by Bryan Murray
His throat was dry and there were tears welling in his eyes as he finally managed to speak. “Honey, it’s me, Jake.” he whispered.
Her eyelids fluttered. “Jake....” she mumbled, struggling to speak.
Jake leaned closer, his heart torn apart watching her struggle. “What happened, sweetheart?”
Outside, Benny was trying to listen in, but also distracted, looking nervously up and down the corridor, with a cruel, lifeless look in his eyes.
Life was slowly fading as Nancy struggled to continue. “J..Jake ...important,” she coughed and then she whispered the single word that sounded like, “Broken!”
Jake was struggling to understand. “I’m listening, baby, go on?”
She coughed again and whispered. “F....FBI...em...embedded!” before she slowly closed her eyes for the last time.
Jake was devastated, tears flooding his eyes. He put his hand to his face. “Nooooo!” he wailed uncontrollably. Life as he knew it, had suddenly been snatched away from him as he looked at his wife through brimming tears. He was living once again, that deep, gut-wrenching sorrow that had enveloped him when his parents died. He held Nancy in his arms, a lost, heart-broken man.
Submerged in grief, his mind strangely returned to the Ashram sons. Was this the same kind of grief that he had inflicted upon them after killing their father? He sat there as the numbness slowly crept over him.
Outside in the corridor, Benny was already moving off. He clicked on his phone and made a call.
Jennings answered. “Yes?”
Benny filled him in, whispering. “She’s dead!”
“Good!” Jennings replied cruelly.
“There’s just one thing, sir.”
“I’m listening?”
Benny spoke quietly. “I think she whispered something to him before she died!”
Jennings was livid on the other end of the line. “Shit! Get back here now!”
“Yes, sir.”
Back in the cubicle, Jake held Nancy to him and let the tears flow. The kindly nurse reappeared and gently moved Nancy from Jake’s arms and laid her slowly back on the bed, covering her reverently. She reached over and squeezed Jake’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Harrigan!”
CHAPTER 9
It was a grey, misty, drizzly day in the cemetery and the mourners gathered for Nancy’s funeral were huddled under umbrellas. The preacher had just finished the ceremony and he was shaking hands with Nancy’s widowed mother Glenda as the other guests were starting to walk back to their vehicles. Jake stood there, as if in a trance, as first Peterson, then Jennings and finally Davidson, filed past, shaking his hand offering their condolences at his loss.
* * *
The days since Nancy’s death had gone by in a haze for Jake and much of that had been alcohol induced. He was not ashamed to admit that alcohol had at least helped a little to numb the grief that he was now drowning in. He hadn’t slept since Nancy’s death and on the day of the funeral, he had summoned all his strength to get shaved, showered and at least eat a little breakfast before he headed to the cemetery. If it hadn’t been for Nancy’s mother, Glenda, organizing the wake and the other arrangements, Jake was not sure how he would have gotten through it.
The final guests were shaking hands with Jake and the last in the line was Nicole, Nancy’s friend. She walked up to him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She waited until the others were out of earshot and whispered. “Jake, we need to talk!” Jake looked at her numbly and nodded. Sarah, the FBI undercover agent, was also among the departing guests, watching closely.
Jake remained by the grave, deep in grief, when Nancy’s mother Glenda, still attractive in her mid-fifties, approached. She was clearly heart-broken. She put her arm around Jake. “No mother should ever have to lose a child. Are you going to be okay, Jake?”
Jake hugged her back. “Not really, you?”
She had a faraway look in her eyes. “After Bob died, Nancy was everything to me. Every day was a bright, new start for her.”
He sighed. “I know what you mean,” he snuffled. “You need anything?”
She squeezed his arm. “Only thing I ever needed is gone!” she wiped away a tear. “Don’t stay away, Jake.”
“You can count on it, okay?” he answered as they walked away together, Jake with his arm around her, each immersed in their own grief.
Across the cemetery, Sarah was already on her phone, speaking quietly. “Yes, Senator, they’re all here for the funeral. Peterson and Jennings are very close.”
Johnson was eating lunch, still on the phone. “D’you think it was an accident?”
“I don’t know, sir, could be, I suppose.”
Johnson was still very interested in Sarah’s assignment. “Keep an eye on Harrigan, he’ll check it out for sure.”
“Will do, Senator.”
Sarah walked away and back at the graveside, one last mourner was still standing in the background. It was Janis, tears of sadness flowing freely at the loss of her colleague.
* * *
Following the funeral, Jake had felt that he needed to get away from the apartment for a while, away from the memories that were still replaying in his mind. Whenever he and Nancy had needed to chill out, or get away from the daily grind, they had always packed a bag and driven out to their cabin in the woods. It was like a little piece of serenity, where two people in love could simply relax and let the rest of the world go by. With batteries re-charged, they would then head back into town, ready to face the next new day.
Outside the cabin, the first layer of light snow for the winter was falling, and inside, Jake was sitting there with sleep-depraved eyes, watching the video of their wedding day, a half-empty bottle of Scotch next to him. He looked at the joyous scene, currently overshadowed by his grief, as he poured another drink, a lost, broken man.
The wedding itself had been somewhat overshadowed by the accident and with Glenda still nursing her husband with terminal cancer, the shocking news that Jake’s parents had been killed in a car accident, totally wiped out any chance at outward joy for Jake and Nancy, until a few months later when the true love that he had always known was there, finally came to the surface. They had been living a lover’s dream ever since. They were always ready for a new adventure that they both could share.
His paternal grandparents in the US were both dead, but his maternal grandparents in the UK, had been a tower of strength during the months following his parent’s death and when Jake broke the news to them of Nancy’s death, they had both been devastated. Jake had been named after his grandfather, who had been a great comfort to Jake in his grief, both at the loss of his parents and currently, over his tragic loss of Nancy.
Jake Sr. was a retired member of the UK Security Forces, a man, also like Jake, hardened to the violent side of life. Even though his grandparents had both been unable to attend Nancy’s funeral for health reasons, they had definitely been there in spirit.
Jake was disturbed from his memories by a knock on the door. He stumbled to his feet and walked over and opened the door to see Nicole standing there, her car parked behind her in the fading light on the snow-covered driveway.
She was the first to speak. “Hello, Jake, can I come in?”
He struggled to focus on her, trying to remember who she was as he held the door open. She entered and went over to the fire to warm her hands. Jake finally remembered. He raised his eyes in recognition. “Nicole, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, Nancy and I were pretty close at the office.”
Jake remembered his manners. “Can I get you a drink?”
She shivered. “Thanks, Scotch is fine.” He poured her a drink and topped up his own. He sat next to her and handed her the drink. She took a sip. “Thanks.”
Outside in the woods, a black SUV was parked out of sight with Benny at the wheel, watching the cabin. He had been instructed by Jennings to keep an eye on all Nancy’s friends and associates who may be connected with Jake Harrigan. Nicole had been hi
gh on the list, since she was the last person seen with Nancy by Benny before the accident.
Inside and totally unaware that they were being watched, Jake was curious. “So, what brings you out on a night like this?”
Nicole chose her words carefully. “It was something Nancy said, I didn’t take too much notice of it at the time,” she paused. “But now!”
Jake listened intently. “Go on?”
Nicole took a breath. “I guess I was the last person to see her alive. We left the office together, had a chat then got in our cars and went our separate ways, as we always did.”
Jake was struggling to rid himself of the alcoholic haze in his brain. “So, did you notice anything different on that particular night?”
She thought for a moment and nodded affirmatively. “When we met up and walked to the parking garage, Nancy seemed strangely distracted.”
“Distracted?” he was now concentrating hard.
Nicole nodded affirmatively. “Yes, she finally admitted that she was worried about something she overheard. She said she needed to talk to you about it.”
“Did she say what it was?” Jake was getting more interested.
Nicole looked frustrated. “No, and then she said she was convinced she was being followed.”
“Did she say by whom?”
Nicole thought back. “She was pointing to a maintenance guy, but I told her she was imagining things, but maybe I was wrong! Damn!” she was sobbing.
Jake consoled her. “Hey, there was no way you could have known, Nicole.”
She thought for a moment. “Did she say anything to you before she died?”
He nodded negatively. “Not really, she was in a terrible state. She mentioned something but it didn’t make sense.”
“What did she say?”
He was still trying to piece things together. “Kinda disjointed. She said what sounded like ‘Broken’ and then ‘FBI embedded’.”
She thought for a moment. “I agree, it don’t mean a thing.”
He nodded. “Exactly.” he was desperately trying to clear his mind. Additional pieces of the jigsaw surrounding Nancy’s death were now beginning to surface, but all he had to go on at the moment, were the disjointed, dying words of Nancy. In addition, there was now the fact that she had apparently overheard something she probably shouldn’t have, about what he had no idea, but information that seemed to be of a critical nature to third parties, in addition to which she had been getting the feeling she was being followed by some maintenance guy.
In Jake’s rapidly-clearing mind, this was telling him just one thing. That what had seemed to have been an unfortunate auto accident that killed his wife, was definitely not what it appeared to be!
Nicole continued, finishing her drink. “Anyway, Jake, I just wanted to let you know what had happened, up until we parted company that night,” she stood up. “I’d better go.”
Jake was grateful. “Thanks for coming, Nicole.”
She gave a thin smile. “My pleasure, you know she really worshipped the ground you walked on, Jake.”
He shrugged back the tears. “Likewise,” he thought for a moment. “I know it was an accident, but something just doesn’t add up here,” She listened intently as he explained. “Like having a blow-out. Hell, we only put new tires on the car a month ago!”
She nodded in agreement. “I agree, that does sound odd!”
He walked her to the door and opened it. Out in the woods, Benny was now watching them, wearing head phones and pointing a directional microphone at them. Nicole shook hands with Jake. “Well, if I hear any more at the office, I’ll let you know.”
Jake helped her down the step. “Thanks, one more question?” Benny was listening to their every word as Jake continued. “What was she working on before she died?”
Nicole answered easily. “It was her usual contract shipping logistics role. Pretty routine stuff. It was on the big Trojan Project.”
Jake was curious. “And what’s that?”
“A big Midecon contract in Dubai for the supply of oilfield security and hardware to Ashram Energy.”
Jake’s eyes widened as Nicole continued.
“She used to joke it should have been called the ‘Trojan Horse’ instead!”
“Why?”
She gave a wry smile. “There seemed to be so many hidden aspects!”
The hairs on the back of Jake’s neck were now standing up. The one thing that his training with the agency had taught him, was that whenever a coincidence occurred involving a death under suspicious circumstances, there was inevitably some hidden connection that needed to be double-checked. He was now alerted to that possibility. Maybe it was more than just a coincidence that Nancy was working on a contract for the exact same company whose CEO he had terminated just days ago.
Outside on the driveway, it was still snowing gently as Nicole opened the car door. “Well, I gotta go, I’ll stay in touch.”
Jake patted her shoulder appreciatively. “Thanks again, Nicole. Drive carefully.” She got in the car, drove off and Jake went back inside. He looked through the window as her car headed off.
“Sweet lady!” he murmured. His expression changed when he saw the red tail lights of an SUV now following Nicole out of the woods. At first glance, he wondered which of his neighbors could be driving out of the woods at that time of night, but his mind was more focussed on what Nicole had been telling him about her last moments with Nancy. If Nancy was indeed being followed by some maintenance guy on that fateful day, he wondered who it might be and if perhaps that person had something to do with Nancy’s accident.
He was now sobered up and curious. He had been so consumed with grief that he had not even thought to check on the state of Nancy’s wrecked car after the accident, probably because a part of him just couldn’t bear to see what she had gone through. He decided it was now about time he took a closer look. He grabbed a warm coat from the closet, picked up his car keys and headed out.
* * *
In Benny’s car, as he was following the unsuspecting Nicole, he was already on the phone to Jennings. “Yes, sir, she was tellin’ him all about the Trojan project, about hidden aspects, the whole nine yards!”
Jennings was fuming. “We can’t take a chance, you know what to do?”
Benny had a cruel look in his eyes. “Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER 10
The snow was easing off when Jake pulled up outside Bubba’s Auto Salvage. He had been told this was where Nancy’s car wreck had been taken and he had decided to take a closer look when nobody was around. It was early evening and the street was deserted as he approached the gates to the salvage yard, one of the many graveyards for vehicles that had seen better days in the DC area.
With his flashlight in hand, he tried the chain on the gate and found it locked. He looked up and down the deserted street before quickly climbing over the fence and dropping silently to the other side.
He turned his flashlight on and started moving along the rows of wrecked cars, many stacked like pancakes. He turned a corner and nearly had a heart attack when a huge, salivating Rottweiler on a chain came bounding at him, snarling angrily. Luckily, the chain held the dog back just enough for Jake to back away. He tried to calm his heart rate and the dog as well. “Jesus! Down boy, steady!”
The dog, still salivating, slowly backed off and Jake shone his flashlight in the area of the wrecked vehicles. As luck would have it, the fine dusting of snow had done little to obscure the colors of the bodywork on the vehicles in varying states of decay. Jake moved along in the fading light and finally stopped in front of Nancy’s wrecked car. He looked at it incredulously.
“What a mess!” he murmured, his mind going back to the emergency room and Nancy’s broken body. He struggled to regain his composure, as thoughts of Nancy and their life together flooded back, reminding him of his loss.
He checked out the car closely and climbed underneath before he finally twisted himself into position to take a closer
look at the blown tire, his flashlight in his hand. His expression changed when his worst fears were realized. “Accident my ass!” he snarled. He scrambled from underneath the car with anger in his eyes. “What the fuck is going on?”
Driving back to the cabin, a deep rage was burning inside him and the direction of that rage was now pointing unmistakably towards the agency and the bastards who would have done this to Nancy and to him. When he had climbed under Nancy’s car and seen the rear blown tire, he had seen the remnants of the adhesive that had been used to attach the ‘black-ops’ detonation pack to the inside of the tire!
His mind instantly went back to the ‘hit’ a couple of years earlier, when his target had been a rebel general in the terrorist movement in the impoverished country of the Sudan. The sensitivity of the situation had required Jake to go in with the specific instructions that under no circumstances should the agency be implicated in the ‘kill’. He had been flown in at night and after excellent intel regarding the general’s planned movements the next day, he had gone into the rebel motor compound the night before and attached a similar detonation pack to the general’s Hummer.
The next day, as the general and his aides were heading towards a rendezvous with other rebel officers, along the side of a deep ravine, Jake, who was following at a distance in a CIA chopper, had activated the detonator, just as Benny had done in DC, forcing the general’s Hummer and its occupants to swerve off the road and plummet into the ravine, killing everybody on board. By the time the remains were retrieved, after the explosive impact in the bottom of the ravine, any evidence, similar to what Jake had just detected on Nancy’s vehicle, had been non-existent.
As Jake returned to the moment, one thing was now crystal clear in his mind. Nancy’s death was no accident! It was a professional hit, administered by one or more of his colleagues, so what the fuck was going on?
* * *
By the time Nicole got to her apartment block, the snow had stopped and she was totally unaware that she was being followed. She parked and walked to the entrance for the elevators, clutching her coat around her in the chilly night air. She couldn’t help but feel a deep sadness at Jake’s grief. She still missed Nancy, but it didn’t come close to the overwhelming loss that was obviously consuming Jake.