Last Chance to Die

by Noah Boyd

  Without answering her, he started to make the sandwich, and although he wouldn’t look at her, she could see a small smirk on his face. She slapped his arm. “Come on, Vail.”

  He put the sandwich on a paper plate and walked into the workroom. On the table was a digital recorder. He pushed the Play button and took a bite of his sandwich.

  “Hello, it’s me—you know, Preston. I’ve got those infrared facial-recognition schematics you wanted, but the price has gone up. This time I want a hundred thousand dollars in cash, just for me. I’ve been getting the short end while taking all the chances. So this will keep it, you know, level and true. You’ve got my number.”

  “Notice anything about that?” Vail asked. There was a knock downstairs. Kate didn’t answer, so he pressed Play again. “I’ll get the door.”

  It was Bursaw. “Next time you’re going to skip a meeting, how about letting me know? I don’t enjoy being that close to the director.”

  “He’s an honorable man.”

  “He’s still the boss. My personnel file has many unanswered questions in it that I don’t need someone at that level looking at.”

  “Come on, Kate’s upstairs.”

  When they walked into the workroom, Kate was a little animated and said, “I think I know what you’re talking about, Steve. Hi, Luke.”

  Vail said to her, “Okay, fire away.”

  Vail looked at Bursaw to see if he was curious. “Do I need to know?” he asked.

  “It’s part of the Russian business. It’s something I’m going to have to take care of before we get back to Sundra.”

  “I thought everyone was dead.”

  “Apparently we missed one,” Vail said.

  “And I assume, because I’m going to be given the SS blood oath again, that no one else is to know about whatever the new plot calls for.”

  Kate said, “Don’t you think we owe it to John Kalix to cut him in on this? He’s an AD now.” Kate told Vail about the promotion that morning.

  “Then we owe it to him to keep him out of it. He’s back to the rules. Let’s allow him to enjoy his promotion for a day or two before we make him sorry he accepted it. Luke, can you give us a hand?”

  Bursaw shook his head. “Okay, but this time I want first shot at the insanity plea.”

  Although Vail had given Bursaw the broad strokes of the Calculus investigation when he’d agreed to help with Kate, he hadn’t told him the specifics about how the double agents had been uncovered through the Ariadne thread left by the Russians. “The first clue was a series of dots and dashes etched into the side of the DVD that Calculus left for us. That led us to a phone in the Russian embassy and an access code. Here’s the message.” He played it again for Bursaw.

  Then Vail said, “And now, since the deputy assistant director has apparently figured out where we went wrong, she’ll explain.”

  She said, “Let me give you a brief rundown on how we found these moles. The first one, Charles Pollock, we were given his initials and, to simplify it, where he worked. From that we recovered a DVD that recorded him trading classified documents for cash. In each case that’s what we were supplied with, a way to identify the mole and physical evidence of his spying. And in each case there was a hidden or coded clue about how to find the next one. These are what we followed that led to recovering the phony evidence against me. Are you with me so far?”

  “Yes.”

  “So on the Pollock DVD, besides the payoff, the edge had, in Morse code, a telephone number. When we called the number, we got that message you just heard played. And, as you heard at the end of it, there was a touch-tone number being dialed. We assumed that it was another code to identify the caller named Preston who was talking about the infrared technology at the beginning of the recording. We broke down that code, and it led up to a bank box that belonged to Yanko Petriv, the NSA translator. Things were moving pretty fast right then, so we went after Petriv, thinking he was the one selling the facial-recognition schematics. But what we didn’t take the time to consider was that Petriv was born in Bulgaria and would probably have an accent, since he spoke Eastern European languages well enough to be a translator. The voice on the recording is definitely American, maybe upper Wisconsin or Minnesota. And he’s talking about some very classified technology. Not something a translator would have access to.”

  Bursaw said, “Let me see if I got this right. The Preston recording is not this guy Petriv, but someone working in technology, selling it to the Russians.”

  “Right.”

  “That means that the recording is the evidence?”

  “It’s not as prominent as the others, but that’s what it looks like. That’s part of the reason we skimmed over it and missed him.”

  “So how are you supposed to identify him?”

  “I don’t know. The whole thing was a sham so I’d wind up in prison and out of Rellick’s way. It didn’t have to be flawless. It just had to move us along the chain of spies until it got to me.”

  Vail said, “For it to be convincing, there had to be enough information contained in the phone message for us to identify him. That’s the only possibility.”

  “Play it again, Steve,” Bursaw said.

  Vail started the recorder and set it down on the table between them. When it finished, Bursaw smiled. “Did you hear it?”

  “Hear what?” Vail asked.

  “ ‘Level and true.’ Did you notice how it’s emphasized slightly? Just like ‘Preston.’ ”

  Vail played it again, and he and Kate listened more closely. “You’re right,” he said.

  Bursaw went over to the desktop computer and queried “level and true.”

  “ ‘The Air Force Song,’ ” he said. “Fourth verse, second line: ‘Keep the wings level and true.’ ”

  “Our guy is in the air force,” Vail said. “That makes a lot more sense with the ‘infrared facial-recognition schematics.’ And who knows what else he has access to and is selling to the Russians right now? Someone with this kind of access could do a ton of damage.”

  Kate said, “There’s a lot of air force personnel within a hundred miles.”

  “Not with access to classified documents about cutting-edge technology,” Vail added.

  “The Pentagon,” Bursaw said.

  “That’s where I’d start.”

  “But why did they make it so hard to recognize the clue?” Kate asked.

  “They were all hard to recognize. Remember how long the code on the edge of the DVD took, how we thought it was a dead end. This one was just a little too hard, a little too easy to step over. We were looking for codes. This one was audio. They probably figured better too hard than too easy. Too easy might have tipped us off. And if we did miss one, the next clue was provided. Which is what happened.”

  “Okay,” Bursaw said, “what do we do now? There’s got to be twenty thousand people working at the Pentagon. It’s not like we can just walk in and start demanding answers.”

  “You’re right, Luke, but there is someone who can,” Kate said.

  “Who?” the two men asked at the same time.

  “Tim Mallon.”

  “The Reston PD chief?” Vail asked.

  “I told you he worked nothing but applicant and security clearance cases for twenty-five years. He knows more people at the Pentagon than anyone in the Bureau. And I believe he owes you a favor or two.”

  “Can you call him?”

  Kate picked up the phone and dialed information.

  While she was talking to Mallon, Vail said to Bursaw, “Have you had a chance to do any checking on the last two of Sundra’s files?”

  “Actually, I’ve been going over her phone records again. Seeing if they matched anything we’ve run into yet.” Bursaw glanced over at Kate, who was still on the phone. “Not to change the subject, but I don’t suppose there’s any chance of you accepting the director’s offer.”

  “Why?”

  “Purely selfish reasons. Maybe it’s the philosopher
in me, but I too like chaos.”

  “I’m afraid it would create more problems than it would solve.”

  “The worst thing that could happen is you’d get fired or quit. That’s hardly virgin territory for you.”

  “Walking away doesn’t end all problems.”

  “Is it Kate?”

  “She is certainly part of the geometry.”

  “Maybe if you were around here permanently, your problems would solve themselves.”

  Vail laughed. “A man so understanding of the complexities of the fairer sex, how come you never got married?”

  “Steve, you’ve just asked a question that contains its own answer.”

  Kate finished her call. “Your luck’s holding, bricklayer. Tim’s downtown at a lunch meeting. He’s going to stop by in a half hour.”

  “I’ll get cleaned up.”

  When Vail reappeared freshly shaved and showered, Kate was introducing Tim Mallon to Bursaw. The two men shook hands, and then Mallon made his way over to Vail, offering his hand. “Steve, how are you?”

  “I’m good. I haven’t been shot since New Year’s. How are those two boys?”

  “The Walton boy is fine. Hardly broke stride. And Eddie Stanton is getting along with his parents. He’s seeing a therapist, too. They’re very optimistic.”

  “I’m glad. Has Kate briefed you about what we need?”

  “Just what she told me on the phone. That you needed to make a few, very discreet contacts at the Pentagon, specifically with the air force.”

  “Tim, I’m going to tell you only the minimum you need to know. Not because you’re no longer with the Bureau, but because we’re not telling anyone else in the FBI about this, not even the director. I hope you won’t feel slighted.”

  “I’m a little embarrassed to say I’m still eating free lunches off what you did. I don’t think it’s possible for me to feel anything but gratitude.”

  Vail told him that they were working a counterintelligence matter and then played the Preston tape for him. “We believe that this man is a member of the air force working at the Pentagon. We need to identify him without him getting wind of it. We’re hoping you’ll be able to narrow it down by the information he mentioned on the tape. That technology has to be singular in nature. Of course, the fewer people at the Pentagon that you have to tell, the better.”

  “Will I be able to play them the tape?”

  “Yes, but again, the more people who hear it, the harder it’ll be to keep this under wraps.”

  “Steve, I’ll do whatever you and Kate want, but I don’t know if I have a feel for all these nuances—who to tell, who to let listen. I can get to the right people, but who’s told what is a tough call.”

  “I guess you’re right. Will it be a problem if Kate goes with you?”

  “More of an asset, if you know what I mean.”

  “Kate, do you see any problem going with him?”

  “You don’t want to go?”

  “People might not notice two FBI agents, but three could start speculation. Besides, I’ve got some things I have to get done with Luke.”

  She took the digital recorder and put it in her purse. “I guess Tim and I can handle it. But before I go, I wanted to show you something in the kitchen.”

  Vail followed her from the room, and when they were out of sight, she pushed him back against the refrigerator, pinning him with her body. “Allowing little Kate to run a lap all by herself. You’d better be careful, someone might think you’re letting your guard down.”

  He put his arms around her and said, “We’ve been too busy to get you drunk, so I had to try something.”

  She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Well, Silky, it just might be working.” She pushed off him and headed toward the living room.

  He called after her. “Said the good-looking blonde as she headed for the safety of witnesses.”

  29

  It was dark when Kate got back from the Pentagon. Bursaw had taken off to WFO to put in an “end of the day” appearance for his supervisor. Vail could hear Kate’s footsteps coming up the marble staircase. She rushed into the room. “I think we found him,” she called out as soon as she saw him.

  “Where’s Tim?”

  “He said he had a meeting with the town council that he couldn’t miss. Actually, I think he was trying to impress you with his modesty by not bringing the news himself.”

  Vail looked at her patiently, tipping his head to one side, telling her not to draw it out herself.

  “Okay, okay,” she said, “the air force guy. I’m getting to that. Who knew that working applicants for decades would have an upside? Tim seemed to know everybody. The first stop was this air force colonel. He was in charge of personnel there. Tim explained about the sensitivity of the inquiry, and this guy was great. He explained that whatever he gave us would have to go through his commanding officer, who is an air force general. So I made the decision—let’s go see him right now. He told the colonel to let us have carte blanche. The only thing he wanted was to be given the heads-up should we have to arrest one of his people. I told him I’d personally call him. The colonel found the infrared facial-recognition drone project almost immediately. We played the tape for him, and he didn’t recognize the voice. He determined there were eight individuals assigned to it who could have had access to the actual plans. One is a woman, so she’s out. Of the remaining seven, four are still there. The others either have finished their hitch or were transferred. Now it gets interesting. One of them disappeared over a year ago. They’re still carrying him as AWOL, an E-5 staff sergeant named Richard David Gallagher. I got a copy of his service record. The colonel also gave me copies of the other six.”

  She handed Gallagher’s file to Vail, and he flipped through its pages until he found what he was looking for. “Did you read this?”

  “I haven’t had a chance.”

  He handed it back to her. “Let me see the rest of them while you take a look.”

  She read a few pages and closed the file. Vail looked at her, and she said, “He was born and raised in Texas. Whatever accent Preston has, it’s not Texan. I thought with him taking off, I was onto something, because we don’t know how old that recording is.”

  “Actually, I think you are. The percentage of air force E-5s going AWOL has to be about zero. He may not be Preston, but that he’s missing may not be a coincidence.” Vail went back to reading the other files. When he looked at the fourth one, he read the first page and then handed it to Kate. He went over to the computer and started typing.

  “Master Sergeant Chester Alvin Longmeadow, E-7, grew up in Patzau, Wisconsin.”

  Vail punched one last key on the computer and, watching the screen, said, “Which is in northern Wisconsin on the Minnesota border.”

  “He’s had several Article Fifteens, whatever that is, for drinking-related incidents,” Kate said, continuing to read the file.

  “They’re administrative actions taken by his commanding officers when something isn’t court-martial serious. And it’s not unusual for a double agent to have a drinking problem, or a gambling problem, or women problems. Actually, I believe it’s a requirement.”

  “So do you think this is him?” Kate asked.

  When Vail didn’t answer, she looked over at him. He got up and started exploring the information on the wall. “Longmeadow—that’s an unusual name. I’ve seen it before.” He looked at the reports and files scattered around the room. To himself he said, “Please tell me I don’t have to go through all this again.”

  He went to the window and pulled up the shade. Sitting down, he let his stare reach the old Russian embassy across the street. He picked up a pencil and tapped its eraser on the tabletop like a drumstick. Finally Vail snapped to his feet and walked over to a smaller table, where Bursaw had piled up the printouts from Sundra’s laptop. He took them and sat down on the couch. “Can you call Luke and run Longmeadow’s name by him?”

  “You think he’s involved in t
he analyst’s disappearance? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know. For some reason I’ve got it in the back of my mind it’s connected. Maybe Luke can eliminate it.”

  Kate dialed Bursaw’s cell. “Luke, it’s Kate. We got some names at the Pentagon that could be Preston. Steve wants me to run one by you—Chester Alvin Longmeadow. He thinks it might have come up in Sundra’s case.” She listened a moment and then said to Vail, “He’s not sure.”

  “Tell him it might be something from the deleted files.”

  Kate relayed the message and then said to Vail, “He’s still not sure, but there is something familiar about it.”

  “Then tell him I need him back here.”

  She told him and hung up. “Twenty minutes.”

  Vail patted the couch next to him, and Kate sat down. He handed her half the Sundra Boston pile. “If it’s anywhere, I think it’s in here. Somewhere.”

  Kate started looking through the pages, carefully piling the ones she finished next to her. “Are you sure you saw Longmeadow’s name in this case? It just doesn’t seem possible that the Russians could be connected to Sundra’s disappearance.”

  “I know, but with that other air force sergeant, Gallagher, also disappearing without a trace, it’s something we have to consider.”

  “But he wasn’t the mole. Why would they make him disappear?”

  “You weren’t a spy, and they tried a different kind of vanishing act on you. Keep looking. If I’m wrong about that name being in here, then there’s no connection.”

  Fifteen minutes later they heard Bursaw come in. He walked into the room and said, “What’s going on?”

  Vail told him what Kate and Mallon had found at the Pentagon, and that Longmeadow was currently their leading suspect to be Preston. Vail gave him half his remaining stack, and Bursaw started going through it, not even taking the time to pull off his topcoat.

  Suddenly Kate said, “Here it is. Toll records for a Chester Longmeadow.”

  Vail and Bursaw moved closer and read over her shoulder.

  Bursaw said, “Then her disappearance has to be connected to the Russians.”