Norm explained to her, in great detail, everything that happened since Monday, beginning with Charlie’s death. He recited the facts as he knew them regarding the fraudulent FBI and how authentic their identification appeared. He included the meeting at Casa de Benavidez, providing details of their conversation, even Kyle’s theory about FBI involvement at some level. Carmen sat in her seat and listened intently the entire time, interrupting little, the information seeming to drain her as Norm dropped every sentence. With each nugget of information, she grew more intrigued.
“What do the other agents think about it?” Carmen asked, getting up and swiping a bottled water from the mini fridge. She offered one to Norm, who refused with a casual wave of his hand.
“That’s just it,” he said quietly. “Kyle requested that I not inform anyone else in my office, so I’m honoring that request. At least for now.”
“So, no one else knows?” Carmen asked, taking a drink.
“No one. That’s why I wanted you involved. I could see where this was heading, so I set up your trip even before meeting with Kyle. In my car I have a folder with photographs of all my agents, their names penciled on the back, so you can learn who they are.”
“Are you telling me you suspect someone in your own group?” Her eyes were locked on Norm’s.
“It doesn’t seem likely, does it? I was actually having you come down to work directly with Kyle, hoping he’d start to cooperate with us. Then after he said someone learned his true identity right after we did, things changed. Unfortunately, I do suspect it’s one of ours, but I’m not quite sure who.”
“What about Kyle’s theory that it’s Rudy?”
Norm thought for a second. “I have no proof. Once you meet Rudy you’ll understand. He’s very high strung and charges in without a second thought. I suspect he and Kyle have a mutual hatred going on, but that doesn’t brand Rudy a traitor.”
“Perhaps not,” Carmen said. “How about the other?”
“Other what?”
“Kyle’s theory that the FBI or some other federal agency is involved?”
“I thought about that a long time,” Norm said. “Even though his information is circumstantial, it’s also quite interesting. I think if the FBI were directly involved, I would’ve already heard something.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Carmen asked.
Norm looked out the window to the south, the sunset turning the mountains a bright orange. A DC-10 was landing in the distance as other aircraft idled in line, waiting to depart.
He finally turned and looked at her. “I’ve been making a mental list of other SAC agents I have an affinity with, those I can trust. After I get you together with Kyle, I’m making some phone calls. One way or another I should be able to gather a consensus.”
Carmen slowly closed her eyes, massaging her temples with her finger tips, her elbows resting on the table. “Oh, Norm...”
Norm heard something from behind, turning around. Two other agents emerged from behind a curtain, near the cockpit. Both had badges tucked in their belts, one with his firearm drawn, pointed in Norm’s general direction.
“Remove your weapon, sir,” he said coldly as he stood frozen, the gun aimed downward. The other man moved around him, holding out his hand, his eyes fixed on Norm’s.
Norm turned to Carmen. “What the hell’s going on?”
Carmen opened her eyes again, but didn’t say a word.
“Your weapon, sir,” the agent repeated, his voice louder and growing more serious. “Please hand it to the gentlemen on your right.”
“Not until someone tells me what the hell is going on!”
“Norm?” Carmen pleaded, using the soft voice he thought she’d use on Kyle. “Please, hand your gun over.”
“Or what? They’ll shoot me?”
“Please, Norm. I promise, if you give it to them, I’ll explain.”
Norm studied Carmen for a good long while, feeling shocked and disappointed. Her eyes were filled with hurt, as if she didn’t have a choice but to comply. He had seen the look before, but never thought he would see it on her. He craned his neck back, glaring at the two men and down the long barrel of the gun. It was a .38 and could definitely render Norm dead. He wondered if he continued to refuse if they would fire, but didn’t want to find out. He had known other agents in the Bureau who would do just that, in a heartbeat. He slowly reached under his jacket, removed his handgun with two fingers, and delicately passed it to the other agent who had remained quiet. The agent took the gun and disappeared behind the curtain. The one with the gun trained on him lowered the barrel and took a seat opposite Norm.
“I’m sorry,” Carmen said. “You stumbled onto something you shouldn’t have.”
“Are you telling me Kyle’s right?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Carmen said, her voice distant. “I can’t tell you anything.”
“I figured we were on the same side,” Norm said, leaning closer to Carmen. The agent with the gun took a seat closer to them, his pistol still clutched in his right hand, his gaze fixed on Norm.
Norm turned to the agent. “Chill out, Dirty Harry, I’m just talking to her.”
The agent’s eyes squinted to mere slits, but he said not a word.
Norm turned his attention back to Carmen. “Talk to me.”
“You’ve inadvertently found yourself in the middle of a highly sensitive FBI operation.”
“I am the FBI, Carmen. I have a badge and paycheck that says so.”
“Not everyone knows about this, Norm.”
“About what? Tell me.”
“You of all people should know I can’t do that. Can you honestly tell me in your career you were not privy to information other agents didn’t have a clue about?”
“This is different, and you know it,” he said sternly. “There’s a young man dead and another one being terrorized, and might end up dead as well. Are you saying we’re responsible?”
Carmen shook her head slowly. “No. That’s part of the reason I’m here.”
“Is one of my agents in on this as well?” Norm asked.
“If so, I wasn’t told.”
“If you’re here other than because I called you, then why?”
“All I can say is that I’ll still meet with Kyle and will work with him, to a point at least, and make sure he’s not in danger. I’m basically supposed to let things play out.”
“I’m not sure if he’ll be any better off with you around,” Norm said. “I trained you for crying out loud. You’ve even lived in our house and spent Christmas with us. How could you do this?”
“You trained me, alright,” Carmen said defensively. “And part of that training was learning to take orders, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“Order’s from whom?”
“From above,” Carmen said.
“That gorilla over there just pulled a gun on me,” Norm said, pointing to the agent on his right. “Is that part of your orders?”
A new voice emerged from behind Norm. “I’m afraid it is.”
He turned to see another man appear from behind the curtain, a badge also dangling from his belt. He walked over to the table, sat near Carmen, and dismissed the man holding the gun. He looked over at Norm with a pleasant enough smile.
“She follows my orders,” the man said, a hint of an English accent slipping through. He was tall with dark hair, cut short and combed to the right, his natural eye color hidden behind dark blue contact lenses. He was dressed in dark slacks, white shirt and navy tie. “Well,” he clarified, “at least she follows my orders for the time being.”
“And you are…?”
The man continued his smile. “Just call me Mulder.”
“A comedian,” Norm said. “Just what we need in the FBI.”
“I’m simply another agent following orders. When you called Carmen, it set off alarms back at the Bureau. Silent alarms, actually.”
“So, what happens now?”
>
“How do I contact Kyle?” Carmen asked.
Norm passed her an accusing stare, but reluctantly handed the card across the table.
“I can tell you this,” the Englishman said, satisfied Norm was cooperating, “this will all be over soon. You are going to stay on this plane, bound for Columbus, Ohio. There are some old friends eager to fill you in on some of the specifics. If all goes well, Mr. Randall will be joining you shortly, for his own protection, of course.”
“Of course,” Norm mimicked. “And when am I scheduled to return?”
“That depends on you, now doesn’t it? If you are amenable, I should say very soon. Otherwise I’d guess sometime in late January or early February.”
“My wife...” Norm started.
“I’ll tell Jean you had to leave unexpectedly,” Carmen offered. “And please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” Norm mumbled. “Just disappointed.”
The Englishman stood, calling the other men back into the cabin. They appeared immediately, their firearms holstered.
Carmen stood and extended her hand to Norm, "Car keys...please.”
Norm reached in his pocket and produced the keys, handing them over. She bent down and kissed him on the cheek, leaning close to his ear so no one else could listen. “I am sorry. And no matter what happens, I love you and Jean more than you’ll ever know.”
Norm didn’t say a word as he saw her descend the stairs, the Englishman following. Norm figured the guy would take over operations in his place, since he was leaving town unexpectedly. He also worried about Jean. Years ago, when he was a field agent in the Bureau, he had often left with no notice whatsoever, or perhaps some scribbling on a scrap of paper taped to the refrigerator. She worried, but understood regardless. He was more concerned about Carmen. He believed her when she said she was following orders, but realized she was young enough to not realize or foresee the ramifications. Norm was almost certain the director, or even deputy director, had no knowledge of the activities going on within their realm, otherwise he would have been read into the operation. If they did know, they were likely in a position of deniability if it came out.
His thoughts turned to Kyle, who seemed to have been pushed into the heart of the conspiracy, scrambling to pull himself out. Kyle was still hiding something, he was sure of it, and maybe for good reason. Given the new developments, Norm figured he wasn’t hiding information to cover up a conspiracy, but perhaps was trying to reveal it. Maybe he had a simpler motivation than that – he just needed to get out alive and not end up like his friend Charlie. Norm guessed Carmen would underestimate Kyle, and wished he could see her face when it eventually happened. She was treading water, totally unaware of the tidal wave coming. A sense of dread engulfed him as he realized that this time, he would not be able to catch her when she fell.
The plane slowly taxied away from the hanger as he glanced out the window and watched Carmen and the Englishman pull away in his car.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Are you actually going to pay him off?” Santiago asked, relaxing in a chair with a cup of steaming coffee clutched in his right hand.
Dwight had just hung up with Rudy Kain, who wasn’t too happy about going back to his superiors to request one million dollars, as negotiated, half that up front, knowing they would balk at such a ridiculous amount, especially since the operation had gone over budget months ago. Dwight explained the intricate black-mail plan Kyle devised and laid out before him, and if Rudy didn’t want to pay, that was fine. Dwight would not be held responsible for Kyle’s actions. Rudy then went into a tirade about the little programmer prick and all the trouble he’d caused and even asked Dwight to handle it the same way he had Charlie. This surprised Dwight since Rudy had been so upset over the entire Charlie affair. Dwight explained a second time that, according to Kyle, if he suddenly disappears off the face of the earth, evidence about their little operation would immediately be sent to both the FBI and the Press. Dwight couldn’t care less about the FBI, since a good portion of them were up to their eyeballs in the “plan”, but his concern was the Press. One word to the public and it would all be over. Rudy placed Dwight on hold for a good 15 minutes, then returned with the news that the up-front money would be made available, under the condition that every effort would be made to ensure its return and that Kyle would cease to be a problem. Rudy demanded to be in attendance during the payoff. Dwight tried to talk him out of it since Kyle would become aware of him and his involvement would then be out in the open. Rudy insisted, reasoning they had enough on Kyle to keep him quiet for some time, and that it was also required by his immediate superior. Dwight relented, wondering to whom, in fact, Rudy reported.
Santiago grew irritated. “I said, are you actually going to pay him off?”
Dwight looked around, having been deep in thought. “It appears so.”
“And Rudy’s coming up with the money?”
“He says he is, the half-mil.”
“And he’s going to show up with you?”
“With us, yes. Maybe he plans on killing Kyle himself, with his bare hands, no doubt. He said he was ordered to attend our little soiree.”
“Why?”
“Probably to make sure we’re not snatching the money for ourselves.”
“Would we do a thing like that?” Santiago asked, grinning.
“You know,” Dwight said, pondering, “we could, actually.”
Santiago sat up straight. “How so?”
“Think about it. We’ve only shown Rudy part of the code, and we believe he hasn’t revealed our identity to his bosses, or more importantly, my identity, since we have a history together, of sorts.” Santiago inched his way closer, hanging on every word. “If Rudy suddenly disappeared, they couldn’t afford to investigate too thoroughly, otherwise they risk exposure. And I’m sure he’s as much of a pain in the ass to them as he is to us, so there may not be any love lost.”
“I don’t know,” said Santiago, settling back a little. “These guys are like cops. When one goes down the others scramble.”
“Maybe, but if we proved he is on the take, it might turn that loyalty around. His superiors are funding this little expedition. They can’t do much but wait for the code to kick in, and when it does, they’ll be satisfied. The real problem is Kyle. What to do with him.”
“Why do you think he wants to meet up at Sandia peak?” Santiago asked, returning to his relaxed position and taking another sip of coffee.
“He must feel some sort of advantage there. Maybe he thinks he can run off into the woods if things get out of hand. It’s not like it’s a crowded place this time of year, except for the ski area and it’s nowhere near that. There has to be some advantage for him, otherwise why would he do it? There are only three ways to get up there. The main road, and there’s only one, or take the tram up and walk a couple of miles through a nature trail, which would be time consuming. The third is hiking the La Luz Trail, but this time of year that would be absurd.”
“Maybe he’s just throwing us off guard, or maybe he’s one of those mountain types that can navigate better in the trees than the city.”
A smile formed on Dwight’s face. “Why don’t we use it to our advantage instead? I want you to make arrangements tomorrow. We’ll post someone at the base of the tram, someone else at the peak. Who do we have still here on the payroll?”
Santiago thought for a second. “There’s Ian, Antonio and Devin. Remos flew to Phoenix, but we could get him back here in a couple of hours.”
“Do it,” Dwight said. “I want Ian posted at the base of the tram, Antonio at the peak, and Remos and Devin positioned near us but out of sight. That means you and Rudy will be with me.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to put Ian on the road going up, in case he tries to get away by car?”
“No, we can handle that ourselves. I want to keep someone in the city just in case.”
“So how far are you going to allow Kyle to string us alo
ng?”
Dwight looked over at Santiago. He didn’t have a clue, but didn’t want Santiago to know it. “It’s all a matter of time, dear boy. He’ll slip up somewhere, and then we’ll have him.”
“You weren’t serious about killing his family, right?”
Dwight didn’t answer immediately. “Only as a last resort.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kyle knocked on the door of room 824 of the Marriott Pyramid. He had his hands full with the box he had been carrying around for the last couple of hours, his helmet dangling from the strap wrapped around his fingers. He chose not to go home. The last thing he needed was to be abducted again, or worse. He’d have to figure something out for Sammy, although he had enough food in his bowl for the night. He pulled his left hand free, knocking a second time.
Robert opened the door. “Room service?” he joked, but Kyle didn’t laugh.
Kyle darted in, dropped the stuff on the bed with a gasp and looked over at Robert who was closing the door. “I’m glad to be rid of that stuff. You wouldn’t believe what a pain lugging that around on a motorcycle can be.”
“You do have a car,” Robert reminded him.
“Old habits die hard,” Kyle said. “Nice room.”
“Thanks. You’re paying for it.”
Kyle grinned. “Yeah, I know. So, how’d it go?”
Robert walked over to the desk. “I got a notebook PC from Rene. She looked horrible; wouldn’t even look me in the eye.”
“I can imagine,” Kyle agreed, remembering their talk.
“Anyway, she did one better and got us a portable Canon BubbleJet printer. Doesn’t do too many pages a minute, but it works okay. I brought my USB CD burner and a few blank CDs, just in case. I also stopped at the store and got a six-pack of beer for me and Dr. Pepper for you, some chips and stuff, figuring it’s going to be a long night.”
“You could be right,” Kyle said, walking into the bathroom and splashing water on his face. It felt good.
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