The Sweeper File (Remote Traveler Series Book 2)

by Finian Blake

  Harry decided to risk ruining the mood, “That is some good news. I don’t think that you will like ours as much. Felix Owens from Justice decided to reopen the ‘Sweeper File’ and chose you as his starting point.”

  Anna snapped, “The fool is opening ‘Pandora’s Box’, there is nothing but heart ache, pain, and death in there. Alex will stop him cold.”

  Alex shook his head, “Not until I get a better idea of what is going on. I need to talk to Edward first. Felix is high up in the Justice Department. I don’t want to make matters worse.” Alex looked at Anna in the rear view mirror. “Give Edward a call and have him leave a spot open in the garage.” When they rounded the corner Alex pulled straight in to Edward’s garage closing the door before anyone got out of the car. Edward had the end townhouse which was next in line to Layla’s father, Bill. The owners of all six townhomes were personally connected to each other in some fashion or another.

  Edward and Layla were waiting for them in the living room. Layla spoke first, “I thought we were going to Barbeque over by your place.”

  Anna was pouting, “Arnold had some bad news for us. That wienie Felix Owens from Justice has decided to reexamine the Sweeper File picking Alex for a starting target. Would you be a dear and examine the area for surveillance. I have to put dinner on.”

  Edward laughed, “I would never disappoint my mother. He took Layla by the hand and went up to their bedroom. They lay down and were out of body after a few minutes meditation. They swept the area and then made a quick run to Felix’s office. After a half hour Edward came back down. “There are no teams working in this area. Felix asked the CIA and they told him they did not operate domestically. The FBI told him to specify the coverage that he required and they would consider it. The NSA told him that they only gathered information. I would say that you’re safe for a few days. I will check back later this evening. Layla would like to catch up with Sera and I am exhausted since Susan has had me prowling a board room several times today. This one company is kiting the stock so that key stock holders can walk off with a boat load of money. She is going to dump it before they do and she has been working the hell out of me to get it done.” Alex took the car while Anna walked down the waterfront with the others. Alex started to drive down the line of garages noticing a tan Ford Taurus with personal plates having a single driver. Alex laughed at the lame attempt to appear casual. He had heard of low-tech but this was idiot tech. This was an enclosed area marked for townhome guest parking. As he drove by he found that the driver was in fact asleep. Alex drove around the corner pulling an ice pick out of his glove box. He walked up to the rear of the car noticing that the driver had not stirred so he gently slipped the ice pick in the side wall of the tire proceeding to do the same for all four tires before returning to his car. He parked his car in the guest parking next to Edward’s house and walked down the dock side of the townhomes. Anna looked slightly upset when he walked in the back door.

  “Where have you been,” Anna asked being somewhat annoyed. “You need to fire up the grill.”

  Alex smiled sheepishly, “I have been teaching a rookie a lesson.”

  “What…?” Anna could not believe her ears.

  “When Edward and Layla went out of body they missed a Ford Taurus with personal plates. When I went to drive our car into the garage I spotted him and noticed that he was asleep. I didn’t want to hurt him so I ice picked all four tires. It looks like Felix found someone after all but not from the usual agencies. This guy was a complete novice. I wanted to let him know that his actions have consequences. Now where are Arnie and Sera?”

  Alex heard Arnold’s voice over his shoulder. “That was kind of childish why did you flatten all four tires?”

  “He was winging it solo on somebody’s personal request. Now he must tell his boss what he was up to. I could have been much nastier, like handcuffing him to the steering wheel. Somebody else might have killed him.” Arnold had to admit that there was a multiple choice of bad out comes.

  “Come to think of it I never sent a man alone to do a stake out. I bet that idiot Felix called a friend.”

  Alex smiled wickedly, “I have one more thing to do.” He picked up the phone dialing the police. “Hello I had a strange car hanging out around my house, could you send a car out to check it out.” It only took ten minutes and three squad cars pulled up blocking the tan Ford in tightly. Everybody went up to the bedroom over the garage to watch the show.

  Luke Preston was awakened by the sound of a short blast from a siren and screeching tires. Five officers surrounded the car with pistols drawn barking orders in a stern voice. Luke was quickly pulled from the car and forced to the asphalt.

  One of the officers shouted out, “I have a gun on the seat!” It took ten minutes to find out Luke was a lawyer at the U.S. District Attorney’s office. Anna brought drinks and appetizers up to the bedroom, just like it was a floor show. Alex and Anna passed around the crackers and cheese trying to be the perfect hosts.

  In about an hour a Cadillac Escalade pulled up and Sera pointed out the driver. “That’s your daughter!” After a brief conversation with Athena the police agreed to leave Luke in the hands of his boss, and left laughing. It looked appeared that it was the worst thing that they could do. Anna and Alex scrambled down the stairs as Athena Chalenger marched Luke to the front door by the scruff of his neck like a misbehaving puppy. “He has to piss, and I don’t want him breaking the law again.” She led him to the hall bath not waiting for an answer. “Come back to the front door when you’ve finished.”

  Athena looked at her father, “All four tires…?”

  Alex shrugged and smiled, “It could have been ‘no deposit no return’.” Athena had to acknowledge that. She was adopted after Alex had rescued her from some nasty people that had kidnapped her for sexual slavery as a teenage runaway. He never claimed the kills. She knew exactly what he had done. He had disposed of twenty people without a trace and after twenty-five years there was still no trace.

  When Luke returned to the front door Athena did not wait for an excuse. “If you want to keep your job you will tell me who asked you to do this,” Luke made an uncomfortable gesture in Alex’s direction. “Who were you asked to do surveillance on?”

  “Alex Chalenger…”

  “And what is my name.” Athena was losing patience.

  “Athena Chalenger…,” A look of recognition switched on like a light bulb.

  “That’s right whiz kid you were doing an unauthorized surveillance on my father. Go sit in my car. I will be along shortly. Before you do zip up your fly and try not to screw anything up on your journey between here and there.”

  “I have to take my car back to the office.”

  Athena did nothing to hide the disgust in her voice. “Go look at your car and when I come out you can tell me why you can’t drive it back to the office.” Athena turned to Alex, “What in the hell is going on.”

  “Luke didn’t answer, but Felix Owens from Justice asked him to do the surveillance,” Alex said offhandedly. “Felix tried to reopen the Sweeper File and could not get any cooperation from the FBI, CIA or NSA. I am assuming that Felix called him. I flattened his tires with an icepick so that he would have to talk to his boss. I didn’t want to damage him. I had no idea that he was one of yours or I would’ve had you wake him up. I believe that would’ve been more fun.”

  “Where was he when you did this?”

  Alex laughed, “He was asleep in his car, but don’t fire him. I would just as soon that he remains under your control.” Alex held on to her arm as she turned to leave. “I would prefer that you stay as far away from this as you can. That file is a career killer.”

  Athena gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, I can’t believe that the file still exists. They should have destroyed it long ago.” Alex watched Athena stomp out to her car. As she turned to step into the Escalade, the heel of her shoe folded under her. She removed the offending piece of footwear throwing it in the car at
Luke missing him, followed by the second shoe which bounced off his nose and flew out the open window. Luke scrambled out of the car to retrieve the shoe and was back inside in seconds.

  “You will be replacing those tires out of your own pocket.”

  Sera was laughing so hard when she came down to the patio Arnold had to help her. “I’ll bet that that second shoe left a mark. It hit him with enough force to bounce out the window. I think that we can be sure that there will not be a repeat.”

  Alex was not happy “They can attack me all they want. If they attack my family, it will be no holds barred war and their family is up on the block too. We need to call in some more resources for this. “Edward it is time for a full blown work up on Felix Owens and coworkers. I want it in as much detail as you can get. This guy will not go away and I don’t want to play catch up.”

  Sera jumped out of her chair. “That bastard Felix pulled every trick in the book to have me killed, even blackmailing Arnie to kill me. I am in all the way to the end.” She pointed at Arnold with her French accent flaring, “and he is in all the way to his neck, too.” Arnold nodded his consent.

  “Edward and Layla would you please give us a full work up as soon as you can, but not before we enjoy our evening.”

  Lynn considered sending Victoria out to DC but with so many agencies trying to figure out who she was it was decided to send Cherry instead. She was equal to Victoria in every way, except Cherry had a stronger back ground in documents. Susan filed taxes on all of Cherry’s U.S. investments so she had a very workable history for the U.S. and the UK. Her childhood experiences as a sex slave left her with a harsh attitude toward abusers and her experiences with the old men who were all SAS instructors left her more than able to enforce her wishes. At five foot two Cherry’s soft auburn hair, powder blue eyes and angelic expression left no clue as to her explosive potential. She did not want to use the ploy as a U.S. Marshal so she called herself an attorney. Susan suggested that her first stop be Rhonda Savage at the NSA. She called and made an appointment making her appearance at two PM on the dot. When she opened the door Colleen greeted her coldly.

  “Rhonda is busy so you will just have to wait.”

  “My name is Cherry Newley and I have a two o’clock appointment.” Cherry shrugged. “But I can get a cup of coffee if she will be very long.”

  Colleen continued her rudeness, “If she frees up while you are gone you can make another appointment for another day.”

  Cherry clearly saw that a soft reply was not going to work. “Two o’clock is when I was told to be here.” She went to push past Colleen and the young lady reached in her desk drawer. There was a blur of motion. Cherry had Colleen’s Sig in her hand and her arm in a hammer lock. “It’s time to announce me.” Cherry pushed Colleen through the door and pushed a little harder on the hammerlock.

  Colleen croaked, “Your two o’clock is here.” Cherry pushed her into the chair at the side of the desk keeping a hand on Colleen’s shoulder. Cherry removed the clip ejecting the shell in the chamber placing the Sig on Rhonda’s desk with the slide open. Her hand eased toward her desk drawer.

  Cherry smiled speaking softly, “I hope that you are reaching for a sandwich because you are going to eat whatever comes out of that drawer.”

  “I have heard that challenge before.” Rhonda’s hand moved away from the drawer. “Do you know Victoria Strong?”

  “That would be my sister. She is the one with the sweet disposition. I am not nearly as nice as she is.”

  Rhonda sat back in her chair. “And what may I do for you?”

  “Someone is in the ‘Sweeper File’. You made a promise not to act against our principle. I wanted to be sure that your promise was intact.”

  “Absolutely, someone with authority pushed my assistant Colleen into allowing them access. After she checked that their credentials were in order they were cleared for access and I had to allow it.”

  Cherry kept a bland face. “That would be Felix Owens.” She appraised the surprised look on Rhonda’s face and lied. “Two agencies and three congressmen complained.”

  Rhonda went fishing. “To whom did they complain?”

  Cherry gave a coy smile, “If you have to ask you don’t want to know. I need to see the files.”

  Rhonda calmly asked, “I will need a clearance.”

  Cherry smiled coldly, “Cassandra Black.”

  “I am not familiar with that one.”

  “Call the director.”

  Rhonda looked up the director’s private number and dialed. After a few minutes conversation, she hung up the phone. “The director told me to give you whatever you want and forget what I did for you.”

  Cherry looked carefully at Colleen. “Your assistant could use some combat training. Why don’t you send her down to Quantico for a few weeks?” Cherry locked eyes with Rhonda. “I will take Colleen’s place until she is trained up.”

  Rhonda coughed, “I will have to get approval.”

  “No problem, just call your director back.”

  Rhonda shook her head. “He just instructed me to give you whatever you request.”

  “Then I would like the request to be your assistant for a few weeks.”

  Rhonda turned to Colleen, “I believe that you are going to Quantico for physical training.”

  Cherry looked over at Colleen, “I have a few things that I can show you that are not on the menu. The training will leave you better equipped to handle people like me.”

  Colleen broke a smile. “Will you teach me that thing that you did to me?”

  “That and some other things…” At that time Felix walked in the office without knocking.

  Felix walked up behind Cherry, putting his hand on her shoulder feeling safe leaning on the diminutive woman. “Don’t bother leaving I will only be a few minutes.” Cherry put her hand on Felix’s hand grabbing his first two fingers bending them back causing Felix to flinch with pain. As she stood up, Cherry moved behind Felix bending the arm painfully behind his head kicking him behind the legs dropping him to his knees and jamming his throat against the back of the chair causing Felix to gasp for air unable to fight back.

  Cherry locked eyes with Rhonda as she whispered in his ear. “If you ever lay your hands on me again you will never make it to retirement. Rhonda, do you wish to say anything to Felix.

  “Felix I would like to introduce you to Cherry. Colleen is going to do some training and Cherry is going to be sitting in for her while she is gone.”

  Felix managed to choke out. “Can you have her release me?”

  Rhonda stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know what are you here for?”

  “I need to access the Sweeper File?”

  “Cherry will take you to the outer office and give you all the necessary forms to fill out from the bottom left hand drawer. Felix, please be sure to specify the files that you need and your reason for accessing them. Cherry I have some business to finish with Colleen would you please get Felix started?”

  Cherry looked in the drawer finding the forms but not Colleen’s 9 mm Sig.

  “Felix where is it…”

  “I have no idea of what you’re talking about.” Cherry grabbed Felix by the wrist, twisting it painfully behind his back hyper extending his elbow after which she bent Felix over the desk pulling his pants down to his knees. “Either you tell me where it is or we do a cavity search.”

  “You need a warrant.”

  Cherry laughed, “I will fill one out while you are being seen in the ER.”

  “It’s in my brief case,” Felix managed to squawk. She retrieved the Sig replacing it in the drawer.

  Cherry pushed the papers across the desk. “Pull up your pants, fill in the forms and make sure that you answer all of the questions.” Cherry tapped the bottom of the form. “Please be sure that you sign and date the request,” Cherry put on her honey sweetest voice trying to piss Felix off.

  After fifteen minutes the inner office door opened and Colleen
stepped out with Rhonda’s voice floating sweetly over her shoulder. “Cherry, please have Mister Owens step in.” Cherry politely motioned to the door without saying a word.

  Felix entered the room starting to talk before the door was fully closed. “Where did you find her?”

  “The secretarial pool, it’s a crocodile pit down there.”

  “No shit, do you…” The door fully closed blocking off the rest of the conversation.

  Colleen was half jumping and half running in place, “You have to show me how you did that. It was so cool.”

  Cherry put her hands on Coleen’s shoulders to calm her down. “I will be happy to show you that and more. I can show you a few things that they won’t show you at Quantico.” Cherry slid the right hand desk drawer open pointing to the pistol. “I had Felix return it. You need to lock the desk when you leave the office. Most of the people that come through this office were chosen for their lack of convention. Don’t trust anyone. That is lesson number one.”

  Colleen’s outburst continued, “I thought that you were going to be a total bitch, but I think that I like you!”

  Cherry pushed Colleen lightly into her chair and rolled the chair in front of the desk to acknowledge Colleen’s position. “I am not a total bitch. I am a major bitch just ask Felix what he thinks of me.”

  Colleen sat back in her chair. “He likes to take advantage of women that’s why he pushed in the office today. He picked on me because I am smaller than you.” Cherry made no comment. “What do you think that he was going to do with my gun?” Just then Felix stepped out of the room appearing to be extremely red faced.

  Colleen did not look at him when she spoke, “What were you going to do with my gun, you thieving piece of shit.” Felix started to move in her direction and Cherry stood up. Felix thought better of his move not wanting to be embarrassed again. He elected to storm out of the door slamming it behind him.