by J. M. LeDuc
“Okay, let me try to explain. It was July 1998, and the Phantom Squad was getting some well-needed R and R in Bahrain when we got orders that the director of the S.I.A. had been detained in China and was to be made an example of. The Chinese government had a little bit of knowledge of what the S.I.A. was, and they were making up the rest as they went along. They planned on trying Mr. Swain on trumped-up charges in a tribunal-type court of law on worldwide television, and then executing him as a show of strength to the rest of the world.”
“Why didn’t the United States government step in?”
“Because, Chloe,” Maddie interjected, “although they funded us and gave us our orders, the S.I.A. did not exist as far as the U.S. government was concerned. So, they could not admit that they knew anybody by the name of Jonathan Swain. They would not bargain for his release.”
“That’s where we stepped in. While we were in Bahrain, the orders were given that we were to extract him from the Chinese government. I decided, without asking my men, that this was a two-man job. They were all pretty banged up from our last mission, so I left my troops behind and left for Beijing. I contacted a Chinese operative I knew and was to fill him in on the way.” Brent stopped for a moment, closed his eyes, bit his upper lip and took a deep breath. Chloe, immediately sensing his anguish, placed her hand on his thigh.
He looked at her and winked. “I’m all right. I just needed a little breather. I can’t go into the details, but let’s just say it was the bloodiest mission I’ve ever been involved in. The Chinese operative made the mistake of confiding in his wife—someone he shouldn’t have trusted, it turns out. When we got to the Beijing Hilton, the name given to the maximum-security prison where all political prisoners are detained, they were waiting for us. Two days later, everyone was dead except for Jonathan Swain and me. He had been so badly tortured that both his eyes were swollen completely shut and his face was so battered that, years later, I didn’t recognize him as Joseph Conklin.”
“I thought Joseph told me you were killed in the rescue?” Maddie questioned. “He said that your wounds were so bad that he never could understand how you were able to get him out and make the transfer to our people. Every year, on the anniversary of that day—the only day of the year he drank—he would open a bottle of bourbon, and he toasted your memory and re-told the story of his rescue.
“He said that you had to carry him over your shoulder for twelve miles. You had a broken shoulder and your leg was shot up pretty bad. He told Lucille and me that he had never witnessed such bravery. He said you could put your mind in a place where you couldn’t feel pain and that you never spoke, not one word, except late in the middle of the night when you thought he was sleeping,” Maddie stopped to wipe a tear from her eye. “He heard you promise God that if he allowed you to complete the mission and get Jonathan back to his family, you would never kill another human being again. Joseph told us that, as soon as you delivered him over to a S.I.A. safe house, you collapsed and stopped breathing. It was the only time he broke down and cried and the only time he considered quitting the S.I.A.”
“What he told you was true as far as the rescue and delivery, though I can’t honestly say I kept my promise to God. Once at the safe house, I couldn’t risk him recognizing me. Part of being a member of the Phantom Squad is that you are unrecognizable. We don’t exist. I had broken the squad’s number one protocol. We are never to be seen by any of our contacts—ever. So, when I delivered him to the safe house, I collapsed on the floor in front of him and slowly put myself into a meditative state that slowed my heart rate. The people in the room figured I had collapsed from exhaustion, so they didn’t pay much attention to me. By the time they did, I was able to slow it down enough that it wasn’t measurable. By all accounts, I was dead.”
“How long did you stay that way?”
“Not long, just over twenty-four hours. The squad was contacted and my second in command, my best friend, came to pick me up. By the time he got to the safe house, everyone else was gone. He revived me by shocking my heart back into a regular rhythm. So you can see,” Brent shrugged. “that is why I didn’t recognize Joseph when I met him.”
The room was silent as the girls tried to comprehend what Brent just told them. “Amazing, just amazing. I can remember as if it were yesterday the first time he saw you after that. Four years ago, he told me he wanted to look at the antiquarian book collection the library had just acquired. When he came back, he was as white as a ghost. I even joked that he looked like he’d just seen a ghost. He shook his head and walked right past me. He didn’t even look up, just muttered, ‘You don’t know how right you are, Maddie’.”
Chloe stood up. “I’m a little freaked out over here, so what do you say you finish reading the letter.”
“Good idea,” Maddie said.
The other part of Brent that you don’t know is that he is the gentlest soul I have ever met. His compassion for his fellow man is without equal. His intelligence and his manner are truly his grandfather incarnate. He is the only logical choice to be the next Keeper of the Keys.
I know you are probably wondering why you weren’t chosen. You will have your hands full as the next director of the S.I.A. I have informed the president that you, and no one else, can run the alliance. If you decline the position, I have informed the powers that be to shut down the operation.
I know you and the administration have butted heads in the past. Maybe you were right and I shouldn’t have disclosed your past. But I did what I thought was right at the time and would do it again. I spoke to them with honesty, and I spoke of you with love and admiration. I told them that I have the utmost confidence that you, and only you, could run the S.I.A. I spoke of you as a father would speak of his daughter. You are the right choice and I know that the president agrees with me.
One more thing, my death will have been the direct result of Donavan Ferric. He knows of the Endowment, and will use any means to find it and use it for personal gain. He will try to use you, Maddie. Your background as a chemist is invaluable to him. Be careful.
Maddie, I have never told you this before because I was worried that it would compromise our relationship, but I always thought of you as my daughter, my blood. So, with great love and honor, I wish you all the best that life has to offer.
I can’t wait to see you again. God bless,
Your father,
Joseph
Maddie cried as she had never cried before. Partly, it was from shame for almost believing the lies Donavan Ferric had told her; partly, because she missed her best friend. But mostly because he called her his daughter. Chloe reached out to Maddie who, feeling her touch, threw her arms around Chloe for comfort and continued to bawl like a baby. Chloe held her until she was able to regain her composure.
The girls parted and Chloe handed Maddie a tissue, asking her if she was okay. Maddie nodded while sniffling, then sat back down in her chair. “That was unexpected. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was beautiful, very moving.”
“Stop, or I’ll start all over again.”
Brent’s voice cut in. Things had become so emotional they almost forgot he was there. “I hate to break up the love-fest, but we still have a lot of work to do. Is that everything, Maddie?”
She looked at the letter again. After his signature, there was a > symbol. Maddie knew it meant to turn the letter over. On the back, she found more from Joseph.
This is to be kept private between just you and me.
Maddie looked at Brent.
“Go ahead and read the rest to yourself,” he said.
If it comes down to it, and there is no way out, compound this formula and get it to Ferric. Let him know that this is what he’s been looking for. Trust your instincts, Maddie, and trust in God.
She took a deep breath, folded the papers, and gently placed them back in the envelope. She looked at Brent. “I’m fi
nished. Your turn.”
Brent opened the remaining envelope. He cleared his throat then read:
Brent,
How do I begin to thank you? You saved my life in ways you never knew. The first time I saw you in the library, I stood staring for what must have seemed like an eternity. It was long enough for your secretary Joan to come over and ask me if she could be of any assistance. When I said no, she whispered in my ear, ‘Then stop staring, you’re freaking me out.’
That made Brent and Chloe laugh.
I just couldn’t believe it was you. I rushed back to S.I.A. headquarters and pulled your dossier, just to be sure. I was so happy to know you were alive. I don’t know how, but you were. Through our subsequent conversations and endless cups of coffee, you changed my life in other ways. You reminded me of the good that God saw in man and why The Endowment is so important. I saw gentleness in you, a peace that only God can bring to our lives. There are so many other things that I need to tell you, but this is not the time.
Brent, you have tried over the years to forget your past, but it is your past that has molded you into the man you are today. Although I can empathize with your wanting to forget the horrific evil that you’ve seen, don’t ever forget those who helped you get through it. Brent, don’t ever forget: once a member of the Phantom Squad, always a member.
One last thing, my son. Your dear grandfather taught me a great deal in his lifetime, but one thing stands out above all the rest:
No man is an island.
It’s the one missing piece in what I consider to be one of God’s greatest creations.
Until we meet again, God bless,
Joseph
Brent folded the letter and handed it to Chloe who placed it back into the envelope. “I wish I had gotten to know him better.”
“It sounds like you knew him better than you think. He certainly knew who you were.”
“Ditto, from me,” Maddie said.
Brent looked at the two women and with great humility, he said, “Thank you.”
Chloe grabbed the scroll. “Hey, we have one more thing to open. What do you say we open this up and see what other surprises are in store for us?”
They cleared the table and untied the string from around the scroll. Chloe unrolled the parchment. It was so thick it wouldn’t stay flat. “Grab a corner, you two, and I’ll hold down the other end.”
The first thing they realized was that there were two pieces of paper, not just one. A drawing was on one, the other was blank, maybe as protection for the other one. Brent removed the blank sheet. When they all looked at the drawing, they realized it was a map, an early development map of a town or a city.
“These are architectural renderings of a city layout,” Chloe said. “Look, these lines are representative of streets and these rectangles are supposed to be buildings.”
“So why are there so few buildings if it’s a drawing of a city?” Brent asked.
“I’m not sure. First, let’s make sure what city we’re looking at.”
Brent pointed to the right of the map. “Here’s the shoreline, so it’s coastal. If we follow it up almost to the top, you’ll see how it juts out sharply to a point. If I’m not mistaken, that’s Fisherman’s Point. If I’m right, and I think I am, we’re looking at a rendering of Palm Cove.”
“Fisherman’s Point? I’ve never heard of that. Where is it?” Maddie asked.
“It’s the name given by the locals to a jetty at the end of Banyan Trace. The property was bought by a private party about ten years ago. It’s now a gated estate that sits back from the road.”
“That’s Ferric’s estate,” Maddie said simply.
“The one who tried to kill Lucille? Are you sure?”
“I’m quite sure,” she answered. “I was there early this morning. I went there to tell him to leave Lucille alone, that she knew nothing about any formula.”
“Is that where you got the shiner?”
Maddie brought her hand up to her left eye. “I didn’t know it was still visible. I thought I’d hidden it pretty well.”
“You did. Your tears washed away some of the concealer you used.”
“Oh,” she looked away in shame. “He wouldn’t listen, so I tried to threaten him. That’s when his two goons crashed the party. They beat me up pretty bad, and would have raped me if Ferric hadn’t stopped them.”
Chloe put her arm around Maddie’s shoulder by way of comfort. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“I’m a big girl. I’ll be all right. The one who is Ferric’s main subordinate is a real SOB. I don’t scare easily, but he scared the life out of me.”
“They must be the same two who beat up Lucille, then came looking for the two of us. The tough guy, does he have an English accent?”
“That’s him, Thomas is his name.”
“Yeah, I know, and his buddy is James.”
“That’s right. I think it was Thomas who killed Joseph.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Ferric doesn’t like getting his hands dirty. And he’s unable to walk. His dystrophy is so bad that he can barely use his hands. That’s why he hired Thomas. He’s got a real sadistic streak in him. He gets off hurting people, not just killing them.”
“His day will come.”
“Before they tossed me out, Ferric said that Lucille had to be killed because she was a liability, that she could identify Thomas and James. We have to help her.”
“We will. Right now, she’s being guarded by Secret Service agents. They’ll be able to keep her safe as long as she’s in ICU. Once she’s placed on the main floor, her security will be compromised. Her nurse told me she’d be taken out of ICU sometime today. We have to get her out of there tonight. The problem is, I’m sure she’s being watched, so we have to find a way to get her out without our being noticed. That’s the next thing on our agenda. First, we have to figure out which buildings these boxes represent and what their significance is. These renderings probably make the most sense to you, Chloe. What do you think?”
“The first thing that stands out is that the boxes are not the same size. We can assume two things from that. The first is that they represent buildings. The second is that the size of the box is indicative of the size of the building, the bigger the box, the bigger the building.”
“The map is old, right?” Maddie asked.
“Right.”
“Then,” Maddie said, “we can also assume that the buildings they represent are some of the older ones in town, maybe some of the original architecture.”
“Nice work! I think we’re going to work well together,” Chloe said with a smile that made Maddie feel accepted and more at ease.
“The largest one in the center has to be the library. We can use that as a point of reference to figure out the others,” Brent said.
“If that’s the case,” Chloe chimed in, “moving northeast brings us to this box.”
“That has to be First Federal Bank and Trust.”
“All right, now we’re getting somewhere. If we go south from the library, we come to this box. It’s a little bigger than the bank. But if we use the same scale, we would run into the hospital. But that doesn’t make any kind of sense.”
“Why not?” Maddie asked.
“The size is all wrong. The hospital is at least five times larger than the library, but it’s shown smaller on the map.”
They looked at Brent for his input, but his eyes were closed as he swung his arms from side to side. Both women stared at him.
When Brent re-opened his eyes, he could see the girls staring at him. “Don’t you know it’s not polite so stare?”
“And you’re doing what?” Chloe asked.
“I’m trying to visualize what we’re seeing on the map. I do it better if I move my arms to where things should be. It helps me paint
a picture. I can’t help it. It must be the Italian in me.”
“Okay, Rembrandt, what did you come up with?”
“Once a smart aleck, always a smart aleck, Miss Adler.”
“You can spank me later. What building is that?”
“That’s where the hospital is now. But it was built in 1969. Before then, there was an airport on that property, and a building doubled as a hangar and offices. That’s what you’re seeing on the map. I can remember my grandfather saying that the original building was so solid it was incorporated into the plans for the hospital.”
“I knew you’d have the answer,” Chloe said, “now let’s figure out these smaller boxes. There are two small ones on the left. Here, east of the library, almost on the waterfront.”
“I think there’s one more up top right on the edge, near the point.”
Chloe looked but didn’t see anything. “Where, Maddie, I don’t see it?”
With a perfectly-manicured finger, Maddie pointed to a dark line just north of Fisherman’s Point.
“I’ll be. Now I see it,” Brent said.
“Good eyes, Maddie…and great nails,” Chloe said. “You’re going to have to tell me who your manicurist is when this is all over.”
“Deal. Maybe we can go together.”
“I’d like that,” Chloe answered.
“All right, you two, save the coffee-klatch for another time. Help me figure out these boxes. That area east of the library is all residential and always has been.” Brent closed his eyes and started the hand thing again. He mentally flipped back through the years, trying to remember if his grandfather had ever mentioned anything being in that area.
“I think I’ve got it!” Chloe yelled excitedly. “Brent, those boxes are right about where your house is located. Didn’t you tell me that your house was one of the first structures built in this town?”
“Chloe, I think you may be right.”
“Yeah, but then what’s the other one?”