Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal (22 page)

“The hacker I used was finally able to trace an email from the bookstore, but unfortunately, it was sent to a website located at Langley.”

“Langley? The CIA?” I was so surprised at that news I barely stopped myself before I turned towards him to clarify his statement. “Are you sure it was an email addressed to Karen? Hampton told me her father had connections to Langley. Perhaps it was some business of his?”

“No, it wasn’t the father. The email was addressed to a Kay Ricard. I have a copy of the text for you.” He surreptitiously placed a folded piece of paper on the bench seat between us.

I reached out and snatched it, unfolding it to scan the contents. He was right. This was obviously a message to Karen from the woman who owned the bookstore. Kay Ricard must be the name Karen was now using. There was nothing in the message that hinted as to where Karen and the child were, but it was obvious she was no longer in the San Francisco Bay area.

“I suspect she’s been placed on some program and given this identity to keep her safe.”

“Why would they do that?”

His reply was a bit more caustic than necessary. “Well, I suppose that shoot out Hampton’s men had in that little town in California got everyone’s attention.”

I didn’t think the sarcasm was called for, but I let it go, knowing he had made it plain he thought Hampton’s handling of the situation had only made things more difficult for him to complete the assignment. And I was hoping he would finally get me the results I needed.

“The local police, the San Francisco police, the FBI and the CIA are still looking for answers. It’s not the kind of place where people are likely to forget what happened. And when the populace is stirred up like that, they keep bugging the police for answers. And don’t forget the bookshop woman and Karen’s father still live there, even though there’s been no sight of Karen or the baby since shortly after the incident happened. People don’t know, or aren’t saying, where they went. That’s why I’m assuming they’ve joined the Witness Protection Program.”

“But, she’s not a witness!” I couldn’t believe it. Could it be that my own tax dollars were paying to hide her from me?

He shrugged, still looking off in the distance. “She’d need a new identity, new papers to stay hidden and it’s not so easy to get those these days. My guess is that upstanding citizens like they appear to be wouldn’t want to buy illegal papers on the black market. And with the father’s pull, they probably got the California State’s Attorney General to request assistance from the U.S. Marshals. Of course, that’s only my guess.”

I felt a burning in my stomach. This was an unexpected complication. I had to think this whole problem through once more. I was angry at Scott all over again for creating this mess. When Hampton came to me all those years ago with the photos and the information about the cutie Scott was playing around with in New York I was angry enough to jettison him then. But after considering the effort we had already invested in that relationship, and the results we were looking forward to, I decided it made more sense to stick with him. And it looked like it would work. At least until I learned about the pregnancy.

Too many candidates on the road to presidency had been derailed when scandals involving them in extramarital affairs were revealed. And Scott’s was not just an extramarital affair, there was a child involved. The voting public was not likely to forgive Scott for that.

It was clear to me the girl and baby needed to be removed to protect our plan. It could have been easy. It should have been easy except one solution after another had failed. And even now the woman had managed to escape all my efforts to rid us of her. It took me a long while after Hampton’s death to find someone able and willing to provide me with the services I needed. It’s not like you can just put a help wanted ad in the newspapers. And while I was searching for that perfect person, time kept marching on.

Even as I sat on this bench, the campaign manager we hired was drawing up plans to launch Scott’s presidential campaign. I didn’t think it was possible for Scott to actively pursue the nomination for presidency and still avoid being seen and identified by Karen. She would certainly recognize him as Scott Hutchins, the man who had fathered her child. I wondered if maybe she had been scared enough by the past attempts on her life to be afraid to call attention to herself by telling her story.

If only she was, I thought.

Fat chance!

No, that solution was too remote to risk. Time was running away from us. Fizzor needed to conclude this business for me soon. “Do you have any thoughts about the next step?”

He stared off into the distance, a little smile playing confidently around his lips. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve talked to my hacker about him fabricating an email, supposedly from the bookstore, and sending it to the address at Langley. It would carry an innocuous message and it would hide a worm he could design. When the message is forwarded to Karen, the worm imbedded in the message would activate itself and send back the location of its final destination. That way the hacker could identify the address of the receiving terminal

“Of course, there is a serious risk in this scheme. Langley has superior fire walls for protection, their people are experts at bug and worm detection, but if my guy is as clever as I think he is, the worm might get by their scrutiny. Especially if they think it’s coming from the woman at the bookstore who has been sending them innocent messages for the past few years. They may not even examine them closely by now.”

My heart started beating with a glimmer of excitement. I wondered if it was possible this could work? I threw caution to the wind and turned to Fizzor asking, “How risky is this?”

“Very risky for me and my hacker, but probably not at all for you, personally. If they identify the worm it could expose my hacker. If he gets caught, he faces a long prison term. He’s liable to turn me in to negotiate better terms for himself. So, naturally, if you want us to pursue this solution it’s going to cost you plenty. My guy knows the risk, as well as I do. He’s already said he isn’t going to take that kind of risk for nothing. But, if anyone can do it, it will be him.”

I thought some more. How much was being the puppet master to the president worth? I felt a smile tugging at my mouth. It was really just an investment decision. The risks were there, but the rewards could be off the charts.

“Do it!”

Then after a moment of silence, I added, “How long do you think this will take?”

He shrugged. “For sure a few weeks, maybe a month. I’ll be in touch. Expect instructions about where to wire the funds as we’ll want a sizeable advance. The rest can be paid at the end. Is that acceptable?”

I nodded curtly and left the bench to head back towards the Wall, and beyond to the parking lot where I left my car. I couldn’t keep the little spring out of my steps. At last this problem was going to be resolved.

When Jack let himself into Gulliver’s through the front door both Tuffy-Two and Thoreau immediately came to greet him. The clerk at the cash register looked up from the customer he was helping to nod, and indicated with his head Claire was in the back. Jack wandered back, noticing with satisfaction the number of browsers in the store. People were preparing for vacation travel, so of course they needed information about their destinations. Last year he and Claire had debated the wisdom of continuing to stay open late during the week. It was a selfish issue really. It seemed he and Claire always struggled with managing their schedules so they could spend as much time together as possible. They didn’t like that his job allowed him to be mostly free in the evenings and her shop hours required she work. They finally solved their problem by keeping the shop open until nine weekdays, but Claire balanced out the store receipts at five-thirty, leaving only minimal money in the register for the two clerks to use and lock away later. That meant customers of the neighborhood restaurants could shop after their dinner, and Claire could still go home with Jack when the train let him off only a couple blocks from the store.

He poked his head in the office and blew a kiss to Claire before going out to the garden to clean up a bit. The garden was definitely a customer pleaser. Jack took it upon himself to make sure it was neat and tidy whenever he was at the store to save Claire any extra work. Today he straightened the chairs, and threw away a couple of empty bottles. When he went around the corner to the dog run that Tuffy-Two and Thoreau used for their needs, he cleaned up after them. He took one last turn around and then went back to see how long before Claire was ready to go home.

“I’m ready. Go ahead and start the car. I’ll be right there.”

“Okay, guys, time to go home.” He headed for the door with the dog and the cat trotting right behind him. The old blue SUV had been replaced a year ago with a new dark red SUV and it was parked only a couple of spaces down from the door. Both the dog and the cat waited for him to open the car door for them, then Thoreau sprang up with ease while Tuffy-Two waited for a boost. This car was a little too high for his short legs to easily navigate.

The animals and Claire were all strapped in their seats before the air-conditioning had even replaced the hot air trapped in the car with fresh cool air. And they were home and parked in the driveway in a matter of minutes.

“I’m hungry. What do you want for dinner?” Jack asked as he let the animals out.

“Something Mom left for us. I’ll look and see what’s there.”

Jack fixed himself a glass of ice water. “Do you want one,” and filled a small dish with nuts.

Claire shook her head at the offer of water, taking a bottled tea drink out of the refrigerator. “I put a pot roast dinner in the oven. Is that good for you?”

Jack smiled in anticipation. He loved Millie’s pot roast.

“How did your day go?” Claire asked feeling very wifely.

“The usual, but I did get some news today. Remember last year when I was told I’d have to go to an interim training session? All agents, who are no longer in the field, are required to do something like this periodically to keep their skills current. Well, my boss got me excused last year because of that case we were working on, so this year it’s already been decided I have to be included. They’ve scheduled me to join a group of Rangers, who are doing survival training in Alaska.”

“What? Are you kidding?” Claire was aghast. “That sounds dangerous.”

Jack was setting the dishes on the kitchen table while Claire was assembling the elements of a salad. He looked totally unconcerned. In fact, Claire thought she detected a little gleam of excitement in his eyes.

“Well, it could be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. But, I do. And I’ll be with a group of Rangers. They definitely know what they’re doing. So it’s really not something to worry about.

“They’ll drop little groups of us in some remote areas with a knife, some matches and some other survival gear, and we’ll have ten days to find our way back to base. Then we’ll spend a few days critiquing what we did, and I’ll be home again.”

“They’ll drop you in? Are you talking about a parachute?” Claire stopped what she was doing to stare at Jack. “It’s not that I don’t have confidence in you, Jack, but how long has it been since you parachuted anywhere?”

He actually laughed. “I guess a while, but it’s kind of like riding a bicycle, once you know how, you remember forever.”

“Not! It’s probably more like if you don’t remember it’s too late, you won’t survive to do it again.” She shook her head with disgust. This sounded like big boy games to her. “Jack, do you really have to do this?”

He nodded. “Yes, if I want to keep my designation as an active agent. And if I want to continue to be paid at the grade I am, I have to be certified.”

“Well, I’d say if you do this you will definitely be certifiable,” Claire muttered.

“Hey, I heard that!”

“So when is this happening?”

“Next month. We leave June sixth and return on the twenty-second.” He looked at her with concern. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

“I lived by myself for many years, I guess I’ll adjust. But,” she looked at him, “I will miss you. I’ll make Tuffy-Two sleep with me.”

“Are you saying I can be replaced by a dog?”

She laughed. “Not exactly, but just don’t be gone too long.”

“Hadden, thank you for coming in,” Scott said somewhat formally as he came around his desk with his hand outstretched. “Have a seat. Would you like coffee?”

Alaina, who had escorted Hadden into the office, saw his nod and returned with a tray filled with coffee cups, cream and sugar. When she left, the two men spent a moment with their coffee, before Hadden sat back in his chair looking expectantly at Scott.

“Hadden, we’ve known each other for a while, and I certainly have learned to respect your abilities over these past few years. I am preparing to take a giant step and, while I have to ask you keep it confidential for now, I would appreciate your take on the situation.”

Hadden nodded calmly, but he couldn’t hide the interest gleaming in his eyes.

“Very soon now I’ve decided to declare my candidacy for president.”

Hadden’s mouth dropped open. He quickly set his coffee cup down on the saucer, so he wouldn’t spill its contents. He couldn’t conceal his shock.

Scott smiled. “I know it sounds sudden. Initially the plan was to wait until twenty-ten to declare for twenty-twelve, but with so many candidates already in the race it seemed a better idea to go for it now. Getting my feet wet in this election will be good experience, and it will prepare me for the next run. Any support I pick up now will most likely continue to the next campaign. It will get my name out there. And who knows, I might just appeal to enough voters to be a serious candidate in this election. I mean I am definitely serious about this run, but I realize it will take a lot of effort and luck to convince the voters of that.”