Through tired eyes, Jake Adams was able to access the information Congresswoman Lori Freeman had given him. She had used a combination of new technology and old-school information exchange. In the envelope was a single piece of paper with a link to a secure server where he would find the info, the login and password things that only Jake would know, based on his high school experience in Montana. And just in case anyone could discover these items, she told him to rip up and flush the paper down the toilet once he got online.
What he found there was surprising. Lori had decided not to give him a summation of what she had discovered. She simply had a list of seemingly unredacted documents and images from various sources, including the CIA, NSA, and military intelligence. A couple of documents were NSA transcripts of conversations from foreign nationals speaking with U.S. citizens. Each document was dated with two entries, the original date discovered, and then the date each was presented to the House sub-committee on intelligence. There were a few exceptions, and those came from Air Force intelligence. These only had the original discovery date. Jake guessed these had not actually been included in the House briefings. Also, they were perhaps the most damning and illuminating. Now he knew why his old high school friend was concerned. She wasn’t getting the full story. Someone was either cooking the books or simply using selective intelligence—not totally unheard of in the intel business. Most House members had never served in the military, and had no clue that Top Secret meant to keep your damn mouth shut. The Agency had a somewhat sick propensity to divulge totally useless salacious information, very specific in nature, just to see which member of congress was leaking info. This disinformation never came at an official House briefing, but instead during social functions, where an officer would pull someone aside and tell them the info was Top Secret but off the record. Keep this close to the vest. Right.
But this information, or lack thereof, was different. It dealt with a new technology weapon system that would make nukes obsolete. Perhaps even make conventional warfare non-existent. It could also make U.S. overseas commitments unnecessary. America could pull all of its troops home from foreign soil and simply respond from a bunker in Nebraska if needed. And, according to a patent application, this technology had been discovered by two professors in Oregon. Of course that information had not been briefed to the members of the sub-committee. Congresswoman Freeman had gotten that from the Air Force.
Now, Jake stood on the sidewalk outside an Italian restaurant in Georgetown, his hands deep into his pockets and his collar up to keep out the cold wind, a light dusting of snow falling to his wool watch cap. His eyes kept a vigilant view of the street scene. Two blocks down sat a line of four limos, their exhaust indicating the drivers were keeping the cars warm for their eventual riders.
Shifting his gaze slightly to his left, he caught a glimpse of his target at a table with an older gentleman. Jake considering going inside, but since his little incident in front of the cameras earlier in the day, which was now a viral video on the internet, there was a good chance he would be recognized. No, he had a better idea. Not a good one, though. Just the best he could do under short notice.
He walked up the sidewalk toward the line of limos, thankful that the one he wanted was the last one of the four. As he passed the last car, he rounded the trunk and came up to the driver’s side and tapped on the window.
The driver nearly leapt from his chair. Recovering, he shook his head and simultaneously shrugged. He was a short, stocky man in his mid to late thirties—about as white as the snow falling to the ground. Someone who spent most of his days behind tinted limo windows.
Jake twirled his finger, indicating to lower the window. The man did so, but only a couple of inches.
“You remember me from earlier today?” Jake asked the guy.
“Yes, of course,” he said, smiling. “I love your video.”
“Thanks. Listen, Lori. . .Congresswoman Freeman, told me to meet her here tonight. But now, with the video, I don’t think it’s a good idea to be seen together. You understand.”
The driver nodded agreement. “Yes, Sir.”
“Perhaps I should just wait for her inside the car.”
“That’s not proper,” the driver said.
Jake agreed with a nod. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have suggested that.” His gaze shifted off toward the restaurant as if in deep thought. “I’ll just have to go in there then and get her. I’ll tell her you said it was all right and that you wouldn’t let me get in out of the cold to wait for her to finish eating.” He started to walk away toward the back of the car but heard the driver open the door to come after him. Jake stopped behind the car, out of view of the other drivers ahead of them.
“Wait, Sir.” The driver was now outside the car holding his door open. “Please don’t do that.”
Jake smiled to himself and became serious as he turned to the driver. Then he looked down at the trunk and said, “What the hell is this?” He lowered himself out of view.
When the driver came around to see what was so important, Jake quickly put the man into a sleeper hold, his arms around the smaller man’s throat. “Don’t fight it. Just go to sleep and I won’t hurt you.”
But, although Jake had said similar things to others in the past a number of times, it was not in human nature to not struggle when one thought they were being choked to death. The need to survive outweighed any logical whisper into the victim’s ears.
In a few seconds it didn’t matter. The man slipped into a deep sleep and Jake lowered him to the ground. Then he put the man’s hat on and hurried to the driver’s side and popped the trunk. In less than thirty seconds, he was able to hoist the man up into the trunk. Before closing the trunk he found the driver’s cell phone and pocketed it. Then he closed the trunk, got into the car and pulled out, stopping in front of the restaurant.
As Jake suspected, the driver had a text he would use to extract the congresswoman if anything came up. A few seconds later, she came from the restaurant looking somewhat concerned and got into the back without saying a word.
Jake quickly pulled away from the curb and raced off toward nowhere in particular.
“What’s the emergency, John?” her voice asked over the speaker.
Lowering the divider, Jake said, “Just wanted a private conversation with my representative,” he said with a smile.
“Jake. What have you done with my driver?”
“He’s taking a nap.”
When Jake got to a secluded residential area, he pulled over to the curb, left the car running and got into the back with the congresswoman.
“Sorry to meet like this,” Jake said.
“You mean kidnapping a U.S. congresswoman?”
“Kidnapping?” Jake shook his head. “A little harsh. You did tell me to call on you this evening.”
She sighed and smiled. “So, I take it you’ve had a chance to look over the information I gave you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“If you don’t start calling me Lori I might have to have you arrested,” she said. “Or I’ll tell your brother.”
“I haven’t talked with my brother in a long time.”
“Can we get on with this?” she asked.
“That’s right. You need to get back to your boyfriend.”
“That was the senior senator from the great state of Texas. He’s old enough to be my grandfather. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize the man.”
“I did. Just messing with my favorite congresswoman. So, Lori, what have you gotten yourself into?”
“What do you mean?” She looked genuinely confused.
“Well, first of all, those were Top Secret documents you showed me. Although I have the clearance, I’m not sure I have the need to know.” He paused for a beat but didn’t wait for her to answer. “Also, you have some Air Force documents and others not given to your sub-committee. I’m guessing someone from your past life is feeding these to you. But the patent application was quite interesting. How did you come across that?”
“You should be able to guess that,” she said. “The Agency keeps track of every patent application to make sure it’s not a weapon that could have an impact on national security.”
He knew that, but he didn’t know she would know that.
She continued, “But since I talked with you last, something has changed.”
“What’s that?”
“One of the professors was shot and killed last night in an apparent home invasion in Corvallis, Oregon,” she said, her tone sounding skeptical. “The second professor was shot superficially in the. . .buttocks.”
“Ouch. Been there. Let me guess, you don’t think this was your typical home invasion.”
“No, Jake, I don’t. Their lab was also trashed and their computers stolen.”
Jake hated to think this, but if he had to bet, it sounded like some intelligence agency. “Who do you suspect?”
“That’s the problem, Jake. It could be anyone.”
“It sounds like you need to make sure the FBI investigates this,” he said.
“They’re not even looking at it,” she muttered, a lowering of her head as she shook it back and forth. “They consider it a local law enforcement problem. And, of course, the Agency doesn’t operate within our borders.”
Not officially, he knew. But the lines between domestic and foreign intelligence seemed to be fading with each year.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked her.
“I want you to find this other professor, James Tramil.”
“Find him?”
“Yeah, he went missing,” she said. “He’s a smart guy and came up with the same conclusion I did. Reported the link between his shooting and the lab destruction to the campus police and the Corvallis cops. Of course they didn’t see it his way. I think he’s on the run with his research.”
Jake thought that over and had to admit this technology could be significant, assuming it worked as advertised. “You’ve read the patent application,” he said. “Do you know the significance?”
“I think so,” she answered. “It sounds like they can take a small projectile, launched from anywhere in the U.S., and have it hit with GPS accuracy anywhere in the world.”
It was even better than that. “Exactly. It’s a nanotech weapon sent at hypersonic speed. The actual warhead, if you want to call it that, could be the size of a bullet, but could take out a tank. . .or an individual, depending on needs. This would make our strategic Air Force obsolete, our nuclear arsenal a relic, our overseas basing unnecessary. Some Air Force captain sitting in a bunker could assassinate the leader of Zimbabwe with a push of the button.”
She seemed to sink deeper into the Town Car leather seat. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Why isn’t the military all over this?” he asked.
“DARPA has been trying to recruit those two professors for years, but they were both staunchly independent.”
Suddenly a muffled sound started coming from the back of the car, followed by more vehement pounding, startling the congresswoman.
“Is that my driver?” she asked.
“Yeah, we should probably let him out.” But he ignored the pounding for a moment and continued. “What do you want me to do with this professor once I find him?”
She looked puzzled. “He’ll have to be debriefed by our military intelligence and the Agency.”
What she meant was detained for his safety and stashed away to do his research in seclusion. He would be no better than a prisoner punching out license plates, and lose all rights to profit from his patent. Well, that and his ability to kill one despot or millions of people with the press of a button. Jake guessed the guy had first started off by trying to eliminate the need for nukes. But in the end he would simply replace the unthinkable with the possible.
“What are your current rates for consultation?” she asked him rather sheepishly.
He hated this part of his consultation business. After the past few deals, he really didn’t need the money. But to keep things legit, he needed to be compensated in some way. “Let’s worry about that at a later date. You don’t want me to be linked to you in any way at this time.”
“Right. Especially after that video from your testimony.” She gave him an endearing, contemplative glance that made her look even more stunning than before.
If Jake had not noticed this beautiful woman when she was a freshman in high school, either she was a late bloomer or he had been a complete idiot back then. He was trying his best not to notice her crossed legs right now, along with the crucifix dangling in her ample cleavage.
The pounding from the trunk got louder.
“We better let that guy out before he pees his pants,” Jake said. He got out of the back of the car and held the door open for a moment. “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”
“Do you have my private cell number?” she asked.
He smiled. “Yeah, no problem.” He slammed the door and walked off down the snowy residential sidewalk, the sound of pounding on the trunk muffled more with each step he took.
A few blocks down Jake caught a cab back to his hotel and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. When he got to his room, he hesitated for a couple seconds before sliding his key card into the slot. Something felt wrong. And his senses were rarely wrong. Instinctively he felt for his gun under his left arm, but it wasn’t there. He needed to change that in a hurry.
He smiled and shook his head, ran his card through the slot, and opened the door. Just as he switched on the light, he simultaneously saw the danger and felt the electrodes strike his chest, sending ten thousand volts of energy shooting through his body, collapsing him to his knees. The second jolt had him flopping around the floor like a fish out of water until he passed out.