by Kirk Russell
‘Yeah, OK, go ahead. Why am I in danger?’
‘There’s no Pakistan link with the bomb casings. They probably chose Khan because he was Pakistani in origin and they knew how the groupthink would run. Khan didn’t know what was going to happen. They got to him with money. That’s one piece.
‘The second piece is the real conspirators may be a fragmented group of like-thinking individuals who communicate rarely and operate with signals. The architects of that group want to reshape America. I won’t get into their politics but I will tell you the FBI tapped into them.’
‘Wiretapping?’
‘Of course, but it started with a bank fraud case. From that they learned about this well-meaning group intending what they called a trigger event on a Presidential visit to a California city. When they learned this they also learned that some members of the group are in our military and inside government agencies.’
‘You know, I worked in Washington a long time. I didn’t tell you that one of the many reasons I was glad to leave there is the constant swirl of the cesspool of conspiracy theories. I can’t stand them.’
Yet you traffic in gossip, Raveneau thought, but said, ‘I don’t think this group is quite as big or with the reach imagined, but I’ve read transcripts and heard tapes and have other reasons now to believe they’re serious and exist, and have existed for some time. There’s a link to counterfeit money that I’m not sure I could explain if I wanted to right now. I will tell you that FBI and Secret Service are working on this together.’
‘They wouldn’t know how to work together. They’d need a task force for that.’
‘Point is, both agencies are worried.’
Before making the call Raveneau had decided to take a chance with Fine. He pushed forward.
‘You know about the quadruple murder at the cabinet shop, finding the bomb casings and the subsequent focus on Khan.’
‘I know the FBI screwed up and lost them.’
‘But you probably don’t know the extent of the finger pointing about law enforcement leaks. No, that’s not right. Leak isn’t the correct word. It’s when everyone became aware the other side understands how the FBI surveillance teams work.’
‘This is the type of conspiracy talk I moved west to escape.’
‘Right now, I’m sitting in a rented car in a little town on the north end of the Big Island in Hawaii. My partner is here but she’s not with me because she’s on a former sugar plantation inland a few miles from here where a few hours ago we found the body of an FBI agent murdered today. Earlier in the afternoon we were ambushed and shot at and my partner then shot dead the assailant who happens to be the quasi-adopted son of someone suspected as being at least peripherally part of this conspiracy. Are you following me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you see why I’m coming around to believing there’s something behind this conspiracy theory, so you may too. I think the young man who shot at us today will turn out to be the shooter at the cabinet shop but that killing them was not part of the original plan. It was a contingency plan that he acted on by himself.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘We’ll get there but not yet, not tonight. When the time comes I’ll talk to you first if you’re still alive.’
‘Why do you keep saying that?’
‘Because I think you’re in real danger. I don’t have any proof but I think it’s likely you’re in position to put things together. You got that first scoop on the bomb casings and now you’ve got this one on the President’s travel plans and-’
‘Look, I’m just a few hours ahead of everyone else.’
‘I started thinking that your old friend isn’t giving you information just to help you with your blog or in trade for something in the future. I think he’s getting something back from you at the same time he’s giving you something.’
‘I could take a lot of offense to that.’
‘You could but don’t take it yet because it’s only speculation and it’s just one idea. Here’s another. You’re being used as a conduit to get information out. Your source is using you. Your source is involved.’
‘That’s absurd. You have no idea what you’re saying.’
‘My killer in the 1989 murder was probably right around twenty-six or seven at the time. He’s dark-haired, medium build, and was experienced with guns when he shot Alan Krueger. People who knew him then believed he worked for our government out of DC. He may have been tied to an investigative unit. He may have worked with our victim on a counterfeit one hundred dollar bill investigation and not just any bills, but the first supernotes. To be that young and working on something like that he must have been tagged as gifted and capable. Today, with a combination of photos and the videotape of the killing we told you about, we got an ID on him.’
‘Who ID’ed him?’
‘A woman whose name I can’t give you yet. She ID’ed him and then struggled with his last name. She was confident about the first name, but not about the last. But I don’t want to give away too much information yet, and you probably don’t either, so let’s do this in steps. I’m going to give you initials and you tell me if they mean anything to you. If they do, then I’m probably right.’
‘Go ahead.’
‘C.G.’
Raveneau heard him breathing. He waited. He looked out at the night, the empty road below and knew he’d hit home. The delay was too long.
‘Why should I believe any of this?’
‘You don’t have to. I can hang up right now. Do you want me to do that?’
‘No, don’t hang up. I just don’t see how it’s possible.’
‘I’m not sure what I believe either, but pieces are coming together and two more people died today. One of them tried to kill my partner and me.’
Fine now sounded as if he was struggling for breath as he said, ‘Greiston. Colin Greiston. He’s on his way out. He gets into SFO sometime in the next few days. He’s going to try to make time to see me.’
‘You don’t want to make that meeting. I’m going to call the FBI and an agent named Mark Coe. He’s the only one you should talk to at this point. Do you have anything you can write with or do you want me to text his cell number to your wife’s phone?’
‘I’ve got something to write with.’
Raveneau gave him Coe’s number and listened as he recited it back. Then he told Fine, ‘I’m going to call him now and you should call in ten minutes, but use your wife’s phone. Just to be safe don’t use your computer or any of your phones. Tell me again when Greiston said he would come through.’
‘Day after tomorrow.’
‘Do you have friends you can stay with?’
‘What?’
‘If I were you I’d go somewhere he won’t look for you.’
FIFTY-EIGHT
The bomb casings were real. Jericho worked as a password on Casey’s laptops and Coe revealed last night the FBI was aware of a Hawaiian link. They got that through an IP address, though not one linked yet to Casey. After his conversation with Coe late last night it was clear the Feds would help hunt for Colin Greiston. He expected to hear more this morning. He hoped Coe would call early and say they had taken him into custody in Washington. But from what Fine said it was just as likely Greiston was on the move and Casey was still missing. Casey was Jericho and losing him was big. Casey could easily have alerted everyone he was in contact with. No doubt they had a plan for shutting everything down.
But in the dawn Raveneau sat in front of a computer looking at a satellite image of the east Mojave Desert. He pulled up articles on the solar thermal plants being built there and thought about the President’s impending west coast trip. When completed, these solar thermal projects would double US solar capacity and become the largest solar installations in the world. He looked at photos of the dry lakebed in the Ivanpah Valley where the plant would be built, and at renderings of what it would look like when finished. He drank more coffee. He mulled over the conversation with Fine
last night and then his phone rang.
He hoped it was Coe. He hoped Coe would say they found Casey and arrested Greiston and he and la Rosa could fly home knowing the plot was foiled and Krueger’s killer was on his way to justice. It was la Rosa asking if he’d heard anything yet.
‘Nothing yet.’
‘A lot of this may go down when we’re sitting in an airplane.’
‘It could.’
‘Let’s hope they find Greiston first.’
Raveneau hoped that as well, but he doubted they would. He kept talking with la Rosa and walked out on the small balcony deck. Clouds wrapping Mauna Loa turned pink then crimson in the sunrise. They were leaving for Kona Airport within the hour, their routing a reverse of the flight over, back through Los Angeles and then north.
‘I just don’t get it,’ she said. ‘I don’t get Casey. I don’t get the philosophy. He’s got money. He’s got that beautiful ranch. He’s living in friggin’ Hawaii. What more does he need. Why would someone like him join a conspiracy?’
‘He’s a true believer.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Meaning he’s sure he’s right so things won’t go wrong, or if they do he still did the right thing.’
‘That still doesn’t answer it for me.’
Raveneau walked back in and before closing his laptop and packing, he googled the drive from LAX to the Mojave Desert. The President was vulnerable in the Mojave. The Mojave visit was the type of nightmare scenario Brooks talked about. He didn’t say anything to la Rosa about that until the airport. Then he worried aloud and quietly, sitting with her, talking, sketching the scenario that kept him awake all night. He felt a cold fear that it wasn’t over yet.
On the plane he finally dozed off, but woke with the same worries. Men make history, Casey had told him. History is not something that just happens. It’s not some implacable river. History is created by people with will. Change is driven by need and desire. That was Casey the first time they met. Raveneau listened to the plane’s engines. He kept eyes closed. He turned it all again in his head. When they touched down at LAX and he powered up his phone he stared waiting for the voice mail alert, and there were messages but none from the FBI. As they walked off the plane Raveneau said quietly, ‘We need to go there. The President’s Mojave visit is like a perfect storm.’
‘It’s too big for us, Ben. It’s not our job. It’s beyond us.’
‘The best thing would be to fly on to Vegas, but I think we pick up a rental and drive from here.’
La Rosa sighed. She understood how he got there. She didn’t need him to go through it again. He should call Coe or Brooks if he was so certain and Raveneau kept repeating, the President’s visit is tomorrow. An hour later they were on their way to the Mojave Desert, Raveneau talking as he drove, la Rosa working from a map on her phone.
‘Why aren’t you in some conference call with Coe and Brooks if you’re so certain?’
‘Let’s talk it through first. Let’s get a look at the solar plant and the land. We can fly home from Vegas tomorrow morning if it looks like I’m way off base.’
‘What’s Greiston doing while we’re out here? We could be there when he gets off a plane in San Francisco.’
‘He won’t be there. He won’t do what he told Fine and by now Casey has alerted whatever network they have. They’ve either rolled it up or are thinking they have a short window of time.’
She didn’t answer and he continued. ‘They took a real risk to liberate those bomb casings. These are people willing to take a chance and they don’t have much time. This solar installation is just starting construction. Its main roads might not even be paved and road building is restricted because of desert tortoises they’re trying to save.’
‘You’re an overnight expert.’
‘I bet after we’ve been there five minutes we’ll be able to point to the road the President will drive down and no matter what security they have it is open desert. It’s too big to police and protect in such a short amount of time. Look, the plotters took the risk to recover those bomb casings even though they knew Obama’s visit to San Francisco was going to get canceled if they were successful. To me that says they started looking for another opportunity. I think they have a team in place in California or close enough so they can adjust to a new location that’s within reach. This Mojave visit fits perfectly.’
‘Ben, it is a fine theory, and that’s theory with a capital T, but it’s just you and me and a rented car. I’m going to say it again, if you’re that sure, call Coe and Brooks.’
‘Let’s look at it first. We’ll be there before dark.’
Raveneau wasn’t even sure which airport was closest to the project, probably Vegas, but maybe the President would helicopter from there. Maybe there was a landing pad near the construction of the solar thermal plant. But at some point the President was on the ground in a vehicle. It might be a short tour but he’d do a tour and shake some hands. The solar thermal project covered five square miles. Its main roadways would be simple and practical. Where possible the roads would be flat and straight.
‘Here’s my problem,’ she said, ‘and this is something you do occasionally. You get caught up in an idea and you rush off. Tomorrow we may be waving to Obama as he flies over or we may talk our way in, but it makes more sense to organize by phone. Lay out your theory for Brooks. He’s already paranoid. He’ll get the Secret Service stoked up. Lay it out for Coe. They’ve got a thousand agents on this conspiracy by now and they’ve got a field office in Vegas. How much of a drive is it from Las Vegas to this solar site?’
‘About an hour.’
‘There you go. It’s in their backyard.’
She answered email on her phone and looked out the window as they crossed the desert. They didn’t get there before dark and couldn’t see anything and drove on. They crossed the state line, ate at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino and then looked for a motel.
Raveneau said, ‘I’ll wake you very early.’
La Rosa closed the door to her motel room without answering. He opened his. There was a bed, worn carpet, a small bathroom with a faucet that leaked and whose hard water left brown-red stains in the dirty bowl. He showered. He thought it through again and picked up his phone and called Coe.
‘You’re home,’ Coe said.
‘No, we’re near the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert close to where the President will visit tomorrow. I think there’s a real problem here. Let me tell you why.’
FIFTY-NINE
Before dawn Raveneau knocked softly on la Rosa’s door, but not before he had another conversation with Coe.
‘Your name has made it all the way to the White House, Raveneau. But it turns out a San Francisco homicide inspector’s speculation isn’t enough reason for the White House to cancel. They want evidence. They see a perception issue after already having canceled San Francisco. But on the upside our analysts here don’t think you are crazy at all and we’re going to get help from the Air Force. I asked for something quiet with lookdown capacity that will fly until the President has come and gone. It went up very early this morning from Edwards Air Force Base and it’ll float around up there until after the President has come and gone.’
‘What time is he due here?’
‘Noon, and you’re right, this is a road that runs through the project and up over a mountain to the town of Ivanpah. There’s a camp near the base of the mountain that biologists use. Two from the Wildlife Heritage Foundation are there right now.’
‘Yeah, we saw the road last night but that was about all we could see. Who else outside the contractor is working in the area?’
‘There may be others, but looking at satellite photos the project looks like it’s surrounded by desert.’
‘How do you know about these biologists?’
‘Oh, there was a dispute we kept track of over whether these solar thermal plants should get built or not and some threats made online by unrelated splinter groups who were opposed t
o the plant. The two biologists have been out there for the last eight days so they were out there before the White House changed travel plans. I got that from the site superintendent a few minutes ago. I can text you the names of the biologists. Desert tortoises got relocated ahead of the build and they’re monitoring them.’
‘OK, do that and if you have the site superintendent’s name send that too. We’ll go see him first.’
‘He’s there right now.’
‘Are there agents coming here from the Las Vegas field office?’
‘Yes.’
‘Too many of us on the project will be a dead giveaway.’
‘They’re going to work the periphery and the Secret Service will have a problem with you being too active.’
‘We’ll check out the biologists this morning. Give the Vegas agents my cell number. There’s a golf course nearby there with a bar and a place to eat. We can use that as a spot to meet if there’s a reason or a need. What about Casey or Colin Greiston?’
‘No leads on Casey but he left some writings that suggest he would not let himself be taken prisoner. You can interpret that however you want. Greiston is cleared at some high levels and we’re being asked to prove our interest in him, but I didn’t want to do anything until I talked with you. Basically, he’ll get told we want to interview him. Do you want him to get advance notice?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Two more things about the biologists, first thing is you need a four-wheel drive to get to their camp. The second thing is they’re due to leave this morning ahead of the road closure today. Everything gets shutdown for the President’s visit. He’s flying into Las Vegas and they’ll helicopter him to an airport in Jean and drive from there. Do you know where Jean is?’
‘Yeah, we’re close to it right now. It’s just off the highway. We went by there last night.’
Raveneau was in his new Hawaiian shirt and the one light jacket he took to Hawaii, but it was much colder here. La Rosa wore a T-shirt she bought at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino. In their rental they looked like tourists, holding paper cups of coffee against the cold as they drove toward the Ivanpah dry lake bed and the first sunlight touching high on the gray desert mountains ahead. When they left the highway they could already see the construction site. A few minutes later they knocked on the door of a construction trailer with lights on inside.