Enemy In the Room (24 page)

“Well, we were just talking about it. I
think it’s up on his computer. Please go look at his laptop. It
should be on the screen. Third Avenue.”

“In his office?”

“Yes. Quickly. I need it now.”

“All right.” She got up and walked across
the hall into Yusef’s paneled but sparsely decorated office. His
laptop was closed on the desk, so she moved around behind his desk
and carefully raised the screen. Instead of a real estate page, she
saw a picture taken on a street somewhere of total devastation,
apparently after a bomb detonated. There were caved in storefronts,
bodies, and burned out cars. Blood was everywhere. The banner over
the picture read “Sacred Victory!” The writing was in English,
Arabic and Farsi, but before she could look at any of the words in
the text she heard an angry voice.

“What are you doing?” It was Yusef, his hand
on the door and his face crimson.

“I…your father asked me to get an address
from your laptop. You were outside.”

His shoulders lowered slightly and he came
across to the side of the desk. “The one on Third Avenue?”

She stepped back, the screen still open to
the carnage. “Yes. That’s what he said.”

“I’ll get it for him.” He looked at the
computer for a moment in silence. “Isn’t that awful?”

She glanced down. “Yes. Terrible. I can’t
imagine it.”

“Me, either. I was searching under Iranian
names for cold-calling leads, and this screen came up. It happens
all the time. Either something like this, or porn.” He smiled, but
his eyes were locked on hers.

“Oh. I can see how that would happen. Well,
please just tell your dad, and I’ll go back to my work.” She moved
around the other side of the desk towards the door.

“I will. Thank you.” He paused, closing the
laptop. “But, Callie,”—she turned—“don’t ever come into my office
again, unless I invite you.”

“Sure. No problem.” And she hurried back to
her seat.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18TH

Todd Phelps was up early that morning. He
brought Mary her first cup of coffee at the door to their bedroom,
as she headed to their youngest son’s room in her nightgown.

“You’re perky this morning.” Mary smiled, as
she accepted the mug.

“I guess I’m just fired up today. I’ve fed
the dog and emptied the dishwasher.”

“Why today?” She took a sip as their son
began to bounce in his crib and call for her.

“I don’t know. I guess maybe I just got some
sleep for a change.” He gave her a peck on the cheek. “I gotta go.
Early meeting, dear. In fact, I may have a series of these early
meetings—and night meetings—in the coming weeks. We’re starting
some new training, and I’m part of it. So. my schedule may be a bit
crazy over the next weeks.”

“When is it not? Call me when you know what
time you’ll be home.” She raised her mug, then turned to their
son’s room.

“I will. Have a great day. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“You’re up early this morning,” Elizabeth
said, as she refilled her coffee cup at the kitchen counter.

David was sitting at their breakfast table
reading the morning paper. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why not?” She reached into the refrigerator
for the milk.

“I don’t know. I guess maybe all the
projects at work, and the changes. And then there’s Callie and
Rob.”

She took a seat at the table. “I’m sorry. I
guess there is a lot to think about, but you need your sleep.”

Rob walked through the door on the way to
the dryer for some socks, his hair a mess and his eyes looking like
he had hardly slept. Elizabeth asked, “What happened to you last
night? Didn’t you sleep either?”

He shook his head and replied in a raspy
voice, “Not much. Don’t feel too good. Studying for exams
late.”

Elizabeth smiled, “Well, hopefully it’ll be
worth it.”

“Uh-huh.”

David stood, folded the paper, and took a
sip of coffee. “I’ve got to go. Might as well beat the traffic and
make use of the time.” He kissed her on the cheek.

“OK. Well, call me when you know when you
might be home. You’ll need a nap!”

He gave her another look, and she smiled and
winked.

He shook his head but smiled. “How I wish.
I’ll call. Rob, have a good day at school.”

“Sure, Dad.”

Twenty minutes later Todd pulled up to a
two-story office building west of the city. There was a bank branch
facing the street, but Todd had been told to drive to the back,
where a separate “Employees Only” parking area was fenced off. The
guard let him drive through the gate after he repeated the daily
codeword he had been given. Todd parked next to the windowless rear
half of the structure and was processed by another guard before
being allowed through the one visible door.

Inside he found a small but pleasant
vestibule with a few chairs and a sofa. There was a door on the
other side, and behind a single, thick glass window sat an
attractive young woman. He introduced himself and said that he had
an appointment. Todd heard her voice through a small amplifier on
the wall.

“Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Someone will be
with you in just a moment. Please have a seat.”

He elected to stand. There was a buzz, the
interior door opened, and a tall man with dark hair and olive skin
motioned for him to come in They were in an open area with light
gray walls, earth tone abstract paintings, thick carpet, and
several doors. The man extended his hand. “Good morning, Todd. I’m
Victor Mustafin, I’ll be training you.”

Todd nodded and shook hands. “I’m looking
forward to it. I imagine that I have a lot to learn.”

“We look forward to having you. I think
you’ll find our work both interesting and profitable.” For a man
clearly cut from military cloth, his voice was calming. “First, we
need to give you an overview of what we do. Please follow me.”

They turned and walked into a conference
room. The same light gray walls, a modern black table for ten, and
accompanying furniture.

“Please, have a seat. Would you like some
coffee?”

“No, thanks. I’m pretty energized as it
is.”

Mustafin nodded. “First, I know all the
circumstances for you being here—that you took a bribe to place a
project for your company, which is illegal and could result in jail
time if anyone at your employer, USNet, finds out. So you
understandably think that ours is a better alternative. It probably
is, but despite all that, if at any point as we’re talking today
you decide that you
don’t
want to join us, please stop me
immediately. The nature of our work is extremely confidential, and
we can’t share the details with anyone who is not part of our
group. In fact, we will soon come to a point where there’s really
no turning back.”

Todd nodded.

“Several years ago we perfected a method for
intercepting communications from firms and individuals that allows
us to know certain events before the rest of the world is privy to
them. This capability often gives us an edge—sometimes a few hours,
sometimes a day, sometimes longer—to make our own decisions. Or to
contact others, though we never reveal our source. This information
is available to us real time, twenty-four hours a day. Do you want
me to go on?”

“Yes.”

“There is a lot of information. It grows
monthly. We have computers and staff personnel who read it, look
for key words, etc. But at the end of that process there must be a
person—a person with knowledge and judgment to decide whether a
particular piece of information is worthy of immediate action, can
wait, or should be tossed. That person must have special qualities,
must be totally trustworthy. And must be a team player.”

He paused. “If you want to choose the other
path, say so now. From here on, you’re in.”

“I’m in.”

“We rotate that key position every four
hours using several locations around the world. So we need a small
team of dedicated people who are not afraid to take action when
necessary. We believe that you have those qualities. Basically,
with the information we get, if we can’t make a lot of money, or at
least save money that would otherwise be lost, we aren’t doing our
jobs. And it’s that pool of profits that we share. And of course to
be effective, it must all remain absolutely secret.”

“Who is actually behind the all of this? Is
it a government agency? A company? Is it legal?”

Mustafin smiled. “It’s a private group,
Todd, but for now you don’t need to know. And it’s not illegal.
But, frankly, even if it were, we wouldn’t stop. The information is
too valuable. And we never hurt anyone with how we use it. We just
do our best to make ourselves profitable.”

“That’s how you found out about me.”

“Yes. Exactly. And you see, we gave you a
choice, and a great opportunity.”

“Hmm. What about stock moves? Financial
reports? Marketing plans? Do you have all of that, too?”

“We never know if we have ‘all’ of it.
That’s part of our challenge. But we think that we see a lot of it,
and we act on it accordingly. Actually, it can be pretty exciting
at times.”

“How do you do it?”

“You’ll find out everything in your
training. In a minute we’ll go over your schedule. The entire
process should take about three months. After that, if all goes
well, you’ll be standing duty alone here in the command center as
the senior watch officer.”

“Sounds good. But why does it take so long
to train?”

“There’s a lot to learn. You need time at
the lower levels that filter the information so that you know all
the details. Plus you have your regular job, so we’ll have to work
around our schedules to find time. We don’t want anyone at USNet to
have any idea that you’re working here after hours.”

Todd nodded. “Understood.”

“One other thing, “ Mustafin added,
motioning with his hand, “everything we do is absolutely secret.
You may not discuss it with anyone. Not your wife. Not colleagues.
No one. Not indirectly or tangentially. That would result in dire
consequences for us, and for you, if anyone knew about this
operation. Is that understood?”

“Yes. But that sounds pretty threatening.
What exactly do you mean?”

“We don’t think of it that way, but there
are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, including your share.
So at a minimum, when I mention personal consequences, I mean the
loss of that income. Beyond that, it would depend on what you said
or did. The best thing is just not to say, do, or imply anything
about these capabilities. Conduct your real estate work as if
RTI—that’s what we call this capability—did not exist. You’ll have
to be careful to keep whatever you learn from RTI out of any
regular business considerations and discussions. One other thing:
Taking any personal advantage will not be tolerated. If you learn
something on your watch about, say, a particular company, you can’t
buy or sell its stock based on that information. We’re all in this
together, and we don’t want anyone’s personal activities attracting
any special attention. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a manual loaded on the computer
over there.” He nodded toward a desk and terminal in one corner.
“You’ll have to study it here. When you finish, either today or
tomorrow, we’ll show you the command center and a separate cubicle
that mimics the first level data gathering operation in our
facilities around the world. You’ll start by sifting through the
emails and cell phone conversations that our computers queue up for
us to evaluate.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“Good. No notes, by the way. There’s a
self-administered test that helps you focus on the important
points. And let the receptionist know when you’ve finished. Right
now you have access only to this area of the building. I’ll answer
any questions during the first tour of the facility.”

“OK.”

Mustafin left Todd alone in the conference
room. He walked over and touched the keyboard. A document of fifty
pages appeared. Todd scrolled down and noticed technical writing,
diagrams and pictures. He sat down and started reading.

This is awesome
.

On David Sawyer’s desk that morning were the
usual piles of real estate projects and issues; he checked
voicemail and email. Twenty-six messages. One was from Andrei in
Moscow. After handling a few other quick questions with Julie, he
picked up his phone and dialed their Moscow broker.

“Hello, David, how are you?” Andrei
asked.

“Great, Andrei. Sounds like you’re next
door. How’s the family?”

“We’re fine, thank you. I was calling to let
you know that we’ve worked through all the lease issues. I think
you’ll be pleased. We’ll email an English version of the lease for
your review.”

“Good news, Andrei. How soon can we be in
our space?”

“That’s the even better news. Remember the
space that was almost finished for the first tenant? Well, there’s
apparently been a merger, and that space is not going to be taken.
So the developer has offered it to us. It’s almost exactly the same
size. The planner likes most of what is already there. So if you
approve the switch and we turn her loose to begin ordering
materials, I think you can be up and running in six weeks.”

“That does sound good. Let me have a look at
the lease and think about the floor plan, and I’ll give you an
answer.”

“OK.”

“Thanks, Andrei.”

David hung up, but his phone buzzed again
instantly. “Yes, Julie.”

“Mr. Sawyer, Barbara says there are two
police detectives here to see you.”

“Uh, OK. I’ll be out in a minute.”

He walked out of his office, gave a small
shrug to Julie, and continued to the real estate group reception
area in the middle of the floor. Two men in suits were standing by
the receptionist’s desk. The shorter and slightly older one stepped
forward.