by David Archer
"You know Kenzie is going to be pretty upset about this," Indie said, after getting off the phone with her mother.
"Why would she be upset?" Sam asked, his eyes wide as he looked at his wife. "If there's one thing she enjoys doing, it's hanging out with her grandmothers. Good grief, they spend more money on her than they do on themselves! She makes out like a bandit every time she gets near them."
"Yeah, well, it won't take her long to realize that her trip to the cabin means Daddy's got himself in some kind of trouble again. You know she hates it when you put yourself in danger; she's scared to death you're going to get killed! And frankly, her mother feels exactly the same way!"
Sam shook his head. "So we make this an adventure for her," he said. "We don't let on that there's any problem, we simply say that you four girls are going on a camping trip in the mountains while I'm getting some paperwork done. That way, it won't be such a big deal."
Indie looked at him from the corner of her eye, and Sam could tell that she wasn't going to go along with him on this. "She's a child, Sam," Indie said, "but she isn't stupid. One of these days you're going to figure that out, and I hope it comes fairly soon. If you try to tell her that this is just a random camping trip to the cabin, and that you're only doing something simple like paperwork but it's keeping you from coming along, she'll see through you as if you were glass. You're not going to fool her like this, trust me."
"Well, what do you want me to say? 'Gee, honey, Daddy's sorry but there's a crazy man who used to be a soldier and Daddy has to go catch him for Uncle Harry.' You think that'll work? Will that be any better?"
"Of course it won't be better, but at least it would be honest! Sam, you've got to respect her, or she'll lose all respect for you! You've got to talk to her as if you expect her to understand, and then she will. As long as you treat her like a person, she’ll accept anything you have to do or say, but if you start trying to pull wool over her eyes, all you're going to do is alienate her. You don't want to lose the bond you've created, Sam, trust me on this. When you lose it, it's almost impossible to get it back."
Sam sank down into his seat and brooded for a moment, but he knew his wife was correct. Kenzie deserved to hear the truth, although it might need to be toned down just a bit. After all, she wasn't quite five years old yet. He was just about to tell Indie she was right when his phone rang again.
A quick glance at the phone told him that it was Joellyn calling. He hit the button to answer. "Hello," he said.
"Mr. Prichard," Joellyn said shakily. "Mr. Prichard, I'm not sure what I've gotten myself mixed up in, but to be perfectly honest with you, at this moment I'm terrified."
Sam put his phone on speaker and motion for Indie to pay attention. "Joellyn? Tell me what's going on."
"Well, I called my father last night like I was supposed to," she said, "and we talked for just a few minutes. Like you said, he told me he couldn't explain why he ran out on us, and I guess I got mad and told him off. That didn't seem to bother him, but when I told him that I had hired a private investigator to track him down so that I could come and confront him face-to-face, he told me that if I were to do that, he would be forced to kill me. Dear God, Mr. Prichard, what kind of man would threaten to kill his own daughter just for wanting to look him in the eye?"
Sam shook his head, looking at Indie. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Joellyn," Sam said. "It seems to me that the smart move would simply be to let him go on his way. To be honest, I have learned that he's not the kind of man you really want to be close to, anyway. At least, that's how I see it."
"Oh, Mr. Prichard, it's not that easy. He called me this morning to tell me to warn you to stay away, something about not paying attention to the people who want you to come after him. He says he knows he'd never get to your family, but that there are other people you wouldn't want him to hurt. Mr. Prichard, he said to tell you that if you come after him, I'll be one of the first to die."
Indie's eyes went wide, and Sam suspected that they were only mirror images of his own. "Joellyn," he said, "I can't imagine that it's anything more than a threat, intended to make me back off. If he calls you again, tell him this—say that I and others are beginning to think there's something fishy about the whole situation, and that I would like to simply talk to him. Tell him I'll be more than happy to settle for a phone call, and that I'm sure he can manage to call me from an untraceable line."
"If he calls me, I'll tell him. Please, Mr. Prichard, don't do anything that will get me hurt. I don't know why he is so determined to keep his secrets, but I know I don't want to be on the receiving end of his anger. I've gotta tell you, I have talked to some coldhearted people in my life, and while that may be my biological father, I hope and pray that there is no part of him in me anywhere. He's got to be the most evil man I have ever spoken to."
Sam made a face that said he wasn't sure whether that was true or not. "You know, Joellyn, someone told me just a little while ago not to always assume the bad guy is who you think it is. Now, I'm not sure what that means, but I'm downright certain it has something to do with your father. Please try to get him that message if he calls you, since I'm fairly certain the number he gave me is probably dead, now."
"Oh, no," she said. "At least, that's the number he keeps calling me from. Maybe if you try, he'll answer. Believe me, I would just as soon never speak to him again, but if he calls me again, I'll give him your message."
The phone went dead, and Sam set it down on the desk. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, and felt Indie's hand caress his neck and shoulders. "Babe," she said, "you've got to relax a bit. You can't let yourself get all tensed up, not when your life could depend on your reflexes."
Sam looked up at her and smiled. "Baby, this isn't tension, it's preparation. Somehow, I'm being drawn into some weird cat-and-mouse game, and you know how I feel about those! I get the very distinct impression that someone is trying to use me against Long, but I'm not sure there's a valid reason to do so. There's something about this case that just isn't adding up. It's not making any sense, and I think even Harry senses that."
Indie's eyebrows went up in the center, the way they did when she was tackling a problem that didn't make sense logically. "Sam, are you trying to say that someone set Joellyn up to come to you? She's the only reason we’re involved in this case at all, but from what she said, she only chose you because of all the press you got over the Unger case. How could that have been a setup?"
"No, I'm not saying that she was set up, or that she's part of the setup itself. What I'm saying is, now that we've been drawn into this mess, somebody has decided that they want something done about Long, and apparently that I'm the one to do it. Indie, baby, I think I'm being set up to kill this man. The only problem with that is that I haven't seen any evidence that he's actually done anything wrong, other than just be a lousy husband and father. Last time I looked, neither of those were capital offenses."
"Sam," Indie asked, "what in the world are you gonna do this time?"
"Same thing I do every time, Babe," he said. "I'm gonna do my best to do whatever's the right thing to do, and live through it at the same time."
5
Harry's driver, George, arrived an hour later with Grace and Kim, and two Homeland Security agents who had been assigned to protect them all. These were new guys that Sam didn't know, but he knew Harry well enough to know that both of them had been checked out over and over before they got near Sam's family. Those two waited outside, while Kim, Grace and George went into the house.
"George," Indie said, "it's great to see you again. How have you been?"
The driver smiled and accepted the hug Indie gave him. Not long ago, he had been assigned to keep an eye on Indie, Kim, Grace and Kenzie, and keep his limo close by so that Indie never lacked for Internet access. The cabin they were staying in at the time, it seemed, was so far off the beaten path that even cell towers couldn't find the spot.
"I've been good, Miss Indie," he sai
d. "I was delighted when Mr. Harry said I'd be seeing you folks again today."
"Don't let him fool you," Grace said. "George is just happy he's going to get to sample Kim's cooking again. He went nuts over her ham and beans last time, remember?"
"Oh, yes, I remember," Indie said, chuckling at George. "But I think he also liked sharing peanut butter and jelly with Kenzie, and watching Disney movies over and over."
"Well, of course I did," George said. "Disney movies are fun, and there ain't nothing like peanut butter and jelly! Especially in good company!"
"Okay, okay," Indie said. "Look, I've got everything packed for me and Kenzie, but I want you all to wait here while Sam and I go to pick her up from school. I think it would be best if she heard this from me and him together, rather than just having it thrust on her as a big surprise with all of us showing up to pick her up. Like I told Sam, she's a child, but she isn't stupid, and she's going to know there's something going on. I think it's best if Sam and I explained to her together."
"Good point," Kim said, and Grace nodded her agreement. Indie had already called ahead to the school to let them know she would be picking Kenzie up early, so she and Sam slipped out to the Ridgeline and drove off toward the school. When they got there, they parked out front and walked inside, because it was necessary to show their ID before the school would let them take their daughter away.
Kenzie was waiting in the school office, with her backpack on the floor in front of her feet. She looked nervous, but held out her arms for Sam to pick her up as soon as he walked into the room. He told her to wait a moment, while he and Indie showed ID and signed her out, then scooped her up into his arms while Indie grabbed the backpack.
The whole thing went better than they expected, and once they had explained to Kenzie that Daddy had to go and help Uncle Harry with another bad man, she simply told him to be sure he didn't get shot again, and to make sure the bad man didn't get to hurt anyone else. Sam gave Indie a rueful grin as he drove them all home.
Another trip to the cabin, Kenzie knew, meant more fun times with her grandmothers, and she was delighted when she found out that her old friend George would be there, as well. She and George had hit it off when she found out that George's favorite movie of all time was Disney's Mulan. Then, when it turned out he could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they were friends for life!
Kim and Grace had everything loaded into the car by the time they got back, so after a few minutes of quick reunion and some hugs and kisses for Sam, they were ready to go. Sam held Indie close and whispered his love for her into her ears, and then kissed her goodbye and held the door for her to enter the car. He looked at the two bodyguards, and their nods of acknowledgment told him they knew he was telling them to make sure his family was safe. One final smile at George, and he tapped the roof of the car as they backed out of the driveway and headed off toward the cabin.
Once again, Sam was alone, and it wasn't a feeling he enjoyed. He wandered back into the house and pulled the slip of paper with Long's phone number on it out of his pocket as he did so. He sat down in his recliner, took out his phone, and punched the number in.
"I got your message," Long's voice said. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make of it, but I got it."
"Then let me try to put it into clearer terms," Sam said. "Somebody is pulling strings up high to try to get me involved in bringing you in. My contacts aren't sure who's pulling those strings, and that makes them and me uncomfortable. Now, we’ll add in the fact that someone who has never steered me wrong has advised me not to consider you a bad guy until I'm absolutely certain that you are, and frankly, I'm just about as confused as hell. Is any of this making any sense to you?"
"It could be," Long said. "The few people I can still trust don't know much about you, Prichard. For example, no one knows just what your security clearance really is. Can you tell me, in such a way that I believe it?"
Sam laughed. "I don't even know what it is," he said. "I can tell you that I know what really happened at Hoover Dam, because I was there, thwarting the attempt to destroy a big part of our country by dumping a suitcase nuke into Lake Mead. Does that tell you anything?"
Long was silent for a moment, and then chuckled. "Tells me you're a man who doesn't quit, I can say that. I heard a few stories about what happened out there. Not bad for an amateur."
"Yeah, okay, so I'm an amateur," Sam said. "Tell me something, Long; just what on earth are you doing here, in Denver? From what I'm hearing, when you show up someplace, somebody usually dies.”
“There's a fair amount of truth in that, but it's not always the case. Sometimes, I just go where I'm needed to either make things happen the way they should, or keep them from happening the way they shouldn't.”
“Okay. And which is it this time?”
Long hesitated. “I'm no longer popular with the people you know, Prichard, but that's because we don't see eye to eye on some things. Now and then, I show up in the background of something that those people are up to, something I disagree with, and I make sure they don't get away with it. In this particular case, I came here to stop a certain transaction from taking place, and I've already done so. Since I grew up here, and knew my mother was dying, I decided to stop in and see her. It was stupid of me, and led us to this little dance we're doing now, but no one ever said I was smart.” He paused for a moment, then went on. “And you? What's got you so involved in me and my little problems?”
“I'm a private eye, who gets drafted now and then to help out the government. I've been doing what I could, and that's what I'm gonna keep doing. Now I've got people saying they want me to try to bring you in, but if I'm reading them correctly, it sounds more like they want you put down like a mad dog. Care to enlighten me as to why that might be?"
Once again, Long was quiet for several seconds, and then he sighed. "You've got these powerful people," he said, "and the only thing they know how to do is be powerful. They are in positions that make them responsible for the welfare of many, but the truth is that the only thing they care about is just how powerful they are, and how much more powerful they can become. Do you play chess, Prichard?"
"Yes," Sam said. "I'm not great, but I play."
"Good, then you'll understand some of the analogies I have to throw at you to make you understand what's going on here. In chess, you got your king and your queen, right? The king is the piece that must be protected, but the queen is the most powerful piece. She can move in any direction, can strike from any distance. She's the most deadly of them all, right?"
"Right, I got that."
"Okay, now assume that your king is compromised. No matter which way he moves, it's check, but the queen is not in a position to strike and save them. What does she do?"
"She's not the only piece who can strike," Sam said. "She sends another piece. A knight, a bishop, maybe even just a pawn, but another piece who can strike to save the king."
"Precisely. Well, among those powerful people, there are those who are kings—they're powerful, but they must be protected at all cost—and those who are queens. A queen is powerful in her own right, but at least some of her power derives from the king. She's got to protect him, no matter what. Still with me?"
"I think so," Sam said. "If I'm reading you correctly, a queen is not necessarily a female. We're talking position, not gender, right?"
"Yes, yes, you're getting it. The queen is anyone whose power derives from someone more powerful than themselves, someone that must be protected at all costs. The king is a bear, tenacious, firmly entrenched in his position; the queen, on the other hand, is a fox. She is sly and cunning, and while she may seem small and beautiful, she can be deadly if she's cornered. She gained her position by knowing how to manipulate everyone around her, and you can bet that everyone she knows is indebted to her. Any of them will do what she asks of them, as long as it doesn't put them in danger. Do you see where her secret lies, now?"
"People owe her favors," Sam said, "and will do wha
t she wants, but only as long as it doesn't put them at risk, right? Well, then it's simple. All she has to do is let them know that failure to do what she wants is the greatest danger of all. She has to let them know that that's when her pawns will strike, without warning and without hesitation. I'm guessing that that's where you come in; you are a pawn, am I right?"
"Prichard," Long said, "I'm damned glad you're an amateur. Not too many people would've seen that as clearly as you just did, not without a background in politics."
"Yeah, well, if there's one thing being an ex-cop gives you, it's a pretty thorough understanding of internal politics. While you were talking, I just put it into terms I could understand from the Department. I'm pretty sure politics works the same way on every level."
"It most certainly does. Now, since you understand the politics involved, let me try to explain the rest of it. For a lot of years, I served a queen who was loyal to her king. Where she sent me I would go, and what she told me to do, I would do. I've served her since I was a very young man, making my first entry into the world of politics and intrigue, but a few years ago I began to realize that her loyalties might be changing. There were factions within her ranks that were not as loyal to the king as their position suggested they should be, and it became fairly obvious that those factions were manipulating her pawns in order to strengthen themselves, rather than protect and empower the king. Are you still keeping up?"
"I think so. This queen that you served—I'm thinking she had a very short name? Only three letters?"
"Yep! You got it. Now, keep that in mind, and think about those factions I'm referring to. Why would those factions, who were only part of the total organization, begin trying to strengthen themselves? Why would they take their support away from the king?"
"Well, I would imagine it's because they want the power for themselves. That would make sense, that they would remove support from the king while building up their own power base."