by J. T. Patten
Adeel laughed.
“I don’t think this makes my friends very happy if they know, but it is American dream. A success! I sold six so far. For how much you think? Twenty thousand dollars! In cash too.”
Oh shit, the plot thickens.
“Good for you. I wish you great success.”
Wonder if that Homeland Security guy looks like Harrison. Fuck! Wonder if he looks like Draeger? He was going on about these things not long ago. Maybe the detectives are right after all. There are too many coincidences these days.
Chapter 51
Havens was reeling at the possibility of Draeger’s involvement with the store owner and was fighting to process what the doctor was saying on the other end of the phone.
When his mobile phone rang, Havens excused himself from the store to take the hospital’s call, but not before the courteous store owner could relieve him of twenty dollars in exchange for the unneeded alarm clock. He made a mental note to do some more research on the store owner once he got his arms around the new developments from the doctor regarding Maggie’s toxicology report.
Havens wrestled with his findings at the electronics store. While Havens was still not convinced of the store owner’s role, much less his innocence, he knew it would be senseless to try to intervene with the take down at this point. He reminded himself that it was part of the job. You must trust that someone higher up has done proper due diligence in targeting and vetting, then follow orders. If the targeting was bad, then a review would be conducted and trust would have to be earned back. Accidents happen when dealing with dark networks and surreptitious affiliations. It just seemed different on American soil. Somehow the black seemed that much dirtier. The work was that much more nebulous. He questioned whether they had the authority to conduct such operations. In his gut he knew they didn’t.
This is all starting to turn into a bit of a shit show again. What the hell is the doctor talking about—an abnormal presence of a toxin in her bloodstream and lack of muscular responsiveness? Shit, what else does she need to be going through? Once again I’m not 100% there for her. Fuck! Move cars!
“Move!”
Havens worked the horn as he maneuvered through the city traffic.
And what about Draeger? Is this a coincidence about the RF helo? Remote coincidences like this are not likely. Draeger is secretive but how could this tie in to the hit if this guy is providing hardware to the government? Unless the government isn’t officially using him. He said cash. Probably too much cash which would keep this guy quiet. Paying a Pakistani to build stuff for government…that is potentially cutout…and using frequency channels that can’t be disrupted. We used disruptors for IEDs. And that thing back there can carry a small payload. This could be leveraged to implicate the guy and to further another objective. Fuuuck. This guy is whacked so he tells no tale and we cover it up. That protects buyer but also starts additional conflict where this guy is a terrorist. It also leaves things open for retaliation or a dead end two to three layers down in an investigation. Shit. I may be covering up the lower layers to something bigger. And he’s an engineer…that could play into any number of threats and infrastructure vulnerabilities. Shit. I designed a ton of them myself. Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. There would be blowback to me if someone dug far enough in classified systems. CPD couldn’t do it, but FBI or ATF could. And then there is Lars. He too is part of some consulting scenarios as cover-ups. Shit, that plays to the back end of all my front ends. Oh damn, this is a disaster program. I have to get with Red and pick his brain a bit.
Havens’ phone rang again.
Blocked number. Harrison. How much does Harrison know of this? Ok, be cool.
“Yes?”
“Hey it’s me. You getting next phases together? I have guys heading to the storage lot you bought to check the vehicles and make necessary preparations. You sure no one will be paying attention to who comes and goes?”
“I already discussed this with you and all environmental details are in the COAs.”
“Yeah, I can read your courses of action but you can also assure me that you have considered everything, intel weenie. Is this neighborhood the black area or Latino one? Hate to get all shot up before we even get out.”
“Harrison, I have to trust you, you have to trust me. Should I trust you?”
Dumb. Don’t play games and tip a hand. Harrison may not be the sharpest guy, but he is a seasoned operator.
“I am sending you to the one you all will fit in best with. Except you, white boy, so dress appropriately.”
“Thank you.”
With heightened op tempo everyone could get a bit jumpy. This was the first one he had planned for Harrison. Harrison’s neck was on the line as well as his men’s.
“Look. You are my boss. If you need me to walk you through it so you can appease yourself or your superiors, I can walk you through it.”
“Where are you now?”
“On my way to the hospital.”
“Hospital?” Harrison’s brow furrowed. He needed Havens to be available, not back in a hospital where he may not have a reliable connection. “Who’s at the hospital, you hurt?”
“My daughter.”
“Havens, I’m all for you visiting your daughter, but we have…”
“Harrison, there is something wrong with her. The doctor called.”
“Shit, what happened? Is she OK?”
“I don’t know. Doctor didn’t say much except a toxin in her blood.”
Fuck. Gotta get to Draeger. No, get Whitt. This is my show. “I see. Well hope she is OK. We can take it from here. Obviously I will be out of pocket in a bit. Leave me a message and let me know how things are and if you will be delayed. I also want to catch up tomorrow. 1330 at UL Club. Can you make it?”
“Sure. Talk to you later.”
Shit, what’s Whitt’s number? Maybe it’s time to work that nurse. Harrison scrolled through a coded contact list.
Chapter 52
While the doctor could not identify what the foreign compound was without another full lab report, he could tell that it had to be introduced into Maggie’s system proactively—and by another party. Given the exposure of the Havens incident, the doctor initially wanted to call police since he suspected something abnormal, but without proof he was required to consult the family first from a liability standpoint. He needed to show that if something was wrong it was not negligence on the part of the hospital. Even if he suspected a family member might be to blame.
Havens shook his head in disbelief. “OK, have you inspected her for sites of injection, is there another way she could have been exposed, like IV?”
“Mr. Havens, I have the lab checking a number of the past draws to see if we can do a time trace, level of the toxin, etc. She has no identifiable physical markings.”
“Can I go in and see her?”
“Of course. We should have some more information for you shortly. But Mr. Havens, we will have to contact the police if we find evidence of any foul play.”
“OK, thank you. I’ll be here.”
Havens opened the door to see his daughter. He noticed how thin and frail she was getting. She looked horrible. He took a brush from her bedside table. As he stroked her hair, large clumps came out and accumulated in the bristles. The shaved part of her head was barely growing stubble. It seemed like she had just been a pre-teen. It seemed like she was just a toddler. He had missed quite a bit of her life and he was losing more. He kissed her forehead.
“Hang in there kiddo, I’m still here.”
Havens checked his smart phone and saw there were a few bars of connectivity. Enough for a search. He should be jumping IP addresses if he was searching a target, but figured the risk was acceptable if he deleted the trail and ensured that his mobile wouldn’t get into the hands of a digital forensics technician. Right now he was more concerned about the whirlwind of thoughts going inside his head than the data on his device.
The search yielded little about
the store owner with the exception of some public records for property ownership and past addresses. Ohio, Michigan, Illinois. Pretty typical. Havens searched a few of the addresses to see who or what else would come up. A first name Zahed matched Adeel’s family name and address that Havens spotted on a bill sitting out on the store counter. Havens found a newspaper article indicating Zahed was a high school track star before joining the Navy. He has a son. As he read on and strung out a few more search parameters, Havens discovered that Zahed was a Navy electronics specialist currently deployed. Military. Zahed had a LinkedIn profile and Facebook page. It appeared that Zahed was a typical young adult with no odd affiliations and mostly white American friends, a white girlfriend, typical interests, and age appropriate photos and wall postings.
What is this kid going to do when he finds out his dad is dead? How is he going to react? Who is going to tell him and what will they say? And what if his dad is linked to…an attack? This kid could be bent in so many directions. How would he feel? Would he feel responsible? I know I would…I did…I do…I need to revisit the Somali hit and the Rockford drug hit. What am I covering up? What kind of drugs does the Rockford hit have again?
Havens’ eyes darted to his daughter then to a blank wall. He began going over all the strange events and a sickening realization slowly emerged from the fog of his grieving mind.
Christina…Maggie…gone, taken. The unbearable grief. Then I’m fired…destitute. Suddenly willing to entertain new options without considering the ramifications.
Havens’ insides began to boil. His eyes were shooting everywhere and nowhere. He looked down to see his palms had begun to sweat. His heart raced. He knew he was being played.
But who? Why? Someone is on the other end of this attack. Someone like me…Draeger? But why? Draeger would have the ability. And the stomach. Where was Draeger working exactly? Exactly. He never says.
A nurse called out to Havens as he headed towards the elevator bank. “Mr. Havens, the doctor is coming back up. He has some results.”
“So do I. It’s a narcotic to keep her from recovering.”
“How did you know?”
“Call CPD and ask for Detective Neil. Tell him everything and that I told the doctor to call him with the details. Have Detective Neil call me afterwards.”
“But sir, there is a note here that I am supposed to call a Lars Ba…jor…”
“Bjorklund. Call Detective Neil!” The elevator doors opened. Sean took a deep breath and checked his watch.
16:20. I can make it home and grab my kit and still get to Lars’ place with plenty of time before he gets back. But if Lars is by the shop owner today, could that mean they moved up the timeframe on me? Why else would he be around there. He’s no beat cop. He’s involved too.
Chapter 53
Harrison failed to get a hold of Whitt. He called Draeger as a last resort to find Whittington and was informed that Whitt was moved out of the area shortly after the accident with the security guard and replaced with a female nurse on staff.
“You can’t leave me out of these types of decisions! Is this the nurse I was working already? I was doing complete backgrounds before I put her in place.”
“It was a small detail. Nothing to concern you with. You still handle her.”
“It concerns me now!”
“Well when you are running things you can have it your way. Until then, consider them orders. I owe you only the information that you need to know to do the job in a manner that I want you to do your job.”
“When will you be back in town? You either need to let me run things in this AO or you need to be here to drive things and keep us all informed on your decisions. We aren’t running a company here where we can just video conference, email, and call each other. Shit, a secure VTC would beat the shit out of how we have been running things. And where are those damned Type-1 secure phones you promised? At least get some encryption packets.”
Harrison had made a living following orders, but as an officer himself and the respected leader of his men, he couldn’t stand idly by under a weak superior who didn’t respect his officers in charge.
“I won’t be back anytime soon. As a matter of fact, things will be ramping up here pretty quickly and that will require more of my time and attention. From here on out, I will simply fund accounts, give you names, and you can run your show. Fair?”
Surprised at Draeger’s willingness to delegate responsibility and grant more autonomy so readily, Harrison simply replied, “Fair.” Fair unless the carnival is moving to another town and I am left holding this bag.
“This whole initiative, as you likely surmised, has a number of facets to a greater cause. Up to this point we have been laying groundwork. I’m finding that my initial thoughts of gaming these groups is taking too much time, effort, and planning. There are too many variables to assess and as much as I would like to think I could pull this off with Havens and these others, it’s not worth the time and effort. We are going for a more direct approach now and where we need to we can shape our battlespace after the fact.”
“So I am guessing you don’t believe in long stay counterinsurgency doctrine where you pay attention to the hairball of inter-related possible effects?”
Draeger knew Harrison was being glib, but he came to a realization about this setup. If he had had Havens doing the job of Harrison, Havens would have been able to play it off. The massacres had their purpose and set the foundation for where they were now. Vision and reality were separate. Even Draeger could see this.
Best just keep Havens as a patsy fall guy for this given his background and situation. It’s plausible enough, especially if supported by proper Information Operations and momentum in the right channels. Maybe Havens would even take care of Harrison…
“Harrison, I know you are pulling my chain, but frankly, I know where you are best skilled and I know how your teams need to operate, and this just isn’t working. I’m getting pressure from my superiors and time is running short. Don’t pretend you are a planner. Just execute your tasks.”
“So we done fucking around with Havens’ kid and all this Silver Star bullshit? I’m playing games around here with my thumbs up my ass being your piece of shit pawn so you can play with kings.”
Draeger liked the thought that he was playing with kings, but he too was a pawn. He aspired to be a king and needed to do something more king-like.
Time to put the bow on this.
“Your part in Silver Star will be cutout as mine is through DOSA. Asset mode for you and your teams now. That kid of Havens’ is probably a vegetable now anyway and it’s best we drop the matter and back off. Let’s just cover our tracks. Seize opportunity where you can. Do as you see fit.”
“And Havens?”
Draeger sighed. He’d love to just kill Havens at this point but still needed him around. Draeger wrestled with need and want. Havens was a threat to Draeger’s career and the operation if he found out too much. Not that Havens would ever take Draeger’s job, but they knew each other and had worked together. Havens knew his history and could potentially question the fabrications that Draeger used to bolster his career. Havens was an inconvenience and Draeger would love nothing more than to discredit him and pin him as a scapegoat for subsequent plans. There was never a real plan for Havens; Draeger just wanted to mess with him every way possible like a toy.
“Hey, what about Havens?”
“Keep him on task for now, but pull him back a bit. Keep him away from this next bit of activity aside from his planning. Tell him to ramp it up more or get him frazzled or something. Do not let him near any sites. That asshole will jump light years ahead piecing this all together if he gets a sliver of reality. No telling how he will fuck it up. No, we will pin part of the end game on Havens. He will be very much in an unsafe place. Then you can take him out. If you have to do it sooner, so be it.” Who gives a shit. Just keep yourselves busy and out of my way.
“Roger that.” Good. My call.
Chapter 54
Cougar had eaten a chair leg and was mid-cushion when Havens entered the house and caught her in the act.
“Hey!” Havens shouted, half wondering if the dog would attack him. While a vision ran through Havens’ head of the beast pouncing on him to take a death bite from his throat, Cougar laid down in a sphinx position and put her head on the ground in submission.
“OK, girl. Let’s get you out quick for a piss, then I need to get my gear and we’ll go for a ride to Uncle Lars’.”
Cougar rose with guarded excitement and nuzzled Havens’ hand, emitting a deep affectionate growl.
Havens grabbed his EnCase, FTK and Cellebrite UFED data forensics kit and headed for the door. Cougar bolted out the door before he could change his mind, but turned immediately to await further instruction.
“Smart dog, Cougar, but damn you are a horse.”
Chapter 55
While Cougar waited in the car parked a block over, Havens ran up the flight of stairs to Lars’ apartment. The hallways were always dark and there were few other residents. Lars rented two of the units which cut down on foot traffic—something Lars valued, and now so did Havens.
Sean was prepared to use his custom pick set. Lars hadn’t changed locks in this older unit so the standard lock rake and tension bar would suffice.
Fuck it. We’re in a hurry.
Havens reached for his tried and true Lockaid gun. Some chose the Cobra Electronic, but Lockaid never let him down when time was critical to pick a lock.
In.
It had been some time since Sean was at Lars’ place. Last time he had come by to help move a new couch in, but Lars had beaten him to it and moved it on his own. Instead Lars coaxed him into staying for a few beers and a Cubs game.
Havens looked around the bachelor pad scanning for anything unusual. Sean was surprised that Lars never invested in a security system, but then again, he made sure everyone in the building knew he was a cop.