Cipher

by Robert Stohn

  “I’m sorry about your ex-wife, Mr. Grace,” Jenkins said. “I really am.”

  Jonathan looked down at the table, and quickly glanced at Jennifer. Was she going to dislike him now that he had blown up at the two agents? He didn’t want her thinking poorly of him.

  “I know. It’s okay. I’m sorry that I yelled,” Jonathan said.

  Agent Jenkins put her hands in front of her and clasped them together on the table underneath the white fluorescent lights of the room. Jonathan felt like the room was sucking the energy out of him.

  “When was the last time you took a job for Don Cicerone?” she asked.

  “A little over two years ago. Before my wife passed.”

  “What type of job was it?”

  “Missing person,” Jonathan said.

  “Which person?” Jenkins asked.

  “I don’t see why I have to answer these questions,” Jonathan replied.

  “Please just answer the question,” Steiner said.

  “Jonathan, please… the sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get out of here,” Jennifer said. She looked at him in the eyes and it made his heart melt.

  “Tyler Walker.”

  “The mob informant that turned state’s evidence?”

  “Yes,” Jonathan said. He looked back down at the table as if he was embarrassed by his own response.

  “The one that was killed two days before trial?”

  “Yes,” Jonathan said.

  “Do you feel at all personally guilty for his death?” Jenkins asked. She was completely calm, cool, and collected this time.

  “I was just doing my job.”

  “And it seems that you’re quite good at your job, aren’t you?” Jenkins asked.

  “I guess you could say so. I haven’t been much good at anything for the past couple of years.”

  “But didn’t you quit investigative work after the death of Mr. Walker? It had nothing to do with your wife, did it?” Jenkins asked.

  “There were a lot of reasons as to why I quit. The pressure was just too much. And, yes, after the whole thing with Tyler, I began to doubt myself. I began to question my own morals. I didn’t know who he was or why they wanted to locate him, I just did my job. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I felt like I had,” Jonathan said. A single solitary tear fell from his eye and he quickly wiped it away. Jennifer’s demeanor suddenly changed and it looked like she had closed herself off. It was as if someone had turned off a switch inside her.

  “What’s Don Cicerone’s connection to the cipher drive? How does he know about it?” Jenkins asked.

  “All I know is that he hired me to get it back for him. I assumed that it was his in the first place and that it was taken from him,” Jonathan said.

  “But that doesn’t make sense,” Jenkins said. “How could he have had it first? Dr. Cobalt, what do you know about this man, Don Cicerone?” she asked.

  “I don’t know who he is,” Jennifer said.

  They had shifted their attention away from Jonathan and now directed it to Jennifer. Her faced turned bright red as if she had done something very wrong as well. She got the sinking feeling in her stomach that the two agents weren’t on their side.

  “You mean to tell me that you’ve never heard that name before?” Steiner asked.

  Jennifer looked down at the table. She didn’t answer the question. “Dr. Cobalt?”

  “Yes?”

  “Please answer the question,” Jenkins said.

  “I mean I’ve heard that name before. Sure. Who hasn’t?”

  “We want to know what your connection to him is.”

  “I don’t have a connection to him,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” Jenkins asked. She got up and started pacing again and Jennifer’s face turned bright red.

  “Yes.”

  “I think you’re lying to me, Dr. Cobalt.”

  “I’m not lying to you. I don’t have any connection to him,” Jennifer barked back. Jonathan realized that they weren’t just singling him out; they were also making Jennifer feel like she had done something wrong as well. He reached over and squeezed her hand to offer some moral support.

  “We have reason to believe that you do,” Jenkins said. Jonathan turned and looked at Jennifer, and she looked down at the table. “We have reason to believe that he’s the one that contracted you to perform the work in the first place. We have reason to believe that he’s the one was behind the scenes in the Arlington, Virginia lab project. He’s the private donor isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

  Did Jennifer actually know Don Cicerone? Was there some connection that Jonathan had missed? He searched his memory bank. He tried to think back to something, anything that he could remember about the project. Was that why he was chosen to find her? Why would they need him? He still felt lost and confused. He didn’t have any of the answers.

  “Please, Dr. Cobalt. We need you to be straight with us,” Jenkins said.

  “Look,” Jennifer said. “All I know is that I was hired by Advanced Biogenics to do the work that I’m already passionate about. I don’t know about any Italian mob boss, or why some Russian hit man is out to kill me.”

  “I’m having a hard time believing you,” Jenkins said.

  “Why?” Jonathan asked. “Why wouldn’t you believe her?”

  “Her body language. She’s hiding something,” Jenkins said.

  “I think you’re just upsetting her. I think that’s it and I think we should just move on and get this whole thing over with so that we can all go home,” Jonathan said.

  Jenkins gave Jonathan a stern look as if to tell him that he needed to just shut up, but she left it alone. “Fine. Dr. Cobalt, tell me about your research. I need to get more of a background on all this.”

  “It seems like you know everything else. Why do you even need to talk to me anymore?” Jennifer asked. Clearly, she was upset.

  “Tell me about the cipher drive. Tell me about this device,” Jenkins said. Steiner just sat there taking notes. The whole thing was being recorded so Jonathan wasn’t sure why he was even bothering to take notes.

  “It can crack anything. It can hack into any database through brute force,” Jennifer said.

  “And you created this knowingly? You knew what it would be used for?” Steiner asked, looking up from his notepad.

  “Look, I did a job. That’s all. I did what I was paid to do. I did what I loved to do,” she said.

  “You love breaking into things?” Jenkins asked.

  “I love numbers. Ciphers get me excited. When I look at algorithms, they’re sexy to me,” she said. She cracked a half smile.

  “I understood that part Dr. Cobalt. Well, it seems that the two of you have some similarities. You both are paid to do something you love, but that you know is wrong,” Jenkins said. She wasn’t trying to be funny at all but Jonathan laughed at that.

  “What’s so funny Mr. Grace?” Jenkins asked.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Fine. Let’s move on,” Jenkins finally said.

  “Let’s,” Jonathan said.

  “God please,” Jennifer said.

  “Mr. Grace. Are you prepared to do anything required of you here? Are you prepared to go the extra mile to help us bring this whole thing to a close and bring Medviek to justice?” asked Jenkins.

  “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, there is the matter of your job. You’ve been hired to bring something back to Don Cicerone. What we need to know is that, if you’re put up to this task, are you going to help us, or are you going to serve your own interests at the end of the day?”

  “What does that even mean? Serve my own interests?” Jonathan asked. He knew what they were talking about, but he was surprised by the audacity of the question.

  “There’s some money on the line for you here isn’t there?” Steiner asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Just how much money
is on the line? Just how much money will you be paid for bringing back the cipher drive? How much are they paying you for the device? It must have been enough to bring you out of so-called retirement.”

  “A million dollars,” Jonathan said. “But things have changed now.”

  “How have things changed?” Jenkins asked.

  Jonathan looked at Jennifer. She knew what he was talking about, but he wasn’t going to come out and say it to them. He cared more about her now than he did about the cipher drive. All he wanted was for everyone to leave them alone and let them live their lives out in peace.

  “They just have,” Jennifer said, answering for him.

  The two agents looked at her, then looked at each other. They were starting to get the picture. “So, you’re willing to help us then? You’re willing to help us get this device out of the hands of all of these criminals? At the very least are you willing to do that for us?” Jenkins asked.

  “Yes. Of course we are,” Jennifer said.

  “We’ll do whatever it takes,” Jonathan added. “I just want this whole nightmare to be over with.”

  “Okay, well, we have a lot of work to do then,” Jenkins said. “We should probably get started right away.”

  Chapter 20

  “Don Cicerone?” Jonathan asked, as the call connected to the voice on the other end. He hadn’t spoken to the one man who he was supposed to be accountable to on the job, for days. He braced himself for what would be a difficult conversation.

  “Hey kid, where the hell you been? I was about to send out a search squad. When I told you I needed constant updates, what do you do? You turn off your phone,” he said.

  “There’s been some complications,” Jonathan said, his tone melancholy.

  “What kind of complications, kid?”

  “The serious kind.”

  “You’ve got some explaining to do. You better start talking before I lose my cool,” said the increasingly agitated voice on the other end.

  “Look. There’s some good news and there’s some bad news,” Jonathan said. “Which would you rather hear first?”

  “What’s the good news?” he asked.

  “The good news is that I found the cipher drive,” Jonathan said, trying his best to say it in the most upbeat way.

  “Good job kid. What’s the bad news?”

  “The bad news is that I can’t get to it. I’ve got a bounty on my head. I’m with the doctor, but the situation has gone from bad to worse,” Jonathan said.

  “What do you mean you can’t get it? If you know where it is, then you need to get it kid,” said Don Cicerone. “I don’t care what it takes. I’m not paying you to screw around here.”

  “It’s too risky. I need your help.”

  “What kind of help?”

  “I need bodies,” Jonathan said.

  “Bodies?”

  “Yeah. I need goons. I’ve got a plan,” Jonathan said.

  “Goons? What? You Italian all of a sudden?” Don Cicerone chuckled on the other end of the line. Jonathan could just see the grossly overweight Don laughing to himself in New York. It sickened him.

  “No. I’m serious. I can’t do this without your help.”

  “I still don’t understand what’s being done,” Don Cicerone said.

  “I know where the cipher drive is. Have you been watching the news lately?” Jonathan asked.

  “Yeah, of course, kid. Always.”

  “Then you know what’s been going on. You know what the cipher drive is being used to do.”

  “Yeah. I kind of got that picture,” Don Cicerone said.

  “Okay, well it’s important that we get it back before more damage is done,” Jonathan said.

  “Look. I’m not in this deal for the conscience. I don’t care what someone else is doing with it. All I know is that I want back what is rightfully mine.”

  “Rightfully yours? It wasn’t yours to begin with,” Jonathan said.

  “Whoa. What are you saying kid? You forget who you’re speaking to? Of course it was rightfully mine. It belongs to me. As far as you’re concerned, I’m the rightful owner. Do I need to say anything more about that?”

  Jonathan could tell that the Don was getting increasingly agitated, which wasn’t his intent. He tried his best to calm him down. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry it came across that way.”

  “Okay kid. Apology accepted.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t mean any disrespect. I really need your help, that’s all,” Jonathan said.

  “Okay. I’m going to put Vinnie and Tony on the plane right now. I can have them there to you in less than 24 hours. How does that sound?” Don Cicerone asked.

  “Can you spare anyone else?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be tagging along,” he said.

  “Okay. Great,” Jonathan said.

  “Good. Done. Istanbul it is. See you soon, kid,” Don Cicerone barked into the phone just before he hung up.

  “Thanks.”

  Jonathan looked at Jennifer as they ate at a café by the water. Agent Jenkins and Steiner were in a car not too far away, with a watchful eye on them. “What did he say?” Jennifer asked.

  “It’s done,” Jonathan said.

  “They’re coming?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s a relief. Do you think it will work?” she asked.

  “I really hope so. We’re nearly out of options. I feel the pressure on all sides. I never wanted all of this. I thought this was going to be plain and simple until all these other people got involved,” Jonathan said.

  “I know. We’ll get through it,” she said. She reached over and nudged her knee against his.

  “I know we will. I guess… What I mean is…”

  “What?” she asked.

  “When this is all over, what’s going to happen next?” Jonathan asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What’s going to happen with us?” Jonathan looked at her with his brown puppy dog eyes. He looked like a wounded animal, but she adored it.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I guess we’ll just play it by ear.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I was never one for planning things like that out. I think we should just let the cards fall where they may. Every time I’ve tried to plan on things like this, it never went well,” she said.

  “What’s wrong with planning?” he asked.

  “Nothing. That’s not what I’m saying,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  “Don’t misunderstand me. I really like you. In fact, I like you a lot, probably more than I’ve led on to believe,” she said.

  Jonathan smiled after that statement. “That makes me feel better,” he said.

  “So, I’m not saying anything like that. I’ve just had a lot of… bad experiences in the past with relationships.” She looked down at the table and moved the food on her plate around with her fork.

  “What kind of bad experiences?” he asked. “I guess I don’t really know that much about you. I feel like I’ve been an open book, but with you, I’m always clamoring to learn more.”

  “I know. It’s just my personality. It’s not easy for me to let people in,” she said.

  “Were you hurt in the past? What happened? You know what’s happened with me. You know what’s happened in my past,” he said.

  “Yeah, and it’s terrible. I mean, it’s more than terrible,” she said. “I’m not quite sure how you managed to move on after that. I don’t know how I would have handled something like that.”

  “I didn’t think I would ever move on either. I didn’t think I could ever have any emotions or feelings for another person again. I guess you just adapt, and over time, you heal,” he said.

  “Do you feel heeled?” she asked. She looked at him with a puzzled look, but Jonathan melted at the site of those pale blue eyes. Her hair fell in a short cluster as she looked down at the table, almost embarrassed for asking a question like that. He just wanted to reac
h over and kiss her again, but he knew it wasn’t the time for that.

  “I don’t think I can ever really be whole again, but I feel better. I feel better ever since I came here; ever since I met you,” he said.

  She smiled. “That’s sweet. That’s probably one of the sweetest things that anyone has ever said to me.”

  “Well, I really do mean it. I hope you know that,” he said.

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “But that still leaves me at not really knowing that much about you. I guess I really want to know everything about you. I don’t know why. It’s just something inside of me,” he said.

  “What else do you want to know?”

  “I have so many questions.”

  “Like what?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Like a lot of things.”

  “Such as what? I feel like you know mostly everything,” she said, as she looked away.

  “Okay, for example, when Jenkins and Steiner were questioning us, I didn’t feel like you were being honest about the whole Don Cicerone thing. When they asked you if you knew him, I felt like you were lying or concealing the truth,” he said.

  “I do know him,” she said, dropping a bomb.

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “How?” he asked.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “You see, this is just one of those things… it’s one of those things that I don’t know about you. There are so many gaps… so many holes to fill,” he said.

  “I knew him through my husband,” she said. She looked down at her food again and her face turned red.

  “I thought you weren’t married? Did you tell me that you weren’t married?”

  “I’m not married. I should say my late husband,” she said.

  “I don’t get it. You see, now I’m totally lost.”

  “You don’t need to feel lost. In fact, you’re going to feel eerily close to me when I tell you this,” she said.

  “Tell me what?”

  “I was married to Tyler Walker,” she said.

  “What? You’re serious?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible… but… then that means that you’re…” he said.