Foreign Threat

by Mitchell Goldstein

  “How are we doing?” answered a familiar Middle Eastern voice. “It has been a few days, and I am getting anxious, my friend. I was hoping to talk to you by now. Are all the birds in the coop?”

  Agent Thomas thought quickly. He couldn’t disappoint his caller. “Things are going well, but we have one more bird on the loose. I think we are very close to capturing it, perhaps even by tonight. Yeah, I think tonight we should be all set, and then all the birds will be in the coop.”

  “My friend, please don’t lie to me. Dishonesty portrays a very bad character. Where I come from, people who are dishonest lose their life. I have been watching you and your associates very carefully. Although you have most of the birds, there is one that seems to have escaped your capture. I will give you a short while longer. If all the birds are not found, our deal is off, and the payment for birds and the package will be nullified. I will be in contact.”

  Agent Thomas kept the phone to his ear long after the disconnection. He studied the situation in his head, trying to devise a plan that would help capture Steve. He also considered whether there was a way he could just take his money and run. It wasn’t all they promised, but maybe he could find a way to get into the foreign account they had guaranteed as well.

  Thomas knew better than that, though. They probably had those accounts frozen until everything was completed. He finally hung up the phone. He glared at it for a moment and then picked it up again to dial one of his associates. “Well, how are we doing? Did you locate that kid? He has to be around somewhere!”

  A voice on the other side of the phone answered, “No! It is like he just vanished into thin air. We have searched the streets up and down the entire bus route. I have no idea where he went. He just disappeared.”

  Thomas tensed. “We all will be in a lot of trouble if you don’t find him. Go back to the house, and make sure he doesn’t go back there to hide.”

  “Already done. I sent two guys there right at the get go, and then I sent two more back to the hospital. I have his home line tapped as well as all the lines at the hospital in case he tries to make connection with anyone who might help him out,” responded the man on the phone.

  “Fine. Good work. We will just have to see if, or rather when, that little doc makes a mistake, and then we will be all over him.”

  Chapter 39

  Steve slowly opened the back door of the store and looked in both directions of the alley. No SUVs and no men in black suits. It appeared to be clear. Steve walked out, trying to act calm, but his pounding heart was beginning to give him a headache.

  He thought maybe now his house would be a safe haven since nothing was there that would interest them. He was holding a backpack filled with a lot of money, so perhaps the house would be clear.

  Steve saw a dirty hat on the ground and picked it up, dusted it off, and slipped it on. It had a terrible odor, but he needed to hide his face. Buying something at that store might have been a good idea, but the clerk seemed too scared to tolerate a normal transaction.

  Steve’s mind returned to the backpack full of money and why Jake was involved. He remembered the bag of powder in the OR: probably the drugs that showed on the tox report. Steve didn’t think of Jake as a drug dealer type of guy, but residency sure didn’t pay well. Even if Jake was dealing drugs, why was the CIA involved? It should have fallen under the jurisdiction of the DEA.

  Whatever it was that they were after, it must have been important. They had killed some wonderful people, another unlikely CIA habit. If they were truly CIA agents, they would interrogate through the legal system before killing people. Maybe they were only disguised as agents to get in and out of places without question. Then why were foreign players so involved?

  As he continued to ponder this whole thing, Steve realized he was nearing his house. He snuck around the block to avoid being seen if any agents were already waiting outside his house. He crept up along a neighbor’s fence until he could get a good view of the front of his house. Sure enough, his house had unwanted visitors. He didn’t waste any time staring at them. He quietly backtracked.

  So now plan B was in effect. Steve had no idea what plan B was yet, but he did know that returning to his house with those slugs outside was sure to end poorly. He knew it couldn’t just be about the money. Agent Thomas saw Steve with Jake’s money at the hospital, yet they had thoroughly searched his house.

  Steve had pondered this issue for the last few days without resolve. Now was not the time to sit twenty yards from the enemy to wonder what was happening. He tried to concentrate on the immediate situation at hand and come up with a plan. The town appeared to be filled with these agents or whoever they were. Steve felt it would be best to get out of town. Then maybe he could contact Sweetpea, or whoever she was, to find out why she was so worried. Maybe, just maybe, she could shed some light on the situation. He didn’t know if she was good or bad, or if one of Thomas’s thugs was pretending to be a woman online, but his gut demanded that he give her a chance to tell her side of the story.

  His biggest problem was transportation. Both his personal car and his borrowed car were useless, not to mention that taking public transportation was out of the question. They knew he had no wheels and had to rely on the bus for mobility. That only left Steve a few possibilities, one of which was getting himself another vehicle. He knew that adding to his list of crimes by stealing again wouldn’t impress any judge, so his next option was to buy a car. He thought for a few minutes and then looked at the backpack as a wide grin slowly spread across his face.

  It wasn’t his money, but under the circumstances, Steve thought Jake would understand. He probably had enough to buy a few Mercedes and then some, but he just wanted wheels to get him around to and fro. Why not make it a fast car to get him to and from without the help of those agents? He couldn’t get something that would attract too much attention, but a car with a ‘hemi’ would probably do the trick. The guys on the TV commercials sure got where they needed to get to without any problems.

  He started on foot toward the nearest Dodge dealership to pick himself up a ‘hemi.’ He remembered a dealership about a mile down the street. As he walked, he realized that paying cash for a brand new car would also attract a lot of attention. He decided to only shop for a used car and not to look for the most expensive car while he was at it.

  By the time he arrived at the lot, the sun was going down. Steve hoped that the dealership was still open. He walked up to the door just as the salesman was closing up.

  “You’re not closed yet, are you?” asked Steve.

  “As a matter of fact I am, and you know I am actually late.” The man looked at his watch. “Can you believe I stayed here for an extra twenty minutes showing this old lady a freaking car, and then after all that, she said she wasn’t interested? What a waste of my time!”

  Steve smiled to himself. Just twenty minutes late… He thought about all the hours he put in each week – or for that matter, each day. He thought about the times post-call that he still had to work the whole next day in order to get all of his work done. There were times he would put almost forty hours in just over a two-day period.

  Never mind all that. He had to stay on task and find a way to get this guy to let Steve shop for a car. “If you give me just a few minutes, I am sure I can make it worth your while.”

  “Right!” responded the salesman. “It is not like I haven’t heard that one yet today.”

  Steve turned around so as not to let the guy see what he was doing. He put his hand into his grab bag and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. He then quickly turned around and dangled the bill in front of the man as he was turning the key to the lock the dealership. “Would this make you believe?” asked Steve.

  The man straightened. “I think I have a few more minutes. I mean, what the heck! I am already late, right?” he said. “Now, I have a few new cars inside that I think would suit you perfectly. I get the feeling that you might want the kind of car that can take you-”

>   Steve had no time for sales bullshit, so he quickly interrupted the guy. “Sorry, I hate to be rude, but I am also in kind of a hurry, so let me tell you exactly what I need. Then you won’t have to guess what kind of guy I am and the right car for me.” He continued, “I need a truck with a hemi, like the ones they have in those commercials with those two guys who can never win the car race. Do you know what I’m talking about? If you do, then I think you have figured me out, and that would be the car I want. Okay?”

  “No problem,” said the guy. “You want a Durango. I have a few brand-new beauties right here in the showroom.”

  Steve chimed in again to save time. “How about a used one with a few miles on it?”

  The man turned to face Steve and smiled in a hesitant manner. After a few seconds, he smiled in a manner depicting greater confidence. “Alright then, I think I know just the car for you. Just got in last week with a trade in, and it has your hemi

  with about 50,000 miles on it. Sound good so far?”

  “Perfect,” answered Steve.

  “Great!” said the man. “Just follow me over here to our used car lot. The guys just finished going over the vehicle yesterday

  and gave it a good report card.”

  Steve wasn’t really listening. He was glad that there was only one person to deal with instead of a full store of people. Heading out of town would be the best next step. There was a small town about one hour north of Minneapolis where he used to hang out near the St. Croix River. It would be a great place to sit and collect his thoughts.

  “How about this one, sir? This was the one I thought would go well with you. What do you think?” asked the salesman.

  Steve drew himself back to the present. With a quick glance at the Durango, he asked, “Does it have a full tank of gas?”

  The man chuckled and gripped Steve’s hand. “Don’t you want to take it for a test drive?”

  Steve shook his head and said, “No, this is perfect. You deserve a raise because this is exactly what I had in mind. Let’s get the paper work done, and then I will take this baby out for a quick drive.”

  The sales person couldn’t believe his ears but didn’t argue. The paperwork was done in a flash. Fifteen minutes later, Steve was driving away in a beautiful black Durango. He smiled to himself, thinking he needed to purchase a nice black suit to go along with his black car. Then all he would need was the dark sunglasses to blend perfectly with his pursuers.

  Steve turned on to the interstate and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. He could get up to Taylors Falls without much trouble, and there he could sort things out. He glanced at his mirror just to make sure he had no followers. Only a few cars were on the road, and they didn’t seem to be the SUV type. He felt he was in the clear, so he sat back and pondered the entire situation as he drove northward.

  Chapter 40

  While Steve was taking a leisurely drive along the picturesque St. Croix River, a different brand of CIA agents was interviewing people at the hospital. They had a list of people to interview about recent events. Most people didn’t have much to contribute, but Sally, Tom, and the medical students Mike and Roger were interrogated endlessly.

  Sally just looked at the man with a blank stare as he tried to explain the situation to her. Other CIA agents were questioning people and running about. She couldn’t believe what was happening. It seemed like a televised drama, not something in her real life.

  However, those people had really died in her hospital. They were her friends and staff. There was nothing fictional about that. She would never be able to hear another A.J. story or listen to Jake complain about annoying details. The nurses who had died were way too young with too much to look forward to, not to mention their poor families. These people were really dead, not ever to return.

  Sally wondered if Tom was getting the same story. Was his mind filled with the same thoughts and concerns as hers?

  “Ma’am? Ma’am? Did you hear everything I said? Ma’am?”

  Sally was indeed in her little world, but unfortunately, she had heard it all.

  “Yes, yes, yes, I heard it all! It is just kind of hard to believe and digest everything you have just told me. I mean, this shit happens on a movie screen with actors, not in my hospital with my friends!”

  “I appreciate your disbelief, doctor, but my staff and I are

  trying to protect the last person out there. We don’t know where he is or what he is going to do. But if he makes one mistake, they will be all over him in a flash.”

  Sally stared at the agent. “How do I know you and your thugs here are the real thing? They could be just like the first group. Then how will this end? And really, who are the bad guys and who are the good guys? No offense here, but there seems to be a lot of agents running about, and we are supposed to trust you guys? I mean, who killed four of our colleagues? Really, what the hell…Help me out here!”

  “I understand your concerns, ma’am, but all I can offer is this ID badge and a phone number direct to headquarters. Otherwise, you just have to trust me and the men who are here now. And the quicker you do that, the sooner we can put the pieces together to protect Dr. Carmichael.”

  Sally thought for a minute. Steve was still out there, running from some thugs who were out for his life. But if she trusted the wrong people, she might lead the enemy directly to Steve.

  Never did Sally imagine that this could ever happen where she worked. She remembered during med school on the last day when all the senior students found out where they were going to complete their residency. Some were going to do surgery at Duke and others at Stanford. She was just excited to stay in Minnesota where life would be nice and quiet. Little did she know that she would be in the middle of an international mess that would leave several of her friends dead.

  “Sally, have you thought about this enough? We need to ask you some questions.”

  Sally sighed. “Fine. Let’s get on with it.”

  The agent balanced his pen over a pad of paper. “We know through our undercover agents that Jake was making direct contact with several foreign men. These men are terrorists from Afghanistan. They may have ties to other larger terrorists groups like Al Qaeda, but they may be working independently. Nonetheless, they have possibly obtained some very classified information concerning our country. We will leave it at that for right now. The more information you can give us, the better we may be able protect the country. Do you have any questions? If not, I would like to know if you have ever seen any unusual men talking with Jake or Steve.”

  Sally looked away to think. She glanced up and said, “I don’t recall any major encounters, but there were times that Jake was late for rounds, and he would be seen talking to a man in a black suit. I wasn’t ever close enough to listen to their voices. I would never have guessed that he was foreign. I remember one time that Jake was seen talking to a guy near the ICU during rounds. He looked very American.”

  “That’s a start,” replied the agent. “It sounds as if you never heard any of their conversations, but what about gestures or exchanges? Did you ever see anything transferred back and forth, like a briefcase?”

  “Sorry, but I never got that close to their encounters. Jake was acting a little more concerned the last few days before his death, but he never said why.” She paused. “Jake seemed a little uneasy right after the night they operated on that foreign guy, too.”

  “What foreign guy?” exclaimed the agent. “What foreign guy did they operate on, and why? Do you know any of the details? Is that guy still in the hospital? Can I see him?”

  Sally glared at the agent with the barrage of questions. “I am afraid you are out of luck with the hospital visit. That poor young man died post-op from sepsis. They said he came in with a presumed appendicitis, but they found a large mass and a lot of pus when they operated. They took out the mass and irrigated

  his belly, but he developed sepsis and died.”

  The man in the black suit repositioned himself on his chair. �
�Can we look at the mass? Who else was in the OR for that surgery? Do you have a record of what transpired?”

  “Yes, we have a record of everything. Everyone who has died so far was in that room, and so was Steve Carmichael. As far as the pathology goes, we can look that up right now.” Sally grabbed one of the computer keypads and entered the date of the surgery. She gave the screen a funny look. “That’s weird,” she said. “There is no pathology recorded for that surgery.” She typed in a few more things but found nothing.

  Sally was perplexed. She grabbed the phone nearby and punched in the extension to the Path Department. She waited for someone to answer and then asked a few questions. She listened to the response and slowly hung up the phone. She had a blank stare in her eyes. She turned to the agent. “They said there was never any path delivered from the OR that night and that I was the second person in a day or two to ask that same question. They said Dr. Carmichael called just a little while ago and asked for the report.”

  Without a moment’s hesitation, the agent grabbed his phone and walked away from Sally. “John, they took the package! I repeat: they have the package. You need to notify Washington immediately! I don’t know where they are, but I do know they are trying desperately to destroy the last link. We need to find Carmichael pronto! They won’t want to use any of that info until all their witnesses are destroyed.” He looked back at Sally and asked, “Do you have any idea where Carmichael is? This is for national security, damn it. I don’t need any bullshit now!”

  Sally looked perplexed and scared at the same time. She didn’t know what to say. She had no idea where Carmichael would be. Outside of work, she didn’t know Steve that well. She didn’t know his likes or dislikes, and she didn’t have a clue how he spent his time outside of work. He was just a coworker, so why would she know where he was now?

  Sally replied nervously, “I have no clue where Steve would be or where he would go. I don’t hang out with him very much, and conversation here at the hospital is limited to hospital stuff. I understand the importance of the matter here, but I just can’t help you or your staff anymore.”