hand was making the carpet slip out of his grip. He dried it off and pulled again, but this time the desk hit something in the floor, maybe an uneven floorboard, and stuck. A couple of more tries and he realized his work had been a waste of energy.

  Tom sat back against the wall to rest. He kept turning the situation over in his mind until he had an idea. He laid down on the floor and extended his leg toward the desk. No problem with that. Then he raised the toe of his shoe, hooked it under the bottom desk drawer handle, and pulled the drawer open. But there was no way to get the contents out on the floor where he could reach them. He closed that drawer and opened the drawer above it. Then he gave the bottom surface of the drawer a big kick and was rewarded when several files and papers flew into the air. Two of the files were in reach of his foot, so he pulled them closer until he could grab them with his free hand. When he opened the file he found just what he was hoping for – a paper clip. He was out of the handcuffs in under a minute.

  He needed to get in touch with Jack and his own wife as soon as possible. They had taken his wallet and cell phone, so he picked up the old fashioned desk phone and had dialed the first three digits of his wife’s phone number before he realized he had no dial tone. Damn!

  His next move was to get as far away from this place as he could before Willy Wonka came back. The garage door rolled up smoothly and he slid under it. He ran to the gate and found it locked, so he climbed over it, then followed the access road for half a mile until it intersected a city street. He had no idea where he was, only that it was about an hour and a half drive from Energy Resources. He looked at the skyline and saw the reflected light of a city to his left, so he headed that way. He walked until dawn and got to a suburban strip mall. He looked around and saw a man talking on his cell phone. When the man hung up he put the phone in his left jacket pocket. Perfect.

  When the man started walking Tom caught up to him in a brisk walk, and lightly brushed against him as he passed. It wasn’t much contact, but enough to let Tom quickly slide the cell phone out of his pocket. Tom continued to walk for another 10 minutes before he went into an all-night grocery store and called his wife.

  “Hi Tom, how’s your trip going. Can you get it wrapped up early and come home? I miss you.”

  “No, it will be a few days before I can get away. Look, what I need is the cell phone number I gave you to call in an emergency.”

  “You mean Jack Preston? Let me find that piece of paper . . . Yes here it is.” As soon as she gave Tom the number she asked “You’re not in some kind of danger, are you? Why do you need Jack’s number? Didn’t you have it on your cell phone?”

  “No honey, I’m not in danger, but it’s a long story that I don’t have time to tell you right now. I’ll call later and fill you in. Bye for now.”

  Tom immediately dialed Jack Preston’s number on his cell phone.

  “Jack? This is Tom.”

  “I’m so glad to hear from you. I was worried when you didn’t call again after your panic phone call the other night.”

  “I’m in a bind here, Jack, and I need help. I got caught as I was escaping and they interrogated me for a couple of days. I told them a fairy tale about why I was there – that DNI gave me a mission to plant more files in the Energy Resources contract records – and I think they believed me. They held me in an old warehouse but I escaped a couple of hours ago. The problem is that they took my wallet and cell phone, so I’m out on the street with no transportation, no money, and no identification.”

  “That reference to DNI must have them worried. Where are you, Tom?”

  “Somewhere on the outskirts of Wilmington, Delaware – that’s where the company is located. I pulled a pickpocket move on a guy to get his cell phone so I could call you. I just passed the intersection 148th street and Brandywine Boulevard. Where are you? Did you find a CYI record of his break-in at MTX Military Systems?”

  “Foremen copied the file he planted, but I haven’t had time to see who the offshore account belongs to. We’re on the road back to our current base of operations in Charlottesville. I almost got caught myself during my break-in at Forman’s, but I got his copy of the MTX file. As soon as we get back to our motel room I’ll see if I can identify who the account is registered to.”

  “So can you come over here and pick me up? Or should I lift someone’s wallet to get cash for a bus ticket to Charlottesville.”

  “The bus ticket is your best option. You probably haven’t seen the news for a couple of days, but our opposition has publicized the murder in Alexandria and are looking for me as the primary suspect. They added “armed and dangerous” to the press release – they may as well have said “shoot on sight.” If they put a reward on my head, I’ll have to burrow in deeper. I've been laying low and wearing disguises to make it harder to identify me. The bottom line is I can’t risk coming to get you, so it will have to be the bus. If you can get to the bus terminal here I can send Lynn to pick you up.”

  “O.K. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll use the GPS map on this phone to find a shopping mall where it’s easier to steal a woman’s purse. I’ll use the credit card for a taxi to the bus station and a ticket for Charlottesville. I’ll call when I get there.”

  #

  Jack and Lynn rolled into the parking lot at the Jefferson Motel just as the sun was rising. Jack pulled his Einstein wig over his head and followed her to the room. As soon as the door was locked, Lynn let out a sigh of relief. “That chase was a great adrenalin rush, Jack. I can’t remember when I have felt so alive.”

  They changed into pajamas, laid on the bed, and were asleep in five minutes. They woke up in the late afternoon after sleeping most of the day. Jack was glad that Tom hadn’t called to wake them up – they both needed to catch up on sleep after the long night. Lynn gave Jack a quick kiss on the neck and hopped out of bed. He watched her stretch and thought once again ‘Even in pajamas with mussed up hair she was still attractive . . . no, the correct word is sexy.’

  “I’m starved, Lynn. Can you get dressed and get us some breakfast at the restaurant?”

  “Not unless they serve breakfast all day. It’s four p.m.”

  “Well, how about a juicy steak then? And a baked potato with sour cream, salad with ranch dressing, and strong coffee.
”

  “Let me get some real clothes on and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Forty minutes later they were cleaning the last bit of food off their plates.

  “I need to fire up my computer and see who the account number from Foreman’s file belongs to.”

  “What can I do to help, Jack?”

  “You could help with some internet searches if you had a computer. Why don’t you run out to the nearest Office Depot and pick out a high-end laptop. We’re going to need it.”

  While she was gone, Jack traced the offshore account number from the Caribbean bank to Thomas Dalton, a Republican congressman from Florida. He now had uncovered three Democrats and two Republicans, with a third possible Republican connection at Caspian Industries. So the conspiracy definitely wasn’t about getting a selected Democrat nominated for President. Now he had Republicans in the mix. He needed to talk this over with Lynn to get her thoughts on this new twist.

  Lynn came back an hour later carrying a sleek-looking laptop with all the latest software and applications. “Ya done good, Lynn, as we would say back in Coal Creek. With the custom software I’ll add later, your computer will be almost as good as mine.”

  “I’m jealous. I want mine to be better than yours. Why is yours better?”

  “Because I put together some added hardware to enhance its capabilities. Come and see what I found out from Foreman’s file.”

  “That’s it? The account belongs to Thomas Dalton, congressman from Florida? He must shun publicity because I’ve never heard of him. What’s special about him?”

  “Well first, he’s a candidate for President. What else do you see?”

  “He’s a Republican! You completed the list of names associated with the six accounts, and now there are three of each – Democrats and Republicans!”

  “One republican is still a maybe, but you’re right. This doesn’t fit our theory, Lynn. We have presidential candidates from both parties, so it can’t be about rigging the democratic primary. What’s going on?”