by Mark Goodwin
The man threw the Constitution on the ground and pointed his finger in Isaiah’s face. “You’re a freakin’ smart aleck. I’ll make sure you’re first in line when we start locking people up. You have ten minutes to clear out, or you’re all going to jail.”
Cobb grabbed Noah. “We need to get you out of here. Tell Cassie to get her things.”
Noah shouted. “No! I’m not going anywhere!”
Cobb said, “Noah, if you’re arrested, they’ll revoke your bond. I might not be able to get you back out. You’ve got a lot of momentum going, and we need you to be free so you can fight this.”
Pastor Mike backed him up. “Listen to him, Noah. You go on and get out of here. We’ll hold down the fort.”
Cassie walked up with her jacket in her arm.
Isaiah nodded. “Noah, go home. Let us take over. Cassie, in my kitchen, I have the combination to my safe taped underneath my silverware tray. It’s in the drawer next to the sink. The safe is in my bedroom closet. If we get locked up, bail Pastor Mike and me out with the money in the safe.”
“Okay,” she said.
Cobb escorted Noah and Cassie through the crowd. “Gregory knows you’re trying to get him fired, so you need to not give him a reason to arrest you today.”
Noah and Cassie walked to their car in the adjacent parking lot. The shouts from the crowd grew louder, and the deputies yelled over the bullhorn. “Disperse. This is an unlawful assembly.”
As they drove away, they saw two protestors lying face down in the courthouse lawn being handcuffed.
Noah shook his head. “This is bad.”
Cassie put her hand on his leg. “This is necessary!”
CHAPTER 17
Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.
Luke 21:21-22
Noah paced back and forth as he watched the scenes of Isaiah and Pastor Mike being arrested play over and over on the local news channels.
Cassie came back in the room. “Tom said they still haven’t been processed in. He can’t do anything until they show up in the system.”
Noah turned to face her. “Maybe we should go ahead and get Isaiah’s money from his safe.”
“We don’t know how much to take out.”
Noah rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. “Disturbing the peace. It couldn’t be more than ten grand each.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Unless they get assault on an officer and resisting arrest tacked on.”
Noah grabbed his keys. “That’s true, but if we know where the safe is and figure out how to open it, we’ll be that much closer to being ready when we get the call.”
Cassie’s phone rang. “Hello?”
Noah went to put some food in the bowl for Sox while Cassie was on the phone. He looked at Buster’s bag of food, which was still in the closet beside Sox’s. The pang of sorrow hit him again. He sighed. It would be a long time before he completely got over losing Buster. Sox came into the room at the sound of the cat food container. The cat seemed to know the pain Noah was feeling and rubbed his leg before he started eating.
Noah scratched Sox behind the ear while he ate. “We’re going to get through this, Sox. We’ll get Lacy back, and we’ll be a family again.”
Cassie walked into the room. “I’m ready to go.”
Noah got up and headed toward the door. “Who was that?”
“Sharon Beck.”
“Is Lacy okay?” Noah asked.
Cassie followed Noah to the car. “Lacy’s fine. Sharon is a mess. She just saw Isaiah getting locked up on television. It really took her off guard. She wanted to make sure something was being done to get him out. I promised that I’d keep her updated. If you ask me, there is something more than just a platonic, friendly concern.”
Noah shut the door and started the car. “Oh yeah? You think something is goin’ on between the two of them?”
Cassie smiled. “I don’t know about Isaiah, but judging by the way Sharon acts, I’d say she has a crush on him.”
They arrived at Isaiah’s and found his safe. Noah opened it. “Nice gun collection!”
Cassie said, “Wow! What’s this?”
Noah picked up the box on the top shelf. “Don’t play with his guns.”
Cassie didn’t listen. She picked up the first battle rifle in the safe. “HK, this is cool!”
Noah shook his head as he opened the top box. “No money in here.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Look.” Noah held up several gold coins in plastic sleeves. “Somebody else believes precious metals are a good thing to have around.”
Cassie put the HK rifle back in the safe and took out an AK-47. “What do you think about this one?”
“I think you need to focus on what we came here for.” Noah looked in the box below the one with the coins.
Cassie put the AK back and took out the Armalite AR-10. “This is what I need.”
Noah pulled out a stack of fifty-dollar bills. “It looks just like the rifle you just bought.”
Cassie put it back. “No, this one is chambered in .308.”
Noah counted through the bills. “I’ll take $5,000 for now; we’ll come back if we need to.”
Cassie closed the safe and spun the combination dial to make sure it was locked.
On the way home, Cassie called Tom to see if there had been any progress on bailing out Isaiah and Pastor Mike.
After she hung up, Noah asked, “What did he say?”
“No news yet. He said over fifty people were arrested, so it could be late tonight by the time everyone is processed in.”
They went home and waited patiently by the phone. They fell asleep on the couch watching the eleven o’clock news.
At 1:30 AM, Cassie’s phone rang. “Okay, we’ll meet you there.”
Noah rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Are they out?”
“We have to meet Tom at the jail with the money and sign some papers.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” Noah said.
Cassie called Sharon during the ride to the jail. “They should be out within the hour.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Cassie said.
“Great, see you then.” Cassie hung up.
Noah glanced over at his wife. “What did Sharon have to say?”
Cassie said, “She thinks they’ll be hungry when they get out. She’s going over to the Kettle and opening it up, just for them. She wants us to bring them by there. Lacy will be there.”
Noah yawned. “Alright.”
Cassie tussled his hair. “You can have some coffee when we get to the Kettle.”
Noah laughed. “Then I’ll never get back to sleep.”
Two hours later Noah and Cassie were in a booth at the Country Kettle with Lacy, Pastor Mike, and Isaiah.
Pastor Mike ran his fingers through his hair. “What an experience!”
Noah said, “Jail is a nice place, isn’t it?”
Isaiah said, “Thanks for picking us up.”
Noah nodded. “I think I owed you a jail pickup.”
Lynn Barnes showed up at the Kettle. Pastor Mike stood up to hug his wife, and they embraced for several minutes.
Shortly thereafter, Sharon came to the table with a plate of roast beef, a bowl of mash potatoes, a bowl of gravy, broccoli casserole, and warm rolls. “I hope y’all don’t mind eating family style.”
When Sharon squeezed into the booth next to Isaiah, Cassie shot Noah a look that said I told you so.
Pastor Mike said a quick prayer, and they all filled their plates.
After dinner, they talked about the protest, the trial, and how terrible things had become.
***
Noah awoke from a deep sleep Tuesday morning, just after nine o’clock. His phone was ringing. By the time he got to it, he’d missed the call.
“Jim. I better call h
im back.” Noah pressed the number, and the phone began to ring.
“Noah.”
“Hey Jim. Sorry I missed your call. What’s happening?”
“You sound tired. Did I wake you up?” Jim asked.
Noah stretched his free arm. “Late night. It was almost five when we went to bed. We took Isaiah and Pastor Mike over to the Kettle after we bailed them out.”
“Go back to sleep; I can tell you later.”
Noah said, “I’m up. We’ve got stuff to do today. Tell me what’s going on.”
“The county commissioners held an emergency meeting this morning. They took a vote and are unanimously asking Sherriff Gregory to step down.”
Noah lit up at the news. “That’s fantastic!”
“They’ve asked me to be the interim Sherriff,” Jim said.
“No kidding!”
“Yep, Gregory is supposed to be out of the office by noon. I want to do some house cleaning. Do you have Elliot’s number? I’d like him to help me decide who stays and who goes. Needless to say, the charges against everyone for disturbing the peace will be dropped. The charges you got for resisting and assault will be dropped also. Sorry I can’t do anything about the Community Core charges; those are with the state.”
Noah nudged Cassie to wake her up. “Thanks so much, Jim. That is absolutely great!”
“I guess your protest did the trick. I took the petitions by early this morning, but I think they’d already made up their minds. Most of the county commissioners have some type of business interest tied to local tourism. National news coverage of jack-booted thugs pushing around citizens in front of the Sevier County Courthouse didn’t go over well at all.”
Noah beamed over the news. “I can’t thank you enough for all of your help, Jim.”
“Don’t thank me; you did most of the work. But it’s like Pastor Mike said, we’re all in this together. The war ain’t over, but this battle was a major victory.”
“Talk to you soon.” Noah hung up and tried once more to rouse Cassie.
“Baby, wake up.” It was a vain effort. Cassie was dead to the world.
Noah kissed her on the back of the neck and relented to let her sleep. He went to the kitchen, fed the cat, and started a pot of coffee. Once the coffee was ready, he poured a cup, sat quietly at the kitchen table, and took a few minutes to be thankful for God’s help in the protest. He opened his Bible to Psalms 9 and started reading to himself.
“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you. For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.”
CHAPTER 18
It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.
Henry Ford
Everett Carroll headed out to the cabin after work Friday evening. He let himself in, as Jones’s condition was deteriorating. “I stopped by McGuire’s on the way out here and picked up something to go. I didn’t think you’d be hungry, so I didn’t bother to get you anything. However, I bought myself two orders of the seafood pasta. I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach, so if you want one of them, help yourself,” Everett said with a wink.
Jones winked back. “You’re right. I’m not hungry, but I hate to see food go to waste. You might as well get me a plate out of the cupboard, too.”
Everett laughed as he took out two plates and silverware to place on the table. “I brought your data card.”
Agent Jones now kept the tubes from his oxygen tank attached to his nose at all times. He rolled the tank over to the table and sat down. “Let’s see it. And hand me that tin on the top shelf over the coffee cups.”
Everett handed Jones the tin and a nickel from his pocket. Jones took a small tool in the shape of a ring from the tin. He placed the coin face up on top of the ring. He slammed the ring against the table two times, and the bottom dropped out of the nickel, revealing a secret compartment that held a micro SD card.
Everett chuckled. “I can’t believe they still fall for that. You say it’s been around since the Cold War?”
Jones inspected the SD card. “Yeah, and data storage technology has grown by leaps and bounds since then. The security guards who check you in and out at IT aren’t well trained at all. They’re essentially glorified TSA agents. They don’t know what to look for. Can you bring my laptop over here? I hate to make your dinner get cold, but I’m curious to see what we’ve got here.”
Everett went to the living room to retrieve the laptop. “Trust me; dinner was cold a long time ago.”
Jones stuck the SD card in the adapter and plugged it into the USB port. The files were in an encrypted folder and a password-protected zipped file. He opened the encryption program, and then extracted the compressed files. “They could have never fit four days’ worth of DHDBs in a nickel during the Cold War.”
DHDBs were Department Head Daily Briefings. They aggregated all pertinent intelligence and information. Each day, the DHDBs were passed to each department head within the intelligence community. The amount of data contained in one daily briefing was astounding. It was sifted through each day to distill down the Presidential Daily Briefing, or PDB. The PDB went to the president, first thing each morning.
Jones selected the folder containing the raw financial data. “The Chinese are dumping their US debt.”
Everett stuck the plates of food in the microwave. “Is it in retaliation for the attack on the BRICS bank?”
Jones shook his head. “No. It’s a heavy dump, but they are doing it in a way that the market can absorb. The dollar is up because of everyone looking for safe havens after the real, rand, and rupee fell off the cliff. I think the Chinese are taking advantage of the brief surge, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have something else up their sleeve.
“It’s also possible that China has intelligence on a retaliatory attack planned by Russia. Whatever it is, they’re getting out of US debt as fast as they can without tipping their hand to what they’re doing.”
Everett rubbed his brow. “Once the capital from the failing currencies dries up, do you think the Chinese will keep selling US Treasuries at this rate?”
Jones looked up from the computer. “If they do, we’ll know a major economic event is on the horizon.”
Everett took the food from the microwave and placed it on the table. “I can stop by Monday with the latest set of briefings if you’re going to be up here.”
“You’re a young man. I’m sure you have better things to do than run up and down the road every day.” Jones took a bite of the pasta.
Everett dropped his eyebrows and put his hand over his open mouth. “You’re right! If I miss an episode of the Kardashians, I’ll be a social outcast! And what about my gaming skills? The talents one acquires playing video games are highly perishable. As they say, use it or lose it. Even so, I can squeeze in a few evenings to keep up with the events that are likely to put an end to the world as we know it.”
Jones fought back a smile. “Suit yourself.”
The two ate quietly for several minutes.
Jones was first to break the silence. “People still watch the Kardashians?”
Everett chuckled and shook his head. “No. I was just trying to be relatable.”
Jones faked a look of anger. “You calling me old? ’Cause I’m not. I could take you.”
After dinner, Jones combed through more of the files. “Are you still monitoring those cryptocurrency accounts?”
Everett cleaned up the dishes. “I am. Not
much action. It’s like you said; the account holders have been buying some gold and silver, but nothing significant. The Darkcoin accounts are completely blacked out. I can’t trace any activity after the initial purchase, even using the black-box code you gave me to access Dragon. I thought Dragon was omniscient concerning events that occurred on the Web.”
Jones adjusted his glasses. “Darkcoin popped up right when the NSA began construction on the Utah facility. It may have been developed by insiders who purposely designed it for themselves to circumvent Dragon, or so they would have a marketable product for those wanting to transact outside of the all-seeing eye of Dragon.”
“Should I open a Darkcoin account?” Everett gave his full attention to Jones.
Jones tilted his head from side to side. “It could work either way. Someone is probably monitoring Darkcoin transactions. You could meet the man who designed the program. He could be your best friend and explain all about how anonymous it is. But at the end of the day, he might be CIA deep cover looking for rogue agents, he may be Russian intelligence, or it could be a program developed by China, meant to entrap US intelligence actors. If you decide to open an account, keep it small, use heavy identification cloaking measures, and only use it when you have no other choice.”
“Is now a good time to buy more gold and silver? Gold closed below $2000 today, and silver is down by more than fifty percent since its high, two weeks ago.”
Jones nodded. “I think so. I believe we’re getting close to the end of the line. Keep some cash on hand, though. Right before it all blows up, we’ll see the stars align. Those cryptocurrency accounts you’re watching will all start moving into gold, and we’ll see the supplies of gold and silver dry up. We’ll also see stock prices surge and hear rhetoric out of Washington that things have never been better.”
Everett sat back down at the table. “If the supplies are going to dry up, why should I keep cash around?”