Primal Deception

by Robin Mahle

  She observed the man who must’ve been pushing fifty and decided to let him off the hook. He had helped Aaron, after all, and allowed them to come to his home. “None taken. So tell us, who are they? The ones who sent the man on the motorcycle?”

  “Can’t say with certainty that I know the identity of the man who came after you, but I do know who he’s working for. You ever heard of China’s MSS?”

  “No.”

  “The Ministry of State Security. Basically, China’s secret service.”

  “The deposit from Beijing.” Lacy placed her hands on her hips.

  “You two tracked down a man by the name of Lei Jian,” Axell continued. “He has ties with the MSS. We’re still working on how exactly he connects to Sajwani and Owen Ballard. I haven’t figured out all the pieces of this puzzle yet and that’s why I agreed to step in and offer some help. Pooling all of our resources is paramount right now. We don’t have much time.”

  “Right,” Will began. “And we’ve got the State Department hounding us too. I think we’re dealing with multiple parties with different agendas. And we’d better figure it out soon.”

  ♦♦♦

  “Okay, thank you, Celeste. I’ll call you in the morning.” Lacy ended the call and placed her phone on the breakfast bar. “You want a drink?”

  “Yeah, I could use a drink.” Aaron pressed lightly on his bandage. “Kids okay?”

  She nodded. “Will thought, and I agree, that it would be safer for them to stay with Jay’s parents for a while, especially since, well.” She glanced at the bandage.

  “Since we were almost killed?”

  “Yeah. Celeste is staying with them too because I think they’d be lost without her. She’s been their de facto mother for the past few weeks.” Lacy poured them both a vodka straight. “I don’t have anything else, sorry.” She pushed the glass toward him.

  “This is fine by me.” Aaron tossed back the drink.

  She poured them another. “Let’s go sit down in the living room.” Lacy grabbed her glass and led the way through the foyer and into the family room. She peered through the front window.

  “They still out there?”

  “Yeah. Will said they’d stay till morning and then change shifts.” She moved to the couch while Aaron sat on the side chair. “How are you feeling?”

  “Those tablets are doing the job. I’ll be all right.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Lacy began. “What the hell have I done?”

  “What you had to do. None of us thought we were going to be digging up some sort of international conspiracy bullshit. You were looking for the truth—for Jay.”

  “And I’ve put everyone else’s life at risk because of it, including my own children’s.” She threw back her second vodka and studied Aaron’s bandage. “And look at you? I shouldn’t have come to you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Hey, I didn’t have to do what I did. This isn’t on you, Lacy. I guess I’m not as good as I thought I was.”

  “No. Whoever we’re dealing with just has better resources. I didn’t expect any of this to turn out like it has.”

  “Of course not, but we’re in it now and there’s no way out, except to see it through.” He finished his second drink. “I mean, fuck it, right? It’s not like I have better plans.”

  Lacy grinned. “Thank you.”

  Hours had passed and both Lacy and Aaron were sound asleep on the couch. The skies were still dark when the pounding burst on the door.

  Lacy shot up from her curled position. “Who the hell is that?” She stood on shaky legs and forced them to move quickly to the door.

  “Who’s here?” Aaron asked.

  She turned with her index finger to her lips and peered through the security lens on the door. Immediately, she unlocked it and pulled it open. “What is it? What’s going on?”

  Will pushed through without waiting for an invitation. “We have to get you two someplace safe. Go pack a bag, now. I’ll explain later.” He continued inside. “Aaron, go get your things. We need to leave.”

  “What happened?”

  “Axell is waiting for us, but we need to go.” He looked up the staircase. “Hurry up, Lacy.”

  “Can you at least tell us where we’re going?” Aaron pleaded.

  “I will, but not here.” He looked around and shook his head.

  His meaning wasn’t lost on Aaron. “Shit,” he whispered and walked toward the guest room to pack his bag.

  Moments later, Lacy returned. “You’re scaring me, Will.”

  He raised a finger to his lips. “Let’s just go.”

  “I need my phone. Hang on.” Lacy returned to the family room and picked up her phone where she spotted Aaron reappear with a bag over his shoulder.

  Will opened the door and ushered them outside into a waiting car. “Get in.” He continued around to the driver’s side and keyed the ignition.

  “Where are we going? My kids.”

  “We’re going someplace safe. A place Axell has set up.”

  “Why? You haven’t told us what happened,” Aaron added.

  Will pulled out of the driveway and waved to the agents who were inside an unmarked car. They nodded in return and flicked on their headlights as if ready to drive away.

  “Axell got word from an operative in Beijing. MSS sent the man on the motorcycle and now they know he didn’t finish the job. So they’re sending someone who can.”

  18

  Lacy stepped out of Will’s car onto the pathway etched in dirt. She cast her gaze through the wooded surroundings shadowed by dark blue-grey skies. “What is this place?”

  “It’s safe here,” Will began. “That’s all you need to know right now.” His shoes left behind impressions in the soft clay soil as he walked toward the cabin.

  Lacy didn’t appreciate being left in the dark and glanced to Aaron, who could only offer a shrug, claiming ignorance as to why they were here, or where “here” was.

  The scent of musty, arboreous water was thick in the air and when she peered over her shoulder, the moonlight’s reflection shimmered atop a lake in the distance.

  Agent Axell appeared relaxed on the sofa and eyed the three as they entered the small cabin. “You made it.” The aged wood floor creaked beneath his feet as he shuffled to greet them. “Good. We can get started, then. Anyone want a drink?” He made his way into the kitchen and began to pour scotch into a glass he’d already held in his hands.

  “Thanks, no,” Lacy replied. “What exactly are we starting on?”

  Axell approached her while Will and Aaron inspected their accommodations. “Right now, you’ve got the Chinese Secret Service and the powers that be at a bank in Panama after you. I’m here to help you find a way out of this maelstrom that’s coming for you and your friend.”

  “We needed answers. None of you people were looking for what really happened. None of you gave a shit about the fact that my friend died and was being accused of collusion and corporate spying and maybe worse.”

  “Just calm down, Aaron.” Lacy placed her hand on his arm.

  “What you succeeded in doing was raising the eyebrows of people who don’t want you to find the truth, including people in our own government.”

  “And what truth is that?” Lacy sounded firm in defense of their actions.

  “You still don’t get it, do you?” Axell threw back his drink. “No one would’ve even considered your husband in any of this except for the fact that you found that bank account. But I think that was just a cover for Owen Ballard. He was playing both sides and it caught up to him.”

  “Right. He’s dead,” Aaron continued. “So what’s that got to do with China and the State Department? This was all about uncovering what Ballard was doing with Tom Neville and Nova Investments. Uncovering their little corporate spy game.”

  “State’s been looking for us to wrap up our investigation,” Will began. “Considering we had a group who already clai
med responsibility, this was supposed to be a slam dunk. We had the man who made the device—found murdered in his television shop. Of course, he had ties to the group in Bahrain. Case closed there. Then we had the group itself. Good, done deal, right?”

  “Except we tried to recover what was on Jay’s laptop and the flash drive.” Lacy walked to the kitchen and decided a drink wasn’t a bad idea after all. She reached for a glass and poured generously. “That’s how I found out that Aaron was the one who had helped Jay discover what Ballard was up to. And I brought that, along with the account number, to the FBI’s attention.”

  “And that’s what has led us here, but I still don’t get how the Chinese are involved,” Aaron replied.

  “Based on the information I received from Caison, and from my own assessment, I made a few calls, looked into a few people’s backgrounds. But what really sealed the deal with me was the fact that MSS sent someone after you two. My contact made it clear as to why State wants this case closed and why exactly Lei Jian is involved.”

  Lacy began to put two and two together and she didn’t like what was coming. “It’s them, the Chinese. They’re responsible for the attack. Somehow, Ballard was tied in to it. He helped them, didn’t he?”

  Will glanced at Axell and returned his attention to Lacy. “We think Nova Investments was targeted because they’re the largest retail developer in the US. And China has a great deal of interest in assuming that very position.”

  “And to do that would mean taking out their competition,” Aaron added. “Holy shit. China wanted to make it look like this was some sort of jihad bullshit so Nova’s parent company in Dubai would take a huge financial hit. And with their middle-eastern ties, it would be an all too easy assumption to spin for the American people.”

  “With Nova out of the way, the China-based Dalian Company would take over. Hell, they already own half the damn country anyway,” Will replied.

  Lacy, numb from all that had happened and what she was hearing now, sat down at the dinette table. “My God. Jay had that account—a Dalian subsidiary. That’s why Argus was chosen. Find the weak link there and get him to offer up information. And someone in the State Department is helping that company and China by guaranteeing this ruse is perpetrated on the American people.”

  “Someone’s got a member of State in their back pocket. I’m getting close to finding out who that might be. I’ve got people working on it now. But that’s who we need to find and that’s why we’re here,” Axell said.

  “So my husband, along with hundreds of other innocent people, is dead, fears about Muslim terrorist groups are further imbedded into our collective minds, and someone in the government’s getting rich over it by helping the Chinese.” She looked around the room. “What do we need to do?”

  ♦♦♦

  Agent Caison arrived at FBI Headquarters, unshowered and haggard.

  “Morning.” Mendez eyed his junior partner with concern. “Out drinking all night or what? You look like hell.”

  “I wish.” Caison sat down at his desk.

  “What’s the situation with Lacy Merrick? Anything new and interesting?”

  “I know Ballard and Neville were working together and Ballard was getting paid for it.”

  “And what about Jay Merrick? Is he in the clear yet?”

  “I’m still working on that.” On Axell’s insistence, Will couldn’t reveal what he knew about the rest of it. Said he didn’t know who was feeding State the intel. He knew it wasn’t Mendez but abided by the request anyway.

  “We’ve identified the man who killed the bomb maker, Ferran Basara.” Mendez tossed a file with a picture clipped to the front of it. “Imad Mufid. We got our hands on surveillance video from an ATM machine next door to Basara’s shop. Mufid’s image was captured on it when he returned to his car. Take a look inside.”

  Will opened the file.

  “Mufid was found dead in the early hours of this morning.” Mendez sat down at his desk. “What I don’t get is how this closed circuit footage turned up when we’ve been scouring the area for the same thing. Now it’s here and Mufid turns up dead.”

  Will couldn’t say it out loud, but the single thought that screamed in his mind was that Lei Jian and whoever was working with him were covering their tracks. They knew Aaron got information and were desperate to shift focus back to Basara. “Does this mean the current theory is holding water?”

  “You haven’t given me anything that would convince me otherwise. So it means we’re in clean-up mode. The Army of Islam has claimed responsibility and now they’re tying up loose ends. CIA’s working their assets for information in Bahrain, but as far as the task force is concerned, we’re on to the next one,” Mendez replied. “Unless you’ve got something to persuade me. This is your chance. Give me something I can take upstairs.”

  Will suspected Mendez knew he was getting close to the vital answers. “I need more time.”

  “How long?”

  “Seventy-two hours, maybe less.”

  “You’ve got forty-eight. If you can’t bring me something good, I’ll have to sign off on this.” He grabbed his notebook. “I have a meeting to attend. Be in touch with you later.”

  Will reached for his mobile and answered the incoming call as Mendez left the office. “Axell, what’s up?”

  “How’s things going there?”

  “Same. Mendez said forty-eight hours.”

  “Okay. I’ve got a name and a pretty good indication this might be our guy. I need you to put a trace on his phone.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? I need a warrant.”

  “You aren’t going to get one, not on someone like him. You’re going to have to figure something else out.”

  “Give me the name.”

  Will made his way to the operations center and tracked down Agent Porter. “Hey, you got a minute?”

  He turned from his computer. “Sure. What’s up?”

  Will tossed his head and began to walk toward one of the offices. Agent Porter followed.

  “Close the door,” Will said.

  “How hard would it be to put a trace on a cell phone?”

  “Not hard at all. You know that.”

  “I don’t have a warrant.”

  Agent Porter raised his hands. “Hey, man, you know the deal.”

  “Yes, but this is someone who no judge in this country would sign a warrant for, not for nothing. And right now, I have next to nothing.”

  “Shit, man, you’re risking both our jobs and jail time just talking about this. You know that, right?”

  “I’m getting help. I’m not out there on my own.”

  “Who’s helping?”

  “I can’t give you a name, but he’s CIA. And his people are telling him that someone on the Hill is involved with unsavory people who may or may not be involved in the attack.”

  “Involved how?”

  “We have some ideas, but that’s why we need to know who he’s talking to.”

  “You realize, even if we could do this, we can’t use it in court and we’ll both go down and so will your CIA contact.”

  “If we’re right, it won’t matter. The public will be in an outrage. They won’t care how we got what we got.”

  “And how sure are you about this person?”

  Will was only about 30% sure and was concerned that Axell’s contact could be blowing smoke up his ass—looking to gain something by bringing this person down. “About 75% sure. Come on, man, you can do this without ringing alarm bells. I know you can.”

  “How long?”

  “Two days, max. That’s all the time I’ve got.”

  Porter appeared resigned. “Give me the name.”

  ♦♦♦

  With his back turned to the window, Drew Kendrick had one hand in his pocket and the other holding his cell phone to his ear, listening to the man on the other end bark orders at him.

  “Now you listen here,�
�� Kendrick turned to face his desk again. “I told you I’d do what I could, and I have, but I can only do so much.” He dropped into his chair and loosened the knot on his tie. “It’s my ass on the line here, not yours.” Shaking his head, he waited for another opportunity to speak. “Look, I’ve made the recommendation and I’ve got agreement from all parties. You have to understand that this is a process. For Christ’s sake, people died. They aren’t going to just wash their hands of it.”

  Kendrick’s patience was growing thin as the man continued to give him an earful. “I realize what you’ve done and as I’ve said before, I am very appreciative and I believe I’ve shown you the same respect in kind.” He sat upright and placed his elbows on his desk. “That won’t be necessary, I assure you. In three days, the president will hold a press conference and make the announcement. I understand your concerns over the situation that has occurred in the past twenty-four hours and it is under control.” A final nod and he continued, “Thank you. You’ll hear from me as soon as I have more information. Goodbye.” He ended the call and dismay shrouded his face. When he pressed the intercom button on his desk phone, a woman on the other end responded.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Set up a meeting with ASAC Brandt at his earliest convenience.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  Without further comment, he released the button and straightened his tie again before walking out. His assistant sat behind her desk, adjacent to his office. “Call me on my mobile when the meeting’s been arranged. I have to leave, but I’ll return soon.”

  “Will do, sir, thank you.” The assistant picked up a ringing line as Kendrick turned the corner. “Office of Political Affairs, Under Secretary Kendrick’s office. How may I help you?”

  ♦♦♦

  “How long are we going to be expected to stay here?” Aaron paced the cabin. “I don’t like this.”

  “I don’t either, but it isn’t safe out there for either of us, or for my children,” Lacy replied.

  “What if they’ve already been to your house? Is there anything there?”