“How about acquaintances, people he would meet or hang out with after work?”
Sally shook her head. “I have no idea. I never talked about those things with him. He interned with Dennis Burrows, so he might know something, but I don’t know how close they were. I just knew they went through orientation together and sat together at the surgery conferences.”
“Alright, Dr. Jenson. We are making progress. Where is this kid? Is he here at the hospital?”
“Last I heard, he was on the Vascular Surgery service, but the surgery office would have information as to what rotation he is on now. You could find him a lot quicker that way instead of my just guessing where he is.”
“I appreciate your time today, Dr. Jenson. I will contact the surgery office and go from there. We request that you stay near the hospital today until my staff and I are done questioning everyone. You may be needed if there are any further questions or leads to follow up. Thank you again.”
The man walked away toward his colleagues, and Sally
tried to find Tom Formin. She was walking down the corridor when she saw Erica Miller, the Internal Medicine resident who Steve had talked with as if he had a crush on her. Sally turned around to see where the agent went. She saw him talking with
another agent near the cafeteria, so she walked back.
“Hello again, Dr. Jenson. Are you alright?” asked the man.
“There was just one more person that Steve talked with quite a bit here at the hospital. I think he had a crush on her.”
“Who was that?”
“That lady over there.” She pointed. “Her name is Erica Miller, and she is-”
The man cut her off nonchalantly. “We already talked with her, but she didn’t offer us much. Thanks for your time and information.” He turned around and smiled at the other man as they walked away.
Sally looked confused. Why he didn’t care about Erica? Maybe she had told them about a romantic side to Dr. Carmichael. Still Sally thought it was strange response. As she walked down the hall again in search of Tom, she thought about their questioning. She wondered where Steve was hiding out and what he was doing. He seemed to be the last link to this international mystery.
Chapter 41
The commotion at the hospital was winding down, and the CIA agents were packing up and leaving the hospital just as Steve was signing into a motel near Taylors Falls. He was unaware of the day’s events at the hospital, and he hadn’t a clue there was a ‘bad’ and a ‘good’ CIA. He only knew that thugs were chasing him and that somebody wanted him dead.
Steve finished writing his name and address for the check-in book at the motel. He figured that he was remote enough to feel safe using his real name and address. No sooner did he think that and hand his credit card over to the clerk than he realized that they might have bugs on the credit card.
He snatched the card from the clerk’s hand. “Sorry, I forgot that one is getting a little full. Can I pay with cash instead?”
The clerk looked a little surprised, but money was money.
Steve prepaid with cash from his grab bag and got his key to his room without any questions. He didn’t have much with him, so he grabbed what he needed from the car and headed to his room. He looked a few times over his shoulder but realized that – at least for the moment – he was invisible to the people looking for him. They would have no idea where he was or what his next move would be.
Once the door was locked, Steve threw his stuff on an old recliner. It was a typical motel room but with a twist of small town leisure to make it feel like a bed and breakfast more than a motel. The beds were made up with a soft country flower comforter. The furniture was an antique collection. It would be fine for a few days while Steve got his thoughts together.
It was too weird to be true. The events over the last few weeks were filled with more drama than he thought imaginable. He thought of the people who had died. Correction: the people who were murdered. This was supposed to happen in a movie but not in his real life. He began to long for his family and friends, and in a most bizarre way, he was really missing Erica. He knew if he attempted any contact, they would be able to track his access to her.
But who were they? That was the million-dollar question. It seemed to come back to the drugs. What a waste of life for a bunch of drugs and money, Steve thought. A.J. and the nurses who lost their lives wouldn’t have thought it was worth it, neither would their families.
Steve realized he was staring at the TV even though it was off. Several days had passed since he’d even had a TV on, so he decided to sit, watch, listen, and try to relax for a bit while considering his next move. He thought it would be much easier to just use a remote and continue to vegetate on the chair that he was in, but it was nowhere in sight. Begrudgingly, he made his way to the TV to turn it on.
As the screen lit up, he went to the bathroom to do his thing. He was barely listening when the voice on the tube caught his attention.
“This is Drake Johnson, reporting live from Sydney, Australia. The people here are in dismay. They just can’t believe their eyes. This has been a country mostly immune from terrorist threats and actions until now. Just a few hours ago, the US embassy was bombed. Several people are reported dead and many more injured, but the exact numbers are not in.
We do not want to speculate on the depths of this tragedy.”
“Drake, this is Kathy from the New York office. Do we have any idea who did this or why? Is there any connection to the bombing just yesterday in London? This all appears to be
directed toward the US.”
Steve quickly and attentively returned to his spot on the bed directly in front of the television. He was stunned by this news report. He couldn’t help but wonder if there were any connections. He continued to watch.
“Well, Kathy, we are trying to get all of our information straight and make sure all the details go hand in hand before we report to the public. What we do know is that both bombings happened internally. That is, they were detonated from within the buildings themselves. This is very important because it means there was some inside connection. No car or truck was run into the building. A person actually got inside and then set off the bombs from within the buildings. It is much too early to determine if this was international sabotage or if it was a plot constructed by one of our own. It could be a terrorist group or just an employee who went off the deep end.”
“But Drake,” Kathy interrupted. “If this was someone from within the embassy, an employee of the US government, how could they get to both countries less than twelve hours apart to plant and detonate these bombs?”
“Exactly, Kathy. The concern is that we might be dealing with an organization rather than an individual or small group. An organization is a bigger problem because, if they have access to our embassies, then who knows how much more information they could have? Depending on what they do know, does that mean they will be coming to our country, within our own borders in the United States, to create threats and bombings locally? The authorities are sorting out many questions before they feed the media information. There are reports that the State Department is going to give a formal press conference in the next hour to explain the situation to the public and what it means both nationally and globally. I think it is safe to think that this might be the work of Al Qaeda or a smaller faction of that group. Al Qaeda might take some time to announce their role in these bombings. The talk out here is that this is too big of a mastermind to be just a small group. In fact, just to get into these buildings and dodge all the security is a great concern not only for the government here but also back home.”
Steve started to tune out the announcer as he analyzed the entire situation. Sad as it was, what if the whole thing at the hospital was related to these bombings? He thought it would be a long shot. Yet, the patient who had started this entire escapade was probably from somewhere in the Middle East. Maybe he could have been part of this terror group. If that was the case, perhaps the mon
ey was still important, but then why would Jake have been involved? Was the money just too good to turn his back on when he was so in debt? Many more questions, but still no answers.
Steve wondered who he could talk to in order to get more answers. That could very well help him find a way to save himself from getting murdered. He didn’t know anyone who could give him all the answers, given that Jake was dead. Perhaps it didn’t have to be a person to provide all his answers.
He turned around and looked at the backpack with all the money. He crossed the room to peer at the treasure. There was a lot of money in that little pack. Mixed with the cash was a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers. Steve suspected that they represented some account that could point to a few answers. He carefully reached for the paper, his heart pounding.
The number of digits listed first on the paper convinced
Steve that it was an account, but there was also a phone number. No bank name was listed, nor a person or anything else. Where would this lead Steve, and was it a safe direction to go? It might be a trap to find and destroy Steve.
He sat with the backpack on his lap for nearly an hour. As the clock eased toward 10:30, he picked up the phone. Cautiously he started to dial the number, but before he put in all the numbers, he hung up the phone. He just felt that it wasn’t safe and that something would happen. He thought about it for a few minutes more. He turned the paper nervously in his hands and finally noticed that more digits were written on the back of this piece of paper. He studied the numbers for a long time and wondered if this was some Internet address. He knew that if he went to this site there was a distinct possibility that his location might get discovered, but he might also get some answers. He figured the CIA would hack into his computer or his account while online, but that was a chance he was going to take.
He took out a laptop computer that he stole from the hospital to stay in contact with Sweetpea. He hooked everything up quickly but turned it on with some hesitation. Fortunately, the motel had Internet access. He paused for one more moment and then decided to go for it. It took a few minutes to get online before he could carefully type the address that was on the piece of paper. He slowly pushed down on enter as if relinquishing his last chance to back down.
The computer started its search. It seemed to be a strange password to a complex site that made no sense to Steve. Then the screen started to spew a random series of letters and numbers. As this weird configuration continued to flow, he saw different languages appear intermittently on the screen. First, it was Chinese, and then some Arabic characters popped up.
Steve panicked and thought what he most feared from doing this was happening. There were hackers trying to identify his
location, thus causing the different languages.
Well, he wasn’t going to sit and ponder the possibilities. He quickly closed the site and screen. He could feel his heart
pounding again.
It was obvious to Steve that his assumption was correct. Getting into that site would give him answers to some of his questions, such as who the people involved were. However, it was too risky to go back there and get himself busted. He pushed the laptop away from himself in disgust and frustration. Now what?
Sweetpea was not an answer, but as long as his computer was out, he figured he should check in with her. He pulled the computer back toward him and began typing away. He found her quickly and wrote that he was on a little vacation.
Her reply was baffling. “Steve, can’t tell you everything right now, but you just exposed your whereabouts to the world. They know where you are, and you need to move quickly. I can tell you that they want to kill you, and it has nothing to do with a drug deal. Now, be safe and move immediately! Take care.”
Steve looked at the screen as if this was another joke, but he knew better. No more jokes, this was all serious stuff. He looked out his window immediately as if they were already at his door, which was more or less impossible. All was quiet outside his door.
As he stared out the window, he noticed a huge bluff overlooking the town. He was about to take the advice of someone he didn’t even know. He was going to ditch the comfort of the motel and just sit on the bluff for the night. He needed to see if she was telling the truth.
He quickly grabbed the blankets from the bed for warmth during the night. He stuffed them with the rest of his belongings into the car. He figured the motel would be a little ticked about
the blankets, but he could always return them later.
He checked himself out as quickly as he checked in. He drove up to the bluff and found a comfortable place to settle in for the night. It was a starry night, and he had a great view of the town. What a shame that he wasn’t just enjoying a casual camping trip!
Chapter 42
By the time Steve was settled on the bluff overlooking the town, the clock was close to midnight. He had found a perfect place to oversee the quaint town without being visible. A few lights on the road showed Main Street. Steve could see the motel where he had been for a very short stay. He could make out the grocery store and the old-time movie theatre. He remembered going to the theater when he was younger. He had never envisioned that he would someday be living a real-life movie with murder, intrigue, and mystery.
Most importantly, he could view the roads leading in and out of town. He could even see the interstate nearby.
Steve was happy with his location. He could see everything yet felt invisible with the brush and trees around him. With that comfort zone, he snuggled up under the motel blankets. As he drifted asleep, his mind wandered over how comfortable he was a criminal, stealing this and that, bucking the rules, and causing mayhem wherever he went. This was a new Steve Carmichael.
He slept very lightly. At about 2:00 in the morning, something startled him awake. He jumped up from his sleep, thinking that someone was nearby. He jerked upright. He looked around and found a deer. It quickly became scared and scurried away.
In a few minutes, he was dozing off again. Before long, the sun was making its way into the sky. As darkness was replaced by sunlight, the clock read 6:57am.
Steve stretched and looked out at the town. No activity down below at first glance, nothing out of the ordinary for this little town. A few people were up and about, probably opening shops and getting to work. The interstate had its usual flow of traffic. As he watched the people down below get started with their day, he realized that he would be spending a good portion of his day on the bluff. Unfortunately, he had failed to stock up on food before leaving town, and now his stomach was making all sorts of funny noises. He would probably have time for a visit later, but he wished that he had planned better in case the morning on the bluff proved long and slow.
No sooner had he realized his mistake than he saw two black suburbans drive into town from the interstate. Steve looked toward the highway to see if other cars were making their way into town but saw none. He focused on the vehicles as they rolled to a halt directly in front of his former motel. Sweetpea was right! he thought.
Two men got out of each vehicle and looked around. The men from the first car walked to the entrance of the motel. Steve was much too far away to recognize their faces, but clearly, the first two men were in charge. The two others waited outside while the first two talked to the clerk. They both looked unremarkable. One pulled out a package of cigarettes, and they started to smoke. They rested against the car but barely had a few puffs when the first two came storming out of the motel office, clearly upset. Steve just smiled to himself.
One of the men kicked his car a few times and then began throwing his fist against the hood of his car. Although Steve could not hear a word of the conversation, he did recognize that they were after him.
The four of them talked for a few minutes, then jumped into their respective vehicles and made their exit from Taylors Falls. Steve was not sorry in the least to disappoint the men. He wanted to talk to Sweetpea to tell her she was right, but that would just lead those men back to him.
Since they were already on their way out of town, Steve thought he would take the opportunity for a nap. He closed his eyes and snuggled back into the blankets.
He couldn’t have been sleeping long when the humming of sirens woke him. Steve rolled over to examine the latest situation down in that little town. “What could be going on down there that was worth calling the troops?” Steve asked himself. When he saw black suburbans again, he quickly sat upright. Instead of a pair, a dozen vehicles paraded into town this time. Steve tried to figure out why they came back and in greater force, especially since they knew that he was gone. Did they discover something else? Did they get a tip of his whereabouts up here in the bluff? The cars were intent on staying down in Taylors Falls, so he scratched that idea. They quickly surrounded the motel, much more aggressively than the first time. It was very strange, but why should that bother Steve? The whole thing was strange.
This time, each vehicle held several men, and each stepped out with a mission. Some went into the motel, some started to set up equipment they pulled from the cars, some were on cell phones, and more. No one leaned against a car to smoke.
These agents held Steve’s attention more carefully than the group of four. He continued to observe their behavior and activity. This was obviously a more intense search for Steve. He hardly knew if that was good or bad. He noticed that the men who went into the motel were still there. Their questioning must have been in more detail because they didn’t immediately come out of the building kicking and hitting cars. In fact, it was nearly an hour before those men exited the motel and began discussions with the other men and on cell phones.
Steve finally realized that the two groups of agents weren’t collaborating. What was going on? Too many new questions bubbled in Steve’s mind. He had wanted to focus on saving his
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