by Gary Starta
The elevator stopped at the eighteenth floor. The steel doors opened, revealing a floor that was as much antiseptic as it was nondescript. A bone white corridor seemed to continue without end. Jake felt like he was about to be swallowed whole. Was this the area where G-men made people suddenly disappear with a wave of their hands? Jake, in need of a diversion, looked upward. His eyes followed rows upon rows of fluorescent tubes of lights; mounted to a stark-white ceiling. Jake tried not to think about the symbolism of the white light. It was only 10 a.m.—much too early for a visit to the pearly gates.
He continued to follow the men in black until a receptionist desk came into view. A sharp-looking brunette wearing a plaid business suit acknowledged the guards with a wave. A buzzing sound followed. She nodded in the direction of a doorway. Jakes heart fluttered in his chest until he read a nameplate that hung on the door: Andrew Dudek, Assistant Director. He recognized the name. This was the man who linked a boy named Lukas Schenker to the Arrowhead killings. Jake had caught the broadcast on his car radio.
The office door opened. Andrew Dudek stood before Jake wearing his best diplomatic smile. Campbell’s heart rate returned to its normal patter. He had to believe this Dudek was one of the good guys. Jake stepped into the office while the two men in black disappeared from sight.
“Sit down, Mr. Campbell.” Finally, someone at the FBI spoke.
Jake surmised the assistant director must have been expending a lot of energy to maintain the friendly grin plastered all over his face. Jake knew that even the most dedicated men of law enforcement could not escape the mental disorders of the criminals they chased for long. Sooner or later, the evil of humankind would worm its way into the hearts of the most noble crime fighter. Jake thought fast. He would appeal to whatever semblance of humanity this man still clung to.
“Thank you, Mr. Dudek. I am in great fear for my life.”
“As I can well imagine. Just about all of the entire free world knows about your interview with Suzie Cheng by now.”
“And so does the man who tried to kill me last night.” Jake folded his hands to add emphasis. “I have to trust that you’re not part of a government plan to use this crystal for harm. Now I may be wrong, as age may now color my ability to judge character, but I believe I can trust you to keep me, and this nation, out of harm’s way.”
“Well, I’m glad for that.” Dudek cleared his throat, failing miserably to comfort his guest. The awkwardness of the meeting continued to grow exponentially.
“Don’t be so glad, Mr. Dudek. There are those in power who will do their best to dupe you into believing the crystal can be used to heal our sick planet.”
Dudek rumpled some papers on his desk. He returned his gaze to Campbell.
“And you don’t believe in the power of the crystal to heal?”
“I certainly do. But not under current conditions.”
Dudek’s mind drifted. He recalled the article quoting Eugene Campbell. Before Dudek could ask, Jake clarified.
“Yes, I am Eugene’s father. You must be well aware of how he warned the public of the killer’s power. But there is an even bigger threat. Once certain trusted officials get their hands on the crystal, its poison will be unleashed upon the entire populace. I dreamed all of this would happen one day.”
“Respectfully sir, premonitions can be wrong. And quite possibly, maybe unforeseen circumstances will yet thwart the plans of these trusted officials you speak of.”
“Alone I cannot hope to alter the course of my dream, Mr. Dudek. For that reason, we must take a hands-on approach if we wish to change the outcome of my visions. We cannot simply hope for a random circumstance that will intervene to prevent this epidemic.”
“What are you suggesting? That my agents make sure they take this crystal into their custody at all costs?”
“That may not be enough. In fact, any contact with the crystal may yet give rise to even more undesirable outcomes. I believe the only safe outcome will be the one where the crystal is returned to its birth place—the earth itself.”
Dudek was about to respond when his intercom buzzed. Dudek did not want Jake to become privy to whatever had suddenly become so damn important. He would speak to his secretary outside his office. On the way to the door, Dudek could only wonder if Hainsworth was one of these trusted officials Jake Campbell spoke of.
The interruption was indeed warranted. A man from an Arkansas diner had just relayed a tip. He was positive the fugitive Lukas Schenker had visited his eatery.
Dudek returned to his office, excusing his absence. He asked Jake to remain seated in his office while he made some important phone calls.
***
Agent Diggs imagined herself appearing unannounced at Gayle Swenson’s door with weapon at hand. Who knows? Maybe she would get lucky and Schenker would be there. Even killers must succumb to the throes of passion every now and then. However, Dudek recommended she keep her charging stallion tied to a fence post until the cavalry arrived. He ordered her to continue surveillance on the Swenson residence and wait for Agent Rivers. Upon reevaluation, Diggs agreed there is strength in numbers. She wished Geoffrey McAllister had stopped to consider this equation.
Dudek demanded Diggs and Rivers work together as team, because he was now beginning to see the bigger picture. Director Hainsworth had wanted to keep the two agents divided. It was clear that possession of the crystal mattered more than stopping a killer to someone. Hainsworth had intentionally warned Dudek to keep Agent Diggs away from Eugene Campbell and all myths relating to the crystal, knowing full well she would disobey those orders and pursue the crystal. Someone wanted their dirty work done for them. They didn’t care if people were killed or if Dudek apprehended America’s most wanted, because what these trusted officials longed for most was power.
Dudek was absolutely convinced this crystal was a key to power. He called Agent Rivers and explained that a rendezvous would take place in Arkansas. He requisitioned a flight for Rivers. Then Dudek purchased his own personal round trip ticket, so as not to leave a breadcrumb trail for Hainsworth to follow.
Dudek planned to advise his agents personally about the dangers of their investigation. He would not sit back and hope for the best outcome, not this time. He had done that before with Geoffrey McAllister. He still held himself partly responsible for Geoffrey’s death. Dudek would no longer let his agents tread blindly down a dangerous path while an FBI director with no prior field experience called the shots. If he was demoted to a field office, so be it.
Dudek finished up his calls, believing he was finally able to shine some light through a thick veil of deception. But the light disappeared as quickly as it came. Jake was no longer seated in the assistant director’s office.
“Where the hell is Jake Campbell?”
Dudek towered over his secretary, demanding an answer he knew she could not provide.
“I received orders from the director himself that Jake Campbell was to be put into protective custody for his own good at once. Two security guards escorted Mr. Campbell to an undisclosed location at approximately 1100 hours.”
Dudek checked his watch. Hainsworth had carried out his plan swiftly. In the space of fifteen minutes, he had taken Dudek’s best link away from him. The very men Jake Campbell feared most probably now had him in their custody. Jake had believed the military was involved somehow. Dudek ran with this theory. Phoning Fort Belvoir, the closest military base, he demanded to speak to an officer in charge. Dudek painfully became aware in the first seconds of the conversation that the officer in charge had been fully briefed on his responses.
“Sir, I have direct orders from Connah Hainsworth that no one besides designated personnel are to learn the whereabouts of Jake Campbell. He is being protected solely upon his own volition. I am afraid you do not have proper clearance to access any further information.” The officer hung up the phone. Another dead end. Andrew Dudek sincerely hoped this dead end would not be literal. Would the death of Jake Campbell soon
weigh on his conscience as well?
Andrew’s anger clouded with paranoia. What he fully suspected all along was coming true. Hainsworth was not an incompetent director—he was a dirty one. He could not rationalize Hainsworth’s behavior any other way. Since when was the bureau so eager to provide protection based on the story of one man? Campbell had no eyewitnesses to back up his claim. Even a large segment of the news media reacted skeptically to Jake’s initial conspiracy claims.
Dudek had his answer. Hainsworth’s efforts were in direct proportion to Jake Campbell’s claims. If the director of the FBI himself felt there was a sufficient need to handle a case personally, either a grave threat of danger must truly exist or a conspiracy must be afoot. Dudek tended to lean heavier on the odds of a conspiracy. Even if Hainsworth was not directly involved with the crystal, he was in league with others, aiding and abetting their future crimes.
Dudek toyed with the idea of confronting Hainsworth head on. But he respected Connah’s penchant for duplicity. Dudek feared he would unwittingly expose some other piece of information to the director once he became blinded in the war of taunts and accusations. For now, Dudek would personally see to it that Agent Rivers made her flight to Arkansas.
Andrew Dudek had learned quickly from Jake Campbell. Maybe there would be strength in numbers after all.
Chapter 25
Special Agent Rivers and Assistant Director Dudek waited to board separate flights at Dulles International Airport one day after Jake Campbell was brought into protective custody. Rivers’ close proximity tempted Dudek to share all details of the case with her right then and there. But Dudek reconsidered. Maybe they were being watched and recorded.
Dudek spent the moment of reflection nervously shuffling his feet and bowing his head. Rivers wondered why the assistant director was so edgy. Was it nerves? Maybe he can’t handle flying. Rivers did not want to dig deeper than her initial assessment. If she did, she would end up nervously twitching her feet and hands just like Dudek.
She was bursting to tell him about her latest prognosis about the suspect even though she had violated orders concerning her off duty consultations with Hoyt. If her insubordinate actions resulted in a demotion back to the Pittsburgh field office, so be it. Ironically, Dudek and Rivers were more alike than they knew. Sitting in silence, they reflected on how much they despised orders that made no sense. They also were pretty hard on themselves as well. They never missed an opportunity to beat themselves over their heads because of self-doubt.
Dudek tugged at the nicotine patch on his arm while Rivers scoured her bag for chewing gum. Anyone could plainly see both were quite pent up about something. You didn’t have to be a detective to detect their angst.
Fortunately, a college-aged man was among those who could sense their vibe. He wisely rethought his idea about approaching Rivers. He sensed a coiling snake inside of her, ready to unleash its venom on anyone foolish enough to provoke it. The man was correct. Rivers would have taken his head off. She was way too wound up about how she and Hoyt had to sneak around behind the director’s back to dig for more answers. She certainly was in no mood to hear how much she looked like Halle Berry.
The twenty-something man resigned himself to his fate. He would have to settle for recanting the story to his dormitory buddies about the hot woman at the airport. He was delightfully confused. Was he pining over Halle Berry or her dead ringer? He realized it didn’t matter because either way the imitator had gotten him just as worked up as the real thing. The student marveled (in great pornographic detail) how the airport woman looked like she had just stepped out of the movie Swordfish. The student’s cerebral cortex was ablaze. He never stopped to realize just how much he was a victim to visual stimulation, or consequently, visual manipulation.
But Col. Tom Wolvington did, and he would count on the involuntary stimuli responses of men just like this student. They could easily be programmed by what they saw, or what they thought they saw. Yes, they would make great drones in his new army. Wolvington caught himself chuckling out loud. He was once a horny hound as well. He knew resistance is futile, especially when it came to the opposite sex.
Hours later, Wolvington would receive several photos of Dudek and Rivers waiting for their flights. He studied them carefully. He sensed Dudek’s paranoia. He felt Rivers’ determination. He even commiserated with the love-struck undergrad that nervously eyed Deondra from afar. He tried to imagine how it would feel to have these people living under his radar 24-7. What fate would he condemn them to? It was all up to Wolvington and his electromagnetic waves. If this kid wanted to think about a sexy actress, so be it. Wish granted! But you better be careful what you wish for, because Wolvington was only too happy to oblige the small minds of men like these. They would all be trapped, slaves to their own personal pleasure centers. The drones could be thinking about anything because thinking wouldn’t matter anymore without free will. Actions mattered most in the game of control.
But the colonel realized he was getting ahead of himself. He had to think bigger than most men or the animals they represented. He had to practice patience. He turned his focus to the bureau.
In Wolvington’s not so humble opinion, Dudek’s and Rivers’ participation in the investigation needlessly risked their lives. They posed little or no threat. How could they? Imagine an aging assistant director or a rookie agent thwarting his best-laid plans? Wolvington began to fantasize over which one of them might take a bullet for his cause. He originally hoped it would be Diggs. He heard many stories about her insolence. How she was a thorn in Hainsworth’s side. The thought of the FBI Director interrupted Wolvington’s daydreaming. He decided to reward his friend with a thank you present. After all, Connah Hainsworth had handed him Jake Campbell on a silver platter.
***
Dudek and Rivers paired up after their planes landed at Little Rock, sharing a rental car on the way to Shady Grove. There they would meet up with Agent Diggs to conduct an interview with Gayle Swenson.
They rode in silence for the first half hour. Neither of the investigators dared interrogate the other as to what they were up to. Deondra fiddled with her briefcase, satisfying a compulsive desire for order. She made sure each and every one of her documents were in order, but she had already leafed through her reports several times the night before. Dudek intermittently took his left hand off the wheel to rub the upper part of his right arm. Dudek was satisfying another kind of compulsion, hoping to catch a semblance of a nicotine buzz from his anti-smoking patch. Both were avoiding the inevitable. Each needed to talk about protocol regarding the case, but each wanted the other to speak first.
Rivers kept her eyes on the mile markers. She eventually realized she would have to make the first move or Dudek would continue to ride in silence, staring straight ahead at the road like a zombie. He could have at least commented on the nice fall foliage, she complained to herself.
Deondra broke the ice after the car nearly sank into a crater-sized pothole.
“That was quite a jolt, Assistant Director.”
“Yes it was, Agent.”
“Speaking of a bumpy ride, I need to speak candidly about the way this investigation is going. I realize I am only a rookie, fresh out of a field office, but I believe any agent must question protocol when they feel their area of expertise is being neglected.”
Dudek removed his eyes from the road for a second. He motioned for the agent to continue, identifying with her desire to speak her mind.
“I was not totally satisfied with my analysis of the crime scene evidence, sir. I believe it suffered because of haste. I want to reexamine my findings.”
Rivers paused for Dudek’s reaction. He didn’t say a word, but a strange smile enveloped his face. It told Rivers Dudek was quite familiar with internal conflicts. She glanced away to watch the road before continuing. In those seconds, the new agent glumly realized mental baggage came with the job.
I’m pretty sure Ed Hoyt is in agreement with me. We were both con
fused with our original analysis, which suggested that maybe more than one killer was involved in the crimes. We had found two DNA matches in the killer’s blood samples. But there was still a lot of room for doubt and second-guessing. Consequently, we filed our findings with great reservation. Hoyt took it upon himself to conduct further analysis, on his own time and in direct violation of your orders.”
Fearing a reprimand, Rivers took a deep breath. Dudek pursed his lips, silently acknowledging the agent’s discomfort. The young agent interpreted Dudek’s second nonverbal response as a signal to continue.
“I now believe there is only one killer responsible for the murders based upon Hoyt’s additional biochemical analysis. He discovered the suspect’s blood contained some unusually high levels of seratonin. We both found this odd, because if the killer suffered from a bipolar or similar mental disorder, we would have expected to find anemic levels of seratonin in his blood. Trace analysis could not explain why the seratonin level was so abnormally high. There was no evidence that the killer used supplements to boost or enhance it. This anomaly pushed Hoyt to reexamine the victims’ bodies. He found both men suffered severe brain damage. The region of the brain known as the thalamus was entirely obliterated as if the victim’s both suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. We think this damage resulted out of contact with the killer. We also think our suspect siphoned seratonin from his victims through this contact.”
“Are you saying these men may have died from something other than their stab wounds?” Dudek did not wait for a response. “Because if you are, I need to apprise Agent Diggs of this immediately. Deondra, I was not the one who rushed your investigation. In fact, I commend the fact that you used your initiative to uncover these findings.”