Watson cleared her throat and continued.
“But for two weeks we’re going to do without the services of our own Rick Bellamy. What he and his wife went through in the past few weeks makes us all cringe. Two people who thought they’d never see each other again. Rick will be on two weeks leave and please don’t text or email him without passing it by me or New York FBI Director Auletta. I want these two to relax.”
So I was about to take a vacation. Two weeks of spending time with the woman I love. Two weeks of not worrying about the world unraveling. Two weeks of not checking email and text messages constantly. Two weeks of bullshitting myself that I actually know how to relax.
But I can do it.
I think.
Chapter 83
“Christmas in Aruba. This is really going to happen, Rick. We’re going to enjoy each other and not worry about anything. We’re going to relax and recharge. We’re gonna chill.”
“Rick?”
“What?”
“Have you been listening to anything I said?”
“Sure, everything.”
“I’m not going to quiz you because I know you weren’t listening. Hey, hon, we’re about to catch a flight and I can see that you’re doing nothing but connecting dots in your head. You’re looking for more patterns when you should be thinking about relaxing.”
I put my arms around her and kissed her. Ellen was right. I was still at work, even though we were waiting for the doorman to come and pick up our suitcases.
“Okay,” I said, “I promise. I’m going to unwind with the love of my life, and I’m not going to sweat my case files. We’re going to swim, scuba dive, read books, and make love.”
“I’m going to keep you to that promise, Rick. We’re about to fly to a beautiful waterfront house in Aruba and it’s ours for two weeks – alone. Gimme a kiss, handsome, to seal the promise.”
I grabbed for the remote.
“While we’re waiting, let’s just check the Weather Channel.”
“Fuck the weather, Rick. I don’t want to hear some TV reporter say ‘We have breaking news…’ So what if it’s raining in Aruba? We can think of plenty of things to do indoors. I know I can.”
The doorbell rang and the doorman came in to pick up our luggage. Ellen looked at me with her eyebrows raised as if to say, “Don’t forget your promise.”
Chapter 84
We’d been in Aruba for just a couple of days, and Rick was keeping his promise. I thought he was actually starting to relax. It isn’t just that he’s a workaholic or an obsessive compulsive. Rick is a dedicated man. He loves his country and considers it his personal responsibility to make things right. He’s a professional, one of the things I love about him. I enjoy the fact that I admire the guy I love. But I’m going to keep him to his promise.
We spent the morning snorkeling in the beautiful blue green waters off Aruba. The temperature was high, around ninety-five, and the sun was blazing. We lay down on a recliner under an overhanging roof. A gentle breeze swept away the humidity. I spotted a little iguana climbing up the post. Ever since I was a kid, I liked lizards. Not a girlie thing, I know, but I thought they were interesting. I nudged Rick and pointed to the iguana.
“You like those things?” asked Rick.
“Why not? They’re friendly, industrious, and kind of cute. Like you.”
“Great, my wife thinks I’m like a friggin lizard.”
He leaned over and kissed me.
I dozed off for a few minutes, more relaxed than I could remember. When I awakened, Rick was propped up on an elbow, staring at me. I stroked his face.
“And you were about to say?”
“I was just thinking. You’ve won a lot of architectural awards. I bet you could walk off with a gold medal for best looking architect in a bikini.”
“Thanks, handsome, but I don’t think there’s a competition for that prize.”
“We should go inside,” Rick said. “I don’t want you to get sunburned.”
“Rick, we’re in the shade. We’re under a roof.”
“Well, I think we should go inside anyway.”
“Why?” I asked, but I was pretty sure I knew why.
“We should rinse off the salt water. A nice warm, soapy, sudsy shower should do the trick.”
“And what will we do after the shower?”
“Let’s go inside and I’ll show you.”
Chapter 85
“Bennie, it’s Buster. Please come to my office.”
I missed [AB38]having Rick around to swap ideas. He’s the best FBI guy I’ve ever worked with, and he’s also a good friend. I agreed with Director Watson sending Rick and Ellen on a vacation, not that it’s my place to agree or not. After the horror the two of them went through with Ellen’s kidnapping, they needed some time off. Big time.
“Hi, Buster, what’s up?” said Bennie as he walked into my office.
“Ben, I want to sort some things out with you. I need the input of a psychiatrist.”
“Anxiety?”
“No, it’s not about me. Shit, my life is one big anxiety attack. I just live with it. I want to talk to you about our new friend, Imam Mike. This guy is like a gift from heaven. He’s singlehandedly populating our database with names that we never had. He even warned Rick about that sadistic scumbag Bashara. Thank God Ellen shot the bastard, but the point is that Imam Mike had him fingered.”
“So what are you concerned about, Buster?”
“Mike seems to think he’s a born-again spook. Since he flipped his head away from the side of darkness, he thinks he’s part of our team.”
“Well isn’t he?”
“Yes, but the guy has me worried. I didn’t wake up one morning to discover that I was a spy, a CIA operative, a spook. I’ve had years of training and it’s still going on. Mike is a religious cleric and he doesn’t know the first thing about clandestine ops. I need your input Bennie. What makes this guy tick? If I can figure that out, I may be able to handle him better and keep him from getting his head chopped off.”
“His personality profile, Buster, is that of a helper. In one way or another, we all want to please superiors, not just for career moves, but for the sense of satisfaction we get from making ‘the boss’ happy. He sees you and Rick as his superiors. It’s obvious when I watch him. He’s now on the inside, and he’s taking a lot of pride in it. He wants to help.”
“But will his desire to help get him into trouble? Will he take risks that could expose him? I don’t want to lose this guy, Bennie. He’s the most valuable mole we’ve got, probably the best we ever had.”
“Talk straight with the guy, Buster. The next time you meet him, remind him how dangerous spying can be. Remind him that he can’t risk being tagged as a man who asks too many questions. Also remind him to keep up appearances as an imam. The next time a terror attack happens, remind Mike that he can’t go off on a rant from the pulpit. That’s how that imam in Michigan got whacked. If I were you, I’d meet with him as soon as you can.”
“On another subject, Bennie, do you think al-Qaeda’s found a replacement for Bashara?”
“Yes, Buster, my guess is that they’ve already found a new head man. And here’s what worries me – they’re going to be looking for some payback. We shot down the biggest terror plot to date with the MacPherson shopping mall plan. Make no mistake about it: the scumbags will be looking for blood – soon.”
Chapter 86
“Aadil Ammar, may peace be with you,”
“Are you a fool, Joseph Portman? You are never to use my Muslim name, and you are not to say ‘peace be with you.’ My name is Dennis Borman. You dishonor our slain leader Bashara, I mean Phil Murphy. He has given you the new rules, Joseph, and we must all use extreme caution. Understood?”
“Yes, Dennis.”
“I assume you have heard the details about the infidel raid on our house in New Jersey?”
“I have, Dennis. It was in all the newspapers. I wept when I read that brother B
ashara, sorry I mean Murphy, was killed.”
“In that one raid, our gigantic plan for next year was dashed. I can tell you about it now because it is no longer a plan. We were to destroy five large shopping centers across the country at one time. Because of a radical design of the buildings, we estimated that we could have killed 75,000. But that is now over.”
“Does that mean things will get quiet for a while?”
“Of course not, Joseph. We always have more plans.”
“But the most important thing I have to tell you is this. The CIA had an inside man at our New Jersey house. It is the only logical explanation for what happened. That’s why you have to be diligent about only using your infidel name. You are also to avoid radical websites. I know you’ve been told all this before, but it’s now critical. It’s essential that we ‘fly beneath their radar,’ as the infidels like to say. You will now take orders from me. I have overall command of our plans for the next year. And I have some interesting assignments for you, Joseph.”
“Praise Allah, Dennis, I hope to hear of them soon.”
“And, Joseph?”
“Yes, Dennis?”
“Please no talk about praising Allah. We will praise him by our actions.”
Chapter 87
“Rick, there’s something we haven’t talked about at all. We haven’t discussed my big bonus from Angus MacPherson. $18 friggin million dollars! And we haven’t even talked about it.”
Rick got up from his chair and moved it next to me. He put his arm around me and kissed me on the cheek.
“I’ve never thought a hell of a lot about money, Ellen. I get a reasonable salary from the FBI, and your huge design fees got us a three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. I heard MacPherson say it, but I haven’t thought about it since. I don’t want to sound like a soap opera, hon, but having you alive is all I’ve been thinking about recently.”
“But $18 mil is a nice piece of change, Rick. We could even retire.”
“And then what would we do? We’re too young to retire, and you’re too serious a woman to become idle rich. You love your work, and I love my work, and that’s a good thing.”
“Maybe we could set up a foundation to help kids or something?”
“Now you’re talking. You’re talking like my Ellen.”
We were enjoying an early lunch on the patio of our vacation house. After we finished, we got up to bring the dishes inside. As we walked through the door, Rick put his finger over his lips to give me a “shush” signal and grabbed my arm. He put his dish down on a small table and gently pushed me behind a concrete wall at the entrance.
He tiptoed to a closet, reached in and took out his gun. He chambered a round and held it in both hands pointing down.
“Come out and put your hands where I can see them!” Rick yelled as he raised the gun.
The cleaning woman dropped a basket of laundry, put up her hands, and started crying.
“Oh, shit,” said Rick. “I’m sorry. Here let me help you with that stuff.”
I walked in, gave the woman a hug, and said in Spanish, “My husband is a very nervous man. He’s sorry. Everything is okay.”
She wiped her eyes, gave a short laugh and said, “Si, Señora.”
I looked at Rick.
“You know, we’re not supposed to be here, Rick. We blew it. The schedule calls for the house to be cleaned between eleven and noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“I feel like a jerk. I’m sorry, babe.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about retirement?”
“No, I enjoy scaring the shit out of cleaning ladies.”
Chapter 88
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, Shepard Smith for Fox News. I have a horrible report to start this Monday morning. A commuter train derailed as it entered Union Station in Chicago. Preliminary reports indicate that the derailment came immediately after a large explosion in the locomotive. We don’t have reports on casualties as yet, but because it happened at the height of rush hour, the fear is that the toll will be high. First responders are on the scene, and we’ve received reports that Union Station is in absolute chaos.”
Chapter 89
Rick and I began our Monday after our vacation listening to Shepard Smith on Fox News report the commuter train disaster in Chicago.
That evening we met back at our apartment after a hellish day. It had only been two weeks since our wonderful vacation in Aruba, and now it was back to the shit. It was an unusually early hour of 6 p.m. for the two of us to be home, but we both felt the need to steal some quiet time together. We arrived at the same time. As soon as we walked in we hugged, our usual procedure.
“You look like hell, honey. I’ll make us a couple of martinis.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t take this crap personally, Ellen, but it isn’t easy. A voice in my head is screaming at me, asking me what I could have done to prevent this. And I’m not coming up with any answers.”
“Rick, you’re one of the best FBI agents in the country. I’ve heard Director Watson say that herself. You’re brilliant, you’re a patriot, but you’re not omniscient. You can’t control everything that goes on in this insane world. Nobody can. Shit like today is the new normal, and we all have to get used to it.”
“But I thought we had it figured out. We had the data, we had the plan, and we had the people to execute it. Everything looked perfect. Now, I don’t know what we’ve got.”
I held Rick’s face in both hands and kissed him, a long lingering kiss. He looked so upset. I was obsessed with making his pain go away. In our relationship, when he’s in pain, I’m in pain. And I don’t like to be in pain.
“Well I know what you and I have,” I said. “Us. Whatever crap they fling our way, I have Rick and Rick has Ellen. That, honey, is a constant of the universe, and don’t forget it.”
“My God,” said Rick, “you have a beautiful way with words. Yeah, there’s you and me, and that’s the most important thing in the world.”
“So why the frown on your face, hon?” I asked. “Do I have to drag you back to Aruba?”
“I feel like I live my life waiting for another shoe to drop,” said Rick.
“Well, drop both shoes, take a nice shower, and let’s relax,” I said. “I have a surprise for you.”
Chapter 90
Angus and Margo MacPherson had become our good friends. No doubt this had a lot to do with Ellen saving the lives of Margo and Jane. Angus had virtually adopted Ellen as a second daughter. It was no surprise when Ellen handed me an envelope with MacPherson on the return address.
“Rick, isn’t this sweet?”
Two tickets to the Super Bowl were in the envelope, courtesy of Angus.
“I’ve always wanted to go to a Super Bowl, Rick. We can afford the tickets, God knows, but the only ones we ever had a shot at were lousy seats. Look at the great spots that Angus gave us, two of the best seats in the house.”
“It takes somebody like Angus MacPherson to pull that off, hon,” I said. “The game is on February 1, a week from now. Hey, maybe we can take a couple of extra days and enjoy some time off in beautiful Arizona. It may not be Aruba, but we agreed we’d try to grab short vacations.”
“You don’t have to convince me, honey,” Ellen said.
Chapter 91
“Hey, wake up, sleepy head,” said Ellen. “We have to catch a flight to Arizona at noon.”
It was Saturday, January 31, the day before the Super Bowl.
I got out of bed, stretched, and looked out the window.
“Hey, where the hell did Manhattan go?”
Ellen walked next to me at the window. What we saw was beautiful. The city was pure white, covered in a few feet of snow, swirling in funnels driven by the wind. We couldn’t make out the cars parked across the street, just snowy mounds.
I clicked on the TV, something I hate to do first thing in the morning.
“A beautiful snow-covered good morning, folks,” said the TV weatherman. “I
t may be beautiful, but it’s also serious. That weather front we’ve been tracking for the past few days shifted to the Northeast, and is bringing the New York Metropolitan area its worst blizzard in at least 10 years. The snow’s been falling steadily at about two inches an hour and shows no signs of letting up. It’s a slow moving storm and our forecast is for a whopping seven feet across the Tristate region. All area airports, including JFK, LaGuardia, MacArthur, and Newark are closed with no incoming or outgoing flights expected until late tomorrow. So stoke up the oven, put on some chicken wings, and enjoy tomorrow’s Super Bowl from the comfort of your own living room. The weather in Glendale, Arizona, is expected to be perfect for game time tomorrow.”
I was pissed, although it’s kind of stupid to be pissed off at a snowstorm. Things happen, don’t we know.
“Damn,” Ellen shouted. “I was so looking forward to going to the game. Getting Super Bowl tickets with good seats is like winning a lottery. Maybe Angus can wangle a couple of tickets for next year. I don’t even have any greasy comfort food for tomorrow. We can’t even have a Super Bowl party.”
“Maybe they’ll shovel the sidewalk by tomorrow so I can go to the deli down the block and get us some wings.” I was trying to be helpful. We were both totally disappointed.
I got back into bed and Ellen climbed in next to me. We watched the reports of the storm.
“Well, at least we have a wide screen TV,” I said, trying to be positive.
Chapter 92
What my life would be like without Ellen is a thought I don’t want to contemplate. I was forced into exactly that thought when she was kidnapped a few weeks ago, but she’s here, very much here, the best part of my strange life.
The Shadows of Terror Page 16
