Goliath

by E. A. Briginshaw

  “Sounds like you’ve got quite the source.”

  “The best,” Laura said, looking away. “I haven’t spoken to him in years.” After a few seconds, Laura turned back and looked Henry in the eye. “He’s the guy I used to live with,” Laura confessed. “I wasn’t sure he’d even talk to me when I called, but he did. I told him about you. It’s funny - it was only after I told him about you that he spilled the details. I don’t plan on contacting him again. I can’t put him in that position again because he’d lose his job if anyone ever finds out he told me what he did. His job is more important to him than anything.”

  “Apparently not,” Henry thought to himself.

  The last call for Henry’s flight came over the speakers in the airport. They hugged each other tightly and it was evident that neither one of them wanted to break the embrace.

  “I’m glad you suggested we meet here,” Henry said kissing Laura. “This will always be my favourite airport bar.”

  “Mine too,” Laura said.

  As Henry flew back to Toronto that evening, he felt a little more optimistic about his brother’s situation. “Maybe the FBI is right and they’ve just gone into hiding,” he thought to himself.

  * * *

  The room was in total darkness except for a tiny sliver of light that crept in alongside the curtains that were being used to block anyone from outside from seeing what was going on inside the room. A man reached inside the bag that was filled almost to capacity, lifted the long piece of plastic that covered the bottom of the bag and slid a computer out from underneath it. The bag had been kicked around a lot on its latest journey and there was no way of telling if the computer would still work.

  When he turned the computer on, the screen lit up the room revealing a familiar profile.

  “Please enter your password:” prompted the screen.

  He entered the complex combination of letters and numbers slowly and carefully hit the “Enter” key.

  After a few seconds, “Welcome, Goliath” flashed on the screen.

  After a few more seconds, a second message appeared.

  “Package ready for delivery.”

  The cursor scrolled down further and a single “>” prompt appeared waiting for his response.

  “Problems encountered. Unable to deliver at this time,” he typed.

  When he entered “EOT” to signal the end of transmission, the computer shut-down almost immediately and the room returned to darkness.

  *** Chapter 21 ***

  Henry was pleased to see David sitting at the kitchen table the next morning when he went in for breakfast. “You’re up early,” Henry said.

  “Yeah, the coach is letting Alex and I use the gym at school early in the morning,” David said. “He really wants us to make the U-19 team and has been working with us to improve our skills.”

  The season for the high school soccer team had been over for several weeks now, so Henry realized the coach was going well above and beyond his normal responsibilities. With snow now on the ground, there weren’t too many places where David and Alex could work on their skills so knowing someone with a key to the gym was a real bonus.

  “Dad,” David said, “could you ask Grandma to stop barging into my room without knocking? She burst into my room a few nights ago when Ashley and I were in there studying. It’s embarrassing.”

  “Are you sure you were just studying?” Henry asked. “Should we be having another conversation about sex?”

  “Why, have you forgotten something?”

  “Don’t be smart!”

  “We’re not having sex,” David said, feeling somewhat embarrassed at having this conversation. “It would be impossible in this house, especially with Grandma around.”

  Henry thought Grandma knew exactly what she was doing. He remembered when he was a teenager and how she always seemed to be around when he least wanted her there, but her presence probably saved him from getting into a lot of trouble.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Henry said. “But, take things slow. The last thing you want right now is for someone to get pregnant.”

  As David left the kitchen, Henry felt like such a hypocrite. Here he was telling his son to think about controlling his urges and about protected sex and he realized those thoughts had never even crossed his own mind in his encounters with Laura. He made a mental note to have a conversation with Laura about the subject.

  * * *

  A few weeks later, Henry and David were once again heading off to Vaughan for another session with the U-19 coaches. Henry paid more attention to the practice this time and noticed that both David and Alex’s skills had seen a marked improvement over the last several weeks. The coaches gathered the players together on the far side of the field at the end of the practice and spoke to the players for quite a while. When the practice was over, David and Alex walked over to the sidelines together. “Congratulations,” Alex said as he gave David a hug, and then headed off to meet his parents.

  David was beaming. He was trying to act cool and nonchalant, but Henry could tell that David was excited. “What was that about?” Henry asked.

  “They asked me to go with the team to Florida to play a friendly match against the U.S. team,” David said, trying to control the excitement in his voice. “It’s being held over the Christmas break so it won’t interfere with school. Can I go?”

  “I don’t see any reason why not,” Henry said, giving David a hug.

  “The coaches said I probably won’t actually get into the game. Most of the guys going were on the team last year. There are only two new players, myself and Tim Duncan. I’m not sure if you remember him. He’s the guy I played against from North Bay.”

  “Number eighteen,” Henry said. “Yeah, I remember him.”

  David sensed from Henry’s tone that he wasn’t a fan of number eighteen. “Tim’s not a bad guy, once you get to know him.”

  They continued talking while they walked to the car. “They also introduced a new coach today,” David said. “Nigel Smith. I don’t really know anything about him but he’s from England and apparently a pretty big deal. He knows guys like Wayne Rooney and David Beckham.”

  * * *

  Over the next few weeks, they made plans for the trip to Florida. David seemed a little embarrassed over the fuss that everyone was making and kept reminding them that he wasn’t expected to play and would be just sitting on the bench for the entire game. But Henry decided to make a holiday out of it and both he and Robert would be heading down to Florida for the game. They also planned to take in a Miami Dolphins game the next day. Grandma was still worried about Alan and said she wasn’t that keen on travelling, so wouldn’t be coming along.

  Henry was excited about the trip, but also a little nervous. He’d invited Laura down and this would be the first time the boys would be meeting her. Henry had already told them about Laura, but had deliberately kept it low key and told them it was just someone he had met in Chicago. He told them Laura was going to be in Florida on business which was really stretching the truth. Laura had arranged the business part of her trip around the holiday, not the other way around.

  When Henry and Robert arrived at the soccer stadium in Fort Lauderdale, they were surprised that there was hardly anyone there. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Robert asked.

  “I think so,” Henry said. “The game is supposed to be played at the home stadium of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and I think this is the place.” As they moved further into the stadium, Henry was pleased to see David and the rest of the team out on the field doing their warm-ups. David had gone to the stadium a few hours earlier with the rest of the team on the team bus.

  “Pick a seat, any seat,” Robert said as they climbed into the stands. There seemed to be about three groups of people in the stands, parents and friends of the Canadian team, parents and friends of the U.S. team, and coaches and scouts. There were only a few hundred people in total. Henry recognized a few of the parents from the tryouts and st
arted heading toward that group of people.

  Although he probably didn’t really need them, Henry had brought along a pair of binoculars and started using them to get a closer look at David. When the players headed back into the dressing room after their pre-game warm-up, Henry started using them to scan the rest of the stadium. He noticed several people up in the press boxes with their own binoculars watching players on the field and was surprised to see that Frenchie Bouchard was one of them. The bright gold sports jacket he was wearing was a dead give-away. Henry thought it was strange that Frenchie would be covering such a small event.

  Henry continued to scan the rest of the stadium and was surprised when he saw two men in suits who also had binoculars, and they appeared to be pointing their binoculars directly at him.

  “Can I borrow the binoculars?” Robert asked. It was obvious he was getting bored.

  “Sure,” Henry said as he handed them to Robert. Robert only used them for a few seconds before giving them back to Henry. When Henry looked again where the two men in suits had been standing, they were gone.

  * * *

  Inside the dressing room, the new coach from England, Nigel Smith, was introducing Frenchie Bouchard to all of the players. To these kids, Frenchie was a bit of a celebrity because they all watched the sports channel. He made sure the camera-man got a shot of each player. “You never know when one of you guys will be featured on our highlight of the night. Make something good happen out there today!”

  When the coach introduced David to Frenchie, Frenchie did a double-take. “You must be related to Alan Shaw, because you’re the spitting image of him. I wouldn’t look as good as I do without your uncle’s help,” he said, modeling his bright gold sports jacket. Frenchie turned to his camera-man and told him to turn off the camera for a minute. “Your uncle spoke about you quite a bit and is quite proud of you. I was so sorry to hear about his disappearance. Have you heard anything further?”

  “I don’t think so,” David said. “The police keep my dad updated but I don’t think they’ve come up with anything yet.”

  “Well, we’re all praying for him,” Frenchie said, giving David a hug.

  Frenchie continued through the dressing room making sure he spoke to every player. Afterwards, David noticed that Frenchie spent a lot of time talking to their new coach. David also saw the coach give Frenchie an envelope which Frenchie quickly placed inside his sports jacket.

  * * *

  Out in the stands, Henry was pleased to see Laura climbing the stairs towards them. “This is my oldest son Robert,” Henry said as he introduced them. “Laura is a friend of mine from Chicago who’s down here on business. She’s a journalist who works for the Chicago Tribune.”

  Henry realized he was talking too much, but he was nervous and couldn’t seem to stop. Finally, Laura saved him from himself. “Boy, it’s sure hot up here in the stands,” Laura said. “I was going to get a drink but all of the concession stands seem to be closed.”

  “The game won’t be starting for a while,” Henry said. “I’ll go see if I can find us something to drink. Do you want bottled water or a soft drink?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Laura said, “as long as it’s wet and cold.”

  “I’ll have a coke if you can find one,” Robert said.

  Robert and Laura started talking as Henry headed off in search of refreshments. It took Henry a lot longer than he expected as they only had a few concessions open due to the small number of spectators. He returned about twenty minutes later with a coke and two bottles of water.

  “Sorry it took me so long,” Henry said. “I had to walk almost around the whole stadium before I found a concession that was open. So what have you two been talking about while I was gone?” Henry didn’t give them any time to answer before he started talking again. “Did Laura tell you about the business that brought her down to Florida?” Henry asked Robert.

  “The jig is up,” Laura interrupted. “Robert knows that the business trip is just a ruse and that we’re more than just friends. You know, your son would make a very good investigative journalist himself because he had me spilling the truth within a few seconds after you left.”

  Henry looked a little sheepish at being caught. “How long have you known?” Henry asked Robert.

  “We knew you were spending a lot more time in Chicago than you really needed to,” Robert said. “We figured you must have had a pretty good reason,” Robert continued, teasingly bumping his shoulder against Laura’s.

  “Which one is David?” Laura asked, pointing to the players out on the field.

  “He’s number 14,” Henry said. “He’s just putting the yellow bib over top of his jersey because he’s a substitute. He said he probably won’t get to play at all during the game but he’s still thrilled to be here.”

  They watched the game, but it was actually a pretty boring game to watch, even for the parents. The only ones who seemed to be following the game closely were the group of coaches and scouts.

  At half-time, Henry noticed Frenchie Bouchard on the sidelines interviewing the new Canadian coach. They had done the interview right in front of the stands where there were the most people. Henry knew they had done this so it would look like the game was well attended when it aired on the sports channel back in Canada. Frenchie departed right after the interview and didn’t stay around for the second half of the game. Henry suspected that Frenchie had only come to the game for that interview.

  The second half of the game was as boring as the first half and as expected, David had sat on the bench the entire time. The game ended in a one-one draw and the players started exchanging jersey’s after the final whistle blew.

  “What are they doing?” Laura asked.

  “Sometimes in games like these, the players exchange jersey’s with players from the other team,” Henry said. “It’s like it’s a souvenir of the game.”

  Henry was hoping to introduce Laura to David after the game, but he had simply waved at them as he ran off the field with the rest of the team. “Sorry about that,” Henry said. “But you’ll get to meet him tomorrow at the Dolphins game.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Laura said, giving Henry a kiss on the cheek. “Well, I gotta run. Nice meeting you Robert.”

  “So, what did you think of Laura?” Henry asked Robert after Laura had left.

  “I like her,” Robert said. “More importantly, what do you think of Laura?” Henry didn’t answer. “I thought so,” Robert said.

  As Henry and Robert headed out of the stadium together, Henry had the feeling they were being watched. He scanned the far side of the stadium looking for the two men in suits who he had seen earlier, but didn’t see them anywhere. But they had been watching everything that was going on.

  One of the two men in suits was standing in the shadows along the side of the stadium. He was a big man in his late forties who was dressed like he was a successful businessman. But he wasn’t, he simply looked after their interests. He flipped open his cell phone and hit the buttons to dial one of his contacts. “It’s Carter. Yeah, he’s here at his son’s soccer game along with his other son and some woman. There’s no sign of his brother. Despite what your source at the FBI said, I don’t think there’s any way Bronson’s plane could have made it. We did quite a number on that plane.”

  As he listened to the response over the phone, his partner came over to join him. Cuccinelli, or Cujo as he was more commonly known as was in his early thirties and also dressed like a successful businessman. He looked quite friendly, or he did until he took off his sunglasses. There was something about this man’s eyes that left no doubt that he was evil to the core. Carter handed him the phone.

  Cujo listened intently to the person on the other end before he spoke. “Yeah, I’ve been tracking Bouchard. He’s definitely involved. It will be difficult because he’s rarely by himself, but we’ll take care of it.”

  He put his sunglasses back on and the two men casually strolled out of the stadi
um. As they walked by one of the large garbage containers that lined the pathway, Carter stopped to tie his shoe while his partner dumped their burner phone into the trash.

  *** Chapter 2 2 ***

  Henry, David and Robert talked about the game at the hotel later that evening. “I hope you guys weren’t too bored,” David said. “I told you that it was no big deal and you didn’t have to come.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Henry said.

  “Hopefully the Dolphins game will be a little more exciting tomorrow,” Robert said. “That’s the game I’m really looking forward to.”

  “Laura used her connections with the Tribune to get us some pretty good seats,” Henry said. “It’s too bad you didn’t get to meet her today David.”

  “Sorry about that,” David said. “I thought it was best that I stay with the team.”

  Henry turned on the TV in the hotel room and flipped the channels until he came to the local news station. The lead story showed the President talking about his gun control legislation and how optimistic he was that he’d be able to get the required votes to pass it in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It was followed by interviews of several other politicians who said there was practically no chance it would get approved.

  “Can we watch something else?” David asked. “I can’t stand listening to these politicians.”

  Henry turned to Robert to see if he minded, but could see that he was listening to music on his iPod and wasn’t even watching the TV. Henry started flipping through channels but stopped when he came across the Florida Panthers hockey game. The Toronto Maple Leafs were in town to face the Panthers and the announcers were doing their pre-game show. The bright gold sports jacket of one of the announcers could only be Frenchie Bouchard.