by Alex Howell
Scrolling through his contacts he dialed Luke’s number. After a few rings Luke picked up. Mason listened as Luke answered, “Luke Simon here—Mason is that you?”
A bit surprised that Luke hadn’t saved his number, Mason feigned slight indignation as he charged, “What? You don’t even have me in your contact list, do you?”
Luke who was notoriously bad for keeping track of his friends’ numbers, lied, “Of course I do.”
Mason laughed, “Right…”
Mason then cut to the chase by interjecting, “Alright so you don’t have my name saved in your phone, but how about a guy named Patrick McCafferty?”
Luke paused for a moment before asking, “Patrick “Mad Dog” McCafferty? What about him?”
Mason breathed heavily into the phone as he slowly answered, “Look man, I don’t know how close you might be to this guy, so I’m going to let you down easy. He’s in a bit of trouble.”
Patrick McCafferty was indeed a staple in Luke’s career. Many of the assignments that he was on, had intersected CIA cases that McCafferty had been a part of. Nevertheless, Luke was a straight shooter and even if his own mother had been accused of a crime, he would still seek out the due course of the law.
As such, Luke asked, “What kind of trouble?”
Mason answered, “Trafficking with known international terrorist organizations kind of trouble.”
Swallowing hard, Luke hissed, “Shit.”
Luke then asked, “How do you know?”
Mason answered, “Well—I can’t go into the exact details but I have an operative on the ground who has just gotten smoking gun evidence that such exchanges have indeed been carried out.”
Mason then added, “I’m sending them to you now.”
Mason true to form then fired off the messages straight to Luke. Thanks to the power of the 5G internet that spanned the globe, he received them mere seconds later. Luke acknowledged as much, “Alright I got them.”
Before telling him, “Alright Mason, hold on a second while I skim over these.”
Luke then put Mason on speaker phone while he pulled up the images just sent to him, and looked down at the screen. Zooming in on the photos of McCafferty’s files, it wasn’t long before Luke realized that Mason’s claims were legit.
Luke gasped, “Oh wow—this is highly incriminating.”
Mason then added, “Yeah—well better him than me.”
Luke not quite following asked, “What do you mean?”
Mason nodded, “I believe that McCafferty’s associates were actively trying to pin his crimes onto me.”
Mason paused before adding, “But I do believe it’s backfired on them in a big way.”
Luke agreed, “I believe you are right.” Luke then instructed Mason, “Alright Mason, just sit tight for now. I’m going to call up my contacts and get a team ready to go.”
Mason laughed slightly, “You work wonders Luke… You work wonders.”
Luke answered, “Just doing my job buddy. Just doing my job.”
THE FOLLOWING MORNING AT CIA HEADQUARTERS
Neither Jason nor Clara knew exactly what to expect upon their arrival back to the office. Clara for her part was prepared for the worst since she knew that if Patrick captured them on any of his surveillance cameras, they were done for. It was with these butterflies in her stomach that Clara sat down at her little cubicle in the agency office.
To her relief everything was quiet during the first few hours of her arrival. But around 11 o’clock that day, everything suddenly changed. She heard a loud commotion in the back of the office and then to her amazement saw federal agents pouring into the building.
She realized that her dad must have called up Luke and his other high-profile targets and shared the evidence she had collected. The agents with guns drawn went straight toward the office of director Wayne Sikes. It turned out that Patrick’s logs had included Sikes on many of the calls to international terrorists.
Now Sikes was being cited for leaking official information. This was followed by a nearly frantic Anna being led out by two more agents, as she shouted, “You don’t have the right! You don’t have the authority to do this!”
All pleas that fell on perfectly deaf ears as she and Wayne were both hauled out of the building. Clara Walker was not one to gloat over the tragedy of others. But she did have to admit that it felt good to both clear her dad’s name, as well as complete her first official job as an operative of the CIA, successfully.
Epilogue
When Life Gives You Lemons
If Jason’s strategy for winning Clara’s heart partly consisted of simply wearing her down with incessant requests and entreaties—it seemed like it just might be beginning to work. Tired of turning the guy down, when he asked her out for a Friday dinner date, she finally complied.
She was hesitant for a lot of reasons. For one thing, her previous boyfriend had turned into a real creep, and betrayed her trust. But in addition to this she also tended to believe in the old workplace rule that you should avoid mixing business with pleasure. Clara was just beginning to enjoy her work with the CIA after all and she was afraid that getting close to Jason would somehow ruin it.
On the other hand, however, she knew from her father’s example that sometimes workplace romance does indeed have a happy ending. And as she looked across the table at her would-be paramour she wondered as much, thinking to herself, ‘Just how far will all of this go?’
Jason caught her gaze for a moment before she anxiously ducked her head down into her menu, pretending to look at the appetizers. Jason bringing his full charm to bear, grinned, and asked in his booming, deep voice, “You see anything good in there?”
It was Jason’s simplicity that always managed to so thoroughly disarm her. She had a lot on her mind, and was plumbing the depths, questioning everything and thinking deep. Yet, all it took was some simple, obtuse comment for Jason to pull her sinking psyche back to the surface.
That quality that he possessed; she was quickly beginning to realize was precisely what she needed in order to go forward with her life. She didn’t need someone to commiserate and analyze everything right along with her, she needed someone to actively burst her philosophical thought bubbles, get her head out of the clouds, and put her feet back on solid ground.
And that was precisely what Jason Holmes seemed to do for her. As she continued to look at the menu, she must have been lost in thought for a little too long. Because Jason decided to interrupt her daydream with the remark, “It’s a menu Clara—not War and Peace!”
To which Clara let out a startled, “What?”
Jason laughed, “It’s like your reading a novel over there, instead of deciding what it is that you would like to order. Are you alright?”
Although Clara still seemingly lost in thought, hesitated to respond, after a moment she mustered, “Uh—yeah. Everything’s fine.”
Jason frowned, “I’m sorry Clara, if you didn’t really want to go out tonight, I shouldn’t have made you come.”
The frank sincerity of Jason’s words managed to capture her attention, as she assured him, “Oh no—it’s not that Jason. I just have a lot on my mind.”
To which Jason laughed, “Don’t we all!”
Looking down at his own menu Jason’s mind began recirculating recent events as well. It really was a tour de force of drama that they had both experienced. But in this whirlwind of emotion he was only a peripheral player, he could only imagine how the star of the dramatic episode—Clara Walker—may have felt.
Glancing back up at her, Jason smirked, “Well I do have to give you some credit Clara, you are the only person I know who has been hired on by the CIA to investigate her own father!”
Clara sighed, “Yeah—tell me about it.”
Jason seeking to show some level of concern and compassion, remarked, “Well don’t worry Clara, it never should have happened—and at any rate, your father is now in the clear.”
Clara once again looking d
own into the menu she clutched in her hands nodded, “I know….”
She did indeed now that her father was vindicated, but her faith in humanity still needed some work. Because even though the efforts to frame her father had been stopped. It only made Clara wonder how soon until some other corrupt official decided to bend the law to their own ends and attack her loved ones anew.
Jason at a loss of how to continue the conversation, asked point blank, “Well—that has to make you happy right?”
To which Clara as if waking up from a dream, answered, “Oh—yes! Yes, of course!”
But although she professed happiness with her lips, Clara’s disposition seemed anything but. She seemed worried, haunted, and hounded. Her mind was not at ease, and her nerves were frayed. This was not the bubbly young woman that he had first met. It seemed as if her personality had made a decided shift.
Jason tired of beating around the bush sighed, “So what is it that seems to be troubling you my dear? Why are you currently so glum chum?”
At which Clara looked up at him and sighed, “Oh, I don’t know Jason… sometimes its just the whole fallen state of the whole world that seems to weigh heavily on my own mind.”
Jason not quite prepared for such a profound response, took a sip of the customary water the waiter had left him and replied, “Wow—that is deep!”
Clara continued, “You know…the fact that the CIA is so corrupt, that such hollowed institutions of government could be so utterly plagued with spies and back stabbers. How can you trust anyone at all?”
Jason smiled, “Well I hate to break it to you kid, but since the CIA trains people to be spies, it shouldn’t surprise your that they too get spied on from time to time!”
Jason chuckled, “Call it karmic justice or whatever you want—but it’s pretty much unavoidable.”
Clara understood what Jason was saying. Since the U.S. created intelligence officers to keep track of others, it would only make sense that some of these hens might occasionally come home to roost. But it seemed that the corruption that she experienced went even beyond that.
Clara had joined up with the agency on the most altruistic of grounds, but now it seemed that she had stepped into a world of nonstop lies and deceit. A fact that made Clara finally admit, “Sometimes I feel like the agency just isn’t right for me….”
Jason’s eyes widened, “Really?”
Clara nodded her head and explained, “I just don’t know if I’m ready to join up with people that lie, rob, and kill to get a paycheck.”
Right as she said these words the waiter who had stepped up to their table completely unnoticed cleared his throat to get their attention. Turning toward the waiter, Jason saw that he appeared to be deeply intrigued as to just what profession Clara was referring to that would have her lie, rob, and kill.
Jason spouting off the first thing that came to mind, waved his hand at Clara and joked, “Don’t mind her—she just took a job for the IRS!”
A pronouncement that had the waiter remark, “Oh—you poor thing!”
The waiter then asked Clara, “Madam have you decided what you would have?”
To which Clara morosely replied, “A new lease on life…”
The waiter, becoming more and more unwary of his guests, questioned, “I—I beg your pardon.”
Jason then took over telling him, “I’m sorry sir, we’re just having a hard time making up our minds. Could you please give us just a few more minutes?”
The waiter fortunately accepted this proposal, agreeing, “Certainly!” leaving them to sort out their flagging emotions.
Clara feeling bad for being such a downer, apologized, “I’m sorry Jason, I don’t mean to be so negative….”
Jason, displaying the persistence, understanding, and sheer emotional fortitude that made him so attractive to her in the first place, continued to take it all in stride. Rejecting her apology, he took a completely different tact, as he told her, “No need to worry Clara. I was once exactly like you.”
To think of happy-go-lucky Jason being in a melancholy state, was a surprise to Clara, prompting her to inquired, “Really?”
Jason nodded his head, “Yes—really.” Jason then explained, “When I first joined the CIA. I was at a complete loss as to what I really wanted to do with my life.”
Clara was all ears now as Jason continued, “After getting a bachelors in political science I started sitting in on some political campaigns, thinking that I could get in deep with local political parties.”
Clara asked, “Why?”
Jason explained, “To work my way up of course!”
To which Clara asked, “Work your way up to what?”
Jason laughed, “Hell if I know—to be the President of the United States? Who knows right?”
Taking a big gulp of his water, and slamming the glass down as if it were a shot of vodka, Jason then leveled, “But I was completely at a loss. After campaign after campaign petered out and I was stuck doing nothing but passing out campaign buttons and yard signs, I realized that I was at a dead-end.”
Clara then asked, “So that’s why you joined the CIA?”
Jason answered, “Sort of….”
Jason took a breath and then continued, “You see it was in the middle of my political campaign doldrums that I met Patrick McCafferty.”
Clara almost flinched at the mention, here was yet another corrupt person that had bent the law to their own purposes. Clara asked, “What? What was Patrick McCafferty doing on the campaign trail? Was he running for office?”
Jason shook his head, “Hell no… He was serving in capacity for the CIA.”
Clara asked, “For what purpose?”
Jason nodded, “Well at the time I was working on the reelection campaign of President Morgan….”
At which Clara jokingly sneered, “Oh my! Consorting with conservatives! How could you?”
Prompting Jason to chuckle, “Right, well anyway…. I guess that things got a little heated for Morgan along the way, and the CIA actually suspected him of colluding with a foreign power.”
Clara vaguely recalled some mention of this many years ago, but as she was still in high school at the time, she had a lot more to worry about and it had barely registered in her brain. Now she was all ears however, as she asked, “Okay, so what did McCafferty find out during his fact-finding expedition on Morgan?”
Jason nodded, “Well—not much. It turns out that it was all largely just a smear campaign of his opponents. And just short of outright framing the guy, they were doing everything they could to suggest that there was collusion. But in the end, there was none.”
Clara asked, “So what did McCafferty do?”
To which Jason laughed, “He became President Morgan’s campaign manager.”
Clara didn’t know this little fact. Of course, she never really was much of a political junkie, reading up on the intricate details of political campaigns. But it was a surprise all the same as she gasped, “Your kidding. He became the campaign manager of the man who he was initially tasked to take down?”
Jason nodded, “Yep! And he became a damn good one! Playing an essential role in getting President Morgan reelected!”
Clara then asked, “How was it that you found out about all of this?”
Jason then revealed, “Well, we were working pretty close on the campaign together. So close in fact that one day we accidentally swapped cellphones.”
Clara asked, “You swapped cellphones?”
Jason nodded, “Accidentally yeah.”
Clara asked, “How did that happen?”
Jason grinned, “Well if you remember, that election year, the Eye-Phone X was all the rage, and just about everyone wanted to have one, right?”
Clara remembering back to her high school days when kids were begging their parents for that particular brand of phone, agreed, “Yeah I guess so.”
Jason then asked, “Well, you remember how it only came in colors of white and grey?”
; Clara nodded, “Yes.”
Jason then explained, “Well out of those two colors, me and McCaffery both happened to have the exact same phone, with the exact same color. They looked exactly identical.”
Clara muttered, “Oh crap…”
Jason then explained, “Yep… and all it took to get mixed up was setting them down on the same table one day and one of us picking up the wrong one.”
Clara gasped, “Wow…”
Jason laughed, “It took me a while to even realize what had happened, but when I started getting privileged voicemails and texts from CIA operatives, I knew that something was up.”
Clara asked, “So what did you do?”
Jason answered, “I returned the phone. But by then he already knew that he was compromised.”
Jason paused before answering, “Knowing the jig was up he then owned up to the whole thing.”
Clara asked, “So that’s what turned you onto the CIA?”
Jason nodded, “Yep—exactly.”
Clara struggling to understand, remarked, “I’m sorry if I still don’t get it—but what exactly was it besides listening in on a few confidential voicemails that would lead you to make that leap?”
Jason then explained, “After hearing McCafferty’s story of how he could turn around and befriend the very man he was sent to investigate, and then work towards helping him in every way possible. I saw how clever agents could take lemons and make lemonade out of them. This is what inspired me to join up with the CIA.”
Clara putting it together, began to see what Jason was saying as she reiterated, “So out of a few human lemons, you learned how to make lemonade?”
Jason smiled, “Exactly.”
With a faraway look in his eyes, Jason waxed philosophically, “It was like I had just experienced an epiphany. I realized that there are no good guys, there are no bad guys—that we are all just pieces of the same puzzle. Pieces of clay that can be shaped into just about anything given the right circumstances. It just depends on what you do with it.”
