by Andrew Watts
“Can I help you, sir?” she asked. Fair complexion. Nice smile. Lovely accent. She’d probably love to escort a mature American gentleman at the bar tonight.
“How ya doing? I was hoping to get a ground-floor room. One that looks out at Peel Street.”
“Of course. But I’m sure we can do better than that for you, sir. You see, we’re underbooked right now and—”
Henry waved for her to stop. “Nope. I just want one on the ground floor. Looking at Peel Street, if possible. Do you have a vacancy that meets those criteria? Ground floor facing Peel Street?”
She looked confused and said, “I’m sure we do. We have a special on our Economy Queen on that floor for one hundred and thirty-nine dollars. I’ll just need your ID and credit card.”
Henry fidgeted. Here comes the hard part. He looked around to make sure no one else was watching. “Actually, I was hoping to keep my stay here rather confidential, if it’s all the same to you. I’m…a private detective, you see. You can put my name down as Merriweather. Dr. Alphonso Merriweather. Just one night’s stay, please. And if we can avoid any use of IDs or whatnot, I’d like to provide you a nice tip for your exceptional service.” Henry looked at her as he slid over three hundred dollars.
She hesitated, and then looked around the room. “Of course, Mr. Maryweather. I think we can make that work.” She blushed and began typing.
When they were finished, Henry took his room key and walked outside and around the corner until he found the right door. He ran the card through the slot and entered. He took out two cell phones, powered them up, and placed them on the coffee table. He sat down on a chair and ran through the phones’ respective setup screens for a few minutes until they were ready to be used. He then downloaded the app that he needed on both phones and made sure that it worked.
When he was finished in the hotel room, Henry walked out the door and across the street to the Mantra on the Esplanade, another touristy hotel. David met him in the lobby.
Henry said, “Any problems with the lack of ID?”
“Surprisingly, no. These Australians are pretty good about discretion as long as they have the right financial incentive.”
Henry said, “The pawn shops are kind of stingy. I did get us some extra protection, though.” He held open the bag so that David could see the pistol.
“Nice. I got us on the fifth floor. Let’s get up there and stay out of sight.”
14
Half the lies they tell me about aren’t true. —Yogi Berra.
They waited until it was 9 p.m. in Darwin before calling. That worked out to 8 a.m. Eastern Time. David expected that Lundy would be in the office by then. The wait was excruciating. Henry set up their cell phone and placed it on the room’s lone desk.
David looked at Henry and said, “You ready?”
Henry said, “I’m ready, but I’m not doing the talking. Are you ready?”
He took a breath and said, “Yeah, I think so. Here goes nothing.”
David dialed the number he had found online. It took a moment before a female voice answered, “In-Q-Tel, how may I direct your call?”
“Yes, I was hoping to speak with Mr. Chuck Lundy. Could you connect me, please?”
“Who may I say is calling?”
“Tell him it’s…” He hesitated. “Tell him it’s David Manning. I’m an In-Q-Tel employee.”
David listened for any reaction from the receptionist. If she recognized the name, she gave no hint of it in her voice. “Sure thing, Mr. Manning. One moment while I connect you.”
There was nearly a full minute of silence before anyone came on the line.
“This is Chuck—David, is this really you?”
David’s voice was a mix of gladness and stress. “Chuck, it’s good to hear your voice. But please listen very carefully. I may be in danger. I need to tell you some things and I don’t have much time. I am going to talk for about two minutes and then I’ll be calling back in about an hour. When I call back, I’ll need to speak with representatives high up in the following agencies: the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI, and the State Department. Can you make that happen?”
“David, where are you? Your family is worried sick. Does Lindsay know where you are?”
David looked down and sighed. Henry had urged him to move the conversation along as quickly as possible. If the Chinese were listening, the longer they talked, the more likely the call would get traced or shut down. “Chuck. This is life or death here. I need to brief people, but I need members from all of those organizations on the line. Please, help me out—can you do that?”
“Sure, David, whatever you need…” He sounded dumbstruck.
David said, “I’m going to tell you something and I need you to write it down. You got a pen?”
“Hold on…Yeah, I’m ready. Go.”
“Okay, don’t stop me for questions, just write what I’m saying so you can refer to it later in case we get cut off. Chuck, about three weeks ago I was taken captive by Tom Connolly. He was a Chinese spy. I believe that he helped them obtain ARES, the cyberweapon that you and I were evaluating for In-Q-Tel…”
David spoke for two minutes straight. He poured out as much information as he thought Lundy would need. He named as many people still captive on the island as Henry and he could remember. He told Chuck about the planning of a Chinese attack on the US, the decoy attack in Iran, ARES, and about possible spies already inserted in the US government. He told Lundy about Bill, the Chinese troops, the helicopters, and about Lena Chou.
When David was finished, Chuck said, “David, my God…did this really happen?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it did. Chuck, you are the first person we’ve called. Now we need your help.”
Henry held up two fingers and whispered so only David heard, “Technically he’s the second person we’ve called, but my ex-wife is probably a communist.”
David ignored Henry and said, “Chuck, we need you to move as fast as possible. Contact the CIA so that we can brief them. I know that you have contacts there from work. Make sure they are people you trust. We need to rescue the other Americans on that island if they are still there, and we need to put a stop to any plans that are already in motion.”
There was a delay due to the distance, and Chuck spoke over David. “David, I hear you loud and clear. I’ll get to work on this right away. Hey, where are you guys? We’ll send a team out to pick you up ASAP.”
David and Henry looked at each other. Henry nodded. David said, “We’re in Darwin, Australia.”
“Australia? How did you get there? Okay, sit tight. What’s your number? I’ll call you back—”
David said, “Chuck, I’ll call you back at this number in one hour. Sorry, but I need to get off the phone now. Please have someone from all of those government organizations on the line when I call back. Get whoever else you need on the line too. Talk to you then.”
“Will do, David. I’ll talk to you then.”
David said, “Wait!”
“What?”
“One more thing…have you spoken to Lindsay? Is she’s okay?”
“She’s fine, David. I spoke to her yesterday. She is worried sick, but she’s alright.”
David closed his eyes and said, “Thanks, Chuck.”
David hung up the phone and handed it to Henry.
Henry said, “Okay. So far so good.”
Philippe rode in the backseat of the black sedan. The sailors on the trawler had been of little help other than to confirm that the two men in question had been dropped off in the city of Darwin around noon.
He didn’t want to think what Lena would do if they were able to communicate out before Philippe was able to arrest them. Philippe didn’t know what Lena was trying to keep secret, but he had witnessed what could happen when other men had disappointed her. He didn’t want to suffer the same fate.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
“This is Shek.”
A man’s voice. “Manning has made
a phone call. We are refining the call origin geoposition now. Initial assessment is near the intersection of Daly Street and Esplanade.”
Philippe called up to his driver, “Daly and Esplanade. Go.”
The man on the phone said, “We need you to find him soon. Ms. Chou wanted me to convey the importance of timing. She also said that using lethal force would not be looked down upon.”
Philippe grimaced. “Understood. However, what you are mentioning…that is outside my normal scope.”
A moment’s pause. “You’ll be compensated proportionate to the risk.”
The line went dead and Philippe tucked the phone back in his pocket. The car made a sharp right turn and accelerated down the road.
“You gonna call her now?”
David said, “You think it’s safe?”
Henry said, “I don’t know. But we already made one call. I doubt they’re going to have a call quota. Either they know about us and they shut the connection down or not.”
“I need to call her. I’m going to.”
“Call her. Just…don’t spend more than a few minutes on the line if you can help it.” Henry was uncharacteristically serious when he spoke.
“Got it.”
David picked up the remaining cell phone from the table and took a deep breath. His palms were sweaty. She was fine, he kept telling himself. He dialed the number.
There was a clicking noise and then the phone rang. David’s heart was in his throat. He was breathing heavier just at the anticipation of speaking to his wife after such an ordeal.
It went to voicemail. Son of a bitch.
He dialed again and Lindsay’s phone went straight to message just like the last time. He dialed two more times before finally deciding to just leave a message. Henry watched David’s frustration from the chair near the window. He turned away and looked out the window, across the street.
David was nearly crying when he recorded his voicemail. “Lins. It’s me, David. I love you honey.” He sniffed and wiped away the first of the tears that began streaming down his cheeks. “Listen, I want you to know that I’m okay. I love you. Please tell the girls that I love them and miss them. I’ve been…in some trouble for the past couple weeks. I think I’m almost in the clear now, but I’m going to leave it at that over the phone.” David thought about leaving the room number where they were staying or the cell number for her to call back but he decided against it. And the application that Henry had them using for these phones meant that she couldn’t dial his cell number. “I’ll call back soon. Like I said, I’m alright. I know you’ve probably been through a lot. I think about you every day.” Crying harder now, he wiped his nose. “I’ll call you soon.”
He hung up, looking away from Henry.
Henry’s eyes were low. “Sorry,” he said.
David nodded. “You said text messaging and email wouldn’t work, right?”
“Not with the way I’ve got it rigged up. Sorry. Just outgoing phone calls for now.”
David said, “You wanna make a call?”
Henry took the phone from him and began to dial. He held the phone to his ear and then looked at the screen. He pressed the red button to end the call. He snorted. “Voicemail.”
“You don’t wanna leave a message?”
“Nah. It was my daughter. And we haven’t talked in a while. She’s the only one that I really need to call.” Henry handed the phone back. “You got anyone else you want to try?”
David thought about that as he took the phone.
Henry said, “I’m gonna run down to the lobby and see if they have any beverages we can bring up.” He walked out of the room.
David only knew a few phone numbers by heart anymore. He tried his sister’s. The clicking sound came on the line and then it went to her voicemail. She was deployed right now, wasn’t she? She probably wouldn’t get this message for weeks, if not months. He hung up.
He called his brother, Chase. Now there was a guy that never answered his phone. David left a message. “Chase, it’s David. I…” He had planned out every word of what he would say when he called Chuck Lundy at work, but now he couldn’t think of what was appropriate to tell his brother. Should he unload everything on a voicemail? Did he even know that David had been missing? He must. Lindsay would have emailed Victoria and she would have contacted Chase by now.
“I’m okay. Please tell Lindsay that I love her. I couldn’t get in touch with her and…I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me yet so just please let her know that you heard from me and that I’m okay and that I love her…” David looked up at the closed door. “Listen, I’m in trouble. Some pretty bad things are going on. Some people may be after me and I…”
The door opened and Henry came in, holding a six-pack of beer.
David said into the phone, “…I’ll call you soon.” He looked down at the phone, and the time elapsed read over one minute. He pressed END and terminated the call.
Henry said, “You want one?”
David shook his head. “No, thanks. Not right now.”
Henry hopped on the bed and grabbed the remote control, flipping on the TV.
David said, “Why aren’t you more worried?”
Henry looked at him. “This is me worried.” He cracked open his first beer, closed his eyes and took a long swig. “Ahh. But sometimes you just need to let it go.”
David said, “We’re going to have to set up a schedule so that one of us is always watching the street.”
Henry was still looking at the TV. A soap opera was on. Henry seemed content.
“Henry.”
“Yeah.” He took a sip of beer, eyes still on the TV.
David sighed. “I’ll take the first shift.” David looked at his watch. Forty minutes until they needed to call Lundy back.
Philippe’s car pulled up on Peel Street outside the hotel. He looked down at the address that had just been texted to his phone.
“This is it.”
He sent a text message on his phone. READY.
A moment later he got a message back. STAND BY FOR OUR ORDER. EXPECT A 10-MINUTE WAIT.
The driver said, “Are we going in?”
Philippe said, “Soon.”
David sat at the table and said, “Okay, let’s do this.”
Henry was over at the window now, sipping his second beer and half-watching the hotel across the street. The remote was still in his hand and he glanced at the TV every few seconds. At least he had put it on mute, David thought.
David dialed the number and hit send.
After a few rings, an intense-sounding voice said, “Is this David Manning?”
“This is David.”
“And is Henry Glickstein with you?” Henry watched David now.
“He is.”
“Good. Gentlemen, Mr. Lundy contacted my office about an hour ago and brought me up to speed. My name is Bob Crowley. I’m with the Central Intelligence Agency.”
“Is Chuck there?”
“I’m here, David.”
“And could everyone on the phone please introduce themselves?”
Six more men gave introductions. There were representatives from the Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security, and three branches of the military.
David said, “Okay, thanks, everyone, let me take you through the same information that I gave to Chuck.”
David repeated what he had told Lundy, in a bit more detail this time. When he was finished, Crowley began firing questions away.
Crowley said, “David, please take no offense to my line of questioning. I am not trying to ascertain fault, but to fully understand what went on.”
“Okay.”
“Was there a plan for Iran to attack the United States?”
“Sort of. The plan was to stage an attack on Iran and provoke them into attacking the US in the Gulf region. Then there were to be several different attacks on the US mainland to help ignite a large-scale war with Iran. The members of the Red Cell designed the plans
so that all attacks would look like Iran was responsible. Eventually, one of the attacks on the US mainland would be a large cyber attack, which would actually originate in China. But it would still look like Iran was responsible.”
“Alright, so this cyber attack would involve ARES, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“So can you confirm that everyone involved, including both you and Henry Glickstein, took part in planning attacks on the United States?”
David frowned. “We tried not to fully participate once we understood what was going on.”
“David, I completely understand. Again, I’m not trying to determine guilt. I just want to understand how people were used. So you two, along with the rest of the members of this Red Cell, participated in planning attacks on the United States and its military?”
David looked at Henry, wondering why this was important. “Yes, Mr. Crowley, that is accurate.”
“So this…”He paused like he was looking down at his notes, “…Lena…she chose people to participate based on their areas of expertise and how they could contribute to planning attacks on the United States.”
“That’s correct. But Bob, I think our time would be better served here if we talked about how to save the Americans that are still trapped on that island.”
“Absolutely, Dave. One last question—your area of expertise was ARES, is that correct?”
David said, “Yes, that’s accurate.”
“Okay, thank you, David.”
“Now I have some questions I would like to ask if it’s alright.” He tried not to sound irritated.
