The Orlando File Omnibus : (Omnibus Version-Book 1 & Book 2)

by Irvine, Ian C. P.

  Alex Swinton was dead. Kerrin hadn't got all the answers that he would have liked, but he had made some progress. As he thought about it all, he realised that there was still one person alive who would still know what had happened, and why everyone had died.

  One person.

  Perhaps it was time to pay David Sonderheim a visit in California.

  --------------------

  The plane landed ahead of schedule, and Kerrin was relieved to at last escape the body heat and stale sweat of the passenger beside him. He headed straight to the executive lounge where he showered and shaved, standing in the shower with the powerful jet of steaming water pounding his neck. Refreshed and once again alert, he made his way quickly through customs. Although he knew his wife would not be here to meet him this time, it did not lessen the disappointment as he watched others being met by loved ones.

  By now it was only 7.30 a.m. He would still have to wait another thirty minutes before his boss, Paul, would arrive at his desk at the Washington Post. He had told his wife to tell Paul where she was, and he wanted to see her before he did anything else.

  During the flight Kerrin had realised that he couldn't return to his own home. Not until this whole affair was over. People with the resources and power that they obviously had, would surely know by now who he was and where he lived. Worst of all, maybe they were waiting for him now.

  Wandering around the shops at the airport, he stopped to pick up a newspaper and found a free seat inside Starbucks where he read the latest Washington Post and slowly savoured a decent Colombian Café Late. As he turned to page three he swore loudly as he lost his concentration for a second and accidentally poured hot coffee over the edge of his hand. The spilt coffee didn't bother him. What bothered him was the large article spread across the whole page.

  "Utility Company Chairman Admits Million Dollar Fraud". Underneath the headline was the name and photograph of the journalist: Ed Harper.

  "Ed Harper? How come he gets the credit? That was my baby…I did most of the work on that!" Kerrin fumed. For a moment he forgot about everything else, and a combination of anger and jealousy swept over him. He glanced at his watch, simultaneously wiping the coffee from his hand with a napkin. It was almost 8 a.m. Paul should be there by now.

  He let his boss's phone ring about twenty times before it was eventually picked up.

  "Yes…Paul Cooper here!" His boss bellowed in his ear.

  "Paul? What the hell's going on? Ed Harper's got my page three spread on the Utility Company Fraud!"

  "Good article, huh? The boy's got talent!…"

  "But that was my baby! My work! Where does it mention my name?…I'll tell you where…bloody NOWHERE!"

  "Calm down Kerrin. The article was going stale. I found out that one of the firm's accountants was going to go public, and we'd lose the scoop…I didn’t want your work to go to waste. And you haven't been in the office for over two weeks…"

  "Okay…but I did ninety percent of the work, and practically wrote the whole bloody thing and my name isn't mentioned once!"

  "Sorry about that. I'll have a word with Ed…but you've got to admit he finished it up well?"

  Congratulating Ed Harper was the last thing on Kerrin's mind just now, although he had to agree that the boy had done an excellent job. Almost as good as Kerrin would have done.

  "So, I gather you're back then…or did you get someone to deliver a copy of The Post to you in South Africa?" His boss tried to change the subject.

  "Nope. I'm back. Listen Paul, we'll park this one for now, but I'm not going to forget it. We'll discuss it again later. But for now I've more important things to deal with. Have you heard from Dana?"

  "Yes, she's…"

  "No…Don't say anything! I think your phone could be bugged. I need to meet you. I can be in the centre in an hour. Paul, can you remember where I took that photograph a few years ago, and fooled you into believing I'd been in NASA?"

  "…Yes. I'll never forgive you for that one buddy, I really…"

  "Okay. Meet me there in one hour…and try to make sure you're not followed."

  The entrance to the IMAX-Cinema in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in the centre of Washington D.C. was already crowded with people queuing for the first performance of the latest 3D-IMAX film. When Kerrin had first become friends with his boss Paul and started to socialise with him outside of work, he had once pulled a childish prank on him. IMAX, the world's largest cinema screen complex, had been showing a rerun of the old film "The Dream is Alive" in 3D.

  The film had been shot from the space shuttle orbiting the earth, and the sequences had been so real, that when Kerrin had secretly taken a camera into the cinema with him and taken photographs of the film being projected on the screen, he had later been able to show his friends the photographs and convince them that he had personally taken the snaps of the distant Earth while he was a 'guest journalist' orbiting inside the space shuttle itself.

  At first Paul hadn't believed it, but then not seeing any other possible way that Kerrin could have taken the photographs, he had eventually fallen for it and believed that Kerrin had somehow been aboard the shuttle.

  Since then, Paul and Kerrin had played a constant series of childish pranks on each other, each one sillier than the last.

  Kerrin spotted Paul first, and walking across from the entrance to the cinema, he grabbed him lightly by the arm and redirected him quickly onto the escalator and back into the sunshine on the street outside.

  "What's with all the James Bond stuff, Kerrin?" Paul asked straight away.

  "Just taking precautions. I'm in way over my head. Now I'm just trying to survive."

  "You're hot property, mate. People…and I mean big people…important official people, if you get my drift…are looking for you. Did you know that we've had two visits from funny looking people in suits in the past two days? Asking questions about you…demanding copies of your files?"

  "What? What did you tell them? Did you give them the files?"

  "I had no choice pal. They flashed a couple of serious official looking passes at me, and gave me a copy of a court order."

  "Who were they? Where did they come from?" Kerrin asked, sitting down on one of the benches in the park opposite the museum.

  "The first visit was from the FBI. The second was the CIA. But you should have seen the faces on the guys from the CIA when I told them that the Feds had beaten them to it?"

  "So, what did you tell them?"

  "Just that you were out of the country…weren't expected back for a week or two…I told them that you were heading up a team of people investigating a seemingly suspicious group of suicides that had taken place in Orlando. They wanted to ask a lot more questions, but I told them they would have to speak to you directly. They asked how many other people were working on the story, and when it would be published. I guessed they had to be asking for a reason, so I took the liberty of embellishing the story a bit. I thought it might help you a little, if it sounded as if you were onto something really big! So I told them that it was going to be a big story, that three other people were working on it under your supervision. They wanted to know the names of the others, and I told them to fuck off. They didn't like that. Not a bit. But I did. I enjoyed that part a lot. Last thing they asked was when it would be published. I told them that as far as I was concerned, the sooner the better, but it was up to you to decide. I advised them to leave you alone, unless they wanted to become part of the story. They got a bit nervous at that, especially when I reminded them about how well our boys did in the Watergate scandal. They weren't too happy with that either. I thought the one in charge was going to threaten me for a minute, but he managed to control himself. In the end, he waved some sort of court order in my face, and cleared your desk …took stuff from your drawers. Sorry, pal. I couldn't stop them."

  "Thanks for that. You did good. Did they take my mail?"

  "They would have…but you can thank the Wunderkind for that. She's
been looking after it for you. She's hidden it all in her desk drawer. But she's beginning to complain, says that you got way too much…oh, and by the way she asked me to give you this…" Paul handed a large brown folder over to Kerrin. "Told me to tell you that you should call her to talk about it…I told her you might not want to talk to anybody in the office, so she gave me her home phone number. You can call her there this evening between eight and ten pm." He handed Kerrin a piece of paper with a number scrawled on it in blue ink.

  "Now Mr Graham, would you mind telling me what this is all about? What happened in South Africa?"

  "A lot. Listen Paul, you're not just my boss, you're a great friend of mine…you've got family…two teenage kids…just believe me when I tell you that, for the moment, the less you know the better. The guy I went to see in Cape Town had his head blown off right in front of me. I still can’t figure out if I'm alive by accident or because they think they can't kill me. Maybe they think I know something I don't…shit that's it…they're scared the Washington Post might have a story…and that's why they're asking you questions about what I'm working on! They're fishing! They're trying to find out exactly what we know, and until they know just exactly how much we do, they have to let me live. They don't dare kill me, in case we already have enough to incriminate them…But it's only a matter of time before they realise we have nothing…Which means I probably only have a matter of days to find out what it is that they think I might already know!" Kerrin stood up, adrenaline shooting through his system.

  "So what do you want me to do?" Paul asked.

  "Just be vague…make them think that the paper is onto something. Make them think we've got more cards than we have, and in the meantime I'll put the rest of the pack together."

  "No problem, pal…but where's this going to end? Shouldn't you report this to someone?"

  "And who would you suggest? The Feds? The CIA? They're both looking for me already! Why? How? What for? I don't know! Five suicides…five murders and just because I investigate them I suddenly become public enemy number one. There's something funny going on here, and it must go right to the top…I don't know where it ends, but I've got no choice but to keep going."

  Kerrin got up to go.

  "Paul, can you tell me where Dana is then?"

  "Yes..She told me to give you this address."

  "Paul…"

  "I know…don’t even ask. I've already forgotten the address. I won't tell anyone, no matter who asks."

  Paul got up beside Kerrin, and resting one hand on each shoulder, he looked him directly in the eyes.

  "Kerrin, the Washington Post has a proud history behind it. You're not the first person to have his life threatened while working on a case. Sometimes…well sometimes, it takes a brave man to root out the truth against all the odds. I don't know exactly what you're onto, but I know you, and I know your work. You're a good man. And maybe one day you'll be one of the best, right up there with the likes of those who went before you on Watergate and the Iran-Contra deal. The Washington Post is behind you my boy. And we'll help you in any way we can…just say it and it’s yours."

  He held out his hand.

  "Stay safe…and just in case…you might need this…"

  He handed Kerrin a gold credit card.

  "All you have to do is sign it. The paper pays the bill directly…just don't go overboard okay? Excuse the name, but I had to make up something."

  Kerrin looked at the name on the front of the card.

  Mark Twain.

  Kerrin had just been given a new name.

  Chapter 25

  Day Seventeen

  Newark

  Delaware

  It was a two hour drive across to Newark, Delaware. He laughed when he read the address on the paper Paul had given him. Dana had gone to stay with her friend, Sandy, who had landed a job in academia and now taught in the Physics Department at the University of Delaware. It was an in-joke between Kerrin and Dana. Kerrin had always found it funny that very few people had ever heard of the state of Delaware, and he was constantly amazed that people who lived even less than an hour away from the first state to be founded in 'the United States' did not even know where the place was. The fact that she had gone to hide there was a stroke of genius. The joke was that the average person wouldn't be able to find the whole state, let alone a single person in it!

  Kerrin had been pleased to see that Dana had only given Paul the name of her friend, and where to find her.

  Kerrin parked his car in a quiet parking lot just off Main Street, and walked down a flight of stairs leading from the road to a large long broad strip of grass, bordered by tall trees and impressive University buildings on either side. Professor Sandy Williams taught Condensed Matter Physics and had an office in Sharpe Lab, the large and beautiful looking laboratory with a Georgian facade in the middle of the beautiful tree-lined Mall.

  He crossed the Mall, walking amongst the students who were eating their lunches, throwing Frisbees or simply lying with their backs against the trees, studying their books.

  The entrance to Sharpe Lab was at the top of a flight of marble steps, on which the physics grad students were sprawled out drinking coffee and talking shop. As he made his way up the steps, he caught snippets of unintelligible conversations discussing 'quantum strings', 'Hamiltonian equations' and someone discussing the 'wave function Phi' in a loud, deep voice.

  Physicists, Kerrin believed, were related to aliens. They lived on another planet all of their own.

  He found Sandy's office on the first floor, having been directed to it by a lovely old lady in the main office, who Kerrin guessed was the departmental secretary and probably the only person in the whole building who truly lived on planet Earth.

  He knocked once, and walked in.

  "Professor Williams? I'm Kerrin, Dana's husband. We spoke on the phone about an hour ago?"

  The lady behind the desk stood up quickly. Her face started to pale before Kerrin's eyes, and in less than a second she had turned almost white.

  "Kerrin…? But…?…but…I…?"

  "What? What's the matter?"

  "You can't be Kerrin Graham! The real Kerrin Graham was here only ten minutes ago…and I gave him Dana's address already!"

  "You did what?" Kerrin almost shouted, a feeling of sudden panic beginning to rise within him.

  "…I told him where Dana is. He looked just like the description Dana gave me of him…Anyway, how do I know that you are Dana's husband?"

  "You don't. We've never met before, except I know a lot about you. What about the time you gave Dana chickenpox at your fourth birthday party…that's where Dana got the spots on the side of her cheek from…from you!…and what about when she had the accident. You sent her irises, her favourite flowers. They lasted for over a week, and she loved them…and …and you couldn't come to the wedding because you were on sabbatical in France…"

  "Okay. Okay. I believe you…"

  Sandy sat down hard in the wooden chair behind her desk, her hands covering her face.

  " Oh no, what have I done?"

  "Tell me. Exactly how long ago was the man here? What did he say to you?"

  She looked quickly at the clock on the wall.

  "He was here about twelve minutes ago…he said the same as you…that he was Dana's husband, that I was expecting him…He was wearing similar clothes…Dana told me what you liked to wear…he was the same size, same age…"

  "They must have listened to a phone conversation between Dana and my boss…shit…they're after Dana. How far is your house from here?"

  "It's about thirty minutes. I live on the outskirts of Wilmington."

  "Does Dana have access to a phone? Your home phone? Did you give the phone number to the other man?…"

  "No…no…Dana won't answer my home phone…and I only gave the man her address. I called her about ten minutes ago to tell her to expect you."

  "You called her…how? You said she wouldn't answer your phone?"

  "I gave
her my cell phone, so she wouldn’t have to exert herself too much…"

  "Quick. Call her now! I need to speak to her!" said Kerrin, grabbing the phone on her desk and thrusting the receiver towards Dana's friend. She recoiled slightly away from him, but then took the phone gingerly and dialled the cell phone number, before handing it back to Kerrin.

  The phone was ringing at the other end.

  "Pick up, damn it…pick up!!" he whispered aloud.

  Suddenly there was a voice at the other end. Thankfully it was hers.

  "Hullo…"

  "Dana! It's me! Listen, are you alone?"

  "Yes…why…I thought you were coming…"

  "Listen to me… I love you…Please don’t argue with me now. Just do as I say. In about five minutes a man is coming to Sandy’s house to come and get you…He's one of them…You must leave the house now. Immediately. Just go…Get out of there! Take the cell phone with you…Call me in ten minutes on my cell phone number to let me know you're safe. Let it ring three times and then hang up…I'm coming to meet you now. Drive to the train station in Wilmington and I'll meet you at the ticket booths…now GO!"

  Kerrin hung up.

  "Quick!" Kerrin almost shouted at Sandy, leaning over the table and grabbing her by the hand. "You're coming with me."

  Together they raced along the corridor past rooms full of students just about to start their afternoon classes, and down the stairs at the end of the building, before pushing open one of the fire exits and emerging out onto the mall.

  When they got to the car, they jumped in and Kerrin reversed out of the parking lot onto Main Street, and headed off past the State Theatre cinema and the Deer Park Tavern.

  At the end of Main Street they turned left and within minutes they were on the road to Wilmington. Kerrin drove, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and running down over his eyelashes into his eyes.

  He drove as fast as he could, ignoring the speed limit and shooting across two lights just as they were turning to red. A car ahead of them pulled over sharply onto the side of the road, letting them career past at twice the speed limit, the driver of the other car shouting and waving wildly at them as they overtook.