Sheriff Butler leaned his back against the bathroom door. “Who are you?” he demanded again.
Jacob continued to wash his hands. “I could be wrong.” he admitted. “Maybe the big rat is behind this smoke screen. I can't say for certain.” Jacob slowly turned around, allowing his wet hands to drip on the bathroom floor, and locked eyes with Sheriff Butler. “Wendy Cratterson is a dangerous woman, Sheriff. Stand clear of her.”
“I want answers.”
“Answers mean the possibility of death,” Jacob explained, keeping his voice calm and low. “It's like I said, my health package could be better.”
Sheriff Butler stared into Jacob's eyes, and saw a man who wasn't going to reveal direct answers to some local Sheriff who lived in a carpet town. No, the big boys never talked to the small guys. That was the way the game was played. “If the CIA presents evidence to the DA, there will be nothing I can do to protect Mrs. Mayes.”
“I need to get the woman out of town. Now.”
“A man is dead,” Sheriff Butler snapped. “Agent Cratterson is claiming the victim was a psychiatrist working with Mrs. Mayes. Agent Cratterson further claims that the victim had a platonic romance going on with the woman, a woman who is suffering from psychosis and anger issues.”
Jacob folded his arms and leaned back against the bathroom sink. “Perfect set up,” he said aloud. “My guess is Wendy Cratterson...let's see...” Jacob began to think. “Yeah, she most likely altered an intelligence file to suit her purposes. My guess is, the dead man is probably some homeless guy who has been altered, at least electronically, to match a man that fits perfectly into Wendy Cratterson's story.” Jacob raised his head and looked at Sheriff Butler. “My people ran Jessica Mayes. The woman is clean as a whistle. No mental issues, no shrink, not even a sniff and a cough in the last ten years.”
“So, it is a setup, then?” Sheriff Butler asked.
“Yes.”
Sheriff Butler felt anger rush into his chest. “I can't help the woman. I can't go against the CIA.”
“I need to get Jessica Mayes into my custody ASAP,” Jacob insisted. “Sheriff, there is a dangerous tug of war that is currently taking place, and Jessica Mayes is the prize. If the bad guys win, then you can say goodbye to what is left of America; goodbye to the last few decent pieces that are still sticking to the flag.”
“I'm aware that our country is under attack,” Sheriff Butler stated. “I'm also aware that all a man in my position can do is protect his county.” Sheriff Butler shook his head. “My county is barely managing to stay in the 'Red'. In the last election the 'Red' won a mere twenty-eight percent advantage. In the 1990s the 'Red' always won by a seventy percent margin. Our country is on a quick downhill slide.”
It was clear to Jacob that Sheriff Butler was a decent American, who still held to his Bible and the Constitution. It was also clear that the man had his family and county to consider. Was the life of one woman worth picking a fight with CIA? “Will you release Jessica Mayes to me?”
“I can't,” Sheriff Butler answered, in a miserable voice. “I told Agent Cratterson that if no charges were filed against the woman by this evening, then I would release the woman. Until then, I'm keeping Mrs. Hayes, for her own protection, locked in my office.”
Jacob shook his head. “No good,” he stated in an angry tone. “If the CIA brings murder charges against Jessica Mayes, she'll be swallowed up and devoured, and there will be nothing I can do to help her. I have to get to the woman now. Right now.”
Sheriff Butler stared into Jacob's fierce eyes. “Why is this woman so important?”
“I can't reveal that information,” Jacob answered in a troubled voice. “Look, I know you’re one of the good guys, so help me out...please,” he pleaded. “You met Wendy Cratterson. You've seen the woman's eyes.”
“Yes, I did,” Sheriff Butler told Jacob, as two soulless eyes appeared in his mind. He drew in a deep breath and then snatched a cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “Turn right on Walnut,” he told Jacob, in a quick voice, “drive down to Thorton, turn right, then follow Thorton all the way to Professional Boulevard. Drive up to the jail. Mrs. Mayes will be waiting out front with one of my deputies.”
Jacob felt relief wash over him. “Thank—”
“Don't thank me for anything,” Sheriff Butler snapped. “You're going to pretend to be Mrs. Mayes attorney, understand? I'm releasing Mrs. Mayes into your custody. The CIA will bark at me but will accept that I was just a weak pawn on the chessboard and maybe they’ll leave my county. Now go...and take Ms. Andrews with you.”
Jacob burst out of the bathroom, made a straight line toward Mandy, grabbed her wheelchair, and began pushing her outside. “We have a package to pick up,” he whispered. “Get in your van, hit the interstate, drive north, and don't stop until you reach Niota, Tennessee. There's a gas station on that exit. Wait for me there.”
Mandy glanced up at Jacob with worried eyes. “My sister—”
“I'm going to pick up our package right now,” Jacob told Mandy, wheeling her out into the icy rain and studying the scene. The drive-thru was still packed with vehicles, making parking very difficult. As far as Jacob could tell, no 'Shadows’ were lurking about. However, the CIA had their own satellites to monitor ground movement. The satellites were quickly taking over the jobs of human 'Shadows'. “Niota,” he told Mandy. He let go of her wheelchair, then jogged over to his parked jeep and jumped in.
“Yes, General,” Jacob said, making a quick call, “I'm on my way to the Whitfield County Jail to pick up Jessica Mayes. Use the ELE satellite to scan the location.”
“Wendy Cratterson still hasn’t returned to her monitoring station,” General Garcia informed Jacob.
“I have a feeling I know where that black widow is,” Jacob explained, as he threw his jeep in reverse, backed out into the busy parking lot, and zoomed around the side of the Chick-fil-A, barely missing a purple KIA Sorento. “Right now, I need the ELE satellite to perform a perimeter scan.”
“I'm sending the order now,” General Garcia confirmed, clicking away on a gray keyboard, stationed in front of the work computer sitting on his office desk. “Order sent...order received...our people are now preparing to make the scan,” he informed Jacob, watching the roof of the Whitfield County Jail appear on his computer screen, as clear as bright daylight. “Scanning the interior for obtained body signatures.”
Jacob slammed to a stop on a small side street separating the Chick-fil-A from a RaceTrac. A smelly UPS truck, dripping with fumes, was stopped in front of him. Walnut Avenue was extremely congested.
“Locate Jessica Mayes.”
General Garcia nodded his head and sent out a new order, as Jacob impatiently waited to break through the red light and set the wheels of his Jeep on Walnut Avenue.
“Jessica Mayes has been located,” General Garcia informed Jacob, and then saw a red flag begin flashing on the screen. The letters 'EBS' appeared in ugly, black, beeps. “We have an 'Enemy Body Scan' detected, Jacob.”
“Cratterson?” Jacob demanded, as the UPS truck finally began to move forward.
“Confirmed,” General Garcia nodded his head. “Infrared had matched the EBS to Agent Cratterson. She is currently in the front lobby of the jail.”
Jacob sped around the UPS truck, hit Walnut Avenue, but was quickly detained by a line of heavy traffic trickling through one slow red light after another. “This is worse than DC,” he yelled. “General, keep an eye on Cratterson. I have to make a call.” Jacob ended the call and then called Jessica Mayes’ cell phone.
Jessica, sitting alone in a large office that made her feel as if she were trapped inside of a room that resembled a museum, heard her cell phone ring from inside of her purse, which was sitting on Sheriff Butler's desk. She spun away from a row of diplomas, that were attached to a fancy wall covered with a wallpaper designed to impersonate power and authority, ran for her purse, and answered the incoming call without checking
the number. “Mandy—”
“No, this is the man you spoke to last night,” Jacob informed Jessica in a sharp voice. “Now listen and don't talk. Agent Wendy Cratterson is on scene at the jail you’re trapped in. She is in the front lobby. I'm on my way to retrieve you, but traffic is miserable.” Jacob gritted his teeth at the red light holding him captive beside a Kroger. “You can't allow Wendy Cratterson to find you. I'm not sure what exactly is happening, Mrs. Mayes, but my gut is telling me that the spider is operating on her own authority. I could be wrong.”
Jessica turned her eyes to the office door. “There's a deputy guarding the office. He has been given orders to not allow anyone in...or allow me to leave,” she explained, as fear and panic began to spread through her heart like wildfire.
Jacob forced his mind to think. How was he going to reach Jessica Mayes before Wendy Cratterson? And what was Wendy Cratterson even doing at the jail? At this point in time, Wendy Cratterson, if Roger Alden was truly behind the plan to frame Jessica Mayes for murder, should have been speaking with the local DA. Jacob knew the black widow was present at the jail for one single purpose: to put a bullet into Jessica Mayes’ head. But if Wendy Cratterson dared to kill Jessica Mayes without Roger Alden giving her the green light? Jacob shook his head with confusion, as he struggled to work through one slow red light after the next; and as Wendy Cratterson began making her way toward Sheriff Butler's office with murder dancing in her soulless eyes.
Chapter 7
Wendy Cratterson - Dead or Alive?
As Jacob forced his way through thick traffic, fighting his way up Walnut Avenue toward Thorton Avenue, Wendy Cratterson approached the deputy standing guard outside of Sheriff Butler's office door. She studied the deputy with careful eyes: young, strong, somewhat handsome, but obviously not the brightest kid on the block.
“Excuse me, is this Sheriff Butler's office?” Wendy asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. It was time to use her beauty to step on a snail.
Deputy Greg Marion stared into Wendy's face. My, was the woman a looker. And since he was single, what did it hurt to offer a nice smile? “Yes, it is, ma’am, but I'm not permitted to let anyone inside. I'm sorry.”
“A man who takes his duty seriously. I like that.” Wendy offered a flirty smile, and then slowly reached into her jacket and pulled out a brown envelope. “I'm Agent Cratterson, with the CIA,” she continued, without losing her smile. She opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. “This letter is signed by Judge Adrian Lewis, giving me full authority to take Mrs. Jessica Mayes into custody.” Wendy handed Greg the letter. “Most people believe the CIA can simply walk all over the justice system, but believe it or not, the CIA is held to the same standard of justice as anyone else.”
Greg read the letter with eyes that pretended he understood every single sentence. In reality, the deputy had never read a court issued legal document in his life. Greg had entered law enforcement at the age of twenty-three, and was still green behind the ears; even though the guy believed he was the best cop that had ever worn a badge. “Yes, it does seem like everything is in order,” he nodded his head. “But I have my orders, ma’am. Sheriff Butler ordered me—”
“Deputy,” Wendy interrupted, forcing her smile to still hold, “do you want to obstruct justice?” she asked. “Mrs. Mayes is a National Security Threat, Level Alpha Eighty-Eight,” she explained, making up a fake threat level to impress the young deputy. “There is a severe penalty for interfering with the National Security of our great nation.”
“I…yeah, I guess there is,” Greg agreed. He handed the letter back to Wendy. “Look, I'm just doing my job, but I don't want to cause any waves.”
“Of course not, dear.” Wendy said in a sweet voice. She patted Greg's arm, put the letter back in the envelope, and smiled. “You are dismissed, sweetie. I'll handle Mrs. Mayes from this point forward.”
“I... yeah, sure,” Greg nodded his head.
Wendy smiled again. “Thank you,” she said, and tried the door leading into Sheriff Butler’s office. The door was unlocked. “Please go downstairs and tell Deputy Milton that I will be at her desk in a few minutes, to sign Mrs. Mayes out.” Greg bit down on his lip, studied the office door, weighed the situation, and then walked off. The CIA agent had a signed letter from a judge. What could he do? Certainly not risk diving into a pot of hot water over a woman he didn't even know. Wendy waited until Greg vanished down the hallway, and then stepped into Sheriff Butler's office. “Mrs. Mayes?” she called out, finding the office empty.
Jessica closed her eyes and squeezed under Sheriff Butler's desk as tightly as possible. “Please go away,” she whispered in a terrified voice. “Please...go away.”
Wendy walked across the office floor and checked the double set of windows sitting on the north wall. The windows were locked from the inside. Next, she turned her attention to the desk. “Mrs. Mayes,” she called out again. “Please, I'm not here to harm you,” she lied, in a voice that could have fooled a professional liar. “I know you're afraid of me, and you have every right to be, but you must understand that I'm only here to help you.” Wendy approached Sheriff Butler's desk. It was time to send Roger Alden an ugly departing gift. If Jessica Mayes did have her husband's golden nugget—and Wendy still believed the only thing Jessica was in possession of was an empty head—then she was going to ensure that Roger Alden wasn't going to achieve victory in his quest for gold. While the CIA forensics team was foolishly working on Walter Hicks, Wendy had time to carry out her vengeance against Jessica Mayes and Roger Alden. “Mrs. Mayes, I do have the answers you're looking for. May we talk?”
Jessica grew very still, lowered her eyes, and studied the cell phone her shaky hands were holding onto. The cell phone was still connected to Jacob Green. Feeling terrified, and simply lost, she closed her eyes and waited for Wendy to find her; kill her. “Oh, Jack...please be waiting for me,” she whispered, “I don't want to die alone. Please be on the other side.”
Wendy began tapping the top of Sheriff Butler's desk. “Mrs. Mayes, your husband was killed because he created a very powerful virus that became a National Security Threat,” she spoke in a plain voice. “Your husband was also killed because he managed to break into the most secure intelligence database in the world and steal some very important information on the President. The intelligence database your husband managed to break into is secured beneath the Pentagon and protected by a series of codes that no one, not even the CIA, can hack. The codes, Mrs. Mayes, are constantly changing; controlled by an AI Brain that recalculates threat levels ten times per second. Your husband has been the only man alive to steal the codes...using his virus.”
Jessica listened in shock.
“Now, as it stands, Mrs. Mayes, the CIA is not very happy that such an intelligence database exists, of course. However, at the current time, there is nothing the CIA can do. You see, the database is protected by, what people call, American Patriots; soldiers who still believe America is a grand and free country. In order to reach the database, a person must take eight flights down a secure elevator that requires a special clearance code to operate. The elevator is equipped with a deadly gas that can kill a person within seconds, so even if a person were able to bypass all security protocols and enter the elevator, a silent alarm would be triggered.” Wendy continued to tap the top of the wooden desk. “Assuming the gas fails, and a person managed to go eight floors down into the earth, well… he would be greeted by a corridor lined with zigzagging lasers that can cut through ten feet of solid steel. Each laser is constantly moving, making it impossible to maneuver through. And, on top of that, invincible trip wires are also attached to the hallway, also constantly moving. If a person survives the lasers, but trips one of the wires, acid erupts from the floor.” Wendy stopped tapping the desk. “Seems like a movie, doesn't it?” she asked. “I suppose it does, but you must understand, hidden inside that database are secrets that can alter the world as we know it. Files on every single liv
ing person, politician, criminal. No one is exempt, not even me.”
Jessica listened with a racing heart. Why was Wendy Cratterson leaking such intense information to a woman she was planning to kill? “Stay calm,” she whispered, as her heart screamed inside of her chest. “Stay calm.”
“The CIA was once the grand partner of the American Government,” Wendy continued. “The CIA worked to create the database I'm speaking of. But in 1974, soon after the Vietnam War ended, a man named Howard Edward Millins threatened to reveal that the CIA, at the orders of Lyndon B Johnson, murdered John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Howard Edward Millins also threatened to reveal how Lyndon B Johnson profited from the Vietnam War; how many politicians profited from the Vietnam War, to be exact.” Wendy slowly eased her gun from under her jacket. A silencer was attached to the barrel of the gun.
“Howard Edward Millins was shot in his home on March 4th, 1974. Howard Millins was a close friend of Gerald Ford.” Wendy looked down at the desk and decided to give Jessica more time to fret. “After Nixon was given the option to die or resign, Gerald Ford took over the office of President, and began using the CIA as an offensive tool to begin systematically undermining American Democracy; therefore, turning the CIA into a 'Shadow Intelligence Agency' operating as an arm of the American Government. But by then, the Pentagon, with the help of the CIA, had secured the most advanced intelligence database in the world. But because of the interior war that was taking place inside Washington, DC, the CIA was severed from all intelligence outlets by Ronald Reagan, after Jimmy Carter failed to secure the office for a second time. Ronald Reagan, supported by Red State Members, became an enemy of the CIA. We tried to kill him but failed. It wasn't until George Bush Senior took office, that the CIA began gaining momentum again, but only after killing four very prominent men who were financing a campaign against President Bush. Those killings managed to put fear into the opposition. And, up until the last election, the CIA has managed to gain nearly perfect control...until President Green took office.”
Green File Crime Thrillers Box Set Page 10