25
Rick wasn’t happy about having to go to dinner with Dimitri, but James was busy, and he hated eating alone. He was surprised that he was actually enjoying his dinner partner’s company.
“You seem so relaxed ever since we got to Munich. Why is that, Dimitri?”
“I like being back in Europe. I was born in Europe, and I feel more comfortable here.”
“What’s wrong with America?”
“Nothing. I like it also. It’s a great country, but it’s also a young country that doesn’t seem to have an established culture of its own.”
“That’s because we’re a nation of immigrants with a mixture of ethnicities and cultures.”
“Yes, and it’s reflected in your lifestyle. Your architecture is a mixture, and so is your food. European cities, like Munich, have a style all their own. The restaurants serve real food.”
“So you don’t like our food?”
“No, I’ve actually developed a taste for American fast food. It tastes good, and it’s fast. Look around, Rick. The restaurant we’re in operates at a slower pace than those in America. America has no traditions that encourage the relaxed enjoyment of the simple pleasures. It’s rush, rush, rush all the time. It’s probably why you have a much higher rate of coronary disease and mental health issues.”
“You might be right. I do enjoy it here, but I miss my country when I’m gone too long.”
“So do I. Damn, my alarm is buzzing. George must be on the move.”
“I’ll get the check. Pick me up out front.”
Dimitri and Rick followed George’s limousine to the airport, where he picked up an extremely attractive redhead.
“That’s Astrid, George’s fiancée,” Rick said.
“They’re not going back to the hotel, Rick. They’re heading in the opposite direction. I think they might be heading to the Rathaus.”
“What’s the rat house?”
“It’s the Munich town hall. It’s where the city politicians work.”
“Well, it’s aptly named.”
“They’re parking. Let’s follow them.”
The Rathaus was huge and crowded with tourists, so Dimitri and Rick had little likelihood of being noticed while following their target. George and his fiancée entered the Ratskeller restaurant. Rick and Dimitri watched as George and Astrid were joined by a very tall, thin, young man with curly blond hair. Dimitri moved closer and took a picture of three of them while they waited for their table. There was an empty table near where George’s party was being seated, so Rick bribed the waiter to seat them there.
“I can’t hear what they’re saying, Rick, but it doesn’t look cordial.”
“Yeah, it looks like George and the young guy are really getting into it.”
Rick and Dimitri watched as the young man suddenly stood and said, “Drop dead, George,” and then began to walk away. Astrid also stood and said, “Chris, please come back,” as she started to go after him. George grabbed her arm and said something that made her sit back down.
“Let’s follow the young guy, Dimitri.”
The young man drove away in a Porsche as Dimitri followed him out of the city.
“My GPS says we’re approaching Lake Starnberg, Rick.”
“Yeah, I see that. He just took the road that goes around the lake toward those houses. It looks like he’s entering the driveway leading to that three-story Bavarian-style house.”
“I’ll take some pictures and then we’ll go back, Rick. My tracker shows George returning to his hotel.”
“Okay, drop me off at my hotel, and we’ll call it a night.”
Back in his hotel room, Dimitri checked his email and saw one from the FBI with several attached photographs. He downloaded the attachments, which were obviously older photos of a beautiful, tall redhead. One of them showed her standing next to a man identified in the email as George Solomon.
Dimitri was struck by the photos. The tall young man at the Ratskeller looked very similar to the thirty-year-old picture of George. The nose was different, as was the chin, but the mouth, eyes, facial structure, height, and build looked almost identical. Dimitri knew that George had undergone plastic surgery after his defection from Russia, which could explain the chin and nose. There was no doubt in Dimitri’s mind that Chris was George Solomon and Christina Hoffman’s son.
Dimitri downloaded the pictures he’d taken earlier at the Ratskeller and Lake Starnberg, then emailed them to the FBI director and assistant director with descriptions. When he finished, he noticed an email from a familiar source. It requested a meeting at his earliest convenience in Manhattan to discuss an assignment. He replied, saying he was on vacation in Europe and would like to arrange the meeting for several days from then. The reply was immediate, and it stated that Dimitri’s response was acceptable.
James went to bed after arranging the delivery of Kim’s package and slept until Rick called him the next morning.
“Hi, sleeping beauty. I’m having breakfast downstairs in the Mandarin Bar. Why don’t you join me?”
“Okay. Anything happen while I was asleep?”
“Not really, but we have a meeting in my suite at one to talk with Terry and Don about Kim.”
“I’ll be right down, save some for me.”
James met Rick just in time to watch him finish a breakfast of white sausages and a large pretzel with beer.
“It’s a little early for beer, isn’t it? I believe there’s a navy rule that the sun has to be over the yardarm, Rick?”
“Yeah, but I’m in the FBI now, and we can drink anytime. You should order this. It’s listed under traditional Bavarian breakfasts.”
“I think I’ll pass. Coffee and strudel look fine to me.”
“How’s your plan coming?”
“Tom finished his work, and Barbara sent the finished package. I just got an email from her saying it was delivered to Don this morning. He’ll bring it when we meet with him and Terry at one.”
“Eat fast. That’s less than an hour from now.”
Don and Terry arrived at Rick’s suite. Don gave James a jump drive with the modified Backfire worm, while Terry gave Rick two boxes, each containing a small encrypted satellite phone.
“These phones sure have gotten smaller, Terry. The ones we had when I was a SEAL were a lot bigger.”
“What’s in the envelope, James? It must be important if it came by military jet courtesy of the White House.”
“It’s a network worm and some support software, Don. Kim will use it to disable the North Korean submarines when he goes back. I think it’s worth a try. Kim also thinks there’s a possibility of including the admiral in the escape.”
“I did the calculations, and the additional weight shouldn’t be a problem,” Rick said. “Kim says he’s healthy enough to make the trip.”
That caught Don and Terry’s attention. After viewing the additional weight estimates, they thought it was possible.
“We’ll run this by the SEALs and get back to you,” Don said. “I also need to contact the navy so they can determine the exact coordinates for the rendezvous with the mini-sub.”
James called Kim after Don and Terry left.
“Hi, Kim. When will you be back from the symposium?”
“We should be back by four.”
“Good. Rick, and I have a few presents for you. I also want you to install the program you’re using to monitor George’s and Nadya’s emails on my laptop.”
“That’ll only take a few minutes. Cai wants to know if you and Rick want to join us for dinner tonight.”
“That sounds great. See you later.”
“Looks like we’re having dinner with Kim and Cai tonight, Rick. Speaking of dinner, how was your dinner with Dimitri?”
“We ended up following George to the Ratskeller restaurant where he met this guy who cursed him out. Astrid was also there.”
“Who has the balls to curse George out?”
“Dimitri sent all the pictures to me. They’re on my phone. Here, look for yourself.”
James looked at the photos.
“That’s Chris Hoffman, Rick. What the hell is he doing in Munich with George and Astrid?”
“Didn’t you say that he called Tom and was taking leave due to a family emergency?”
“Yeah, I did. Tom said it involved Chris’s father.”
“How old is Chris?”
“Thirty-two. Why do you ask?”
“Dimitri followed George to a gravesite the first day he was here. Here’s the picture of the gravesite. Look at the name on the tombstone.”
“Christina Hoffman? Do you think she was related to Chris?”
“Make it larger so you can see the date she died.”
“Thirty-one years ago. It could be Chris’s mother.”
“The assistant director also sent me some pictures of George from when he was in his thirties standing next to his girlfriend, Christina Hoffman. Take a look.”
“Oh my God. George could be Chris’s father.”
“I’m certain of it. You said he’d taken leave due to a family emergency involving his father. That explains why he’s in Munich, James.”
“I’d like to talk to him to find out why meeting George was such a family emergency. Maybe he found out about what George did to VSI, and that’s why he was so angry.”
“Maybe he has evidence. Dimitri has a car, and we know where Chris is.”
“Okay, but we need to get your boss’s permission.”
“I just texted her.”
“Your phone is dinging. What’d she say?”
“She said yes and is notifying Dimitri to coordinate with me.”
Five minutes later, Rick got a phone call.
“Hi, Dimitri. I assume the director called you.”
“Yes, she said the man in the Porsche was Chris Hoffman, and he’s the VSI CTO.”
“That’s true. He used to work for James when he was the VSI CEO.”
“I didn’t know that. Let’s meet at seven tomorrow morning. On the way to the house, I’ll tell you and James something about George Solomon that you may not know.”
Kim arrived at Rick’s suite with his laptop. James gave him the package with the worm, and he downloaded the software files onto his laptop. They went through the files together and James answered Kim’s questions, including those on the integration of the targeting information and the trigger. James was very impressed with Kim’s skills and how fast he picked up on the technology. He knew Kim could succeed as long as he had the information he needed on the North Korean submarine navigation and communication systems and got access to their servers.
After completing his work on the worm, Kim inserted a flash drive into James’s laptop and loaded the same software he’d loaded on Cai’s laptop. He gave James a one-minute tutorial on how it was used and its capabilities, but it was unnecessary because James was familiar with the concept.
“Thanks for the software, Kim. Have you seen any interesting emails on any of the accounts you’ve been monitoring?”
“I’m not sure. There were several emails yesterday involving George, his attorney, and someone who claimed that George owed them money due to some large stock transactions. I don’t understand it. Do you think it’s important?”
“It might be. Can you find it for me?”
“Sure, here it is.”
James read the emails.
“Look at this email, Rick. It says George put a hold on this person’s trading accounts. He’s threatening George unless he removes the hold. George responded by claiming the trades were illegal because they were based on insider knowledge of the stock market crash. What do you make of it?”
“It looks like someone was using George’s firm for insider trading, and he caught them.”
“It looks that way to me, too. Maybe George wasn’t in it for the money.”
“Maybe not, but I don’t believe he’s going to win any humanitarian of the year awards. Before I forget, your new satellite phone and night vision binoculars are on the kitchen table, Kim.”
“Thanks, Rick. Are there instructions?”
“They’re in the box. Where do you and Cai want to go to dinner?”
“One of the students at the symposium told us about a place that had great Cantonese food. I’d like to try it.”
“Sounds great. Do you have the address?”
“Yes, it’s not far. I’ll call Cai to meet us in the lobby.”
“Okay, I’ll call for a taxi.”
After finishing some excellent Chinese food, Kim asked about the best technical schools in America and whether James and Rick thought he and Cai could get accepted at one.
“Since George is picking up the bill, I’d think you’d have your choice. There are a lot of great schools in America, but if you want one that specializes in cybersecurity, I think Carnegie Mellon, MIT, University of Maryland, USC, and George Mason have some of the best programs. Just tour the country to find the area and school you like the best. As I said, it’s on George’s tab.”
At the end of the evening, the waitress bought them all a small glass of mint schnapps courtesy of the restaurant. It was a great evening, even though James knew there was no guarantee that they’d be able to repeat it. Kim was definitely going in harm’s way. They returned to the hotel and said goodbye.
As Rick shook Kim’s hand, he said, “Good luck, Commander. As we used to say in the SEALs, the only easy day was yesterday.”
Kim wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew his life was about to get a lot more dangerous.
The next morning, James and Rick met Dimitri in the lobby, and as they drove out of the city, James said, “Okay, Dimitri, what do you know about George that I don’t?”
“Christine Hoffman drowned in Lake Starnberg thirty-two years ago under mysterious circumstances. I also know that George was there when Christine died and that the police questioned him about her death.”
“Are you implying that George was responsible for her death?”
“I’m not sure, James. I do believe someone was covering for him.”
“His name was the only one left out of the newspaper article. The article said there was no evidence that it was anything other than an accident.”
“Do you also believe that George could hire someone to kill for him?”
“Yes, I do. And I don’t just believe it, I know it.”
Dimitri pointed to Chris’s house.
“It looks like he’s home. His Porsche is still in the driveway.”
Dimitri drove the SUV up the driveway and parked it behind the Porsche. They got out and walked toward the house, but Dimitri stood farther back so he had a clear view of the entrance and the windows at each of the three levels. Dimitri saw a curtain on one of the windows move. He knew they’d been seen.
The door opened, and a very muscular young man stood in the doorway.
“Was wollen sie?” the man said.
“He wants to know what you want,” Dimitri said.
The man then said in English, “Who are you looking for?”
“Christopher Hoffman.”
The man turned and yelled, “Chris, there’s some people here that want to talk to you.”
James heard Chris Hoffman’s voice.
“Tell them to wait until I find my clothes. Do you remember where I took them off?”
About five minutes later a very hungover Chris Hoffman came to the door wearing a bathrobe and said with a shocked look on his face, “James, this is a surprise. How’d you find me?”
Chris invited them in, but Dimitri decided to wait outside.
“Chris, I know that George Solomon is your father and that you had a big fight with him the other day. Can you tell me how it relates to the family matter you cited for your leave?”
“It’s a very personal issue, James. Why do you want to know?”
“George is suspected of criminal activity that involves VSI, and I want to know if you know anything about it.”
“No, nothing like that, although I hope you nail the bastard.”
Then Chris started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” James asked.
“Biologically, George isn’t the bastard, I am. In fact, he was responsible for making me one by not marrying my mother before he let her die.”
“I’m sorry, Chris. Is that what your argument was about?”
“No, we don’t talk about that anymore. As you might’ve guessed, Klaus here is more than a friend. George has never accepted me as gay and is trying to bribe me into being straight.”
“I’m sorry. I had no intention of intruding into your personal life.”
“That’s okay. Is there anything else you want to ask?”
“Yes. Do you have any idea where Theresa is?”
“No, I don’t, James. All I know is that she’s on vacation. She notified Tom and me by email, which I thought was strange. I knew she was unhappy at VSI. You did, too, James.”
“She hasn’t answered any calls or emails. Tom told me you were fighting with her over access to the lab.”
“Yes, but that’s no big deal. We were always fighting over resources. I needed the lab for design, and she always had some emergency with product support. She seemed really stressed about some patch she was working on.”
“Thanks for your help, Chris. You have a beautiful house.”
“Yeah, I inherited it from my mother’s family. It’s a lot more than I’ll ever see from George.”
“See you back at work.”
“I’ll be back in a few days. Oh, if you see George, tell him I said to go screw himself.”
They left and Dimitri drove them to the Hotel Konigshof. James went to the front desk and said, “Please call George Solomon’s suite and let him know James Jordan is in the lobby and I’d like to meet with him.” The desk clerk made the call, and after talking on the phone for a few seconds, told James he was invited up to George’s suite.
James took the elevator, while Rick and Dimitri stayed in the lobby. He knocked on the door and was let in and frisked by one of George’s bodyguards, who then led him to the living room area. George was there drinking coffee while reading a newspaper.
“Come in, James. This is a real surprise. How long have you been in Munich?”
“Since the symposium started.”
“If I knew you were going to attend, I would’ve asked you to be one of the speakers.”
“I’m not here for the symposium. I came to make sure you were following through with your promise to help the Chinese students.”
“So you’re here to spy on me. Well, what have you discovered?”
“That you really screwed those Chinese students and took advantage of them to address your own interests. The president has lost all trust in you, Ann Wu detests you, and I’ll never forgive you for the damage you did to VSI. I also know your son Chris Hoffman hates you and claims you’re a homophobe.”
James could see that his remarks had slowed George down a bit, since he was thinking before he responded.
“I believe you’re guessing about my relationship with Chris. But since you and I are old friends, I won’t deny it.”
“I know that Chris is your son from a relationship you had with Christina Hoffman more than thirty-two years ago. I also know that she drowned and that you were questioned but never charged.”
“I guess you know it all, so why are you here?”
“I’m here to tell you that I intend to have you voted off the board and to force the confiscation of all your stock via a civil suit for malicious actions against VSI. I’ll also ask for damages.”
“I won’t fight you, James. I’ll give my stock back to the company and will pay any damages your lawyers reasonably request. My life as an investment banker is over, and I plan to retire and live the good life with Astrid, possibly here in Munich. My lawyers are currently discussing the evidence with the Department of Justice regarding my involvement. They tell me that the government might have enough for an arrest but not enough to support a conviction.”
“Maybe not, but you’re not going to walk away from this. There are people in the Justice Department who believe you’re responsible for the murders of Philip Wu and Senator Thompson. They’re working very hard to prove it.”
“I never killed anybody. They’ll never prove it because it isn’t true.”
“By the way, your son has a message for you. He says to go screw yourself.”