Gypsy

by KJ Dahlen

  Chapter Eleven

  When they joined the others, Inez saw the lock box that came from the backpack, sitting on the table.

  Pappy glanced over at her and nodded at the box. “Can you open it?”

  She shrugged. “I can try.” She picked up the box and gazed at the combination lock. Knowing her father, it could be any combo of numbers, so she began with the most obvious one. His birthday. Whirling the numbers she tried, she was disappointed when the box didn’t open. Then she tried her mother’s birthday, but again the box didn’t open. Then she tried her own birthday. Again...disappointed.

  Then she tried her parents’ anniversary.

  Everyone in the room gasped when the box clicked open.

  She carefully opened the box and then frowned. It held a bunch of folded paperwork as well as a book. Inez recognized the book as one of her father’s medical diaries. Like the one he used whenever he started a new project. It would hold every step he took when researching a new element or biologic.

  She picked up the book and set the box back down on the table. The she took up the bundle of papers and handed them to Pappy. She began thumbing through the book and as she did, she realized something. This was about the poison that killed her mother.

  Gypsy saw her turning pale, so he rushed over to her and helped her to sit down. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She looked up at him in a daze. “This is what killed my mom.” She pushed the book toward him.

  Gypsy stared at her, not the book. “How do you know? You thought she died of cancer.”

  “Because he listed her symptoms every step of the way....” She swallowed heavily and went on, “w-what she went through each and every day.” She closed her eyes.

  Gypsy hauled her over onto his lap and just held her. “Do you know what they are looking at?” He motioned his head at Pappy, Dewey and Gunner across the room.

  Inez shook her head. “I have no idea. Notes, I would imagine. My dad always kept copious notes when he was working.”

  Pappy got up from the table and came over to her. Kneeling down in front of her, he asked, “Do you know who contacted your dad to ask him to work on the antidote for the red tide biologic he was working on?”

  She shook her head. “Dad was very careful about what he told me and he never ever told me who contacted him. He respected the confidentiality of his work. Why?”

  Pappy frowned then held up the papers in his hand. “Because these papers site names and tell us exactly who contacted him.” He looked over at Gypsy. “And if this list is accurate, it isn’t good.” He got to his feet and gazed down Inez. “We’re going to have to get your uncle back here.”

  Inez shrugged. “You can always ask but he probably won’t come back. Makes no difference to me though.”

  Pappy glared at her. “It might make a difference to him.”

  Inez sighed as she peered up at him with no emotion in her eyes or on her face. “I doubt my welfare will be a concern to him at all. He didn’t seem to care when I was out in the wind for those four months with a killer hunting me down, did he? It didn’t seem to make a difference between the time my mom died or when my dad was killed, either. For my whole life, he barely came around. Oh, I know he had his reasons, he always did. You can have him come back but I don’t have to see him. Tell him I’ll steer clear, so he doesn’t have to see me.” She picked up the book she’d been looking at and handed it to him. “These are my father’s notes about the biologic that poisoned my mom. It chronicles all that happened at the time she got sick and what the poison did to her body as it ravaged her. His antidote should be in the back and instructions as to how to fight it.”

  “Why are you giving it to me?” Pappy wanted to know.

  “Because I’m hoping you are a decent human being and that you’ll make sure it gets into the right person’s hands. If that’s Shay’s hands, then so be it. Just don’t give it up to the wrong person. They will use it to their own advantage and more people will die a horrible death. My mom was a strong woman and she tried so hard to hang on, but she just couldn’t. I don’t want anyone else to be taken by this poison like she was.”

  Pappy turned and went back over to where the other men had gathered.

  Gunner looked at him and asked, “How did she take it?”

  “Shay has a lot to answer for.” He wiped his hand down his face and commented, “She also pointed out that he might not return as long as she’s here.” He sighed. “And she might be right on the mark about that. I never knew what he had against her father but he sure had a hatred for Michael.”

  Gunner leaned forward and placed his hands firmly on the table. “I don’t give a shit if he hated her father or not.” He growled. “She isn’t her father. She’s part of the sister he supposedly loved. He shouldn’t have left her out there on her own either. Grizzly would have gone to her anywhere she was if he had given her his number. I know that and so do you.”

  Pappy nodded.

  “Pappy,” Dewey called out as he was still looking at the papers they found in Michael’s lock box. He looked up at his VP. “Did you read this list of names Michael collected?”

  “I glanced over them. What about it?” Pappy frowned.

  Dewey pushed the papers over to him and then pointed out one particular name. Owen Evers.

  Pappy felt his blood run cold. He stared at Dewey then turned around to stare at Inez. “How the hell did his name get on that list?” he wondered out loud.

  “I don’t know but we have to check this out.” Dewey reached for his phone to call his wife.

  Pappy ran his hands over the back of his head.

  Gunner just stared at the man. “What does this man mean to you guys? Who is he?”

  “He’s the man directly under Shay in his department,” Pappy dropped his bomb. “Shay has worked with him every single day.”

  Gunner sat down quickly and turned his head to stare at Inez. When he turned back to Pappy he said, “He’s been informed every step of the way on this investigation then hasn’t he? He knows everything Shay knows. He would know how and when to hide where this group was wouldn’t he?”

  Cobra nodded in agreement. “And the bastard would know where the players are every fucking step of the way too. Every time Inez checked in with her uncle, he would have been in the position to let Dino know where she was.”

  Gunner frowned and looked over at him. “But she said he never called her after Ohio, not until she got here.”

  Cobra shrugged, “If Shay had a way to track her phone he would have already known where she was. How else would that fucker, Dino know exactly where she was when he took that shot at her while she was sitting in this clubhouse? There is no way he would have known exactly her position if he had no way to track her. She could have been anywhere in town but he found her right here.”

  “Shay called her earlier that day,” Boone pointed out. “He would have gotten a fix on her from that phone call.”

  Cobra nodded then tapped his temple in response.

  Pappy grabbed his phone and called Shay. He moved away from the group briefly when Shay picked up the call. The two men argued but Pappy got his point across and then he hung up. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. He moved back to the group and shook his head. “That man is so damn stubborn at times.”

  Cobra snorted but didn’t say anything.

  Gunner finally asked, “Is he on his way back?”

  Pappy nodded. “Reluctantly, but he is coming back.” Shaking his head he admitted, “He doesn’t believe Owen’s name is really included in these papers but he’s willing to hear the evidence.”

  Dewey nodded. “I’ve got Trudy working to connect the names. If anyone can find a connection, my woman can.” He shuffled through the rest of the papers Michael had gathered and something caught his eye. “Oh fucking hell,” he swore softly. Looking up at Pappy, he pushed the paper at his president.

  The paper he was looking at was a change of name application. Owen Ever
s name at birth was Barry Severs. Pappy grabbed the list of names he’d found earlier and searched Michael’s list of the people who hired him. The top name was Jared Severs. He was the man that financed the whole operation. “Owen changed his name when he was eighteen years old, before he joined the service under his new name. Then under his new identity, he worked his butt off to get as high in the military as he could. Now he’s in a position to be the perfect block to anyone finding his father. If Michael hadn’t recorded this information, we would never have known how he was connected.”

  “We need confirmation though,” Dewey suggested. “I’ll let Trudy know what to look for.”

  “We also need to know more about the names on that list.” Pappy nodded.

  “She’s already working on that Captain,” Dewey assured him.

  ”I guess we aren’t leaving just yet,” Pappy said. We need answers first.”

  “Can’t be too long though. I know the Brothers want Odin as soon as they can get him,” Cobra let them know.

  Pappy nodded. “I know but this is top priority at the moment. We need this info before we can move. All Owen would have had to do was keep his nose clean while giving his family vital information they needed to get around the law and avoid being picked up by the military.”

  “Think of all the foreign contacts he’s made over the years,” Cobra pointed out. “He’s had access to all the files in the Pentagon. That could be how his dad and his friends got those unlimited funds.”

  Pappy’s hands curled into fists. “But before we can even bring this up, we have to build our case cause fucking speculation won’t do it. No one will believe us without proper evidence and if we show our hand too soon, we’ll tip them off and we’ll never find them. They could go underground, leave Owen out to dry and never worry about it.”

  “You have to wonder if Owen is aware of that.” Cobra snorted. “Does he know that after all he’s done for dear old daddy, his family would turn on him, and he would take the blame for everything?”

  Pappy shook his head. “I met the man once and I didn’t think too much of him then and now, I think even less of him.”

  “What did you think of him when you met him?” Gunner wanted to know.

  “He was an ass. He looked down his nose at what Shay was trying to do but he wouldn’t leave the room. It was almost as if he didn’t want to miss any detail. When I wouldn’t continue because I think he knew I didn’t trust him, he acted all insulted and shit.”

  Moose walked over and joined the group. “You do realize something here don’t you?”

  Everyone looked at him.

  He nodded, “You’re going to have to go back his whole military career and follow the money his family has made over the years. He’s the one link to this whole mess.”

  “Dammit, we’d have to go back to the first day of his military career.” Pappy growled.

  Moose nodded. “You may have to do just that but once you find where they started, you’ll find a pattern to follow. Along the way, you’ll find every time they broke the law. It isn’t going to be easy and you probably won’t find every deal but you’ll find enough to hang the whole fucking lot with. Question is will you even start?”

  Pappy glared at him. “Ok, we’ll start and when we’re done, we’ll let the chips fall where they may. We’ll root this motherfucker out and expose his family to the very people he deals with. They will put a bullet in his head just to stop themselves from being exposed.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Shay growled from his position at the door.

  Pappy turned to face him. “We found some damning evidence from Michael’s paperwork. Evidence that could uncover our worst nightmare coming true.”

  Shay stomped his way forward. “Don’t you fucking believe anything that bastard says. Even after he’s dead, he’s still a liar and a cheat.”

  “He’s my father.” Inez shouted at him. “He was an honorable man, you stinking prick.”

  Shay turned to glare at her. “Honorable? You call a man that lied and deceived your mother honorable? How dare you, you spoiled rotten child.”

  “He didn’t cheat and he never lied to her.” Inez growled.

  “He had an affair with another woman,” Shay told her. “While she waited at home for him to remember he had a wife at home.”

  “He never did that. You’re lying now!” she insisted.

  “Do you want to know her name?” Shay snapped back.

  Inez crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Yeah, you tell me her name if you can.”

  “Her name was Ginger. Four years before your mother died, he had an affair with her for six months. Hell, your mom even knew it and yet, she still stayed with his sorry cheating ass.”

  Inez froze and then started laughing. “Are you sure her name was Ginger?” she sputtered between laughter.

  Shay looked incensed. “Yeah, her name was Ginger.”

  Inez walked over to the table and grabbed the bag of flash drives on the table. She opened it and began looking at the names on the many drives. When she found the one drive she was looking for she turned to her uncle. “This is Ginger.” She handed the drive to Gunner’s IT guy, Rigger. “Plug this in and tell this idiot who Ginger is.” She turned to her uncle and glared at him. “And you can go to hell. My father loved my mother and he would never hurt her that way. Never. She loved him until the day she died too.” She went back to Gypsy and sat down in his lap.

  He wrapped his arms around her.

  Everyone in the room waited for Rigger to tell them what was on the drive.

  Rigger opened the file and began to read Michael’s notes. After a few minutes he looked up at Gunner then he looked over at Shay. “Ginger is the name of a nasty biologic that was ravishing the small African village of Gingera, in Nairobi. Michael found it was a mutated poison from chemicals buried underground that leaked into the underground water shelves. There was something in the ground that mutated the poison so whatever medicine they had wouldn’t work to alleviate the damage being done to those suffering from the poisoning. Thousands of people died before he found the answers they needed but his serum worked once he got it done. He saved thousands of lives in the end.”

  “Ginger wasn’t a woman?” Shay whispered in shock.

  “No, Ginger wasn’t a woman.” Rigger shook his head. He turned the laptop around, so Shay could see what was on the screen.

  Shay shook his head. He turned his head and looked at his niece. “So why was your mom so heartbroken then?”

  “She hated that Ginger cost so many innocent people their lives, you fool.” Inez huffed angrily. “We went with dad to investigate the breakout but we couldn’t leave the hotel while he gathered his samples. From the windows of our room, we could see the dead bodies being piled up everywhere. She cried as they brought the dead forward. They would load them onto trucks to take them out to the desert and burn their bodies. That was all they could do and Ginger didn’t care if you were rich or poor, if you were a man, woman or child. It just killed you.” She glared at her uncle. “But I don’t expect you to believe me, after all... according to you I only had one parent and that was Michael.” She got up and walked out of the room.

  Shay watched her and then looked around the room.

  Each and every man standing there was glaring at him.

  Pappy shook his head. “Shay, you are a damn fool.”

  Shay straightened his shoulders and glared at the other men. “Never mind that now, what the hell did you call me back here for? What’s this all about?”

  Pappy let out a heavy sigh. “You may have one hell of a leak in your department and that leak has a name, Owen Evers.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “What about Owen Evers?” Shay asked angrily.

  “Did you know he changed his name when he was eighteen?” Pappy asked him. “At birth, he was Barry Severs, son of Jared Severs the money man behind hiring Michael to supersize the red tide and make the antidote.”
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  “Only according to his research he found the red tide biologic was already altered,” Grizzly added. “All Michael had to do was make the antidote and give it back to them. Inez told us Dino told her dad the night he was killed that they were going to run a test in Lake Pontchartrain. They wanted to see how many would die from it before they offered an antidote for a price.”

  Shay didn’t say a word but his lips tightened.

  “The only problem was Michael never gave them the altered red tide or the real antidote,” Grizzly went on. “Inez gave those to me earlier today.”

  “I was here at the time, remember?” Shay stared at him.

  Grizzly nodded.

  “What proof do you have that Jared Severs is mixed up in this?” Shay wanted to know. “He’s been on the radar for a while now. But every time his name comes up, we’re steered another way.”

  “We found his name in Michael’s notes and before you tell us not to believe his notes, just don’t,” Pappy warned. “He knew more about who he dealt with than you would.”

  “Let me see what he had for evidence,” Shay snapped.

  Cobra handed him the paperwork.

  Shay went it over carefully. Then he read it again. He looked at Gunner and asked, “Can you have your IT man look into the name John Reed?”

  “Who is John Reed?” Gunner wanted to know.

  “Just look into the name please?” Shay asked. Looking over at Dewey he said, “Can you get Trudy to look into it as well?”

  Dewey nodded.

  Shay looked over to Gunner. “John Reed is another name Jared Revers goes by. I’ve been quietly researching him without telling anyone in my office. I’ve been wondering if there was a leak for some time now, but I never would have thought to look in Owen’s direction. I mean his record is so clean it squeaks.” He nodded toward the papers Michael uncovered. “But that was before I knew he changed his name.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Maybe it's time to get out of this rat race.”

  Cobra snorted but didn’t say anything.

  “Before you do anything else, you have to clean up this mess,” Pappy told his friend.