Travis sighed in relief.
Lenny raised his hand toward Travis. “High five, man!”
Travis frowned at Lenny and waited for the bad news.
Phillips glanced at Jen and said, “This is where it may interest you, Jen. Travis, you and Lenny are suspects in Dominick’s murder.”
Lenny jumped up with such force that his chair toppled over crashing against the wall. “Bullshit, man! We killed them other two dudes, but not Dominick!”
*****
It took nearly an hour for Jen and Phillips to get the story of yesterday straight. When Travis and Lenny finally stopped talking over each other and declared the story had ended, Jen had half of a legal pad filled with notes.
Phillips invited Jen to leave the room with him.
They stood in the hall listening to Travis and Lenny argue. As if on cue, Jen and Phillips both started laughing. Jen couldn’t stop. They went over to Nick’s desk and tried to review Jen’s notes.
Phillips asked, “Can you picture Travis’ face when he figured out his ‘ride’ out of Chicago was taking him to Frankie Mullen’s house?”
Jen composed herself with sheer will and asked. “Who would make that up? That sounded like some crazy movie script. I believe them, they didn’t kill Dominick.”
Phillips nodded, “I agree. It sounds like they may have a case for self-defense regarding Butch and Raymond.”
Jen said, “We certainly have them for illegally disposing of two bodies.”
Phillips laughed again and pushed his chair to lean back. “There isn’t a judge in Cook County that could keep a straight face in that trial.”
Phillips’ cell rang and he walked across the room. Jen walked over to Wayne’s desk and said, “That was the most bizarre hour I have spent since I transferred here.” She proceeded to tell Wayne about Travis and Lenny’s day yesterday.
Wayne listened as Jen read her notes. His last memory of Travis had been when he came back into the unit for approval of his disguise yesterday morning. He tried hard not to chuckle, but finally gave in. “So, Travis thought he was digging his own grave? Can you picture these two driving back and forth on Highway 12 looking for a place to dump a body? We have to verify some poor slob found a body in an oil barrel in his truck last night. This is a friggin’ movie.”
Jen smiled, “That’s what I said.”
Phillips walked over to Jen and Wayne. “I need to talk to Travis alone. Do you know what you want to do with them?”
Jen answered, “I don’t have a clue. Wayne and I will mull this over while you talk to Travis.”
Phillips walked back into the interrogation room and signaled for Travis to follow him. They went into interrogation room two and Phillips asked, “I know this is a long shot, but does the name ‘Mason’ mean anything to you? I have reason to believe he has mob connections.”
Travis smiled. “I know some things about Mason. Can we trade?”
Phillips felt his pulse race. Anything he could find out about Mason certainly trumped Travis and Lenny’s escapades of yesterday. “Let’s hear what you know, then we’ll talk about a trade.”
Travis was excited now. Finally, things were going to go his way again. “Mason is a member of the International family council. He has an office in New York and he is the primary investor of the U.S. family’s money. Dominick was too lazy to do his own chores. He eventually gave me all the contact information I needed to do his reporting to Mason for him. It’s all coded; your guys wouldn’t have recognized it for what it was. If you can get me access to my old files on some computer, I can even give you their account numbers offshore. Remember, I kept meticulous records. So, Lenny and I can take a walk on this other stuff?”
Phillips stood, “Follow me.” He walked Travis to Nick’s desk and said, “Wait here.”
He walked over to Jen and said, “Forget you heard this story today. Send Lenny home and get me an outside code for Nick’s computer, please.”
Jen was stunned by the intensity of Phillips’ gaze. Something very serious was going down and Travis was the key. Jen walked over to Nick’s computer module and keyed in the code to take that module off the police network and run as a standalone computer. She started toward the interrogation room where Lenny was waiting and asked, “Are you sure?”
Phillips was busy on Nick’s keyboard, but quickly looked up and answered. “Yes, I’m sure.”
*****
Sophia had driven past Nick’s house and seen all of the activity. Something important was happening. She watched from a block away with her binoculars and saw Dalton exit Nick’s back door. He was either FBI or CIA. Her binoculars focused on the equipment on Nick’s roof. Definitely CIA.
Sophia dialed Nick’s tenant, Norman. Sophia and Norman had been friends for many years and Norman had faithfully kept her secrets and watched over Nick for her.
Norman picked up the call. “I was waiting for you to smell something.”
“What’s going on?”
“My guess is that there is someone pretty important that Nick and the CIA are guarding, and someone pretty dangerous they are holding. You’ve got Nick, Dalton Grant, and two other CIA agents in the house. Also, some important guy and some dangerous guy. That’s all I know.”
Sophia wanted to know who the dangerous guy was. “Norman, can you get inside the house and get a video for me?”
Norman answered, “I been waiting to be asked is all.”
Sophia watched as Norman walked from the back of Nick’s garage up to the front door. He knocked on the door and Nick answered. Norman was talking and Nick invited him in. The front door shut and Dalton and the two other agents ran out the back door and toward the garage. A few minutes later the CIA men all came back and Norman walked out the front door and back to the garage.
Sophia’s cell rang.
Norman said, “Video might be shaky, but I got faces for you. I told them a car was idling down the alley and looked suspicious. Here you go, darlin’.”
Sophia thanked Norman and clicked on the video.
Some man was sitting at a desk in the middle of Nick’s living room feverishly typing. A large monitor filled the wall with multiple images. He had been furnished state of the art equipment. The video moved to a man sitting at a kitchen table, J.T. Barrimore. Sophia gasped. Just the thought of J.T. in Nick’s kitchen made her skin crawl. Obviously J.T. was the dangerous guy.
Sophia called her FBI handler for an update. Her handler stated that they were in the midst of a very fluid, top level crisis and that J.T. Barrimore was being held by the CIA to obtain information on a man named Mason. Sophia’s heart sank. Mason and his group took the concept of organized crime to a whole new level. She had never shared what she knew about the group to the FBI out of fear they would ask her to get involved. Her goal had always been to retire as soon as it was safe and live her life with Nick and Martin.
Sophia asked, “What does Nick have to do with this?”
Her handler replied, “Nick and Dalton were just asked to locate Mason for the CIA.”
Sophia’s throat tightened and her pulse quickened at the thought of Nick even being in the same room as Mason.
Sophia asked, “This is FBI business. Barrimore works for organized crime. Can we at least get immediate custody of J.T? I can get him to talk.”
Her handler paused and then said. “Let me make a few calls. Where are you?”
“A block from Nick’s.” Sophia paused, “This is important to me.”
*****
Lenny couldn’t get out of the precinct fast enough. He pushed the speed limit as much as he could in his old truck, all the way to Momma’s Sandwich Shop. He burst through the doors at the height of the lunch hour. Mitch watched him pace back and forth near the door glancing at Artie and Momma every few seconds. Something was definitely wrong.
The long line of customers steadily made their way toward the cash register and finally the last woman left with her order.
Lenny yelled, “OMG! C
an you believe the cops thought I killed Dominick?”
Momma had been startled when Lenny yelled and now glared at Artie. “You best do somethin’ with that boy before I get a hold of him.”
Artie rushed around the counter and pulled Lenny into the back of the store. “What is wrong with you? You don’t just blurt out something like that in a business!”
Lenny looked like he was going to cry. “You told me to tell you if anything unusual happened today. I’d say this is unusual!”
Lenny told Artie about how the FBI had talked to both Travis and him, and how they had told the FBI everything and they just let them go.
Artie felt a headache coming on and sat down on a stool by the dishwasher. “You told them you killed two men and they just let you both go?”
“Yes!”
“There has to be more to this story, Lenny. Did you mention that I told you to put the body in Dominick’s dumpster?”
Lenny took a moment to think. “Let’s see…I told them about the body in the barrel… Travis explained the dumpster part. He said he knew the combination because he used to do work for Dominick. I don’t think your name ever came up. You know, I’m sure of it. That’s good, right?”
Artie glanced at his watch. “You call Frankie right now and tell him you’re sorry you’re late and that you’ll be right there. I want you to call me after you finish moving his things today. This is important. Do you understand?”
Lenny noticed Artie’s voice sounded different. Kind of scary. “I understand, Uncle Artie.”
“Call him right now.”
Lenny took out his phone and dialed Frankie. “Mr. Mullen, I got delayed with the power outage. I’ll be there real soon.”
Artie watched Lenny leave the store and wave to Mitch and Momma. This was the first time the thought crossed Artie’s mind that Lenny might really have something wrong with him. Something about his thinking just didn’t connect.
Momma noticed Artie’s concerned look and walked over. She squeezed Artie’s hand gently and said, “You can only do so much, dear. God knows you’ve tried.”
*****
Dalton’s cell rang, it was Directorate Anders. “Yes, sir?”
Benson said, “The decision has been made to turn Mr. Barrimore over to the FBI. I would like you and Mr. Stryker to head to New York to find Mason. We should have an address for you by the time you get there. We have a jet waiting for you at the South City Field. Do you know where that is?”
Dalton answered, ‘Yes, Sir. Question, sir?”
Benson answered, “Yes?”
“Who is going to protect Dr. Larson, sir?”
Benson answered, “We have a full crisis team headed to your location now. Dr. Larson will be safe. Dalton, once you find Mason, he must give us the location of the Geneva lab. This is crucial.”
Dalton glanced at Nick, who had been listening to Dalton’s side of the conversation. “We’ll do our best, sir.”
Dalton hung up, looked at Nick and said, “We’re headed to New York City. The FBI is coming for J.T. and security replacements are coming here for Chris.”
Nick glared at J.T. and said, “Do you see what is happening on those screens? This isn’t a little mess that Mason has created. You could help yourself out by telling us what we need to know about Mason.”
J.T. felt trapped. The images on the screens and Chris’ demeanor convinced him that Mason was in the middle of something very bad. By association, so was he. He still felt that his best bet was to play stupid.
“I can’t help you.” J. T. shrugged. Nick fought the urge to coldcock him.
Nick and Dalton turned at the sound of knocking at the front door. He heard a man’s deep voice claim to be FBI. Dalton carefully reviewed the ID and compared it to what he had been sent to his phone. Dalton stepped to the side and said, “I suppose you want Mr. Barrimore?”
The FBI agent signaled two more agents into the house and pointed at J.T. “Mr. Barrimore, you are under arrest for treason, etc., etc… turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Nick watched as J.T. was placed in the back of an SUV and three FBI vehicles pulled from the curb and drove off.
Nick walked over to Chris. “Dalton and I are going to New York to try to find out where the underground lab is located. Elliott is safe and more CIA agents are coming here to protect you. Are you okay with this, Chris?”
Chris looked up and Nick was stunned by the vacant look in Chris’ eyes. Chris said, “Thank you for what you do, both of you.” Dalton had walked into the room and stood listening. Chris pointed at the image of the mass above the satellites. “All I ever wanted to do was use my science to help humanity. Find some way to reverse the destruction we have done to our planet.” He dropped his arm back on the desk and said, “Instead, our work has been sabotaged by ruthless people for evil purposes.” Chris’ eyes glistened, “I don’t know if we can stop this, Nick.”
At that moment, Chris seemed almost childlike. He was scared and Nick didn’t know what to say. “We all know that you’re doing your best. That’s all you can do, Chris.”
Nick looked at one of Dalton’s men. “Make sure he eats properly and takes care of himself. You may never meet a more important man to this country than him.”
*****
The SUVs stopped a block from Nick’s house and pulled to the curb. A woman exited a car, walked over and sat next to J.T. in the back of the SUV.
J.T.’s eyes opened wide. He knew exactly who had just sat next to him: the FBI’s most famous ghost, Sophia. Her accomplishments were legendary. Many in the business believed she was a myth invented to provoke fear and mistrust. J.T knew very little about her personal story; no one even knew her last name. He only recognized her face from his years of analyzing the few photos available. He had never doubted that she was real and lethal.
Sophia raised her chin and looked at J.T. through half closed eyes. “Mr. Barrimore, do you know who I am?”
“Yes, you are Sophia.”
“Good, now we have a mutual respect for each other. Tell me what I want to know. You have my word it will be our secret where the information came from. Do not lie or refuse me. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Nineteen
Elliott was led to a small conference room by Benson to begin the interrogation of Dr. Stramoud. A monitor on the wall displayed the worried, wrinkled face of the aging scientist. His overall appearance bordered on unkempt and his thin, gray hair was in desperate need of combing. Elliott watched as Dr. Stramoud folded his hands, raised his chin and closed his eyes. He held that position for a couple of minutes. Elliott assumed he was praying. He then began to inspect the cuffs of his sweater, pulling off small particles and tossing them on the floor.
Benson and Elliott took seats at the small table and Benson’s finger reached for the audio button. “Are you ready?”
Elliott unfolded his scrap paper of questions and nodded. Benson looked into the monitor and asked, “Dr. Stramoud, can you clearly see and hear me?”
Dr. Stramoud squint his eyes and nodded. “Yes, I see you.”
Benson continued, “I am Directorate Benson Anders of the CIA. I am here with Dr. Elliott Nobel. Dr. Nobel will speak now.”
Dr. Stramoud sat up straighter in his chair and actually smiled. “Dr. Nobel? It is an honor, sir. I have respected your work for years.”
Elliott was taken by surprise at the compliment, but thought perhaps that might be a hopeful sign. Benson pushed a notebook and pen to Elliott in case he needed to take notes.
Elliott asked, “Dr. Stramoud, how long have you been working on the DIANA project with Dr. Kyser?”
Dr. Stramoud frowned. “I’m not at liberty to speak about my work, Dr. Nobel. You, of all people, should understand that.”
Elliott sighed. “Dr. Kyser died of a heart attack. I am taking over the project now. You are free to answer my questions.”
Dr. Stramoud began pulling lint from his cuffs again. “My r
ole with Dr. Kyser’s project was primarily ceremonial. I retired from research over a decade ago.”
Elliott was confused, “I was led to believe that you would take Dr. Kyser’s place in the event that something happened to him. What exactly is your role in this project?”
Dr. Stramoud cleared his throat. “Our project is run very much like a corporation. I will now take the position of Chairman of the Board if Gustoff has passed.”
“Who is actually doing the research? Where in Geneva is the lab?”
Dr. Stramoud shook his index finger at the monitor. “I don’t know what kind of game you are playing, Dr. Nobel. You are in charge of the research. Gustoff has used your research exclusively. As for the lab… I’ve never been there… but I understand it is located in Geneva, as you said.”
Benson interrupted, “Dr. Stramoud, who might be able to give us more information? This is very serious and it is critical we obtain the information quickly.”
Dr. Stramoud actually yawned. Elliott nearly screamed. Obviously, this interview was a waste of time.
Dr. Stramoud answered, “I have a name and phone number in my wallet. Give me a moment, Dr. Nobel.”
Elliott and Benson exchanged anxious glances. Finally, they had made some progress.
Dr. Stramoud unfolded a small piece of paper and said, “Mason. That is the name I have. I’m sure he can answer your questions.”
Benson thanked Dr. Stramoud for his time and ended the interview. He and Elliott both rose from their chairs and started walking back to the amphitheater.
Elliott suddenly stopped. “Can we get access to the user history of Titan?”
Benson asked, “The super computer at Oak Ridge?”
Elliott was excited, “Yes! Kyser’s team may have a super collider, but the collider data has to be processed in order for their team to calibrate the transformers. That requires a super computer processor. I can section code for a topic search. The only two processors powerful enough are Titan or China’s Tianhe-2.”
Zero Margin: Nick Stryker, Book Three The Shallow End Gals (Nick Stryker Series 3) Page 16