The Cold Trail

by J. C. Fields

  Gibbs leaned in closer to the screen. “Is his body shaking?”

  Knoll bent over and studied the laptop. “Can’t tell, but it sure looks like it.”

  “Call Sean.”

  Taking his cell phone out of his back pocket, Knoll turned his back to Gibbs and pressed the send icon. His call was answered after the first ring.

  “Kruger.”

  “Sean, it’s Knoll.”

  “Uh oh. What’s happened?”

  “Nothing, yet. Got a question for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “We’re watching and listening to a phone call between father and son. Apparently, Junior had a meeting tonight with someone he was trying to hire as his Chief of Staff. He got stood up, and now he’s whining about it to his father. You and I both know this type of shit happens, and you go on. Burns is taking it to another level. He’s pacing and looks like his body is trembling.”

  Silence was the only reaction from Kruger.

  “Sean?”

  “Thinking.”

  “Sure.”

  Several minutes passed before Kruger spoke again. “Without actually seeing his reaction or hearing the conversation, I would guess he’s struggling to contain his rage.”

  “Gibbs can send the video to you.”

  “Send it to JR.”

  “Got it.”

  “Sandy?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t let this guy out of your sight.”

  Knoll paused before answering as he stared back at the image of Robert Burns Jr.

  “Understood.”

  ***

  JR pointed to the forty-inch monitor as he enhanced the image. “Look at his hand before he places it against his eyes.”

  Kruger leaned over and watched the screen.

  “Run it again.”

  He watched as a noticeably trembling hand rose to cover the pacing man’s eyes. As soon as it covered them, Burns stopped pacing. Kruger noticed something else no one had mentioned. Burns slightly raised his right leg and appeared to slam his heel on the ground.

  “Stop and rewind five seconds.”

  JR did.

  “Look at that.” He pointed toward the leg.

  “Hmmm. Kind of childish.”

  Standing, Kruger hit redial on his cell phone.

  Knoll answered immediately. “Yeah.”

  “What’s he doing now, Sandy?”

  “Still talking to his father. Mostly listening. He hasn’t said much. But he seems to be getting more agitated the more he listens.”

  “Did he have any drinks?”

  Knoll held the phone away from his face. “Jimmie, how much did Burns have to drink?”

  “Three low-ball cocktails in about forty-five minutes. Why?”

  “Hang on.” Knoll spoke into the phone again. “Three on-the-rocks in about three quarters of an hour.”

  “Has he consumed any additional alcohol since he got back to the hotel room?”

  “Yeah, raided the mini-bar twice. Why?”

  “So, five cocktails in about, what, hour and a half?”

  “I’d say that’s right.”

  “Okay, keep this guy under surveillance tonight. In my experience, alcohol and anger don’t mix well with people like Burns.”

  “I’ll head to the lobby in case he leaves.”

  “Probably a good idea. Do you have anybody else who can help with surveillance?”

  “Yeah, I’ve called two other guys. They’ll be here in the morning.”

  “Good.” Kruger paused for a few moments. “Sandy, I’m probably being overly cautious here, but don’t let him out of your sight.”

  “You’ve mentioned that several times. What’re you worried about?”

  “I think he might go hunting tonight.”

  Knoll did not respond right away. “Uh—boy.”

  “Yeah. I’ll head that way in the morning.”

  “Not necessary. We’ve got this covered.”

  “You sure?”

  “If we need you, I’ll let you know.”

  Chapter 20

  Washington, D.C.

  Walking toward the Senate cafeteria, Roy Griffin felt pressure on his right arm. Turning, he saw the Senate Majority Leader looking at him with questioning eyes.

  “Roy, can I talk to you?” David Clayton, the senior senator from the state of Illinois and current Senate Majority Leader, held his elbow.

  “What about, Dave?”

  “I would prefer not to discuss it here.”

  Griffin smiled. “Okay, where?”

  “My office. I’ll have lunch brought in.”

  Without answering, Griffin followed Clayton. When they were seated in his office, Clayton smiled and clasped his hands together as he sat behind his desk. “Have you spoken to FBI Agent Sean Kruger?” he asked without hesitation.

  Griffin tilted his head. He paused for just a moment, determining how to answer, before saying, “No.”

  “Well, you need to soon.”

  Smiling, Griffin crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, why would you say something like that, Dave?”

  “It’s serious.”

  “Obstruction of justice is serious.”

  Clayton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “That was not my intent. Roy, can we be candid?”

  Griffin chose not to respond.

  “We are facing a philosophical conflict with one of our primary donors.”

  “Oh? Who’s that, David?”

  “It’s not important. What is important is to keep him happy.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. Who?”

  “I am sure you can understand this major contributor to our party is concerned about an unjustified inquisition being conducted by FBI Agent Sean Kruger.”

  “Oh…”

  “Yes, unsubstantiated claims are being directed at a newly elected member of our esteemed body.”

  Griffin stood. “Senator Clayton, I was a prosecutor and then a businessman before being elected a senator. I find your remarks disconcerting.”

  “Sorry, not what I was intending.” Clayton raised his hands, palms out.

  “Then what were your intentions?”

  “We have a substantial amount of money, for the party, at stake here, Roy. I’m sure you can understand our concern.”

  “For the party? Or, for you?”

  Clayton frowned, his tone less conciliatory, “The party.”

  Griffin leaned forward, placing his hands flat on Clayton’s desk. “You’re more concerned about money than you are of the possibilities of obstructing a legal and legitimate investigation by the FBI.”

  Clayton’s face reddened, and he abruptly stood, now eye to eye with Griffin. “I do not like your implications, Senator.”

  “Be careful, Senator Clayton. I am aware of the deal Senate leadership struck with Robert Burns Sr. before his retirement. I’m not sure you want the public to know you and some of your colleague’s swept an embarrassing episode under the rug.”

  The senior senator from Illinois eyes widened as he stared at Griffin. “How dare you…”

  “Spare me your disingenuous indignations, David. I’m not one of your constituents. I know the truth. Senator Burns was not the one who assaulted the intern.”

  David Clayton did the exact opposite of what Griffin expected. He blinked rapidly for several seconds, tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, assaulted?” he scoffed. “It was an illicit affair.”

  “I mean what I said. The intern was assaulted and raped by Senator Burns’ son.”

  “We didn’t know about an assault. The Ethics Committee was told it was a consensual affair between the intern and the senator.”

  Griffin shook his head. “Not according to the evidence Agent Kruger has found.”

  Clayton sat down and studied the top of his desk, his hands clasped in front of him again. After taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. “The Ethics Committee was preparing several charges again
st Senator Burns at that time. When we were told of his supposed indiscretions with the intern, we gave him a choice. Do not seek a third term, or face Senate censure. He chose to retire. He also told us he would continue to contribute funds to the party.” He looked up at Griffin. “Please, sit down, Roy.”

  Returning to his seat in front of Clayton’s desk, Griffin remained quiet.

  “What do you know that we don’t?”

  “I tell you this in confidence, Dave. Agreed?”

  The senator from Illinois nodded.

  “Agent Kruger has two witnesses who will testify, in a court of law, that the current senator-elect, from Washington State, assaulted the intern, both sexually and physically. It was not the ex-senator.”

  “Why was this not reported to the police?”

  Griffin’s face hardened. “The father started throwing money at the victim and the witness. I’m told the young lady signed a non-disclosure agreement and the other witness works for the elder Burns as the head of corporate security. But there’s more to the story.”

  Shaking his head, David Clayton closed his eyes. “Oh good grief. Tell me.”

  “Agent Kruger believes the newly elected senator from the great state of Washington is the man responsible for the disappearance of six women at the turn of the century. Their bodies have never been found.”

  Clayton’s eyes suddenly opened, his head jerked up, and he stared at Griffin. “What?” He pronounced it as a two-syllable word.

  Nodding, Griffin crossed his arms over his chest. “Our newest member of the Senate is a suspected sexual predator and murderer.”

  Raising his hands to his forehead, Clayton leaned forward and pressed the palms against his eyes, whispering, “Oh, dear god.”

  The junior senator from California watched the Senate Majority Leader carefully. While he would not necessarily call the man a friend, he trusted him as a colleague and knew he would do what was right for the nation and Senate. He kept his silence, waiting for Clayton to speak. It was several minutes before he did.

  Straightening in his chair, the senior senator from Illinois gave Griffin a half smile. “I first met Robert Burns Sr. in 2000, right after he was elected. He was a bit arrogant, but then most of us are, or we wouldn’t be senators.”

  Griffin nodded.

  “His arrogance was more profound, to a point I found irritating. At the time I was Conference Chairman and, as you know, responsible for committee assignments. When I meet with him to discuss where he wanted to serve he told me, in no uncertain terms, he wanted to be Chairman of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. When I told him that wasn’t the way it worked, and he would have to serve on a committee with an opening and work his way up to the chairman position, he stood.” Clayton paused and chuckled slightly. “I will always remember his expression and what he told me. ‘Mr. Clayton, I have no interest in being just a member of a committee. I will either be the chairman or I won’t serve.’”

  “I looked at him. I’m sure my expression gave away my feelings, because he smiled slightly. I stood as well and returned his smile. I said, ‘Then I guess you won’t serve.’ He glared at me and left my office. That was my introduction to Senator Robert Burns. I assigned him to the Indian Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on the Library. To my knowledge, he never showed up for a single hearing.”

  “So, what did he do as a senator?” Griffin asked.

  “Not much. He spent a lot of time in Seattle. He didn’t divest his interests in his companies and continued to run them. We didn’t see much of him until 2003 when he started working toward his re-election. That was the first time I met Junior. I thought Senior was arrogant, but Junior made his dad look humble.”

  “How so?”

  “Nothing specific, it was his general attitude. He really didn’t have a title but was in charge of his father’s staff. The senator already had a Chief of Staff, so they clashed immediately. He was demanding, condescending, lacked empathy for anyone, and made everyone who worked there miserable. Turnover in his staff was the highest in the history of the Senate.”

  “Why didn’t his opponent bring this up in the 2006 election?”

  “I don’t know,” Clayton shrugged. “I was busy with my own re-election.”

  Griffin made a note to himself to follow up on this point. “How did your meeting with the younger Burns go today?”

  “Not well. He complained about his office assignment and lack of applicants for his staff. I listened but did not offer any sympathy or help. He was noticeably upset when he left.”

  “Why was the incident with the intern swept under the rug?”

  “It really wasn’t. The only thing we knew was when Burns asked to visit with Senator Manning, who was President Pro Tempore at the time, and myself. He announced his retirement to us. When asked why? He told us about the affair with the intern, and his goal to keep the whole issue out of the news media. We agreed. What Burns didn’t know at the time was there was a resolution to censure being prepared for presentation to the Select Committee on Ethics. When he announced his retirement, the resolution was abandoned.”

  “Why censure and not expulsion?”

  “We didn’t have the votes for expulsion. We did for censure.”

  “In other words, Burns left the Senate with a clean record.”

  “Yes.”

  “And no one knew the reason why the intern left suddenly?”

  “All we knew was she left for personal reasons.”

  Griffin stood. “Thank you, David. I appreciate your sharing this with me.”

  Clayton took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sure you will be contacted by the President. Burns was a major contributor to his campaign, and they speak regularly.”

  “I can handle the President.”

  “Just an FYI.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  Chapter 21

  Springfield, MO

  JR stared at the ceiling fan as it slowly turned. Illuminated by light leaking under the closed bathroom door, it was barely visible in the darkness of the room. Mia lay next to him, breathing softly as she slept. Sleep always eluded him when his mind raced with a project or a problem. Tonight, his thoughts were on a problem. Hacking into the Haylex Holding servers was testing his abilities. Abilities, until now, superior to any firewall he had ever encountered, even the government’s.

  The little program Joel Moody ejected into the system was successful, but only allowed access to a small part of the system. Which raised another question: did Moody intentionally select a computer not connected to the core, or was it a lack of knowing? The answer eluded him.

  Mia rolled over and put her arms over his chest. “Are you still awake?”

  “Yes.”

  “You haven’t had trouble sleeping in a long time. JR, what’s on your mind?”

  “Haylex Holdings.”

  “I could have guessed that. Why?”

  “I’ve never encountered a system like it. It seems to know when it’s being attacked and takes action on its own.”

  “AI?”

  “Maybe. Although during the brief time I’ve been in the system, I’m not seeing evidence of AI.”

  “Do they have any remote sites?”

  JR was quiet for a few moments. “Yeah, all over the place. What are you thinking?”

  “I would think remote sites have the ability to access to the main server. Find one that’s vulnerable, and use it for your pathway.”

  Although she could not see it in the darkness of their bedroom, JR smiled. Ten minutes later, he dozed off while listening to her breathing.

  ***

  “I’ll be damned. It worked.”

  “What worked?” With a freshly poured cup of coffee made by a new Mr. Coffee machine he bought for JR, Kruger sipped the black brew, smiled, and stepped over to JR’s cubicle.

  “I finally have access to the Haylex servers.”

  “I thought you already did. What happened to the pr
ogram Moody inserted?”

  JR turned and looked at Kruger. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. It worked for a short period, long enough to discover the altered files on Junior. But then, poof. The pathway was gone.”

  Kruger was silent as he sipped his coffee.

  “How much do you trust Moody?”

  The FBI agent shook his head. “Don’t know that I do. Why?”

  “A feeling, nothing concrete. The program I gave him should have allowed permanent access. It didn’t. Mia thinks they might have an experimental artificial intelligent system monitoring their servers. I’m not seeing any evidence of it, but it could be sophisticated. The point is, the program shouldn’t have been found, unless he told someone about it.”

  “So how did you finally get access?”

  “The company is huge, Sean. They have subsidiaries in all but three states and twenty foreign countries.”

  “So?”

  “The only states they don’t have a presence in are Montana, North Dakota, and Hawaii.”

  Kruger sipped his coffee.

  JR frowned as he watched Kruger drink his coffee. “I hope you’re planning to clean the new machine you forced on me.”

  Kruger chuckled.

  “I’m serious. Those things are messy and require a lot of cleaning.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Besides, it makes a better cup of coffee.”

  “Whatever. I’ll keep using the Keurig.”

  “Back to what you were saying about how big Haylex Holdings is.”

  “Right, not all their companies are high-tech. They own a lot of food manufacturers, mostly private label packers.”

  “Really?”

  JR nodded. “High sales volume without having to invest in marketing departments.”

  “Makes sense. What else?”

  “A lot of companies in different industries, most I’ve never heard of.”

  “So, how did you get in?”

  “Bottled water packer in northern Arkansas. It seems their computer system isn’t scheduled for an upgrade for another year. It showed me the way into the main server.”