Acts of Sedition

by Dennis Stephan

  “As a result of the havoc in the streets of our cities, I would expect all of the governors in our ground zero states to go by the playbook and call out the National Guard. The president will undoubtedly follow protocol by calling an emergency meeting of his cabinet. He’ll ask General Elway Bishop, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Sadeem Ali, Head of the Secret Service, to be a part of the meeting, most likely to start around 0930. Tarif feels that the meeting would be brief. But, since it’s a holiday and people will have to drive from home through heavy traffic and crowds, in most instances, the meeting will likely start a little later, buying us some valuable time.”

  “Concurrently, the vice president will call the speaker of the house and senate majority and minority leaders to have them call for an emergency joint session of Congress. We caught a break when the government moved its fiscal year to July. A few congressmen may be away, but most will be in or near the city so that they can vote on the new budget on Tuesday.”

  “Our coordinated effort is to begin at ten hundred hours when Nationalists inside the White House will interrupt the meeting of the president’s full cabinet and take all who are present as hostages. Unfortunately, any resistance from White House Security or the Secret Service will have to be met with immediate force. Even if there are Marines opposing us, we will have to act in kind. There will be no time for debate.”

  “The only member of the inner circle who will not be present at the cabinet meeting will be Tarif. He had asked to have the weekend off and, knowing that many of the White House staff would be on holiday; the president granted him the time off to attend a family reunion in Boston. He will not leave DC, however. I have plans for Makim Khalid that will require him to be in DC as well. Tarif, who will be at the Pentagon, will stay in touch with Makim in case he is in need of support.”

  “The plan also calls for the vice president and all members of The House and Senate to be taken hostage during their meeting at The Capitol.”

  “The Joint Chief’s Vice Chair Admiral John Barrington and all of the Joint Chiefs will be at my house manning the C6I as it is known in military jargon.”

  “What does that acronym stand for General?” asked Aaron.

  “C6I is the latest iteration of what was once C2, or Command and Control. It translates as Command, Control, Communications, Computer Security, Cyberwarfare, Collaboration and Intelligence.”

  By the blank stares he realized that only Aaron really cared about this level of detail. “This isn’t something anyone really needs to understand. Let’s just say that it’s a high tech place from where we’ll be able to see and control what’s going on.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we have the right people in the right positions to pull this off with minimal bloodshed. We are very well prepared. But I still have concerns. Having citizens like yourselves involved is critical. But it also complicates things, making this the most difficult and complex mission with which I’ve ever been associated.”

  “The field leader, loyal to our cause, is US Army Four-Star General Aloysius Barr, who will assume total command of our armed forces. There are hundreds of senior military personnel including Army, Air Force and Marine Corps Colonels and Generals, Senior Naval and Coast Guard officers who command over 2.5 million troops who have already pledged allegiance to our cause and promise the complete takeover of our military. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kotsopoulos will remain in Washington as he may be needed to take control of the military once we have taken hostages.”

  “We have identified about 25 who will continue to support President Abbas and would be willing to have their troops fight to their deaths. As I’ve stated, while we’d like to take them alive; that may not be possible. Things could go wrong. One way or another, for this mission to succeed, they will all have to be neutralized.”

  “My advice now is to be on guard. While it is my belief that this will be a successful operation, we should all be prepared for the worst. You have all spent a lot of time and done a phenomenal job mustering support in your districts. I’m grateful to each of you for the many sacrifices that you’ve made to restore our freedoms guaranteed under The Constitution.”

  After a few very minor logistical questions, the meeting was adjourned with Josh saying “Thank you for your loyalty to our country and your hard work. May God bless us and help us prevail and may he bless these United States of America.”

  Chapter 52

  Victor Sanchez rang the bell on the front door of the brownstone row house on tiny Mole Street in South Philadelphia. His partner, Tyrell Ferguson, covered the back. Though the president seemed to believe that Ronnie Tartaglione was dead, Sanchez was not taking any chances.

  Victor looked around as he waited to see if anyone was at home. It’s a good thing he didn’t expect any high-speed car chases, Victor said to himself. These friggin’ streets are even smaller than in DC, and there are little alleys everywhere. He couldn’t even imagine trying to capture someone on foot here. “How can these city cops do their jobs? Victor wondered.

  The door opened a crack. The woman behind the door was a petite woman of about 35-40 years. She was very attractive with beautifully tanned skin, short black hair, and hazel eyes.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “Mrs. Tartaglione?” asked Victor.

  With some hesitation, she said “Yes?”

  “Mrs. Tartaglione, I’m Agent Sanchez with the FBI.”

  “This is about Ronnie, right?”

  “Yes Ma’am, it is,” Said Victor.

  “Did you find him? Where is he? Is he ok? He isn’t in trouble is he? Oh my, God, he isn’t dead is he?”

  So many questions in rapid succession left Victor dazed but fortunately, all but the last question had the same answer.

  “No ma'am,” said Victor. We were called by Philly PD after you filed a missing person report. Because your husband left PA and traveled to DC on the day he went missing, this investigation is a federal matter that comes under our jurisdiction. So the FBI was brought in to investigate.”

  “I see,” said Tina in almost a whisper. “I was hoping that you had some good news.”

  “I’m sorry that I don’t,” said Victor.

  Tyrell came around from the back of the house realizing that no one else was in the house.

  “This is my partner, Agent Ferguson.”

  Tyrell nodded “Ma’am.”

  The president had told him to keep this under wraps but Victor needed to interview her and he needed an office. “Mrs. Tartaglione, we have quite a few questions of our own. Would you be willing to come up to our center city field office?”

  “Yeah sure, I guess,” said Tina. “Just give me a minute to finish dressing and putting on my makeup.”

  While Tina was dressing, Victor called a friend in the Philly FBI office and asked if they had a room that he could use to speak with a potential witness.

  Tina meanwhile was thinking about what Ronnie had told her before he left for Washington. He had just finished showering, and she thought it odd that he was standing naked looking in one of the closets. He never did that.

  “Whaddya doing standin’ there in your birthday suit, Ronnie.”

  “God, ya scared the shit outta me, Teen. Why’d ya sneak up on me like that?

  Ronnie was holding a large manila envelope.

  “What’s in the envelope?”

  “Teen, this is 25 G’s. I’m hiding it under a floorboard in this closet so you’ll know where it is.”

  Seeing the look of distrust on her face, he continued. “It’s a partial payment on an ad hoc government project I’m working on. Keep it here or put it in a safe place and don’t tell anyone about it, you got me.”

  She realized that she had been taking a long time to dress and didn’t want Agent Sanchez getting suspicious, so she threw on a pair of jeans and an Eagles jersey and met Sanchez outside.

  “Sorry it took so long, I had to use the little girl’s room.”

  Once downtown Sanchez stopped
to talk to someone in a fancy suit before ushering her into what she suspected was the hot shots’ office. She half expected to be thrown into a room with a table, two chairs, and a two-way mirror. That’s how they did it on TV.

  Sanchez offered her some refreshments, and she accepted a soft drink.

  “Thanks for coming down to talk to me, Mrs. Tartaglione.”

  “No problem. I just want you to find my husband.”

  “Mrs. Tartaglione, when did you last see your husband?”

  “The night before last.”

  “So you didn’t see him at all yesterday?”

  “No, I didn't.”

  “Do you know where he was yesterday?”

  “He said he was going on some kinda job interview or something.”

  “And you don’t know who that was with or where that was?”

  “No I don’t.”

  “And you never bothered to ask him?”

  “Nope.”

  “That seems very odd to me. A husband is going on some job interview and never discussed it with his wife?”

  “Ronnie was sort of a private person, and he was used to being on his own.”

  “Would it surprise you if I told you that your husband went to Washington yesterday?”

  “Not really. He mentioned a few weeks ago that he might have some business with the Pentagon, but he didn’t tell me when or anything about it.”

  “And you weren’t even a little curious about that?”

  “Not really. He used to travel overseas all the time when he was in the Army, and he’d go off to all sorts of top secret briefings. I wasn’t supposed to know nothin’ so he never told me. Plus ya gotta know Ronnie. He does what he wants. He doesn’t need to ask permission and he doesn’t have to tell me everything.”

  “Well, the truth is that a high ranking government official was assassinated yesterday in Washington.”

  “I saw that on the news. What’s that got to do with me and Ronnie?

  “Mrs. Tartaglione, your husband was arrested as the prime suspect.”

  “You’re nuts. Ronnie wouldn’t do something like that. And you’re just telling me now? What is this some sick game? I’m worried sick and you’re playing twenty questions? Is he ok?“

  “As far as we know but he’s escaped from custody, and we’re trying to find him.”

  Tina was shaking. She was relieved to hear that her husband was ok, but she couldn’t hold back the tears. Agent Sanchez offered her a tissue and gave her some time to compose herself.

  “So, as I was saying, he’s no longer in custody. Where is he, Mrs. Tartaglione?”

  “I told you that I don’t know where he’s at.”

  “Yes, of course you did. Did Ronnie happen to have any close friends, someone he might call if he was in trouble? Someone who you know would help him?”

  ”No. He was pretty much a loner.”

  “C’mon Mrs. Tartaglione. Do you mean to insult my intelligence by telling me that your husband had no friends at all, not even some old Army buddies?”

  This questioning was tiring, and now that she knew that her husband was alive, all she wanted to do was go home and hope for a phone call. But it didn’t seem like Agent Sanchez was going to let her leave anytime soon, at least, not until he learned something from her. He was going to find something out sooner or later so she might as well give him a little something so that he’d let her go. It was a rash decision and one that she’d regret.

  Chapter 53

  “Mr. President?” Julia spoke through the intercom.

  “Yes, Julia.” replied Ahmad.

  “I have Agent Sanchez from the FBI on the phone for you.”

  “Thanks, Julia. I’ll pick up.”

  “Agent Sanchez,” Ahmad said as he picked up the receiver. “What do you have for me?”

  Sanchez went into great detail about his time in Philly and his interview with Ronnie Tartaglione’s wife.

  “She was taken completely off guard, and I could see, Mr. President, that she knew nothing about this. I don’t think she was involved at all Sir. ”

  Victor related to the president that Tina knew little about her husband’s affairs except that he might be interviewing at the Pentagon at some point.

  “The Pentagon had no record of her husband having any business with anyone there and that he had not signed a visitor log at any time in the past year. Mr. President.”

  “When we asked about his friends, she said he’d spoken to a couple of neighbors on the street from time to time but mostly to just say hello or to chat idly about the weather or the Eagles. She didn’t even know any of their names as she didn’t make friends easily and only knew them to wave to say hello.”

  “She finally told me that her husband had no family other than her and that his only real friend was an old buddy from the Army, a guy named Nicky. She said she didn’t know this guy Nicky that well.”

  Excitedly Ahmad asked, “Have you located this Nicky yet, Agent Sanchez?”

  “Not yet, Sir. I canvassed the neighborhood talking to some of their neighbors and asking about someone named Nicky. I finally found someone in the bar a few blocks away who guessed that it might be Nicky Gervasi.”

  “Have you been able to confirm that, Agent Sanchez?”

  “Yes Sir, Philly PD knows him, and they know about some of his past ties to the area. He’s known by Nicky Killer and has some ties to organized crime but isn’t a major player. He’s more of a wannabe. They gave me his address, and I spoke to some of his neighbors. Apparently he hasn’t been home for several days.”

  “Did any of them know Tartaglione?” The president was anxious.

  “No, but the name ‘Angela’ came up in a couple of the conversations. No one knew if she and Nicky were a couple or even what her last name was but they seem to be connected. I’m going to follow up to see if I can find out more. The Philly PD put out an APB to bring Nicky in for questioning in connection with Targalione’s disappearance.”

  “Good work, Agent Sanchez,” Said Ahmad. “Stay on it and let’s see where this leads us. I’m confident that this Nicky Killer character is our link to Omar’s assassination and more importantly to what I suspect is something even bigger.”

  “Yes sir,” said Agent Sanchez. Sanchez wasn’t as sure as the president seemed to be about Nicky Gervasi but then the president had been acting strangely paranoid since the attempt on his life. It’s his right, thought Sanchez. He smiled, reminded of an old joke, being paranoid just makes good sense when everyone is out to get you.

  After hanging up the phone, Ahmad skimmed over the notes for tomorrow’s cabinet meeting. He was even more sure that something big was going down, and he was determined to smoke it out and stop it at all cost.

  He punched the intercom. “Julia, would you get the Ambassadors to Syria and Iran on the phone. Ask them to meet me here for lunch?”

  “Yes,Sir.”

  “And if one of them cannot make it, for whatever reason, patch that call through to me. It’s important that I speak to them both.”

  “Yes, Mr. President,” said Julia.

  Chapter 54

  Between all of the hours of interrogation yesterday and not knowing what happened to Ronnie, Tina was a mess. She sat there crying, looking at the manila envelope when the doorbell rang.

  “Damn it, not again.”

  This time, it was Nicky. It had been awkward for the two of them after they had their one night stand a few years earlier because he kept after her, wanting to have sex again, and was always professing his undying love. She knew he was harmless; just a little horny. She was tempted once or twice but was sure that she didn’t want to start that up again. She kept telling him. “Nick I tole ya that was just a one-time thing. Get over it will ya.” They had finally settled into the friend zone.

  Today seemed different, though. He was all business.

  “I have to tell you somethin’ he said. “I don’t think Ronnie’s comin’ home.”

  She just
stared at him with tears welling up in her eyes. After yesterday she was hopeful, but deep down she feared this might be coming.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “There’s a lot more to this Teen. I don’t know much, but I’ve heard that the cops took Ronnie into custody. That’s all I know. Did Ronnie tell you anything?”

  Tina was barely holding it together, but she explained what she knew which was just what Ronnie had told her but that she suspected that there was more because she knew that he had met with Nicky one afternoon and disappeared the next day. She also told him that she had twenty-five G’s and that Ronnie had told her about the rest of the money.

  Tina was a survivor and as distraught as she was she kept her head about her. “So what the hell happens with the rest of the money, Nick? When will I get it?”

  “I don’t know nothin’ about what the money was for or what the job was.”

  He looked down at the floor as he spoke and with both hands in his pockets, he jiggled his change, an obvious nervous reaction.

  “I was just the gopher, Teen.”