Off the Grid (A Gerrit O'Rourke Novel)

by Young, Mark

  “But he—”

  “Shut up and listen. If he’s still alive, then he had help. Go back to the first bombing where his uncle disappeared in Seattle. Take that man’s life apart. Check every contact, every move he made, leading up to Gerrit’s parents’ deaths. I want to know everybody and anybody Joe O’Rourke may have contacted when he started running. I want to know where he landed in his efforts to hide, who helped him.”

  “That’s going to take—”

  “I don’t care about anything but tracking these guys down. We need to eliminate any exposure to our project. Get on this right now.”

  A sharp rap on the door made him turn toward the sound. “Got to go. Let me know what you find.” He hung up the phone. “Come in.”

  A haggard-looking John Summers entered the room as Richard came around the desk, extending his hand. “Senator, I am so sorry about Marilynn. Please accept my condolences.”

  Summers’s jaw tightened, broadcasting the man’s state of mind. “I don’t need your condolences. I want answers. I want to know how this happened.”

  Richard pulled over a chair. “Sit down, John. I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

  The senator balked. “Tell me you had nothing to do with this. Everywhere I turn, I’m getting stonewalled. Just the way you like to operate.”

  A look of shock crossed Richard’s features, an expression he’d cultivated over the years. “I can’t believe you’d think—”

  “Save the innocence for someone who might swallow that bull, Kane. I flew all the way to this godforsaken place to meet you face-to-face. I wanted to look into your eyes when I asked this question. Did you have anything to do with Marilynn’s death?”

  “John, I swear to you, I had nothing to do with her death. I will do everything in my power to find out who did.”

  The senator’s whole body seemed to wilt as he sank into the chair. “Since her mother and I split up years ago, Marilynn was the only family I had left. We’ve had our differences, but I did love her. I had great hopes for her future. And now…this.”

  Richard lowered himself in his chair, letting the man talk.

  “I can’t get any answers. You’d think the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence could get information on his own daughter’s murder. DOJ, FBI, Seattle PD, ATF—they’re all giving me the runaround. I want to know who did this.” He seemed to have run out of energy as he studied Richard across the desktop.

  Gritting his teeth for control, Richard leaned on the desk, clasping both hands together. “We are looking into this because her death is a great blow to our efforts. I, too, had great hopes for your daughter. She was bright, articulate, and filled with drive that would have taken her anywhere.”

  “So what happened?” The senator’s voice softened, his tone almost pleading.

  This was not the senator Richard remembered only a week ago. He was like a beaten man. He would have to monitor Summers more closely. If this man fell apart, all of them would have serious exposure. He might jeopardize everything.

  “John, here is what I just learned from some of my people on the ground. As I suspected, I believe the three deaths—Marilynn’s, Gerrit’s, and the other cop’s, Mark Taylor—are all related.”

  “Who killed my daughter?” The man’s voice sounded hoarse.

  “You remember the last case Marilynn worked on? The Russian mob?”

  The senator nodded.

  “They have found a part of the trigger that set off the explosion in Gerrit’s house. Russian made. And we started picking up other chatter about the dead gang leader’s members. It seems this was clearly retaliation for that gang leader getting killed in San Diego. The shooting Gerrit was involved with just before you met him at the airport in D.C. Marilynn and the others are all tied to this one case.”

  John Summers drew himself up, pointing a finger at Richard. “Find those responsible and take them out. I do not want them to wiggle out of it in court someday. Find them. Kill them.”

  Richard stared back. “If that is what you want, John. Consider it done.”

  Standing up, Summers seemed to gather himself, gaining back composure that eluded him earlier. “Tell me when it is finished. I want to know every detail.”

  Richard nodded and watched the senator turn and exit as if the matter was settled. As his assistant stumbled after the senator toward the elevator, Richard thought back over the whole investigation since Gerrit returned from Vienna. And what do I tell the good senator if Gerrit rises from the dead?

  An encrypted message appeared on his computer. He glanced at the code and sucked in his breath. The message he had been waiting for since the explosion.

  Gerrit is alive. Everything under control. No one is suspicious. Soon, I can hand the whole team over to you. Make sure that money gets to my account.

  Richard stared at the message and saw the coded name that signed off. A slow smile crossed his face. Got you, Gerrit! You and your uncle will soon join the rest of your family beyond the grave. He could not risk having this Lazarus talking to the world. Only death would keep Richard’s secret safe.

  He reached for a phone and dialed a number in Seattle. When a man’s voice came on the line, Richard almost whispered his message. “Make my boy out to be dirty. Then have him killed.”

  “But I thought—”

  “You’re not paid to think. Just obey. Gerrit is alive.” Richard killed the connection.

  Chapter 28

  San Francisco, California

  Gerrit watched the jet taxi into a private hangar like a hawk returning to its nest. Once the engines whined down, Redneck climbed out of the cockpit, lowered the stairs to the ground, and clambered out, marching toward the hangar doors. The giant hit a power switch on the far wall, forcing the door to slowly close.

  As Joe emerged from the cockpit, Gerrit and Alena made their way to the stairway. Willy was already down the stairs before they got to the opening. Gerrit cocked his head. “Where do we go from here?”

  Joe rubbed his jaw. “Willy and I are flying out tonight. We’ll drop Redneck in Chicago on our way home. You,” he looked at Alena before turning back to Gerrit, “stay with Alena while she gets you set up. San Francisco, for now, is your new home.”

  Gerrit caught Joe and Alena sharing a look. “I’ve always liked this city. Never thought I’d settle here, though.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” his uncle said. “In our business, we learn to leave everything at a moment’s notice and start new somewhere else. That’s how we stay alive.”

  “I survive by attacking the enemy. Not hiding somewhere until the war’s over.”

  “If you live long enough, you’ll have plenty of time to fight. Right now, we need to make sure you can survive in this war. That’s what Alena can give you.”

  Gerrit looked at both of them and shrugged. “Fair enough. But I need to be able to move soon, Joe. I’m going after Kane.”

  Joe rested a hand on his shoulder. “I know. And we’ll help you. But we must work together like a team. Otherwise, they divide and conquer.”

  Alena and Joe left the aircraft. Gerrit followed them toward an exit door leading to a small parking lot. Outside, they climbed into a red Toyota Sienna, the van easily accommodating everyone except Redneck. The giant squeezed into the front passenger seat, pushing it all the way back. The man looked uncomfortable. Gerrit slid the van door open, climbed in, and took the backseat, allowing Joe and Alena the middle section. Willy drove, weaving across acres of asphalt before finally leaving the airport and reaching the on-ramp to westbound 380.

  As Gerrit looked back toward the Bay, the sky painted a golden haze as he tried to make out the East Bay Hills. Ahead, the highway abruptly ended, forcing drivers to go either north or south. Willy merged onto northbound 280 until they reached 19th Avenue’s stop-and-go traffic.

  Gerrit leaned forward, watching them approach Golden Gate Park. “What part of the city are we headed for?”

  Alena smiled back
at him. “Remember the Haight-Ashbury?”

  He nodded, watching Willy cut off a car as he punched the accelerator, swerving across two lanes of traffic to get to the right-hand turn lane.

  “I have a place near The Panhandle. I commute to…where I do my job.”

  “And what is that?”

  “I repair old books and documents.”

  Joe leaned back. “She is also very good at creating documents—like driver’s licenses, passports, whatever we need. She’s an artist.”

  Gerrit raised an eyebrow. “And where did you develop these skills?”

  Alena looked away. “In a past life.”

  Midway down The Panhandle, Willy pulled over and parked in front of a fire hydrant. “You guys bail out here and I’ll go find a parking space. Hope I can find one between here and the Golden Gate Bridge.”

  “Always whining,” Redneck said, peeling himself out of the car. He stood and stretched. “Try not to get lost, Buckwheat.”

  Willy stuck his head out the window. “Don’t call me that, Hillbilly. This is my town. I know every inch of this city. Only hicks like you get lost.”

  Alena stepped forward. “Hey, settle down you two. This is my neighborhood. Try to keep it to a dull roar.”

  Gerrit watched the exchange between Willy and Redneck, with Alena intervening like some kind of mother hen. Joe looked on in bemusement. As Willy drove off, Gerrit wondered how this oddly matched group ever got anything done. They would be matching wits with people like Richard Kane, Senator Summers, and those working in the shadows. How could Joe have any confidence in this crew?

  Gerrit shook his head as he followed them toward a white Victorian, metal bars across the first-level windows. Alena looked at him. “This is home, Gerrit. At least for now.”

  “And where do you work?”

  “Down near the water. I’ve got a place along the Embarcadero. Take you there in the morning.”

  She climbed broad steps leading to the front door, wooden stairs painted the color of naval ships. The building, however, was brightly painted in an off-white, with windows, cornices, and trim delicately etched in muted reds, sea green, and dark blues, like a painting where the artist fills in shadows and darkness to bring forward the lighter sections. At the top of the stairway, under a deeply recessed overhang, three doors led to individual entryways for each level of the building.

  Alena opened the door on the left, leading to the ground floor, and gestured them inside. Speaking to Gerrit, she said, “I have this floor, and the landlord leases the other two floors to others—very quiet, very considerate neighbors.” She eyed Redneck for emphasis. “Very quiet.”

  Redneck shrugged and lumbered inside. All three gathered in a sitting room off to the right, which overlooked the park.

  “Make yourselves comfortable,” she said, heading for the kitchen. “I’ll start some tea for anyone who might want some.”

  Redneck grimaced. “You know I never touch the stuff, Al. Got a beer?”

  Gerrit looked at Alena, silently mouthing the name Al. He raised his eyebrows.

  “Redneck and Willy shorten everyone’s name. Willy started it, and now Redneck has picked it up. They call me Al.” She gave the giant a look that made Redneck grin. “And he affectionately calls Willy Pea brain—although, come to think of it, that really does not shorten anything.”

  The big man eased himself into a wicker chair, his weight causing the furniture to threaten to collapse. “Pea brain just seems to fit. And besides, he hates it.”

  Alena looked at Gerrit. “Willy already started calling you Mr. G, so I guess that will be your handle.”

  Redneck shifted and one of the strands of the chair snapped in two. He bent over to see the damage. “I think I’ll call this guy Einstein. We know his history and his partner…” The man stopped speaking and grimaced. “Sorry, man. We picked that up when we were tailing you.”

  “Mark was a good man,” Gerrit said, feeling tension suddenly fill the room. “Maybe with your help I can find who did this to him—and Marilynn. Just get me the names and I can take it from there. I’m no longer a cop. I left that behind when they killed my friends and destroyed my home.”

  Joe watched them as he stood near the window. “This is not about vengeance, Gerrit. Whatever we find, we turn over to the proper authorities—those we can trust. We’re not a group of vigilantes.”

  They heard footsteps outside as someone bounded up the stairs. Redneck gingerly pulled himself out of the chair. “That must be Pea brain. I’ll let him in.” They heard the two men bantering as Redneck unlocked the door.

  Willy came over and sat near Gerrit. “Al, I almost drove down to your place on the Embarcadero before I found a parking spot. How do you manage around here?”

  “Easy. Take a taxi, a bus, or walk.”

  Joe walked toward them, drawing a chair with him. “Let’s get started. Willie, Redneck, and I need to get back to the airport in a few hours. The faster we cover what has to be done, the faster we can be on our way.”

  Joe started to sit down, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Gerrit watched his uncle use his thumb to navigate the phone, apparently searching for a text message that just came in. As he read the message, a worried expression crossed his face.

  “Another problem. Someone started checking into my background—again.”

  Redneck leaned forward. “You mean the stuff back in Chicago?”

  Joe shook his head. “I mean everything. They’re searching phone records, police records, the whole nine yards. Gerrit, they’re looking at the records around the time your parents were killed and comparing them to the attempt on your life this week.”

  Gerrit found his throat tightened. “What are they looking for?”

  Joe raised his eyes and looked directly at him. “I think they’re looking for you. Someone must think you’re still alive. And they are hunting for both of us.”

  Placing the phone back into his pocket, Joe looked at each worried face in the room. “We have got to move fast. We have to make Gerrit disappear.”

  Chapter 29

  Joe hunched forward, looking from one to the other. “This is primarily for Gerrit’s benefit, but the rest of you…jump in with any questions or comments.” They nodded, letting the older man speak.

  He turned to Gerrit. “These people never give up, son. They’ll keep coming until they track down all of us— unless we can thwart their search. So far, Willy and I have been able to hurl digital chaff into the mix, sending their search engines off following dead ends. Where we’re vulnerable—like this search right now—is if they find physical and digital links between us and those who have helped us.”

  The others silently nodded.

  “If they make those connections, they’ll have a fixed location from which to launch intensified surveillance. I mean the kind of surveillance that has never been used on us before.” He pointed at Gerrit. “I’ll get into that later, or Alena will teach you. These people will torture and eliminate anyone getting in their way.”

  “You mean like they tried with me last week?”

  Joe nodded. “And like they did with your partner and Marilynn…and your folks seven years ago. Like they tried with me.”

  Gerrit felt the old pangs of anger and loss rise to the surface again. “How do they get away with it?”

  “The big three—money, power, and influence. With those tools, they believe they are impervious.”

  “How do you propose to fight them?”

  Joe looked at the others before answering. “One battle at a time. First, we identify those who can be identified—like Kane. We focus our attention on that person—just like they do to us—and watch and wait for him to make a mistake.”

  “So how do we get to Kane?”

  “We let him do that for us. Every move he makes, every communication he generates, gives us connections to follow. For example, we suspect Kane is behind the bombing of your house and the deaths of Marilynn
, your partner, and Adleman in Vienna. Now, we work with others to prove it.”

  “Others? Like who?”

  Joe leaned back. “Hey, guys, I need to speak to Gerrit alone. About how we compartmentalize everything. You mind?”

  Alena rose. “Come on. I’ll make something to snack on. Wouldn’t want Redneck to waste away to nothing.”

  Willy grinned. “It’s all fat anyway. He can afford to lose a few pounds.”

  Redneck smirked. “I could go without eating for a year and still have more meat on my bones than you’ll ever have on that sorry excuse of a body you carry around. Your legs are smaller than toothpicks, and your arms…what an embarrassment. How do you get any chicks with that pathetic body?”

  “I attract them with my intelligence, Hillbilly. Something you’ll never have.” Their voices trailed off as they walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, bickering nonstop.

  “You sure they like each other?” Gerrit asked, listening to the last of their conversation.

  “Yeah, but they’ll never admit it.” Joe chuckled. “They’ve both changed. I mean, if you knew Redneck and Willy just a few years ago, they would have pulled guns on each other—not sit down and try to work together.”

  “You call that working together?”

  Joe’s expression seemed to shift, a look of concern in his eyes. “I needed to talk to you alone, Gerrit. In case something happens to me.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought you had everything under control.”

  His uncle shook his head. “Never get complacent. We’re at war. People get hurt—even die—in this type of combat. Just like your experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. Only this is a quieter conflict, but just as deadly. Like you experienced last week. No rules. No prisoners taken—at least for very long.”

  “Why are you telling me all this, Joe?”

  “If they put me out of commission, I need you to take over. I need you to keep this team safe and functioning.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? I haven’t even figured out how we fight this war yet.”