Balance of Power (Noah Wolf Book 7)

by David Archer

  “Okay,” Sarah said, though it was obvious she wasn’t happy about it. “What about me? Did Rex actually have a wife?”

  Donald Jefferson waved a finger in the air to get her attention. “No, but he does now,” he said. “Marriage records were dated a week after his release from prison, showing that he married his high school sweetheart, Angela Holcomb. You’ll also be given some extensive coaching. Since you may actually be in deep cover for some time, it’s very important that you internalize the backstory that we’ve created for you. When you show up in town, it’s very likely that they’ll run at least a cursory background check on you, as well.” He grinned at her. “It also makes it allowable for Noah to call you once in a while until you get there. I had a feeling you might like that.”

  Sarah smiled at him. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Same goes for Marco and Neil,” Allison said. “All three of you will be coached just as heavily as Noah on your identities. Neil, you get to keep your first name. You’ll be Neil Holcomb, and your background suggests that you’re so immersed in video games that most of the world never even notices you. You dropped out of school at sixteen and earn your living as a game master on one of the big role-playing games on the internet. In public, Noah will treat you like a pain in his ass.”

  She turned to Marco. “Marco, we’re going to use your Louisiana bayou upbringing. Your name is Aubrey LeBlanc, so let that old Cajun accent out. Aubrey, according to records, was also just released from the same prison where Rex served his time. In fact, the real Aubrey LeBlanc was released two weeks ago and promptly got himself killed his third night of freedom. We constantly scan for stories like that, and since he had no family and very few friends, we immediately killed all the news on it and commandeered his identity for this mission.”

  “Oh, cher,” Marco said, “I be de best old gator from de bayou, you don’ need no worry ’bout dat! But what about dem boys back in de prison, dey gon’ know I ain’t him.”

  Allison grinned. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Don’t worry about other inmates at Beaumont. Aubrey did most of his time in solitary, and that’s where he and Rex met. Gary will help you guys develop your characters, as well. Marco, you will be going in about a week or so after Sarah and Neil arrive.”

  “As for equipment,” Jefferson said, “you can visit with Wally this week and get whatever you need. Anything that might seem unusual should probably come in with Neil. Just let Wally know, and he can have it disguised as some of Neil’s computer gear or something.”

  “Noah,” Allison said, “this is a very important mission, so you’ll be going in about a week from today. The next several days are going to be very intense, so think very hard about what you might need when you talk to Wally.” She turned to Molly. “Do you have anything else to add on this?”

  Molly shrugged. “Yeah, one thing,” she said. “One thing we know about the Morgan Mafia is that they do have some way to monitor phone calls. In order for us to have a secure line of communication, we’re going to be using Neil and his computer. Neil, have you ever played online RPGs?”

  Neil blinked, then nodded. “Sure,” he said. “Every computer nerd plays sometime. Hell, I still do.”

  “Good,” Molly said, “because we’ve got one set up of our own. It’s called Target List, and it’s based, naturally, on using assassination as a political tool. I’ll coach you in it because you can communicate with other players in the game, just like in most of the other ones. I’ll give you code names for the people Noah will be dealing with, and we can discuss them as if they were targets in the game. It’s highly unlikely anyone would think to check your game communications, but it’s even more unlikely they’d be able to interpret them into what we are really saying to each other. You’ll be listed as a game master, so that will be your employment. And just for the record, making this look real means that there are some ads out on Google about it, so there are civilians who will be playing, lots of them. Like all of these games, players can set up their own teams and allow others to join them. I’ll be running one of those, with you as my game master. My team is called the Rampagers, and it’s actually a room full of players based right here at Neverland. That way, there will always be somebody online that you can talk to, somebody who can relay information to me or up here to the main office.”

  Neil was grinning. “That is an incredibly awesome idea,” he said. “It’s so freaking awesome I should have thought of it first.”

  Molly stuck out her tongue at him. “Hey, you’re smart, but you ain’t got nothing on me. You and I will start working on getting you familiarized with it first thing tomorrow morning.”

  Allison leaned forward slightly and looked at Noah. “Okay, then,” she said. “Noah, tell us about what’s going on with the other mission.”

  Noah leaned forward in his seat. “Last night,” he said, “I recruited Marco’s girlfriend, Renée, to help with that situation. She works out at R&D and was able to get Wally to help her get a drug that I needed. I went to Randy’s apartment and managed to get inside while he was sleeping, then injected him with that drug. It causes a complete paralysis that is almost cataleptic; it makes the victim appear to be completely dead, with no signs of life, even though he’s still alive and relatively conscious. After I injected him, I explained what was happening so that he might not be quite as terrified as I’m sure he probably is anyway, but I honestly couldn’t tell you whether he was still alive when I left him. Now I’m simply waiting to see if the mole accepts his death.”

  “Jenny found him this morning,” Allison said, “and she was convinced he was dead. She called it in, and we sent an ambulance to pick him up. At the morgue, he was certified dead, but since I had already been tipped by Wally, I just authorized his body to be sent out to R&D to be used for research purposes. Wally called me an hour later to confirm that the drug worked. Randy’s alive, but it took some specialized equipment to be certain.”

  “Good. Any idea what you’ll do with him after this?”

  “He’ll probably end up getting a new face and name and going right back to Team Cinderella,” Allison said. “Parker is convinced that he is loyal to Jenny and won’t ever allow himself to be blackmailed again. He’s done so much in helping Jenny as part of her team that I’m reluctant to take him away for good.”

  “Is she aware that he isn’t really dead?” Noah asked.

  “Not yet, but she’ll be coming in for a briefing later today. I’ll be explaining it to her then.”

  “We will not allow her to share this with the rest of her team, however,” Jefferson said. “The sad fact remains that we do not know who else might be compromised within our organization. At this point, we have confidence that the few people who are aware of the situation are still free of any risk, but that small group cannot get any larger.”

  “I have a question,” Noah said. “What do I do if the mole contacts me while I’m on mission?”

  “I’d say you do whatever you can to cooperate,” Allison said. “The idea is to draw him into a position that will allow us to identify him. You can’t do that if you don’t keep his confidence. That being said, it may well be impossible to keep him happy without blowing your cover. Somehow I doubt he expects you to bend over for him, but try not to burn the bridge. As fragile as it is, it’s all we’ve got.”

  “Understood,” Noah said. “On the other hand, if anybody taps my computer, they could conceivably see the messages I get from the car forums. Should I keep logging into them?”

  “I thought of that,” Molly said quickly. “I’ve added a subroutine to all of those websites that will relay those messages to Neil through the game system. He can let you see them when you get a chance, or you can work out a code so he can relay them to you by text message.”

  “That’ll be easy,” Neil said. “I’ve already got one in mind.”

  “Also,” Allison went on, speaking to Noah, “you’ll be keeping your own cell phone number for this mission. That
way, if the mole were to decide to call you, he’ll get through.” Allison glanced around at their faces, then nodded once. “I think that covers most everything,” she said. “Kate Madison has been thoroughly briefed on what’s going on. She will appear to be somewhat hostile to you at first, but that’s because she never talked about her brother. The hostility is to avoid it seeming odd that a brother turns up all of a sudden, but she’ll be referring to you as the black sheep of her family. Her position will be that she only offered you the chance to come to town because she once promised her mother she’d try to watch out for you. You won’t be socializing with her a lot at first, but she’s been instructed to become friendlier once Sarah arrives.”

  Noah got to his feet, and the rest followed suit. “All right,” he said. “I think we should start with the acting coach. How soon can I go to see him?”

  Allison grinned. “He’s expecting you in an hour.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The tight time schedule meant that Noah had to jump out of the Hummer when they got back to the house, give Sarah a quick kiss, and drive off in the Corvette. He remembered the way to the ID Development building and was glad there was a shortcut he could take. It was a winding country road, but it was well paved and the Corvette was built to handle the curves. He made it just in time, although the guard at the security gate in front of the building actually jumped when Noah skidded to a stop in front of him.

  “Noah!” The man behind the desk seemed genuinely delighted to see Noah walk into his office. “I was honestly excited when they told me I was going to be working with you again. How have you been?”

  “I’m fine,” Noah said as they shook hands. “I got married since I saw you last.”

  Gary Mitchell chuckled. “Yes, I heard. Seems you’re the first team ever to involve a married couple, and the rumor mill went crazy throughout the entire organization. I understand a couple of other teams are exploring some possibilities along that line.”

  “Well, I wish them the best. Where do we start?”

  Gary paused for a second, then remembered that Noah didn’t think like most people and wasn’t as much into small talk. “I’ve been studying the history they’ve manufactured for you, and it’s quite extensive. Most of what we’re going to do is simply rehearse you in details of the background for your character. You’ll need to know all the answers and be able to come up with them quickly if questioned. There is enough information in public records to allow someone to check you out, and you need to know every detail.”

  “Right, I understood that. How do we proceed on this?”

  Gary grinned. “Have you ever been hypnotized?” he asked.

  “Actually, yes,” Noah said. “It was during my psych evaluation when I was being court-martialed, before I was recruited. The psychiatrist said I was a perfect subject, because of my level of concentration.”

  “That’s excellent. One of the techniques I’ve been using lately to help prepare our agents for deep cover missions like this is to put them under and then simply play a recording of the information they need to learn. Two or three sessions are usually enough to embed the information deeply, and while it won’t change who you are at all, it will enable you to recall that information instantly when you need to be in character. Would you mind?”

  Noah shrugged. “Not at all,” he said. “I’m open to anything that helps me accomplish the mission.”

  Gary rose from his chair and had Noah follow him into another room, this one much smaller. There was a recliner in the room, and he told Noah to take a seat, then stepped back out himself. A moment later, Noah heard Gary’s voice come over a speaker on each side of his head in the recliner.

  “Now, the most efficient method of trance induction we found is to simply have you relax in the chair while I play a recording. This is an advanced hypnosis technique that uses rapid redirection of your concentration, so you’ll find yourself becoming slightly disoriented. At that point, we can induce the trance and begin the session.”

  Noah didn’t reply, and a moment later he heard Gary’s voice begin to speak softly. Initially, it was simply instructions to relax, but then there were several phrases that seemed almost nonsensical. Relaxing in the chair with his eyes closed, Noah began to feel that he was being gently buffeted from side to side, and then he heard Gary tell him to sleep.

  At that point, a new recording began to play. This one was more like a second-person narrative, however, as if the speaker were trying to remind Noah of facts from his past.

  “You are Rex Madison. You were born twenty-six years ago in the town of Zanesville, Ohio. Your father was Charles Madison, who worked as a bricklayer for several different construction companies as you were growing up. Your mother was Carolyn Madison, a nurse. You have one sister, Katherine, who is two years older and whom you have always called Katie. You attended Grant Elementary school in Zanesville, followed by Webster Middle School and Zanesville High School. Your father was a construction worker who was often gone, and you and your sister were forced to fend for yourselves since your mother worked many long hours and was often drunk when she was at home. This led you to a troubled youth, and your first arrest came when you were thirteen years old. The charge was theft of a motorcycle, but it was dismissed and you were released to the custody of your mother. You were arrested again two months later for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, your first foray into dealing drugs. You spent three months in a juvenile detention facility for that crime and were then released. You were arrested again only one month later for the same charge, and this time you spent a year in the same facility. Upon your release, you were offered the opportunity to join a local gang and began your true criminal career. You dropped out of high school at sixteen and continued with the gang, dealing drugs and gradually moving into other areas of crime. You were arrested several more times over the next few years, but the charges did not stick until five years ago, when a DEA agent that had infiltrated the gang was found dead of a single gunshot wound to his head. You, along with several other members of the gang, were arrested and prosecuted for conspiracy to operate a continuing criminal enterprise. Several of you accepted a plea bargain in return for a shorter sentence. You served five years in the federal prison at Beaumont, Texas.”

  The voice droned on for more than an hour, with no visible sign from Noah that he was hearing anything. When it ended, however, and Gary gave him the command to waken, Noah was able to respond instantly to a series of questions that had been prepared.

  “Where did you attend elementary school?” Gary asked him.

  “It was Grant Elementary, back in Zanesville,” Noah said.

  “When did you have your first run-in with the law?”

  “Um, back when I was thirteen. I ripped off some guy’s motorbike and took it for a joyride. Charges got tossed out, though.”

  Gary fired questions at him for a half an hour, then shook his head and grinned. “You are probably the most natural actor I have ever met,” he said. “I fed you a bunch of dry facts, and you have already developed a personality to fit them.”

  Noah nodded. “I’ve always been able to do that,” he said. “When I was a kid, I had a friend who figured out what was wrong with me and told me that I would have to be able to pretend to be normal unless I wanted to get locked up somewhere. I learned to watch people and try to act like them. Now, when I think of the character I need to portray in a mission, I usually base it off someone I knew or studied back then. Rex Madison reminds me of a guy I grew up with, so I’ve automatically adopted his personality for this.”

  “Well, your perception is amazing. I’ve actually seen video of Rex Madison, some old police interviews, and you’re coming across so much like him right now that it’s blowing my mind.” He stood up and stretched. “I think that’s enough for our first day. Let’s start again tomorrow morning around nine, and we’ll go for a longer session. Tomorrow we’ll be talking about particular instances in your life, things that are on
record in different places. They’ll be useful if the people you’re dealing with check you out and then want to compare what they learn with the things you say.”

  “Nine o’clock,” Noah said. “I’ll be here.”

  The two men shook hands, and Noah left the building, then headed over toward R&D. He wasn’t sure what kind of equipment he might need and wanted to sit down and discuss some possibilities with Wally. R&D was only half a mile from ID Development, so it took him only a couple of minutes to get there.

  The security guard on the gate checked Noah’s ID and looked closely at his face, then waved him inside. He parked in front of the building and got out of his car, then walked inside and went through a second security check of his ID. Once the guard there was satisfied, he picked up the phone and notified Wally that Camelot had arrived and wished to see him.

  Seconds later, running footsteps could be heard coming up the hallway, and Wally burst into the lobby. “Camelot!” he yelled, sliding to a stop just in front of Noah. He grabbed Noah’s hand and pumped it up and down, clapped him on the shoulder, and told him to come on down to his office.

  It was the first time Noah had ever entered Wally’s office, and he was mildly surprised to find it looking more like a workshop. There were several tables inside, each of which was just about covered with scribbled notes or handmade cardboard or plastic models of things the intelligent man had thought up. There was one small desk and only two chairs, both of which looked like rejects from someone else’s office.

  Noah sat in the one beside the desk while Wally sat down in the other. “Camelot, what can I do for you?”