Justifiable Homicide: A Political Thriller (Robert Paige Thrillers Book 1) (22 page)

Eduardo Garcia quickly added, “I’ll tell you something that hasn’t been reported in the news. The FBI is going around to the TV stations threatening to arrest reporters who report on the TSA abuses. The reason I know is because my daughter-in-law works for Channel 4. They came in and told Lourdes Martinez they would arrest her if she reported any more TSA incidents. They told her she was guilty of treason for giving aid and comfort to the enemy and that she could be charged with violating the Patriot Act. They said they would take her away to an undisclosed location where she wouldn’t have access to a lawyer. She wouldn’t even be able to call her husband or kids. And they would give her a private trial with no reporters and no jury.” Eduardo Garcia taught anthropology at Florida International University. He had been a friend of Steinman’s for more than 20 years. They met at a faculty union meeting.

Rachel started to fidget in her seat. She had all she could do to restrain herself from screaming at them. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs - Couldn’t they see that the government was doing what was necessary to protect us from terrorists? They should spend some time in Israel, where the population is surrounded by terrorists, many of whom are walking freely in the streets of Israeli cities because the government doesn’t know who they are. Rather than reporting TSA incidents, Lourdes Martinez should be reporting on terrorist cells in the United States. Journalists have a duty to support their government, not report news stories that tear down government credibility. If she didn’t like what the government did, perhaps Lourdes Martinez should move to Cuba, where her family came from.

Brian Lewis added, “OK, I agree that we should do something to publicize this kind of activity, but what should we do?” Brian Lewis was an assistant professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University. Although he didn’t know it, his dean was plotting to sabotage his application for promotion and tenure because of his views supporting gays in the military.

Kevin MacPherson suggested, “One thing we could do is organize protests inside and outside airports. We could make signs and maybe disrupt the lines at the security checkpoints to draw attention to the issue. We should make sure to notify the media before we do it to make sure we get maximum press coverage.” Kevin MacPherson taught law at the University of Miami law school. He had become known in legal circles for writing some law review articles comparing President Bush and Vice President Cheney to Hitler and Goebbels and for comparing some of the Nazi legislation in the 1930s to the post-9/11 legislation in the U.S. Congress. One item he deliberately failed to report was Hitler’s confiscation of privately owned guns shortly after assuming power in 1933.

Mitchell Fisher asked, “Couldn’t they arrest us and do the same thing to us that they threatened to do to Lourdes Martinez? And what makes you think the media would come? If the FBI has been threatening to arrest them, they probably would be too afraid to cover the story.” Mitchell Fisher was a humanities professor at Lynn University. He appeared visibly nervous at the direction the discussion was going. Although he didn’t like the direction the country was moving in, he was afraid to do anything about it.

MacPherson pointed out, “Rights are like muscles. If you don’t exercise them, you lose them.” It’s a point he made often in his law classes. “We can make sure the message gets out. We can have a few people recording it with their cell phones and iPads and have them post it on the internet.”

“We could also write letters to the editor and post blurbs on various internet sites. We could call in on radio talk shows, expressing our concern – no, outrage – about what is happening to freedom in America.” Daniel had made calls to talk shows in the past. The conservative talk show hosts sometimes hung up on him, but not before he was able to voice his opinion about some issue of the day.

Steinman suggested some long-term activities that would help push the message. “As educators, we have a duty to educate the younger generation. One thing we could do that would affect the long-term would be to assign term papers on some aspect of these issues. We could have our students write term papers comparing some of the acts of Hitler’s brown shirts to the stuff the TSA is doing today. Kevin, you could have your students research the civil liberties and free speech and free press implications of some of the legislation that’s been passed in recent years, and the constitutionality of arresting American citizens on American soil and holding them without access to an attorney or a public trial.”

Brian suggested that, “We could give students an incentive to put a lot of effort into it by offering to select the best papers for publication in an edited book, which would be edited by us, of course.”

Daniel leaned back in his chair. “Clever, Brian. Trying to beef up your publications for your promotion and tenure package?”

His comment triggered a smirk from the group. Rachel became more disgusted by the moment. She and Paige were the only ones who hadn’t made any suggestions or comments yet.

Paige actually liked the direction the conversation was taking. Although the room was filled with a bunch of lefties who took a cafeteria approach to defending the Constitution, he thought they were right on this issue. The discussion energized him and made him even more determined to see to it that Wellington’s team wouldn’t kill Steinman. He was starting to like the other members of the group, too, with the exception of Rachel. He sensed she had some hidden agenda, although he couldn’t figure out what it might be. He could tell she wasn’t enjoying the conversation from her silence, fidgeting and facial expressions.

Paige felt the need to say something. He had to join in on the conversation to become an active participant in the group. “All of these suggestions are good, but they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We could do several of them at the same time. Rachel, what do you think?” He really didn’t care to hear Rachel’s opinion. He just wanted to make her uncomfortable by putting her on the spot.

He succeeded. She seemed startled and taken aback by his invitation to participate.

“I … I really don’t know. I suppose we could do all of those things.” She actually hoped they wouldn’t do
any
of those things. She really didn’t have a problem with what the TSA did, although she would prefer they focus their attention on Muslims, since targeting low risk targets like shiksa grandmothers in wheel chairs and goys with urine bags gave the TSA bad publicity, which was counterproductive.

The discussion continued for a few more minutes. Some members started having separate conversations with other people in the group. When Steinman felt he had lost control of the discussion, he suggested taking a short break.

Some members of the group used the opportunity to take a pee or a smoke break or to refill their plates. Rachel took the opportunity to start up a conversation with Paige. Although she had an instant distaste for him, she felt compelled to approach him. She shot up out of her chair and started walking toward Paige as fast as her fat little legs would carry her. She hadn’t thought about what she would say. All she knew was that she had to get closer to him to get a better assessment of the threat he posed.

Her decision to approach Paige saved him the trouble, since he had also decided he wanted to get closer to her, to assess her threat potential.

“Professor Paige, may I call you Robert?”

“Yes, of course.” Actually, most people called him Bob, but Russians and other East Europeans usually preferred to call him Robert, so he went along with it.

“Robert, I was wondering, what is an accounting professor doing cavorting with political science and philosophy professors? I didn’t think accounting professors were interested in this kind of conversation.” Actually, she couldn’t care less what his response would be. She knew he was CIA connected. Much more than just an accounting professor. Her experience with Mossad had taught her that anybody can be a spy. Accounting professors were as capable of being patriots or traitors as anyone else in the general population. She just needed an opening line. That one seemed as good as any.

“I wasn’t always an accounting professor. I majored in social sciences as an undergraduate, with a concentration in economics and minors in political science, philosophy and history.” What he said was true. What he didn’t say was that he started off as an accounting major and changed majors after three semesters because he failed Intermediate Accounting I. He didn’t return to accounting until after graduation, when he took a job as a bank auditor. He felt compelled to go back to take some night school classes because he didn’t know what he was doing during the day.

“Ah, that’s interesting. Where did you go to school?” Actually, she didn’t give a shit where he went to school. She just wanted to find out as much as possible about him. She regarded him as the enemy, and it was always a good idea to learn as much about the enemy as you can, since it might help to defeat him.

Paige knew what she was up to. It was obvious to him she was attempting to gather information. He decided to go with the flow and not resist. Resisting might alert her that he was on to her. Besides, everything he was about to tell her about his education was already posted on his university website, which he was sure she would look at before she went to bed that night. He had planned to do the same thing with her website.

“I went to Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania for my bachelor’s degree. Have you heard of it?”

“No, I haven’t. I’m sure it was a charming little place.”

He didn’t know whether she was being polite or sarcastic.

“Yes, it was a charming little place, come to think of it, although at the time I was too busy working and studying to enjoy its charm.”

“And for graduate school?”

“I got my master’s in taxation from DePaul University in Chicago and my law degree from Cleveland State University in Ohio. I also have a PhD in accounting from the University of Warwick in England and a DPhil in finance from the University of the West of England.”

“Ah, you’ve been to several different places. Which one did you like best?”

He laughed, temporarily forgetting she was the enemy. He was enjoying the conversation.

“As far as geographic location is concerned, I suppose I liked England, since it has much less snow than Cleveland, Chicago or Erie. For intellectual stimulation, I think Erie would be my choice. I spent a lot of hours holed up in the Gannon library reading books and staying warm in the winter. There wasn’t much else to do there for six months a year, so I stayed inside and read.”

“Da, I know what you mean. I’m from Saint Petersburg.”

“Did you study there?”

“Yes, I studied sociology and political science at Saint Petersburg State University. I got my PhD in sociology from New York University.”

She had taken the path of many immigrants, taking a degree or two from a university in the home country, then getting a PhD from an American or British university. Saint Petersburg State University was generally regarded as the second best university in the former Soviet Union, after Moscow State University. Her comment about Gannon University being a charming little place probably had some snobbery attached to it.

“You mentioned you spent some time in Israel. How long were you there?”

Her body visibly stiffened. She could feel the conversation turning more in the direction of interrogation. She hesitated and thought for a moment, which people often do when they’re about to tell a lie.

“Oh, I was only there for a couple of years. I spent my time mostly in a kibbutz.” Her answer was partially true. She did spend some time in a kibbutz. She hoped her answer would satisfy his curiosity. It didn’t.

“If you were there for a couple of years, then you probably spent some time in the Israeli army, too, didn’t you?” One of Paige’s former Jewish students told him a story about being drafted into the Israeli army after spending a few months in a kibbutz, so he knew it was a distinct possibility.

She seemed unsettled by the question, but quickly recovered, as best she could. “Yes, I was in the Israeli army for a few months.” Actually, she was in for more than a year.

“What did you do in the army?”

“Nothing much, just dug some irrigation ditches.” Actually, she had taken some courses in security procedures and participated in several enhanced interrogations of Palestinians who didn’t have proper credentials and who were suspected of plotting to plant a car bomb outside a crowded street in Tel Aviv. One of them tried to sue her and her colleagues for torture in an Israeli court. The case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

“So, it was mostly like being on vacation.”

She let out a small laugh at his comment. “Yeah, mostly.”

Although she was enjoying the conversation, her main focus was on gathering more information about Paige. As the conversation continued, she made mental notes to help her remember the details she would put in her report of the meeting. Paige did the same thing.

The meeting broke up around ten-thirty. On the way out, Rachel made a point of striking up a conversation with Paige and walked him to his car. She wanted to see what kind of car he drove and get the license number, which she wrote down as soon as he got in the car. When she got into her own car she immediately scribbled down all that she could remember, so she wouldn’t forget anything. After she got home she added details to her notes and checked out Paige’s university web page, where she was surprised to learn that he also had a PhD in political science from the University of Sunderland, another British university and a certificate in Intelligence Studies from American Military University. She put all the information in her report, which she gave to Sergei Turetsky.

Turetsky gave Paige’s name and license plate number to a contact he had at the Division of Motor Vehicles and learned Paige’s home address and other information. He downloaded and printed the online copy of Paige’s driver’s license and placed it in his file, along with a printout of Paige’s university web page. Both documents included a photo of Paige, which he enlarged and distributed to his boss and several of his subordinates, along with a summary report. He decided to have Paige followed.