by Elle James
“Yes, centered,” Carpenter was saying. “And I want my desk positioned in front of it with a gap between them similar to the one I have now. I need room to get in and out of my chair.”
“Got it,” Cole said.
The computer humming stopped and the light on the flash drive blinked off. The download had completed, CJ noted, just as Carpenter turned toward the desk.
“One other thing, Mr. Carpenter,” Cole said, directing the man’s attention back to him. “Did you want me to wire your computer for two monitors while I’m at it?”
“I don’t need two monitors. One is more than enough.”
While Carpenter’s back was turned, CJ reached out, snatched the small device from the USB port and slipped it into her pocket.
Carpenter crossed to his desk, grabbed a file folder sitting on the corner and turned toward the exit. “Just move the desk and credenza. Everything else needs to stay the same. I’ll be back later this afternoon.”
Carpenter left the room and joined the other man waiting in the outer office, holding up the file. “Got it.”
CJ followed them to the door. “If you need anything, Mr. Carpenter, all you have to do is call,” she said.
He ignored her and disappeared down the hallway.
Once the Homeland Security Advisor was out of sight, CJ returned to the inner office. “Need help moving that furniture?”
He nodded. “Let’s do it.”
It took longer than expected to empty out drawers and shelves before they could move the furniture and reconnect the computer to an electrical outlet and ethernet port across the room. When they were done, it was noon.
“I’m going to get some lunch,” CJ said. “Care to join me?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Cole gathered his tools into the bag Jonah had equipped him with and they left Carpenter’s office and exited the West Wing.
As they walked toward the food trucks lining the street for the lunch hour, Cole asked, “Think they’ll miss you when you don’t return from lunch?”
“I left a note on Carpenter’s email telling him that I had been called to fill a permanent position and appreciated his understanding of the change.” CJ grinned. “Hopefully, he won’t be looking for me, or asking HR about me.”
Cole dug his phone out of his pocket and placed a call. “Jonah, Cole here. We’re out of the West Wing.” He paused, listening. “Good. Then we’ll head to Carpenter’s home next. Thanks for taking care of it.” He ended the call and nodded at CJ. “Jonah’s on it. He shows Charlotte Jones as having been terminated from the HR database as of today, with the reason that you found other employment.”
“Good. So, we’re off to visit Carpenter’s home next?”
“We are. Roger has what we’ll need staged in a van off F Street, three blocks down. Everything is in that van.”
“Address?” she asked.
“In Foxhall Village. Not far from here.”
“Then let’s do this.” She picked up the pace, eager to get to Carpenter’s place with the hope they’d find something, anything, that would lead them to the head of Trinity.
“What if Carpenter isn’t our connection?” CJ said.
“Then we would mark him off the list and keep looking. I have to believe that text to Tully has to lead somewhere.”
“He said he didn’t have his phone that day.”
“He could have lied,” Cole pointed out.
They paused at a crosswalk and waited for the walking-man signal to blink on.
CJ was careful to check both directions. After Dr. Millicent Saunders had been run down crossing just such a street, they couldn’t be too careful.
They made it across the street and hurried down F Street. At the third block, a white van was pulling out of a parking garage. The lettering on the side read Bug-B-Gone. Roger Arnold was at the wheel, wearing a white coverall with a patch with the same Bug-B-Gone logo embroidered over the right breast.
The side door slid open and Mustang waved them in.
CJ stepped in first, followed by Cole.
As soon as they were inside and the door was closed, Arnold headed for Foxhall Village. Next stop was Carpenter’s home. CJ hoped they struck information gold. They needed a break. John Halverson had spent years searching for the answers. It was time to lay Trinity to rest. Preferably in a graveyard.
Chapter Nine
Cole sat on the floor inside the van, shaking his head. “You’re kidding, right?”
“It’s the perfect cover, isn’t it?” Mustang grinned across at him.
“Did you get it?” Jonah sat on a bench in front of a laptop and an array of three monitors, holding out his hand.
CJ handed Cole the flash drive.
Cole placed it into Jonah’s open palm. “When did we get a communications van?”
Mustang’s grin broadened. “Charlie and Jonah had it in the works. This is its maiden voyage. Check it out.” He pulled a panel across, hiding Jonah and his computers from sight. On the panel were face masks, gloves and plastic jugs of bug spray like those used by exterminators. “There’s another panel near the rear door just like this. Anyone who just happens to look inside would never suspect there was a man and a bank of computer equipment inside.”
Mustang reopened the panel, exposing Jonah at work, plugging the flash drive into a USB port on his laptop.
“I’ll be looking through the data you collected from Carpenter’s work computer while you collect the same information from his home computer.” Jonah didn’t look up as his fingers flew across the keyboard and mouse pad. The monitors flashed data on the screens.
“In the meantime, we need to dress for the part.” Mustang handed them each a white coverall with the exterminator logo patch. “This is how we’re getting into Carpenter’s house. They’re due an annual termite inspection. We’re just going to do it earlier than they expected.”
CJ’s brow furrowed. “What about Mrs. Carpenter or the help?”
“Mrs. Carpenter is scheduled to meet with her hairdresser this afternoon. She should be gone during the time we’re conducting our termite inspection,” Mustang said.
“What if she gets done early?” Cole asked.
“That’s why we have our communications van,” Jonah said. “You, CJ and Mustang will have two-way communications. If we see anyone coming home early, we’ll notify you. Hopefully, in time to get out.”
Cole frowned. “Hopefully?”
“The house should have at least a front and a back door and possibly one in the kitchen,” Arnold said. “You should be able to get out of one of them if I notify you as soon as someone shows up.”
“We should,” Cole said. “At the very least, if Mrs. Carpenter returns early and catches us at it, we can say Mr. Carpenter authorized us to conduct the termite inspection.”
“If it comes to that, I can jam her cell phone signal,” Jonah said, “long enough for you two to get out.”
Mustang slid his legs into a white jumpsuit and pulled it up over his body. “I’ll be on the outside, keeping watch, as well as to make sure we don’t miss anyone sneaking in from other directions.”
“Where are Gus and Jack?”
“Jack’s still in the West Wing with Anne,” Mustang said. “We can’t be certain Trinity has been eradicated from the White House. Gus is following up on a tip from the dark web. A dog trainer in the Virginia countryside thinks there’s a terrorist training camp in the hills near him. We sent Gus out with a drone to check it out.”
CJ’s eyes widened. “I remember being in the hills when I was in training with Trinity.”
“Think you could find it again?” Cole asked.
She shook her head. “Operatives are taken out of the camp blindfolded. Only the trainers know how to get in and get out.”
“What about flying over?” Mustang zipped up hi
s coverall.
CJ’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe. I remember being in the woods, though. Even the buildings were surrounded by trees and hidden beneath the canopy.”
“I look forward to Gus’s report when he gets back,” Cole said.
“Me, too.” CJ glanced at the coverall in her hands. “I’ll need to lose the skirt if I want to get into this,” she said.
“I brought your backpack from the car,” Arnold said from the driver’s seat. “It’s in the corner storage bin.”
“Perfect.” CJ found her backpack, tucked away the glasses and heels, and dug out a pair of gray leggings. Without hesitation, she slipped them up under her skirt. Once she had them on, she unzipped and stepped out of the skirt, folding it neatly before stuffing it into her backpack.
The coveralls went on over her leggings and shirt. She pulled them up over her hips and torso and slid her arms into the sleeves. The coveralls were two sizes too big, but she zipped them anyway and rolled up the sleeves. She shed the wig and rearranged her ponytail before fitting one of the green Bug-B-Gone hats over her head. Once more, she dug in her backpack and unearthed a pair of running shoes.
Cole marveled at how the woman could change her appearance so quickly and completely. No one would think she was the same person who’d stepped into the van wearing the black skirt and white blouse. She looked like a guy. A smallish guy with feminine facial features. “Do you carry everything in your backpack?” he asked.
“Everything I think I might need for a quick change in disguise.” She lifted her chin. “It’s kept me alive for the past year.”
Cole held up his hands. “I’m not judging. I’m impressed.”
“We’ll be there in two minutes,” Arnold called out.
Cole hurriedly dragged his coveralls on over his suit trousers. Removing his jacket and tie, he tugged the coverall sleeves on and zipped the white fabric over his shirt. He pulled on a cap and tugged paper booties over his dress shoes.
Jonah turned to Cole. “The Carpenters have an alarm system on their house. I’ve hacked into the company that services it and disarmed it for now.”
“Good to know. Did you hack into their locks?” Cole gave Jonah a crooked grin. “Lock picking wasn’t one of the skills we learned as Marine Force Recon.”
“I’ve got that,” CJ said.
Mustang shook his head, his lips twisting. “Trinity life lesson?”
CJ nodded. “From a young age.”
“Need any tools?” Jonah asked.
One more time, CJ dug in the backpack and pulled out a thin file. “No. I’ve got it covered.”
“Good,” Arnold said. “Because we’re here.” He pulled to a stop on the side of the road between two large homes. He nodded at one. “Carpenters live in the gray brick house.”
“Guess that’s our cue,” Cole said.
Jonah handed each of them an earbud. “These are your radio headsets. Turn them on and leave them on so you can hear me if I need to warn you of someone coming.”
Mustang, Cole and CJ tested their communications devices one by one. When they were satisfied they could hear and be heard, Mustang closed the panel, hiding Jonah.
Cole opened the van’s side panel and stepped out.
CJ followed and Mustang brought up the rear, carrying a jug of bug spray.
“I’ll go around to the left, you two take the right,” Mustang said. He left them and started around the front of the house, squirting bug spray as he went.
CJ led the way around the other side of the house. The house had a detached garage with a covered walkway between it and the kitchen entrance. CJ stuck her file into the lock on the handle, jiggled it once and had the kitchen door open within seconds.
Cole let out a low whistle. “I’m impressed.”
She shrugged. “Like I said, they taught us the skill at an early age.”
Cole followed her into the house, closing the door behind them, locking it in case someone did enter while they were there and were alerted to the fact the door wasn’t locked.
They made quick work of the ground level. It consisted of a formal dining room, chef’s kitchen, and a formal living room sporting a baby grand piano. In the back of the house was a den with a couple of comfortable sofas and lounge chairs.
CJ met Cole in the hallway near the staircase.
“His office must be upstairs,” Cole said.
“All clear out back,” Mustang said into Cole’s headset.
“All clear in front,” Arnold echoed.
Cole led the way up the stairs where they found three spacious bedrooms, a bathroom in the hall and the master suite at the end. Off the side of the master suite was another room with a desk, file cabinet, computer and a wall full of bookshelves.
“I’ll download,” Cole said.
“I’ll look through his files.” CJ crossed to the file cabinet. It was locked, but she opened it with no problem.
Cole clicked the mouse only to find the computer was password protected. “Any idea what password he might use?”
“Try his birth month and year.” Jonah gave him the numbers.
Cole keyed them in. It didn’t work. “Next?”
“His wife’s birth month and year.” Again, Jonah fed him the numbers.
Cole entered them and he made it past the first hurdle. “Bingo.” He stuck the flash drive into the USB port and started the download. While the computer was copying the files to the portable drive, he searched through Carpenter’s emails, social media and internet cookies.
Many of the links were to news, travel and government sites typically visited by officials. One of the travel sites contained information about Russia. Another link took him to the site for the Russian embassy. In particular, to one of the embassy staff members, Sergei Orlov.
Cole pulled out his cell phone and snapped a photo of the name to remember later. He took another photo of the internet browser history.
With four more minutes to kill while waiting for the download to complete, Cole clicked on one IP address after another. Halfway down the list, he hit on one that brought up an image of the Trinity knot. The same symbol found on a ring John Halverson had in his collection. The same symbol that kept popping up in connection with the Trinity organization.
A gasp sounded from behind him. “That’s the Trinity website.”
He turned to find CJ standing behind him, a file in her hand, her face pale.
“They have a website? I would have thought they’d want to be a lot lower key.”
“They use it to recruit young people to their organization.”
Cole clicked on the link. It took him to a video of teenage boys and girls, wearing camouflage, learning combat techniques and how to fire military-grade weapons, including AR-15s and grenade launchers. “I thought they took children from foster care?”
“They do, but they also recruit teens who rebel against authority or are looking for a place to fit in.”
The video went on to show the young people sitting around a campfire in the woods, laughing and smiling.
CJ snorted. “They had to have used stock videos for that shot. We never sat around a campfire laughing and smiling. If we weren’t training for combat, we were studying languages and other subjects to help us fit in to just about any situation or country.”
“We’ve got company,” Arnold said into their earbuds. “Silver Mercedes just blew into the driveway. Female getting out. I assume it’s Mrs. Carpenter, by her appearance. She was going so fast I didn’t realize she was going to stop until she turned in.”
“Can you two get out?” Mustang asked from his position outside the house.
“We’re upstairs,” Cole whispered. “We’ll hide and wait until she leaves.” He exited the Trinity video and checked the status of the download. They needed two more minutes. He left it running in the background
and prayed Mrs. Carpenter didn’t notice the flash drive in the USB port.
“If she doesn’t leave soon, we’ll come up with a diversion to lure her out,” Arnold advised them.
The sound of a door opening downstairs echoed up to the office off the master bedroom.
CJ tipped her head toward a closet at one end of the little office.
Cole followed CJ through the door, closing it behind them almost all of the way, leaving a little gap to let in light and sound. The closet was barely big enough for one person to fit inside, much less two. It contained a stack of file boxes, shoe boxes and one umbrella. CJ had moved to the side as far as she could to allow Cole to get his entire body inside the confined space.
He reached for her hand and held it, squeezing gently. He liked how soft yet strong her fingers were against his.
Footsteps sounded on the staircase and then in the upper hallway, heading in their direction.
Cole peered through the sliver of a gap in the doorway at the woman who entered the bedroom in a hurry, a cell phone to her ear.
“He’s not home,” she was saying. “I know... I had to come back. I forgot to clear the browser history before I left earlier. I know... I know...it was stupid and careless. But I’m here now and deleting it as we speak. He’s been at the office all day. He’ll never see it.” She sat at the desk and clicked on the keyboard, hitting the delete button several times until she was satisfied. “There. All the browsing history has been wiped clean. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She smiled. “I’ll be there soon, my love.”
She ended the call, stood and looked down at the computer.
Cole tensed.
Had she noticed the flash drive? Or had she brought up the screen showing how many minutes were left on the download?
Mrs. Carpenter ran her fingers through her hair, closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Then she left the little office and hurried through the bedroom to the bathroom on the other side.
“What’s happening?” CJ whispered against his ear.
“She’s in the bathroom,” Cole answered so softly only CJ could hear.
The sound of the toilet flushing and water running in the sink was followed by Mrs. Carpenter leaving the bathroom and heading into the walk-in closet.