by J. T. Patten
Chapter 60
It wasn’t until the second bucket of cold water was thrown that Harrison regained consciousness. He groggily fought to gain awareness of his surroundings.
“There we are. Shit, Harrison, you were more of a pussy than I thought. Must be that Navy blood I found out you have. Do you realize you just got your ass kicked by an intel weenie? A non-government, non-military, commercial intel weenie.”
Harrison’s eyes blinked. He tried to mouth something but felt incredible oral pain. Havens watched Harrison’s tongue probe where teeth once were.
“Yeah, you are going to be on a liquid diet for a while, buddy. Bunch of those teeth are gone. I’ll make you a smoothie in a bit, but first we need to talk a little. You’re lucky my little girl is OK. That really pissed me off, Harrison, really pissed me off.”
Harrison, sounding like he was coming out of numbed root canal surgery, managed to get out a garbled and bloody, “Fuck you.”
“Yeah. I thought that may be the case. So, here’s my issue, notwithstanding my daughter. This whole domestic black op thing you have me involved in has been a shit show since the start. I have been able to have a little backstop in that my techie buddy, X, has been able to trace my calls and my whereabouts, and from your calls to me was able to pull your logs too as of about an hour ago. Now that I have your phone, and you should have at least password protected it, your call history shows some interesting locations and dates. All said and done, with proper chain of custody of this evidence, it probably would be sufficient to prosecute you.”
Harrison was now able to get out a more convincing “Go to hell,” but lost intimidation credibility with the enunciation of “Ha-bens.” Blood and drool continued to leak from Harrison’s mouth.
“Well, I suppose we both may end up in Hell. You sooner than me at this rate. But I suspect I won’t be far behind you. I have been feeling a little bit frisky these days. I think it suits me. You’ll have to let me know in a bit. I see a few phone numbers in here that I recognize and that has been quite disappointing. But for kicks and giggles why don’t you tell me which one of these numbers is Draeger’s.”
The telling motion by which Harrison looked up at Havens ended the discovery process. Havens had suspected it to be true, but this new reality left him without breath. He had wanted it not to be true. He had even saved Draeger on a couple of occasions. The guy actually owed him.
Harrison saw the look on Havens’ face. Amidst the pain he was feeling, Harrison found great enjoyment in the thought that Havens was experiencing a little of the same pain, albeit of heart and soul. Harrison’s broken toothed grin amidst the blood and the bruising was like a demonic vision. As Harrison started to cackle, it made Havens shiver in the way a child may fear a fanged Halloween clown. Sean grasped at his own pant leg looking for some sense of security. The discomfort and fear was not from the man before him. It came from Havens’ core as he questioned his base strength to take this all in. His soul was darkening and he didn’t care. As he rubbed up on his leg he felt the other phone he had taken off Harrison. It wasn’t a smart phone and only had one number in the memory.
“My guess is Draeger’s number is this one. Should we try it?”
Harrison had ceased to care about anything at that point. The number wasn’t Draeger’s. May as well see where this can go from here. Couldn’t get much worse. Harrison wasn’t sure if Havens planned to kill him. If he got the chance, Harrison would definitely kill Havens. Wait for the opening.
Chapter 61
Havens looked back on the smart phone for longer, more frequent calls. They would likely be tasking and management calls. Whoever had been running this show clearly thought they were untouchable using commercial phones. Maybe that was part of the plan too. It wouldn’t be out of the question to maintain multiple commercial phone lines with the disposability many telephone carriers now offered. A group seeking anonymity could actually keep things out in the open to blend in or so they could be “officially” investigated later if they wanted to leave tracks. Havens selected and dialed the number that showed on the display the greatest time durations. As the phone rang, he had a confident anger that kept the rising queasiness in his stomach at bay.
Sean Havens recognized the voice immediately when it was answered.
Draeger.
“Did you end up going after the girl yourself, Harrison? Naughty boy, dancing with a devil like Havens.” Draeger exuded an air of nonchalance that accompanied the norm of messing with people’s lives for a living.
“Hi, buddy. Looks like you got another phone number. Guess who I’m with?”
It took Draeger a moment to register that this was now Havens calling from Harrison’s phone. The situation registered and he knew that things had gone very, very wrong. A narcissist at his core, the surprise was just as rapidly suppressed to the point that it hardly mattered to Draeger. It simply became part of the plan.
“Well, aren’t you just the sneaky little fucker of the year. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Draeger, but I think you claimed that one all on your own.”
“You just called me Draeger and not Pres. Is something wrong? Where do we stand with this all? I have to admit, I am at a bit of a disadvantage not knowing what you know, if you have been told truths, or if someone is setting me up. A lot of strange things have been happening and I am not sure who I can trust, Sean. Can I trust you?”
“Nice. Try to create some doubt to give me pause. Don’t oversell the victim card.”
“No, Sean, I wouldn’t do that. We have built our careers on taking orders and understanding that there is a higher authority at work. This situation is no different. The fact that I knew you were in trouble and chose to help you out should have no bearing on the fact that I never told you I was your superior. For that I won’t apologize because I know you would have viewed it as charity. Hell, Sean, I have been your boss for well over a year now. Yemen job. Mine. Venezuela, mine. Lebanon. Guess what? Me there too. I’ve been looking out for you.”
“Cut the act, Draeger. Harrison spilled everything about the military family murders to the killing of my own wife, notwithstanding this fucked up war you are trying to start so we can inflate defense spending with false legitimacy. I figured it out. Sorry to say I had blinders on at first, but I have been tracking it since you capped that politician in Missouri. Cemented it with the symbolic Lincoln attack. That’s got you and your self-proclaimed patriot ass all over it.”
“Like you are some bleeding heart liberal? We’re in the same position, Sean. None of us have jobs or worth if there are no wars and no spending. This is bigger than us. I am a freakin’ hero for doing this. Taking the responsibility to spill the blood of our own patriots for a greater cause? Who could bear the weight of that? Certainly not you! I sacrifice myself to uphold this nation.”
Deep in the bowels of the Pentagon’s benign white on white doors sat Prescott Draeger in a small darkened room. He closed his eyes as he took a breath and waited for a response from Havens. Draeger’s head was starting to pound. He squeezed his eyes tighter as if springing his eyelids open would flash this all away. The situation was a nuisance. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation even though he was caught. Worse, he had betrayed the man who was capable of being his only true friend. Worse still, Havens was going to make him pay dearly.
No turning back now.
He was furious that Havens couldn’t see the weakness of the U.S. and the threats that loomed the way he could. He couldn’t under why people didn’t get that cutting defense spending due to a weak economy only makes the nation weaker. It occurred to Draeger that he should have staged some attacks at the U.S. foreign embassies to get other nations to pony up some funds and stomach for this war of ideologies. The thought reinvigorated Draeger with new ideas for the future. This wouldn’t be his end. It was his debut. He had the connections; he could fully commit to the Pond.
“Sean, I was just following orders.”
“Orders?
Are you shitting me? There are no orders. This is your fucked up little scheme. You are a sick little man. You needed help so you fucked me and fucked up my life!”
“Sean, I had nothing to do with that. My superiors were aware of our friendship and cut me out of your personal situation. I had no idea of what they planned to do. I was just responsible for getting you back on track and on our side. I demanded it. That is the God’s honest truth. You have to believe me.” Get off my trail, Boy Scout.
Havens listened intently. The worst part of living with a family of liars was you had to assume someone was lying but never really knew how much or when. Their world afforded little humanity and the typical physiological and psychological lying ‘tells’ couldn’t be found in the hunter machines that they had become.
God I want to believe you, man, but in the wilderness of mirrors, it’s best to shoot all of them.
What am I talking about? Draeger knew Harrison had Maggie when he answered.
“Who do you report to, Draeger?”
“It’s complicated, Sean. It’s not one man.”
“Well uncomplicate it for me.”
“Let’s meet Sean. I can’t do this over a mobile. You know it’s not secure.”
“I’m a civilian Draeger and you are going to be dead when I come for you. Either way, I don’t think you will be needing references from them. Give me the names.”
“Sean, please. It’s a panel of leaders. Someone is running this program through a bigger one. It’s a cutout snuggled into Silver Star but it goes higher and into other areas. Some of our old bosses even.”
Until I can take care of Havens, I need to take care of myself and get this fucking bloodhound on the scent of someone more expendable. I still have work to do on this or the Pond will come hunting for me too.
Chapter 62
Less than a hundred miles from Draeger’s cell tower, two men were summoned by the listening post’s head technician who was tapped into the conversation with Havens.
“So what’s the situation, boys?” the crusty old two-star asked, looking at his watch as if he had somewhere better to be than mixing with the techies.
“The phones we have been providing the teams, even the throw aways, all had their subscriber identities logged into a tracker so we could pull them up at any time. Sean Havens has been hard to locate and track since the guy pulls the SIM and battery all the time on his phones. Anyway, sir, we have been keeping an eye on Draeger’s crew since they are carrying the biggest load. Unfortunately, it appears that Draeger is on the ropes. Chicago is a mess. Sounds like you were right. Having Havens as a wild card unraveled things.”
“How much?”
“Enough. The program could be at risk.”
“What specifically?” The old man took a sip of hot coffee while he awaited the answer. He blew the steaming brew and never lifted his eyes from his cup. “I would argue that our wild card has been Draeger and not Havens. I’ve worked with these boys before. Havens is no dummy. Draeger’s just willing to get his hands dirtier. The question is how much of it serves a purpose and how much he just gets off on. It’s like sending a porn addict in to manage a strip club.”
A man with round glasses and an ostrich egg in the nest of his balding hairline made a subtle gesture slitting his throat to the old man signaling the technicians didn’t have the need to know. Pulling the old retired general to the side, the program director defended his selection of Draeger.
“Sir, Havens wasn’t eligible for executive service in a government role. He is more qualified than Draeger, but he’s a contractor. Draeger is govie that we have covered under another community element that sought our assistance. The program therefore is simply an understanding. We can roll it up somewhere else. Start moving the books.”
“I don’t give three ape shits and a monkey turd about bureaucracy. What’s going on and how do we reach our damned end state. I won’t have you blemish my career cause these two bunk buddies aren’t willing to work together to see this through. Am I clear?”
“Sir, Havens knows Draeger was responsible for the local operations, the Havens family, and the target cover-ups.”
“Well, that’s your mess. Not mine. And what about Silver Star? We put a shitload of resources into that puppy.”
The balding man looked around the room, trying to be as discrete as possible. There was so much that should have been left unsaid already. “Havens appears to be aware that some superiors here in NCR have interests in preserving our security by these rather unconventional means.”
“I see. And did Draeger mention anyone in particular?”
“No, but seems like that is the route he is going.”
“Well, fortunately, Draeger only knows of you by name and he has a few other regions that are hopefully in more control.” The old man blew his coffee again before slurping another sip.
“Yes, sir. That is true. But he knows of us all.”
“No, he knows you and assumes he knows us all, correct?” The old man raised his watch again and looked around uncomfortably.
“Correct, sir. He knows of the greater us…in theory. But remember we are DoD. He is now more intel. I don’t know where his loyalties lie.”
“I don’t see loyalty mattering if he knows to do his job and keep his yap shut.” The old man raised an eyebrow signifying he was done and that nothing more needed to be said. He finalized his comments, “Well then, I think you best deal with your problem straight away and I entrust you to keep the shop in order. I trust the other aspects of our program are going forward as planned?”
“Yes, sir. They should be hitting the news by tomorrow evening at the latest.”
“Hooah! Now I suppose you will be sending a team or someone for Mr. Draeger?”
“I will handle it, sir.”
“Yes, you will, Conrad.”
“And Conrad,” the old man floated his hands towards the technicians, “I suggest you find a way with your cyber guys over here to get this phone call to end immediately. Just a thought. I’m sure you had already thought about that but out of respect to me you did not wish to interrupt. Keep me posted. I have dinner plans with our organization this evening. You’ve already made me late for another meeting.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
“And why are these shitheads on open lines?”
“We had a problem procuring the secure ones through a required GSA contract.”
“We had all the cash we could spend.”
“The contractor insisted so they wouldn’t fall out of procurement favor. They said invoices were already running at 120 a day payables and they didn’t want to put money up front since it was too hard these days to get add on dollars without jumping through hoops.”
“Fine. Just cut that damn line.” The old man poured his coffee in a nearby trashcan and stormed out of the control room.
Conrad, a former Air Force one-star general, tapped one of the technicians on the back. “I need you to cut that conversation off now and make sure it does not reconnect.”
“Roger that, sir. On it.”
Chapter 63
From the warehouse floor, Harrison was able to anticipate what Draeger was saying on the other end. He was saving himself. Why does that not surprise me?
“Draeger, you have some service related stress issues and I should have been there for you. I will not forgive myself for that. You, on the other hand, also tried to kill my family and did kill my wife. For that, I will never forgive you. But in this whole mess, you are my brother and you served your country alongside me. That would have gone further if you had served honorably though. Maybe part of that came from your prior service. God knows we have seen shit that today’s men should not bear witness to. Or maybe you were always a narcissistic asshole with sociopathic tendencies. I am not here to judge. I am here to solve the problem.”
Harrison rolled his eyes. This Havens is a piece of work. What an idiot. Harrison worked his bindings.
“What are you getti
ng at Sean? You are going to help me after all of this?”
“I already have. Good bye, Prescott.”
Wait for it…
“Wait, Sean! What do you mean you have? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Harrison became more attentive again, thinking he may have underestimated the man.
“You’ll see. It’s in your home. In your safe room to be exact. There you will find a geo location on a red piece of paper placed on the underside of one of your items in the house. It will lead you to one of your personal items stuffed in the mouth of a dead Harrison here in Chicago. After that, you need to get some help for yourself. Call me when you find it.”
“How the fuck were you in my home, Sean? How do you know about my room? No one even knows where I live, you fuck! I’ve got remote sensor motion activated IR cams, alarms, UV powder…No one can get in!”
“Fuck!” Draeger exclaimed again. The line had cut out and a disconnected message displayed on his phone. Draeger knew he was screwed now.
Havens has been in my house. But how? When could he have flown out? Did he have someone else do it? Shit. In my safe room? How did he breach my security?
When Havens’ call ended he assumed Draeger had hung up of his own accord to hurry home. Havens turned to Harrison.
“Why so perplexed, Harrison?”
Harrison remained still.
Havens circled around his captive and grabbed a three-foot length of pipe. Harrison cringed in anticipation of another beat down or worse. Havens had changed since the first time they met. They had killed his wife and taken his heart. It was supposed to break him, but Harrison knew now that Havens was only simmering. The daughter being alive wasn’t enough. Havens was capable of doing anything now. Not to follow orders, but because it drove him to fill the emptiness and the guilt.
“This? The pipe? Remember A Few Good Men? Tom Cruise liked to think with a bat. I’m just thinking. No worries, Harrison. See, Draeger’s on his way home. As we speak. As I speak. You don’t need to speak. I really have no idea where he lives.”
