“Where to, JK?”
“Atlanta, Georgia.”
“Not know. How far this Atlanta, Georgia?”
“Turgenev is still looking for us. Probably now more than ever. In a direct straight route, Atlanta is around 700 miles from here. But we need to drive back roads that don’t go in a straight line—much safer for us. Maybe close to 1,000 miles the way we’ll go. We’ll give ourselves several days to get there, and spend each night in small out of the way towns.”
Amir started the car and eased into traffic. “Have question.”
“For now, get on the freeway up ahead going south.” Jake was already plotting their route. He had identified the town where they’d stop tonight, and the name of a small roadside inn. “Give me another minute, and I’ll have the GPS directions for you to follow for our drive today.”
“Okay, but Amir question different.”
“Oh, sorry.” Jake activated the GPS. “Alright, what’s your question?” he asked Amir.
“Read news story to practice English while you in meeting. About expected Democratic candidate for president, Mr. Logan Sullivan. He make big speech against shareholder capitalism. Not sure understand. Sounds more like yesterday Russia than today America. You can explain?”
“Sure. Maybe this is another subject for you to know when you take the exam to become a U.S. citizen.” Jake knew this was a complicated subject, combining economics and politics—the fundamental policy differences between the two major political parties in the U.S. concerning the services that each party believed the government should provide to the public, and how the government should impose taxes on the public to raise the funds to pay for those government services. This would be difficult to discuss if Amir and I both spoke the same first language. But at least it might take our minds off things while we drive.
Jake did most of the talking, so Amir did most of the listening. “Republicans want less tax. Mean less service. Democrats want give more service, need make more tax. Ending shareholder capitalism just fancy way say more tax. Which way think better, Mr. JK?”
Jake had registered as an Independent because he didn’t think either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party really served the public interests, as opposed to their own interests—the perks that went with being a public representative, particularly as a member of the political party in control. He also believed that it was important that elections be free of undue influence so that the voters could genuinely determine which political party they wanted to be in control at any moment in time. “I don’t know which party and system is best, Amir. I understand computers better than I understand government.”
Jake wasn’t sure that what he had explained to Amir as they drove was all that helpful, to either of them. What he did note was that Amir was a good listener and seemed to understand things a lot better than he could convey, at least in English. And it had for sure made the drive go by more quickly.
“Have headache thinking, Mr. JK. Is time eat. Know good Kazakhstan restaurant in this town?”
Some things were always important—food, for example. The thought of a good meal sounded appealing to Jake too. How did that old saying go, “the condemned man ate a hearty last meal.”
CHAPTER 91
July 11, 2020, One Day Later
TURGENEV HAD SUMMONED BAROVSKY to his office. While Barovsky was not among those who were pursuing Klein’s whereabouts for Turgenev, he had sent word to Turgenev that he had some news about where Klein was. “So, are you just here for some fine caviar and vodka, or do you have something useful to tell me about Klein? If you do, it may be worth a good deal of food and drink.”
“I don’t know where he is today, Mr. President, but I do know where he was yesterday.”
“Well, it goes without saying that I’d rather know where he is today or, better still, where he will be tomorrow, but where he was yesterday is more than the dolts I have looking for him have been able to ascertain, and it may be a good start on figuring out where he will be tomorrow. Tell me already what you know.”
“As you will recall, in 2016, we were able to hack into many local Democratic Party computers. We caused the Democratic Party considerable difficulty by leaking many of their confidential files.”
“I remember. That was four years ago. What do you have for me now about Klein?
“One of the local Democratic computer systems we hacked into in 2016 was the computer system of the Pennsylvania State Democratic Party. We still have backdoor access into that computer system.”
“And?” Turgenev motioned to Barovsky to get on with it.
“Yesterday, Klein had a meeting in person with the Pennsylvania Secretary of State in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Her name is Adele Manners.”
“You say he met with Manners in person, not just by telephone?” Turgenev asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” Barovsky answered.
“And how do you know this?” Turgenev pressed.
“Someone in Manner’s inside circle relayed the existence and subject manner of the meeting to the Pennsylvania State Democratic Party. We intercepted the email.”
“Very interesting. And what was the subject matter of the meeting?” Turgenev asked.
“It seems that Klein visited Manners because he knows the difficulty the Pennsylvania Democrats had with us in 2016, and the well-publicized problems Pennsylvania had with its primary elections last month. He met with Manners to offer his services with the November elections.”
“What kind of services?”
“The email we accessed did not specify.”
“You said that Klein was with Manners yesterday. How do you know he’s still not in Harrisburg today?”
“Because the email said that Klein was leaving Harrisburg right after the meeting.”
“Did the email say where he was going next?”
“No. It merely said Manners would consider Klein’s proposal and had a secret way to get in touch with Klein. It did not say what that secret arrangement was.”
“Do we have a way to hack into Manners’s computer?”
“Unfortunately, no, not right now. Her computer system is highly secure. We can get past their security, but it will take some time. We cannot do it quickly enough to be of any practical use to you in tracking Klein.”
“Too bad, but perhaps all is not lost. I can’t imagine that Klein had any unique interest in Pennsylvania. I believe a number of U.S. states held primary elections earlier this month. Many of them had delays and various other difficulties. Let me know if you come across anything further regarding our elusive Mr. Klein.”
TURGENEV BUZZED HIS ASSISTANT.
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“In no more than one hour’s time, I want a list on my desk of every U.S. state that has conducted a primary election in the last four months. Please see that this list includes a special notation of every one of those states that suffered any troubles or complications in conducting those elections. I also need to know the cities in each of those states where the election officials are located. Finally, I need maps of each of those states, and a map of the U.S. showing each state. Never mind Hawaii or Alaska.”
“Right away, sir.”
BIANCHI HOSTED A BELATED July 4 holiday barbecue meeting with her DNC convention planning committee. Their agenda was extensive. She had a printed list of topics the committee needed to review. She was not distributing copies to the committee because she didn’t want to risk the possibility that the agenda would somehow be leaked to the opposition or the press. She had the one-page agenda on her clipboard as the meeting got under way.
CONFIDENTIAL 2020 CONVENTION AGENDA
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION
VICE PRESIDENTIAL VETTING, SELECTION AND NOMINATION
CONVENTION CONSIDERATIONS
PANDEMIC
PARTY PLATFORM
SOCIAL UNREST
#ME TOO
BLM
POLICE DEFUNDING
BAKER
&n
bsp; TAX RETURNS
CRONYISM
2016 ELECTION FRAUD
DACA
2020 ELECTION FRAUD
The meeting ran true to form, until they came to the subject of election fraud. “Hey, Betty, we know that Russia’s going to try to control the election in Baker’s favor, even more than it did in 2016. How do you plan to deal with that?”
“One word, ‘mail-in,’” Bianchi answered. “It will be hard for the Russians to manipulate the vote if we keep it off the internet from start to finish.”
“Isn’t that two words, Betty?”
“Very funny. I used a hyphen, so it’s only one word.”
“More seriously, how are we going to deal with everything that Baker is going to do to sabotage a massive mail-in vote? Won’t he try to completely destroy the election?”
“He can make a lot of noise, but what’s he really going to do? The Supreme Court won’t back him—even if Baker gets to appoint another member of the Court before the election—and the Constitution makes me the next president if the election is still in doubt on January 20. He’ll step down before he lets me become president.”
“Gee, Betty, is that why you’re pushing for a mail-in vote? Tell the truth, now.”
“Haha,” was all that Bianchi answered.
CHAPTER 92
July 12, 2020, One Day Later
THE MATERIALS TURGENEV HAD called for yesterday in one-hour’s time had arrived right on schedule. And he would have dealt with them with equal haste had other responsibilities of even greater urgency not intervened. But he was now focused on the objects spread out in front of him on his office conference table.
He realized almost immediately that he had a problem he had not anticipated. The number of stops to which Klein might now be headed were far greater than he had imagined. It wasn’t that Turgenev couldn’t assemble the manpower to promptly take on the task at hand. Rather, the problem was he couldn’t count on those numbers going unnoticed and, if discovered, it would appear as if Russia were invading America. He was reminded of the 1966 movie The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. It would set off a notorious international incident that would prove counterproductive. That simply wouldn’t do.
The movie was a comedy; his objective was anything but. However, the movie did give him an alternative way to proceed that he thought would work.
Within an hour, he arranged for the necessary encrypted text to be sent describing the situation and what action was needed. Within still another hour, he was in receipt of an encrypted reply that said the matter would be handled.
JAKE AND AMIR LEFT their first stopover, and were on the way to their second. Jake enjoyed Amir’s company. Not only was it reassuring—even if falsely—not to be alone, but Amir was full of interesting questions about social studies and civics that really put Jake’s mind to the test. And wasn’t it ironic to be discussing these subjects on the fourth of July?
He had not thought about these subjects since high school, when they had struck him as totally boring. They now appeared to be of much greater immediacy and real-world concern. The U.S. seemed to be approaching a critical moment in its history of a magnitude not seen since the Civil War. At least then, we had Abraham Lincoln to lead us back from the brink. Today, all we have is Baker or Sullivan—neither of them is an Abraham Lincoln.
They reached their second stopover. Tomorrow night, they would encounter one more hideaway before finally arriving in Atlanta. Jake hated all of the delays, but he knew that discretion was the better part of valor. He had traveled too far—literally and figuratively—to lose his discipline and become reckless now. I wonder what the next few days will bring. Little did he know, it would be a lot more than just a few days.
CHAPTER 93
July 14, 2020, Two Days Later
ABELSON CALLED THE NUMBER Fyodor Gancharov had given him. Gancharov picked up on the first ring. “Fyodor, it’s Gali. Your parents are fine—perhaps a little tired, but fine. Right now, they are getting acclimated to a new home. It’s just temporary. Extreme circumstances called for extreme measures. We were not able to consult with them in advance. But know that they—and you—are safe. When they are ready, the three of you will decide where your permanent new family home should be, courtesy of the Russian government.”
“Gali, I don’t understand.”
“When I hang up, you will hear a click. Stay on the line. I will be gone, but your parents will be on the line. Just the three of you—no one else. I know you will have lots of questions, but I figured it would be nicer for you to hear your parents’ voices, and for them to be the ones to tell you how the past few days have transpired.”
“I still don’t understand, Gali, but I’m most grateful. Thank you.”
“I’m not the one to thank. And you can always get ahold of me with any further questions later. There’s no rush. Because of pandemic travel restrictions, you will not be able to join your parents now, but please rest assured that there’s no need for that. They will be well taken care of until the three of you can be reunited.” Abelson would have liked to listen in, but he respectfully hung up. Besides, he understood very little Russian. He didn’t hear the click, but he knew that Fyodor had; a first step to hopefully a better life for his family.
JAKE AND AMIR REACHED Atlanta. Jake had selected Atlanta as his next target because Georgia had reported terrible results with the use of its touted new voting machinery in its statewide June 9 primary elections. Georgia voters had been forced to wait upwards of three hours to cast their ballots. Atlanta, where the offices of the state election supervisor were located, had experienced particularly long lines, and serious delays.
They found a small, clean motor court on the outskirts of the city. After arranging their lodging, and with a map of the city in hand, courtesy of the front desk of the motor court, they spent almost two hours casually driving around downtown Atlanta where the seat of the state government was located—including the election supervisor, as well as the surrounding residential areas, which Jake and Amir found to be totally charming.
Jake hadn’t yet heard back from Manners, the Pennsylvania election supervisor. Tomorrow, he would seek to meet with the Atlanta election supervisor to see what level of interest Georgia might have in his software program, if any.
As they returned to the motor court following their Atlanta outing, Jake checked Manners’s Instagram account. He found a short post:
ALWAYS LOVE TALKING WITH MY FRIENDS.
The post was accompanied by two emojis, one a happy face and the other a heart. Followed by the words “Madam Secretary.”
JAKE PULLED HIS LAST burner phone out of his backpack and dialed the cell number on the card Manners had given to him.
“Adele Manners,” the soft voice answered.
“I always love talking with my friends too,” Jake said.
“Happy to hear from you, JK. I trust and hope your travels are going well?”
“So far, so good. Tomorrow’s another important day.”
“Good luck with it, whatever it is. I’ll come right to the point, JK. My technology colleagues want to put your software through its paces. If it passes muster, Pennsylvania would like to use your software in November.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful. I’d be delighted to work with your engineers and show them how the software works. I can also work with them on any custom tweaks necessary to make the software work seamlessly with your systems. I also have a user guide I’ve created and a few ‘how to’ white papers.”
“Awesome, when can you return to Harrisburg?”
“Two to three days. Will that work for you?”
That’ll be fine. If everything checks out, we would propose to obtain a non-exclusive license agreement for a term of one year. Does that sound okay?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a form of license agreement? If not, we have a form we use.”
“My sister’s a lawyer. Name’s Leah Klein, she’s in D.C. I’
ll be happy to have her put together a license agreement for your lawyers to look at.”
“Great. What about your fees for the one year, including your consulting with us as needed?”
Seriously! I’d do it for free. The first deal is always the toughest one to come by. If Pennsylvania uses and endorses my software, I’ll be golden. I also understand from Leah’s mentor, Judge Brooks, that whomever goes first in negotiations loses. I tell you what, Adele, when we get to that point, you can tell me whatever the State of Pennsylvania thinks would be fair and would fit its budget. I’m sure we won’t have any problems.”
He was so excited he wanted to dance, maybe even with Amir. Well, not quite. He thought of Anya. That brought him back to terra firma.
CHAPTER 94
July 15, 2020, One Day Later
JAKE AND AMIR CHECKED out of the motor court. All of their worldly traveling possessions were in the trunk of Amir’s car—that included all four of Jake’s laptops, but not his smartphone, which was in his jacket pocket.
They found a two-hour parking space three short blocks away from the Georgia election supervisor’s office. “Same drill as before, Amir. If I’m not back in ninety minutes, take off. Get the hell out of town and head home.”
“Understand, Mr. JK, same as in Harrisburg, but not like. Supposed to be team.”
“If I’m detained, there’s nothing you can do for me. Historically, Georgia is a red state. I’m going into less friendly territory than in Harrisburg, which was more neutral. If I don’t return, you have to protect yourself.”
“Red state? What mean?”
“Republican. Probably in favor of Baker. Good chance they won’t like what I’m trying to do.”
JAKE WALKED INTO THE Georgia State Election Supervisor’s office, Alistair Dobbs. “Is Mr. Dobbs available?” Jake asked. “Name’s Jake Klein. It really is me under this mask.”
JK's Code (Brooks/Lotello Thriller Book 4) Page 23