Disruption: A River Of Secrets And Betrayal

by J. B. Jamison

  "No time for that now. As I said, I found someone else." Dasilva tipped his glass in a toast to Suit, drained in it one gulp, looked at the empty glass, and smiled. "So, I guess we're finished here, right?"

  Dasilva walked slowly from the bar, got into his car, and pushed the button on his phone.

  "It’s Dasilva. I need you to get word out to everyone to cancel the nine o'clock briefing this morning. I know, but I've got things I have to take care of. Tell them we'll reschedule for later. I don't know when yet; I'll let you know."

  He pulled into traffic and drove across town. Thirty minutes later he found a spot in the lot and walked up the sidewalk to the building. The sign carved into the arch over the door read: Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  After showing his badge and other credentials, he followed someone along a row of cubicles, finally stopping in front of a closed door.

  "This is it," the someone said as he turned and headed back to where Dasilva had found him.

  Dasilva knocked.

  "Come in," Lennie said.

  Dasilva stepped into the room.

  "Agent Ryan," Dasilva said, "do you have a few minutes?"

  "Of course," Lennie said as he nodded toward one of the chairs in front of his desk.

  "Thank you. Look, I realize that we've not gotten off on the best foot in all this here."

  "Oh, no, it’s fine."

  "Let's be honest Lennie. I can come across as a real pain in the ass sometimes; a hardcore company-guy who acts like a real jerk. I have to admit that I know that, and honestly, it’s intentional; it can sometimes get me what I need."

  "Well..."

  "And I know that I've treated you that way since I've been here; so I wanted you to know it wasn't personal, OK?"

  "OK, sure."

  "But look, we need to see if we can find a way to work together here; especially with things as they are with Agent Graham. I think we need to put our cards on the table and do what we need to do to make sure she's safe. What do you say?"

  Lennie's mind was racing. He thought of at least five very good reasons to not trust this guy. Putting cards on the table meant risking giving away information that could create more problems, rather than fixing anything.

  "Sure," Lennie said, "I think that's a good idea."

  "Good. Why don't we get together for drinks tonight and go over things; compare notes and see it we can help each other fill in any gaps?"

  "Sounds good to me," Lennie said. "I do need to make some calls now, but how about sometime after six?"

  "I'll give you a call then," Dasilva said as he rose and moved toward the door.

  "Thanks for your time Lennie." Dasilva smiled.

  "Thanks for stopping by Arturo." Lennie smiled back.

  Both smiles disappeared as soon as the office door closed.

  Chapter 98

  "Well, dammit, at least let us put a wire on you."

  The discussion had been going on since landing in Kimmswick twenty minutes ago but had so far done nothing to help Chambers and Reyes feel better about what Emily was about to do.

  "No," Emily said, "no wire. These guys aren't stupid."

  "Emily, think about it a minute," Reyes said. "Why in hell would these guys invite you out there like this? It just doesn't make sense. It’s never smart to go into a situation when you have no idea what you're going to find."

  "And remember," Chambers said, "someone has tried to take you out of this twice now, and even targeted your dad. Who would benefit most from that? These guys, that's who. And now you're walking right into their hands."

  "I know, I know," Emily said. "But Dennis assured me I would be perfectly safe."

  "Said the fox to the rabbit," Chambers said.

  "Ok, I get it. I do," Emily said. "But this will give me the chance to get a look at what's really going on out there; see how many are involved, make sure the crew is really OK. Hell, maybe even find a way we can do something to stop them. I think it’s worth the risk."

  Silence.

  "Besides, I'm not totally helpless you know."

  "That's not what we're saying here Emily," Chambers said, "it’s just that..."

  "No," Reyes said, "she's right. I don't like it any more than you do Bill, but she's right; she needs to get on the boat. We just need to make sure we're ready to move in if anything does go sour."

  "I really don't think it will," Emily said. "But yeah, just in case."

  "I still don't like it," Chambers said, "but OK. So, just how long are you supposed to be on the boat?"

  "He said I could ride with them through St. Louis, so they'll probably let me off somewhere north of there." Emily paused, "And I think I know the place."

  "What do you mean?" Reyes asked.

  "The Chain of Rocks Lock is just north of St. Louis. They'll have to stop there for a while, so that would be the perfect place to let me off. That's how I'd do it if it was me."

  "Chain of Rocks Lock?" Reyes said, "That's where they lift the boats up, right?"

  Emily looked at him.

  "Hey," Reyes said, "I'm from Arizona, and spent my military career in a desert. Give me a break."

  "Ok, sorry," Emily said. "Yeah, there are places where the river is too shallow for a boat, and one of those is just above St. Louis. It’s a bunch of rapids called the Chain of Rocks. They dug this canal to go around the rapids, and built the locks there to hold back the water to make it deep enough."

  "So it’s a dam," Reyes said.

  "Well, kind of," Emily said. "It does block the water and make it deeper above the lock, yeah. But instead of just blocking the water, it’s got gates that can open and close, and they're far enough apart to let a boat in between them. A boat can go inside the lock from either side, they close the gates and then either fill the lock or drain it to raise or lower level of the water to match which way the boat is going."

  "How long does that take?" Reyes asked.

  "It depends, but I think at least thirty to forty-five minutes."

  "Then, you're telling us we're going to have the boat trapped inside a big box up there for maybe forty-five minutes?" Chambers said.

  "That's one way of looking at it I guess," Emily said.

  "Are you Emily Graham?" a man in jeans, a torn sweatshirt and a mud-stained St. Louis Cardinals ball cap approached the group.

  "Yes, I'm Agent Graham," Emily said as Chambers and Reyes moved between her and the stranger.

  "I'm supposed to give you a ride, ma'am. To meet the Francis B.,”he said as he removed his hat and folded it in his hands.

  "You're sure about this?" Reyes asked.

  "Yeah, I'm sure," Emily said as she turned to the stranger. "Let's go."

  His boat was something like her grandfather’s when she was a kid and went fishing with him. The man apologized for the scattered nets and poles, and Emily did her best to assure him it wasn't a problem. As they moved south along the shore, Emily couldn’t hide her smile as she listened to the outboard motor and the constant slapping of the water hitting the bow of the boat.

  "There she is," the man said, "won't be long now. You maybe want to hang on a bit; it can get a bit rough."

  Emily felt her heart beating faster and her breath getting short. It wasn’t the idea of being on the boat that bothered her; once she was on board she would be fine. The problem was getting onto the boat in the first place, especially when that boat was moving; and the Francis B. was showing no signs of stopping. The man pulled his small boat alongside the Francis B., staying about twenty feet away and matching the speed. Then he jerked the outboard and aimed directly for the side of the huge towboat, rocked up and down over the waves, and turned at the last minute until they were rubbing against the side of the big boat. Emily held the seat to steady herself as she stood in the rocking boat and suddenly saw her feet leave the floor as she felt herself float into the air. Seconds later she landed gently on the solid deck of the Francis B. and turned to see a very large man standing behind her.

 
“I hope I didn’t hurt you or nuthin’.” the large man said.

  "This is Bear, Agent Graham," Dennis said. "Welcome aboard the Francis B."

  Chapter 99

  "I must apologize, Agent Graham," Dennis said as they stepped inside a door and moved down the narrow corridor.

  "But there are some things I must help the others with for a few minutes here. I will come back as soon as I can so we can talk, but for now, let me take you to the pilothouse where you can talk with the Captain. He is not on duty right now but is there with Frank, his Pilot.

  "You'll want to search me first, of course," Emily said as they began climbing the stairs.

  "Search you?" Dennis said with a look of surprise, "why on earth would we want to do that? You are our guest here Agent Graham. Besides, as I have already explained, there is nothing you can do to stop our mission here, so we need not bother with such unfriendly things. Ah, here we are, just up those last steps and you'll find them there. Please forgive me, but I am needed below."

  Dennis turned and walked back down the steps, leaving Emily on the small gangway. She glanced toward the shore where she saw Chambers and Reyes still watching her, walked up the stairs and opened the door.

  "One of you gentlemen must be Captain Charlie Graff." she said with a smile.

  "That's me, and you must be our Agent Graham. Frank, this here is Jim Graham's girl, you remember me talking about him?"

  "Yeah," Frank said, turning in his seat, "nice to meet you."

  "Charlie," Emily said, "I think we ought to talk."

  Miles to the south, Dasilva moved through the cubicles until he reached the door and shoved it open without knocking.

  "Lennie, have you heard the news?"

  "Huh, about what? I'm kind of busy right now."

  "She's on the boat. Emily is on the damn boat."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Grab your stuff; I've got a jet waiting, we need to get to St. Louis."

  As the plane lifted off the runway, neither man knew exactly what was going on, but both had long believed the principle that whenever you were in a really bad situation, it was always best to have your enemies close by you, so you could keep an eye on what the hell they might be up to."

  Chambers and Reyes were back in their car heading up I-55. At this point, they had decided to skip the bridges along the way, and head straight for the Illinois side; and the Chain of Rocks Lock. They hadn’t decided what they would do when they got there but were making calls to make sure they had the right people there to do whatever it was.

  Emily and Charlie stood on the gangway as Frank picked up the barge tied across from Cave Creek Park. Over the next hour, they talked about the past six days. They each added their pieces of the puzzle and stopped talking only once; as they passed beneath the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.

  "So Alex was the only one involved at the home office, huh?” Charlie asked. “You're sure about that?"

  "Yeah, it looks that way."

  "Good. I couldn't believe Gil would have had anything to do with it, or Alma either; any of them really."

  "What do you know about this Dennis guy?” Emily asked. “We've not been able to find out much."

  "Not a lot. He said something about losing a child, and that was why he got involved in the first place, but that's about it."

  "Yeah, that's all we know. He was from Cincinnati but hasn't been seen there for a year or more, so we don't know what he's been up to."

  "With the rest of these clowns, I guess."

  "You two out here enjoying the view?" Dennis said as he climbed the stairs to the gangway.

  Emily turned to look at the riverbank, almost covered with people; some waving signs or flags, some waving and cheering.

  "This is crazy," Emily said.

  "And we're still ten miles from downtown," Dennis said. "It looks like everything is going just as we planned."

  "Do you honestly think this will change the things you want to change?" Emily asked.

  "I'm sorry," Dennis said, "I just came up for a second to make sure you were doing OK. We're about to pick up a barge with all of the devices for the St. Louis bridges, and I'm afraid we're all going to be quite busy for a while. But I assure you, we'll have time to talk as soon as we're finished. Enjoy the view."

  Dennis turned and walked back down the stairs and through a door.

  "Do you know anything about this Doctor Shallenger?" Emily asked.

  "Just that he's a real nut job. He really thinks he's doing something good here. He seems to be the real guiding force behind the whole thing."

  "Not Dennis?"

  "I don't think so. Dennis is the front man, taking care of things out here, but Shallenger is calling the shots; most of the group are his people. And you say somebody blew up his office at the university?"

  "Office and two labs, along with about fifteen people."

  "What about all the talk of no one getting hurt in this?" Charlie asked.

  "Yeah, that’s a question I'll ask the good doctor if I get the chance. Especially since you think he's the head guy."

  "I think so, yeah, at least on the boat here. But they've got others involved; I've heard them talking on the phone. Don't know who they are, but there's more out there."

  "We know about the ones getting the devices to the boat; we've been watching them," Emily said.

  "Good. I'd appreciate getting about ten minutes with each of them when you catch them; in private if you don't mind."

  "Yeah, me too."

  "How long have you known Frank?" Emily asked.

  "Frank? I guess he's been with me four or five years now. He came on as a deckhand; a damn hard worker. He showed interest and potential, so I've tried to help him move up; like your dad did for me. Why?"

  "Charlie, we've got a couple of moles on our team here; one in my group somewhere, and I believe one in yours as well."

  "You think Frank is helping them? Nah, I can't believe that. He's not the type."

  "I'm not saying he is Charlie, but somebody is, and it’s somebody who is involved enough to know everything that's going on."

  "Hell, I've known most of these boys since they learned to tie a line; know most of their families too."

  "I know Charlie, I feel the same about my people. But somebody in here is dirty. We need to be careful until we find out who."

  Silence as they watched the Poplar Street Bridge slide toward them. The river didn't really get any narrower as it ran through St. Louis, but the industries and docks along the shore made threading the needle through the eight bridges an interesting challenge.

  "I'd better go back inside and see if Frank needs some help," Charlie said as he stepped back inside the pilothouse.

  Emily stayed outside and watched the afternoon sunlight bounce off the Gateway Arch. The park beneath it was filled with people, with bands, vendors, and noise. Someone was attempting to raise a huge banner from one side of the arch, and park police were attempting to pull it back down. All she saw of the sign was a brief glance at the word Boom.

  The two men worked together to guide the boat down the channel. On a normal day, there were hundreds of barges parked along the river here that need to be avoided. And today, the path held another twenty or thirty fully loaded towboats the Coast Guard had stopped to clear the way for the Francis B., each of them taking up that much more space. Just like along the shore, each boat was lined with crew members standing and watching as they passed; many blowing horns. Emily wasn’t sure which side they were cheering for.

  Chapter 100

  After the Poplar Street Bridge came the Eads, then the Martin Luther King Bridge, then the modern towers and cables of the Stan Musial Memorial Bridge carrying I-70 across the river. As Emily looked ahead from the gangway, the only two remaining were the old McKinley Bridge and the Merchants Railroad Bridge.

  "Agent Graham," Dennis called from the door below, "why don't you come with me?"

  She walked down the stairs where Dennis wa
s holding the door open.

  "We're just about finished here, but it occurred to me that you might like to see how things work; how we actually place the devices. I assure you it is perfectly safe."

  She followed him through the door, down a corridor and two more flights of stairs, before stepping out onto the open deck of the boat.

  "This way," Dennis said. "Watch your step."

  Emily walked along the narrow deck and turned the corner to the open platform at the rear of the boat. She recognized Bear standing to one side, and Dennis. She identified the man she believed was Shallenger, and the young woman who must be Susan; the one she carried a message for from the hospital. Another young man was doing something with the device that was leaning against still another man, while still another third held the end of a long piece of line.

  "So these are them?" Emily said to herself.

  "Agent Graham, please come closer. You see Lawrence here is fastening the line to the ring that will be used to lower the device and activate the arming mechanism. Lawrence one of Dr. Shallenger's students, and is responsible for the actual design of the devices. Quite a young man."

  It occurred to Emily that Dennis sounded like a proud father, showing off his child's science project.

  "And this is Bradley, holding the device, and Thomas, preparing the line. They will lower the device into the water."

  The three men all nodded, and the one called Bradley actually waved.

  "Are these people for real?" Emily thought.

  "There, in the doorway," Dennis pointed, "is Susan, another of Dr. Shallenger's students, and the brains behind the radioactive components of the device. We couldn't have done this without her."

  Susan nodded, and appeared to blush.

  "Of course you know Bear, over there by the side, and this..."

  Emily almost expected a drum roll.

  "And this is Doctor Shallenger." Shallenger had ignored the conversation so far and continued to do so as he watched everything the others were doing. Dennis noticed Shallenger's lack of response.

  "I'm afraid the doctor is focused on work right now. I am sure he will be happy to talk with you when we are finished."