The Iscariot Factor (Half Staff Book 2)

by Rick Mitchell

  Luke trying to calm himself, “I know what we said, but guys, our business interests make up the financial backbone of this country.

  Oil & Gas, Banking, Mining, Military Armament, Aircraft Manufacturing, add a Politician, then wrap them all in intellectual property development, and it’s the stinking GNP. And I for one can’t stand by and watch as Congress takes apart what I have spent my life building. I realize that I am not that old and that I started Mic-Tech when I was a teenager.”

  Peter speaking, “Luke, what’s the problem and how can we help you fix it? We are all running a little on nerves right now, but to a man, we are here for you.”

  “The biggest pitfall I have in front of me is this new Internet tax bill that a freshman idiot in the House just wrote. I have tried everything that I could think of to dissuade him. I have had my lobbyist offer him Carte Blanc on just about anything else he wants. I’ve spoken to the Speaker, but he warned it has too much steam behind it.”

  Simon speaking again, “What’s the next logical step?”

  Luke not even hesitating, “I’m way past logic; what’s that phrase the CIA uses? I remember; activated. I activated Gabriel.”

  John yelling over the line, “YOU DID WHAT?”

  “I SAID THAT I ACTIVATED GABRIEL” Luke yelled back. “I told you a couple of days ago; do you not listen. I am done waiting?”

  John trying to calmly choose his next words, “Luke, I know your upset, but we are supposed to vote before we make such a move; Gabriel, my God Luke!”

  Luke turning the speaker phone off; picked up the receiver. “I apologize but I had to handle this before it all gets beyond our control. I guess I might as well share the rest of it. I also have a team of investigators looking into this conspiracy theory.

  “And we may have caught a break; one of my investigators uncovered a name. This morning I sent Gabriel to check the guy out. I wasn’t going to mention it in case it turned out to be nothing.”

  When Simon spoke you could hear the relief in his voice. “You activated Gabriel to track this lead down? Luke, that’s not a big deal.”

  Luke answered, “On its own I agree. But once he finishes his mission in where ever the hell he went, he is coming to D.C. to kill the SOB congressman for me. And I picked another random politician for him to take out so they won’t tie the killing to the Internet vote. Gloves are off gentlemen; prepare the hatches as it’s going to get fun up in here.”

  There was a moment of silence before Simon spoke, “I know it’s useless in trying to talk you down from this. I just wish that I still had the inside track; as I once did. Maybe it is time we got back on the horse.

  …..“I will keep my ears to the ground and keep you up-to-date on what I hear. Whoever wrote the theory, I believe it was meant to be.”

  “Thanks Simon for that; I appreciate those words. Are we agreeing on this?” He heard responses from everyone, minus John, “John?”

  “I’m here Luke. OK, let’s see how this plays out. But promise me that you will let us know before you go off and take any other steps,” John replied.

  “Will Do. Also, as soon as I hear from Gabriel on the lead I will contact each of you; thanks guys.” Luke dropped the encrypted call.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Pat Drice picked up Chance Peters at Elmendorf Air Base in Alaska. Happy to see the team, he was most pleased at seeing Doliver round the corner.

  Both he and Greg had remained close. It was only after Chance was transferred to Elmendorf did Greg consider heading to OTS school. As soon as he saw Greg, Chance looked at Pat, and said, “Don’t know what it is you’re doing here, but count me in.” When they got back to the jet and Chance caught site of Agent Watts he turned to Doliver, and said, “Dibs”

  Agent Watts looked straight into the young soldiers face, and said, “Sorry but I am already spoken for. Isn’t that right Agent Waits?” Kenny Waits turned so red that Doliver and Peters cracked up. That was until Pat entered the aircrafts door.

  Emily saying to Pat, “Director, while you were picking up your latest stowaway I received word from Director Lake about our final destination today.”

  Pat sitting down in his chair, “And what exotic port of call would that be, Agent Watts?”

  “That would be Las Vegas, Sir.” Emily said trying to hold her composure.

  Pat turned to the team, “For some reason that doesn’t surprise me.”

  Ron Collins speaking up, “It surprises the heck out of me. Are these three my responsibility in Vegas? Do you know what havoc these men can do in a city like Vegas?”

  “Ron, glad you brought that up because that is something that I have been meaning to speak with you about. While I’m doing whatever it is a Deputy Director does, you are in charge of this box of misfit toys. And if these three weren’t enough, I understand there will be others joining our team today.”

  Collins asking, “Director Drice, do you have any idea who they are, or what it is they do?”

  Pat turning to Emily, “Agent Watts, correct me if I’m wrong but I heard they are twins.”

  Collins put his head down between his knees, “Twins, that’s all I need; twins. Is it too late for me to reconsider this assignment? Can’t you just send me back to; heck, ship me to Minot for that matter?”

  -----

  Gabriel exited US Airways flight 482 from Phoenix to arrive at Reagan International at 3:45 p.m. He had flown from Vancouver to Phoenix a day earlier after getting the initial call from Luke. Luke’s second call redirected him to Washington, D.C.

  He moved to Vancouver soon after his metamorphous from Kevin Sands to Gabriel Frazier began; Frazier being a common name across British Columbia. Taking the Carolina’s out of Kevin had not been an easy task; but he soon found that his new friends were resourceful.

  The last sighting of Kevin Sands had been just over five years ago. That was the day he signed his power of attorney over to his grandfather’s lawyer, Taylor Meadow. Once the truth came out about Kevin’s role in the Lumberton murder, and the killings in Iran, the government tried to seize Kevin’s inheritance.

  Taylor proved to be as good a lawyer as he was a friend to Bill Stoops. Eventually Kevin’s parents and the good people of Burke County would prevail. Leaving the money behind would not be an issue with Gabriel. His benefactors had been generous with him; money was never an issue. From the outside looking in, Gabriel, by all accounts, was a successful software developer who often traveled the globe helping Top 500 companies.

  Two years earlier he met and fell in love with Chloe Lowe. She was an instructor at the Carr Institute of Art in Vancouver. Although Luke and John originally had misgivings about the budding romance, they eventually gave in. They said the marriage would strengthen the cover they had now spent years building.

  They both had attended his wedding to Chloe. Gabriel had introduced John as his uncle, his last surviving relative, from the states. Luke had been passed off as one of Gabriel’s business acquaintances.

  Over the last few years Gabriel’s missions had taken him to several counties, and almost every continent. But this was his first business trip into the United States in over a year. He and Chloe had vacationed in New York a few months earlier and he was excited to be back on American soil.

  In his room at the Hyatt Regency he found his instructions taped to the back of the headboard. On opening the large envelope he found dossiers on two targets. One looked to be in his middle forties, while the other in his early sixties. He read the names and neither held any meaning to him. After searching their names on the Internet he found both men were political targets. He laid the pictures on the bed and studied both faces. It was not unusual for him to be assigned political targets.

  Inside the packets were two cell phones; one for each target. Not used in every mission, often Luke would provide him with cloned cell phones. Gabriel could then intercept every call, email, and text, made or sent by the target.

  Gabriel frowned when seeing the phones. He didn’t ca
re for the practice because they took a lot of the sport out of the missions. These made tracking the targets almost too easy. He probably would never know why these people were chosen; and he would not ask. He was taught to believe that Luke and the others had the countries best interest at heart. If these men were meant to die; die they would.

  Gabriel sat at the desk and looked over the files on both men. He collected them, placing them in his backpack. He would call Chloe before bed. He would tell her that he had made it to Dallas safely.

  -----

  Pat and his team arrived in Las Vegas a good hour before Director Lake. Agent’s Willis and Moore, who had picked Pat up at his home two days earlier, was waiting for them at a private terminal as they stepped off the jet.

  Pat smiled, shook hands with both men while making a remark about how hard it was for him to shake them. They were loaded into two Suburban’s and taken to the Aria Hotel where they had been booked into the Penthouse Sky Suite.

  Waits and Peters were fixated at the view of the Las Vegas Strip from the expansive floor to ceiling windows. Pat laughed and told them not to get used to this kind of treatment. An hour in the room there was a knock. Agent Willis walked over, checked the peephole, and opened the door.

  Director Lake walked in with his personal assistant and two young men Pat had never seen. Agents Willis and Moore were sent outside the room to watch the doors.

  The Director shook hands with Pat, “I see you rounded up your posse. By the headcount it appears that everyone agreed to join us.”

  “All came peaceful; well all except Greg.” Pat then introduced CIA Director Lake’s newest employees to him.

  Lake then introduced the group which had arrived with him, “Team, let me introduce you to Agent Simms. Terry is my right arm and he goes back with me. But these other two, Agent’s Brad Wilson and Cole Lansing were recruited from the NSA to join your team.”

  Doliver looked at the two new members and commented, “I thought you were bringing us twins; they aren’t twins.”

  Wilson walked over to Greg, and replied with a serious tone. “How do you know that were not twins? Are you some kind of expert in twins? Haven’t you ever heard of fraternal twins; how do you know that we are not just that, fraternal?”

  Greg, a little taken back by the rapid fire questioning, answered, “No, I wouldn’t exactly say that I am an expert in twins. I did date the Richardson sisters back in high school; they were twins. Although I don’t know what fraternal means, I doubt highly that you two are…”

  Brad Wilson interrupting, “Tell me that you were not about to say that we can’t be twins because Mr. Lansing and I are not of the same race? Please tell me, Sir, that this is not the road that you were planning to go down?”

  Up to that moment Pat had been enjoying the exchange, but he knew Greg Doliver all too well. He would need to kill this now; it wasn’t wise to back Greg into a corner. He vividly remembered the day in Louisiana where Greg and the FBI agent went toe to toe. Pat started toward the pair, but Greg looked at him and gave him a wink.

  Greg stood from his seat and faced the younger man, “Mr. Wilson, isn’t it? Just so happens that I questioned whether you were twins because you are so much uglier than Mr. Lansing. By the way, the Richardson girls were, what did you call it, a different race? But they were pretty.

  The room already silent got even quieter. That was until Brad Wilson reached forward and wrapped his arms around a stunned Greg Doliver.

  “Are you my Daddy?” Looking toward his friend Cole, he said, “Cole, I think I found my Daddy. Remember I told you my momma was a Richardson before she married my stepdad.”

  Cole Lansing answered back smiling, “I don’t know, I guess he could be. Now that you’ve mentioned it I do see a resemblance around the eyes.”

  The room filled with laughter as Brad let go of Doliver. Greg had an embarrassed grin on his face and said, “OK, fair enough.”

  Wilson slapped Greg on the shoulder, smiled, and said. “Have to admit that more fun than I’ve had in a few days. It was NSA Director Sessions who first started calling us the twins. We never much liked it.”

  Pat standing beside Director Lake leaned over and said, “These two are going to get along just fine here. You ready to sit them down and go over the mission, Sir?”

  “Pat, I am going to let you do that. It’s your team and I want you to run it as you see fit. I would like to share a few words with them before I leave. I have to get back to Washington this evening.”

  Pat moved all of them into the large living room. “Director Lake wants to speak to you before he leaves; Director.”

  “Thanks Pat. First for our newest agents, I want to personally welcome you to the Central Intelligence Agency. As far as I know, you are the first CIA agents in history to be credentialed without going through our academy.

  “I believe that in itself speaks to the caliber of men you are. And secondly, it speaks volumes about the importance of the mission before you. For decades the U.S. has relied on the CIA to operate clandestine missions across the world for one reason only. We are here to save the institution known as the United States of America.

  “This mission, as you will learn, is an undertaking that personifies our call to action. To save the integrity of our country; to find and stop those who mean it harm. Each of you has already proven yourselves worthy. Agent Collins, you and your Commando team, with Director Drice, moved on two fronts to stop a terrorist cell and uncover one of our own as a traitor to our country.

  “Agents Lansing and Wilson, your work with the NSA has been nothing less than extraordinary. Your computer backgrounds and your keen insights as NSA analysts have, on more than one occasion, gained information that ended up saving agent’s lives in the field. Not to mention foiling the build out of a nuclear enrichment site. I stand here honored to have you on our team.

  “The time has come to tell you why we are in Las Vegas tonight. And while I admit the Sky Penthouse is exceptional; unfortunately this is not a CIA safe house. We brought you to the Aria tonight so friends could reconnect and allow Cole, Brad, and Agent Watts, a chance to connect with their new team.

  “We’re in Vegas because it is relatively close to where you will be stationed for the time being. The nearest military base is Nellis. Agent Collins, I understand that apart from Director Drice, you are the only team member married.

  “I have worked it out with Nellis to provide you and your wife with officer’s quarters on base. We wanted your wife to be comfortable with her surroundings, especially if you are gone for extended periods. If that is not a concern, we will be happy to supply you with a private home in the area. I will leave that to your decision.

  “If you however decide to live on base, you will hold the rank of Air Force Colonel, a bird Colonel if I recall my military jargon correctly. Each morning that you are in town you will dress the part and board the military jet that travels back and forth to Groom Lake from Nellis. Once there, you will join your team. I understand you have already spoken to your wife about your new position. She will be required to attend couple of classes provided to agent’s spouses.

  “Agents Wilson and Lansing, it would have taken a blind man not to notice your eyes light up when I mentioned Groom Lake. Or the CIA’s formal name, The Nevada Test and Training Range, and Groom Lake.

  “You call it Area 51. Having heard how inquisitive you both can be, I took the initiative to have my people move both alien ships and the four little green men to Fort Knox until your mission is completed at Groom Lake. While I might be joking about that, and I said might be, I will say this to all of you. There are secrets at Groom Lake.

  “Through the years our country has developed game changing technologies at Groom. We all know the significance role the U2 Spy plane played during the cold war; even through the Vietnam Conflict. And the SR71 Blackbird program was designed and tested here.

  “We have also studied foreign aircraft; captured or turned over to us. In 1966, an Iraqi
Air Force Pilot, Captain Munir Fedfa defected, landing his Russian made MiG-21 in Israel after being ordered to drop napalm on an Iraqi Kurd village. Thirty days later the Russian MiG-21 was brought to Groom where it was flown against the F-4 Phantom jet.

  “For you Commando types, this is where we test and improve some of the latest weapons. The M-16 was tested here; so is its predecessor, the MP-4. Others include the XM25 grenade launcher, MQ-1 Predator Drone, and the new GBU-31 GPS Guided bombs.

  “During your stay your team will be provided special identification tags that allow you into limited areas on base. Director Drice, we need to make sure that all of us adhere to the guidelines and boundaries these tags dictate. What should excite you is that your team will be given access to the newest weapon designs. Most of them are not yet available in the field. Remember our motto about never leaving a soldier behind. If you go out in the field with any of these weapons, make for dang sure they make it back. I don’t want to have to explain these weapons to the local cops, or worse the FBI.

  “And not to leave the geeks in the room out, Wilson and Lansing, you gentlemen will have direct access to the latest spy-guy software available. It is far more superior to what the NSA is currently using. They say that it takes your NSA Quantum spyware to a whole new level. I see the doubt in your eyes; I’m just sharing with you what I have been told.

  “OK, I’m sure you have heard all you want to hear from me tonight. Agent Simms has an envelope for each of you. Call it a welcome to the party gift. Inside you will find one thousand dollars in chips for play here at Aria. I want you to clear your minds of everything you have heard and seen in the last couple of days. There will be plenty of time to crank up the volume tomorrow. So get out of here and have some fun.

  “Just about forgot; Lansing and Wilson. I heard somewhere that both of you know the Las Vegas strip pretty well; also heard that Las Vegas knows you back. Agents Moore and Willis have expressed great interest in joining you two tonight. I hope that is not a problem.”