by J J Cooper
It sounded like his boss was catching his breath. 'Boss, it's Jay. Sorry to call so early in the morning.'
'Been for a run. What's wrong?'
'I've got a situation, boss. I need to take some time off. My dad needs me to help him with some dramas.'
'Do I need to ask for specifics?'
Jay could trust his boss. They'd been through a lot together, from the spectacular, yet deadly, snow-lined mountains of Afghanistan to the biting dust storms and ravaging heat of the Iraq desert. Although Jay had always been on the frontline and his boss at the strategic operating bases, the professional relationship had grown into a solid friendship upon their return from operations. Jay hated withholding information from him, but realised sometimes it was necessary. 'Not yet, boss.'
'How much time do you need?'
'A week at least – emergency leave.'
'Everything OK? Anything I can do?'
'I may need some advice down the track but at the moment we have a few things to sort through,' Jay said.
'You tell me what you need and keep me updated. You've got one week. I expect a call before the end of it.'
Jay knew his father had worked with his boss in the past. Neither had mentioned exactly what they had worked on, but asked about each other in conversation. Jay figured it couldn't hurt to request a favour. 'Well, actually there is something that, if you don't mind, will help us out some.'
'Shoot.'
Jay took the risk. 'What do you know about Lazarau?'
A distinct pause. 'That's been kept out of the public eye. Is your dad freelancing on this one?'
'Just came up in conversation.'
'Here's the thing, Jay. I know your dad and I know why the "community" thinks he's a legend. He's got better contacts than I have so I assume he's not there, otherwise you wouldn't be asking me about Lazarau.'
'Umm . ..'
'Don't answer that. I don't want to know. You're my best interrogator and have always come through for me. It's no secret that you're headed places, and I don't mind giving you the time off. But I need you to assure me that this is legit.'
'Yes, it is, boss.' Jay guessed his boss wanted to remind him not to screw up any career opportunities. He knew he'd been targeted for commissioning and his boss knew he wasn't interested. Sometimes a soldier just wanted to be a soldier.
'OK. No more talk over the phone. Have you still got access to that secure portal that you and your dad used when we were in the Ghan?'
Jay hadn't thought about the portal for a long time. He and his father had used it to communicate while Jay was overseas. 'How did you know about that?'
'Your old man is big on contingencies. He told me about the portal in case I ever had to deliver him bad news while we were away. I guess he wanted to know the real story should anything have ever happened to you. Anyway, you still got access?'
Jay was lost in the revelation for a moment. He had always played down to his father the dangers he'd faced in Afghanistan and Iraq. The night infiltrations with the SASR deep into hostile territory. Enemy RPG-7 rockets and small arms fire sweeping the ground around him. The grenades found taped on prisoners' bodies. The interrogation of Iraq's intelligence chief. He'd figured some things were better left unsaid.
'Still with me, Jay?'
'Umm . . . yeah, boss, sorry?'
'Have you still got access to the portal?'
'I suppose so. Haven't used it for a while.'
'Good. I'm about to head into work. I'll post onto the portal what I know about that bloke you mentioned. It'll be there within the next two hours. Does that suit?'
'It will.'
'Anything else you need?'
'Not at the moment, boss.'
'OK, anything you need you just call me any time. Day or night. Yeah?'
'Thanks. Will do.'
Before Jay could flip his phone closed, it vibrated in his hand. A number appeared that he didn't recognise. He hit the answer key and raised it to his swollen ear.
'Speak,' he said.
'Is that Jay Ryan?'
'Who's asking?'
'Sarah Jacobson from the Australian Federal Police.'
The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place the name. 'Yep, this is he.'
'I'm hoping you can help me out with some enquiries I'm making. Are you on the Gold Coast at the moment?'
'No, Brisbane. What enquiries?'
'It'll become more apparent when we meet. I'm about to board a plane from Canberra and I need to see you as soon as I land. Direct flight arriving at eight o'clock. It's good that you're in Brisbane, makes it easier. Can you pick me up from the airport?'
Not a chance, he thought. 'I'm busy at the moment, Agent Jacobson. I...'
'This is very important. I need to see you ASAP.'
'What do you need to see me about?'
'I've been speaking with a friend of yours.'
'Who's that?'
'Lazarau.'
Jay's heart skipped a beat. 'Never heard the name before.'
'You've done well to stay calm, Sergeant Ryan. I'm coming to Brisbane, so you just stay put, I'll get a cab. I assume you are at your father's house?'
'Am I that predictable?'
'I have your file. Don't go anywhere, I'll be there in a few hours.'
'Can't promise anything, Agent Jacobson, but you have my number.'
'It's in your best interests to stay where you are. Do you understand?'
'We'll see.' He hung up.
For the next two hours Jay rummaged through his father's house looking for answers or clues, to no avail. He kept checking the portal, waiting for the message from his boss. Two bowls of cereal chased with a strong coffee lined his stomach and calmed his worry. An icepack on his wounded hand eased the pain. He showered and changed back into the same clothes. Finally, the message came.
Logged on away from work just in case. I called in a couple of favours for this one and had to use your dad's name to get the info (hope you don't mind). I find this whole Lazarau thing a bit bizarre but here are the facts.
Anthony Lazarau had been employed by the Defence Intelligence Organisation as an intelligence analyst for just over eighteen months before being caught trying to sell classified information to a foreign embassy (Singapore). The case file states Lazarau had photographed eight Top Secret documents with his mobile phone and transferred them to his personal laptop computer. The NSIS computer techs discovered 106 fully reconstructed Top Secret documents on his hard drive. All these documents had been burnt once to compact disc on various occasions for two years prior to his arrest, with the exception of the last eight documents, which had been copied twice. A search of his apartment failed to find these reproductions.
Lazarau claims he was being blackmailed by a woman who had pictures of him with a male prostitute. He said the woman called him about a year ago and identified herself as a business woman and said that it would be in his best interest to cooperate; otherwise the pictures would be sent to his employers. Lazarau has stated that he knew he would lose his security clearances if the pictures were sent, thus losing his job. The day before the call, he claims he received three pictures in the mail of him in compromising situations with another man. Although asked as part of his security vetting for the intelligence analyst job, Lazarau had never disclosed his sexual preferences, or the fact that he often used the services of male escorts.
Lazarau further claims that the business woman ordered him to start collecting Top Secret data from his workplace by using his mobile phone to store pictures. He was then to download them onto a computer and burn them to compact disc for later collection. He was to start this immediately and wait for further instructions. He further stated that he has not heard from the woman for about a year and tried to make contact through the foreign embassy where he was caught. This is all Lazarau would provide his questioners.
Lazarau has stuck to his cover story. His first court appearance is approaching and although there is enough evidence to s
ecure an espionage conviction, there is still no explanation for the remaining ninety-eight documents. The investigation has come to a standstill and has been handed over to an NSIS agent, Sarah Evans, for further exploitation as it was determined that Lazarau was susceptible to questioning by a female.
This is all I have. I remind you that this is close-hold information. Memorise it and delete. Call me if you need anything else.
Jay didn't need to read it again. It was committed to memory. He deleted the message and shut down his father's computer. He headed toward the kitchen for a third bowl of cereal, washed down with another strong coffee.
He thought about the information his boss had provided and was amazed at the number of classified documents Lazarau had been able to copy. But more astonishing was how quickly his boss had gained the information.
Resisting the urge to leave his father's house for an inevitable confrontation with Warren Primrose, Jay started thinking of ways to hurt Primrose for what he had done.
In the meantime, he waited for Federal Agent Sarah Jacobson – aka NSIS Agent Sarah Evans.
EIGHT
The Qantas jet climbed above the nation's capital and banked toward Brisbane. Sarah looked forward to the warmer weather of Queensland. Despite living in Canberra for the past five years, she hadn't become used to the constant chill. They had a saying in Brisbane: beautiful one day, perfect the next.
The seatbelt light was extinguished and the captain broadcast his welcoming speech. Sarah had business class all to herself: government workers flew into Canberra for the working week from more favourable climatic locations, not the other way around. She removed her laptop from its case and opened the file containing the background information on Jay Ryan's military career. She had requested the Military Source Report after completing the interrogation with Lazarau but hadn't had a chance to read it yet. She'd spent the afternoon and most of the night finalising handover notes for an operation she had been dragged from to work on the Lazarau case. The early-morning handover to the Deputy Director of NSIS, Keith Harper, had been uncomfortable due to an unfortunate incident between the two several months earlier. Harper had shown a particularly keen interest in Sarah since his marriage break-up, and after a few too many drinks at a work function he had mustered the courage to ask Sarah on a date. The twenty-year age gap was a little hard to overcome for Sarah and she politely declined. From the next day, Harper acted as if the request had never occurred, but it seemed to Sarah that the working relationship was strictly by the rules from that day on. She figured, as he was gunning for the top job, that he would prefer the matter never talked about. Uncomfortable at times for Sarah, but bearable.
The Military Source Report had been emailed to her an hour before she'd arrived at the airport. She guessed the Military Intelligence liaison officer hadn't been too happy about producing the report at late notice, and on the weekend. Stiff shit, she thought. The information was important.
INFORMATION OBTAINED. SGT Jay Ryan enlisted into the army as an eighteen-year-old on 24 July 1996. After completing his initial training, he served as an infantryman at Brisbane-based 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He reached the rank of Corporal less than three years after his initial enlistment. He transferred to Australian Army Intelligence Corps 18 January 2000.
His initial intelligence training was conducted at the Army Intelligence Training Centre, Canungra. He achieved good results for the Combat Intelligence phase of his training and excelled at the Counter-Intelligence phase, especially conducting interviews. He achieved the highest possible result for this phase of the course.
SGT Ryan returned to the training centre eighteen months after his initial courses to complete his HUMINT training. This incorporates a Field Intelligence Course and an Interrogation Course. Once again, he excelled within this specialist intelligence field.
SGT Ryan applied his skills in combat situations in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002/2003. He was highly commended for his ability to rapidly acquire information through his interrogation techniques. The Prime Minister personally presented commendations to SGT Ryan when he returned from Iraq.
SGT Ryan returned to the Intelligence Training Centre as an instructor in 2005. SOURCE COMMENT. SGT JAY Ryan is undoubtedly the best interrogator within the military and has been used by other government agencies for training their staff. END SOURCE COMMENT. END REPORT.
Sarah absorbed the information and stared down at the rugged Australian landscape. Nothing in the source report to suggest anything but Jay Ryan having an unblemished military career. She knew Lazarau wasn't being truthful, but needed to find out why he'd sent her chasing after a distinguished military interrogator. Most of all, she wanted to figure out how Lazarau knew her real name.
An incoming email message played a tune. Wireless connection, the advantages of business class and a security clearance, she thought. The message informed her to contact the Deputy Director immediately.
She closed the laptop and wondered why Harper had contacted her. The need-to-know assignment with Lazarau had come straight from the Director, Patrick Goodwin. Even during her handover of her last assignment, she hadn't informed Harper about her new task.
Digging into her briefcase, she found her phone, searched the index and placed the call. After a short conversation with Harper's secretary, she was patched through to his office.
'Go secure now,' he said.
'Going secure.' She pressed a four-digit code into her phone. Three short chirps emitted. 'Secure now,' she said.
'Secure this end. Agent Evans, this is Deputy Director Harper.'
'Yes, sir.'
'I assume you are on schedule to meet with Jay Ryan.'
'Yes, sir,' she said. She felt defensive. The encrypted report had been sent straight to the Director.
'Good. The Director has briefed me, and I've just finished with the report from your meet with Lazarau. I'm being frank when I say that I'm surprised you didn't push him more – you don't believe this Ryan lead, do you?'
'Well, no sir. I know it's another cover story, however I'm interested in why he picked Jay Ryan.'
'We'll go into that when you get back. Suffice to say, this is your only lead now. Lazarau was moved late last night out of our facility and into a high security prison. He didn't last the night.'
'Shit! How did that happen, sir? I didn't know he was being released, otherwise I would have pushed.'
'I'm looking into it. I'm splitting this investigation. You work solely on the Jay Ryan angle and see where it leads. I'll be running this end with Lazarau personally. Director Goodwin has handed this to me for command and control. You understand that, Agent Evans?'
She didn't understand why it would be handed over at this stage, but decided not to question the authority. 'Yes, sir.'
'You are to report directly to me and make no mention of this to anyone else inside or outside of the Agency. All checks you need to make come through me. I want daily updates at minimum. Any questions with that?'
'No, sir.'
'Finally, do you know who Jay Ryan's father is?'
'I have read about him, Edward Ryan. He left the Agency a few years ago.'
'Good, then you would have guessed that he and the Director are tight; worked closely for a long time. I have also worked with Ed and even tried to recruit Jay a couple of times myself. We know this family very well and they come under the Agency umbrella. I hope you understand what that means.'
They get favourable treatment, she thought. 'I think so, sir.'
'Jay may not know this yet, but his father has disappeared off the radar and we have concerns there as well. Follow this up while you're there. I'm putting a lot of faith in you on this assignment, Agent Evans. Any resource you want, you let me know. Any questions, you can reach me any time. I'll expect an update as soon as you've talked to Jay.' He hung up.
She put the phone back in the briefcase and stared out of the cabin window, recalling her agent training. During her final surveillanc
e activity through the heart of Sydney, she had been tracking a target on foot when two masked men snatched her from the street. She was bundled into the back of a van, gagged and tied up. After what seemed like an eternity driving around, she had been dragged into a dark cell. When the hood and gag were removed, a man sat directly opposite and stared at her. He looked like Colin Farrell with broader shoulders and welcomed her with a melting smile. Within the first twenty minutes of questioning, he had broken her first cover story; he knew it was a ploy. He remained quiet for at least two minutes while she sobbed.
When she'd gathered herself, he'd calmly stated, 'I will allow you precisely one minute to collect your thoughts before you provide me with the correct answers to the questions I ask. And I warn you, I won't be happy if you provide me with another flimsy cover story.' After the minute had elapsed, he asked her to repeat her story. For the next two hours he had asked detailed lines of questioning, continuously catching her out in many lies until she had no lies left to tell.
It was the most intense experience of her life. The more she opened her mouth, the harder it became to maintain control. Her emotions couldn't be kept in check as she became frustrated with the number of times he caught her off guard. In the end, she couldn't help but answer his questions honestly, giving away classified information. She had been drawn to his words, voice and mannerisms. At that stage, she hadn't known it was all part of her training.
At the final debrief the first thing she did was slap the interrogator's face. It seemed he expected her to do as much. He had waited until she'd calmed down before he spoke in a calculated way. He told her two things: first, keep her cover story as close to the truth as possible, only changing the vital details; and second, memorise the vital details.
The interrogator was Sergeant Jay Ryan.
NINE
The German shepherds let Jay know he had a visitor. From behind the blinds, he watched a taxi pull away from the kerb. The barking died down and he focused on Sarah Evans. Dressed in casual jeans, sneakers and a body-hugging polo shirt, she moved up the driveway. Her blonde hair flowed over the top of a large backpack. Hazel eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He knew they were hazel. He remembered the interrogation. A smile creased his face. She hadn't changed. At least, not in appearance.