Finally, his guest swallowed his last bite and pushed the plate away.
“Nick Hall,” said Fisher, his voice broadcast through speakers in Hall’s room, modified slightly so it couldn’t be recognized. Not that it would be, unless Hall watched nothing but C-SPAN, but one could never be too careful.
While he could see Hall through any number of video cameras, Hall could not see him. He was impressed by how calmly Hall took the disembodied voice suddenly calling out his name.
“My name is Frank Earnest.”
Hall digested this for a second or two and then shook his head in disdain. “Sure it is,” he said.
“You seem certain it’s an alias. Why?”
“Come on,” said Hall. “Frank and Earnest? Two synonyms for honest? How stupid do you think I am? Was the name Integrity Doright already taken?”
Fisher laughed. “Very good, Nick. Very impressive. Didn’t think you’d catch that so quickly. Yes, it is an alias. I don’t feel entirely comfortable giving you my real name.”
Wow. He liked this Hall already. The fact that he was so savvy would make his life easier. Fisher had once spoken with a woman who negotiated complex deals between pharmaceutical companies and biotechs. She had told him that she had always thought it would be an advantage to negotiate against a novice, someone who didn’t really know what they were doing. But she soon found it to be just the opposite. The novice made everything difficult. A novice would fiercely negotiate terms that a veteran knew were accepted industry standards. A veteran, on the other hand, would quickly get to the heart of the negotiation, and even when not in agreement, would at least understand the nuances of a given position.
“I assume you’ve read where you are from Lombardo’s mind.”
“I assume you’re the man behind all this,” countered Hall.
“Yes.”
“Okay,” said Hall. “Since you answered my question, I’ll answer yours. Yes. I did read my location from your puppet. I’m in a warehouse just outside of DC.” He paused. “You do know there are warehouses in Huntington Beach, right?” he added wryly.
Fisher couldn’t help but laugh.
“So why a warehouse?” continued Hall. “And why DC?”
Fisher wanted to taunt him. Wanted to reply that since Hall had been experimented on for months in a warehouse in California, he was simply trying to make him feel at home. He wanted to describe in intimate, graphic detail how he would torture and slowly butcher his girlfriend if he didn’t cooperate. Removing one piece of her at a time.
But he restrained himself, determined to play the role of a good Samaritan. A reluctant participant. Determined that Hall believe he was in the hands of someone who did not wish him ill.
“The warehouse isn’t near any residential areas,” said Fisher pleasantly. “So no nosy neighbors. Which is important, since you’ll be a . . . reluctant . . . guest of mine for a while. The shell of the warehouse is made of steel, so it’s easy to lock up tight, and at night no one is within hearing distance.” He paused. “Or mind-reading distance. This last was done for your benefit.”
“Sure it was,” said Hall dubiously.
Wow, thought Fisher. This guy was not going to be an easy mark.
“I’ll want to see Megan Emerson, of course,” added Hall.
“Of course. I’ll see to it after our conversation.”
“If she has so much as a bruise on her,” said Hall matter-of-factly, “I will find you and kill you. Believe it.”
“Oh I do, Nick. I can assure you of that. But as long as you help me in my purpose, I promise both of you will be treated like royalty. I trust you have no complaints about your room? Or your room service for that matter?”
Hall looked around. If he didn’t know he was in a warehouse he would have thought he was in the master bedroom in a mansion, complete with a king-sized bed, oversized television, dressers, lamps, and a massive wrought-iron-framed mirror.
“Your kitchen is through the alcove on your left,” said Fisher. “And your bathroom, with shower and hot tub, to the right. I spared no expense to make it as livable as possible. Anything else you want, you just have to ask. Massage chair. Treadmill, stair-stepper, or other exercise equipment. Books. A computer with a word program in case you like to write. A chess program. Whatever video games you might like, although you won’t be able to connect them to the Internet. I’m sure you’ve noticed you aren’t getting any signal.”
“Where is Megan?” said Hall, back to the only subject he cared about.
“I’m afraid that’s not something I’m ready to disclose.”
“Why am I here?” said Hall. “What do you want?”
“First, I want to offer my sincere apologies for what I’ve been forced to do to get you here. If there were any other way to be sure I could acquire your services, I would gladly take it. Honestly, I feel terrible about this.”
Hall smiled coolly. “I’ve found that when a person begins a sentence with honestly, what usually follows is the opposite of honest. Especially when the man says his name is Frank Earnest.”
“Not in this case,” lied Fisher. “But I understand how you might feel that way.”
“So what do you want?”
“I’m a lot like you Nick. I can’t tell you how I know so much about you, but I do. And while you haven’t broken the law, per se, you’ve been an accomplice to Justin Girdler. Who has broken the military code, and also the law, given he financed you illegally. But you didn’t do this because you’re evil or a criminal. Or for personal gain. You did it for a higher purpose. You’re willing to make sacrifices to prevent disasters from occurring in the future. You faced a thorny ethical problem, and you made the right decision.”
Hall rolled his eyes. “Okay, Frank, I’ll bite. So what’s your higher purpose?”
“Our government is broken,” said Fisher, ignoring Hall’s venom. “Beyond all hope of repair. Given an increasingly dangerous world, in its current state of corruption and incompetence, the government is responsible for the suffering and misery of many millions. They’ve pushed the world’s strongest economy to the breaking point while lining their own pockets. They’ve let world terrorism metastasize. A nuke will be set off in a major city in the next few years if something isn’t done. Or worse. We have to change our ways or we’ll be paying the price for generations.” He paused. “I was convinced that there was nothing anyone could do about this. That we had to fiddle while Rome burned.”
“But then you learned about me.”
“That’s right. And I realized that with your help, we could right the ship. We could root out the massive corruption in Washington.”
“A city I happen to be at the outskirts of at this very moment,” noted Hall. “Too bad there aren’t more politicians in Huntington Beach,” he added with the hint of a smile. “Would have saved you from having to move me so far.”
“No. It’s too bad there aren’t fewer politicians in Washington,” replied Fisher. “But with your help, there could be. And we could install a good man in the presidency instead of a politician. Be a nice change of pace, don’t you think?”
“And I suppose you’re that good man whom we’ll want to install in the White House?”
“Not at all,” said Fisher smoothly. “Like I said, I’m just a good citizen. Like you, doing something detestable to my own ethical sense, keeping you here against your will, for the greater good. When you’ve helped me get a handle on the corruption in this town, I’ll introduce you to the man I have in mind. You’ll be able to read him and see for yourself that there are no men more honorable or competent. No men better intentioned. No better leaders.”
“I’ll believe that when it happens,” said Hall, and once again Fisher was impressed that despite his considerable charm and ability to lie convincingly, Hall wasn’t fooled for a second. The man seemed skilled at reading people even without his ESP.
But even so, Fisher knew, if he repeated the lie long enough and treated Hall and his love
interest with respect, seeing to their every comfort, even Hall might eventually begin to believe that he had noble intentions, despite being forced to use repugnant methods.
“It will happen,” said Fisher, faking his most sincere voice. “You’ll see. But for now all I want from you is to gather dirt. I’m not asking you to hurt good people. I’m asking you to take down corrupt politicians. If someone you read is pure evil, they deserve to be taken down. If they have no skeletons in their closet, and they’ve come to Washington simply to help their fellow man, they’re fine, right? No one can touch them.”
Hall remained silent.
“The good man I’m trying to install in the White House is a Democrat. So I’ll want you to read a select group of power brokers and fund raisers for the party. I’ll want to know their buttons. So I can persuade them to support my candidate over others in the primaries. And then I’ll want you to read dirty politicians of both parties.”
Hall shook his head in disgust, but remained silent.
“Look, I didn’t kidnap you to stop a mass-murderer running amok through a city. Even though it could be argued that my actions could be justified if this were the case. But what I’m doing is much more important. A murderer can kill a handful of people. But a dirty politician, or a corrupt president, especially, can change the course of billions of lives.”
Fisher paused to let this sink in.
“Even so,” he continued in a softer tone, “I did a lot of thinking, soul searching, and praying, before finally deciding to take this step.”
Hall was listening intently, but his expression remained unreadable.
“So will you help me, Nick? Help the country? Help us get on the right path? For the sake of the entire planet, and for generations to come.”
“And if I don’t?”
Fisher sighed deeply. “Then you’ll leave me no choice. You’ll force me to use the leverage I have on you. The very last thing I want to do. But I will. Suppose an innocent young girl was the sole victim of the most deadly and contagious virus known. And suppose she was breaking out of quarantine. Would you shoot her? An innocent girl? Or would you listen to your heart, take your finger off the trigger, and condemn millions to a grisly death?”
Fisher continued, not waiting for an answer. “The answer isn’t pleasant. Or easy. But we both know what it is. As horrifying as it would be to shoot a child, you wouldn’t have any choice.”
“Yeah. I can tell you’re a real saint.”
“Not a saint. A flawed man trying to make the most ethically correct decision in trying times. But if you don’t cooperate a hundred percent. If you try to escape, try to learn who I am, or try to learn where Megan is, you’ll force my hand. No, I won’t kill her. If I did this, I would no longer have any control over you. But I will hurt her. Badly. It will hurt me to my core to do so, but I will.”
Hall’s expression darkened, and if he had telekinetic powers, Fisher decided, every object in the entire room would have been spinning around in a hellish funnel cloud.
“But again,” continued Fisher, as pleasantly and as reasonably as he could manage, “if you take down corrupt and evil politicians, if you do a noble and heroic public service, you and she will be treated like royalty.”
“Until you get what you want and kill us both.”
“No. When I have enough that I’m certain the great man I have in mind will win the White House, you and Megan can get on with your lives. I’ll see to it that you’re left in peace.”
Hall shook his head in disgust. “I may have been born at night,” he said. “But I wasn’t born last night.”
“I’m a man of my word,” said Fisher. “You’ll see.” He paused. “But for now, I invite you to relax and enjoy my hospitality. The only thing I’ll ask of you between mind-reading assignments is to grow a beard.”
“A beard?”
“Yes. I know there’s a manhunt on for you, and that you’re immune to facial recognition. But you were also somewhat famous, and we don’t want you to be recognized by some random man in the street. So grow a beard, I’ll get you a hat, and we’ll make sure to keep you in the shadows as much as possible when you’re in public. Okay?”
Hall nodded.
“Now Congress won’t be in session again for a few weeks. But in three days there is a meeting of party movers and shakers at the Hay-Adams hotel. My candidate will need their support, so this will be your first assignment. I’ll get you a room at the Hay-Adams and give you a list of the people I most want to, um . . . mine, and you can have at it.”
Fisher watched Hall’s face carefully, and for some reason he had the sense that his mind was racing, even though Hall was better than most at keeping a poker face. But racing to what end? Fisher had made sure the mind reader had no option but to do as he . . . requested.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that,” said Hall calmly after what had been a long pause.
“Doesn’t work like what?”
“Your list. I can only read one person at a time, for about twenty minutes at a time.”
“Come on, Nick. We both know that isn’t true.”
“Oh, really. I don’t know where you’ve gotten your information, then, but it’s wrong. I can only comfortably go deep on one person at a time. And after I do, I need a full day of rest before I can do it again.”
“You really think I’m that stupid? You’re just trying to stall. Drag this out for as long as possible hoping I’ll make a mistake, and give you an opening. I have news for you. I don’t make mistakes.” His voice softened. “Besides, once we get started, you’ll see that I’m right. That I’m doing this for the right reasons. And you’ll want to help me.”
“It doesn’t matter if I want to or not, mind reading takes a huge mental toll on me. I can only do what I can do.”
“Nice try, Nick. But I know all about the Oscars. You had to be in multiple heads, deep, for at least thirty minutes to pull this off.”
“Yeah,” said Hall without missing a beat, “which is why I passed out, as the entire world saw. But what only one man knows, a doctor, is that this exertion almost killed me. I was in a coma for two days.”
Fisher studied Hall carefully. He still thought this was a bluff, but he had played it brilliantly. He had passed out. Fisher knew he was okay when he was a video presence in President Cochran’s meetings four days after the Oscars, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have been near death earlier in the week. And Fisher understood why he would want to keep this limitation secret. Why show any weakness or vulnerability unless you had to? Why not allow the world to think your power, and your endurance, were unlimited? It’s what he would have done.
“Don’t worry,” said Hall. “The election is almost two years away. Plenty of time. And believe me, when you see what I can dig up in fifteen minutes when I’m properly rested, you’re going to be doing back-flips.”
Hall’s features darkened into a scowl. “But I need to see Megan. Now. In person.”
“You can see her,” said Fisher. “But not in person. You’re too impressive, so we’re showing you the respect you deserve. If you see her in person, we run the risk that you’ll escape and free her. We’re keeping her a long way away from you. But you’ll be able to see and talk to her by video every day. You can talk about anything you’d like, including her health and how she’s being treated.”
“With you listening in, right?”
Fisher’s instincts were to lie reflexively, but he caught himself. Telling uncomfortable truths had a way of making one’s other lies more believable. “Yes. I’ll be listening. But I won’t interfere.”
“Set up a call with her right now,” insisted Hall. He looked around meaningfully at his spacious prison. “I’ll go ahead and wait right here.”
26
A man who was known only as Victor stared through a two-story picture window in the lodge that was now his home and office. Endless empty land rolled on in every direction for as far as he could see.
&nbs
p; Now that was an interesting conversation, he thought, reflecting on the video call he had just completed. And unexpected wasn’t even the word for it. He was not a man who was often surprised, but in this case he certainly had been.
But was it a real opportunity? Or was it a trap?
He shrugged. It didn’t matter. Either way, it was an opportunity too incredible not to explore further.
A Mexican of Spanish ancestry, Victor stroked his chin, which always sprouted a layer of razor-sharp stubble mere hours after he had shaved, a perpetual, jet-black, five-o’clock shadow that wouldn’t reveal his growing number of white hairs until it had grown out for several days. Patiently, methodically, he thought through various possibilities. His deep-set black eyes sparkled with an intensity and a dazzling intelligence that those with whom he interacted tended to pick up on almost immediately.
Finally, satisfied with his initial analysis, he decided it was time to call in his most trusted lieutenant, Eduardo Alvarez. As brilliant as he was, a different perspective was always helpful.
“Maria,” he said to his PDA in Spanish, “send the following text to Eduardo and read any response back to me. Eduardo, drop whatever you’re doing and join me in the main lodge.” He paused. “Send.”
Only ten seconds later Alvarez responded, and Maria read the message dutifully. “I’m at the warehouse with Hayes, Volkov, and Eberhardt preparing the KN-100 Surveillance Disruptors for shipment to the Russian mob. Be there pronto, probably ten minutes.”
Victor nodded, and stroked his chin in thought once again. He was only five foot ten, and his face was more round than angular, but his presence was commanding and intimidating, and no matter how many larger, more imposing men were in a room with him it was impossible to mistake who was in charge.
He sat down at his glass desk and surveyed the large room. The main lodge was no longer even recognizable as such. The heads of big game animals no longer covered every wall, and the facility had been so dramatically upgraded and modernized with furnishings and sophisticated cameras, electronics, computers, and 3-D monitors, that it now resembled an office suite for a Fortune 500 CEO more than a rustic structure that looked like it belonged to an earlier age.
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