by Robin Mahle
A harsh shrill climbed from Neville’s gullet. His arms raised instinctively for protection. “No, wait. Stop!”
“Who are you working with, Mr. Neville?” He pressed the knife against the soft, loose flesh of Tom’s neck. “You’ve been helping them, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please. I can pay you.”
“You sound very frightened, but there is no need to be. Just tell me the truth. Who are they?”
“Please don’t kill me.”
“Then speak!”
“Lacy Merrick and an FBI agent named Will Caison. That’s all I know, I swear. I had to help them. They were blackmailing me.”
“That is where you went wrong, Mr. Neville. Lei Jian is far more dangerous than any FBI agent or a woman.” He pressed harder and the flesh began to tear. “Where are they?”
Neville winced as warm blood seeped down to his chest. “I—I don’t know. They came to my office, then left. I don’t know where they went.”
“You chose the wrong side.” He slid the knife along Neville’s throat and split it open.
Tom’s eyes bulged as he gurgled and struggled for breath. Blood erupted from his veins and flowed down to his bed sheets, soaking them until they turned black.
“Shhh.” He caressed Tom’s hair as he waited for him take his final breath. A quick picture of his handiwork as proof the deed was done and he began to type a text message that read, “Lacy Merrick, FBI Agent Will Caison, responsible.”
♦♦♦
“Why don’t you two get some rest?” Colburn began. “The three of us can keep looking. It’s almost four in the morning. Go catch a few zees.”
Lacy narrowed her gaze as she continued to peer at the laptop screen. She turned to Colburn with concern.
“What is it?”
“Take a look at this.” Her index finger pressed against the screen. “Does that mean anything to you guys?”
“It’s a screenshot of text messages, but this email looks to be a draft only,” Will said. “It’s like he was keeping it in case he needed to send it later. Lacy, can you zoom in on the screenshot?”
“Sure.” She pressed the mouse on the plus sign at the bottom of her screen.
“Transfer complete. Please verify funds,” Will began. “The reply says, ‘Funds posted.’”
“There’s no name at the top of the screen. We don’t know who exchanged these messages,” Axell said.
“If it’s Kendrick, I can bet a dollar to a dime he didn’t use his government-issued cell phone.” Colburn looked at Will. “You think we can get an ID on the number that’s shown?”
“Wouldn’t be hard, unless it’s a pay and go.”
“I’m sure it is,” Colburn replied. “But we have a number and we can track that number, burner phone or not. All newer phones have GPS when they’re turned on.”
“I’ll run the number. You have to register a lot of pay and go phones now too, so there’s a chance it’s registered,” Will replied. “And if it’s not, then it is possible to trace it.” He looked at the screenshot again. “These messages were exchanged only two days after the attack. Let’s hope they’re from Kendrick.”
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves here. Caison, can you run this through NGI?” Axell asked.
“The only thing I can do if it’s a burner is check for registration. I don’t have access to phone databases, but NSA does.”
Colburn smiled. “Then I might know someone who can help.”
♦♦♦
Will approached Lacy as she slept on the couch. He placed his hand on her shoulder while she lay curled up on one end. “Lacy? We got it.”
She began to rouse and noticed the grey morning light trickle into the room. “What? You got…” It only took a moment for her to realize what he was saying. “Oh my God.” She immediately sat upright. “Is it him?”
“Come take a look.” Will waved her over as he walked back toward the table.
Lacy’s head began to clear as she noticed everyone else now hovered over the kitchen table. She wished she hadn’t fallen asleep and now felt the weaker for it. “The number belongs to Kendrick?”
“Yes. It does.” Colburn pointed to an email he’d received from his NSA contact, encrypted, of course.
“What now? We have what we need, right? We can end this before anyone else gets hurt?”
“I think this is enough to take to the director.” Will turned to Axell. “What about your people?”
“This is an FBI investigation right now, so let’s just present this to the director. But I won’t dismiss our involvement sooner rather than later. We’re dealing with the MSS.”
“Then let’s get this to him.” Will checked the time. “We could be at his office inside of an hour. The sooner, the better as far as I’m concerned.”
It was finally going to be over and the idea sent relief through Lacy. She could get her kids and go back home. “Give me five minutes.” She had no fresh clothes, no toiletries, and the only thing she could do was splash water on her face, pull her hair back with a band she’d found in her purse and dampen a washcloth to wipe her body down. As she reemerged, she reached for the cell phone Will had given her. “Can I call my kids first? They have to know that I’m all right and that I’ll be home soon.”
Colburn eyed Caison before returning his attention to Lacy. “Just be quick. We all need to leave.”
Lacy nodded and stepped into the only bedroom in the little townhouse and made the call. “Celeste? It’s me. How are you guys?” She waited for a response. “Celeste? Can you hear me?” Lacy checked the bars to see if she had a decent signal. When she returned the phone to her ear, someone else was on the line.
“Lacy Merrick.” The voice was laden with a heavy accent she believed to be Asian.
“Who is this?”
“We’ve had a lot of trouble tracking you down, but your friend, Tom Neville, was a great help to us.”
She walked back into the living room, her expression stunned.
Will approached her. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you want to answer him?” the man on the line replied. “Tell him we have your children and your nanny.”
She covered her mouth to silence the scream that was threatening to claw from her throat.
Will snatched the phone from her hands. “Who is this?”
“I could say I’d like to know the same thing, but I have a feeling you must be FBI Agent Will Caison?” He paused for a reaction, but Will remained silent. “I’m having a good time with the children. But I’m afraid I can’t stay forever. I have a boss, just like you, agent. And there is a small matter of material you have in your possession.”
Will shook his head toward Axell. “What do you want?”
“I want the documents you stole, of course. I thought my objective was clear. And in exchange, Mrs. Merrick’s family will remain unharmed.”
“I don’t have what you think I have.”
“Do you really think this is a time for games, Agent Caison? I had a conversation with Tom Neville in the early hours of the morning and he told me how you used his credentials to get into Liwa Properties’ servers. And it seems as though you employed someone who was capable of using those credentials to gain access to a server that did not belong to you.”
“You mean the one on which Jian keeps his most valuable information?”
“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. Unfortunately, you’ve been able to evade some of our people, but now, I have the upper hand. And there will be no more running, Agent Caison. We will meet at the place where you have left the children in one hour.” The line went dead.
“Oh God. They found them. They found my children. How?” Lacy’s knees collapsed beneath her and Aaron reached to offer a steady hand.
“It’s okay, Lace. We’ll get them back. They’ll be okay.” He tightened his grip around her waist. “How the hell did they find the
m?” Aaron’s demeanor turned harsh and brimmed with anger.
“Mendez,” Will began. “He knew. I told him, but I didn’t know he was being monitored.”
“What did he want?” Lacy whispered.
“The information on Jian’s server. He said he talked to Neville and I can only assume that means Neville’s dead,” Will replied.
“We have to give him what he wants.” Tinged with desperation, her voice grew weaker by the second.
“He has to know that we copied it from the server,” Aaron began. “What’s to stop us from making another copy and using it after the exchange?”
“They’ll come back and there will be no negotiating with them.” Colburn turned his attention to Lacy. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how they overpowered our men.” He cast his gaze toward Axell. “We’ll get them back.”
“Then we have to go now. He gave us one hour. It’ll take us almost that long just to get there.” Will stopped dead. “Wait. There could be another way.”
♦♦♦
They pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store on the way to meet with Jian’s people to make the exchange.
“I see him.” Will glanced through the passenger window and spotted SSA Mendez in the distance.
“You’re sure he’s not compromised?” Colburn asked. “After what happened when you were on the line with him?”
“He’s not. I know I can trust him. They sent him back to Louisville, but after the accident, he pleaded his case to the ASAC. He flew in last night and has been trying to track me down.” Will stepped out of the car and met Mendez halfway with his hand extended.
“I’m glad to see you’re all right.” Mendez returned the greeting with enthusiasm. “I didn’t know what the hell happened after the call dropped.”
“Thank you for believing me, sir.”
“No one knows I’m here. I was going to see Agent Axell first thing this morning when I got your call. Didn’t know he was with you. ASAC Rousseau knows something’s up, but he’s given me freedom to explore the situation. So what is the situation, exactly?”
Will went on to explain how they’d made it this far and who he thought was on the inside, including, possibly, the man who’d taken his place on the investigation. “He could’ve been hand-picked by Kendrick, I don’t know. But according to Lacy, he didn’t seem to be friendly.”
“How’s she holding up?” Mendez glanced back at the car where she waited with the others. “I can’t imagine what must be going through her head right now.”
“No, neither can I.”
Mendez shook his head. “So what’s the CIA doing for us?”
“They’ve set us up with secure connections. They’ve put us up in their safe houses. And Agent Axell almost lost his life after a meeting with Kendrick. We almost made it to the finish line, though, until we got the call from one of Jian’s people.”
“You sure it’s not someone straight from MSS?”
“Could be, but I don’t know how deep that line goes,” Will replied.
“Do you have what they want?”
“We do. What assurances they’ll ask for so that we don’t renege on the deal, I don’t know.”
“I doubt you’ll get the opportunity to find out if the information does get out. Which makes this all the more critical. We can’t fuck it up. Tell me, what’s the plan?”
26
Mendez reached the offices of the FBI Director. He waited on the small leather sofa outside of his office while his assistant announced his arrival. A minor tremor in his leg began acting up as he sat, which was usually a sign of his impatience, but this time, it was his nerves. There was very little time to coordinate the plan and to squander it, anticipating the director hadn’t been factored in. Several more valuable minutes passed when the door eventually opened.
“SSA Mendez, I apologize for the wait. Please, come in.” The director smiled, clearly unaware of the news that awaited him.
“Thank you, sir.” Mendez stepped inside and sat down. “I’m sorry for the short notice and I appreciate you clearing your schedule.”
“You said this was an urgent matter.” Director Mobley returned to his desk.
“It is, sir.” He retrieved a small mp3 player and placed it on the director’s desk. “I’d like to play something for you.”
As the audio began to play, the voice of Undersecretary Kendrick commenced. “You’re telling me that they’re still out there? That you and your team failed to shut them down? Do you have any idea what’s at stake here?”
Another voice began, “We will stop them and the threat will be quashed.”
“I believe you indicated that the last time,” Kendrick continued. “I even gave you the agent, and yet you didn’t take care of him.”
At this, the director shot a glance to Mendez, then returned his attention to the audio player.
“They know what I’ve done and if they get word to the FBI, I’m through. Which means you’re through.”
The audio ended.
“You mind telling me what the hell that was all about?” Director Mobley asked.
“I’m afraid there isn’t time enough to give you all the specifics, but what you need to know is that voice was the Undersecretary of the Office of Political Affairs, Drew Kendrick. And the other was a man by the name of Lei Jian.”
The director seemed to immediately recognize the name. “Former Ambassador Jian who has known ties to the MSS?”
“Yes, sir. We have reason to believe that the mall attack was not orchestrated nor was it carried out by the Army of Islam as they had claimed. We believe the former ambassador was coordinating a colossal ruse to make it appear as though the Islamic terrorist group was responsible. We believe he was doing this to further the growth of the China-based Dalian Company, their largest investor in the US, and had the help of a State Department employee. They even went so far, we believe, as to offer the Army of Islam a stockpile of money to claim responsibility.”
“Let me just stop you there. You keep referring to ‘we.’ Who’s in this with you?”
“The reference to the agent in the audio was Trevor Axell. He was assisting the task force in the investigation. His partner, Agent Keith Colburn, only recently got involved. My partner, Agent Will Caison, was involved from the beginning when a series of financial transactions that had taken place was brought to his attention.”
“Who brought it to him?”
“FBI data analyst, Lacy Merrick. She lost her husband in the attack.”
The director leaned back in his chair. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“Because, sir, the information was obtained through…unsanctioned resources. And we only had this audio along with money transfers that didn’t directly tie to Kendrick. We had been working on obtaining that information and had intended to bring it to you at that point. The problem now, sir, is that Lacy Merrick’s children, who Axell had placed in a safe house, have been taken hostage by these same people who killed Tom Neville and Owen Ballard.”
“Jesus Christ.”
Mendez appeared sheepish. “As you may know, I was removed from the investigation less than a week ago and I believe Kendrick had a hand in that. Agent Caison, Mrs. Merrick, and the man who was able to obtain the information on the money transfers have been trying to outrun Jian’s men for the past few days. We’re out of time now, sir, and we need your help.”
♦♦♦
The tears that spilled down Lacy’s cheeks left a salty white trail that couldn’t easily be wiped away. She stared through the rear passenger window as they drove to the place where her children and Celeste were now being held captive. She hadn’t believed it would come to this. She’d put her children’s lives at risk and second-guessed her actions. Hindsight being what it is, leaving well enough alone was a far better option. But she’d wanted to clear Jay’s name; wanted the truth to come to light. It wasn’t right how he’d been dragged into t
his because Ballard was trying to cover his own ass. This thought alone angered her because he was the real reason for all of this. His greed, his desire to one-up Jay. If Ballard was still alive, she’d be the one to put a bullet in his head.
Aaron reached for her hand. “Hey, you okay?”
His touch startled her and yanked her back from her growing rage. “No, I’m not okay.” She caught Will’s glance through the rear view mirror, but he quickly looked away, seeming to be embarrassed for listening in on the conversation. It hardly mattered to her now. She had no time for sparing feelings or concern over what people thought of her. Will had been the only one to believe her, but even that held no water. She wanted Jackson and Olivia back and that was all.
“We’ll get them back, Lacy,” Aaron began. “I know you’re scared.”
She stopped him dead. “I’m not the one who’s scared. My children are scared because I put them in danger. I put my need to solve this insane conspiracy above their safety. So, I’m not afraid to fight to get them back. I’ll die if I have to, but they will live.”
“We’re almost there,” Axell began. “I think we should go over the plan again, just to be sure we’re all on the same page.” He turned his shoulder toward the back seat. “Just before we arrive, Colburn and I will jump out and take the final block on foot so they see there are only the three of you inside the car. You’re the ones they want, so they’ll be anxious to talk to you. Lacy, you’ll have to hop into the front seat. I want them to see you with Caison.”
She nodded.
“We’ll hang back, then the two of us will approach on foot after you all are inside.”
“What about Mendez and the director? Don’t we need to wait until we know for sure the director is on board?” Will asked.
“We won’t have time to wait and will have to trust that Mendez made him see the situation for what it is. It’s a risk—I get that—but it’s a risk we have to take.”
“So we get inside and give them what they want,” Lacy continued.