The Secret Target

by Dean Atwood

  “You’ll need more evidence than you have right now to arrest him.”

  “I’m working on it. Is anything happening in the Charlottesville office I need to know about?”

  “The FBI Human Resources Department had a change of heart. They’ve extended my forced retirement to age sixty. They probably don’t want to replace me in the middle the investigation. They’ll need a scapegoat in case things don’t go well and what better sacrifice than somebody like me who’s about to retire.”

  “Welcome back.”

  “Thanks, I think. The way things are going, the stress of this job is going to kill me before I ever make it to sixty. Keep me informed about your progress.”

  “Will do.”

  “And, you be careful. The loss of two FBI agents within a week is more than enough.”

  “Don’t worry about me, boss.”

  ***

  QT wasn’t looking forward to his next call, but he knew it was overdue. He felt bad that he hadn’t kept Daphne in the loop. She could’ve put him under a lot of pressure by going to the colonel or Special Agent Warren and telling them about his relationship with Blaire. But, she’d kept it to herself. Whatever he’d assigned to her, she’d done without complaint and she’d supported him by being discreet in what she reported back to the colonel. He usually rewarded loyalty with trust, but not with Daphne.

  The phone rang three times before it was answered. “It’s about time you called me,” she said angrily, skipping the courteous hellos.

  “I know, you’re pissed. You have every right to be.”

  “Damn right I am. I know you didn’t request it, but I was assigned to work with you on this case. I’ve been straight with you. I expect the same from you. You disappeared without telling me what you’re up to or what you need me to do.”

  “I hear you loud and clear.”

  Calming down, she said, “I assume you heard about that FBI Agent Thomason.”

  “Yes, I heard about him. Did you know him?”

  “I met him a few times. He was a Chauvinistic pig. Still, I don’t like what happened to him. I don’t want the bad guys to think intelligence agents are easy to kill.”

  “I’m with you on that one.”

  “It seems logical there’s a connection between Thomason’s and Jeremy’s murders. Any idea how they’re tied together?”

  “I believe the same guy ordered both hits.”

  “What guy?”

  “Ted Danziger.”

  “The VP of Ops for Upshaw corporation? What makes you think that?”

  “He has a prime motive. Not only does he despise Anne Upshaw, he wants her job. He was bribing Jeremy Glover to assist him with some illegal activities which probably included framing Anne Upshaw for treasonous crimes with the Chinese. I’m speculating that Jeremy had become a liability to him, so he had him killed. Blaire’s being targeted because of her relationship with Glover and Thomason was collateral damage to the latest assassination attempt on Blaire.”

  “When are we going to interview Anne Upshaw and Danziger?’

  “I’m in DC now. I already talked with Anne. She was pretty convincing in denying any knowledge of Danziger’s actions and she adamantly denied conducting any illegal business with the Chinese. She’s well aware Danziger doesn’t like her, but she didn’t think he’d stoop so low as to go to the DIA and accuse her of treason.”

  “Did you talk with Danziger, too?”

  “Not yet. I plan to confront him soon.”

  “Do you want me to join you in DC?”

  “I don’t need you to come to DC, but I could use your help with a few things. First, I need you to run interference with the colonel for me. I’m sure she’s looking for a daily status report. Give her one, but don’t name any names. You can tell her I’m in DC following some leads and tell her we think Thomason’s murder is linked with Jeremy’s. Don’t give her any more details.”

  “She won’t be happy that you’re not there to interrogate, but I can handle her.”

  “Good. Second, keep tabs on Special Agent Warren. Let me know if he leaves the office or is acting suspiciously.”

  “Why?”

  “He had direct communications with Danziger. I don’t know how he’s linked to this plot. I can’t say for sure that he’s involved in anything illegal, but he knows more than he’s telling us.”

  “I saw Blaire come out of his office a while ago. Her face looked flushed, like she’d had an argument with him. Do you want me to ask her about it?”

  “No, she told me she was going to talk with him. She’ll let me know if anything important transpired in the meeting. I’ll fill you in the next time we talk.”

  “What else do you want me to do?”

  “Did you have any luck finding out who Warren’s boss is?”

  “No, it’s a well-guarded secret. Why is it important to the murder investigation?”

  “Because there are people higher up in the intelligence organizations who initiated the task force. It’s likely they’re exceeding the limits of legality in monitoring US citizens under the guise of National Security concerns.”

  “Care to elaborate?’

  “Not until I’m sure. Can you keep searching for the chain of command? I bet the colonel knows, if you can get her to talk.”

  “I’ll try, but it isn’t going to be easy.”

  “Thanks, Daphne. I’m sorry I didn’t keep you in the loop.”

  “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time, but don’t let it happen again.”

  “Call me if you find out anything and I’ll contact you when I know more about Danziger.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Chapter 55

  T he hotel room had everything she needed. It was large enough for a queen size bed, was clean, and had a shower with a powerful spray. Now that the lieutenant had gotten back into the habit of showering regularly, it would be difficult to revert to taking occasional sponge baths in public restrooms. Perhaps it was time to move out of the Jefferson Theatre basement and find a place with a private bathroom. She’d figure something out later. At the present time, she needed to channel all of her energy on preventing Danziger from hurting anyone else.

  Anne’s speech wouldn’t begin for a few hours. Since she had no intention of attending any of the technology presentations prior to the speech, she had plenty of time to make a call before taking a shower and changing her clothes.

  Dr. Bit picked up on the first ring and said, “Good afternoon, Sandy.”

  “Cram it, Dr. Bit. This is Lieutenant Mad. Sandy’s taking a nap.”

  “How was your train ride last night?”

  “No problems at all. Putting me in the first-class car was a nice touch.”

  “I thought you’d appreciate it.”

  “Any trouble with your room reservation?”

  “I almost vomited when I had to call myself Sandy to check in, but other than that, it went smoothly.”

  “Did you talk with Anne Upshaw?”

  “Yes, I told her about the mind control equipment and warned her about the contract on her life.”

  “And, she didn’t think you were a crazy person?”

  “You make that sound like I act like a crazy person.”

  “No, not at all. L. Ron and I were worried she wouldn’t take you seriously. I know I’d be suspicious if a complete stranger showed up and told me a mind control device was installed in my home and somebody wants to kill me.”

  “Fortunately, FBI Agent Target was there with me and confirmed my warnings.”

  “Your boyfriend was there? If you told me he was going to spend the night with you, I would’ve reserved a bigger room for the both of you,” he said sarcastically.

  “The one twin bed was kind of small for two of us, but we managed.”

  “Oh,” he said, dumbfounded.

  “I’m kidding, doofus,” she said.

  “Oh yeah. Of course, I knew you were joking. So was I.”

  “Wh
ile we’re on the subject of rooms, I have a favor to ask of you.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Are the rooms over your garage still available?”

  “Yes.”

  “There’s a bedroom and a bathroom with a shower, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Is your offer to let me stay there still open?”

  “Of course. I’d love to have you nearby.”

  “OK, I’ll move in when I return to C’ville.”

  “I’ll help you transport your stuff.”

  “What stuff? All I own are a few clothes, my computer, and a phone.”

  “Then it’ll be easy.”

  “Before I move in, I need you to remove all surveillance cameras from the bedroom and the bathroom.”

  “I don’t have any —.”

  “Don’t even try to deny it. You have cameras everywhere in your house. I better not find any in the rooms over the garage. If a video of me naked shows up on the Internet or in your computer files — you’re a dead man.”

  “I’ll make a clean sweep and you can do an inspection afterward.”

  “Excellent. I appreciate the space. The spooks have been buzzing around my Jefferson Theatre place lately.”

  “I’ll leave the cameras on the outside of the garage and give you access to them to monitor for any undesirables who try to spy on you.”

  “Has L. Ron come up with anything additional about the top-secret Upshaw products that are under development.”

  “Let me put him on the speaker.”

  “Lieutenant Mad,” L. Ron said. “I have some explosive information for you.”

  “Have aliens invaded or do you have something about new products under development?”

  “It’s only a matter of time before the aliens are revealed, but what I discovered was a new line of products being developed by humans to be used against humans.”

  “Sounds ominous. What did you discover?”

  “Perhaps you’ve heard in the news recently that experimental devices have been created that can read people’s thoughts.”

  “I’ve heard about it.”

  “Well, it’s more than experimental at Upshaw. They have an entire line of products that incorporate this technology.”

  “Can you imagine how this technology could be abused,” the lieutenant said. “Personal privacy would become non-existent. It could be used by police and the military for interrogations, by intelligence agencies for spying, by criminals to steal passwords and other security information, by sexual predators, and that’s just the applications that quickly come to mind.”

  “There are legitimate applications like communication enablers for people with neurological disorders that have destroyed their ability to speak, but the risk for abuse is greater than the potential for good.”

  “Does Anne Upshaw know about this product line development.”

  “She knows. How could she not know?”

  “She didn’t say anything about it in our meeting, but I didn’t know to ask her about it.”

  “I know you’ve been looking at the Chinese link to Upshaw and this technology could explain the partnership. These products require rare earth elements to build and China is the number one producer of these elements in the entire world.”

  “You’re right, L. Ron, this is explosive information. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. I may have prevented one citizen from being tortured by a psychotronic device, only to free her to create products capable of eliminating privacy for billions of people.”

  The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the hotel room door. The lieutenant glanced on top of the dresser, desk, and nightstands to see if QT had forgotten his keycard, but she didn’t see one. There was another knock on the door. She thought perhaps it was housecleaning, although all the beds were made.

  “Just a minute,” she shouted at the door.

  “I have to go, guys,” she said to Dr. Bit and L. Ron. “Thanks for the information.”

  Lieutenant Mad walked to the door and opened it a crack, leaving the chain lock intact. Standing by the door was Ted Danziger.

  “Ted, what are you doing here?”

  “Are you going to let me inside?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. It depends on why you’re here.”

  “You have no need to worry. I’m not in the habit of violating women in their hotel rooms.”

  She slid the chain, opened the door, and said, “If you’ve seen one hotel room, you’ve seen them all.”

  “When you come to my suite this evening, you’ll find that some rooms are better than others — and some men are better than others.”

  “What brings you to my inferior room this afternoon?”

  “We didn’t exchange phone numbers at breakfast and we didn’t firm up a place and time to meet this evening.”

  “You could’ve called me on my hotel phone.”

  “Why didn’t I think of that? Practically nobody uses landlines anymore.”

  He handed her his card with his phone number printed on it.

  “If you have another card, I’ll write my number on the back of it,” she said and walked over to the desk to pick up a pen.

  When she turned around he was standing as close as possible to her without their bodies touching. She wasn’t intimidated. He smiled at her and moved back a couple of steps to hand her the second card. She placed it on the desk, wrote her mobile number, and handed it back to him.

  “I’ve already reserved several seats for the speech. Why don’t you sit with me and we’ll leave for dinner afterward?”

  “That sounds perfect to me,” she said.

  “If for some reason I can’t make it, I’ll call you.” He held up the card with her phone number to show her he could do that now that he has her number.

  “And, if I change my mind, I’ll call you.”

  “Fair enough,” he said as he bent down to kiss her on the lips.

  She turned her head to direct the kiss to her cheek. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she said.

  He laughed and said, “I like women who play hard to get — to a point.” His smile dissipated as he walked out the door.

  Chapter 56

  W hen Quinton entered the hotel room, the first thing he noticed was the partially open bathroom door. A fine mist of steam was seeping outward and mixing with the cooler air. He opened the door all the way and saw the mirror was fogged. The lieutenant couldn’t have left very long ago. He took out his phone and started to call her but reconsidered. If she were already with Danziger, it would be awkward for her to explain to him who was calling her.

  As he walked toward the desk, the lieutenant’s scent lingered in the air. A smile came across his face as he thought about her transformation from a smelly, paranoid, almost-homeless person to the sexy, confident, and intelligent woman she was becoming. He realized she was still dealing with the traumas she’d endured during her military intelligence days, but her progress over the past few days was nothing short of amazing.

  He picked up the piece of paper lying on the desk. It was folded into thirds and “QT” in big letters was written on the outside of one of the folds. He unfolded the note and read it:

  QT,

  I’ll be sitting in the front row with Danziger to listen to Anne’s speech. We’ll be going back to his suite for dinner directly afterward. I hope Anne’s security detail is well trained and on the lookout for the assassin. I won’t be able to see what’s going on behind me. On the desk, you’ll find earphones with a receiver tuned to the same frequency as the transmitter I have on my body. My friend, Dr. Bit, gave them to me to use on my trip. He thought they might come in handy. You can use them to listen to my dinner conversation with Danziger. There’s a recorder built into the headphones. I’m sure you can figure out how to use it. Also, on the desk is a keycard to Danziger’s room. He gave it to me yesterday. I don’t expect you’ll have to use it, but you’ll have it in case of emergency. Don’t worr
y about my safety. I’ve handled tougher men than Danziger.

  Your really good friend,

  Lieutenant Mad (aka Sandy Foot – yuk)

  He put the note in his pocket and was about to leave when his phone rang. He thought for a moment it was the lieutenant, but he was mistaken.

  “Hi QT, am I interrupting anything?” Blaire said in a way that made her question sound ambiguous.

  “You’re not interrupting anything. I’m alone in my room getting ready to go to Anne Upshaw’s speech.”

  “Maybe you should give me your room number, in case I can’t reach you on your smartphone.”

  “I always have my phone with me.” he said, feeling guilty for being evasive about the room number so he didn’t have to explain why it was registered under the name, Sandy Foot.

  “Oh, that’s true.”

  Changing the subject, he said, “How’d your meeting with Special Agent Warren go?”

  “That’s why I’m calling you.”

  “Daphne said she saw you leaving his office and that you looked upset.”

  “It was stressful. He admitted his direct contact with Danziger and attempted to justify his actions. As I was leaving, I let him know I recorded him on my iPhone. He threatened to destroy my career if I told anybody about it.”

  “Did he admit to breaking any laws?”

  “Not really. From what I gathered, he’s talking orders from somebody above our paygrade in one of the intelligence agencies. I think they believe they’re doing what’s best for the country and are willing to sacrifice individual citizen’s rights to protect the nation.”

  “Nothing new that we haven’t seen before. There are lots of people in power who think they’re above the law.”

  “Anything new in your DC investigation?”

  “Not yet, but things will be coming to a head, soon.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “I can’t right now. I have to go to Anne’s speech. I’ll fill you in later.”

  “QT ...”

  “Yeah.”

  “Never mind. You’re busy right now. We’ll talk later.”

  “OK. Until later, BS.”

  “Luv you, QT.”