Viper Team Seven (The Viper Team Seven Series Book 1)

by Lewis, Rykar

“How are you, ma’am?” Parks greeted.

  “I am well. How are you, Major?” the First Lady asked.

  “And this,” the Commandant continued, “is the beautiful First Daughter, Renee Winnfield. Miss Winnfield, this is Major Keith Parks.”

  Parks noticed the “Miss Winnfield” and tried to think of something proper to say. “How are you, ma’am?” he asked professionally.

  Renee smiled and extended her hand. “I’m very well, thank you, Major.”

  Parks tore off his glove and shook her hand, feeling self-conscious and awkward. “It’s good to meet both of you ladies,” he said.

  “You’re the one who gave my dad his present, right?” Renee wondered.

  “Uh, yes ma’am, that’s me. I was put in charge of the gift detail, ma’am.”

  “And you couldn’t have picked a better gift. My dad is absolutely hysterical over it. He wanted to be a Marine you know.”

  Parks didn’t know that but he didn’t want to ask why he wasn’t one then. He was nervous enough as it was just being around her without extending this conversation.

  Seconds later, the President and First Lady were whisked away but Renee didn’t leave. She didn’t say or do anything and that made things ten times worse for Parks.

  “Are you an only child, ma’am?” he questioned after a long silence.

  Renee looked at him and shook her head. “No, I’m not. I had a younger brother. He was in the Air Force actually, a pilot. He won the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart during Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

  “What happened, did he trip on some flight line?” Parks ignorantly joked.

  Renee turned her face away as she responded, “No, he was killed in a collision with an enemy plane in 2006. He was awarded those medals during his funeral.”

  Parks felt like a nitwit and a total jerk. He had just wrecked everything. “Uh, I’m sorry ma’am,” he apologized. “I didn’t know. I just like to joke around about the Air Force, but that’s no excuse, ma’am.”

  Renee could sense his regret and forgave him quickly. “That’s all right, Major, you didn’t know.”

  “Yes ma’am. Anyway, where do you live?”

  “I live in Albany, New York,” Renee replied.

  Parks put two and two together. “The President was visiting you during 1/16, right?”

  “Right. What a horrible night. It was terribly tragic. I’m just glad my dad wasn’t involved in the attacks.”

  Parks nearly smiled. The National Security Advisor had briefed him on the Air Force One hijacking not long after he took command of the team. Smith had explained that the incident was played off to the media as just a crash, and since no one knew where the President had been coming from nobody thought otherwise. Thankfully, Renee didn’t question how Parks knew her dad was visiting her that night.

  Renee switched topics. “Where are you from, Major?”

  Parks shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am. Anywhere and everywhere I guess. That’s the way the military does things though. I was a Marine Corps brat most of my childhood years and now with me being a Marine, I don’t really know where to call home. But I guess you could say Montana, ma’am, because that’s where my family moved to when my dad retired.”

  Renee’s eyes lit up. “Montana? Where in Montana?”

  “Billings area – Roundup actually. That’s a small town that barely can be classified as a town.”

  “How neat. I’ve always wanted to visit Montana.”

  Parks was happy that they were finally talking about something that she wanted to talk about. “Well ma’am, there are some places of Montana that just aren’t worth visiting, and others that just have to be visited. Glacier and Yellowstone are two of those places that are really worth seeing.”

  “I was planning on visiting Glacier this year,” Renee told him. “But I can never seem to make time to go. What’s it like?”

  “I’m not sure my description could do it justice, ma’am,” Parks admitted. “You’ll have to see it in person to really know how beautiful it is.”

  “Everyone I know that’s been to Glacier has said it’s the most beautiful and breathtaking sight they’ve ever seen.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Parks stated. “I’ve seen better things, but it is nice.” Of course Parks didn’t tell her that one of those better things was her.

  Parks glanced around the room and noticed the late hour. He knew he couldn’t keep this conversation going much longer. He was too nervous to keep casually chatting with the First Daughter, and he needed to get home. There were some very important things he needed to work out.

  “Someday when I retire I hope to move to Montana,” Renee started. “I think I would enjoy the slow pace of life and the open spaces. I’m getting a little tired of big cities and large crowds.”

  “That’s what I keep on telling myself, ma’am. But as they say, duty calls.”

  Renee smiled and looked at the floor. “I can’t imagine what a big difference there is between Montana and Washington D.C.”

  “There’s a huge difference, ma’am. But when and where the Marine Corps says to go, I have to go, like it or not,” Parks declared.

  “So what is it that you do in D.C., Major?” Renee wondered.

  Parks was at a loss for words. He wasn’t going to lie to her but he definitely wasn’t going to tell her he was the leader of an elite counterterrorism team. “Uh, well, I work on the White House staff, ma’am.”

  “I see,” she said. “That must be a pretty exciting job.”

  “Some days it is, some days it isn’t. But overall it’s nice, ma’am.”

  Renee looked past Parks for a second and then stared at him directly. “It looks like they’re starting the dancing,” she informed him.

  Parks nodded. “And that means it’s time for me to head out, ma’am. I never stay around once the dancing starts.”

  Renee was puzzled. “Why not?”

  Parks chose his answer carefully. “Because there’s no reason for me to stay around, I suppose. And I think dancing is a little bit nonsensical.”

  Renee began to say something but a pudgy hand tapped Parks on the back and he spun around to see who it was. Low and behold, it was the rotund Navy admiral.

  “If you’ll excuse me, Major, if you’re not dancing, get out of the way,” the admiral barked.

  Parks forced himself to stand at attention and keep his mouth shut.

  “Well then, get out of the way,” the admiral ordered gruffly.

  “Yes sir,” Parks agreed grudgingly. He then faced Renee and told her, “It was a pleasure meeting you, ma’am. Have a good night.”

  Renee smiled and replied, “The pleasure was mine, Major. Have a good evening.”

  Parks smiled back and quickly whipped around and walked off. When he was in the food area he glanced back and saw the obese admiral dancing with Renee. His blood boiled for he knew that the admiral was merely doing that to get at him. He sighed, shook his head, and went to find Solomon.

  “Sir, would you care for a drink?” someone asked him as he passed by.

  Parks stopped. “No, no, I’m good. Besides, I don’t drink, never have, never will.”

  “Suit yourself, sir,” the man concluded.

  Parks briskly walked out the doors and found Solomon munching on some sort of dessert bread.

  “You ready to go?” Parks asked him.

  Solomon swallowed and questioned, “So soon? It’s early still.”

  “Yeah, I know but let’s go. We’ve got to be in the office mighty early in the morning.”

  Solomon tossed his paper plate and fork in a nearby garbage receptacle. “If you say so, then let’s go. Oh, since you didn’t get any cake, I brought you some.” Solomon handed Parks a piece of the cake. “And you’d better eat it because it’s real good.”

  Parks promised he would and he led the way out of the yard to the truck. When they reached the vehicle he unlocked it and both men climbed in.

  “It’
s funny I didn’t see anyone on the team other than Norse,” Parks pointed out as he forced himself to eat the cake.

  “I guess they didn’t come,” Solomon suggested. “Oh well, they missed out because it was a lot of fun.”

  Parks agreed as he backed the truck out of the parking lot and onto the road.

  “I saw you talking to the First Daughter,” Solomon added after a while.

  Parks stared straight ahead. “She’s a nice lady. So is the First Lady.”

  “I hear she’s going to be staying at the White House for a few days. That’ll be nice for the President.” Solomon paused. “And you.”

  Parks shook his head. “Cut it out Solomon.”

  “What? Am I wrong?”

  “Okay, please, let’s drop the subject,” Parks pleaded. “I need to talk to you about something very important.”

  Solomon looked at Parks sideways. “Like?”

  “Well it’s something I need you to do.”

  “Like?” Solomon repeated.

  “Like what do you know about the Directors and the National Security Advisor,” Parks told him.

  “What do you mean? I know a little bit about the FBI Director, a lot about the D/CIA, but nothing about the DNI, Secret Service Director, and NSA. Why?”

  Parks wasn’t going to tell him. Not yet anyway. He still had research to do and he wasn’t going to make any assumptions. “I can’t tell you yet, Solomon. But it’s important. How much can you tell me about them?”

  Solomon was confused. “I’ll have a report on your desk in the morning. But why do you need this, KP? Is something wrong?”

  “You’ll be the first person I tell about any useful information I may find. But for now, don’t worry about it.”

  “You know I can’t help you as a CIA agent – I’d need authorization for that. I can only help you as a friend that just so happens to know something about these guys,” Solomon explained.

  “I know. That’s all I’m asking for.”

  “All right then, I’ll give you the report in the morning.”

  “Thanks Solomon.”

  Parks realized that what the National Security Advisor had said was right. This was the beginning of a nightmare. Trouble was, it wasn’t just a dream, it was real.

  49

  Tuesday, April 15th – 0615 hours

  The Eisenhower Executive Office Building

  Parks grabbed the papers on his desk that Solomon had thrown down and scanned them. “This may help a lot. Thanks,” he said.

  Solomon jammed his hands in his pockets. “It’ll help you with something, I’m sure. But all I can say is one thing, two heads are better than one. It would really help if you let me in on what you’re undermining.”

  Parks stared up at Solomon. “Undermining? I’m not undermining anything. What makes you say that?”

  “Well maybe I chose the wrong word. What I meant was, I can definitely help you with your espionage efforts. Whatever they may be.”

  Parks thought about that. “You know, I just don’t want to start anything if my idea is going to be wrong. I don’t want to rouse suspicion over something that may be nothing.”

  Solomon was disappointed and Parks could plainly see that.

  “Tell you what Solomon, after I look over your report, I’ll contact you if I still think my suspicion is correct,” Parks concluded. “That’s all I can say for now.”

  “Yes sir. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  Solomon exited the office and Parks leaned back in his chair as he read over the first report.

  Mike Cummins

  Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

  1/20/13 – present

  --Joined CIA in 1989 after a four-year term in the U.S. Army.

  --Specialist in counterterrorism; served as senior CT officer for three years before filling D/CIA position.

  --Career highlights include the successful finding of five terror training camps sprinkled throughout Afghanistan, the beefing up of the CIA station in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, and most recently the finding and execution of Hamas terrorist Alim Qutuz.

  --Downfalls in career as D/CIA only include the events of 1/16, and the unidentified terrorist sleeper cells inside the U.S.

  --Family relations include wife, and two daughters, all of which are U.S. Citizens and live in the U.S.

  Parks flipped the page and continued reading the reports. They all were filled with even more vague information.

  Parks threw the papers on his desk and picked up his desk phone. He knew he was getting nowhere with this. He needed to pinpoint things, and Solomon could help. Time was very important but secrecy was more vital, and Parks was determined to keep his investigation only between the two of them.

  “Solomon, go.”

  “Solomon, this is KP,” Parks began. “You have a minute?”

  “Yup. Be right over. I’m only halfway down the hall.”

  The line went dead.

  * * *

  Parks got straight to business. “Solomon, do you remember what you said to me before we went to the President’s party?”

  Solomon sat on the edge of Parks’ desk and thought that over. “I said a lot of things, KP. Narrow it down a little will you?”

  “Maybe it wasn’t of significance to you and maybe it isn’t of significance at all, but what you said was that you’d like to know how the terrorists knew we were waiting for them and that someone was at work. But what really got me thinking was when you said you’d like to figure out their office number.”

  “It was just a figure of speech, KP. I didn’t mean anything by that. Why?”

  Parks rested his elbows on his desk. “It all makes sense now, Solomon. When you said that, everything clicked. You weren’t there, but when I checked in, the National Security Advisor told me that after the two times we were dodged, he and everyone else stayed in the Situation Room until the operation was completed.”

  “That was nice of them.”

  “Yeah, and maybe nicer than what was expected. You see, it was uncanny that the terrorists knew exactly where we were; you and I agree on that. But did you notice that things started looking up after those two dodges?”

  “No. Remember the gas station incident? That didn’t turn out so well.”

  “That was just a bad mishap. The terrorists wouldn’t have gone to that gas station if they knew we were planning on taking them out there. So it would be obvious that they didn’t know we were there.”

  Solomon agreed. “And what you’re saying is that when the President, VP, NSA, and Directors stayed in the Situation Room nonstop so they could plan, then the operation started going well because the terrorists didn’t dodge us. I’m with you on that. I’m not following why that’s such a big deal. That’s their job; it’s not uncommon for them to do that.”

  “Just hang on, Solomon,” Parks pleaded. “What I’m saying is that if someone on the inside had been telling the terrorists where we were staked out, they would have had to quit when the President kept everyone inside the Situation Room.” Parks let his point sink in. “It fits too perfectly to be coincidence.”

  Solomon squinted his eyes as if trying to process all of the information. “You’re saying that one of the men in that Situation Room is a mole who is giving information to terrorists?”

  “Yup. It can’t be anyone else because no one else knew where we would be staked out.”

  Solomon’s face turned ashen. “Oh my, you’re right. One of those seven men is working for – or heading up – the terrorists.”

  “I’d say one of those five men. I doubt it’s the President or Vice President.”

  Solomon nodded slowly. “Their Secret Service details would have picked up on anything, and besides that, it’s a sure bet they both were in the White House during it all.” Solomon lowered his voice. “At least we can also be sure it isn’t one of our men. The intellience officials would have picked up on any communications with the terrorists from our team. But they w
ouldn’t – and didn’t – have anything that would let them know what the Directors and NSA were doing during our operation.”

  Parks slouched back in his chair. “Solomon, you know something, this has to stay between you and me. We can’t let anyone else in on this. Not the President, not anyone; not even our team. The fewer people who know about this the better. That means you and me only.”

  “Yeah I know. The question is, how on earth are we going to narrow down who it is that’s working with the terrorists?”

  “Run background checks I guess. That’s all we can do. Or possibly we could set a trap of some sort.”

  “What kind of a trap?”

  “We could have our suspects be monitored during our next operation. Then we’d know for sure who it was.”

  “Who are we going to get to monitor them though?”

  Parks shrugged.

  “One concern,” Solomon admitted. “If there is a mole, he must be pretty smart because as far as we know no one else is on to him. How are we of all people going to rat him out?”

  Parks took a while to answer. “I don’t know. But like I said, I’d sure like to talk to Siraj and get some information.”

  Solomon sighed with frustration. “We need someone who has authority to be in on this. We just can’t do enough on our own. But how are we going to talk to the President without telling the National Security Advisor what we’re doing?”

  “We can’t. If the mole is indeed the NSA then he will make a run for it. No, we have to do this on our own. We need to work slowly and let him catch himself.” Parks swiveled around and stared out the window. “Then again, it’s only a matter of time before another terrorist needs to be taken out. Then what?”

  “I don’t know. But KP, we’ve got to do something soon. I just don’t know what we can do without tipping our hand.”

  Parks swiveled around and faced Solomon. “If the opportunity presents itself while I am talking with the President alone about some other matter, I’ll tell him about this. I doubt I’ll get that opportunity, but all we can do is hope.”

  “Go for it,” Solomon advised. “If all gets wrecked, at least we can say we’ve tried.”

  * * *

  Parks knew it was already 1300. He had been brainstorming ideas all day and he had come up with absolutely nothing. Every plan required authorization from one of the Directors, President, VP, or NSA, to some extent. It seemed like every time Parks tried to devise a plan, he’d run into a brick wall. Nothing was working.