“Never heard of it,” Arnie said, “don`t even know what a Cygnus is.”
“It`s a star constellation, but why would it be an agenda?”
“How the hell do I know? You got anything in the diary to link it with?”
“No, it`s just written on a single piece of paper.”
“Carmen must be into astrology then. Check out her birth date, maybe that`s it.”
“Already have,” said the detective, now standing and moving towards the door. Turning, she fired one last question. “Does the name Carlos Corbosa mean anything to you?”
“Jeb Hoag`s Marine buddy had that surname, but he was Tano Carbosa, not Carlos. Why?”
“In the notes about her father, Carmen had written the name then underlined it.”
“Why did that catch your attention?”
“Because it`s the surname of the guy who runs the biggest drug cartel in central America, Carlos Carbosa, the most murderous and vengeful guy on the planet.”
CHAPTER 25
Landing in Laredo, Jessica went straight to the hospital and found Arnie`s room on the fourth floor. He didn`t look good: two intravenous drips, one in each arm, the white linen bandaging round his left shoulder showing a pattern of blood stains. Since Honduras her feelings for him had been deepening, his occasional reassuring touch a reminder of how they once were. Yet there was still distance between them, though now and again she had caught him stealing a look at her, the way he used to. And having almost lost him to a killer`s bullet her emotions were running high.
“My God, you poor thing,” she said, approaching the bed and putting her hand on his arm. “What the hell have they done to you?”
“I`m okay Jess. Just thankful to be alive.”
“Lucky to be alive, by all accounts. And you know, it hit me on the way in from the airport. Who knows you`re here? What if you had died? I don`t even know how to contact your wife, ex wife.”
“Neither do I, and I don`t reckon it matters much.”
“Jesus, Arnie, your parents are dead, your brother too. Don`t you care?”
“My ex is the one who doesn`t care, but that`s okay.”
“Do you know how weird that sounds to me?”
“Way it is, Jess. She became a neurotic, couldn`t help it I guess. It led to her hating me and then turning my son against me.”
“Do you at least know where they live, how to contact them?”
“Nope. After the divorce they moved across country to Baltimore. Then they moved again and didn`t tell me where.”
She took a moment and stared at him. “When I was in that dungeon I was terrified beyond comprehension, and the only thing that stopped me from total breakdown was knowing that my parents and sister cared about me.”
“I have friends that care, and they`re important to me. And I have you Jess.”
“You`re one strange guy, Arnie. And you`re right about me, I do care, I care a lot.”
“Then that`s good enough for me.”
It was a moment broken by the intrusion of a nurse poking her head round the door. “Oh, you have a visitor, I`ll come back later Mr.Krench.”
Seizing the opportunity, Arnie changed the subject. “That I`m alive is down to Jackson Shawcross. He saved my life and gave up his own.”
“A brave guy,” she said, pulling up a chair. “It`s a tragedy, and all the more reason we`ve got to nail those sons of bitches who ordered this.”
He stared at her. “No way Jess, are you kidding me? Carmen and Jackson dead, me almost joining them, what the hell`s the matter with you? This thing`s over.”
Today, Arnie was different and Jessica had seen that from the moment she`d walked in. Not just edgy but in a way she couldn`t identify and it had taken her by surprise. “You`re quitting?” she said. “Why?”
“Why? What do you mean, why? We`ve been set up, Jess, lied to, possibly from the start”.
For a moment she seemed confused by his vehemence, a flicker of puzzlement in her eyes as he continued. “Look Jess, we`ve got nothing without Carmen. We`ve been sold out for Christ`s sake and to people who are killers, willing to shut this thing down at any price, you can`t fight that!”
Collecting herself, she drew back and looked at him, noticing his tousled hair, unshaven skin and the creases in his forehead as his frown persisted. “Look, I get what you`re thinking, Arnie and nobody can blame you after what you`ve been through. I know that getting answers to this thing may be over, but Carlucci has found out who really owns the Honduran lab and that gives me the opportunity to at least expose them, hustle together some kind of story.”
“Wake the hell up, Jess, every turn we make gets flagged up! Someone`s onto us and they`re not the good guys. So enough with the story compulsion, you`ve become fixated by it. This thing`s shut down, we`re done!”
“Okay, okay, I get your anger, but don`t go changing on me, Arnie. Not now!”
He looked at her with coldness in his eyes, her tenacious stand now feeding his anger. Changing? That`s not always in our control. But what we become is!”
“I know, and I get that we could be in danger. But that never stopped us before and it`s not going to stop us this time. You`re no quitter Arnie and neither am I.”
“Goddammit, Jess this isn`t about tenacity!”
“Come on, Arnie we`re about to catch a break and we`ve got an advantage now. The bad guys think they`ve won, that it`s over, so we`ve got some space. We can do this, Arnie, still get enough for a story, use journalistic licence to outline the conspiracy, at least try to expose these bastards.”
“Look, I understand your desperation for the story, Jess but we can`t trust Carlucci and his connections. We`ve been betrayed. You need to get real, because there`s no way this thing flies anymore. Jackson and Carmen are dead, and look at me for Christ`s sake.”
“Okay, we`re in an ocean of distrust, but I know how to get down and dirty like the rest of the self-serving liars, especially Carlucci, and I`m not beyond ditching my ethics when I have to. So let me worry about the tactics this time. All I want to know is that you`re still with me on this, because I`m not giving up.”
For a moment he wanted to yell at her. “Look, Jess, if you succeed in getting to whoever`s behind this thing they could kill you too, don`t you get that?”
“Why? Why would they risk that, kill a journalist? It would cause uproar and bring the full media spotlight on them and a boat-load of investigative reporters taking up where I left off. All I`m talking about is an exposure story, and with any luck get some idea of what that Honduran research lab is really up to.”
“For that you need Carlucci and you can`t trust that sonofabitch. This whole thing`s about betrayal. And why would he help you now?”
“Because he thinks it`s all over and I`ll get nowhere, that my story`s dead.”
“It is dead, goddamn it! Carlucci`s played us, so why believe anything he says?”
“Then why would he tell me it`s The United Evangelical Ministries behind the lab?” It would be too ridiculous if it wasn`t true.”
Arnie was stunned. “The Christian Right? They`re behind the off-shore corporation? That`s crazy, total bullshit!”
“Yeah, on the face of it, but Carlucci was serious when he told me. I`ve been a journalist for a long time, Arnie and I could see he wasn`t lying.”
“But Evangelicals involved in such a conspiracy? Killing?”
“I know, sounds crazy, but if Carlucci was going to snow-job me then he wouldn`t pick such an outrageous assertion would he?”
“But why give it to you now. Why give you anything?”
“Human nature I guess, a conscience, how the hell do I know? Maybe it was guilt. He knows I`ll never get to these guys, so he could just be throwing me a bone for my story.”
“You mean the story you don`t have.
”
“Then maybe he really wants me to have a story.”
“Wise up, Jess, all he`s done is give you something that critics will say is outrageous speculation with not an ounce of substance. Your peers in the media will make a fool of you.”
“I know that. But what if it`s true and I can get to the Evangelical`s top people. Then at least I`ll have a chance to link them to that lab, get some kind of quote I can use. Who knows what might jump out.”
He took a few moments to respond. “You`re one tenacious woman, Jess and I see where you`re coming from. But I reckon Carlucci`s sold you one here, and getting to those people will be impossible, you`ll never get there and he knows it.”
“Leave that to me, Arnie, there`s one D.C. mover and shaker who has access to just about anybody, and he`s someone I have history with. I`ll see what gives with him because I know the one thing he wants more than anything, and I have something that could get it for him.”
Arnie shook his head and softened his tone. “Come on, Jess, you need to let this thing go. You`re clutching at straws that don`t even exist. You could fire up these bastards once more and have them come after you. I`m laid low for a week, so you`ll be on your own and I have a bad feeling about where that kind of strategy could lead. You`ll be exposed as hell.”
“Look, Arnie the one thing I intend to do is come out of this thing with a story, come hell or high water, or both.”
“Goddamnit, Jess that stubbornness of yours is getting in the way of common sense. Just how the hell are you going to play this?”
“Can`t go into that, it`s a long shot and needs a lot of figuring out. I`m going back to Seattle, check my mail, pay some bills, then heading off to see Harry Dryden. Talked to him a while back before this thing broke, and he`s not in great health. Never got over losing the editorship at the Chronicle but he`ll know how best to handle this.”
“Then promise me one thing. That you won`t go into the lion`s den without me, I owe you that much.”
She took a moment to answer as she looked him in the eye. “You alright Arnie?”
“I`m fine.”
“You don`t look it.”
“That`s because I`m just not good with this.”
“You`re no quitter, Arnie, I know that, and your reasoning makes a lot of sense. If I get to the head of the Evangelical Ministries I`ll take you with me, okay?”
“Stubborn as hell, defiant to the end. That`s what your tombstone should say.”
“But you`re still with me, right?”
“Of course I am, even though I think you`re plum crazy.”
“Maybe I am, but sometimes crazy wins out.”
“Well, first I have to get these wounds on the mend, at least to the point where I can function again. Doc reckons a week, but Jackson Shawcross`s funeral is just five days away. It`s in Boise, his home town, and I`m going because that guy saved my life.”
“Never got to meet him but I owe the man as well, so I`ll come with you.”
“One other thing, Jess, a Laredo detective called Chella Kim swung by yesterday morning, me being the only witness to the shootings. She has Carmen`s journal and some notes. An entry refers to the lab and the Cygnus agenda. Asked me what Cygnus was. Said I`d never heard of it and she looked at me with suspicion.”
“You think it`s significant?”
“No idea.”
“Get anything else from her?”
“A reference in Carmen`s notes about the cruelty suffered by monkey`s during the lab`s experiments. But get this, amongst the dead monkeys there were two human bodies, or so she claimed. The hell`s that about? Why would anyone write such a thing if it wasn`t true.”
“Then we take it as true and evidence of what`s happening down there. That lab is the key to this thing. This shady off-shore Corporation which we now know is really the United Ministries, could be responsible for killing people during whatever experiments they`re up to. In Honduras that kid warned us about some local druggies going missing, remember?”
“Hold up there now, Jess, hate to rain on your parade, but it`s possible Carmen made everything up to support her importance as a Federal witness and get herself American citizenship. Her father is Chief of Police in Cartagena so he`ll know what`s needed to get his daughter a new life in the U.S.”
“Could be, but I don`t buy it, too much other stuff going on that`s nothing to do with Carmen. But this Cygnus thing is interesting. Why write it down and why call it an agenda? That could be her words, or maybe something she found in a file she shouldn`t have had access to.”
Taking out her iPad, Jessica typed in Cygnus and read out the definition: “A star constellation in the shape of a cross, interpreted by the Christian religion as indicating the soul of humanity”. She frowned at Arnie. “The hell can that mean, it tells us nothing.”
“It`s tenuous, but it ties in with the Evangelicals.”
She shrugged. “That`s tenuous alright.”
Arnie hadn`t intended to mention the other complication, seeing it as something that would frighten Jessica. But withholding it didn`t seem right either and it was an issue that bothered him. As she said goodbye and headed to the doorway he called to her. “One last thing, Jess, a hand-grenade that detective Kim chucked at me before she left.”
“Hand-grenade?”
“One that tells us things may not be as they seem. You remember Jeb Hoag`s marine buddie, Tano Carbosa, the guy Greenmire turned us on to. Well, Detective Kim pointed out that the head of central America`s biggest drug cartel goes by the name of Carlos Carbosa. And that name was in Carmen`s notes.”
“Jesus, Arnie, that`s one hell of a stretch, got to be a lots of people with that name.”
“Not that common in Honduras according to Kim. Could mean nothing, but what if it does?”
“Means we could have two conspiracies, and they could be linked.”
“That`s why we should call it quits. We`re wandering around in this thing with no idea what the hell`s really going on. Can`t trust anyone, even our own side. Both of us could end up dead. So think this through, Jess. Is it worth it?”
Her half-smile response was unable to hide a look of detachment in her eyes as she paused a moment and said nothing. She could have told him that they had lost Carlucci`s support but knew that even more protest from Arnie would be the result. As for her plan, experience was telling her that perfectly reasonable assumptions often had fallibility in them, and that consideration had been entering her thoughts on an all too regular basis. Along with Arnie`s plea it was something she knew to heed, but countering that was her steadfast determination to see this thing through and consequences be damned. Though relieved that Arnie was still on board, his emphatic protest and cold logic worried her, especially in regard to what she was now planning.
For Arnie, the investigation had turned even more dangerous and had brought him a deep sense of foreboding, a feeling that in his line of work all too often proved to be prescient. Nothing added up, not the assumptions, not even the speculation, nothing. And that told him they were as far away from success as they had been in the beginning. He knew that what Jessica had in mind was a last desperate throw of the dice, and that the outcome of such a move rarely ended in success. But every consideration of what he could do about it came to the same conclusion: nothing.
CHAPTER 26
Back in DC, Jessica was beginning to regret her decision to confront Senator Carlucci. She needed to get to the people running the off-shore corporation, her last opportunity for an explanation that would make sense of the half-story she had. With Carlucci out she knew her chances were now close to zero.
Having packed her bags and gathered up her documents she was halfway out the hotel room when her cell phone buzzed. Throwing her stuff on the floor she sat on the bed and answered. “Janice? I`m just heading for the airport, going back to
Seattle, what can I do for you?”
Janice Hoag remembered how frosty she had been at their last meeting and was now using a more congenial approach. “I was wondering if we could get together. Been poking around to see what I could come up with and have some information that could be of interest. We could meet half-way, a three hour drive each, Roanoke, Virginia. What do you say?”
“Sure, Blue Ridge Mountain country, should be nice, never been there. But it has to be today.”
“Fine with me, if I leave now I`ll be in Roanoke around 2.00pm, that good with you?”
“Good with me. Text me where we meet.”
The long drive to Roanoke had given Jessica time to think about Janice Hoag`s offer. That she now wanted to do everything to help the investigation was good news, yet something was bothering Jessica, but she just couldn`t figure what. As the trees rushed by the car window, some green, others showing a mixture of russet and yellow, she began to wonder whether the investigation was even on the right track. She knew from experience that standing in the middle of something you didn`t understand was one thing, an investigative journalist`s all too common predicament, but heading off in the wrong direction was quite another.
More troubling for her, and confirmed by too many restless nights, was that the experience in Honduras had changed her, made her feel vulnerable. And with that had come a hardening of her attitude to life and a steely determination never to succumb to a sense of weakness. Today, with the unexpected meeting in Roanoke and having to deal with Janice Hoag again, the hurried last minute arrangement was beginning to bug her. Jessica knew it was partly the tiresome journey, but also an uneasy feeling about Hoag, and it was an instinct she knew not to ignore.
At 1.40pm, with the sun still high, they met at a rustic bar & grill on the outskirts of town. Wooden clad, with a long boardwalk, it overlooked a tributary of the Roanoke River whose tumbling waters spilled over a range of craggy rocks and brought a sense of coolness in the mid-day heat. Taking a table at the far end of the boardwalk, which had the advantage of a large, twisted oak tree that provided shade, they took a moment to look each other over.
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