Iris Johansen 1998 - The Face of Deception

by The Face of Deception(lit)

Shit, Gil murmured. They really gutted it. I liked that old house.

  What happened? she asked. Barrett House?

  Gil nodded. It seems John got cheap on the wiring.

  The picture on the screen showed a smoking ruin with only two chimneys still intact.

  Gil added, But youll be glad to know he was punished for his miserliness. John died in the fire.

  What?

  Burned beyond recognition. But theyre com-paring dental and DNA records now. Such a fine man. Detwil just issued a statement about how John was loved and respected by everyone in both parties. He even said John had invited him to Barrett House for the weekend to talk about their policies.

  Why would he say that?

  How do I know? I thought it was overkill my-self. He switched off the television set. I cant bear any more. John and I were so close. Practically brothers. He went over to the kitchen bar. Anyone for breakfast?

  Eve turned to Logan. This is crazy. Youre not exactly unknown. Do they think they can get away with this?

  For a while. Theyll see that the DNA and dental records will match. Theyve taken the body to Bethesda.

  So what does that mean?

  It means they can control things at Bethesda. They have an inside man there. Hell see that every-thing is handled to their liking. It will buy them time.

  What are you going to do?

  Well, Im not going to show myself and try to prove theyre wrong. Id find myself in a maximum security cell as an imposter and suffer an unfortunate accident. He stood up. Besides, I have things to do.

  Who do you suppose Who was that man who died?

  Logan shrugged.

  She shivered. It had started. A man had died, a life thrown away.

  Coffee? Gil asked. Theres danish.

  She shook her head.

  Can we talk about Chadbourne now? Logan asked politely. I believe the situation is escalating.

  Youre damn right well talk, she answered. I want my mother safe. I dont want my house going up in flames with her in it.

  Ill call Margaret, tell her Im still of this world, and to find a hiding place for your mother.

  Now.

  Shes being very well guarded. Can I finish my coffee first? He gazed at her over the rim of the cup. Are you going to help me, Eve?

  Maybe. If I dont think youre keeping me wan-dering around blind. She turned to Gil. I want to know about this Timwick you think is pulling the strings. You worked under him?

  Gil nodded. Not close. As a humble Secret Service man, I was not privy to the great mans confidence.

  Whats he like? You have to have made judgments.

  Hes smart, ambitious, and knows how to pull strings to get what he wants. Personally, I wouldnt have wanted him to back me up in a tight situation. Ive seen him explode too often. I dont think he re-acts well under pressure. He paused. Is he dan-gerous? Hell, yes. Volatility translates too often to unreasonable violence.

  What about Fiske?

  Hes only a hired man. Calculated, efficient, and likes what he does. Anyone else?

  You tell me. There could be a dozen people lurking in the wings you havent told me about.

  As I mentioned before, they would need to keep down the number of people involved, Logan said. And wed be stupid to try to keep you in the dark now. You know what we know. Everything is out on the table. Will you help us?

  If my mother is safe. She stared directly into his eyes. And Im going to help myself, not you. Id be an idiot not to know what a target youve made me. And the only way I can help myself is to prove Ben Chadbourne is really dead. DNA and dental records are the only legally acceptable proof. So we have to go after them.

  And your suggestion?

  Im not a DNA expert or a forensic anthropolo-gist with the additional qualifications necessary to do the extraction. So we take the skull to one of the most respected anthropologists in the profession, see if he can get enough DNA to make a match.

  The skull went through a fire.

  Its still a possibility. She added deliberately, As I think you know. I was just the first shot in your arsenal. Ill bet youve even chosen the forensic an-thropologist to do the work.

  Dr. Ralph Crawford. Duke University. He has the qualifications we need.

  She shook her head. Gary Kessler. Emory.

  Hes better?

  At least as good and I know him.

  Another Quincy? Gil asked.

  That TV show drives Gary crazy. Besides the fact that its inaccurate, people are always confusing pathologists with forensic anthropologists.

  Well, what is the difference?

  Pathologists have medical degrees and resi-dence training in pathology. Anthropologists dont have medical degrees, they have doctorates in an-thropology and some of them specialize in the human skeletal system and its changes during a lifetime. Like Gary Kessler. Hes worked with sev-eral Atlanta pathologists and is well respected. Be-sides, since you were researching Crawford, its very likely that they wont think wed go to anyone else.

  Theyve probably been looking at your back-ground with a magnifying glass too.

  And theyll find out Ive worked with ten to twelve anthropologists in L.A., New York, and New Orleans and that Ive been bombarded with requests since that 60 Minutes story. It will take time for them to check out everyones specialty and they would con-sider Gary a long shot since I havent worked with him in over two years.

  Logan slowly nodded. Youre making sense. And, under the circumstances, it may be easier to con-vince someone you know to help.

  Since those circumstances involved probable trouble with the law, she could see the problem. What about dental records?

  That may be more difficult. Chadbournes den-tist was a woman named Dr. Dora Bentz. He paused. She was one of the people Fiske murdered after you came to Barrett House. You can bet every dental file Chadbourne ever had has been switched.

  You said it was a witness who was murdered. She held up her hand as he started to speak. Never mind. Why should I expect truth from you?

  Im not going to defend myself. It was a dif-ferent situation.

  She noticed he didnt apologize or claim hed do anything else. Then were left with the DNA. What if we dont have enough for a test? Could we find a way to force Detwil to take a test to prove his identity?

  No way, Logan said flatly. Hes now the presi-dent. We bear the burden of proof. Besides, his medical records could be switched like mine.

  Couldnt we try? Hes got to have relatives.

  Other than his mother, who died seven years ago, he had one older half brother.

  Had?

  John Cadro. He and his wife were killed the day after Dora Bentz.

  Jesus. It doesnt have to be a close relative. They proved the Anastasia impostor wasnt genuine by comparing her DNA to Prince Philip of Englands. Isnt there anyone else?

  Not that we can readily trace. They chose Detwil very carefully.

  What about the mother? They could exhume

  I dont mean to make a morbid pun, but we dont have time to dig deeper. Once we go public, we have to have full proof.

  Why dont we have time?

  Because well be dead within twelve hours after we show ourselves, Gil said bluntly. According to the news, John is already dead. That leaves only you and me, and they have the power of the presidency behind them. Im sure the scenario is already in place. Quick, logical, and thorough. Timwick was al-ways thorough.

  Eve shivered. There has to be another leadhellip; someone else.

  Yes, there is. Scott Maren.

  Another relative? She grimaced. And is he dead too?

  No. Hes Chadbournes personal physician, and hes been out of the country, which probably saved his life. He paused. But Im not sure well be able to use him. I believe hes probably involved in the actual murder.

  How?

  Opportunity. Two years ago, on the morning of November second, Ben Chadbourne checked into Bethesda for his annual checkup. The body appeared at Donnellis funeral home after midnight
on No-vember third.

  You think thats when the switch was made?

  Logan nodded. It had to have been choreographed perfectly, with one Ben Chadbourne checking in and another checking out. Maren probably gave the real Chadbourne a lethal shot claiming it was vitamin B or something.

  So hes their inside man at Bethesda, Eve said slowly. It was possible and diabolically clever, she thought. A physician was in a position of trust and yet dealt with the means for taking life every day. This has to be supposition. Maren would have had to go through all kinds of security checks before he became Chadbournes physician.

  Im sure he did, Gil said. But hes highly re-spected and also a close friend of the Presidents. Maren, Chadbourne, and Lisa Chadbourne all went to college together. Either Chadbourne or his wife was probably instrumental in getting him his posi-tion at Bethesda.

  Why would he do it? Why would he take that chance?

  Logan shrugged. I dont know, but Id bet he did. Thats why Ive been trying to contact him. We might be able to persuade him to implicate Timwick and Lisa Chadbourne.

  I cant see that Maren is a lead. Theres no way hed admit he was involved if its true. Hed be a fool.

  Maybe. Logan paused. Unless we could con-vince him that hes a dead man if theyre not taken out. When I made up my list of their possible targets for elimination, Maren ranked high on it.

  Eve thought about it. Hes the only witness who can link Lisa Chadbourne and Timwick to her hus-bands death.

  Right. If theres no such witness and the death is discovered, they could set up a patsy, claim it was a terrorist plot or some other conspiracy. But Maren is real, and if he goes down for the murder, they couldnt be sure he wouldnt talk and bring them down with him. I havent any doubt that from the moment the plan was conceived, they were already planning on killing him.

  But will he believe that?

  We can try. We dont have much choice. Hes our only hope right now.

  You said he was out of the country. Where is he?

  Detwil sent him on a goodwill mission to Jordan to inspect the hospitals there. It was high-profile and he was supposedly requested by the king of Jordan. On the surface its an honor that would increase Marens prestige.

  And below the surface?

  Possibly a setup. Fiske would have found it easy to kill him there and shift the blame to a foreign dis-sident group. I think Bentz and Cadro were killed be-cause they suspected I might be getting too close, but Maren was always a target.

  He wont cooperate. For Gods sake, if he killed the President, hes a dead man either way.

  Not if we offer him a deal.

  You dont have authority to offer him She studied his face. What are you thinking?

  That I want Detwil and Lisa Chadbourne out of the White House, and I dont care how I do it. He paused. Even if it means helping Maren set himself up somewhere with a fat bank account.

  Make a deal with a murderer?

  What if we cant get DNA proof? Can you sug-gest anything else?

  She was too confused to think clearly about any-thing at the moment. Whats to stop Fiske from still going to Jordan after Maren?

  The situation has changed. They need Maren, and they wont kill him until his usefulness is ended. He smiled. Remember, they took my body to Bethesda. Theyre going to want Maren there to cover up. He was supposed to come back day after tomorrow, but now hell be winging his way home at warp speed. While we go to Emory to see Kessler, Gils going to Bethesda and try to gather Maren in.

  How is Gil going to keep from being gathered in himself? Theyre bound to be on watch for us.

  Through the magic of disguise, Gil said. Im going to dress up as a female nurse. He tilted his head. A blonde, I think. With great boobs.

  What?

  Just joking. Dont worry, Ill handle it.

  She was already worried. She didnt want any harm to come to him. Gil might have been involved in the plot to deceive her, but he was a likable rascal.

  And, dear Christ, there had been too many deaths already. People she had never met were dying. She seemed to be in the middle of a circle of ever-widening ripples of destruction. Thank God, those ripples hadnt touched anyone close to her yet.

  And they mustnt touch them.

  Youre talking as if you can move around without any problems, she pointed out. What about money? What about ID? Credit cards can be traced and

  Logan took care of that. He had me buy a few handy-dandy phony drivers licenses on the black market. Youre Bridget Reilly. I thought your red hair looked like you might be of Irish descent. The picture is very satisfactorily blurred and

  My picture? She turned to Logan. You got a phony drivers license for me?

  He shrugged. I had to be prepared. I had Gil get IDs for everyone who was at Barrett House. I thought it might come down to this.

  Damn him. He had not only known the trouble he was involving her in, he had planned on it. And I suppose you had Gil set up phony credit cards for all of us too?

  He nodded. But I brought enough cash to see us through most situations.

  Youre absolutely incredible.

  I had to be prepared, he repeated.

  She had to get out of the room, or shed do some-thing violent.

  Call Margaret. She headed for the bedroom. Im going to phone my mother and tell her to be ready to go.

  Her phone will be monitored, you know.

  Im not an idiot. I know theyll be watching my mother. Ill be careful, but Ive got to warn her. Ill use my digital phone and call her on hers.

  She has a digital too?

  Of course. Joe got them for us. He says there are all kinds of creeps out there listening in on cellulars. Digitals are almost foolproof.

  I should have known it was the ubiquitous Mr. Quinn, Logan murmured. Is there anything he doesnt think of?

  No, hes a good friend and he keeps us safe. She gave him a cool glance over her shoulder. I can guess why you wouldnt understand that concept.

  THIRTEEN

  Sandra had seen the morning news, and it took Eve ten minutes to get past her exclamations of relief and deflect her barrage of questions to tell her that Mar-garet was coming.

  What do you mean, I have to leave? Sandra said. Whats going on, Eve?

  Nothing good. I cant talk about it.

  Is John Logan really dead?

  No. Look, Mom, its going to be nasty, and until I get it cleaned up, I want you somewhere safe and out of public view.

  Safe? Im safe here. Joe stops by every other day, and that black and white is parked out in front every night.

  Mom hellip; She had to find a way of convincing her. Do what I ask. Please. Its bad. Trust me. Im scared of what may happen.

  Scared? Sandra was silent. I believe you are scared. I havent seen you act like this since Fraser She broke off and then said, I want to see you.

  I cant come there. It would only endanger you.

  What are you mixed up in, Eve?

  I cant tell you that either. Will you do this for me?

  I have a job. I just cant run off

  Theyll kill you, she said baldly. Or theyll use you to kill me. Is that what you want? For Gods sake, tell the office you have a family emergency. Believe me, its true.

  Kill you, Sandra repeated, and for the first time Eve heard fear in her voice. Im going to call Joe.

  Im going to call him myself. But he may not be able to help you. Dont leave the house and dont open the door to anyone but the person I send after you.

  And who is that?

  Christ, what if they found a way to monitor the conversation? She couldnt have Margaret a target. Theyll have ID. Ill fax a picture No, her fax machine had been destroyed along with almost everything else in the lab, and besides, a fax might not be safe. Ill get a photo and information to you somehow. She paused. And, Mom, dont go any-where with anyone else, no matter what kind of ID they show you. Not the police, not the FBI or Secret Service. No one.

  When will this person be here?

  I d
ont know. Soon. I dont even know how theyll contact you. They may not want to come to the house. Just do what they say. Okay?

  Im an adult, Eve. I dont go blindly where Im led. God knows, I did enough of that when I was growing up. She sighed. Okay, okay, Ill go along with this. But I wish to hell youd never heard of John Logan.