by Galen Winter
As yet there was no written report exposing Aegis and its clandestine assassination plots. As yet there was no group of trusted friends who would distribute those reports in the event Den or Gigi were killed or disappeared, but Teddy wouldn’t know it and he couldn’t take the chance of questioning its existence.
Gigi and Den knew their best protection continued to be disappearance. As soon as Den returned from placing the phone call to Teddy, they would leave Arizona and drive into Mexico. There, Den would turn his lies into reality. He would write the Aegis report and he would select ex-SEAL companions to put pre-addressed packages into the mail if regular communication from him ever ceased. Then Den Clark and G. G. Grant would vanish.
While Den and Gigi were developing their plans, in the Sahuaro Inn an uneasy Jake Jacobson watched the 10 o’clock evening news. It reported a man carrying a Jordanian passport had been shot and killed in the home of attorney G. G. Grant. The police were following what they expected would be a number of productive leads. Jake recognized the phrase “what they expected would be a number of productive leads” as a euphemism meaning “They didn’t have a clue”.
Jake, on the other hand, had more than a clue. He was frightened and he had reason to be frightened. When he decided to enter Gigi’s bedroom to avoid watching Abdul torture her, he saw Den coming at him with a revolver. It was a scene he never wanted to see again. He knew Den recognized him. He also knew Den killed Abdul and would have killed him, too, if he hadn’t run from the apartment.
Teddy was right. Den Clark knew who was trying to kill him. And now Clark knew he was somewhere in Tucson. Jake expected Clark’s reaction would be violent. He might come looking for him. If Clark found him, Jake knew he would be a dead man. Jake needed help. He called Teddy Smith to get it.
In McLean, the phone on the nightstand next to Teddy Smith’s bed rang. He roused himself and looked at his wristwatch. The phone rang again. He picked it up. Perhaps there was some crisis at the Agency. Perhaps an emergency meeting was being called. “Yes,” he said into the telephone.
It wasn’t an emergency call from the Agency. It was Jake Jacobson. “Why does he have to call me in the middle of the night?” Teddy wondered, a bit peevishly. “It’s damn near one o’clock, Jake,” he said. “You’ve ruined my sleep. This better be important.”
“It is, Teddy. Abdul is dead. Den Clark killed him.”
“You’re sure? How do you know?”
“I was there.”
Jake’s words abruptly jerked Teddy into full consciousness. His first reaction was one of disbelief. “It can’t be,” he thought. Teddy couldn’t understand how Den could possibly know about Abdul. Even if he had, somehow, learned Jake had hired the Jordanian terrorist, Den wouldn’t know where he was or how to find him.
The old questions again visited Teddy. He had been bothered by the possibility of the Jordanian terrorist existed only in Jake Jacobson’s devious mind. Maybe a mythical Abdul was part of one of Jake’s Byzantine schemes aimed at getting rid of Den. Teddy would keep his suspicion to himself. He would wait and see what Jake had to say. He limited himself to questions about the events surrounding the death of Abdul.
Jake told Teddy of his meeting with Abdul in Monterrey and the terrorist’s confirmation of his agreement to work with him. When Jake admitted naming Gigi Grant as Abdul’s first target, he expected Teddy to raise particular hell. He was surprised when Teddy took the news calmly. Teddy meant it when he gave Jake complete discretion to select the target. Teddy didn’t care who Jake might name as target. His only interest was finding a competent replacement for Den Clark.
“By pure luck,” Jake told him, “I found Den Clark. He was hiding out in Grant’s apartment in Tucson. He saw me just before he killed Abdul. I managed to get away. I’m sure Clark will stay in Tucson for at least a few days before pulling another of his disappearing acts. It will take him that long to make sure he leaves no tracks for us to follow. If we act fast, I think he can be run to ground. Can you send someone to find him and take him out?”
Jake’s question was followed by a long pause. Jake’s fears multiplied when Teddy did not immediately agree to his request. The cat was out of the bag. Den Clark would now become the hunter and he, Jake Jacobson, would become the hunted. That was more than merely a disquieting prospect. It was a disquieting immediate prospect. He needed help right now and Teddy was lying in bed in McLean, thinking about it.
“Clark is a loose cannon,” Jake said with some animation. “This may be the only chance we get to silence him. We know he’s here in Tucson. If you send a couple of good men, they can be here tomorrow. They can find him and finish him off. Then Aegis will be safe. Safe, Teddy. Safe. Nobody will have to worry about a loose cannon, rolling around out there somewhere.”
In McLean, with the phone to his ear, Teddy again wondered if Abdul existed. Did Den, in fact, kill him? In the morning, Teddy would contact the Officer-In-Charge of the Phoenix FBI Office. He’d find out if a man had been killed at the Tucson residence of G. G. Grant. If Abdul was not a product of Jake’s imagination and if Den had killed him, Teddy would have to deal with an unexpected problem.
Den would surely think Teddy sent Jake and the Jordanian to kill him. Eliminating Den and Gigi would not be easy. Den was hard to kill and time was of the essence. Teddy wasn’t sure he could find both or either of them before Den reacted by exposing Aegis. Teddy had to be prepared to face the possibility of disaster.
Already Teddy had sown the seeds for his own personal defense.
Deputy Director Brewster believed Clark was a rogue agent - an assassin for hire. If worst came to worst and Teddy’s innocence would not be supported by the fact of his disclosures to Cullen Brewster, Teddy had a second line of defense. He would claim there was no Aegis organization and that Jake Jacobson and Den Clark had acted on their own.
Jake Jacobson was becoming more than just a pain in the ass. His obsession to kill Clark was a threat to both Teddy and to Aegis. Teddy wondered what would happen if Jake were dead? How would that play out? These were the thoughts passing through Teddy’s mind as he listened to Jake’s call for assistance.
“I can’t do much right now, Jake,” Teddy told him. “I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning. In the meantime, sit tight. Don’t stick your nose out of the motel room. Don’t do anything until you hear from me. Do you understand me? Don’t do anything. Sit tight until you get my call.”
Teddy hung up. “Interesting,” he thought. “Jake calls Den a loose cannon. I’ve got two loose cannons on my hands. Den is bad enough. Jake is worse. If Jake’s story is true, Den might blow the whistle on Aegis. I’ll have to do something soon. Damn Jake.”
Teddy turned out the light and went back to sleep.
Jake Jacobson could never be described as a brave man. When faced with any kind of physical danger, he was unable to overcome an impulse to run. It had been his childhood defense mechanism. He had abandoned Mick McCarthy when the firing began in Damascus. When Den confronted him and Abdul in Gigi Grant’s apartment, he ran again. The only time he didn’t run from danger was when Den punished him in his Bellavista apartment. He had no option then. He couldn’t run.
Now, back in his Tucson motel room, Jake lay on the bed and worried about Den Clark. Teddy wasn’t going to immediately send men to kill Clark. He damned Teddy’s delaying tactic. Clark was no fool. Jake applauded his own insight in assuming the name of Albert S. Simpson. It would take Den time to find him. Still, it was possible Teddy’s delay might give Den enough time to track him down.
Quickly flying back to Langley gave Jake no real protection. Den could follow him. Den could hide in Washington and kill him at any time - some morning when he was driving to Langley, or when he was eating at a restaurant, or standing in front of his apartment window. Jake shuddered at the thought and again asked himself how he could possibly have missed when he shot at Den in Arlington.
Trying to reassure himself, he thought: “Teddy can’t let me down. Teddy
can’t shut his eyes to my danger. He’ll have to send someone tomorrow.” Then another thought occurred to him. “My God, what if Teddy leaves me here, twisting in the breeze?” He thought for a moment and then relaxed. “I know what I’ll do. If he doesn’t call by noon, I’ll call him. If I have to, I’ll threaten to phone the newspapers.That’ll bring him to heel.”
Now confident that he would soon be out of danger, Jake went to sleep.
Chapter 24
After the third ring, Teddy Smith switched on his bedside light. For the second time that evening he had been awaken in the middle of his sleep. His mood was not pleasant. Teddy looked at his wristwatch. He reached for the telephone and, without waiting for his caller to announce himself, he exclaimed “For God’s sake Jake, now it’s after one o’clock. Do you have some deep-seated aversion against calling me during daylight hours? What is it now?”
“Hello, Teddy,” said a voice from the other end of the line. Teddy’s surprise at hearing Den was quickly replaced by wondering whatever possessed him to call. Was Den calling for help? Could it be Den still trusted him? Could Den somehow believe he wasn’t involved in the attempts to kill him? He hoped so. He’d try to give credibility to those possibilities.
“Den Clark! It’s you! My God, it’s so good to hear from you. I thought you had been kidnapped and killed. Do you need help? Do you need money? Tell me where you are. I’ll come and pick you up.”
Teddy’s first words - “For God’s sake, Jake” - were proof of his duplicity. It was obvious. Jake called Teddy that same evening. Den knew Jake reported everything that had happened during the day. Teddy’s attempted ‘innocence’ act didn’t have a chance and Den wasted no time in disabusing him.
“You know exactly where I am and you know exactly what I’m doing. Jake phoned you this evening. He told you where I am and he told you I killed that Jordanian goon you sent to take care of me. Deny it, Teddy. Deny it. I want to hear just how you’ll try to convince me you and your Aegis friends have no plans to eliminate me.”
“Jeesus Christ,” Teddy thought. “Now I’ve screwed it up. Why did I let him know Jake had called? Why, oh why, didn’t I keep my mouth shut? Well, what’s done is done. No point in denying it.”
“Yes, Jake called me,” Teddy admitted. “Believe me, Den. I had no suspicion of what he was up to. He told me what happened and I told him to stay in his motel room and do nothing. Nothing,” he repeated. “I’m glad you called. I hope we can straighten out this whole mess.”
“Of course, I believe you.” Den answered. Teddy winced at the heavy sarcasm as Den continued speaking. “I believe you didn’t send me on a one-way trip to Guatemala. I believe you and your buddies had nothing to do with the shot that nearly got me in my apartment. I believe you didn’t send Jake and your paid shooter to kill Gigi Gant and me. I believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the tooth fairy, too.”
Teddy changed his tactics. “I guess I deserved that,” he said. “I know you won’t believe me when I tell you I wasn’t happy with Ocelot. Jake devised that operation and, I’ll admit it, he talked me into approving it. Jake’s been after you ever since you beat him up in The Bellavista, but I didn’t know he was going to take a shot at you and I didn’t know what he was trying to do in Tucson. You won’t believe any of this but it’s the honest-to-God truth. While I’m at it, I’ve wanted to tell you some other truths. They are the truths that you should know and now is as good a time as any.”
Teddy admitted Jake went to Syria to recruit Den’s replacement, how he and the man they called Abdul met in Mexico and how Jake paid him to kill G. G. Grant. “I told him to pick a target and to stick around until Abdul had completed the mission. The target wasn’t important. I thought he’d pick some Mexican drug boss. It was only a test. Like the one we gave you in Chile. It was Jake who picked the Grant woman. She knew about some of his shenanigans when he was in Damascus. Jake wanted to silence her. I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t know she was the target until Jake called me.
“You won’t believe me, but there it is. Jake called about half an hour ago. He told me you were in Tucson and that you killed Abdul. He wants me to send people to …” Teddy paused trying to find the kindest word ... “to deal with you. Hell, Den, I wasn’t even looking for you. As long as you kept your mouth shut, I was willing to let sleeping dogs lie.”
When Teddy paused to take a breath, he heard Den’s chuckle, followed by: “Congratulations, Teddy. I’m impressed. That’s a great tale. And made up on the spur of the moment, too. You certainly are fast on your feet.
“Do you want to know what I’m doing?” Den continued. “Listen up. I’ve been writing. The working title of my opus is: The Aegis Conspiracy. You know how difficult it is for unknown writers to get their works into print nowadays. That’s why I’ve called you. I thought you and your Aegis friends might be instrumental in helping me get my little booklet published and distributed.
“If Gigi or I disappear, if Gigi or I get injured, if either or both of us should pass away - by some kind of accident, by suicide, by a heart attack or even by an infected toenail or from a bad case of dandruff - a number of people, here and abroad, will not hear from us. When they don’t hear from us, each of them will open the packets they have been guarding. They will all read my unpublished papers and each one of them will send a copy to selected newspapers, radio commentators, television talking heads and politicians.
“As surely as the night follows the day, if anything happens to me or Gigi Grant, the Aegis Conspiracy will be broadcast. If you want to see the Aegis Conspiracy published, all you have to do is take a whack at both or either one of us. Perhaps you will share my comments with the rest of your friends in Langley?” It was a question.
Teddy ran his hand over his forehead and to the back of his neck. “God damn that Jake,” he thought. Then he made a decision. “I told you I wasn’t looking for you,” he said. “You don’t believe me. Now I’ll tell you something else. I’m sure there are people in the Agency who believe the same things I do, but those people are not a part of Aegis. There is no large Aegis network. Aegis has never consisted of more than three people – you, Jake and me. No one else, Den. No one else.
“I’m not trying to kill you.” Teddy paused before adding: “No one is trying to kill you. No one except Jake Jacobson. He wants me to send a team to kill you. He’s waiting for my answer. I told him I’d call him before noon today. I’m not going to call him and I’m not going to send anyone. Hell, I don’t have anyone to send. If I did, I wouldn’t send them.” Teddy paused and slowly added: “Jake is staying at the Sahuaro Inn. Room 110.”
Teddy waited for Den’s reaction. He heard nothing. After a few seconds, he heard a click.
“Den? Den?” No answer.
Teddy smiled and hung up the phone. He leaned back, resting on his bunched-up pillows. He was satisfied. It had been a day of accomplishment. Den would certainly go to the Sahuaro Inn. Jake would be there, waiting for a phone call that would never come. He would have no idea Den was coming for him. Jake would be a sitting duck. Den would kill him.
Teddy hoped he had convinced Den that Aegis now consisted of only two people. If Den believed him, he would know his threat of exposing Teddy would be foolproof - as soon as he killed Jake. With Jake dead, Den would know Aegis consisted of only one man - Teddy Smith.
Den would think Teddy had neither the manpower nor the inclination to pursue him. He would think the threat of exposing Teddy and Aegis would free him and the Grant woman. They could lead their lives without the fear of sudden death. There would be no need for Den to go public.
Jake’s death had other important advantages for Teddy. Jake wouldn’t be around to blackmail him with threats to talk about unauthorized killings. It would also effectively silence Den. Abdul might be a case of justifiable homicide, but Jake’s death would clearly be a case of premeditated murder and Arizona has the death penalty. Denver Clark would keep his mouth tightly closed. Teddy’s two loose ca
nnons would be securely fastened to the deck.
“It’s called killing two birds with one stone,” Teddy thought, “and I won’t have to call Arizona tomorrow.” He re-arranged his pillows, turned out the light and, for the third time that evening, proceeded to go to sleep.
In Tucson, it was approaching midnight when Den left the phone booth in the mall parking lot. Gigi’s blackmailing threat - STAY AWAY FROM US OR ELSE - worked better than either of them had hoped. It must have scared the hell out of Teddy and caused him to volunteer a lot of information.
Den repeated that thought, this time with skepticism. “It caused Teddy to volunteer a lot of information?” That didn’t sound like Teddy. It was out-of-character. Den’s own experience with Teddy was enough to convince him anything and everything the man said was suspect. If Teddy told him the sun was rising in the east, Den would look out the window and check, just to make sure.
While he drove back to the Sunset Motel, Den reviewed Teddy’s admissions and tried to make sense out of them. Of course, Teddy would deny trying to kill him. It was very convenient to say it was Jake and only Jake who wanted him dead, but why did Teddy tell him Jake was staying at the Sahuaro Inn? Why did he go out of his way to give him the room number?
The answers to those questions were not hard to find. If Jake was the only one trying to kill him, by removing Jake, Den would be removing the threat to him and Gigi. Teddy wanted him to visit the Sahuaro Inn and kill Jake Jacobson.
Could Teddy be setting a trap? Would some unknown Aegis agent be sitting in Sahuaro Inn - Room 110, waiting there to kill him? It was possible, but Den doubted it. If it was a trap, successful or unsuccessful, the result (as far as Teddy knew) would be the automatic distribution of Den’s disclosures about Aegis. It would be followed by a firestorm of media and congressional demands for the identification and punishment of the conspirators. Teddy wouldn’t do anything to cause that to happen.