Road Kill; Puppet Master; Cross Wired

by Jan Coffey

  “What happened, dad?”

  Paul sat down on a straight chair just inside her door. He leaned his arms wearily on his knees. “The decision was made…to confirm to the kidnappers that they had captured the experienced agent. We came up with enough false data to fool them.”

  “What did that mean for Nathan? Would they want more money? A prisoner exchange?”

  He shook his head. “No. They wanted revenge for something that other agent had done in Iraq.”

  “And you knew that.”

  “Yes,” he said quietly.

  “What did they do to him?” she asked flatly.

  “You know what they did. They executed him. He gave his life for his…”

  Paul’s voice trailed off. He might as well have punched her. Tears streamed down her face. She didn’t move for a long time. She didn’t wipe away the tears. She just stared at him.

  Paul wanted to go to her, gather her in his arms and say how those decisions had haunted him. But something in her look told him that she wouldn’t accept his embrace.

  “You knew what they were going to do?”

  He could still lie, but he decided on truth. “Yes. I was included in every one of those briefings, but it was complicated. There are times, politically, when a man cannot be soft…cannot look soft.” He looked down at his shoes. They had gotten scuffed somewhere tonight. “I knew everything, Amber. I knew they would kill him.”

  “And you let it happen.”

  She didn’t wait for an answer. She didn’t bother to close the other suitcase. She simply walked past him and down the stairs.

  CHAPTER 60

  Jay sat on the edge of the bed and stared lovingly at Padma. He’d brought Harsha to her when he’d gotten up a half hour ago to shower and shave. Now, both of them, facing each other on the mattress, were sound sleep. He put his pillow behind the baby on the bed. Not that he was old enough to roll over, but Jay was a fussy father. He leaned down and brushed a kiss on his wife’s hair.

  Her eyes opened. She reached for his hand. “Going already?”

  “I’m supposed to meet with Galvin before we start work, today,” he told her.

  “Is this the day he tells us?”

  “I think so.” Steven Galvin and Jay hadn’t had a one-on-one talk since he’d arrived. There hadn’t been any problems with communications. The group that was assigned to work with him had all the answers. One thing that they couldn’t help him with, though, was what would happen when they were done with this project here on the island.

  Galvin had told Jay yesterday that he wanted to see him this morning, before the project countdown began. He hoped this was when he’d find out.

  “These past few days have been wonderful. And I’m grateful for that,” Padma told him. “And just so you know, it doesn’t matter where we go from here. We have each other. We’ll be fine.”

  He kissed her lips. Through thick or thin, she would stick by him. “I’m a lucky man,” he whispered, getting up to make the appointment.

  Every morning since arriving here, Jay enjoyed his commute to work. Blue ocean, soft warm sea breeze, manicured landscape everywhere he looked—so much like his commute in Boston. Right.

  This morning, however, he was to meet with Galvin at the main building, so he had a shorter commute. Approaching the building, Jay saw him walking with Alanna up from the direction of the beach. He was dressed in old jeans and a faded polo shirt. He was carrying a wooden basket with gardening tools in it. Jay wondered if she’d asked him about the senator.

  Alanna waved and took the walkway toward her own cottage before they reached him. Galvin waited for him.

  “You’ve been working already,” Jay said in a way of greeting.

  “I don’t have a baby to keep me up all night, so I’m an early riser.”

  Jay sensed a touch of longing in the other man’s tone. “Harsha is a good sleeper. I can’t complain at all.”

  “Nathan was always a good sleeper, too,” he said. “He was a happy boy—like yours.”

  Jay thought how crazy he was about his one month old son. He couldn’t imagine loving and raising a child for all those years and then losing him. He felt terrible for the older man.

  One of the landscapers approached and took the tool basket from Galvin.

  “Have you had breakfast, yet?” Steven asked.

  “No, but I’m fine,” Jay said politely.

  “Well, I’m not. I need three meals a day.”

  Jay smiled and followed the other man through the building to a glassed in porch facing the marina. Steven gestured to one of a handful of tables and they sat down. A member of the kitchen staff came out and took Jay’s order for breakfast before turning to her boss.

  “And the usual for you?”

  “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  Steven turned to Jay as soon as the two of them were alone.

  “Well, are we on schedule?”

  “I believe so, sir. We’ll be tapping into the backup system during the eighty-three second shut down using a long range antenna. We can get right in through their wi-fi networks. Once we are in, David can do his thing.”

  “Encryption? Passwords? Anything that might slow us down?”

  “I’m all set for whatever they throw at us, but I don’t think we’ll face any surprises. I’ve been surfing through their networks and hardware for days now.”

  “What about Alanna’s requirements, as far as the communication?” he asked.

  “It’s all set. Everything is synchronized, time wise. The botnets attacks have already started this morning. Their email system should be shut down for at least eight hours, so when the signal hits them, it should be accepted as the real McCoy.”

  “Excellent. Good work.”

  Jay was pleased to see Steven’s reaction. The same woman who’d taken their order came back with two cups of coffee.

  “And what are you doing poking around in my accounts?” Steven asked calmly.

  Jay almost spewed the coffee all over himself. He had been doing exactly that since last night, when David told them about Senator Hersey’s name being on the list of recipients.

  “I only hacked into your PC,” he said, deciding on honesty.

  “Did you find anything interesting?” Steven asked.

  “No, not really. But the security system on your personal files isn’t too good, at all. You should be using—” He caught himself short. “I realize I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “But you did it,” he said.

  Jay cursed inwardly. If this messed up their future, he wouldn’t forgive himself. “What I was trying to do…to find out…I don’t know if Alanna mentioned to you about seeing Senator—”

  “Yes, she did,” Steven told him. “And I told her exactly why Paul Hersey’s name is on the list. Now, before the three of you get started today, you need to get together and decide how, as a group, you feel about this. We need to get it out of the way before the real fun starts.”

  Jay nodded. Their breakfast arrived. But his appetite was totally gone. Steven hadn’t mentioned anything about the future.

  “Have you ever been to Oregon?” Galvin asked, diving into his poached eggs.

  “No,” Jay admitted.

  “Do you think your wife would mind living there?”

  “No. Both of us will be happy wherever I can work and provide for us. We both…we’re game for anything, sir.”

  “Eugene, Oregon. I’ll move your family there. You’ll take courses at the university, get your degree. While you’re doing that, you can work part time at one of my offices. You’ll work enough hours to keep you out of trouble, and I’ll pay you a comfortable salary.”

  “That’s incredible, sir. I can’t…there’s no way we can thank you enough.”

  “Yes, there is. You can set up a solid security system for my home office. Then, you can do it for my satellite offices. After that, we’ll go from there.”

  The hostess from the party appeared at the door and
came across to the table. There was an urgent call for Steven.

  CHAPTER 61

  Washington-Dulles International Airport

  Mick’s flight had just landed, but Amber knew it would take another ten or fifteen minutes before he cleared customs. She dug through her bag and found the phone number for Steven Galvin.

  She had to make this call. Since leaving her father’s house in the middle of the night, she hadn’t stopped thinking about Nathan and his funeral. Nathan’s parents had been in so much pain, and Amber hadn’t known the extent of her own father’s responsibility in the matter. She’d stood beside her father, next to the family, shaking hands with those who came to offer their condolences. And she hadn’t known.

  She knew Steven Galvin spent a couple of months in the winter in the Bahamas. She’d also heard her father talk about it a couple of weeks ago. Making the call, Amber was put on hold, and that was a good thing, she realized. In truth she didn’t know what she was going to say. She didn’t know how much Galvin already knew of what her father had admitted to her.

  She wanted to help Uncle Steven, if she could. More so, she wanted to help herself. She needed to shed some of the guilt that was clinging to her, and the only person who was able to help peel it away would be Steven Galvin.

  Then his voice came through the phone.

  “Uncle Steven,” she started.

  “Who is this?”

  The airport was so loud. There was so much background noise. She moved over to one of the windows. She looked out at the passing traffic and people. She had the feeling of being a fish in a bowl. “Uncle Steven, this is Amber.”

  “Amber…where are you? How are you?” He seemed more than surprised by the call.

  The last time she’d spoken to him was at Kei’s funeral. That was so many months ago. “I’m in Washington, at the airport, picking up a friend. But I had to call you.” She wasn’t able to hold back anymore. The tears rushed down. “Uncle Steven…I’m so sorry.”

  “About what, honey?”

  “I’m so sorry about Nathan. I didn’t know. I was stupid. I thought he died in an accident. I never knew what you were going through…what really happened to him.”

  She slid down until she was sitting on the floor in a corner, her back to glass and polished granite.

  “And Kei. You were so happy. And you had to go through all of that pain. All alone.”

  People walking by stared at her. She didn’t care anymore.

  “Amber…why now? How did you find out?”

  “It doesn’t matter. But please believe me when I say I didn’t know. It’s just so painful, and I…I don’t know what to do for you. You’ve lost so much. Nathan. Kei. I feel…I don’t know…responsible. And you have all been like family to me.” The words poured out.

  “Is your father with you, Amber?”

  “No…no. I left home. I’m too old to live there, anyway. It was a mistake.” An idea came to her. “Uncle Steven. Could I come and see you…stay with you…perhaps bring a friend?”

  “Of course. Anytime. When…when can you come?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe toward the end of the week,” she told him.

  “Why don’t you come right now? You’re in an airport, you said. Get on the next flight. I’ll call and buy your ticket.” There was a sense of urgency in his voice. He cared. He was happy that she’d called.

  “No, thank you.” She was already feeling better. “There are some loose ends that I need to take care of. Some appointments I can’t cancel. But I’ll be there. I promise. I need to see you.”

  “And I need to see you. Amber, please, come today. Now.”

  “End of the week. I promise.” Looking across at the crowd of people coming into the Arrivals lobby, she saw Mick.

  “I have to go now. My friend is here. I’ll call you,” she said. “Love you, Uncle Steven.”

  CHAPTER 62

  They were all gathered in the operations center. Steven was the only one absent.

  Alanna, Jay, and David had gotten together to discuss Paul Hersey. None of them felt strongly opposed to Steven’s plans for senator, once Alanna told them what she’d learned. They’d all made up their mind that they were going through with this. They called and let Galvin know before they came here.

  David was the most anxious to be done with the project. He and Leah would be going off to the clinic in Germany right away. His daughter was doing great, but David knew how quickly her condition could turn. He didn’t want to test their luck.

  Steven had told David he was keeping him on salary, even though he couldn’t officially start working at any of his offices until Leah was finished with the transplant. He said David could collect his benefits up front.

  This was another reason why David couldn’t bring himself to question Galvin’s decision regarding Hersey. The man’s generosity was abundant. And considering everything David himself had gone through with his family, he understood the frustration the other man had to be feeling. If he were in Galvin’s shoes, he will get his revenge, and he’d do it in more ways than one.

  David saw Alanna hang up the phone. She’d been speaking with one of her co-workers in California. Her role in the project was finished. It was all up to him and Jay now.

  Jay was wearing a headset and he said something into the mouthpiece. He turned to the other two. “Galvin says not to wait for him. We’re to start.”

  David and Alanna exchanged a look. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing that he was thinking. Why develop all these elaborate plans and not be here to enjoy the outcome?

  Maybe, he thought, Galvin had already realized that no matter what he did—no matter who he made to suffer—his wife and son were not coming back.

  CHAPTER 63

  Steven Galvin was frantic. He had to call off the hit man. But he couldn’t find a way to contact him.

  The entire set up of the contract—the payment, the instructions, everything—had been accomplished through a very complicated web of people. He’d done it to protect himself. He wanted no trail leading back to him. Steven didn’t know who was at the killing end of the line, and he’d wanted to keep it that way. The only thing he did know about the man he’d hired was that he’d never failed at delivering on a contract.

  He called his contacts. They assured him that they would reach their contacts, but they didn’t hold out much hope that they could stop the end result before it happened.

  Meanwhile, he paced. He waited. He contemplated making other calls and hiring protection for Amber. But he knew it didn’t make a difference. She was already guarded by Secret Service because of Paul’s campaign. But they wouldn’t be able to stop the person he’d hired.

  The only communication he’d had since contracting with the killer had come a couple of days ago. Two were down. One required a change of location. There would be additional expense. And that was it. Again, the message had traveled through a maze of carriers, and Steven didn’t know who’d originated it.

  Amber was back in Washington. That was the meaning of the change of location.

  Steven sat down at his desk. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. Killing the two Turks was justified in his mind. They’d killed his son. The third one had figured out Nathan’s real identity through the cell phone. But he’d been too late. They’d already killed Nathan. He’d contacted Galvin, anyway. He’d accepted two hundred thousand dollars to hand over the names of his associates. They were killers, terrorists.

  He wanted to have Paul feel the pain as deeply as he had. But Amber? How could he do that to someone who was totally innocent of her father’s transgressions?

  He touched his face. It was wet. He was crying. There was no end to the pain. He was responsible for this. Amber couldn’t die. He couldn’t take a life as callously as Paul had taken Nathan’s life. He had to put a stop to it.

  But he didn’t know how.

  CHAPTER 64

  Dulles International Airport, Washington

  “A
re you sad to see me, woman?” Mick asked, gathering her in his arms. He spun her away from the glass and pressed her back to the granite.

  Amber held on to him. She should have felt better after talking to Steven, but the sadness in his voice stayed with her. She couldn’t shake it. She had a mother that she fought with any time they were together for more than a day. She had a father that she now hated.

  And Steven had no one. She would try to make that up to him. She would be family to him—if he’d let her.

  “What’s wrong?” Mick asked. “Who were you speaking with on the mobile?”

  She looked up into his handsome face. He was wearing a Washington Nationals baseball cap. The tag still dangled from the side.

  “Nice hat,” she said, trying to smile as she dashed away a stray tear.

  “Thanks. I just bought it, coming down from the gate.” He gave her a profile. “Does it suit me, then?”

  “Very…handsome. But I don’t think you need to leave the price tag on.”

  They’d only been together for one night, a few hours, but she felt as if she’d known him forever. He grinned and yanked the tag off.

  “Thanks. And who did you say you were speaking with, just now?”

  “A man. A friend. He’s closer to me than my father.”

  “And is he dying now?”

  “No,” she asked, surprised. “Why would you say that?”

  “You were crying so hard, I thought he must be dying.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh, in spite of everything, and he pulled her again into his arms. It felt so right for him to be here.

  “My friend lives in the Bahamas for part of the winter. I didn’t know how long you were staying, but maybe this coming weekend, if you’re still around, we could go and see him.”

  “We can go now,” he said, showing her his bag. “I’m ready.”