by Wes Lowe
He chuckled mirthlessly, and then continued with a quiet confidence. “We live in the greatest country in the world. We are the greatest people in the world. Why do I say that? It’s easy. Whenever there is a problem anywhere in the world, what is the first nation that anyone calls? Whenever there is a terrorist to be battled, whenever there is a hungry mouth to feed, whenever there is a tear to be wiped away and comfort needs to be given, what nation does the world call. Us, of course. The United States of America.”
Applause and whistling broke out as Carter paused. He cleared his throat, stared right into the cameras, and continued with a strong, powerful voice.
“But our country can only be great if we have great leaders. Let’s be honest. Over our history, not only have some of our leaders let others down, they have let our own people down. What good is saving the world when we can’t even save ourselves? It’s not really the fault of our leaders. All of them are decent, honorable men and women. They love America and they want to do the right thing, but the problem is, too many are career politicians who have never had a job outside of government all their lives. Their thinking and morals have been shaped by the swamp.”
“Preach it, brother!” yelled one of the onlookers.
“If you knew me better, you’d probably regret saying that,” said Carter with a small chuckle. Turning serious again, he resumed, this time with a serious, penetrating tone. “In the last few days since I announced my intention to seek candidacy, there has been an onslaught of negative comments about me and my lack of experience. Honestly, I feel that not being a lifelong member of the swamp is to my advantage. I owe no political favors and I can assess situations without prejudice, using out-of-the-box thinking. Besides, if I need to know how insiders view things, I can just call across the dining table and ask, “Hey Dad. What do you think of this? Is this stupid or is it worth giving a shot? And I know that I will get not an answer that is politically correct, but an answer that is right for America.”
Even Senator Johnson couldn’t resist a grin.
“I believe with all my heart that I can be a governor for all of California. And I’m going to level with you; I won’t stop with our great state. I believe that when the time is right, I can be the President for all of America. I have a strong vision for our future that takes into account where we are and where we have come from. I can communicate effectively, and even when a person disagrees with me, he or she will not find me disagreeable… and I will be that person in the future but now is not the time. A leader must know him or herself, and be willing to step aside if the time is not right…” Carter’s voice dropped. “And now is not the right time. I have just lost the love of my life, my helpmate, my soul mate… Marlena was my everything. I need some time to heal right now, and to be fair to my fellow Americans, I don’t want to risk that even the slightest of my burdens might affect my performance or judgment. Thus it is with a heavy heart, but with an eye on the future, that I am announcing that I will not be seeking the nomination of our party for governor of California at this time. Many of you have donated to my campaign already and if you would like it back, please let our office know. Otherwise, we will put the funds into the Marlena Johnson Foundation, a charity which I will form that will be dedicated to giving youth opportunities in the visual arts.”
Carter smiled broadly as another round of applause was sounded. “But don’t worry. In the words of a former governor of California, also known as the Terminator, ‘I’ll be back.’ Thank you for your support, thank you for your understanding, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.”
Thunderous applause erupted as Carter stepped off the platform. To the shouts of “Carter, Carter,” he exited quickly.
While some of those in attendance were disappointed that Carter wouldn’t stay to answer questions, most felt only sympathy and admiration for a man who was so valiant and compassionate in the face of personal tragedy. Some even wondered out loud about approaching Carter again after he had time to grieve.
But for now, Operation Governor was over.
Carter went directly from the press conference to his pre-paid rental car, a Chevrolet Sonic. He drove south for an hour on I-5 and then parked in front of the cheap motel that he had rented the day before via Expedia. He pulled out a garbage bag, went to Room 144, and punched in the code to let himself inside. Stepping into the washroom he emptied the contents of the garbage bag onto the floor and proceeded to massacre his hair with a do-it-yourself hair trimmer, then dyed his shaven locks a dirty brown. He took off his three thousand dollar tailor-made suit and shirt, then sprayed a dark colored self-tanning spray over his face, neck, and hands. He then changed into a pair of no-name jeans, a blue flannel shirt, and pulled on a hoody.
Carter put a wallet with his new identity into his jeans, and a new cell phone into a hoody pocket. He bundled his lawyer clothes, then placed them, the makeup accessories, and his old wallet and cell phone into the garbage bag.
He exited the room with the bag, and then tossed the evidence of his former self into the motel’s dumpster. He got back into the Sonic and drove for another hour to San Diego International Airport.
Octavius once again proved his worth when James Martelle was able to purchase a last minute ticket to New York on JetBlue with his Citibank credit card.
Getting to New York via the method Carter had chosen was a supreme hassle. Because of the layover and the drive time to San Diego, it took more than twice as long to get to New York than a direct flight from Los Angeles International. However, it also offered the best chances that no one would recognize him from any of the videos of the Conquistador, his press conference at the morgue, or any of his dealings from Sommers Dawson Archer.
Instead of a high-powered lawyer looking to make his move into politics, he was just another working stiff catching a low cost flight to the Big Apple.
He absolutely did not want to risk what he and Davy had schemed about for decades, because within seventy-two hours of him getting off the plane, the shit was going to hit the fan.
And he was going to be in the thick of it.
35
The Geek Freaks
Unconditionally non-mainstream; intelligence approaching genius; thrill-seeking; all-consuming dedication to a task; hyper-analytical: these were the kinds of people that hyper-geek Julio assembled to be part of Fidelitas’ “Geek Freaks.” Some of the most nefarious, notorious, and extremely talented computer hackers that you never heard of.
This was by necessity. Most computer geniuses from recognized universities would be snapped up for megabucks by one dot.com or another. That was anathema to Fidelitas. The covert vigilante organization wanted no attention at all drawn to their support team. Julio himself had once been labeled “the most dangerous man in the world,” for hacking into the National Command Authority’s computers and giving himself POTUS’s authority to launch nuclear bombs on Mexico City, Tokyo, and Paris. He was only caught because he didn’t know that the execution of a launch order required secondary confirmation from the Secretary of Defense. Barry recognized his genius and “liberated” the illegal Mexican immigrant when he was en route for pre-trial sentencing.
Other Freaks had similar stories.
There was nineteen-year-old Reuben, who created a worm that threatened to destroy all the data at the World Health Organization. Reuben’s cousin died because the WHO did not act quickly enough on a new strain of ebola. The only reason the teenager from Sierra Leone wasn’t discovered, was that Julio caught wind of the trouble and managed to destroy the malware before it replicated itself. Reuben was so impressed by Julio that he immediately accepted Julio’s offer of a job.
Also part of the team was Vanessa Lightfoot, a latecomer who was so incensed by Canada’s treatment of its indigenous peoples that she had developed a program that could channel all of the Canadian arms spending into providing clean water and electricity for all First Nation reserves in Canada. When she was caught, she received a ten-year ja
il sentence. Barry, recognizing her genius, organized a heist during an emergency visit to a hospital when she lapsed into what was diagnosed as a diabetic coma. Little did any of the authorities know that Barry had engineered her hyperglycemic symptoms with the aid of a prison nurse whose son he helped get into med school.
About the only person resembling normalcy was Ian Greenfield. Ian’s father, Murray, served in Delta Force together with Barry. When Murray was killed on 9-11, Barry kept a watchful eye on the young math prodigy and baseball wunderkind, eventually recruiting him away from the stifling bureaucracy of the National Terrorism Unit.
Misfit and malcontent geniuses thrived in their anonymity as they hacked everything from NASA to the NRA to Harvard admissions, and of course, every level of government operations.
The hive mind of the Geek Freaks led by Julio had been hard at work, combing through every frame of video and photo posted on social media or by internet journalists, as well as conventional television, about the incident at the Conquistador. In addition to material gleaned from conventional media, they used their sophisticated web crawlers and data mining systems to gather selfies posted on social media. Grinding through the initial reports of the investigators, they searched for any clues that could give an inkling of the identities of the perpetrators, or motives for the attack.
But even with all the mental firepower that was being thrown at this case, the dots were not connecting.
Frustrated, Julio made a call. “Barry, we need new perspective. We’ve gone over everything we have, but we still can’t even make a stab at what the motive is or who might be masterminding this, assuming this is more than just a random act.”
“You’ve just started. You’ll find more,” said Barry.
“No doubt about that. But I’d like to have Rayna’s thoughts. Maybe there’s something she saw that we’ve missed. She was not only an observer, but actively involved. Her insights could provide more than all the data and videos in the world.”
Barry couldn’t argue. He had parked himself in the hospital cafeteria going over the material, and had come to a similar conclusion. Rayna hadn’t had sufficient rest but if Julio said he needed new eyes, hers and his offered the best firsthand perspective. And he’d already told Julio everything he knew.
“I’ll get her.”
When Barry stepped back into the hospital room, he saw Henry deep in prayer, standing with his arms raised over Rayna and Steve. When he felt Barry’s presence, he concluded, “You give power to the weak, healing to those who are ill. Hear my pleas for making whole the daughter you have given me, and this man you have brought into her life. Thank you God for the healing of Rayna and Steve. May it be complete, may it be swift. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Henry opened his eyes and looked to Barry. There was a trembling in his voice. “Hello, Barry. Thanks for bringing me here. Can you tell me more about what happened?”
Barry shook his head. “We are trying to figure that out ourselves, but we’re stuck at a standstill. We’re hoping that if we show Rayna what happened, she’ll see or remember something that can give us a clue. Will you please wake her up, Henry? “
Henry nodded. He leaned over and gently tapped on Rayna’s face. Thirty seconds of gentle prodding and Rayna stirred and emitted a little groan.
“Rayna,” whispered Henry.
Rayna thought she heard a familiar voice coming from the far end of a long tunnel. She forced her eyes open to see her father hovering over her.
“You’re here?” she whispered hoarsely. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she forced herself to sit up on the bed.
“Yes. Barry gave me a call and I came as soon as I could to see you, but you were sleeping,” said Henry. “I didn’t want to wake you so I’ve been praying.”
Rayna was happy to see her dad, even though she thought he was a religious fanatic at times. She snickered gently, half-teasing. “Why? Don’t you think that God could hear your prayers from Vancouver? Be honest. You only came because you’re checking up on me.”
She’s okay! The smart aleck is here! ”The thought crossed my mind, especially when I heard about Steve. Thought I could kill two birds with one stone. See how my little girl is, and be sure her boyfriend has been behaving.”
“Oh Dad. Don’t you ever change?” sighed Rayna. She looked over to the adjacent bed to see Steve still resting. Her eyes full of worry, Rayna said, “I don’t think he’ll be doing much sinning in his present condition...” When Henry didn’t laugh at her joke, she asked, “Do you think he’ll make it, Dad?”
Henry hid his concerns behind a smile. As a pastor, he had been with hundreds of hurting people that hoped for and expected a miracle. However, he knew that God’s plans were often different than people’s hopes and he did not want to raise expectations.
“That’s not something either of us can answer. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” he quoted from the book of Isaiah.
Spiritual discussions could go on forever, but there was business to be done now. “Thanks for the thoughts, Henry,” said Barry. “But I need Rayna’s input now.”
He plugged his laptop into the large monitor on Rayna’s over-bed table and swung it so she could see it properly. Julio’s face appeared onscreen.
Rayna’s face beamed at seeing the geek. “Hi Julio, shouldn’t you be giving Helena a hand with the kids?”
“O.M.G., really? I do everything I can to get away from those brats, including showing you this video.”
A video of Rayna chasing after the Ford Explorer came onscreen.
“Stop,” said Rayna. She turned to Julio. “Zoom in on the license plates.”
Julio rolled back to the area where the license plates should be, but none were there.
“That’s why I didn’t remember what the license number was. There wasn’t anything there.”
Barry smiled. “You saw the difference and understood what happened. If you didn’t spot that, I would have insisted you continue your convalescence. You’re ready. Okay Julio, keep going.”
The video continued showing the double explosions of the Ford Explorer, and Rayna getting hurled into the air. Henry’s eyes widened as he saw Barry, diving like Superman with arms outstretched, saving her head from landing hard against the ground.
Barry interjected, “That was too close for comfort, and why I was so concerned about potential brain trauma.
As the video continued, they saw Barry pick Rayna up, falter towards the paramedics, and then call Henry after Rayna was in the ambulance.
The video paused and the frazzled Henry mumbled, “Thank you for saving my little girl.”
“Ditto,” said Rayna. “But what the heck are we going to do? What isn’t incinerated was blown up into tiny fragments. It’s going to take months for the investigation to get results.”
“Let’s finish this first,” said Julio.
They watched as Barry turned and walked back in the direction of the flaming wreckage and scoop handfuls of debris and ash and put them in his pockets.
Julio stopped the video. “So we have your clothes, Barry’s clothes, and all of the ash and debris that Barry picked up. We just got it and are analyzing it now.”
Rayna stared at Barry with a deepened respect. Even with chaos surrounding him and pain wracking his body, the Fidelitas leader had the presence of mind to head back into danger to retrieve what might be the clues to unravel the mystery.
It helped her come to an answer to a question that Barry asked her just days ago. “Barry, I can’t join you and Arthur on the leadership team of Fidelitas. While I might have done what you did, it would never occur to me to do it in the moment like that… I’m not in your league and am not sure I will ever be.”
“Rayna, that’s a discussion for another time. Right now, we’ve got a job to do. Are you up for it?
Rayna’s eyes steeled. “Bring it on.”
“Then let’s see me with my mistress.”
36
A Father’s Wisdom
Julio had tracked down multiple video angles from different guests and media outlets of the event. The first clip that played was when Barry and Rayna stepped off the sleek European chopper and made their grand entrance on the lawn of the Conquistador. Barry, looking the part of a distinguished businessman along with the ravishing Rayna, appeared the ultimate power couple. The next shots were of the masked man entering the terrace, terrorizing the guests with his firepower as his accomplice robbed the event attendees of all their valuables. Then, they witnessed Marlena’s humiliation when the thief collecting the valuables ripped down her dress. The last clip was of Marlena’s death, with Carter heroically wrapping his body around hers, trying to protect his wife by sacrificing himself.
The group reviewed the videos several times. As Barry and Julio were already familiar with the footage, they questioned Rayna without giving their own comment, as they didn’t want to color her judgment.
Barry paused the picture after the bandits left the frame and swiveled his head to Rayna. “Can you give us your thoughts? Say anything that springs to mind.”
Rayna bit hard on her lower lip while she processed what she had seen. She exhaled, then offered, “Whether or not this is intentional, there are mixed messages and there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive plan.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Barry. He had been thinking similarly and Rayna re-enforced the lack of clarity that he saw.
Rayna raised her voice, agitation increasing as the ideas poured out of her mouth. “I mean what you see is not what you get. Let’s start at the beginning. There was nothing that seemed unusual until the gunman stepped onto the lawn. Everybody was enjoying themselves and it’s like he suddenly appeared. How did nobody catch him before that? He had an assault weapon with him. You don’t get those at the dollar store. Didn’t a metal detector or security guard pick up on that? Not to mention it’s so damn big that it’s hard to hide. Or how about his accomplice? Did nobody pick up on him? Like how did these guys come onto the scene?”