Galveston motioned for me to get behind him, obviously something was amiss. I attempted to follow him, but he and Elizabeth had already disappeared through the door. I hurried through the door and could now see into the house. It was a mess. Tables were overturned, books and papers were everywhere, a smashed TV lay on the floor, and the walls were curiously pitted with large holes.
Elizabeth and Galveston both sensed the urgency of the situation and had their guns up in a shooting stance, quietly scanning the room. I watched Galveston as a tense look crossed his face and I cowered behind him. Elizabeth began to slowly move through the room and into the hall, softly speaking Margaret’s name and the words, “orange leopard”. This was the safe word to alert Margaret that we were friendly.
Slowly, we moved further through the house. Room after room was shattered in a mess of objects. Elizabeth continued to methodically check all corners, nooks, and crannies. She motioned for Galveston to cover the small kitchen as I stayed in the main living room near the front door, unsure of what to do.
Things had taken a bad turn from what I could tell and I heard hear Elizabeth down the hall, again saying Margaret’s name with the words “orange leopard”.
“That’s a funny word,” I said to myself out loud. “Orange leopard. Come here orange leopard. I’ll take an orange leopard,” I nervously joked to myself, playing as if I wanted a drink with that name. All of a sudden, I heard three knocks from behind the wall near a wood fireplace. I yelled down the hall to the others who responded quickly, racing toward me. We all gathered near the fireplace, trying to determine where the knocks came from.
“Margaret? Orange leopard, Margaret,” Elizabeth said to the wall. I stifled an insensitive chuckle because it was rather odd to be saying these words to the wall. All of a sudden, however, an almost invisible portion of the wooden wall began to move at the bottom and slide up like magic, revealing a small hole, about four feet square.
Immediately we heard someone repeating back “orange leopard” in a shallow, breathless voice, and a hand came jutting out of the hole in the wall.
“Margaret,” Elizabeth said as she reached for the hand.
A woman’s head began to appear followed by a torso of a woman in her forties. She inched her way out of the hole and was covered in dust. She was clearly distraught and kept repeating the safe words until her body was entirely on the ground. Elizabeth pulled her up and hugged her while Galveston left to continue his examination of the home.
Elizabeth pushed back the hair from over Margaret’s eyes. She had never met the woman before, but held her as if she was a mother holding a child.
“Margaret, are you okay?”
“I, I think so. It was so quick. I barely had time,” she stammered.
“What happened?” Elizabeth asked soothingly, rubbing her back.
“I, I’ve been in there since yesterday. I wasn’t sure if they were coming back. I didn’t have my phone and the electricity was cut. I, I,” she continued to stammer, having difficulty getting out the words.
Elizabeth moved her over to the couch as I cleared a path for her. Galveston continued to be on edge and prowled the inside of the house before leaving to check the outside again.
“Margaret, who was here?” Elizabeth asked softly while holding her hand.
“I don’t know. I got home from the shop and made dinner. The power went out and I tried the phone, but it was dead. It was then that I saw headlights out front. I panicked and crawled into the safe room. There was this loud bang and heavy footsteps, and they just began tearing things apart. They were ramming holes in the wall and making so much noise, but no one spoke. I thought for sure they would find me.”
“They weren’t subtle,” I added, putting my fist in one of the holes in the wall.
“Roger, please get her some water from the spigot,” Elizabeth instructed me.
I rushed over to the kitchen and filled up a large glass with water and offered it to her. She gulped it feverishly when Galveston returned, coming back again into the room.
“The outside is clear. I found some tire tracks. Looks like two large vehicles, probably a couple of SUV’s.” He holstered his gun in his pocket and kept his eyes trained on the windows and the surrounding area outside.
“I need to make a call. Just stay with her Roger.” Elizabeth immediately began to dial her phone.
“How you doin’?” I asked grabbing her, as if I didn’t know.
“Okay, I guess, now. You two are American. Why are you here?”
“We’ll get to that in time,” I told her, “right now just relax. We’ll make sure you’re safe.” I wasn’t sure if we really could make her safe, but figured that was what she needed to hear.
Elizabeth returned from her call.
“They’ll have you evacuated within the hour,” she said.
Margaret looked dejected and worn out. She had been through so much.
Galveston walked slowly around the room, his hand at the gun in his pocket. He looked toward Elizabeth. “This wasn’t done by the mafia. This was done by a professional, organized team.”
“I know,” Elizabeth answered. “I think you boys better ask your questions. Margaret, you need to do something for me. These men were never here, just me, okay? You’ll understand why.” She said this seriously and without flinching. Galveston immediately picked up the lead.
“Margaret, your father is missing, and that’s why we’re here. We’re currently helping the FBI locate him, but they wanted us to find you first. We have information that he sent you something, something that may help us in finding him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t talked to my father in years.”
Elizabeth cut in, “we know you have a number you’ve been using to contact him and that’s alright, but we must know what he sent you.” She looked Margaret square in the eyes.
“Did he send you something a few weeks ago?” Galveston asked.
Margaret sighed. “Yes he did, and I haven’t heard from him since.” She unzipped the couch cushion and pulled out about five pages of paper. “He said to keep it hidden, so I did. I didn’t know what to make of it at the time.”
“Can I see it?” Galveston asked. Margaret handed over the papers. The first page was a message and the rest were complicated drawings of a design none of us understood. Galveston perused the first page and read it to himself.
“My dearest Margaret,
I am glad you are safe and well. I wish I could be there to see you. I’m sending you something very prized to me and my research. I ask you to keep it very safe and hidden. Things have been happening here in the last week which have made me nervous. I’m not sure, but I think someone has been following me and been in my home. Strange people have been asking about my research. I’m close to realizing a dream, an item that could change how we consume energy as human beings. I plan to release my findings at a conference in Memphis in two days. Once it is out I should be safe. I am sending you the original design. I know you can keep it safe. I’ll contact you after Memphis to let you know how it went or you can call me. I think the Memphis area code is 272. I’ll talk more about it later. I can’t wait to see the Memphis Parkland. I love you and I will talk to you soon.
Love, Dad.”
Galveston handed the letter to me and I passed it to Elizabeth. We perused it quickly, but carefully.
“He hasn’t sent anything else?” Galveston wondered aloud, looking at the pages of drawings.
“No, that was it. What happened to him? What was he working on?” The worry was clearly etched on her face.
“He went missing before the Memphis conference and his lab has been destroyed. We’re not sure by whom. We believe your father has somehow developed a battery that is so revolutionary that it would probably be the greatest invention of the 21st century.” Her mouth went agape as Galveston said these words.
“But he’s just a materials engineer,” she mumbled out the words.
&nbs
p; “Well, he may be an engineer that has stumbled on the way to bring energy independence to the world.”
The words clearly struck her hard, and she seemed to understand the implications. She was smart and knew what lengths people or governments would go for such a device.
“We’re running out of time,” Elizabeth said looking at her watch.
“Margaret, we need to take these with us and analyze them.”
“I guess, but how will I know about my father?”
“Elizabeth will keep you informed. The first thing is your safety. Let us do the rest.” Galveston said this forcefully, noting the time again.
“Yes, yes, anything to find my father safe. Promise me that.”
“I promise,” but it was a promise Galveston wasn’t sure he could keep.
“You two need to go. Go out the back and head up the road about a kilometer. I’ll flash my lights when I’m nearing you. Now go,” Elizabeth instructed, pushing us towards the door. “Margaret, these men were never here, for your father’s sake.”
“Alright,” she answered, still in a state of shock at the continually stressful situation.
Galveston and I took the pages and raced out the door and into the wooded area in back of the house. We followed the road away from the house, keeping out of sight in the tree line.
“Exactly how far is a kilometer?” I asked him as we raced through the trees.
“Good question. I know it’s less than a mile. I guess we’ll keep moving until we can’t breathe anymore, which should be about another twenty feet,” he responded.
As we made our way along, we could see a stream of car headlights heading down the road at a high rate of speed. Nervously, we stopped and watched them race past, all the while staying covered in the thick branches of the small trees. We had made it out just in time.
-Chapter 26-
Elizabeth picked us up on the edge of the road after thirty minutes of waiting in the itchy brush. Elizabeth arranged for Margaret to be moved to a safe house on the outskirts of London. We hoped Margaret would understand the explicit need to keep our visit quiet, because we needed to get out of the country quickly.
I was silent during the drive back to our hotel and the expansive city lights of London and I digested what we had just encountered. Galveston and Elizabeth chattered incessantly the entire way. Elizabeth had tasted the thrill of the hunt again and clearly liked it.
Galveston and I woke early the next morning. I had slept in my clothes, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. We had a morning flight back to San Diego via New York City, and I was in charge of informing Jane of our plans. I went to her door and knocked softly, still in my clothes from the previous day. She answered wearing nothing but a huge, terry cloth robe that covered every inch of her body.
“Rough night?” She asked, noticing my previously used attire.
“You don’t want to know,” I answered, still half asleep.
I informed her of our itinerary and our flight plans. She too was half asleep with half closed eyes, and looking lovely as ever. We were a weary crew, at least Jane and I. Galveston proceeded to jump off the walls, however, as hyper as a six-year-old. Obviously he must have had a good night. We gathered our belongings and ourselves and took a shuttle to Heathrow. I purposefully didn’t ask questions, I didn’t even want to contemplate the next step. I was already too tired.
There hadn’t been a mention of Elizabeth since we had awakened. I applauded Galveston’s fortitude, until I saw him standing at the gate with a tall brunette. It was Elizabeth and she had a small overnight bag filled with guns and daggers and nunchucks, I’m sure.
She had spoken directly to the Chief of MI6 and had received special clearance the night before to work this case alone. I realized I would now be fielding many love questions and body comments from Galveston. That was the part I was not relishing.
Elizabeth and Galveston were both working their cell phones before the flight. Elizabeth was trying to ascertain who Margaret’s unwelcome visitors were, while Galveston spoke to Alex back in San Diego. I was sure Alex was sunning himself on his large backyard patio near the beach.
On the flight Galveston and I were debriefed, my first. Jane sat next to me, oblivious to our discussions, watching and listening on headphones to a bad, in-flight, teeny bopper movie.
“I’ve always wanted to be debriefed,” I said to Galveston.
“I was already debriefed last night,” Galveston said smirking.
“Oh, that’s just sick,” I replied reaching for an in-flight magazine, and the barf bag.
I was used to his sophomoric humor, but I prayed he was kidding, trying to avoid the visual. Elizabeth slid us a few papers from her seat, not hearing our witty repertoire.
“I have the information on our infiltrators,” she said in her eloquent British accent. “Our agent in intel tracked the airports, train stations, and car rentals in the surrounding area around the time of the break-in. A line worker at South Hampton airfield loaded a Dessault Falcon jet at about 9:40 P.M. yesterday evening with nine men. The plane was to arrive in Paris at Charles De Gaulle Airport. Apparently, the plane diverted to the Canary Islands before taking off again for Paris. I’m still waiting on the customs information from the Canaries. The plane is registered to a private contractor, Le Ciel Aviation, out of Paris.”
Galveston and I were beginning to nod off from this wealth of information, but Elizabeth continued.
“The company that hired the plane was a company from Belgium called Montenegro Exploration Limited. That’s it, that’s all I have.”
I continued to nod off, but sensing something Galveston looked odd and stared straight ahead with surprise on his face.
“What was that name again, the ones who hired them?” He asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth ran her hand down the paper. “Montenegro Exploration Limited. Why? We checked them out. It’s a North Sea oil exploration company.” Galveston shook his head in disbelief.
“What?” Elizabeth stared at him.
“It’s a front, it doesn’t exist.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t exist, and a front for what?”
“It’s a front for Black Bear Security.” With these words Elizabeth’s eyes grew cold and even the hairs on my neck began to shiver.
“For Black Bear?” She asked.
“The same Black Bear you worked for?” I inquired.
“No a different Black Bear,” Galveston replied bitingly. “Yes the same Black Bear. It’s the front company for their European covert operations. Black Bear Security has front organizations to hide their more unscrupulous activities. It is actually a real company that’s involved in oil exploration, but they use its freedom of movement and its funds to run covert operations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. What better way to move people and supplies around the world than looking for oil,” Galveston explained to Elizabeth and me.
“But why the Canaries?” Elizabeth asked.
“I’m sure they offloaded there and took another flight or a boat, who knows, but we’re dealing with mercenaries here, from Black Bear.”
We all sat dumbfounded at the earth shattering news. How could a private organization have such a sophisticated system?
Galveston continued. “This confirms they’re behind Dr. Sloan’s disappearance. If that’s the case, we’re in for a heap of trouble. Alex said the design we sent was completely plausible. The battery could easily be developed from those drawings. It seems they will go to any lengths to get those plans.”
“But why did they leave so soon?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but guys like this don’t leave until they meet their objective. Someone sent them to find those plans or Margaret. I think we need to make a little stop in Memphis,” Galveston told us.
“What could we possibly find in Memphis?” I asked.
“That’s where we’ll find Dr. Sloan.”
-Chapter 27-
Elizabeth and I didn’t press the
issue for the rest of the flight, and instead got some well deserved sleep. Galveston stayed awake and busily scribbled notes. He would let us know why he thought Dr. Sloan was still in Memphis, in due time. Jane had finished her movie and I informed her of our diversion when we arrived in New York. Despite my protest, she would return to San Diego alone, and would check in with Alex the following day at our office.
We got off the plane at Kennedy International in New York and caught the earliest flight to Memphis. I decided to accompany Jane to her connecting flight to San Diego, and slowly walked her to the gate. We found a few empty chairs away from the crowds and began to talk about life and our visit to London.
“Thanks for letting me go with you two, it was, uh, interesting,” she started.
“Yeah, I know, about as interesting as watching paint dry,” I retorted.
“Well, I didn’t have anything else going on. Just wait until you see my time card.” We both laughed. She had made this trip truly special for me, even if I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I wanted.
“Take a break when you get back. I’m sure Alex is out surfing or breaking into a bank’s computer for fun.”
“Yeah, I’ll check on him,” she paused. “You know, I wanted to talk to you about what almost happened the other night.” Her words were cut off by the announcement for her flight.
“Yeah. Me too.” I didn’t know what else to say. We were able to talk like best friends, albeit with a high amount of sexual tension thrown in. Our connection was just comfortable and comforting.
“I better get on before they leave without me.” She stood up and I followed. “I had a great time, if you can believe it. I hope you guys find what you’re looking for. I’ll see you in a few days?” She asked hopefully.
“If all goes well, sooner than that. I had a great time too. Have a safe flight.” I always hated this salutation. Like a passenger has any bearing on how a flight goes, what, are they able to crawl in the cockpit to help the pilots out?
Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 01 - Flapjack Page 11