The 22nd Secret (113 page)

Security lost the two diplomats as they moved through customs and boarded a General Electric corporate jet that would take them directly to Hawaii, along with a number of GE employees. The first-class seats reserved for the two American diplomats on the jet to Seoul were empty when it departed on schedule. In Hawaii, they were met at the plane by four Suburbans carrying secret service agents, who took them by caravan to a beach house rented by Roland and Hilda Koller of Malibu for $15,000 dollars a week. The house overlooked the Pacific Ocean and was surrounded by 25 acres of grounds with security fencing and rocky lava flows protecting the private beach from outsiders. The secret service men in the vehicles would join the men already protecting the perimeter of the compound working round-the-clock surveillance. Patty Lawrence and Bobby Chan’s trails had disappeared when they entered the Beijing airport. To the outside world, they had simply vanished. Not even the Ambassador or the Secretary of State would ever know what really happened to them.

Pam spent several hours having the makeup removed by a Hollywood makeup artist before relaxing in a hot bath. It was over. She could finally exhale. She closed her eyes and repeated the words over and over in her head.
It’s finally over.
She wondered how long it would take for her to not feel the fear that had been part of her life for the last year. She relaxed like she had not done in five years. She was no longer Patty Lawrence, and for the next few years at least, would not carry the burden of preventing global holocaust on her shoulders. The phone attached to the wall next to the tub rang. Pam answered it.

“Hello?”

“Pam, that you? Oh, Rol pick up the extension it’s Pam.”

Pam shot up in the tub, hearing the excited glee of her mother’s familiar voice, followed by her father’s gruff tone.

“Pam?” her father asked. “Oh, thank God. We haven’t heard anything from you since the tape you made just before last Thanksgiving. Your mother and I have been so worried. Tom called us once a month and said you were okay, but after a few months we began to worry. Are you all right?”

“Mom, Dad?” Her eyes lit up for the first time in weeks. “I’m fine. This place you rented in Hawaii is amazing. I have a private balcony that overlooks the ocean and everything. Well, at least my room is wonderful. I haven’t had much time to look around yet. I’m sure I’m going to love it here.”

“Well, we’re joining you tomorrow and guess what else?”

“Let me tell her, Rol,” Hilda interrupted. “We’re flying in on Air Force One with the President and First Lady. They’re picking us up on their way to Hawaii to meet you. They’re staying with us for three days.”

“You’re kidding. I’m going to meet the President?”

“We all are. Tom called us this morning and told us that you’re at a house in Hawaii we rented for you and the President was going to take us there in Air Force One. The pictures of Patty Lawrence they kept showing on TV that was you, wasn’t it Pam. What have you done, dear?” Roland Koller asked his daughter.

“Daddy, no questions please, I’m done working for a long time and whatever I did, well the President of the United States is coming to see
me
. That’s all I’m going to say about work.”

“Roland, who cares about that silly business on TV,” Hilda said. “What matters is Pam is okay and we’re going to be with her.”

“That’s right, Mom. You’re going to be with me, and I’m not going away again, at least not for a long time. Mom, I have no clothes. Just a few things that Tom had Betty got for me. Let’s shop till we drop. Is Maria coming with you?”

“Yes, of course she is.”

“Great. I’m having a thousand chicken enchiladas and Tom, is he coming too?”

“No dear. He said he won’t be seeing you anymore, that he was too recognizable. The Congressional hearings forced him into retirement. He said he was grateful. He also said he was getting too old to keep up with you. I’m sorry, Pam. I liked Tom too.”

“We have a million things to do before the President picks us up tomorrow, dear,” Hilda said. “We love you very much. We’ll see you tomorrow morning. Bye, dear.”

“I love you too. I can’t wait till tomorrow. Bye.” Pam hung up and immediately picked the phone up again. She dialed the extension to Bobby’s room.

“Bobby, I just talked to my parents and they said –”

“I know, isn’t it great? The President is coming to meet you.”

“No, I mean, yes, that’s great. But that’s not why I’m calling. They said Tom was not coming. They said he was not going to work with me any longer.”

“That’s right, Pam. A lot of people, including the President of the United States, are doing a lot to give you your identity back, to make it impossible for anyone to say you’re Patty Lawrence. Think about it Pam, you with Walker? Howard’s never going to see you again either.”

“That’s fine and good but I need to talk with Tom. It’s important, very important to me. Tell me how I can get in touch with him.
Please
.”

“Well, he told me to make sure you get everything you want. Let me see what I can do. I’ll call you back in a minute.”

Pam hung up and got out of the bath. She dried off and noticed herself in the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. She turned and looked at herself for the first time in a year. Her body was pale white from lack of sun after living in hiding for so long. Her face was gaunt and pale. Her hair was straw-colored and dingy. The last year had been physically and mentally taxing. She immediately decided on two goals. One would be to get her body and her mind back in shape before she saw Jim again. The other would be that she
would
see him again.

The phone suddenly rang. She put on her robe and ran to the phone by her bed.

“Hello?”

“Pam, you wanted to talk to me?” It was Tom. She exhaled with relief and smiled.

“Tom, thank goodness you called.”

“Why? What is it?”

“Jim Mitchell? I need to know what happened to him.”

“I had a feeling you were going to ask me about Jim. You made quite an impact on him. He was real torn up when he found out you had lied and weren’t coming back to him from the little cabin.”

“Who, I mean what does he think I am?”

“He thinks you’re a traitor. He thinks you used him to evade being taken into custody by me. He was charged with conspiracy to commit treason. I saw to it the charges were dropped, as long as he kept quiet about you and he has. He was dragged through the mud by Congress pretty bad. It created a real scandal. They wanted him tried for treason, and the President wanted the whole damn thing quieted down.”

“I want to talk to him.”

“What? You can’t. I was afraid this would happen. Something happened between you two when you were alone, didn’t it?”

“I want to talk to him. I want him to know the truth.”

“Oh, come on Pam. You know that can’t happen.”

“I want to talk to him and I will, whether you help me or not. I love him.”

Silence overtook their conversation. Pam knew she needed Tom’s help. She couldn’t just go back to Alaska, but she would find a way.

“It will expose what you know and who you are.” Tom paused again, knowing Pam was relentless. She would eventually get what she wanted. Her life would always be this way and there was no reason to object to it. “You’ll have to agree if he can’t pass the security check.”

“I want to see him. I want to go be with him alone in Alaska. I don’t give a damn about security this time.”

“Be reasonable, Pam. Let me check him out. I’m sure he’ll be okay. Agree with me that if there’s a problem you’ll be reasonable. You have to remember what you mean to national security.”

“I have had enough goddamn national security. I have had enough fucking Chinese security. I’ve had enough, you understand? I want Jim Mitchell. I’ll give you two weeks to get it set up or I’ll do it myself, Tom.” Suddenly, Pam’s voice grew plaintive. “You’ve got to help me. I love him. Please try to understand. He’s what’s kept me going. If I can’t at least tell him I didn’t abandon him. I’m not sure I want to keep going.”

“I understand, Pam. Just give me two weeks, all right? I’ll set it up.”

Pam hung up the phone. She had two weeks to get ready. She would eat right and get plenty of rest. She would work out for several hours in the gym every day. It would be fun. She could swim laps in the pool and jog around the compound, but she would start with getting some sun and catching up on some reading. She selected several magazines and the
New York Times,
and walked out onto the balcony.

The ocean breeze was magnificent. She looked around and determined that the balcony was so placed in the structure that no one would be able to see her on the private balcony, except from the sky. The entire area would be kept clear by the secret service. Not even the Level 21 surveillance satellites had been alerted. Patty Lawrence no longer existed.

Pam slipped the robe off and lay down on her stomach while she thumbed through several magazines and the headlines from the
New York Times
over the last few months. Within a half hour, she rolled over and looked up at the blue sky. She closed her eyes as the sun warmed her. She rubbed her hands over the smooth flesh of her stomach. The warmth reminded her of lying on the bearskin rug with the blazing fire heating her like the sun. She began to fanaticize about Jim. She had not allowed herself this pleasure since she went to China. It had been too hard to be Ben’s woman. She had blocked the memory of sex with Jim.

Chapter Nine

The 22nd Secret

November 3rd one year after the crash - Bear Breath, Alaska

Three weeks later, Pam stood in front of the motel mirror admiring her naked body. Her transformation in the last three weeks was amazing. Her skin was a deep tan, with no tan lines. Her body had bulked up and her eyes sparkled with the self-confidence she had the day she sat on the prep table in Jim’s kitchen. Her hair was now shoulder-length. She had kept it short to help conceal her Caucasian features while in China, but she liked the professional styling she received in Hawaii. In just a few hours she would know if Jim could forgive her, if he would understand and if he could want her back. An insecure fear swept over Pam. She knew somehow she had to get him back. She started getting dressed.

By the opening of the season, Jim had been able to move on with his life. There was always something to keep him busy when the lodge was in operation. He welcomed the hectic schedule that kept his mind off of Paula. When the Congressional hearings started and Jim and his lodge fell under the media’s scrutiny, the cancellations flooded in. It seemed people came to White Bear Lake Lodge to get away, to be in secluded isolation. As soon as Jim’s name appeared in the media, his lodge was swamped with reporters and cameras. For every legitimate reservation canceled, a member of the press would book one. It didn’t take long for Jim to refuse any reservation unless he personally knew them, or someone he knew recommended the party. There were few of these reservations. For the first time in almost forty years, White Bear Lake Lodge lost money. He hated to let the college help go, and paid the regulars out of his savings.