The Secret Target

by Dean Atwood

  Blaire considered the risks of signing into her NSA account to do a search of Amanda’s photo in the intelligence databases. She was certain her account was being monitored by the NSA. They’d be able to see what inquires she was making, but she convinced herself that the masking tool she’d installed would prevent them or others tracking her account to get a fix on her location. Since the NSA developed the masking software she was using, there was a possibility they’d incorporated an unmasking feature that could be activated to reveal her whereabouts, but she’d never heard any of the analysts she’d worked with discuss such an option, so she decided to take a chance.

  It didn’t take long to get a hit in the facial recognition databases. A file popped up for NSA Analyst Amanda Thiel. According to the personnel file, she had worked at the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland since joining the agency nineteen years ago. The office building appearing in some of the surveillance photos of Amanda registered with Blaire now. It was the NSA headquarters building. The next shocker revealed in the file was that Amanda no longer worked with the NSA because she’d disappeared two months ago. Apparently, there was an on-going investigation, but no indication that anyone suspected she defected or met with foul play. There were no details of the investigation that Blaire could find, but that didn’t surprise her because internal NSA matters like that would be classified with very limited access.

  The database search hadn’t answered all of Blaire’s questions, but it did confirm a few things. Whatever was going on between Jeremy and Amanda wasn’t love or romance, at least from Jeremy’s point of view. Being as vain as she knew he was, there was no way that under normal circumstances he would seduce an out-of-shape, average looking, forty-one-year-old woman. It confirmed what she’d suspected, Amanda had been recruited by Jeremy to gain access to NSA secrets and after she was no longer available, Jeremy had the audacity to think he could seduce and recruit her, Blaire Saunders. If she’d had any feelings of loss or sadness after Jeremy’s brutal murder, those feelings had now dissipated.

  After signing off from her NSA account, she returned her attention to the files stored on the PC. This time she didn’t limit her search to pictures, Blaire scanned for documents of any type. The search didn’t yield many hits; however, there were a few discoveries that were significant. One was a copy of his previous year tax return, which had been generated using Turbo Tax. As expected, it reported the FBI agent’s modest salary and no other income that could explain his recent asset purchases. She also found copies of the deeds of trust for Jeremy’s two properties. They were filed in the name of Lighthouse Technology Corporation. Separate documents granted Jeremy a twenty-year lease to the properties at a ridiculously low monthly rental and had a clause that transferred ownership to him after the lease expired. Blaire decided to tell QT about Lighthouse Technology and let him follow that lead rather than doing another search from her NSA account because it would reveal to anyone monitoring her activity that she had discovered the suspicious company.

  Having garnered everything useful from the PC, Blaire opened the desk drawers and rummaged through their contents. Mostly what she found was stationary supplies: pencils, pens, paperclips, tape, stapler, et al. In the left bottom drawer, there were two flashlights and a package of spare batteries.

  In the bottom right drawer, she hit the jackpot. It wasn’t a million-dollar winning ticket, but what was stored there would come in handy. Still sealed in its original package was a burner phone. She shuffled the stationary items in the top desk drawer until she found a pair of scissors, which she used to free the phone from its plastic wrap. With her right hand, Blaire held the phone next to her heart to express her love for the newly discovered electronic gadget.

  Holding the phone, it occurred to Blaire that she’d taken Jeremy’s phone from his pocket after he was shot. How could she be so stupid. She opened her overnight bag and dug around until she found it. She pressed the power button and anxiously waited for it to come to life. She wasn’t sure whether the device was his work phone or a personal one. She expected it to boot up to a security screen requiring a password or fingerprint to advance to the home screen — but it didn’t. It displayed standard apps and background that come with a new phone, not a phone that had already been personalized. That’s when it struck her. Somebody from the FBI or NSA had most likely remotely initialized the phone to prevent it from being searched.

  What concerned her was that she’d been carrying what amounted to a GPS tracking device in her bag. If somebody knew the number for that phone, they could locate her. As fast as she could, she removed the battery and smashed the device with a stapler.

  She sat at the desk in a daze until she was startled by what sounded like a clicking sound coming from the computer, Blaire looked down at the keyboard as if she were expecting it to explode or physically attack her. A smile crossed her lips when she realized that the fingers on her left hand were quivering and causing her fingernails to click on the PC keyboard. The normally unflappable Blaire Saunders was shaken, and it surprised her. She lifted her left hand and made a fist to control her trembling. She rose from the desk chair, walked to the living room, and sat down in an overstuffed chair.

  Sitting there, reflecting on the day’s events, everything seemed unreal. Her eyelids were so heavy, she could barely keep them open. She relaxed and closed her eyes for what seemed like only an instant to her, but it was enough for her body to give into weariness. She slumped into the crease between the back and arm of the comfortable chair and dozed off.

  Chapter 21

  T odd Andrews knocked gently on the door as if he were trying to announce his arrival without startling the occupant inside the media room.

  “Come in,” QT said.

  Todd cautiously opened the door part way and squeezed himself through the narrow aperture rather than opening the door all the way.

  QT introduced himself and reached out to shake hands with the young man.

  Todd hesitated before extending a sweaty, limp hand in response. It was as though he thought it would be disrespectful to squeeze the agent’s hand with any force. Quinton had no such qualms. He applied a strong grip and shook the other man’s hand vigorously a few times before releasing it. Todd looked at the chairs around the table, awaiting instructions on which seat to select.

  Quinton obliged by motioning to a chair and saying, “Take a seat.” Once he was seated, QT looked at him, but said nothing for a few seconds. Todd looked down at the table. “Do you know why I asked you to come here and talk with me?” QT said.

  “Karen said you wanted to question me about Jeremy’s murder … but I don’t know anything about it.”

  “I’m doing routine follow-up, talking with anyone who had recent contact with Jeremy. I understand you had a meeting with him shortly before he was killed.”

  “I was in a task force meeting with Jeremy, but I didn’t talk directly to him.”

  “I see. Who did he talk to?”

  “During the official meeting or before it started.”

  “Both.”

  “When I entered the room, he was seated next to Blaire Saunders. They were huddled together having their own private conversation. He was always trying to get intimate with her.”

  “Are you saying that something personal was going on between them?”

  “No, I didn’t say that. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about Blaire. It wasn’t her. It was Jeremy.”

  “Was she responding to his advances?”

  “You’d have to know Blaire. She’d never be rude to anyone. If he talked to her, she wouldn’t ignore him.”

  Have you known Blaire long?”

  “Yes, since she started working here.”

  “Are you friends?”

  “Blaire is friends with everyone, including me.”

  “Were the two of you ever more than friends?”

  Todd blushed a little. “No, our relationship is strictly business.”

  “She’s ver
y attractive and single. Are you telling me that you never asked her out?”

  “No, I never asked her out.”

  “But, you wanted to, didn’t you? It’s common knowledge around the office that you have a crush on her.”

  “Who told you that? I might have mentioned to a couple of coworkers that I was going to ask her out, but that doesn’t mean I had a crush on her.”

  “Do you think she likes you well enough to go out with you?”

  “Maybe, but after that creep Jeremy came along and was hitting on her all the time, she seemed less ... accessible.”

  “I take it that you didn’t like him very much. Were you jealous of him?”

  “I didn’t like him at all. He was condescending and treated me like a nerd rather than an equal. But, I wasn’t jealous of him. I know a lot more about information technology and intelligence work than he ever did. I resented the fact that just because he had good looks and was a smooth talker, he got special attention from the higher-ups and the ladies.”

  “It’s understandable that a man like you would want people measured on their merits instead of their appearance.”

  “That’s right, but I never complained to my superiors or confronted him. There was no point.”

  “Do you think it’s possible there were others, like you, who disliked him enough to hire a hitman to kill him?”

  Todd’s eyes opened wide. He sat up straight and rolled his office chair back slightly like he was subconsciously distancing himself from QT. “Surely, you can’t think I would have him murdered. I didn’t like him, and I won’t lose any sleep over his death, but I would never do anything like that.”

  “No, of course not. I didn’t mean you. I was asking whether you knew about others who he may have pissed off to the point where they would have taken action.”

  “He annoyed a lot of people, but nobody at the JUIAF hated him enough to kill him. At least I don’t know anyone who did.”

  “You said that you didn’t talk with Jeremy during the task force meeting. What did the task force members discuss, and who did he speak with?”

  “I can’t reveal anything that transpired during the task force meeting because it’s confidential.”

  “Todd, are you aware that I’ve been put in charge of the investigation into the death of an FBI agent? Don’t you think that supersedes your task force confidentiality?”

  “I’m sorry, but I’ve been specifically ordered not to say anything to the FBI about the task force. You’ll have to talk to Special Agent Warren. He’s the man in charge.”

  “I could view your actions as obstruction of justice.”

  “You can do whatever you want to do to me, but I won’t break my promise to maintain confidentiality.”

  “I can tell you’re a man with principles, Todd. I won’t force you to break your promise. I’ll talk with Special Agent Warren about the task force. But, will you do me a favor?”

  “What?”

  “If you remember anything that could help me find out who’s responsible for this murder, will you contact me?”

  “Yes, I can do that as long as I’m not revealing confidential information.”

  “Before you leave, I want to tell you the same thing I told Karen Williams. There’s a possibility that someone is targeting all the members of your task force. I think you’ll find that it’s in your own best interest to share anything with me that could help me track down the killer before he or she strikes again.” Todd said nothing, but QT could see the color drain from his face.

  “Can I leave now?” he asked.

  “We’re done here. You can leave, but I suggest you stay alert and let me know if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Your life may depend on it.”

  Chapter 22

  Q uinton leaned back in the chair and folded his hands behind his head. So far, the investigation hadn’t yielded much. What was the motive?

  Jealousy is always a prime motive in murder cases. From what he’d learned during the interviews, Jeremy was arrogant, condescending, and considered himself a ladies’ man. Personality traits that could lead someone to want him dead. Hell, watching him from a distance flirting with Blaire even made QT want to take a shot at him. Todd Andrews has a thing for Blaire and viewed Jeremy as a rival. That could’ve driven him to take extreme action. On the other hand, Karen seemed to have an interest in Todd and although she claimed to like Blaire, maybe she was jealous enough of her and disliked Jeremy enough to have them both killed. QT smiled as he thought about the two suspects. They were a couple of computer geeks, not exactly the type of people you’d expect to arrange a hit. But, computer nerds sometimes surprise you. They’re smart, resourceful, and probably have a lifetime of resentment built up, being put down by the beautiful people, like Jeremy and Blaire. And, both Todd and Karen had the intelligence contacts to pull it off, if they really wanted to do it.

  More likely motives in this case were money and power. He knew from what little Blaire had told him that Jeremey was taking bribes. He could’ve had a falling out with his coconspirators and they’d felt compelled to remove him. The other strong possibility was that the hit had something to do with the task force operation. From what Karen had said, Jeremy and Blaire were the field operatives on the team, which made them the most visible faces of the effort. If somebody wanted to send a message to whoever initiated the action against them, the field operatives would be the most obvious ones to attack. Karen had provided him with the superficial reasons for the task force, but Quinton felt there was probably more going on behind the scenes than Warren was sharing with Karen and the others.

  He opened the JUIAF phonebook he had been provided and dialed the number. Someone picked up on the other end but didn’t say anything. QT’s patience ran out after about two seconds of quiet. “This is FBI Agent Quinton Target,” he said. “To whom am I speaking?”

  “I’ve been expecting your call,” the voice on the other end said.

  “Then I assume I’m talking with Special Agent Warren?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’d like to arrange a face-to-face interview with you. Are you available to come to the media room for a meeting, now?”

  “How about ten minutes from now in my office.”

  “OK, I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

  “Fine. I’ll see you promptly in ten minutes.”

  QT hung up the phone and shook his head. Military types are always looking for a tactical edge. Warren probably thought his office would give him homefield advantage or maybe he had it wired so he could record the interview. Quinton was expecting the meeting to be about as much fun as the one he’d had with Colonel Pricilla Smithers a few hours ago.

  Oh well, it’s all part of the job.

  ***

  When Quinton walked into the DIA special agent’s office, the first thing Warren did was to glance at the clock on his desk. He nodded almost imperceivably to acknowledge that QT had arrived precisely ten minutes after their phone call. They shook a firm handshake and assessed each other as they did. Warren stood with his best posture to make himself as tall as possible, but his attempt fell at least five inches short. When they sat down; however, an odd thing happened, Quinton had to look up at Warren. QT wiggled in his seat a little and realized that the visitor’s chair sat low and wasn’t adjustable while the desk chair had a height adjustment which was set at the highest level.

  “Are you comfortable? Warren asked.

  “I’m not used to sitting this low, but I suppose you get used to it, don’t you?”

  Warren ignored the rebuke and changed the subject. “I’ve been informed that the FBI is leading the investigation into Glover’s death. It’s a terrible tragedy. Of course, I want to help anyway that I can.”

  “Had you known Agent Glover very long?”

  “He was under my supervision for a couple of months. Long enough for me to assess his performance.”

  “What is your assessment of him?”

  “He was c
ompetent ... for an FBI agent.”

  “Do you have a problem with the competency of the FBI in general?”

  “Not at all. They serve a purpose. Their priorities aren’t always the same as the DIA. But, since the FBI has jurisdiction for domestic matters, sometimes it’s necessary for us to work together to accomplish common goals.”

  “Did you have concerns about any aspect of the work he was doing for you?”

  “He was partnered with an NSA cyber analyst to do field work for a project I’m leading. They were completing their assignments on schedule.”

  “What’s the name of the cyber analyst he was working with?” QT asked, even though he knew the answer.

  “The NSA field agent is Blaire Saunders.”

  “Ah yes, Blaire Saunders. She’s the one who disappeared after Jeremy was shot, right?”

  “I’m sure you already know it was her.”

  “Why do you suppose she didn’t hang around after the shooting?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t had any contact with her. I believe the FBI as well as the NSA are tracking her down to get an answer to that question.”

  “Do you suspect she had anything to do with the shooting.”

  “The thought never entered my mind. She’s beyond reproach.”

  “Then why would she leave?”

  “If I were to postulate, I would conclude that she was in fear of her life and wasn’t sure who she could trust. She’ll figure it out and make contact when the time is right, if the NSA doesn’t track her down before she has a chance.”