“I would beg Charles to charge me for his time and I finally made him agree with my paying him a gratuity on occasion. And this way I wouldn’t have to pay the high rate of using him through the firm. Was it right or wrong; I didn’t care, it’s all my money? I would have given Charles almost any amount of money. Not to buy a friend, just because he was one.”
Pat asked, “Mr. Rayburn, just how long have you and Matthew been friends?”
There was a second of hesitation before Rayburn answered, “I thought we were discussing Charles King; who is Matthew?” Donald asked.
Pat quickly replied, “I’m sorry, please excuse me. I meant to say Charles King. Since we left Washington this morning I have probably shuffled through a dozen or so files. So how long had you known Mr. King?”
“I first met Charles at a Governor’s ball in Dallas; probably a dozen years ago. Why do you ask?”
“No real reason I guess. Listening to you speak of Mr. King, I thought about close friendships that I enjoy. As Agent Watts said earlier, we are sorry for the loss of your friend. I know from experience it is sometimes hard to recognize anything negative in ones friends. If you think of anything that could help us close the books on this case, we would appreciate it. Thank you for your time, Sir.”
Mr. Rayburn walked Pat and Emily to the door. Just before they left the room, Rayburn turned to Pat, “Agent Drice, I feel compelled to tell you I respect the service you provide to the office of the President. In stating that, please understand what I am about to say.
“I hold you partially responsible for my friend’s death. In his feeling so cornered, he took his own life. If your office has any other desire to speak with me, I respectfully ask that you not join in the conversation. Good Day, Agent Drice.”
As they exited the building, Emily said, “Director, I don’t have to be a Behavioral Science expert to recognize Rayburn didn’t care for you.”
“Yes and I am depending on you to use that wealth of knowledge to answer one important question.”
“Yes Sir, I thought the man was going to pee his pants when you brought up the name Matthew,” Emily said smiling.
Pat returned the smile, “That was the question.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ron and Kenny rushed back to the LZ to pick up the remainder of their team. They loaded the weapons on the Scorpion and headed toward the Lang residence. Three minutes in they received a radio call from Salt Pile.
Cole Lansing speaking, “Echo 3, this is Salt Pile; Over.”
“Go Salt Pile” Kenny replied.
“Please don’t shoot the messenger, but because of the side trip we will lose satellite feed in less than a minute; Over.”
“Hold One, Salt Pile” Kenny replied.
“Echo 1 to Salt Pile”
“Go, Echo One”
“Salt Pile, we are four minutes from target and committed to go. Has anything changed in the target zone?” Ron asked.
“Negative Echo 1, no movement and still no heat signatures available. Echo 1, the solar panels are still shielding the cabin; Over” Cole answered.
“Roger that, Salt Pile. Have we completed the communications link? Are you picking up our body mics, and video feeds?” Ron asked.
“All active and in the green Echo 1,” Cole replied.
“Salt Pile, I guess it’s time for those who do, to do, and those who watch, to watch,” Ron said playfully.
“Be careful gentlemen; speak to you on the other side,” Cole answered.
Back at Langley, Director Lake stood impatiently beside his chair and waited for the assault to take place.
Losing the satellite feed wasn’t a huge deal to Collins. Already almost twenty minutes on the ground and zero movement around the cabin had been detected. There was a good possibility the suspect was inside the cabin, but their inability to read heat signatures was a little unnerving. Once at the cabin a portable laser should provide a heat trace of the interior. If the reflections of the solar panels didn’t block the entire cabins view.
There were two ways to approach the house, a front door assault, or a more sane approach by leaving the Scorpion out of sight and approaching the cabin by foot.
“Echo 1, to Havoc; Over” Ron called.
The pilot of the Blackhawk returned the call, “Echo 1, I’m standing by.”
“Havoc we are hot and going in sixty. I need you to make some noise.”
“Roger that Echo 1; hot and loud it is.”
When the Scorpion approached the house they had crossed the large patch of ground at almost full throttle. Doliver was enjoying the hell out of driving this super charged sand rail. He slid it within twenty feet of the front door.
The team immediately bailed out of the Scorpion and headed for the front door. At the same moment, the UH-60 Blackhawk came screaming in at less than fifty feet from the ground. It created a dust storm; dropping visibility to less than three feet.
They found the front door open; propped by a concrete block. Ron regretted calling in the helicopter and knew that he had just jeopardized the entire team’s safety.
Doliver was the first to enter the house and was immediately greeted by an odor that reminded him of death and animal stench. Waits and Collins were the next to enter the small cabin as Chance covered the outside perimeter. The three men split up, searching the house for suspects.
“E-2, I’m clear” Greg said.
“E-1, Clear” Collins repeated.
“E-3, guys, I need you to join me the basement. Second door left, down the hall,” Kenny said.
As Greg moved from the living room toward the hallway he caught movement out of the corner of his right eye. There was something, or someone, hiding in the corner of the darkened room. As he was about to call for the subject to freeze, he heard a low-pitch growl and saw a large coyote moving toward him. He lifted his MP5 and shot the animal three times as it was about to lunge at him. The weapons fire startled the team; they began calling out to one another over the radios.
Director Lake had been trying to focus in on what Echo 3 had seen in the basement. He involuntarily jumped as he heard the gunshots. As Kenny was heading down the basement stairs, Groom Lake, and Langley, had lost audio and video feeds to him. The Director was praying the team had not just killed Jimmy Lang.
“E-2, guys be careful, watch for animals in the house, I just put down a coyote; Over.” Greg said, still a bit shaky.
“People one, coyote zero,” Peters said from outside.
“Cut unnecessary chatter Echo 4 unless you want to join us inside this stinking house,” Collins replied. Collins and Doliver made their way down to the basement where the smell got even stronger.
Wait’s said to them as they approached, “I found the door to the basement open also. Doliver it seems he, or at least what is left of him, met up with some of your new friends.”
Greg looking at the remains of what appeared once to be a human being, “What gives you the hint you are looking at a he?”
“Point taken. Someone took most of the computer setup; appears they yanked it out in a hurry.”
Ron tapped both of the men on the shoulders, “We are done here. I would expect this place will soon be crowded with crime scene investigators. If it were left up to me I would just burn it to the ground. Let’s get out of this hellhole.”
“Echo 1, to Havoc,” Ron called.
“Go Echo 1, Hey, I am sorry I stirred up so much dust on approach; I should have known better.”
“My bad Havoc, I will to need your bird to stay put until more troops arrive. Copy Havoc?” Ron asked.
“Copy that Echo 1,” the Blackhawk pilot replied.
Echo 1 to Gruntbird, pick us up about a half click east of the house. Be careful of the dust Gruntbird”
“Headed your way Echo 1.” the pilot of the Osprey replied.
Collins turning to Waits, “Kenny, find the Sat phone and get me Director Lake at Langley. This isn’t a call I want to make.”
A few sec
onds later Kenny handed the Iridium Satellite call over to Ron, “Agent Collins here.”
“Agent Collins please hang a second while I bring Director Drice in on the call; he is flying back from Houston.
Director Lake spoke first, “Agent Collins, I could listen to your comms until your man entered the basement. Can you please share with us what you found?”
“We found what we believe to be the suspect, Jimmy Lang, dead in the basement. Identification of the remains is going take a while; it wasn’t a pretty scene,” Ron explained.
Pat asking, “What condition are we talking about?”
“We found pieces that appeared to be human in the basement. From what I can tell the body has been down there for at least a month. Animals have had their way with it.”
Director Lake adding, “Pat, Doliver killed a coyote while in the house; isn’t that correct Agent Collins?”
“It is Sir. And it appears as if the doors of the house were propped open intentionally to allow the animal’s free-range,” Ron replied.
“Any proof inside the house that Jimmy Lang was the author of the conspiracy theory?” Pat asked.
“The basement had several monitors in place, but no towers. My guess would be that he was killed soon after he released the theory. The killer cleared out the computers and arranged the house for four-legged visitors.”
Director Lake speaking, “Agent Collins, I am going to have some people debrief your team when you get back to Groom Lake. Good work today, I am sure that Director Drice will contact you shortly.”
“I am sorry this didn’t work out the way we had hoped; we are waiting for your next orders.” Ron Collins said, breaking the connection.
“Pat,” Director Lake asked, “you still with me?”
“Yes Sir.”
“I know that you had planned on returning to Groom but I need you back in Washington. I think it best if we both visit the President about this development.”
“Remember the old saying when one door closes another opens? Another one may have just opened a crack. I was just going to call the twins and give them new marching orders when you called.”
“Does this have anything to do with your Houston visit?”
“Yes Sir, it does. I should be back at Langley in the next couple of hours; when can we meet?”
“We can meet in the morning before heading to the White House.”
“Director, I wish this could have ended differently today.”
“You and I,” Lake replied.
-----
Luke requested a conference call for four that afternoon. After the connections had gone through the multi-level encryption algorithms, Luke began the conversation.
“Good afternoon, I promised to keep the group updated following our last conversation. Let’s discuss my issue with the Congressman first. It would seem that Gabriel is a little off his game. Since we allowed him to get married does he seem off-kilter to anyone besides me? I’m beginning to wonder if his heart is entirely in this anymore.
Peter speaking, “I don’t believe any of us has spoken to Gabriel over the last few months. It would seem that you are the only one needing the use of his skillsets.”
…..Trust me on this; he is slipping. After his failed attempt on the Congressman I sent him to Arizona to run down a lead on who might have written the theory. Just short of reaching the man’s home, Gabriel was intercepted by what appeared to be a military patrol. They turned out to be same men, the Commandos who helped Drice in Louisiana.”
John broke in, “And Gabriel, is he alright?”
“He passed himself off as a tourist driving off-road. They checked his story and let him go on his way. He said it was a full on Waco style raid complete with helicopters and dune buggies.”
Peter speaking, “Do we know if they found this man?”
Luke answered, “I have no idea; let’s ask our resident politician. Simon have you heard anything about a raid in Arizona?”
Simon answered, “I’m as in the cold on this as you are. I have been working behind the scenes trying to get a response from the President on why he moved Pat Drice off his detail.”
Luke replied sarcastically, “I think the Commando team showing up in Arizona spells out what Pat Drice is up to. They are out searching for us and someone is feeding them pieces of the puzzle.”
Peter asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Let’s ask John. John, do you want to tell us who came to visit you this morning?” Luke asked.
John hesitated for a moment as he wrapped his head around the surprising question, “It was Pat Drice and some woman Agent.”
Simon replied, “Crap, what did they want?”
“They were digging into Matthew’s financial records and my name came up. I used Charles for some of my litigation work.”
Luke replied, “I tried to warn both of you that once Matthew joined our group you should have little to do with him professionally, or personally.”
“Luke, Charles and I were friends. I don’t expect you to fully grasp the idea of friendship, but group or no group, we were friends.” John replied sternly.
“And look where that got you. You end with a visit from the very man who tracked down Matthew. And we know how that ended.” Luke replied.
“Screw you Luke, I am tiring of your pompous act. Live half as long as I have and I hope you will understand there can be more to life than money; friends are important.”
Peter broke in, “OK gentlemen, let’s keep on track. Simon, you are going to have to dig a lot deeper into what is going on. You are the Treasury Secretary; demand some answers.”
Simon answered, “OK I will push harder, but I am afraid the time will come when they begin wondering why I am asking so many questions.”
Luke answered, “If that day comes we will figure out a way to get you out cleanly.”
“You mean like Matthew? I don’t consider the way Matthew left our group as being clean. Thanks but no thanks, if that day comes I will handle my own escape route. Please feel free to jump Luke if you ever feel the need,” Simon answered.
Luke saying, “Speaking of John, was Pat Drice happy with your answers or do you think he suspected you in any way?”
“I had a solid answer for every question they asked. We knew they are looking deeper into the connection between Charles King and Doyle Preston. How the government every linked Preston to Matthew is still a mystery to me.”
“The government is still officially saying that Charles was in bed with Hector Fuentes. Being a close friend of Charles, I told him I did not believe that load of crap for a second. He stood his ground, so if he thought that I knew any different, he didn’t let on.” John said.
Luke replying, “The President, Pat Drice, the Commando team, probably the Morgan lawyer, and that Lisa Grant girl, know the truth. By now there are probably a handful of others. Drice showing up at John’s office and Gabriel running into the Commando team falls in line with my earlier statement.”
“A countdown clock started ticking the moment the paper hit the streets. Whoever is leaking the information has placed a huge target on the backs of both sides. Before you all go crazy on me, I am not saying we need to remove another sitting President. But I am thinking, just thinking mind you, that we consider a move that will force them to put this back in the box.”
“Both sides are circling the wagons trying to figure out who spread the story. Until we can uncover that person we need to do something to shut down the hunt. So the question has to be asked, who on their side is our biggest fear?”
Thomas answered, “That would be Drice.”
John speaking, “Luke, do we want to start an all-out war with the President. From all indications Drice and the President are close. I agree that Drice would be the best choice but we need to take some time to consider all the ramifications before acting.”
-----
Gabriel thought it best to stay in Phoenix a couple of extra days in case the government c
ame back for a second look into his cover. He didn’t expect it, but he wanted to be available if a call came in looking for him at Adven Technologies.
Two days later he boarded a flight back to Vancouver. Once home he could tell his extended trip had not set well with Chloe. He would try and make it up by taking her to her favorite restaurant that evening. She kept saying she knew he was tired from his travels and that they didn’t have to go out. Gabriel sensed she was excited at the chance to get out of the house.
When they returned home she told Gabriel she was going to take a quick shower before bed. On the way up the stairs she mentioned that she had left his mail on his desk. She said one letter was addressed to him from someone in the states. She made a joke about a possible girlfriend; said it was from somewhere in the Carolina’s.
After hearing the door close upstairs he headed for his office. He was carrying a drink in his hand and the return address almost made him drop it. It was an address and name very familiar to Gabriel. Seems his dead grandfather had written him a letter.
He held the envelope up to the light and it looked to be a greeting card of some kind. He carefully opened the envelope, and slid the card out to find a birthday card. It read, Happy Birthday Kevin, I hope you didn’t think I had forgotten; P.S: WHY DIDN’T YOU FIND THE REAL PEOPLE THAT KILLED ME? It was signed, Your Loving Grandfather.
When Chloe came down the stairs she could immediately tell something was wrong. Gabriel had practiced his story for months, and the time had now come to share it with his wife.
…..He sat her down on the couch and held her hand, “Chloe, I need to discuss something with you. A few months ago I was working on a computer system of one of my largest clients. I won’t share the name with you but they work closely with the U.S. government and a number of other countries.”
“During a check of their security protocols I found a hidden file hidden deep within their system. I initially thought it was planted to test my skills, as I have had this happen once before. Curious, I dug deeper into the files; unfortunately it wasn’t a test.”
The Iscariot Factor (Half Staff Book 2) Page 14