by Finian Blake
“I will stay out here personally. Let me call my wife.”
Evan spent a night in a cheap motel. He was just getting ready to hit the tea cup size swimming pool when he decided to check his cell phone. There were ten messages from the Foreman. Evan wanted to tell him off in the worst way. He dialed the number and composed his speech. Pauline his secretary answered the phone instead.
“Evan, I am so happy to hear from you. When the Farm went up I thought you were dead.” Evan’s primary talent was being able to think on his feet. The Foreman was a secretive man, so Evan decided to go for broke.
“Ray went off the reservation he kept me in the detention cell at the Farm. I was in the cell when the place went up. The Foreman sent a team out to cancel the Farm. They tried to sweep Don and Dillon’s crews. The Air Force Rescue team found both Ray and I at the same time. They took us to the base. Ray took out a male nurse taking me along with him. I have no idea where Dillon’s team is.”
“They have used Dillon’s cell phone twice. They are at the safe house ten blocks from your location. We were going to send a team to talk them in.” Evan saw a high odds bet. He was prepared this time and this would either get him off the hook or end his life. Evan was not prepared to spend the rest of his life being hunted.
“This is my responsibility. I will go over to the safe house and talk to them.”
“They might kill you!” Evan was beginning to see that the Foreman had not shared the extent of his disasters, at any level.
“I will take that risk.”
“You are the highest ranking person in our organization, so they want you out here to reconstruct what happened. The computers and files were destroyed with the Farm. We need to get a handle on this for damage control.” Evan’s bet was looking stronger. It would be all or nothing.
Evan walked up to the door of the safe house. He retrieved the key from its hiding place and unlocked the door knowing that they had to be watching him.
Evan called out before stepping inside, “Dillon, Hal, Lee, we have to talk. Hold your fire.”
“Come in and have your say.”
Evan swallowed hard, “They know that you’re here. I told them that I would talk to you.”
“We are not much in the mood for conversation.”
“The Foreman is dead. It seems that he had a ‘convenient’ heart attack last night.” Lee pulled Evan in the door patting him down for weapons. Lee was surprised to find that he was completely unarmed and alone.
“We were wondering how we were going to catch up with you. You killed Valery.”
“Ray set me up. He told you to take my car to the stake out didn’t he?”
Dillon needed something to go on, “Keep talking.”
“Since when do we use personal cars on stake outs and leave them on sight?”
“Never…”
“He removed a charge from my kit putting the case in my trunk and fed you some bullshit that it was one of our charges. The foreman sent another sweeper team from Miami to kill the other sweepers and level the Farm. This whole operation was getting too messy, so the foreman decided to terminate the whole program and everybody with it. They got Don’s team and leveled the Farm.” Dillon saw an out for his team.
“Evan, are you saying that the Farm was taken out by this ‘Miami team’?”
“Yes, they were under the foreman’s personal control. He was issuing orders above everybody’s head. The files and computers were taken out with the blast. They want me back to reconstruct what happened. The foreman died from a heart attack and he had all of the information in his head. I am the highest ranking member of the group so they want me to come up with an explanation that somebody will buy.” The three men were definitely interested. Their $200,000 seemed like a lot before they started to run. Now it didn’t seem like very much at all. $50,000 for a new identity killed that notion and then there was the problem of finger prints, since they were all ex-military their finger prints were on file in several different locations. The idea of living the rest of their life looking over their shoulder was not attractive. Dillon took the bait.
“So what’s the story?” It was time for Evan to reel in the fish.
“The foreman is dead that is the only reason that I am here. Otherwise it would be another sweeper team taking out the entire building.” They had to give Evan this point. “This whole operation was a screw up right from the beginning. We lost twenty-two people, at least six civilians and an important facility. They need an answer that will end this or go through a full congressional hearing. Ray and the Foreman are dead. They don’t want the truth. What they do want is an answer that fits the facts. I propose that we give them a convincing answer that they can buy.”
“What about the original targets?”
“Screw them I want to live. If they don’t get their answer, we are all dead.”
“What about Valery?”
“I lost people that are close to me too. The question should be. Do you want to die for a dead woman?” Everybody agreed to cut their losses. Evan held up his cell phone and everybody went quiet. He dialed a number and the secretary answered.
“We are all coming in to reconstruct what happened. I am sure that Ray and the team under the Foreman’s control were responsible for most of the carnage. We need a flight out of Nellis Air Force Base ASAP, and you need to cancel any action at this location.” Evan waited for an answer. He smiled when it came delivering the news to the team, “Gentlemen we have a Gulf Stream leaving Nellis for Andrews in an hour. An Air Force van will pick us up in twenty minutes. I suggest that we start working on our reconstruction. Remember that we drop the blame on people that are already dead. Valery discovered what they were doing and threatened to turn them in. We make her look like a hero. If all of the perpetrators are dead, they get to keep this whole matter as an internal investigation under the guise of national security. Remember both the Foreman and Ray are the primary instigators and the Miami team was working directly under the foreman. Everybody else was blindly following orders in good faith, just like loyal patriotic Americans that we are. Let’s get to work.”
Edward reentered his body and looked over at Layla. She was not back yet. He waited patiently.
When she did return Layla asked his opinion, “What do you think?”
“The whole thing stinks. Evan is going to get promoted and we are still in danger.”
Layla didn’t understand, “How do you figure that he will be promoted?”
“He is the ranking member of the group and they will want to buy his story. Evan will come out of this smelling like a rose and they will make him the Foreman. As soon as things quiet down that sick bastard will come after us.”
Layla had to agree with him. “We better get a hold of dad and fill him in.”
Edward disagreed, “We need to stay here and finish training up. Something tells me that we are going to have to go on the attack. We need to drop in on Evan a few times a day. If we travel at different times we can drop in more often. We can only do this a few times a day. Let’s do our recordings and let Susan evaluate what we have.”
Susan was out riding with Lynn. Edward and Layla, watched as she and Lynn worked the jumps. At almost seventy Susan could still do a respectable workout. She climbed down off of her horse and started to walk the horse back to the stable. Susan slumped to her knees holding the reigns, causing Lynn to run up to her. Susan touched Lynn’s shoulder and rolled on to her back. Layla ran up pulling Lynn off of her. Layla checked Susan’s vitals and there was no response.
“Edward, call an ambulance I think that Susan has had a heart attack.” Layla started CPR and Lynn continued to search for a pulse beginning mouth to mouth respiration. It took the ambulance fifteen minutes to arrive. They made every effort to bring Susan around but declared her dead at the hospital. Lynn was beyond consolation. When Susan’s daughter Lynn arrived Edward gave her the news as gently as possible. Knowing the family personally the doctor allowed them their grief
for the better part of an hour. When Noah entered the doctor was giving his explanation.
“It was an Aortic Aneurism, not a heart attack. We had no chance of bringing her back. She could have been on the operating table at the time and we would have lost her. The only consolation that I can offer is that she died doing what she enjoyed.”
Lynn sobbed the whole way home. When the van dropped her and the children off at the house, she pulled Layla out of the van too. Layla did not stop with the others. Lynn pulled Layla up to the bedroom, locked the door and pushed her back on the bed.
“You know what I want.” Lynn started climbing on the bed looking at Layla, with Layla staring at Lynn. She still had on her riding clothes and boots.
“You want horseshit on the bed spread.” Lynn shook her head no. Layla silently held up a feather from the night stand wanting to distract Lynn from her grief. Lynn shook her head no.
“You want a dream!” Lynn smiled silently and rolled into Layla’s arms. They both fell asleep sobbing.
Susan and Terri were both sitting on hay bales dressed in riding gear holding feathers. Susan looked up at Lynn.
“What the hell is your problem?”
“You didn’t say goodbye!”
“I didn’t have time.”
“You could have said goodbye!”
“It wasn’t my choice. If I had a choice, I would still be with you.” Susan stood up and stripped Lynn quickly. Susan started to spank Lynn playfully while Terri applied a feather to her sensitive areas. Lynn awoke laughing. Lynn woke Layla by tickling her feet dragging Layla to the shower. After an hour they both came down stairs dressed in robes. Edward was glaring at Layla. Lynn kissed his cheek.
“It’s ok. That’s how mom expresses herself.” Layla held up her jeans. There was a muddy boot print on each cheek. She kissed Edward passionately.
“I helped Lynn with her boots. I could not sit on the furniture like this. Lynn needed a dream and we had one.” Lynn sat on Edwards lap.
“She was what I had to have.” She slapped Edward’s cheek playfully. “Call John and have him start cooking Susan’s favorites. The Inn is closed for the next three days. We are going to have a party for Susan at the Pub starting in one hour. I want to celebrate her life.” She looked at Edward.
“Call your parents and have them get their asses out here. Your father will want to enjoy the party.”
The phone rang at Grace’s house at seven AM. Edward was happy that it was so early in the morning since, it would give Alex time to make travel arrangements. He connected with Alex on the first try. Edward went straight to the heart of the issue.
“Dad you need to get out here ASAP Susan has died from a heart attack.”
“What…!” Alex could not believe his ears.
“She was out riding and died walking her horse into the barn. The doctor said that it was an Aortic Aneurism. She died instantly. Lynn is shattered. I wanted to give you a chance to arrange transportation. We have other news but it can wait.”
“Thanks for the heads up. We will be out there as soon as we can round everybody up.” Alex went into action. He woke Anna up.
“We are going back to the Inn. Susan had an Aortic Aneurism and dropped dead. Lynn is having a hard time with things. You can claim Nadia. She is in the Disney suite with Ted.” Francesca was out of the country, so Alex called British Airlines and reserved the first class cabin. They were able to guarantee ten seats. Alex did a quick count. He would only need six seats. He woke Tom.
“Tom we are heading back to England. Since you have been hired to run the Four Diamonds, we would like you and your wife to join us.”
“She is an army wife and has a passport but we need to find someone to watch my daughter.”
“If she has a passport she can go too.”
“My daughter has a passport. Helen is a military wife, so I am sure that she will be able to go. How soon do we leave?”
“The flight leaves at four and we will be flying into Heathrow.” We should be at LAX by two. Give me the names and call me with the passport numbers. We will meet you there.” Alex called Agent Byrne next.
“I have to make an emergency trip. I need to enter your crime scene so that I can pack. Have an agent here in an hour so that he can supervise me.”
“I don’t know if I can…”
“I was not asking.”
“I am in charge of this case. I need to clear things with…”
“Agent Byrne I have a funeral to attend in England. If you are in charge, there should be no problem.” Agent Byrne relented when he heard that it was for a funeral.
“I can make it there by nine thirty sharp.” Nadia and Ted would be back around eleven. Agent Byrne showed up at nine thirty. Anna and Alex allowed him to watch them pack chatting while they prepared. Agent Byrne was concerned about his case. “I need a number that we can reach you at in England. We need to keep things moving on this case. I have been cleared from all of my other cases.”
“We find that the best security is secrecy.” Alex offered a compromise. “I will have a phone number that I can be reached at twenty-four hours a day. Alex used the secure line to call the Inn. He asked for the London relay. He copied down the number and handed it to Agent Byrne. They will know where I am at all times and will put you through immediately.”
“That is kind of weak.”
“You have seen how things work. I want this to come to an end. You will have our full cooperation.”
“This should work since you are not being charged with a crime, but you are a witness. Please keep in touch.”
Alex had called BOAC booking the entire first class cabin, but with the addition of Jeff and Cassandra they were short one seat in first class. Alex called BOAC back and booked one more seat in business class for himself. Everybody was surprised that he stood down for Tom’s family.
Alex shrugged off the gesture with a short comment, “I think that the quiet will do me good. I would like some time to reflect.” When the flight landed they cleared customs at the flight. Tom was surprised when they were met plane side by customs being escorted to the ramp and loaded on a bus. With a chartered bus and a police escort they would be driven directly to the Inn. Tom was sitting next to Alex on the bus.
“Alex, I didn’t realize that you had this kind of pull.”
“I don’t have any pull, but my friend does. I am along for the ride.” Tom knew better than that. This was not a new experience for him but the person had been a world leader. By the time that they reached the service gate the customs official had finished the paperwork and stepped off the bus.
Tom was curious, “What about standing down for us?”
“I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. My friend and I have known each other for thirty years. She was the reason for my success. I think that you will like the Inn.”
Evan finished his debrief, so his word was the only side of the story. The Foreman went off the reservation exceeding his authority and twenty-five people died as a result of his actions. Raymond was the conduit for his orders. The two men misused their authority and issued what appeared to be valid orders to others under their command, who followed their orders in good faith. Sean did all this to cover up their misdeeds. They then used a team of rogue agents to destroy the evidence. Brian died of his wounds. The FBI had the Coroner list Donald and Sam as dead. Donald’s team was credited with the death of Stephanie Baxter. There was no clear reason why Raymond ordered the two attacks on the Chalengers. The ‘Miami team’ was credited with the deaths of Don’s team on I-15 and the destruction of the Farm and Dillon’s team went into hiding to protect themselves.
The section under the Foreman’s authority would be dismantled and the surviving personnel would be reassigned. Evan would see to the reassignments of all of the personnel and be reassigned to the State Department as security. It is unfortunate that Sean Manworth suffered an untimely heart attack and was unable to clarify the situation. All of the evidence would be arranged t
o match the findings of the hearing. The agents responsible for the civilian deaths were all dead, so there would be no further hearings and most importantly no trials. With the evidence being secured under National Security, instead of public record. The whole mess was reconciled and would be sealed. The Director of the FBI would be given the thanks of a grateful nation for his diligence and Agent Byrne would receive a huge promotion along with the thanks of a grateful nation for putting a stop to runaway rogues in a sensitive agency. All of the open cases were solved and closed. The local police would be given a story that would allow them to close all of their cases. Evan Black went out to talk to Dillon, Hal, and Lee who would be transferred to the CIA and posted overseas.
When the hearing was finished nobody wanted to hear anymore answers with no one daring to ask any more questions. All of the pieces fit neatly together and it was made clear that this solution would be the official story. Senator Mudson, the chairman of the committee called Evan to the side.
“I want all of the reassignments made within seventy-two hours, and I would prefer that they received overseas postings for three to five years. I want you in an ‘At Large’ posting based here in Washington. How does Special Envoy sound?”
Evan answered quickly, “It sounds perfect.”
Chairman George Mudson said, “Well then I guess it will be closed in seventy-two hours or the deal is off.” Evan understood the deal perfectly, since he would prefer not to have a heart attack.
Evan thought it wise to leave, “I guess that I had better get started. Do you have the keys to Sean’s private office?” The committee handed him a ring of keys, two cords with a single key each and Sean’s key card for his private entrance.
“We kept the card active for ninety-six hours. You have seventy-two hours so access will not be a problem. You have fifteen people including yourself to place.” The chairman put both hands on the table and leaned forward. “There is one unbreakable restriction: there will be no more killing. That is a hard and fast rule. We want this mess resolved ASAP not expanded. You will receive no other assignments until this one is successfully completed.” Chairman Mudson handed Evan a slip of paper. “Here is the list of contacts that will work with you. Your 72 hours will begin at zero nine hundred tomorrow.” Evan knew that he was on a very short leash. He took the keys and decided to search the office not wanting any hard evidence floating around to refute his story.