by David Kersey
CHAPTER FORTY
“Make mine a Coke,” the Sheriff said. Cassie, Guido and I watched and listened as Chip, John, and Marlene sat at one of the occasional tables in the basement.
An hour had passed since the bomb squad arrived and within ten minutes disabled and removed the bomb. It was explained that the bomb would not have exploded unless the car key was turned in the ignition. The two men had been apprehended and taken into custody. They didn’t realize there was a large pond at the northernmost point of the woods which blocked their escape to the north. They heard Guido and me and whatever other animals were crashing through the woods behind us and ran frantically through the trees and underbrush to the west. When they re-entered the dirt road, Guido took one of the screaming men down. The other did not offer resistance when a squad car’s headlights turned on, accompanied by the command, “On your knees.” Three additional squad cars had arrived with the bomb disposal unit. Chip had ordered them to seal off the woods. It was later learned the two men were of Iranian descent but were living inside the U.S. in New Jersey.
Marlene said, “I don’t know the exact location but I believe it to be in a Somali neighborhood on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. That’s the area he texted me that he was being held captive, but that could be a lie, so I really am not much help.”
“Look at this,” Chip said while handing over the captured men’s cell phone. Chip had found the incriminating text; ERADICATE BOTH BIRD AND BEE. “See Marlene, Adnan had no problem ordering a hit on you, and John too. You’re making the right choice. That cell phone will help me pinpoint his location if the text was sent directly by Adnan, and I’m betting it was. I doubt it will be him that will make the money pickup in Georgetown. The bank is under surveillance and whoever makes the pickup will be detained and the money confiscated. Of course, we can’t put our hands on it, but the CIA will be happy to have it. I want you two to sit tight and let me do the rest. I’ll call the Brit and when I do I’ll make the deal to get you the half mill. You have my word on that, you’ll get it. I know what to do. He won’t know Adnan’s location until I have the money in hand.” Chip rose to his feet to leave. It had been a very long day. It was 22 hours ago that he received the Brit’s call. “I will call you tomorrow. Marlene, you did the right thing. Oh, and one more thing, I will want a commission.”
John and Marlene both expressed shock. “Sheriff?” Marlene inquired.
“Yes, I will want a commission. You want to know what it is?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Don’t you two think it’s time you became friends, maybe a little more? If that works out, it will be my commission. Had ya for a minute, didn’t I?”
They escorted Chip to his SUV and watched him exit the car park. They turned to each other and hugged once more. It would not be the last of the night, make that morning.
“Are you tired?” John asked.
“Not a bit, how could I be? I’m just glad it’s over. Can you forgive me John?”
“I want to show you something.” John led her back down the stairs and into the secret room. He fished a fob out of his pocket and showed it to her. He pressed one of four buttons and she heard a click. He opened one of the cabinet doors and showed her what looked like a laser printer attached to two separate phones and several other small devices. He ripped off pages from the printer and showed them to Marlene. “You know what this is?”
“Not really, but I suppose it is what I was supposed to find and destroy.”
“It shows that your text to Adnan was absolutely right. The bee didn’t know. This printout is me monitoring a regional division of our own Department of Homeland Security, which is where I thought the conspiracy rested. It’s now obvious that Adnan was a part of a group that masterminded the terrorist attack and the involvement with ACC. I was working with the CIA, Marlene. Once we knew beyond doubt that the money in the Caymans was attached to Adnan, it became clear. The CIA contacts were tracking several foreign groups, I was doing the domestic surveillance to keep the DHS from intercepting CIA probes. You’re not the only one that is glad this is over.”
“Oh, John, I wish I would have known that.”
“Don’t you dare say a word to your superiors about this, you promise? There is a lot of information here that will be swept under the rug. And the CIA will not be happy campers when they eventually find out the Russians took out Adnan and his group.”
“Of course. I promise.”
“I want to sit here for a while and ask you a couple more questions, you in?”
“All in.”
“We haven’t known each other long, have we?”
“Three days, or is it four now since its morning? No, that’s not a very long time.”
“And you now know that I was suspicious of you being here even before you arrived, right?”
“Now I do, yes, I guess so. You didn’t let on at all John, but you know what, I was an amateur at this kind of thing?”
“And you gave yourself away the very first day. You know how you did that?”
“Help me out.”
“You asked if I knew who bought the stock, but you asked it after the conversation about ACC was over and we had moved on to something else. I then was fairly sure I knew your motive for being here, but not totally sure. Then when I found out you were taking pictures of the cabinets down here I became sure of your motive. It was to find the equipment to determine what I knew about the terrorist attack. But I was also confused. I thought you might be Homeland Security. I just showed you why I might have thought that. Or, you could be a pawn being used by terrorists. I didn’t know which.
“Ok, but now that you know, why are you bringing this up, John?”
“Hang on, a couple more things. On the second day you got a little tipsy and let it slip out that you were here for money. You know what, Marlene, it was at that point I became less suspicious and found myself wanting to protect you. Chip and I came to the same conclusion at the same time. You were being used, only you were walking point without a dog, so to speak. You didn’t know you were involved in a high risk game or that you were expendable.”
“I’m not following you.”
“I’m getting there. This morning I was shown the text you sent on your phone, and you were shown the text received by the two Iranians. The irony is that I then knew for certain I wasn’t being duped by you, and you also knew you were for certain being duped by Adnan who you saw with your own eyes had no remorse in ordering you killed. That confirmed what I thought might be the case since the second day you were here. That’s really important to me Marlene.”
“How do you want me to respond? I’m not sure where you’re headed? It’s over with John. And just so you know, that first night out on the veranda, with the opera music and all, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to continue on, but I had a mother’s heart for Robert even though he was my rape child. And I had a reason for wanting the money even though it wasn’t all that much. That night, when I asked you if you thought I was a trollop, John, my awful young adult years flashed in front of me. I wanted to run then, I’ve always wanted to run from it. Then bang, the same visions came again on the second night when we were on our way to pick up Guido. I knew I was going to leave then and forfeit the money.”
“Here’s why I am bringing all that up. I’m not sure your career with the military is going to last, kiddo. When the CIA finds out one of their own U.S. soldiers was involved in making a deal to destroy incriminating evidence of terrorist activity, you’ll get fried by the army, and a dishonorable discharge likely. They’re going to find that out eventually, no way around it. If it is ever found out you received a half million dollars of Russian money you would be in a heap of serious trouble. You’d be tried and found guilty of being a spy. That’s why you and I have to agree to deny your purpose in being here and become a team in this. We both have to play dumb about any knowledge of Adnan and his group being wiped out, because that will happen as sure as we’re sitting here. Chip and I agre
e, you and I both have to be careful when and if authorities come to question us. Now, here’s what I have in mind. Have you ever considered leaving the military?”
“John, I knew I was taking a huge risk coming here and had considered the downside of being caught in insubordination. I understand what you’re saying and it scares me. As far as me considering retiring, do you mean for the twenty-first time? Yes, I’ve already begun the process of filling out some of the mountains of exit paperwork. I was going to take the twenty thousand and go into private canine training.”
“I think you should consider turning in your uniform before they find out. How would you like to be a dog handler and have your own training facility as a private citizen?”
“Are you kidding me? Is the Pope Catholic? What are you suggesting? And another thing, why are you willing to go out on a limb to protect me?”
“What if you had everything you needed to have a top flight facility right here on my property?”
Marlene squealed and jumped out of her chair and pounced on top of John, straddling his lap. “Oh, John, are you serious? Why would you even consider doing that?”
“You convinced me of the need. You convinced me of your skill and work ethic. All that is required is a strong desire and some resources to get started, and a man to love and he love you back. And, to be perfectly honest, I can think of nothing better to occupy my time when I retire from ACC. I want in, and I want you beside me.”
Marlene screamed. “Yes, yes, yes.” She pumped her fists into the air. “I love you, I love you, I love you, you totally beautiful man.”
“We’ll go slow and get to know each other better as the days go by, but I would love having you in my house full time. What does Marlene Johnson, the person I have fallen in love with, think about that?”
She answered by kissing him passionately.
I looked at Cassie and we did a high five. I looked at Guido and he actually said, “Gwarf.” I think it was his way of approving.