by Eric Bernt
“Hurry up about it, would you?”
CHAPTER 101
AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
June 2, 12:09 p.m.
Inside their office, Enola and Charlie finished watching the last of the Skype call. Enola shook her head. “I can’t believe he was going to do that to her kids.”
“I can’t believe what a badass Caitlin is,” Charlie said. “I totally underestimated her.”
“Because she’s a woman?” Enola asked pointedly.
“Because she looks like my middle-school algebra teacher.”
“I’ll tell you what, the woman has stones. Can you imagine being that cool when some asshole has a gun pointed at your family?” She gave her best impression of Caitlin, repeating her line: “‘I guess the key would be never to get that desperate, then.’”
He paused. “I’m sensing a bit of a girl crush here.”
“Hell yes. Woman is my hero. Where she leads, I follow.” On-screen, she reread the earlier text:
Decide for yourselves which side you should be on.
She typed: With you.
“I’ll be right beside you.” Charlie typed a similar response.
They both received the same reply: Shelter in place.
Down the hall, Trotter watched Greers pace around their office. “I can’t believe he hired Mr. Elliott.”
“I can’t believe she stole six hundred million dollars from our accounts,” Trotter said. “I would love to know how she did it.”
Greers suddenly stopped pacing. “What I want to know is: Who the hell is Hogan?”
“If I had to guess, he’s an old friend of the family.”
Greers nodded. “You were right about family connections.” He paused. “What are you going to do?”
“My choice is easy,” said Trotter.
“Why is yours easy and mine isn’t?”
“I’m not the heir apparent.” He let that hang there for a moment. “I’m no threat to her. All I am is a quant, whether I’m his or hers. But honestly, can you imagine yourself taking orders from her? Or more importantly, her trusting you to be her dutiful lieutenant?”
Greers stood there frozen for a moment. “Shit.” He grabbed whatever personal items he could fit into his backpack and headed for the door, where he paused. “Have a nice life.”
“You too.” Trotter listened to him walk down the hall. “For as long as it lasts.” Turning back to his screen, he typed a response similar to Enola’s and Charlie’s: With Caitlin. He received the same reply: Shelter in place. Trotter muttered, “Well, I guess that answers that.”
In the conference room, Carter Harwood sat at the conference table, wearing headphones. He was hard at work cleaning up the latest set of echoes from the Oval Office. It turned out there was a real art to it, which would come as no surprise to any sound engineer. The job of cataloging the tens of thousands of conversations that had occurred in the space over several decades was massive. Completing the effort would take months, if not years.
As instructed, Harwood had started with the conversations occurring after midnight since the current president had taken office. In total, there were fewer than two dozen in that time period. Most were brief and inconsequential, but three of these sets of echoes were, quite simply, shocking. Harwood had read about various fetish practices, but he wasn’t entirely prepared for listening to them as they took place. In fact, one incident in particular had nauseated him. He found it rather upsetting that this type of behavior had occurred inside the Oval Office. Utter depravity, it seemed, was practiced even in the most hallowed of confines.
As distasteful as these were for him to hear, they were also good opportunities for Harwood to practice removing harmonic distortion and other white noise from the re-created sound waves. It was similar to a baseball player taking batting practice. As with most jobs, the more he practiced, the more efficient he became. He figured by the time he started working on April, reconstructing each set of echoes would take less than a third of the time it currently took.
He was so focused on his efforts that he was startled when Stenson entered the room. “Sorry about that, sir. I wasn’t expecting you.”
Stenson was all business. “I need the box and the computer. Now.”
“Yes, of course. You were right about the meetings after midnight. If you could just give me a minute to finish up what I’m—”
“Now.” Stenson pushed the lid of the laptop closed, forfeiting whatever work Harwood hadn’t saved.
He grabbed the laptop as Harwood unhooked the echo box. “Right. There you go. Sir, while you’re off campus with the device, is there anything you’d like me to be working on?”
“Go get some rest. We’ll regroup tomorrow.” And he walked out the door.
His tone was unsettling. Harwood knew something was wrong but decided not to dwell on it. “The man said, ‘Go get some rest.’ Then that’s what I’ll do.” He grabbed his shoulder bag and started packing up his things.
CHAPTER 102
ACROSS THE STREET
AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
June 2, 1:03 p.m.
Butler parked next to a man standing alone in the shadow of a building in the adjacent office park. Butler opened his door. “Stay here.”
Eddie and Skylar remained in the Bronco. “Who is he?” asked Eddie.
“I’m not sure,” answered Skylar.
“He reminds me of the mystery man who used to work at Harmony House.”
Hogan kept his eyes on the American Heritage Foundation offices, particularly the eight armed guards surrounding its perimeter, as Butler approached. The two men nodded but did not shake hands. “Caitlin sent us,” Butler said.
“I know who you are,” Hogan replied. He motioned to Eddie. “The kid all right?”
Butler nodded. “Considering.”
“What his box can do—changes everything.”
“No question.”
“Not sure that’s a good thing,” Hogan said.
“In the wrong hands, it’s very dangerous.”
“I’ve got an idea. Would you like to hear it?”
Butler listened to Hogan’s plan as he counted the armed guards across the street. “Does Caitlin know about this?”
“Not yet.” Hogan smiled. “She’ll find out soon enough.”
Butler nodded in agreement. “I count eight armed hostiles.”
“Two more inside. Ten total.”
“How many on our side?”
“Plenty.”
Butler knew what that meant. “Ghosts?”
Hogan gave a slight smile, providing Butler his answer.
Butler looked around, guessing where the snipers might be set up, but knowing he would never see them. “When’s the party start?”
“Soon as they start coming out the door,” Hogan said.
“I want the guy in charge.”
“You sure?” He glanced over to the two civilians Butler had brought with him.
“It’s something I have to do.”
“In that case, two birds, one stone.” Hogan handed him a large hard-shelled case.
CHAPTER 103
FRONT ENTRANCE
AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
June 2, 1:09 p.m.
Jason Greers exited the building and moved quickly to his car. As he reached for his door, he never heard the suppressed sniper’s bullet fired from the office-complex rooftop several hundred yards away. His head exploded, spattering his car window.
The armed guards surrounding the building immediately sprang into action. All took up defensive postures. Their only problem was that none of them was sure where the enemy was located, or how many shooters there were. Both questions were addressed in short order.
More suppressed gunfire came from two other locations, making a total of at least three snipers. Each was positioned over fifty yards from the other. The entrance to the American Heritage Foundation had been triangulated; to defend against
one direction was to be exposed to two others. The guards started dropping like flies.
Inside the Bronco, Eddie said, “That is gunfire, Skylar.”
“Yes, it is. Close your eyes and cover your ears,” she instructed urgently.
“I still have earplugs in, Skylar.”
“Do it anyway.”
Eddie did so but could still hear the gunfire clearly. He counted gunshots. “Two. Three. Four. Five-six-seven.”
Watching the action in the distance, Skylar was both relieved and horrified. She had never rooted for people to be killed before.
“Is our team winning?” asked Eddie.
“Yes.” What she didn’t say was that the battle was completely one-sided. The AHF guards didn’t stand a chance. Neither did the geeky-looking man with the shoulder bag. He barely made it out the door.
“Eight.”
Six guards were down. Stenson exited the building with four armed guards in a tight formation, rushing to their vehicles. Stenson carried the duplicate echo box and laptop with him.
Skylar recognized the devices, glancing down to the originals sitting on the back seat next to Eddie. “Son of a bitch.”
“Bad word.”
She pointed to the devices in Stenson’s hands. “Can you see what he’s carrying?”
“It looks like the echo box and my laptop. They must have made copies.” The two guards behind Stenson suddenly went down in unison. “Nine-ten.”
Just as they reached their vehicles, the two guards in front of Stenson were hit as well.
“Eleven. Twelve.”
Skylar rolled down her window and yelled to Butler, who was standing in the distance. “He’s got another echo box!”
Stenson jumped into his vehicle, still carrying the duplicate devices. He started his car and roared out of the parking lot. He seemed to be getting away. That was when Skylar saw Butler standing in the street directly in his path. “I didn’t mean you should get run over!”
CHAPTER 104
PARKING LOT
AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION
June 2, 1:11 p.m.
As Stenson accelerated directly for him, Butler stood calmly, holding the RPG-7 missile that had been in the case Hogan had given him. He positioned the weapon on his shoulder and took aim. It was clearly not the first time he had done so. “This ends now.” He pulled the trigger. FWOOSH!
Munitions of this type had two sections: a booster and warhead/sustained motor. The booster contained a small strip powder charge designed to propel the grenade out of the launch tube. The sustained motor then ignited, rocketing the warhead toward its target at 660 miles per hour.
Stenson’s car was only one hundred feet away. The impact was nearly instantaneous. And completely devastating. Had anyone bothered to count, the pieces would have totaled over one thousand. Several of them rained down on Butler, who didn’t seem fazed.
Inside the Bronco, Skylar could barely believe what she had just witnessed. As if this day hasn’t included enough!
“That sounded like a rocket,” commented Eddie.
“You’re right, it was.”
“Can I open my eyes yet?”
“Yes, I think so.”
Eddie did, marveling at the flaming debris raining down from the sky. “I have never seen fireworks, but I think they must look like this.”
They were startled by a knock on the window. Hogan was standing next to the car.
Skylar rolled down the window. “Is it over?”
“For the moment. If you want to end this permanently, you need to follow me. Bring the device.”
Eddie chimed in, “He is telling the truth. One hundred percent.”
Skylar got out of the car. “Eddie, wait for me here. I’ll be right back.”
He shook his head, grabbing the echo box and his laptop. “No, Skylar, I am coming with you.”
She pointed out the window. “Look, Butler is right there. I promise you’ll be safe.”
“I am not afraid, Skylar. That is not why I want to go with you.”
“Then why?”
“You are not the only one with someone to protect now.” He was referring to Lolo. “If we can use the echo box to stop the bad guys permanently, I am the best person to make sure it is done properly.”
Eddie got out of the car, pausing to rotate his head from side to side, then forward and back. “Hey, wait for me!” He quickly jogged after Skylar and Hogan as they walked across the street and entered the American Heritage Foundation.
Moments later, three yellow vehicles arrived: two vans and a large flatbed truck. Each had a large Superior Cleaners logo stenciled on its side. The personnel inside each immediately went to work removing the evidence. Several started removing bodies while others doused the flaming wreckage of Stenson’s car and began sweeping up debris.
Within minutes, the area would have no evidence of what had occurred.
In Stenson’s office, Hogan watched in silent amazement as Eddie recorded the echoes bouncing around the space. The eight microsatellite microphones moved in unison, performing their familiar dance. Eddie kept his eyes on the screen as the acoustic three-dimensional rendering of the room was completed.
“It’s all right to speak, you know.” Skylar commented. “It won’t hurt anything.”
“I’m just trying to imagine everything that’s been said in this room over the years,” said Hogan.
“Scary, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“True.” Eddie continued watching the progress bar on-screen reach 100 percent. “All done.”
Hogan handed Eddie a portable storage drive. “Put all the echoes on that, then erase them from your machine.”
Eddie did so. He handed the drive to Hogan. “I have erased the files from my computer. You now have the only copy.”
Skylar studied Hogan closely. “You mind if I ask what you’re going to do with that?”
“I’m going to post the files to a couple dozen dark-web sites in encrypted form. If anything ever happens to either of you, or anyone tries to steal the box, the encryption key will be automatically mailed to every news organization in the world.”
“How will you know if anything happens to us?” asked Eddie.
“I will send you both a number that one of you must text every day. If a message is not received in any twenty-four-hour period, the key will be released.”
Eddie turned to Skylar. “In order to ensure one of us sends a text every day, I think it would be a good idea if I got my own phone.”
“You make a good point.”
“I will need you to teach me how to send a text message, of course.”
“Of course,” she responded. “Would there happen to be any other reason you’d like your own phone?”
Eddie blushed. “Yes, there would.”
Clearly eager to change the subject, he turned to Hogan and motioned to the portable drive in his hands. “You’re not going to listen to the echoes, are you?”
Hogan shook his head. “The world needs its secrets.”
“Why are you doing this?” Skylar asked.
“To be sure Caitlin doesn’t make the same mistake her boss did. He wasn’t always a bad man. He just turned into one when he became obsessed with the device. I’m making sure she won’t come after you.”
“I am obsessed with the device,” Eddie said. “Does that mean I am a bad person?”
“No, Eddie, I think you are unique,” Hogan said. “You are probably the only person in the world who can handle a technology that powerful.”
Eddie smiled. “That is a very nice thing for you to say. My heart is singing. Would you like to hear it?”
Hogan eyeballed him, then headed for the door.
Skylar called after him. “Thank you. For everything.”
He paused in the doorway. “Check the Harmony House bank accounts when you get back to your office. You won’t ever have to consider selling the echo box to the highest bidder to make ends meet.”
“Yes, I know.” And with that, he was gone.
After a long moment, Skylar turned to Eddie. “Oh, by the way, the answer is no.”
Eddie looked confused. “The answer to what is no?”
“The question you asked me yesterday that I promised to answer in no more than forty-eight hours.”
He nodded. “Yes, I remember.”
“You do not need to share the echo box with anyone unless you want to.”
Eddie smiled with relief. And then his ears perked up. “There are sirens approaching in the distance, Skylar. Seven of them.”
“Then it’s time for us to pack things up and get out of here.”
As they left the building, there were no dead bodies anywhere. No disintegrated car. No yellow vans. In fact, there was absolutely no sign that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. Eddie paused and said, “Skylar, where did all the dead bodies go?”
“I have no idea. And I hope I never do.”
Butler pulled up in the Bronco. They jumped in quickly, and he drove away just moments before the first police vehicles arrived on scene.
The authorities would conclude it must have been a false alarm.
CHAPTER 105
SAFE HOUSE
GILBERTS CORNER, VIRGINIA
June 2, 2:47 p.m.
Caitlin stared at Hogan on-screen a short while later. “What the hell did you do?”
“The Alpha Reset Protocol is complete. You are now in charge of the American Heritage Foundation. Your family is flying back from North Dakota as we speak. I wish you luck and hope you honor your father’s legacy. This is the last time you and I will communicate.”
“And the echo box?”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms on his chest, preparing to tell a story. “I like a good martini. Sometimes, I even enjoy two. But I never shoot heroin. Would you like to know why I don’t? Because it would change me. I would start thinking I need it, and I don’t. Just like you don’t need the echo box. Your father did just fine his entire career without it, and so will you. You will already know plenty of the world’s secrets. You just might have to work a little harder to uncover new ones. And that’s not a bad thing.”