The Hermetrius Conspiracy

by J. D. German

  “Hello, Tom? This is Jack.”

  “Jack. I’m glad you called. I need to update you on the situation here. Are you encrypted?”

  “Yes.”

  “Someone tried to plant a bomb under my car. I use the latest monitoring sensors to detect any suspicious activity around my property and car, and early this morning my phone alerted me that someone was messing with my wheels. Rather than confronting them, I watched as they attached a bomb under the chassis, then I went out later and disarmed it. It wasn’t anything sophisticated, just a simple home-made device that police would attribute to some terrorist group. They also planted a tracking device and a cell phone trigger mechanism, so apparently they wanted to wait until I drove the car out somewhere before they set it off through the cell phone.”

  “So what’s the status now?”

  “I disconnected the cell phone trigger and drove the car around for awhile. When I stopped in a shopping mall parking lot, the phone rang. No one was nearby, but if the bomb had gone off several cars would have been damaged.”

  “How will you protect yourself from another attempt, Tom?”

  “I’ve taken a leave of absence from work and moved my family to my sister’s house in Wisconsin. I’ll stay here at our house and take my chances. My best chance to get a lead on these guys is to be the bait.”

  “I have an idea to talk over with you. I need to get a look at the file folder you planted at Energy Resources. The way I got the number from my planted file was to break back into Silicon Systems to get a look at the contract file. I really need the offshore account number from the file you planted, Tom.”

  “Hey, I’m no dummy. I can put two and two together. You want me to break back into Energy Resources and get the account number for you.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was hoping for. You wouldn’t have to go in alone – I’ll go with you.”

  “If it will expose whoever is behind this, I’m in, Jack. But you stay home. If you get caught you’re the only one who knows what this is about and we can’t risk that. Energy Resources is a pretty small company with weak security, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get into. Give me a day or two to plan it and I’ll call you back.”

  “Thanks, Tom. You were my last hope on this.”

  #

  Jack’s stomach rumbled and he realized that Lynn was probably leaving him on his own for lunch. So he headed downstairs to find something in the fridge and see if Lynn had cooled off yet.

  He got the silent treatment as he rummaged through the refrigerator for the makings of a sandwich. He took the sandwich and a beer and sat down across from Lynn.

  “It’s not that I want to keep secrets from you, Lynn, but if I tell you the whole story, you will be in even more danger than you are now. I’m just trying to protect you from these people.”

  Now she was bristling again. “What makes you think I need protection?… Are you a good shot, Jack?”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty good.”

  ‘O.K., go get your Walther PPK and meet me out back. We’ll see who needs protection.”

  By the time Jack got out in the back yard Lynn had some targets tacked up on trees. And they weren’t bulls eye targets, they were human silhouettes with small scoring rings on the head, the heart, both shoulders, the knees, and a hand holding a gun.

  “You first, Jack. Start with the one on the left. Seven shots, one at each scoring circle.”

  Jack emptied his Walther at a steady pace, putting bullets in all seven scoring rings. Lynn stepped up using her 9 mm Glock and did the same to the target on the right. They walked up and compared hits. Lynn’s were all within a half-inch of being dead center, while Jack’s were all off by an inch or so. Lynn gave him a dirty look.

  “O.K. Now let’s do rapid fire. Five seconds to empty your clip. Here’s the stop watch. I’ll go first this time.”

  BAM, BAM, BAM … seven shots in 4.2 seconds. “Your turn.”

  Jack got his seven shots off in 4.8 seconds.

  When they compared hits Jack’s were all a little off again.

  “You bastard. You let me win! And here I was thinking about letting you win so I wouldn’t bruise your ego. Let’s go at it one more time, all out. The best we can do. Loser makes supper.”

  Jack went into his crouching stance and fired off seven rounds in just under four seconds.

  Lynn took a profile stance and repeated her 4.2 second performance. They went up to the targets to compare accuracy.

  “Damn, Jack. All yours are less than a quarter-inch off center. I did a little better than before, but you’re the best shot.”

  “Lynn, if you miss by half an inch, you haven’t missed what you were shooting at. The effect on the body will be the same as a dead center hit. So what’s for supper?”

  “You won, you get to choose.”

  “Can you fry chicken?”

  “Damn, there you go insulting me again. I’m from mountain country West Virginia, what do you think? I can wring their necks, pluck ‘em, gut ‘em, and fry ‘em up.”

  #

  Over dinner, Jack started at the beginning of his story, leaving only a few things out. He thought when he told her about the dead agents and his close calls she would tell him to leave. He should have known better.

  “A couple of question, Jack. Do they know you’re here with me?”

  “No, I got free of them when I left San Jose. I kept doubling back and checking all the way to Colorado, and I’m clean.”

  “Is there any way they can find out where you are? Like trace your computer IP address or cell phone?”

  “No, I have a dozen screen names and IP addresses, all of them hijacked from real people and Government agencies. They would go nuts trying to find me that way. As for the cell phone, I have a box full of prepaid burner phones, with no name or address attached to the phone number. They’re untraceable.”

  “I feel safer already. Do they have any reason to know that I exist and know you?”

  “I don’t think so. They may have been eaves dropping on my emails before I ran them off from my cabin, but none of our first couple of emails gave anything away about you. After that, I was travelling when we exchanged our other emails so they couldn’t have seen those. ”

  “So where do we stand now, Jack? Any luck with those other two companies?”

  “I have one of the other agents helping me out on the company he planted a file in, but the other agent is a dead end – literally. The agent was killed in a boating accident in Nassau yesterday.”

  “Would he have a copy of the planted file at his home?”

  “No, these operations were classified, so he wouldn’t have kept a record.”

  Lynn paused. “Did you keep paperwork on of any of your classified missions?”

  “Well … I did on some of them. Most of the agents keep a private CYA file – cover your ass file – in case the agency tries to pin the blame on them for mission failures … So maybe Foreman does have a copy of the planted file at his home! I need to go there and look for it.”

  “When do you need to leave, Jack? Can you stay a few more days?”

  “No, I have to leave tomorrow. His wife has to stay in Nassau until the autopsy is finished, and I need to get to Foremen’s home in Fredericksburg, Virginia before she gets back.”

  Lynn’s face fell with disappointment, but Jack was so excited about the opportunity to look for Foreman’s CYA file that he didn’t notice.

  “So we’re pretty close to putting the plot together, but what do we do then?”

  “Once I leave there won’t be a we, Lynn. I have to do it on my own. If they catch you they’ll use that as leverage to get me to surrender.”

  “O.K., what will YOU do next?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, but I don’t have an answer yet. The key to this is Hermetrius, and he could be anyone inside or outside the Government. I’ll know more if I can get the name on the MTX account at Foreman’s place.”

  “What if yo
u just made all we know public?”

  “Since I only have the Silicon Systems file in hand, it would be easy for them to destroy the other deposit evidence, including the offshore accounts, as soon as someone gets wind of what we know. They know about my break-in to get that file, so they would just claim I added the last page and, with no corporate file left to prove what we say, we’d have nothing to support our claims. It’s a tough problem.”

  “Well, let’s get our minds off the problem for now. How about a glass of wine in front of the fire, Jack?”

  Jack remembers the kiss last night and doesn’t want to go there again tonight.

  “I shouldn’t, but that fire looks so inviting. Let’s do it.”

  Lynn remember the kiss and hopes they have a rerun tonight. “I’ll get the wine and glasses.”

  They sat in front of the fire and talked for a time.

  “Tell me, Jack, after all this is over what do you see yourself doing?”

  “Well, if I’m not dead or in prison, I’ll probably go back to my cabin in the mountains.”

  “After all this excitement, do you think you could go back to just sitting on the front porch?”

  “Maybe not. This is the first time I’ve ventured out of my cocoon since I retired. And I kind of like it. How about you? What are your plans?”

  “I think I’ll be a spy. I love this stuff.”

  #

  Back at Blackworth Security George Jenkins was having a conference call with his men out in Colorado.

  “Have you found the woman we’re looking for yet?

  “Nothing so far.” Frank told him. “But we’re near the end of the list of women named Lynn Martin, so it should only be a couple more days.”

  “How sure are you that you haven’t missed her? That she’s on the list of those you already talked to?”

  “Of course we can’t be sure, but we are actually going to their homes and talking face-to-face with the women. We tell them we’re from the Census Bureau and need to clear up some information in our records. We’re looking for some non-verbal response that would indicate she’s hiding something. We’re also looking for Preston’s vehicle parked at their homes.”

  “Look! Our client on this project is really putting the pressure on me. I need an answer … soon.”

  Chapter 21

  When Jack woke up it was snowing lightly. The weather report said heavier stuff would follow. Jack went down to the kitchen and started the coffee. He turned on the news channel to see if there was anything he should be concerned about, but it was mostly about the presidential candidates. The republicans had another debate last night and the talking heads on the news were adding their biased comments about who came out ahead. Usually this didn’t interest Jack, but now he needed to keep track of who the front runners were. There was a large field of candidates and the voter approval ratings were changing every day, so it was still a little early to guess who would float to the top as the primary elections drew near.

  “Good morning, Jack. Did you sleep well?”

  Jack turned to look at Lynn and saw she was still in her nightgown. It was nothing revealing – just a full-length flannel granny gown with butterflies on it – but it caused a stir in Jack’s mind. He could almost imagine what she would look like without it.

  “I did. Did you have sweet dreams?”

  “Yes I did.”

  “What were they about?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know. You’ve got secrets and I’ve got secrets, and last night’s dreams are my secret.”

  “Now you have my imagination working overtime.”

  “Then I had better put some clothes on. After that I’ll fix breakfast.

  #

  After breakfast Lynn and Jack took their coffee into the living room. As they sat down a black car pulled up in front of the house. Two men got out. One walked toward the door and the other was taking a hard look at the garage.

  Jack went into action. “This is not good, Lynn. Dump our coffee in the sink, hang the cups back on the rack, and look like you’re washing the dishes.”

  “What’s going on, Jack!”

  “Later! Right now they can’t know I’m here. You’re here alone and never heard of me. I’ll go hide in the bathroom.”

  She dumped the coffee, threw a dishtowel over her shoulder, and waited for the door bell to ring. She let it ring twice and shouted “Just a minute” and told O’Malley to stay in the kitchen.

  She opened the door a crack and said “Yes?”

  A young man with a clipboard held an I.D. card up to her face said “I’m from the U.S. Census Bureau, ma’am. We’re following up on last spring’s census and I have a couple of questions to ask you. May I come in?”

  “No, my dog Jasper hates men. I think it started when my husband ran off.”

  As if right on cue O’Malley came tearing out of the kitchen and up to the front door barking ferociously. Lynn slipped outside and closed the door behind her. “What do you need to know?”

  “Well, the census surveyor left some things blank when he visited you, and I need to fill them in.”

  Lynn thought ‘He’s lying, I used the mail-in census. But I’d better play along.’

  “Like what.”

  “I need your place of birth, how long you have lived at this address, and your maiden name.”

  “I don’t see any reason why the Government needs that information just to count heads, but I was born in Colorado Springs. I’ve lived at this address for the past three years, and my maiden name is Phillips. Is that everything?”

  “Yes, I believe that takes care of it. Thank you ma’am.”

  Jack came out and watched them drive back toward Telluride. Then he looked out the back window to see if there was anyone else out there. After he was satisfied he went back into the living room to face Lynn.

  “What the hell is going here, Jack? Who were those people and what did they want. They seemed awfully anxious to get into my house.”

  “This all started when I stumbled on a surveillance team that was watching my cabin. I got rid of them but they followed me when I drove to Washington D.C. to investigate the loose end. They set up a trap to make it look like I committed a crime. I found some new information there and managed to lose them as I headed west. For some reason, I’ve become very important to them, and they’re trying very hard to find me.”

  “So how did I get in the picture, Jack?”

  “It’s possible they were intercepting my emails at the cabin and got your name from the first couple of emails you sent. The only other information in the emails was that you lived in the Rocky Mountains. They have no idea I’m staying here, but since I left them no leads at all, they must have decided I might try to contact you. If I were them I’d be looking at everyone named Lynn Martin in the rocky mountain area, but there are bound to be several other women with that name in the area. I guess they came up with this census trick to check them all out, mainly looking for evidence that I might be staying with one of them. . . Wait! They must also have your maiden name from your second email, and it’s not likely that there’s anyone else named Lynn Spence Martin in the area.”

  “No, I haven’t used my maiden name since I got married. I sign everything Lynn Martin. And I told them my maiden name was Phillips.”

  “That will make it harder for them, but as badly as they seem to want me, they’ll keep investigating all the Lynn Martins. You’re the only hope they have.”

  “Jack, who the hell do you think you are getting me caught up in this! Why did you lie to me – again! I was starting to warm up to you, but this is too much. I want you out of here … today!”

  “You’re right, and I’m really sorry. I knew I had gotten away but I didn’t think of the possibility that they would try to locate you.”

  “Am I in danger, Jack?”

  “Probably not, but I can’t be sure. Once they go through all the Lynn Martins in the Rockies, they will probably prioritize the list and s
tart double checking. And since you didn’t let them in, you’re probably high on the list for checking more closely.”

  “That’s just great!!”

  Jack looked for a way to defuse her anger so they could talk rationally about their situation.

  “By the way, you were really good at putting off the guy at the door. You gave him nothing to go on. Did you train O’Malley to come at a stranger like that?”

  “Yes. He’s trained to do that whenever I call him Jasper. When he hears that name he starts barking and runs to my side looking mean. But quit trying to change the subject.”

  “Lynn, we need to make some decisions – quickly – and I need you to be calm and rational for that.”

  “O.K. So whoever is after you is now after me, too? I still want you to leave, but not right now. When you think it’s safe for me, then you can go.”

  “Well, the best thing for me to do is sneak out of here and let them see me somewhere else. But if they even suspect I might have told you any of this, you’re in as much danger as I am.”

  “Well shit, Jack! What are we going to do now.”

  “Have you got somewhere away from here you can go that they can’t connect with you?”

  “No. And in spite of what I said, I don’t want you out of here … at least not without taking me along.”

  “That may be our only choice – for us to leave here and find somewhere else to hole up for awhile.”

  “Good. I need a road trip. Where are we going?”

  As soon as I hear back from Tom about the last bank account we’ll have a better picture of what we can do next.”

  “Who’s Tom?”

  “He’s one of the five other agents who exchanged some files. Tom’s target was Energy Resources. He’s going to sneak into the company tonight and get the offshore account number from their contracting records.”

  “That’s risky, Jack. What if they’re waiting for him.”

  “It’s a risk Tom is willing to take. The people who are after us, the bad guys, planted a bomb on his car. He disabled it and found out that it would have blown up when he stopped at a shopping mall.

  “Oh my god, Jack! That’s terrible! People could have been killed. What if he had his family with him.”

  “Tom believes they were tracking him, maybe from the air, and chose that spot because no one else was around.”

  “Why would they do such a thing!”