Final Victim

by Stephen J. Cannell

  "Hi," she said to him softly.

  "Hi," he said back, his voice just a whisper.

  She was about to say more when he closed his eyes. She thought he would open them again, but in seconds he was back asleep. She stood there for several more moments, trying to decide what to do.

  Karen was suddenly bone-weary. She had eaten nothing since yesterday but two bites of stone crab. She knew that with Lockwood gone it was up to her to protect Malavida. She also knew that would be next to impossible in the hospital. There were too many systems The Rat could penetrate. Too many people, too many ways he could slip through electronic defenses and attack. She had to get Malavida healthy enough to move him. She had to find a way to sneak him past the Federal agent who, she suspected, was not there to protect his life so much as to keep him from escaping. She had walked right in, flashing civilian ID, while he read the paper. She had been giving the problem some thought and had the beginnings of an idea, but her head was so thick from lack of sleep, she needed to get a few hours to clear the cobwebs. She moved away from Malavida and back out into the hall…

  Karen slept for four hours on the hard vinyl sofa in the visitors' area.

  She opened her eyes when she heard Lockwood's voice. She looked around and finally saw him on the TV screen over the nurses' station. It was the five o'clock news. They were running file footage taken three months ago after the shootout on Operation Girlfriend.

  The shot then switched to Trisha Rains in front of the Dade County Sheriff's Office: "That footage, many of you will remember, was taken last January when U. S. Customs Agent Lockwood was involved in a shootout at Miami International Airport… Agent Lockwood was arrested today by members of his own Internal Affairs Division. The arresting agent was Victor Kulack, also a participant in last January's gunfight. Apparently, Lockwood had been suspended a few days ago and was in Miami working on a murder case after having illegally freed a Federal prner named Malavida Chacone. As reported earlier, Chacone is now in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital."

  Karen sat up, went to the ladies' room, washed her face, and put on fresh makeup. She combed out her auburn hair and straightened her clothing.

  Malavida was still sleeping, so she went searching in the huge hospital for Lockwood's old friend Ray Gonzales.

  She found Gonzales in the Renal Care facility. He looked terrible. His skin was papery and so thin that the bones in his shoulder seemed to protrude sharply. He was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a dialysis machine and reading a Cuban tract called La Revolution, when Karen walked in.

  "Senor Gonzales?" she asked.

  "Si."

  "Soy una amiga de Juan Lockwood."

  "Then you don't have the sense God gave a goose," he said without an accent as he smiled at her.

  "Probably not." She smiled back.

  "How's my Anglo brother?"

  "He's under arrest and on his way back to Washington, so I guess you could say he's pretty shitty."

  "I know. He was by here yesterday. He looked tired and confused. Claire's death hit him hard. But he didn't say nothing about that killer, or busting Chacone outta Federal prn. I got that offa TV this evening."

  "Vic Kulack from Internal Affairs came down with a warrant for pursuing an investigation against orders."

  Gonzales laid down the magazine, and his face formed into a scowl. "Kulack is a low-life. He's the reason I'm hooked up to this damn machine. Kulack's been working overtime on Johnny. He doesn't like the fact that Lockwood gets results, that he gets newspaper ink, that the agency brass loves him. All these years Lockwood gets invited to the ball and gets to eat off lace doilies. Kulack gets invited to the outhouse, eats off toilet seat covers. Now, I guess he figures he's even."

  A nurse came in to check the levels on the dialysis machine. After a minute, she left. Ray Gonzales studied Karen openly. "It was too bad about Claire," he said. "John was still carrying a big torch for her. Don't often see a man pining over his ex-wife with that much sincere energy.

  All through Operation Girlfriend he was talking about getting together with her again."

  Karen nodded. Her eyes showed him nothing, but she felt a tinge of sadness at that remark.

  "You didn't come down here 'cause you wanted to watch my blood get cleaned," Gonzales said, bringing her back, "or because you wanted to catch up on John Lockwood's past. You got another reason?"

  "You're pretty perceptive, Ray," she said.

  "Cut the bullshit let's hear what's really on your mind."

  So she sat in the chair facing the bed and told him her plan.

  Chapter 28

  THE WIND MINSTREL

  IS COMING

  AND HE IS

  COD

  His nipples were on fire. He faced the computer in his barge and endured his stinging flesh. The TV news said that Lockwood had been transported to Washington for a Friday morning nine-o'clock hearing at the Department of Justice. The Rat had cracked the DOJ computer and obtained a valid username/password by fone-phreaking a DOJ agent's modem call into work. He brought the DOJ Administration Building's menu of Building Services up on the screen.

  2300 Constitution Avenue

  Washington, D. C.

  Central Computer Menu

  H)VACPhysical Plant, Misc

  HeatingDWP

  VentilationGas

  Air ConditioningEnergy Mgmt. Systems

  Energy StarMaintenance Sched.

  S)ecurityB)uilding Services

  Access Control amp; AccountingPA/Music

  VicCam MonitoringElevator Sched/Control

  LockdownCommon Area Lighting

  AlarmsEnergy Star

  C)ommunicationsE)mergency Services

  PhonePublic Safety

  DataAutoAlert

  RadioHelipad

  PagingPower Backup

  He selected the "Security" sub-menu. The DOJ in Washington was housed in a "smart" building, and everybody in the Justice Department had a "smart card" which they inserted in a slot when they entered. He chose "Access Control amp; Accounting," which showed the names and times of everyone entering and exiting the building, as well as certain high-security areas. Lockwood had entered the building at eight A. M. It was now quarter to nine. The Rat exited the security access log and chose "Emergency Services" from the main menu. A sub-menu appeared, and he chose "Public Safety." Up onto the screen came a list of sub-headings:

  Police F)Ire

  Medical

  S)eismic

  He selected the "Fire" option, then scanned the map of the fire suppression systems of the DOJ Building on Constitution Avenue. Most of the old buildings had CO2 or water sprinkler fire systems, but The Rat had found something interesting when he'd gone hunting in the system yesterday. On the bottom floor of the building, he had discovered a room labeled "Paper Files." It took up half the sub-basement, and it was where correspondence and memos that had not been transferred onto diskettes were stored. The room had become the center of his plan.

  The hearing was in a small conference room on the ninth floor of the Department of Justice Administration Building. It was beautifully decorated: deep-green carpet, silk wallpaper, hunting prints in lacquered frames. The nine o'clock hearing started ten minutes late.

  Laurence Heath had walked over from Customs two blocks away, and now sat at the oak conference table next to Bob Tilly and across from Vic Kulack. They were all waiting for the U. S. Prosecutor, a narrow-shouldered man named Carter Van Lendt.

  "This guy really dropped the basket," Kulack said to fill the empty air as Heath's gaze fell on him. "He thinks he can just do whatever he pleases. I've got a file on him two inches thick. Damn thing looks like the Georgetown phonebook."

  "Why don't we wait for Van Lendt?" Heath said without emotion.

  Then the door opened and DOJ Prosecutor Carter Van Lendt entered the room, carrying some brown manila files. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. Had to clean up a mess on a case in pre-trial." He sat down and dropped his armload of folders on t
he conference table. He hunted for the one that said "Lockwood" on the tab. Then he looked up and smiled thinly. "Lockwood and Alex Hixon are in the next room. Wanna bring 'em in and get started?" Van Lendt said, as he put a tape recorder in the center of the conference table.

  "I've got something I wanna say first," Kulack said, and they all turned to him.

  "Is this for the record, Vic?" Van Lendt asked, reaching to turn on the tape recorder.

  "No, hang on a minute, not yet. Before we start, I just want you to know where I'm coming from." He looked at them for a theatrical moment. "It's no secret I want this guy cashiered, and it's no secret I want him to do some hard time. John Lockwood operates outside the purview of this agency. He treats the agency guidelines like they're shit-"

  "Okay, I think we got the gist of it, Vic," Heath said, agitated. "This is supposed to be a hearing where both sides are present. Let's stop loading the deck and get Lockwood in and do it for real."

  Kulack plowed ahead. "I'm just saying, you let a guy like this break rules, run roughshod over agency policy, and then call him a hero, you can't expect the new guys coming up to think we stand for anything. Lockwood is supposed to be some kinda Customs legend. But I think he's a fucking disaster. I just want you to know I'm looking to max him out."

  "Are you through now?" Heath growled. "Can we get Lockwood in and do this for the record?"

  "Sure."

  The Rat selected the "VidCam monitoring" option from the "Security" menu. The selection of cameras was now on the lower left quadrant of the screen. This was one of the new breed of buildings which routed video images around its network for video-conferencing. The security system used the network too for monitoring all the security cameras. The system had cameras everywhere, even in the elevators. The Rat punched them up, one at a time, scanning shot after shot of corridors full of agents carrying armloads of folders here and there. He watched elevators crammed with people coming to work. He wasn't sure where Lockwood was, so he kept surfing the sixty or so shots, looking.

  For his plan to work, he needed to know exactly where Lockwood was. He hunkered over his screen, sweat dripping off his rib cage and between his feet. Then he punched up the ninth-floor hall. A door opened. Lockwood and another man stepped out. He watched in fascination as the two men walked down the hall.. "

  The conference room door opened and Lockwood stepped into the room with his Federal Law Enforcement Attorney, Alex Hixon. Hixon was a precise man of forty with short, rapidly receding brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He moved to the head of the table and sat, Lockwood taking the chair beside him. They all exchanged looks and nods, but no salutations.

  "Okay," Heath finally said, "this is a Justice Department internal review. Your agency, John, gives you the benefit of this preliminary hearing before any charges are brought against you. It's your chance to give your side of it with the U. S. Prosecutor present. In the event that the A. G.'s office, after this hearing, decides to pursue an indictment, then the rest of your IA hearing will be suspended and the tape of this meeting sealed and held as confidential agency material. It can't be subpoenaed. The criminal proceeding then takes precedence. The reason we do it this way is so that the results of this hearing, which are not conducted in accordance with your Constitutional rights, cannot be used against you in court." He finished, took a deep breath. "You all know this, but I'm required to say it for the record."

  "Fine with me," Lockwood said.

  Kulack leaned forward in his chair. "The list of charges against you is extensive," he said. "I'm going to take them chronologically and not in order of their magnitude: First, it is our contention that you and Harvey Knox in the Los Angeles DOJ office conspired to go outside Federal guidelines to write a fraudulent Special Circumstances Release for the purpose of getting Malavida Chacone out of the Federal penitentiary in Lompoc."

  They all turned from Kulack to Lockwood.

  "Harvey Knox was not in any way involved. I dropped by his office on Saturday afternoon, April thirteenth. I went through his desk while he was downstairs. I got one of those SCR forms out and forged his name to it. So I don't want him taking the heat for it. That was me."

  "So you're admitting you're guilty of illegally releasing a prner without proper authorization?" Heath said, his eyebrows climbing his forehead.

  "Yes, sir. I thought he could help me with a case. I crossed the line. I'm sorry."

  "May I ask, why the fuck…?" Heath growled, his disappointment filling the room.

  "Because, sir, I was trying to penetrate a remailer computer in Oslo, Norway, which I believed was a chat line for sexual psychopaths."

  Kulack cut in, "Okay, so we've established that you illegally released Chacone from prn and took him to Florida, where he became critically injured due to your actions." The IA silk was grinning slightly.

  "Actually, Vic old buddy, I took him to my wife's house in Studio City, California. He used her phone, at my direction, to penetrate the Pennet computer in Oslo. I fucked up because the UnSub back-tracked the line, and my wife, Claire, was murdered as a result." The bitterness in Lockwood's voice was tangible. The room grew still.

  "Go on," Heath said. "Take us through it chronologically."

  And Lockwood did. He told it all, not leaving out any detail: He told them about the chat room, Candice Wilcox's murder and mutilation in Atlanta, The Rat's clever use of the computer to change the timetable of the murder, Malavida's escape, Lockwood's return to Washington and handing his badge in, Karen Dawson's discovery of Leslie Bowers's murder and mutilation, finding Leonard Land's house, the explosion and the cybernetic attack on Malavida in the hospital, Lockwood's assault on the Miami cop so Karen could pull the tubes out of Malavida's arm, and the shootout with Dade County SWAT at the Ramada Inn. Each incident by itself was arguably defensible. But when they were all strung together in one telling, even Lockwood had to concede, it seemed like reckless behavior at best. In his memory, he heard DOJ psychiatrist Dr. Smythe: "John, are you acting in this destructive manner because you want to punish yourself for your thoughtless actions against your loved ones?" It was hard to believe that he had to come this far to finally begin to buy into that idea.

  "I think we should suspend this hearing," Kulack said, the grin growing. "I think Mr. Van Lendt will want to ask the Federal Grand Jury for an indictment."

  Van Lendt closed his notebook. "Seal the recording and save it until I see if the A. G. wants to seek an indictment for Felonious Malfeasance of Duty."

  "You guys don't have all that much, the way I see it," Alex Hixon finally said. He had said nothing till now, but he had been making notes through the entire meeting. Now he looked at them. "According to everybody, John gave Director Heath his badge back in the hall at Customs a week ago, making the charge of Malfeasance of Duty a complete 'so what.' "

  "He was suspended, not fired," Kulack said, "then he went all over the place saying he was on the job… calling himself a Customs agent…"

  "We can all go get depositions from the people you say he said that to, and argue semantics forever. Way I see it, he canceled his employment with U. S. Customs by verbal agreement when he handed back his badge, making all of the Customs Service rule-book violations beyond the scope. As a private citizen he doesn't have to report to his supervr, doesn't have to take orders from Director Heath regarding what to do. As an American citizen, he could certainly ask a few questions after his wife was murdered. I believe there were four other agents standing at the elevator when Lockwood resigned and handed back his badge." He turned to Heath. "Is that right, Larry?"

  Heath nodded his head.

  "So I'd urge you guys to leave that one in your briefcase," Hixon said. "As far as getting Malavida out of jail is concerned, it is, at worst, a Class B felony. The way I see it, we cop to that and get some kind of suspended sentence. The other stuff is just ratshit, and you all know it. This looks to me like a personal vendetta by an IA investigator who's made more bogus charges than a credit card thief, and I
intend to put that fact in evidence."

  There was a deafening silence which lasted for almost thirty seconds. Kulack finally broke it. "I'm not withdrawing the complaint. In the meantime, he spends the night in jail."

  The meeting ended and they all stood.

  On his way out, Laurence Heath approached Lockwood. "If it means anything, John, I'm sorry. You were one of the best. You had good stuff."

  They all left the room together and moved to the elevators. Bob Tilly went up the hall to the bathroom while Kulack pushed the Down button and they waited.

  The Rat had shut off the five other elevators in the DOJ Administration Building. Once he had figured out the system, it had been amazingly simple. Under "Emergency Services," he had accessed "Public Safety." Contained in its sub-menu was a seismic activity sensor which shut down the elevators during any seismic event. Once the main computer received a seismic alarm, it automatically told the elevators to perform their pre-set emergency duties, which were to return to the lobby, their "Emergency Home Floor," and shut down.

  The Rat had first put the sixth elevator on "Maintenance Setting." This effectively cut elevator six out of the system so it would continue to operate, but strictly by its own call buttons, at least for the time being. Then he had sent the system a phony seismic alarm which had deactivated five of the six elevators. The sixth elevator opened on nine and took in Lockwood, Laurence Heath, Vic Kulak, Carter Van Lendt, and Alex Hixon.

  The Rat watched on his high-resolution monitor as elevator six passed the lobby level. Heath started to pound on the lobby button, but The Rat had reset the elevator's "Emergency Home Floor" from "Lobby Level" to "Sub-basement," then brought it back on-line. The seismic alarm, overriding the button system, caused it to go directly to the sub-basement. As soon as the door opened, The Rat shut the elevator off, leaving it stuck there and locked open. Then he shut down the ventilation system in the sub-basement. The five men walked into the file room that The Rat had selected the day before.