Dead Secret

by Peter Kozmar

  The Governor General nodded and replied, “Of course, we can wait a few more minutes while you change. Would you like us to get a warm drink for when you return?”

  “Yes, please, a long black, no milk or sugar for me,” Andy answered. Vladim looked at the Governor General.

  “I’m sure our budget can stretch to buy you a warm drink too,” she replied.

  “Hot chocolate please and no marshmallows,” Vladim added.

  The Governor General turned to Kamahee, who nodded and left. Clutching their backpacks, Andy and Vladim headed for the restrooms, followed a few seconds later by Dortman.

  The restrooms were spotlessly clean and, much to their relief, empty. There were two disabled cubicles which doubled as changing spaces. Without speaking, Dortman handed each of them a small packs he’d been carrying and they went into separate cubicles, leaving Dortman waiting patiently outside guarding their backpacks.

  Andy rummaged through his pack and grabbed two dry bags, a blue contained all his dry clothes, the red one held his large, lightweight, Pertex towel and toiletry bag. He removed the items from the red dry bag.

  Andy sat on the small wall mounted bench and removed his boots before peeling off his soaking socks. His feet were wet, bone white and shriveled, having been wet for too long. He stripped out of his clothes, discarding each item into the red dry bag.

  Naked and cold, Andy dried his hair, upper body and legs before carefully rubbing the towel over his feet and drying in-between his toes. He reached into his toiletries bag and removed a small container of talcum powder which he applied to and rubbed between his toes and liberally over his feet. Then, he found his deodorant and sprayed himself for a good few seconds while deciding he didn’t have time to shave, the reception committee would just have to put up with his stubble.

  Andy called out to Vladim, “I have no idea what’s going on with the police officers and reception committee. I think they’ll want a private word with me.”

  “That’s not a problem, Tomas has the car, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Mr. Martirossian, the car and driver are waiting,” Dortman replied.

  “Do you know what could have happened while we were on the track?” Andy asked as he started to dress in dry underwear, a thermal tee-shirt and top, dry trousers and socks. He finished off with a duck-down fleece jacket.

  “No, the only notable news has been, a serious coach crash near Queenstown with several serious injuries, a chemical incident in an office block in Wellington, and a Government Minister made the front pages after his wife found out about him having not one, but two affairs, and both mistresses had given birth to his children.” Andy sensed Dortman’s disapproval of the last item simply from the characteristic clipped pronounced German accent.

  Andy placed a dry woolen hat on his damp head. The warmth it retained made an immediate difference. He reached into the bottom of the blue dry bag and removed a pair of lightweight sneakers and quickly put them on. He stuffed his wet toiletries and towel blue dry bag before closing and sealing it. He picked up his boots, took a last look around to make sure he hadn’t left anything and left the cubicle.

  Outside he opened his backpack and stuffed the two dry bags inside it placing his boots on top before closing and securing the straps. “That feels good, how about you?” Andy called out.

  “I’m warm and dry. I feel good,” Vladim replied as he exited his cubicle. Vladim threw the small pack with his wet clothes at Dortman. He walked over to his heavy, wet pack and stuffed his drybag and boots inside. Once he’d secured it Dortman stepped forward to take it off him. “Hey, I’m good, I’ve carried it for four days, I think I can carry it for a few more minutes,” Vladim laughed moving his pack away from Dortman.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Dortman replied, clearly embarrassed by his mistake.

  Back in the main terminus they approached the reception committee.

  “Would you mind if we spoke somewhere more private?” Patotara asked Andy.

  “Sure, lead the way,” Andy replied.

  “Err … I think we’ll wait for you in the car,” Vladim said, looking directly at Andy, ‘Tomas will take your pack.” Andy smiled, gave slight nod and reluctantly handed over his heavy backpack for Dortman to carry to their car. Vladim and Dortman peeled away from the group.

  Patotara led Andy and the others through the exit to a waiting police Holden SUV. As they reached it, a second police car pulled up and Kamahee stepped out carrying a cardboard tray with their hot drinks. “Yours is this one,” Kamahee pointed to a take-a-way cup with LB written on the lid. Andy took it and found the cup uncomfortably hot to hold. “This is the hot chocolate for your companion.” Kamahee pointed to another cup.

  “Could you take it to my friend over there?” Andy asked Kamahee as he pointed at a black Range Rover parked a few parking bays away. Kamahee nodded and left.

  Holding his coffee cup in one hand Andy climbed into the rear of the police vehicle. Patotara sat next to him while the Governor General and Carter sat in the front. The Governor General turned in her chair to face Andy and spoke first, “Mr. Flint, thank you for agreeing to speak with us. I trust we can count on your absolute discretion on what we are about to discuss?”

  “Sure,” Andy was curious at the high level reception committee and the need for secrecy.

  The Governor General nodded at Patotara to continue: “Four days ago, an unknown gunman went into an office in Wellington and murdered all but one of the employees. The Russian and US Governments vetoed each other from undertaking the investigation. After hours of negotiations at the United Nations, they finally agreed you could be involved.”

  Andy held up his hand to stop the Commissioner in his tracks. “I’m not sure I understand, what’s this got to do with the Russian and the US Governments? Aren’t we in New Zealand? What’s this got to do with the United Nations?”

  “I’m here representing the Secretary General of the United Nations. The office which was attacked was a highly sensitive United Nations intelligence facility. Your son works there,” the Governor General replied.

  Andy felt the color drain from his face. His breathing became short and rapid. His heart rate increased, as his body reacted to the news. He needed to keep calm, but he couldn’t hide the fear in his voice.

  “What’s happened to Mark?”

  CHAPTER 2

  In the silence that followed Andy thought his question hadn’t been heard. “My son, Mark Flint, what happened to him?” he asked louder to make sure they’d heard him.

  Patotara answered, “Your son wasn’t murdered. He’s missing.”

  Relief washed over Andy, though his heart still thundered in his chest.

  Patotara continued, “We believe your son called the emergency services, however, he’d left the scene before they arrived,”

  “He was there?” Andy asked, incredulously.

  “Yes. When the police arrived, they couldn’t go straight in like they normally would,” Patotara replied.

  “What?” Andy was trying hard to focus and take things in.

  “The site has diplomatic status so all they could do was stand outside waiting for clearance to enter,” Patotara said. Andy sipped his fresh coffee, the strong shot of caffeine giving him an instant kick bringing him back to the present so he could focus.

  The Governor General took over the dialogue from Patotara. “Since no one was answering the phones, the issue was brought to me as a UN Ambassador and I gave permission for the police to force entry into the office. The police went in and found the bodies, each victim had been shot. The killer was a professional, no empty cases, no witnesses, but your son is missing and we don’t know his role in all of this or whether he escaped. New York were furious that I’d allowed our local police into the office, something to do with the sensitive nature of the work which went on in there. The office was so secret even I didn’t know about it!”

  Patotara interjected, “We photographed the crime scene before New York ordered
us to leave and seal the office. That’s when I released a story about a chemical leak.”

  “How can I help?” Andy asked.

  The Governor General answered for them, “The UN Security Council wouldn’t agree to the New Zealand Government leading the investigation. We all want to identify the killer and we believe your son is the key to finding out. We need you to find your son and bring him in.”

  “Do I get access to the office and anything I need?” Andy asked.

  “Yes, you’ll have full access to the office, however, you’ll be accompanied while you are in there and you can’t remove anything,” the Governor General replied, “we haven’t time to arrange Diplomatic status for you, so you need to be careful.”

  “If you run into any problems call me,” Commissioner Patotara added handing Andy his business card.

  “Thanks, I hope I won’t have to use it,” Andy replied.

  The Governor General handed Andy their card too, “Keep that safe, it has my personal numbers.”

  “I will.”

  He put both cards in his pocket and then gathered his thoughts for a few moments. Andy knew his son had joined the UN after his service with US military intelligence, but didn’t know what he did with them. Andy thought Mark had been a desk jockey in New York and the posting to New Zealand had something to do with environmental monitoring. Now, he knew his son had never left the intelligence game, just changed teams.

  “I’ll help you,” he took another, larger, sip from his cup.

  “Great,” Patotara replied, “Agent Carter will be your local liaison. To access the UN facility, you’ll be accompanied by Marcel Durand from the UN’s Singapore Office.”

  “Could I take a few minutes out? I need to make some calls,” Andy asked. He needed a breather from the intensity of the discussion and some time to think.

  “Yes, go ahead,” Patotara said.

  Andy climbed out of the vehicle and, ignoring the rain, walked over to Vladim’s Range Rover. He opened the door, from the look on Andy’s face, Vladim immediately knew something wasn’t right. “What’s happened?” Vladim asked.

  “It’s Mark. Everyone in his office is dead except him and he’s missing.”

  Vladim looked concerned. “Maybe he was lucky and took the day off?” Vladim suggested.

  “No. He called it in, then took off before the cops arrived.”

  “That doesn’t look good.”

  “No. It doesn’t. The UN want me to find him and bring him in.”

  “What do you need from me?” Vladim asked.

  “I’d like you to wait while I make some calls, then I’ll figure out what to do.”

  “Take your time, my friend, I’ll help in any way I can. You know that.”

  Andy closed the door on the Range Rover, went round to the rear and opened the trunk. He reached into the top pocket on his pack and removed a small red waterproof bag where he’d put his cell phone which had extra protection within a clear plastic zip-lock bag. He also donned a dry waterproof jacket that was in the trunk. He powered up his phone and called Mark’s mobile number hoping he’d pick up. The call went straight to voicemail, leaving Andy with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Hey it’s me! When you get this message, give me a call.” Andy hung up then after a quick search of his phones address book, he paused to think about what he’d say then hit the number.

  It took a few moments for the call to connect and for Andy to hear the far end ring. After several seconds the call was answered. Andy started to pace around the parked cars.

  “Hi Jane, how are you?”

  There was a long silence from the other end. “What do you want?” came the terse response from his ex-wife.

  “It’s about Mark,” Andy paused as he drained the last of his coffee then threw the empty cup in a nearby trash can. The line was silent. “He’s gone missing.”

  “What do you mean, missing?”

  “People in his office are dead and he’s gone missing. That’s all I know. I’ve just been told about it.”

  “Is he in trouble?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been asked to look into what’s happened and find him.”

  “Make sure you find him and bring him home safe. Don’t let anything happen to him,” Jane said through her sobs.

  “I’ll do everything I can,” Andy said.

  “Promise me you’ll bring him home safely,” Jane pleaded.

  “I promise,” Andy replied, not knowing whether he would be able to keep the promise, but at that moment he needed to calm Jane down and give her some hope.

  “Let me know when you find him,” Jane said.

  “I will. Look I gotta go, the police want to speak with me,” Andy hung up and stopped pacing around. He searched through his phone address book and made another call. This time to Mark’s godmother and long-time family friend, Helen Hobbs. He started pacing again. The call rang four times before being answered.

  “Hi Andy. What trouble are you in now?” Hobbs asked.

  “I’m fine. It’s Mark. His UN office in New Zealand had an incident, their staff were murdered. Somehow Mark is mixed up in it and he’s missing.”

  “Does Jane know?”

  “Yes, Jane knows, I rang her before this call. We may have gone our different ways, but she is his mother and she deserves to know. I’ve promised her I’ll bring him home safely, I know, that was stupid, but she was hysterical and I needed to calm her down and give her some hope.”

  “Okay, I’ll call her when I finish talking to you to see if I can calm her down.”

  “Thanks.”

  There was a long pause from Hobbs, “Did he do it?”

  "I doubt it. He called the cops. That’s not proof in itself, but I have to believe he didn’t do it so I can persuade him to come in voluntarily,” Andy said, as if saying it out loud made it more certain.

  “Why kill an office full of UN staff?” Helen asked.

  “It’s a UN intelligence station, I don’t know what they were working on, but whatever it was, it may have got them all killed.”

  “Have they told you anything else?” she asked.

  “Only that it’s a political hot potato and the only thing the UN Security Council could agree on is my involvement,” he said, not quite believing what he was saying.

  “Okay, well that is an interesting move, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m in a place called Milford Sounds, with Vladim Martirossian, we’ve just finished walking the Milford Track and I was planning to meet up with Mark in Queenstown … obviously, this has changed those plans. I’m about to head up to Wellington to have a look at the crime scene and start investigating. Not sure where that will take me,” he replied.

  “I can help for the next few days while I’m still at Langley handing over, but after that I start my new role in Brussels. If there’s anything you need, just let me know, and I will see what I can do,” she stated.

  “There is, can you run a search on all Mark’s emails, calls and social media activity and send it to me?” he asked.

  “Sure, but I can’t email it, you know the rules.”

  “How about sending it to the CIA lead at the Embassy here in New Zealand?” he suggested.

  “That’ll work, I’ll get onto it now, you’ll have it tomorrow.”

  “Great!” Andy appreciated the offer of help from Hobbs. They’d had a rough patch working together, but it seemed to have smoothed out over the last few months since he’d stopped drinking and started to turn his life around.

  “Just wait while I look up the contact details for our man at the Embassy in New Zealand.” There was a pause, Andy could hear Hobbs type. “It’s Brad Trojan. I’ll send the data to him and explain he’s to give it to you when you arrive.”

  “Thanks, Helen.”

  “Now, go find my Godson and bring him home safely.”

  “I’ll keep you informed, bye Helen,” Andy ended the call.

  Andy walked back to the police SUV and climbed in the
rear.

  “The cloud is too low to fly you out of here. We’ll arrange to get you on a flight from Queenstown to Wellington. Agent Carter will organize it,” the Governor General informed Andy.

  “Why not drive to Wellington, it’s not that far away looking at the road map?” he asked.

  Patotara chuckled, “Our roads are not like your freeways in the US and our top speed here is 100 kilometers per hour … by car it’ll take you over twenty-four hours with comfort stops and then there is a three-hour ferry journey to Wellington. Most Kiwis use our regional airlines to get to places quickly.”

  Carter looked at the screen on her tablet computer, “I’ve looked at flights and we’ve missed the last direct flight for the day. We can still get a flight to Auckland and, from there, a connection to Wellington.”

  “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we fly to Wellington on Vladim’s private jet? It’s waiting in Queenstown. I’ll ask if we can use it.”

  Patotara spoke next, “It will only be you and Agent Carter travelling, the Governor General and I have arranged a few days in Queenstown. You can travel to Queenstown with us if you’d like?” Andy smiled and exited the vehicle to speak with Vladim.

  ***

  In a room, on the seventh floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington, the Listener removed his headset and put down his pen. He studied his notes:

  Flint in Milford Sound, just received the news. Heading to Wellington. Hobbs sending the data to Brad Trojan at the US Embassy.

  He wrote an email on his secure messaging application, read it twice before hitting ‘send’, then logged out and shut down his laptop.

  Next to the laptop lay a loaded semi-automatic pistol with silencer attached. He picked it up and homed it firmly into his shoulder holster. He looked at his watch. There were a few hours before Flint would arrive and he had much to do. He secured his notes and laptop in the room safe before he headed to the door.

  ***

  Two police Holden SUV’s using their lights and sirens led the Range Rover on the drive through to Queenstown. Highway Patrol Units along the way had blocked off major intersections, allowing the convoy to move through at speed without having to slow down. Andy saw the Range Rover cruise at one-ninety on the straighter roads allowing the three-vehicle convoy to make good time to Queenstown.