by Stuart Woods
By the end of the class, two hours later, each of the students knew how to pick the lock, open it with a credit card or remove the lock from the door with tools. Holly thought she was going to enjoy this class.
HOLLY EMPTIED DAISY and went to lunch in the cafeteria. She chose her food, sat down and was immediately joined by a young Asian woman of around thirty. She was petite and very pretty.
“Mind if I sit down?” she asked. Her accent was completely American.
“Please do. This is Daisy.”
The woman scratched Daisy behind the ears and made baby talk, then she turned to Holly. “You’re Harry One, right? I’m Harry Three. There are five Harrys, and I’ve already met the others. I have a feeling we’re going to be working together when we get out of this joint.”
“Well, you’re way ahead of me,” Holly said.
“You were recruited by Lance Cabot, right?”
“I don’t think I should confirm or deny that,” Holly said. “How do I know you’re not a spy who’s just trying to get me to talk?”
“Yeah, well you’re right. Not that I’m a spy, but they told us not to say anything, right?”
“Right.”
“I was really impressed with your shooting,” Harry Three said.
“Thank you.”
“Where did you learn?”
Holly smiled and shook her head. “I’m not biting, Three.”
“Oh, shit!” Three replied, looking disgusted. “This goes against every natural instinct I have. I always want to know everything about everybody, and in this place I can’t find out nothing about nobody.”
“I believe I can deduce that you were not an English teacher in your past life.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” Three said, glumly. “You sound just like my mother, except you don’t have a Chinese accent.”
“And that you are a first-generation American,” Holly said.
“Yeah, sure; big deal, Sherlock. Well, look, it’s my guess that all five of the Harrys were recruited by Lance and that we’re all going to be working together when we finally bust out of here. Any idea how long it’s going to be?”
“All I’ve been told is that we’ll be here until we’re ready,” Holly said. “I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets by saying that.”
“I think Lance is hot, don’t you?”
“You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you? You’re probably wired, for God’s sake.”
“You want me to strip down right here in this weird dining room? You know, they don’t even have any noodles here? How can a nice Chinese girl get along without noodles? My mother would really be pissed, if she knew.”
“Maybe if you put in a request, they would serve some noodles.”
“A request to who? That guy Hanks already said they weren’t going to answer any questions.”
“It wouldn’t be a question; it would be a request. Why don’t you write it down and hand it to one of the restaurant workers?”
“Well, all right, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Holly finished her lunch with Harry Three without divulging any information about herself, but it wasn’t easy. Three would make a great interrogator, she thought.
AFTER LUNCH and a short walk with Daisy, Holly found her way to her next class. Only it wasn’t a class. She walked into an office, and a woman at a desk said, “Harry One? Sit down. You are scheduled for a polygraph at this time.”
Oh, shit, Holly thought.
SIX
WILL LEE STEPPED TO THE PODIUM in the White House press room. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to announce that I have accepted the resignation of James Heller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, effective immediately. I have no further comment on his resignation. Mr. Heller will be making his own announcement later today.
“I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Robert Kinney as the new director of the FBI. Mr. Kinney began his law enforcement career with the New York City Police Department, where he established an outstanding investigative record and rose to the rank of detective lieutenant, before being recruited to the FBI fifteen years ago. There, he blazed a trail of successful investigations and held increasingly important administrative positions, most recently, that of deputy director for investigations. I have every confidence that Director Kinney will make great strides in preparing the Bureau for a bright new future as our nation’s premier law enforcement agency.
“I have one other announcement of importance. In furtherance of the rebuilding of our country’s national security, I will today send legislation to the Congress to remove the FBI from the Department of Justice and make it a freestanding agency, with the director reporting directly to the president. Mr. Kinney has time to take a few questions.”
Lee stepped aside, and Kinney approached the podium. He had been surprised and delighted by the president’s announcement. He wondered why the attorney general had not attended the meeting where he was appointed. He pointed at a woman reporter in the front row who looked vaguely familiar from television.
“Mr. Kinney, what progress has been made in the Theodore Fay case?”
“The search for wreckage of Mr. Fay’s airplane is just about over, and the Coast Guard has found, as we expected, only small pieces of the airplane.”
“Have you found Mr. Fay’s body?”
“We believe that it no longer exists as such,” Kinney replied. “The very powerful explosion would have had the same effect on Mr. Fay’s body as on the airplane itself.”
“Is there any chance that Mr. Fay got out of the airplane before the explosion?”
“Conversations with the two pilots pursuing Mr. Fay’s airplane have convinced us that he had no opportunity to escape the airplane before the explosion.”
“So the Fay case is now closed?”
“Except for follow-up and adminstrative details, yes.”
The questions continued for another five minutes before the president’s press secretary called a halt. The president walked Kinney to the White House portico and his car.
“Your announcement came as a surprise to me,” Kinney said.
“We’ve been working in-house for months on that move,” Lee said, “and we’ve played it pretty close to our vests. The attorney general isn’t particularly happy about it, of course, but he understands the need to elevate the Bureau to Agency status. And, of course, it will give you a freer hand.”
The two men shook hands, and Kinney got into his car, reaching for his cell phone.
“There’s a better phone in your armrest, sir,” the driver said. “And by the way, this is now your official car. We dropped Mr. Heller at his home half an hour ago. I’m Agent Tom Murray.”
“Good to meet you, Tom,” Kinney said, reaching for the phone. He called his home, and Nancy Kimball answered.
“I saw you on TV,” she said immediately.
“Damn, I wanted to tell you myself.”
“This is a great day.”
“You bet it is. Why don’t you work on the details of getting us married as soon as possible, and I’ll book us a table somewhere spectacular for dinner tonight.”
“Will do,” she said.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He hung up, and the car continued to the Hoover Building. As Kinney left the car he was appoached by a man in a blue suit, showing an ID card.
“Good morning, Director Kinney,” he said. “I am Agent Marvin Green of the United States Secret Service, and I will be in charge of your security detail.”
Kinney shook the man’s hand but was puzzled. “Since when does the director of the FBI get Secret Service protection?” he asked.
“Since right now, sir, by order of the president. Your elevator is waiting.”
Kinney was shown to the director’s private elevator, and Green and two other agents rode with him. “I need to stop by my office,” Kinney said.
“We’re going directly to your ne
w office, sir,” Green said. “Your secretary has already supervised the removal of your effects from your old office.”
Kinney stepped out of the elevator to a round of applause from dozens of agents and clerical workers. He quieted them. “Thank you very much,” he said. “Have all you people been watching television when you should have been working?” Everybody laughed. “Get back to work; you’ll be hearing from me.” Helen, his secretary, was sitting at a desk in his new suite of offices, and Kerry Smith was waiting for him.
The three secretaries stood and applauded, and Kerry shook his hand.
“Come in, Kerry,” Kinney said. “I’m appointing you chief assistant to the director.”
“Thank you, sir,” Smith said.
“You can still call me Bob when nobody’s around.” Kinney set his briefcase on his new desk and looked around. A large conference table was at the other end of the big office, and it was filled with many objects wrapped in plastic.
“What the hell is all that?” Kinney asked.
“It’s the wreckage of Teddy Fay’s airplane,” Kinney said.
“What’s it doing here?”
“I want you to see it personally.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s something very odd about it.”
Kinney didn’t like the sound of that.
SEVEN
HOLLY CALMED HERSELF, taking deep, regular breaths. She had taken a polygraph before, in the army. She had even attended a class where she learned to administer them. She forced herself not to think about the money in the Grand Cayman bank account or the credit card in her purse. She was not able to prevent herself thinking about the statement she had signed, under penalty of perjury, that she had divulged all her financial information.
A man opened a door and beckoned her inside a small room. A woman was sitting in a chair next to the machine, and a large mirror was built into one wall. Holly assumed that this was a one-way mirror that allowed others to monitor her performance.
“Please remove your upper body clothing down to your bra and sit down,” the woman said.
Holly pulled off the sweatshirt she was wearing and sat down facing the mirror.
“You are here to take a polygraph examination. Have you ever had a polygraph before?”
“Yes, once, in the military.”
“This will be different from that experience,” the man said. “Much more sensitive. We’re going to wire you up now, so just relax and take a few deep breaths.”
The man and the woman began attaching devices to her body: a strap around her chest, probes like those used in an EKG to various parts of her torso, clamps on her fingers and something glued to her throat. Both of them sat down behind her.
“All right, we’re ready,” the man said. “It is very important to your career with the Agency that you not lie on any question, unless instructed to. Periodically, throughout your career, you will undergo polygraph testing as a security measure, but this is the most important one you will take. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to ask you some questions, which will be easy to answer truthfully.”
“All right.”
“Don’t speak, except to answer yes or no.”
Holly sat quietly, breathing slowly and evenly.
“Are you sixty-four years old?”
“No.”
“Are you a male human being?”
“No.” She was breathing rhythmically and answering on her exhales.
“Have you ever served in the military?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how to drive a car?”
“Yes.”
“Do you own a pet?”
“Yes.”
“All right, now I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to lie on each one. This is to help establish a baseline. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Is your mother living?”
“Yes.”
“Is your father living?”
“No.”
“Did you have sex with a man last night?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have sex with a woman last night?”
Holly tried not to laugh. “Yes.”
“Did you eat steak for lunch today?”
“Yes.”
“Did you lie on all these questions?”
“No.”
“Very good. Now we will begin. Answer yes or no, and always tell the truth. Some of the questions will be personal, but you must answer them. “Is your name Holly Barker?”
“Yes.”
“Is your father’s name Hamilton Barker?”
“Yes.”
“Is he retired from the military?”
“Yes.”
“Are you retired from the military?”
“Yes.”
“When you were in the military, did you ever steal anything?”
Holly paused.
“Yes.”
“Did you ever steal anything worth more than one thousand dollars?”
“No.”
“Do you know how to drive a car?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever fired a weapon?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever had sex with a woman?”
“No.”
“Have you ever stolen money entrusted to your care?”
It hadn’t been entrusted to her care and, she told herself, it wasn’t stealing. “No.”
“Have you ever committed murder?”
“No.”
“Have you ever killed anybody?”
“Yes.”
“Was the killing in the line of duty?”
“Yes.”
The questioning continued for more than an hour, and Holly became very relaxed, answering the questions easily, hardly thinking about them.
“In the questionaire you answered about your background, did you lie about anything?”
“No,” she said easily.
“Anything at all?”
“No.”
“When you were younger than twelve years, were you ever sexually molested by anyone, male or female?”
“No.”
“As an adult, were you ever sexually molested?”
“Yes.” It had eventually caused her to leave the army.
“Were you molested by a superior officer?”
They had read her military record. “Yes.”
“Did you testify at his court-martial?”
“Yes.”
“During your testimony, did you ever lie?”
“No.”
“During the accused’s testimony, did he ever lie?”
“Yes.”
“Did another female officer testify against him?”
“Yes.”
“Did she, during her testimony, ever lie?”
“No.”
“Was your superior officer convicted?”
“No.”
“Did you feel that justice had been done?”
“No.”
“Did you leave the military as a result of his acquittal?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone pressure you to leave the military?”
“No.”
“Did you feel that, if you remained in the military, there would be prejudice against you, because of your testimony against a superior officer?”
“Yes.”
“Did you feel that it was impossible to advance in the military because of this testimony?”
“Yes.”
“Was major your highest rank held?”
“Yes.”
“Do you feel that if you had not testified against a superior officer you could have advanced in the military?”
“Yes.”
“During your time in the military did you ever have voluntary sex with another officer?”
“Yes.”
“During your time in the military did you ever have sex with an enlisted man?”
�
��Yes.”
“Did you ever have sex with an enlisted man while you were an officer?”
“No.”
“Did you ever have sex with a female officer?”
“No.”
“Did you ever have sex with an enlisted female?”
“No.”
“During your time in the military, were you ever insubordinate with a superior officer?”
“Once.”
“Answer yes or no. Were you ever insubordinate with a superior officer?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have sexual intercourse on a regular basis now?”
“No.”
“Are you seeing one man to the exclusion of other men?”
“No.”
“Do you consider yourself highly sexed?”
She paused. “Yes.”
“Have you ever had sex with a married man?”
“No.”
“Do you have any homosexual tendencies?”
“No.”
“Have you ever slept with more than one person of either sex at the same time?”
“No.” She had thought about it, though. God, they were really interested in her sex life.
“Have you ever had a strong desire to sleep with more than one person at the same time?”
She paused again. “No.”
“Is your net worth more than two million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“Do you own stocks and bonds worth more than one million dollars?”
“No.”
“Is your income more than two hundred thousand dollars a year?”
“No.”
“Do you owe any unpaid taxes?”
“No.”
“Did you lie on your last income tax return?”
“No.” There had been no place on the tax return to list illegally obtained assets.
“Did you recently buy a new car?”
“Yes.”
“Did you pay for it with illegally obtained funds?”
“No.” Thank God, she thought.
“Did you pay cash for it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you obtain the cash legally?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any foreign bank accounts?”