“I opened the glove compartment to place the registration and keys inside.” She inhaled, giving her a moment of pause. “I was stunned to see there was a gun. I was petrified to touch it. I left it alone.” She redirected her eye contact to Max. “Then I became curious as to what else Simon had arranged to be planted in the car. So I opened the trunk.”
“Did you find anything?”
“A duffle bag.”
Maryann listed the individual items.
Max jotted them down on a pad of paper: clothes, toiletry kit including shaving equipment, contact lens case with a bottle of solution, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
“And,” Maryann hesitated. “There were also two passports, one for the U.S., and one for…” She wavered again, “…the other one read, United Nations Laissez-Passer. There was also twenty thousand dollars in the bag.”
Noble was pleased Max held back her reaction to Simon possessing a new U.N. diplomatic passport with enhanced security features and moved on. “Did you count the money?”
“There were twenty stacks of one hundred dollar bills. Even a SIA agent can figure it out,” she answered curtly.
“Do you remember the names on the passports?”
Maryann remembered one of the names, the one on the passport for the U.N. Max jotted it down; it was not a familiar alias.
As Max was about to ask the next question, Maryann interrupted, and added, “The passports had names but no photos.” From the look on her face she thought it was strange, but both Noble and Max understood the reason why and moved on.
“Did you notice any driver’s licenses?”
“Not that I recall.”
“Did you give him the xPhad?”
“Yes.”
“And you left the car outside the prison gates?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still have the burn phone that you received from Simon?”
“Yes.”
Naturally, the senator knows about throwaway phones, the prepaid cell phones used for illegal activities, Noble thought.
While Max continued to question Maryann, Noble half-listened as he contemplated the specific terms of the immunity agreement. It was to be a balancing act. They had to be severe, but acceptable to the attorney general. The president wanted the entire affair to be handled discreetly, with as little fanfare as possible. Moreover, Noble still needed her cooperation. He interrupted, “Max, do you have any other questions for the senator?”
“We have the videos and the senator’s testimony supporting the evidence. No more for now,” she replied. Maryann had been forthcoming and Max was confident she had garnered all the needed information from the senator.
Noble was ready to take it to the next step and Max was not thrilled—but it was his call. He shifted the tone of the conversation. “Senator, you will be given full immunity for your actions in aiding and abetting the escape of Mohammed al-Fadl, along with related charges. While they are unconscionable and reprehensive, the national security of the country holds greater sway. The terms of the agreement include resigning from Congress within ninety-days from the signing of the agreement. We will script your resignation to dilute the effect. You are not to seek public office in the U.S., whether it is local, state, or federal. You are to contact me immediately should either Simon or Baari try to reach you. Any breach in the agreement, I will revoke your immunity and you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Do you understand?”
Maryann glowered at both Noble and Max. Obviously, she was contemplating her options with disdain. “I will need time to consider your terms.”
“Out of respect for your position, you’ll have until the end of the month, Senator. I expect an answer by the close of business on the thirty-first.”
Maryann stood up. “Am I free to go?”
“I’ll await your call.”
Maryann headed to the door unescorted.
“That went well,” Max groused.
“She’ll take the deal. She knows we have enough to destroy her reputation. I also think she’s afraid of Simon or Baari or both of them.”
“Well I still think Simon prearranged everything. He most likely deciphered that you would send him to Draper, being the nearest maximum security prison.”
“You may be correct, but we can’t ignore the possibility that Baari is in the midst of this puzzle in some way.”
“Noble, do you remember when you used the Locator App to track the text message Simon sent? He sent it from Salt Lake City, probably while he was arranging for his prospective escape. When you interrogated him at Draper, he admitted luring you back after the death of Agent Darrow. Simon doesn’t make a move without a backup plan. What we don’t know is his plan.”
“However, what we do know is that Simon is desperate. He has lost his recruits and his financing, and he is on the run. Hank and Maryann are panicky. Something has to break soon.”
“Wait, aside from discovering Simon possessed a diplomatic passport, there’s something we didn’t touch on. Remember Maryann said she didn’t see any driver’s licenses in the duffle bag. They could have been hidden among the clothes, but anyone renting or buying a car is required to have one. You think that’s why he left the passport photos blank?”
“A standard 1-0-1 CIA tactic.”
Max understood. Simon would change his appearance and then seek out a readily available counterfeiter to produce both a fake driver’s license and add the photos to the already forged passports.
“And the fraudster will never be aware of Simon’s true identity, nor would he care.”
Max followed through. “I’ll call Burke and have him head to Folsom. He can get a list of the usual suspects from FBI files and then weed them out. Someone has been helping Simon.”
“Also, extend the APB to all used car lots in the vicinity.”
“Why didn’t he just steal a car?”
“It would be reported. And as odd as it may sound, I don’t believe Simon would commit a crime unless it was vital to his plan. No detail usually escapes him. For him everything has to have a purpose.”
“What, he has a code of ethics?”
“Sort of.” Noble smiled and headed back to his office.
12
ALL THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S MEN
Chase Worthington, the first to arrive, was the campaign finance director for both presidential campaigns, but he never accepted a post with the Baari Administration. After each campaign, he returned enthusiastically to his chief executive officer’s position at the National Depositors Trust Bank in New York. He still suffered pangs of guilt for his role in causing the 2008 financial meltdown. He sat back and watched as the rest of his fraternity brothers strolled into the reception area and took their seats, foregoing their usual warm hugs. Their relationships were not fractious, but given the circumstances, they thought it prudent to remain at arm’s length. Chase waited with nerves on edge—for a meeting he was sure to dread.
A few minutes after Chase arrived, Seymour Lynx and Paolo Salvatore entered.
Seymour was the campaign communications director and subsequently the president’s documentarian who had enjoyed his stint in the administration, until it all collapsed. Soon thereafter, he returned to Los Angeles and dabbled in political documentaries. Then finally, he was welcomed back into the Hollywood inner circle when the Academy nominated his film The Framework for best picture.
Paolo was the campaign speechwriter and later the communications director and speechwriter for the president. Coincidently, he was the same Paolo who introduced Amanda to Noble, his brother-in-law. After the president’s forced resignation, Paolo worked strenuously to repair the damage to his marriage because of the fallout resulting from his complicities. In the end, with a happy family in tow, he established his own consultancy and began to work as a freelance speechwriter in the private sector, catering to the Washington elite.
The last to arrive was Hank Kramer.
All members of La Fratellanza had been acco
unted for—except for Simon Hall. Each eyed the other in silence, recalling when they sat in a different reception area at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia—waiting to enter the interrogation room.
All seemed to be lost in thought when Noble startled them upon opening the door to his office. “Good morning guys. I appreciate all of you being here.” He offered each of them a warm handshake, a little chatter, and then invited them into his conference room.
Upon entering the room, they were surprised once more at the sight of Noble’s deputy director standing at the end of the table.
“You’ve all met Max?” Clearly, it was a rhetorical question.
Each nodded in her direction and grunted a polite response before taking their seats.
Noble, remaining true to form, wasted no time. “Max and I are working on a helluva complex case. Some of the evidence leads us to believe that certain key events that could affect the outcome took place during the Baari Administration. You may have crucial information that can be helpful. That’s why I’ve asked you to join me today.”
“Why is Chase here? He was never part of the administration.” Hank challenged.
“Hank, please, I’m asking the questions.” Great start, Noble thought. “I’m looking for any unusual activity regarding energy resources or renewable energy supplies that you may have encountered.” Noble detected pained expressions on their faces.
Hank took his cue with Noble’s tacit approval. He reiterated much of the conversation he had in his earlier meeting with Noble, as if it never happened. He talked about the CLEAR Act, the executive order, about the delays plaguing the Superstation, and even about the Godfather and the Financier. In the course of the dissertation, Hank complained about how he felt unjustly displaced by Baari’s new handlers. His pontification lasted close to thirty-minutes, which was a piece of cake for Hank.
As he spoke, Noble and Max spent the time studying the group’s body language. Most seemed nonplussed. They were aware of it all, having worked closely with Hank in the Baari Administration, except for Chase, who was his usual uneasy self.
Then Hank surprisingly changed his tone and referred to a day when Baari was highly agitated. “And he blurted out, ‘what we need is a national disaster to calm things down, so I can get control of the wheel.’ I assumed at the time he was only venting his frustration.”
Paolo and Seymour looked at each other wide-eyed and pale. Chase broke out in a nervous sweat. Hank sat down. He had created Noble’s desired effect.
Noble was confident at that point that they had some knowledge, but were reluctant to speak with Max in the room. The group’s behavior led him to conclude that it somehow involved Simon.
“Max, I need you to check something out.” Noble scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.
“Now?” she asked with a surprised expression, having read his note.
“Yes, please. It can’t wait.”
He obviously has his reason, she thought, as she headed out the door reluctantly.
The others in the room scrambled to figure out what Hank had said that caused Noble to send Max on an urgent mission. All Noble jotted down was an abrupt LEAVE.
“I’m sure you’ll recall that during the interrogation, it was uncovered that each of you had performed an individual and isolated vital task for Simon unbeknown to the others.” Now with the afterburners in full flame, Noble asked, “Is there any specific major event or earth shaking act that Baari asked you to do in confidence?”
They were mute as they exchanged glances.
Noble waited them out.
Paolo broke the silence and said, “Many of the speeches I wrote were directed toward one of his favorite themes, the environment. Baari, disenchanted with the usual party line, wanted to change the message and to place more emphasis on global warming.”
Paolo explained that in 2009, when the New York Times reported the hacking of a server at the University of East Anglia in the U.K., everything started to cool down—literally. Email exchanges between the university and the National Center for Atmospheric Research refuted a study they had conducted recording the earth’s temperatures over the last two millennia.
“Initial reports posited that the temperatures were cooling, not warming, and that the numbers had been fabricated.” Paolo scanned their expressions, and then continued to elaborate. “The whole affair…”
“That’s all poppycock,” Hank blurted out. “Global warming exists no matter how you size up the numbers.”
“Excuse me Hank. Wasn’t it you who suggested to the president that he change the terminology to climate change, a phenomenon that cannot be challenged?” Paolo asked, obviously perturbed at the interruption.
“Remember the ice age, Hank? That was climatic,” Seymour quipped.
“Hey—hey guys, let Paolo finish,” Noble requested.
“As I was saying, the whole affair was coined Climategate and there was never any real resolution as to the true meaning buried in thousands of emails that had been hacked. At the same time, other critics of global warming popped up. Brian Sussman, a journalist and meteorologist, also reported that the North Pole had recorded the coldest summer on record and that the Arctic sea ice was the most expansive it had been since August 2006.”
Hank interjected Paolo’s diatribe once again. “I recall a science reporter for the BBC News reported the opposite. In fact, he said by 2013 the Arctic would be free of ice.”
“Correct, but back in 2013 it was reported that the ice in the Arctic increased sixty percent. That prediction alone sent the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Exchange, the I-P-C-C, scurrying to Stockholm in September of that year for a pre-summit. They published their fifth assessment report the following month. The report substantiated their findings that humans continued to cause global warming.”
“It appears politics is trumping scientific evidence,” Chase chimed in, seeming to enjoy the discourse between Hank and Paolo.
Hank, still steamed, stated, “At least that’s something both sides can agree on.”
“Ah, even you Hank, would have to admit that the succeeding reports were rather milquetoast in quoting the statistics. Naturally, the I-P-C-C explained that after adjusting the computer climate models to measure more accurately the increase in CO2, additional years of testing would be required before issuing conclusive evidence of global warming,” Chase mocked.
“Get your facts straight, Chase,” Hank challenged.
“Boys, this is not Old Home Week, let’s get back on track,” Noble scoffed. “Paolo, how did Baari react?”
“He ignored all the reports and simply redefined the issue under the rubric of sustainability.” Paolo paused and looked in Hank’s direction. “Then he asked me to write an entirely different speech for him. It was to be his response in the event of a national emergency. He swore me to secrecy. Baari said, ‘Including Hank.’”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Hank mouthed in a muffled tone, but loud enough for all to hear.
“A clever son-of-a-bitch,” Seymour chimed in. “He asked me to create a video portraying a rolling blackout, which was the figment of his imagination based on past events. I first touched on the blackout that occurred in 2003 in the Northeast and then triggered cascading blackouts across the entire country. He insisted on showing pictures of the aftermath. And he even suggested I cut and paste scenes from disaster movies to punctuate the damage inflicted.” Seymour shrugged his shoulders, “I didn’t have a clue what he was thinking. I told him he would come across as a fear-monger and I opposed it as a bad idea. He told me he would use it only if necessary, but would not share what necessary meant. Like Paolo I was sworn to secrecy.” Seymour glanced at Hank.
With a sense of despair in his voice, Hank divulged, “Baari was concerned that the Superstation was getting caught up in red tape. The project was scheduled to go operational in 2014, and then the schedule was further delayed until 2016. To this day, there is still no specific end date.” He
stopped for a moment and then said, “My suspicion was that he was being pressured, by whom I don’t know.”
Paolo interrupted. “Wait a minute. Was Simon still pulling Baari’s strings through you, Hank? We’ve surmised for some time that you never really cut your connections with either of them.” He looked at Seymour and Chase for confirmation.
Noble focused on Hank.
“Wait a minute!” Hank shouted, “I have nothing to do with any of this. It was all between Simon and Baari. I was out of the picture.” The moment the words left his mouth, he gauged it was a huge mistake. He sat back and gave each Paolo and Seymour an opportunity to react, expecting them to vent their spleen. Surprisingly with no retort he meekly stated, “I never told Baari about any of your special arrangements, I swear. I convinced Baari that it was Simon who planned all the events, starting from bringing him to the U.S. to placing him in the White House.”
Everyone remained silent for a moment. Noble let it rest, having already taken his toll on Hank when he strayed off the path. He sat back as Hank’s brothers took their pound of flesh. Throughout the interplay, Chase continued to stare straight-ahead, clasping his hands, hoping they would forget he was in the room.
No such luck.
“Chase, have you anything to add?” Noble commanded, more than requested.
“Shit! Baari asked me to conduct a feasibility study.”
“So what,” Seymour interrupted. “That would have been before Baari took office.”
“No it wasn’t.” Chase huffed, “He asked me during his second term. He wanted me to work on it out of Washington—out of the White House. Moreover, no one was to be involved, except Hank. He was to provide whatever information I needed.”
Everyone turned and glared toward Hank, especially Noble.
“What?” Hank asked incredulously. “I was never let in on the secret. Baari told me to supply Chase with whatever information he requested, so I did. It never occurred to me that it was part of Baari’s disaster plan or any other plan. I was only a conduit.”
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