Primal Deception

by Robin Mahle

  “You’re happy here, right?” He didn’t wait for her reply, but continued, “I mean, you have everything you could possibly want. I’ve given you everything, haven’t I?”

  “Of course you have. You make me very happy. Owen, are you sure you’re okay?”

  He cast his gaze toward the fire once again. “Everything’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Once he heard the door to his study close again, Owen retrieved his laptop. He logged in under an administrative setting that had been set up for him by his partners. He still wasn’t sure if he could go through with it, but he’d gone too far now and there was no turning back. He’d made promises and now it was time to produce.

  Several minutes passed while he continued to work and he didn’t hear Julianne return.

  “Hey, whatchya looking at?”

  Owen jumped and slammed down the lid of his laptop. “Jesus! You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Sorry, babe. I was just bringing your drink.”

  He snatched it from her hands. “I’ve got a lot of work to do. You mind not interrupting me again?”

  She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone.” Julianne waited by the door as though he might apologize.

  Owen gave her a sideways glance until she left and no apology came. He reopened his laptop and went back to work.

  ♦♦♦

  Jay was next to Lacy on the couch with his feet settled on the table, snoozing away. She reached for the remote control and turned off the news, which had just ended. It was a typical night for the two of them. “Jay? Honey, it’s time for bed.”

  His eyes fluttered open as he looked at her. “What time is it?”

  “10:30. I’m going upstairs. You should come too.”

  “Okay, yeah.” He dragged his feet from the table and pushed off the couch.

  Lacy reached for her phone to take it upstairs when it buzzed with an incoming email. “I’d better just take a look at this. See you upstairs in a minute.” She kissed Jay’s lips as he stood on the first step.

  “Okay, but don’t be too long.” He trudged up the stairs.

  The email header indicated “secure,” which meant if she wanted to read its entire contents, she would have to log in to the FBI’s server and enter her credentials before she could have complete access, something that was easier to do on her computer rather than her phone. She glanced longingly at the staircase, knowing her warm bed would have to wait and instead made the necessary walk along the hallway to her office. Turning on the desk light, Lacy sat down at her chair and turned on her laptop. She typed the command that would take her to the FBI’s server where she would log in. It took a moment for the message to come up—and there it was. Lacy leaned over the desk and squinted her eyes and, a moment later, her expression was changed. Alert and focused, Lacy re-read the email.

  “A potential IED detonator was located in an electronics shop in suburban Baltimore and the owner of the shop has been killed. Baltimore police have asked the FBI to investigate and early indications are that the finding is significant. Please be advised that efforts should now focus on the region where the device was located and that the local FBI field office requests the data division to run a search for any suspicious chatter or social media posts regarding an impending attack in and around Baltimore. Further details to follow.”

  Lacy logged out and shut down the computer. Her mind searched for anything she might have come across that could point to this finding, but it was late and her head was clouded. This wasn’t the first time she’d received such a warning; in fact, they came much more frequently than in years past. But they always rattled her, as though she might have missed something along the way.

  3

  The sketch of a dog urinating on the desk of a colleague bore a striking resemblance to Owen Ballard, but Jay would deny that if anyone happened upon his newly completed doodle. The meeting had dragged on and he often took pencil to paper during such times. Now Jay examined his sketch and a sardonic smile formed on his lips.

  “I’d like to conclude our meeting by congratulating Owen for signing Nova Investments to the firm.” The boss began a round of applause. “Well done, Owen. And with that, I think we’re finished here.”

  Jay immediately scratched out the drawing as the meeting came to a close. The people in the room dispersed except for Owen, who loitered in the hall, waiting for Jay to step out. He was taking his time, hoping Owen would give up, but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen.

  “Do you have a minute?” Owen asked when Jay finally emerged.

  “Absolutely. What’s on your mind?”

  “Can we talk in my office?”

  A quick nod from Jay and the two walked into Owen’s office, Owen closing the door behind him. “Look, I can see that you’re pissed at me for the whole Nova thing. But it’s not like you and I haven’t fought for the same clients in the past.” Owen walked to his desk and sat down, folding his arms in front of him and appearing as though he was scolding Jay. “Why are you so butt-hurt this time?”

  A dismissive smile appeared on Jay’s lips. “The problem I have isn’t that you signed them. It’s the fact that you had to have been the one to mention Lacy’s job when it was me who was working them. Why would you do that? It’s none of their damn business what my wife does for a living and, frankly, it isn’t information that should be lightheartedly broadcast, least of all, by you.”

  Owen reared up in his chair. “What the hell are you talking about? I never said a goddam thing about Lacy. Who told you this?”

  “Tom Neville made some snide comment about Lacy being an FBI agent.”

  “She’s not…”

  “Yeah, I know that, but the point being is that they knew she worked for the Feds. So, you’re trying to tell me you didn’t mention anything?”

  “Of course not. You never came up and Lacy sure as shit never came up. It just seemed to me that the guy didn’t particularly care for you. That was all it was, I thought.”

  Jay pursed his lips and studied Owen. “That means they found out on their own and that would only be possible if they did a background check, and I mean the kind of background check that only government officials have the authority to conduct.”

  “That just doesn’t make any sense, Jay. They’re a retail developer. Why would they do a background check on anyone except maybe the company they’re hiring to upgrade their security systems?”

  “That’s a damn good question.”

  “Look, I’ll talk to Neville. I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.” Owen relaxed his arms. “There was another reason I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Yeah?” Jay was still on the defensive.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to go in on something with me? Something that could be very lucrative.”

  “And what might that be?”

  “Go golfing with me on Friday. We can talk about it then.”

  “I’ll have to check my schedule.”

  “Sure. But—you’ll want to do this. Trust me.”

  Jay rose from his chair. “I’ve got a few calls to make. Catch up with you later?”

  Owen nodded and waited for Jay to leave. He picked up his phone and pressed a contact button. “It’s Ballard. He’ll be out of the office on Friday. Golfing, with me.”

  ♦♦♦

  The news of potential bomb elements inside an electronics store in Baltimore put the entire department on high alert. When Lacy arrived, no one wandered the halls or was engaged in idle chitchat around the water cooler. Everyone had their heads down, busily working to ensure nothing was being overlooked.

  “Lacy, can I see you for a moment?” Michelle poked her head inside Lacy’s cubicle.

  She followed her supervisor into her office. “I just got in and I haven’t had a chance to dig into this thing yet.”

  Michelle took a seat at her desk. “I want you to head this one up,” she began. “Th
e case file is in the hands of the Baltimore field office and you’ll need to coordinate with the agent in charge there. He’s going to want anything you can find on chatter in the region, and I mean anything. Get with Mike Burke on this too. He’s got good intel on the Baltimore area and between you two and the field office, we should find something before it’s too late.”

  The most ominous of words ever to be spoken by Michelle Vogel to date and Lacy grew increasingly nervous. She considered her position and that of the other data analysts as the first line of defense against terrorism. They were the ones monitoring websites, investigating cyber-attacks, and anything else over the internet that might raise a red flag. These were things for which her department was supposed to keep an eagle-eye watch. And that was exactly what Michelle was asking of her now.

  “I understand.” Lacy returned to her desk and, only moments later, the man she’d requested to see had arrived. Mike Burke, a twenty-something ladder-climber with exceptional analytical skills along with an innate ability to network the likes Lacy had never seen, even in her own salesman-husband.

  “You wanted to see me?” Mike stood tall and with impeccable style. Coiffed hair, a starched blue button down, and black trousers with a cuff that rested on top of his gleaming black shoes.

  She thought he might be angling for a job as an intelligence analyst, though that would require admission into Quantico. “Yes. Pull up a chair. I’d like to go over a few things with you on Ferran Basara and his shop in Baltimore.”

  He grabbed a chair from a nearby empty cubicle and rolled it next to Lacy. “What have you got?”

  The two began to review the information from the Baltimore field office when Mike interrupted. “I understand there’s a good chance you’ll become my new boss in the near future.”

  Lacy wasn’t sure how to respond. How much of what she and Michelle talked about was considered confidential and how would Mike have already known about it? It was no secret that there was an opening and perhaps he’d just assumed, but he wasn’t the type to assume anything. He needed concrete evidence. “It hasn’t been decided yet. There are several candidates in the running.”

  “And from what I gather, you’re the most senior.”

  “We both know that isn’t always a deciding factor. We should get back to this.”

  Mike continued to study her until finally returning his sights to the file on the screen.

  Only an hour into their efforts, Lacy’s cell phone rang. “Excuse me for just a moment.” She snatched it from her desk and walked toward the breakroom. “Hey. What’s going on?”

  “Listen, I’m sorry to bother you, hon, but I just wanted to ask you something.”

  Jay was on the other end and she’d wanted to tell him that this was a bad time to talk. “What do you need, babe? I’m kinda swamped right now.” There was a brief pause and a moment longer, she would’ve prompted him again, but then he began to speak.

  “How easy is it to get someone’s employment history? Specifically, someone who works for the government.”

  “I’m not sure I get your meaning. You mean the government, in general, or are you asking about a security clearance type of thing?”

  “I guess I’m not sure.” He paused again.

  “What are trying to ask me, Jay?” She didn’t want to sound impatient, but there was no time to discuss personal matters, if that was what this was.

  “You know that new client I was telling you about that Owen picked up?”

  “Yeah, I remember you mentioning it.”

  “What I failed to mention was that I’d been working with that same client several weeks earlier, trying to get them to sign with me. Their head of security, a man by the name of Tom Neville, failed to see eye to eye with me and it didn’t work out.”

  “Okay.”

  “Anyway, the real reason why I took issue with the guy was because he mentioned you.”

  “Me? How would he know anything about me?”

  “Exactly. That’s what I wanted to know. He asked what it was like to be married to an FBI agent.” He continued before she could correct him by stating the obvious. “Aside from the fact that you’re not an agent, what concerned me was that he knew you worked for the FBI. How would he have acquired that type of information?”

  “You said Owen signed them. Is it possible he said something?”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but he denies it. And, I think I believe him. That’s why I wanted to know about background checks. He might’ve been conducting a background check on me before agreeing to negotiate a contract with us. Would he have been able to get information on you?”

  “No. Not a chance. Well, there’s a chance. If he knew someone who had access. Someone who worked for the FBI maybe. But I don’t get why this is important.”

  “I don’t know, babe. Maybe it isn’t. I’m just getting a weird vibe about this whole contract situation and Owen. I guess I’m looking for something.”

  Lacy nodded as a colleague entered the breakroom. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about here. It sounds like whoever gave him my details didn’t get it right anyway. Listen, I’ve got something in the works right now. We can talk about this tonight, if you want, but I really need to get back to work.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “It’s fine. Just busy. I’ll see you tonight, hon. Love you. Bye.”

  ♦♦♦

  Jay dropped his keys on the foyer table and spotted Lacey in the family room. “Hi, sweetheart.” He approached and leaned in to kiss her. “How was your day? You seemed pretty stressed out when I talked to you earlier.”

  She pressed the palm of her hand against his cheek. “No. Just another day at the office.” Lacey patted the seat next to him. “Why don’t you take a load off? How was your day?”

  “Okay.” Jay surveyed the home. “Where are the kids?”

  “Celeste took them to the park. She’ll be back soon and said dinner was waiting in the oven. I just got home a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh, okay.” Jay hiked up his dress pants and lowered himself onto the couch. “I’m still trying to get my head around this whole Nova Investments thing. You think I’m making too big a deal out of this? Like maybe it’s just sour grapes?”

  “No. Not at all. If you’re concerned about how Owen might be conducting himself, you should bring it up with Scott. Hey, you’ve been there longer than he has and have brought in a hell of a lot more business. Scott will listen to you.”

  “You’re right.” Jay leaned back against the couch. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding and I’m really just pissed at myself for losing the commission. It’s just that I already have a client, who’s actually one of Nova’s competitors, so I thought I’d be better equipped to handle their needs. I guess they didn’t think so.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Look at what you’ve provided us with.” She raised her palms upward.

  “You work hard too. You contribute.”

  “I know that, but I don’t make your kind of money—not anymore.” She leaned back and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’ll all work itself out.”

  “Owen says he’s got something he wants to talk to me about tomorrow too.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “Don’t know. I’m supposed to go golfing with him in the afternoon.”

  “Sounds fun.” Lacy closed her eyes, which had grown weary from the day.

  “I’m sure it will be.”

  ♦♦♦

  Jay arrived at the office early, expecting to miss half the day golfing with Owen and knowing he needed to get some work done before taking off. He placed his carrier bag on his desk and retrieved his laptop. Waiting for it to boot up, he turned to his window and stared at the street below. The cars shuffled along the road as they maneuvered through the heap of downtown traffic. As he watched them crawl through the busy streets, Jay considered getting to the bottom of th
is situation on his own. He had his own set of skills that could be useful in figuring out how Tom Neville knew about Lacy. His knowledge of cyber security and, perhaps to a greater extent, bypassing cyber security measures, surpassed many of his counterparts’ abilities.

  In his younger years, he’d spent countless hours manipulating online information, only occasionally breaking the law. But then he met Lacy. She made him see that a future with her was more important than spending his time wreaking havoc on people’s lives for whom he’d had even the slightest ill feelings. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still capable of performing said havoc.

  He had to know if Owen was the one who told Neville about Lacy’s job. He supposed it didn’t matter that much, except for the fact that he didn’t know why. And if Owen didn’t say anything, Jay needed to know how Neville got the information. It was eating away at him. This was his family and he didn’t much like the intrusion. And then this thing with Owen wanting to discuss a lucrative deal—outside the office. What game was he playing at?

  “Morning, Jay. Ready for me to kick your ass on the links today?” Owen stood in the doorway.

  Jay swung around, startled by his unexpected arrival. “You’re in early today.”

  “You too.”

  “Got to take care of some things before we head out later, but I wouldn’t count on you kicking my ass,” Jay replied.

  “Same here. I’ll give you a head start, then.” Owen smiled. “Catch up later.”

  Jay’s smile faded as Owen disappeared from view. Perhaps there was a way to renege on this golf outing today. Just looking at that man made Jay all the more suspicious. He’d never known Owen to arrive early for anything, let alone work. This day was already starting to reek.

  ♦♦♦

  “Hey, buddy.” Jay walked into Owen’s office. “Listen, I had a few things come up and I’m going to have to bail on our golf game.”

  Owen’s expression shifted in surprise. “Really? You sure about that, man? I mean, I’d really like to talk to you about that deal.”