I looked at him in total confusion.
“How would they do that?” I asked, “They’re all going to go to jail. The revenge options are pretty limited in there.”
Nicholas shook his head.
“Remember what Salvador said? The evidence so far only implicates Durant Industries. The FBI hopes that they’re going to find enough evidence in the raid to go after Skylark, but we don’t actually have any proof that they’re involved at all.”
“They’re going to find plenty,” I said firmly, “plus, there’s Oliver’s webcam footage of people searching his apartment.”
“I hope you’re right,” Nicholas said. I would have thought he’d be happier about what we had just accomplished, but instead he seemed more frustrated and sad than ever. “If Skylark manages to get off on all the things they’ve done it would be the ultimate injustice. I hate the idea of Oliver running around in his stupid costume trying to hide from them.”
“It’s all going to be over soon,” I told him. I opened my arms up to Nicholas from my place on the shabby little couch, and he came into my embrace with a sigh. I rubbed his tense shoulders. “Soon we’ll be able to tell everyone the truth. We’ll get out of this safe house and go home. You can tell your cousins what really happened to you five years ago. You can have your life back.”
Against the sensitive skin of my neck, I could feel his full lips drawn upwards into smile. It put a smile on my own face to feel it. Staying mad at Nicholas wasn’t possible.
“I never could have done this without you,” he mumbled, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” I replied contentedly. All my frustration about Nicholas telling Richard the FBI were coming had drained out of me. Like Nicholas, now I just wanted it all to be over.
Nicholas pulled back from our awkward hug-massage and kissed me. I melted into his warm, soft kiss in an instant. No one had ever kissed me like Nicholas did. I hoped that I’d always feel these butterflies in my stomach when he did.
We eased back against the cushions of the sofa and made out until we were both breathless and eager for more. I was on the verge of suggesting a change of venue to the bathroom when an unfamiliar buzzing noise filled the apartment.
It took a moment for Nicholas and I to figure out that this was the doorbell and not some kind of anti-kissing alarm. Nicholas rose to look through the peep hole cautiously. It was Salvador.
The giant man entered the little apartment and instantly made it look more like a dollhouse than a studio. He was carrying three beers and handed two of them to Nicholas and me. He plopped himself down on the couch between Nicholas and I, causing it to sag heavily from the middle.
“Jenna, please turn on the TV,” he said to me happily, and I fiddled with the remote.
“What channel?” I asked him.
“Doesn’t matter,” he replied with a huge grin.
I pressed the buttons until the old television set roared to life. Salvador was right. The channel didn’t matter. The news was everywhere.
Newspaper Clipping
CREDIBLE ALLEGATIONS OF ILLEGAL CHEMICAL WEAPON PRODUCTION: Durant Industries Raided by FBI
By Zoey Atkinson, The Philadelphia Monitor
Federal authorities raided the headquarters of Durant Industries in Philadelphia this afternoon, and FBI agents converged on the location at 1310 Chestnut Street just after closing at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Federal agents were executing a search warrant of the corporate headquarters, the twenty-story hub of the international chemical conglomerate owned by the famous Durant-Breyer family. Durant Industries is the third-largest privately owned company in the United States, with a reported annual revenue of 60 billion dollars and almost 300,000 employees.
The search warrant is sealed, and the bureau and the company declined to comment on the nature of the FBI investigation. But people familiar with the matter said the inquiry concerns credible allegations of chemical weapons development, production, testing, and distribution involving the United States government.
Durant Industries is among the largest employers and most powerful companies in the United States. From 1990 through 2018, documents obtained under public-record laws show that the company received more than 11,000 government contracts nationally. In a current brochure, the company says that 10,000 people work on government-related projects at Durant Industries in a wide variety of sectors.
FBI Director Elvis Salvador confirmed the hours-long search of the 25,000-square-foot facility but declined to comment further because the matter is under seal. A person familiar with the matter said that FBI agents took copious records from Durant Industries but did not remove anything that looked like weaponry.
The search warrant, though sealed, signals that an FBI investigation of Durant Industries has reached an advanced stage. To obtain a search warrant to seize records, rather than demand them via subpoena, FBI agents must provide a detailed affidavit to a U.S. magistrate with evidence to support probable cause that crimes have been committed and that related records may be on the premises.
“Durant Industries is fully cooperating with the FBI and looks forward to resolving whatever questions the government may have about their business,” said Mitchell Clark, a Waterloo attorney who represents the company. “Out of respect for the integrity of the process, we do not believe that further comment is appropriate at this time.”
It is illegal to profit from the sale of chemical weapons. Under the 1997 ‘Chemical Weapons Convention’, to which the United States is a signed and ratified participant, the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons is prohibited. Very limited production for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes is still permitted. The main obligation of member states under the convention is to affect this prohibition, as well as the destruction of all current chemical weapons. All destruction activities must take place under strict verification and oversight by Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
A treaty party such as the United States may declare a "single small-scale facility" that produces up to 1 ton of certain toxic chemicals for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes each year, and also another facility may produce 10 kg per year for protective testing purposes. An unlimited number of other facilities may produce other dangerous chemicals, subject to a total 10 kg annual limit, for research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes, but any facility producing more than 100 grams must be declared. Durant Industries has never been declared by the United States in any capacity.
On November 25, 1969, President Richard Nixon unilaterally renounced the use of chemical weapons and renounced all methods of biological warfare. He issued a decree halting the production and transport of all chemical weapons, which remains in effect. All subsequent Presidents have continued with his policy to eliminate chemical weapons from the United States. The United States has declared that it is on schedule for total destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles by 2023, and that it ceased all production of chemical weapons in 1997.
Dual-use chemicals, those with both offensive and scientific or manufacturing value, complicate governments' efforts to limit the spread of chemical weapons. In the early 1990s, the U.S. tried to block the shipping of dual-use products to Iran, Libya, and Syria. Washington had to deal with multiple Southeast Asian firms and Middle Eastern port authorities.
In the past, many international companies have successfully argued that U.S. dual-use standards did not apply to them since they weren't American firms. International companies have told Washington that it had no case unless it could prove the companies' clients were misusing the materials. If the allegations against Durant Industries and the United States government are substantiated, it could threaten United States efforts abroad to suppress the proliferation of chemical weapons.
The Philadelphia Monitor is publishing the foregoing with the additional disclosure that it is a subsidiary of Durant Industries.
; 40
Nicholas
“To be honest, I thought there was at least a fifty percent chance you’d just gone totally nuts,” Nathan told me over dinner a week later, “and if I’m being totally honest, I wouldn’t have believed you even if you’d told me the truth yourself. I probably would have called your father and had you committed to a loony bin. I mean, chemical weapons at Durant Industries? It just sounds so impossible.”
We exchanged a cynical smile while both Zoey and Jenna looked on in horror at Nathan’s lack of familial trust. I had begun easing Jenna in to how strange my family was. Nathan, who was fairly normal by Durant-Breyer standards, seemed like a good place to start.
“This is off the record, right?” I asked Nathan’s fiancée Zoey before replying.
“Yes, yes,” Zoey said dismissively. She rolled her brown eyes dramatically. “Everything at this dinner is off the record. I’ve had to learn the hard way how to separate my work life and home life. If anyone at this table is crazy, it’s me. I’ve practically developed multiple personality disorder just to make it through family dinners.”
Being a reporter and marrying into this family was definitely going to be an ethical and practical challenge. Zoey seemed up to it, though. She and Nathan looked at each other with googly love eyes that said they’d do anything for one another.
I knew the feeling. Jenna had been my emotional rock during the stressful FBI investigation of Durant Industries, not to mention the bizarre week preceding it. This was our first time out of the safe house all week and we were both enjoying the break. Salvador was actually a pretty cool guy, but we weren’t exactly best buddies. He still saw us as witnesses and assets more than as humans who enjoyed autonomy, privacy, and the occasional walk in the park without a security detail.
“Well in the interest of full disclosure, I would never have told you the entire truth without being one hundred percent sure you weren’t personally involved,” I told Nathan, “I didn’t spend five years alone in the Alaskan wilderness because I’m too trusting. For all I know you’re an astronaut and an arms dealer. I wouldn’t put it past you. You’ve always been a good multitasker.”
Zoey and Jenna laughed, and Nathan and I joined in after a moment. Nathan knew I wasn’t really joking.
“You weren’t totally alone,” Zoey said, slipping a little bite of steak off her plate to Harley, “you had Harley.”
Harley had finally dispensed with the cone of shame from her surgery and was celebrating her return to full mobility by eating half of Zoey’s food tonight. I thought Oliver was the ultimate soft touch with animals, but he had nothing on Zoey. I liked her immensely. She clearly wanted to get a pet. Nathan looked less sure that was a good idea.
“So, what’s David up to?” I asked Nathan once we got off the topic of Harley, “I haven’t heard from him yet. Even both Alexanders called me to say hello.”
Nathan shook his head in apparent frustration.
“I wish I knew,” he said in a grumpy voice, “David’s been really weird lately.”
“David’s always been weird,” I replied nonchalantly, “Of the four of us, I think we can safely say that he’s the weird one.”
“Five years ago, I would have agreed with you, Nick,” Nathan replied with a smile, “but that was before you went all sasquatch on us for half a decade.”
“Well you’re the one who believes in sasquatch,” Zoey interjected to her fiancée, teasing him gently, “and you’re open to aliens. Maybe you’re the weird one.”
Nathan laughed. Jenna and I exchanged a confused glance.
Nathan believed in sasquatch?
“I’m not the weird one. I’m the one with the awesome spaceship. I’m the cool one. But regardless of who the weird one is, David has definitely been more weird than usual lately,” Nathan finally said before I could get clarification on the bigfoot thing. “He’s still trying to get his talk show figured out after like a year of development. He’s been splitting his time between LA and Philly and I’m not sure he even knows what state he’s in half the time. I can tell he’s completely exhausted.”
“Why is he doing a talk show?” I asked in confusion, “Are his restaurants not doing well anymore?”
Nathan rolled his eyes.
“His restaurants are doing amazing,” he replied, “but he’s got this ambition that just won’t be content with being a successful chef and restaurateur. He thinks he needs a media empire too. I don’t get it.”
I shrugged. If David wanted to be the next Oprah, more power to him. Our conversation stalled as I imagined David announcing that everyone in his audience had won a car. I could believe it.
“Have you heard at all from Richard?” Nathan finally asked. I’d been waiting the entire meal for him to work up to it. I was surprised it had taken him this long.
“No,” I replied, “not since I called and tipped him off. He’s been totally radio silent. I’m sure he’s chilling in the Seychelles or Moscow or something. He has some oligarch buddies that I’m confident would be more than happy to lend him their guest castle. I bet we don’t hear from him for years.”
I shook my head. Nathan looked conflicted but said nothing.
“If he does call, please don’t tell me where he’s calling from if he tells you,” Jenna said firmly. “Because I really want to tell the FBI so he’ll go to jail.”
Jenna was still irritated that Richard had successfully gotten away. When the FBI raided Durant Industries, they found loads of evidence that implicated Richard personally in the chemical weapons production. I’d never realized how involved he’d been. It was upsetting, but not wholly unexpected. I was beginning to come to grips with the sort of person my father really was. The truth was even uglier than I’d suspected.
“Don’t tell me either,” Zoey chimed. “I might print it, because I agree. He deserves to rot in jail. Anyone who makes chemical weapons deserves his day in court.”
“We need to get off this subject,” Nathan said uncomfortably. I couldn’t agree more. “Has Oliver emerged from his hidey hole yet?”
Jenna and I exchanged a worried glance.
“Not yet,” Jenna answered, pushing her hair back over her shoulders in a display of discomfort. “We still have no way to contact him. I guess he’s just waiting until all the smoke has cleared to resurface. We need his testimony and evidence on Skylark though. Hopefully he reaches out to us soon.”
“It seems really strange to me that the FBI didn’t find anything at all related to Skylark during their raid on Durant Industries,” I added, “They did a really good job of covering their tracks. Technically Oliver is still wanted for murder, although we all know he had nothing to do with what happened to Theresa.”
“I still can’t believe Theresa’s dead,” Nathan said at mention of her name, “I remember her really well from when we were kids. She was always yelling and me and David to be quieter when our mom brought us to the office. She liked you though.”
“How is Deborah?” I asked Nathan, less because I was actually interested in my aunt’s health and more because I sincerely didn’t want to talk about Theresa. I was still working on processing her death. It would be a long, long time before I would be able to think about Theresa without a sickening feeling of guilt and regret. She’d been the key to exposing everything. It wasn’t fair.
“Mom’s fine,” Nathan said with a shrug, “you know how she is. According to her, this whole chemical weapons thing is a set up by the US government to control Durant Industries and make us lower the prices on our other government contracts.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Jenna said with a frown, “the government wouldn’t want their chemical weapons program exposed, period.”
“I’m not saying it’s a well thought out opinion,” Nathan replied, “she’s just unable to understand how or why Richard could be involved. She’s got a little bit of cognitive dissonance going on. I mean, she’s obviously known Richard forever, so she knows he’s got a little more ethi
cal wiggle room than is probably healthy… but she can’t quite accept that he’d do this. Hence the half-baked conspiracy theory.”
“Do you four want to split some dessert?” Our waitress asked, sidling up to our table with the lavish dessert tray.
Harley poked her head up over the table with a little interested noise to get a better look at the dessert selection, causing our whole group to giggle.
“Sorry honey,” the waitress said to Harley, “chocolate isn’t good for doggies. I can bring you some scraps for later though if your mommy and daddy say its ok.”
Jenna and I nodded. Although it was silly, I really liked the idea that Harley might see Jenna and me as her parents. In reality, she probably saw us more like her disobedient but loveable servants.
“I don’t think I can handle dessert,” Jenna said, and the rest of us gave our general agreement with her statement. The food here had been excellent, but we were all stuffed to the gills. Predictably, only Harley seemed to have room for dessert.
Our double date group sat at the table and drank coffee and talked for about half an hour. Jenna and Zoey were really hitting it off. They made plans to go shopping as soon as Jenna got sprung from protective custody and discovered a shared love of hot yoga (which sounded absolutely horrible to me).
Nathan and I watched them rapidly becoming friends and exchanged a look of mutual wonder. Neither of us had ever been able to do that. Making friends came slowly for both of us. Nathan at least always had David as a built in best friend. I didn’t have anyone like that as a kid. Just an absent mother, a sociopathic father, and a big, creepy mansion to play hide-and-seek in by myself. Jenna was right; it was lucky that I’d had Oliver and Theresa in my life. They were probably the only thing that spared me from being a total freak. And Nathan’s former statements notwithstanding, I was still convinced that David was the weird Durant heir.
Down and Dirty Page 20
