by David Archer
“I’m simply curious,” Noah said as they drove along, “but who are you? Your real name, I mean.”
“I’m not sure I even know anymore,” Dawson said. “I was Rodney Kirkman when I was a kid, growing up in southern Illinois. I had that name until I joined the army, and then I got recruited by the CIA. I liked the work, but I didn’t like the orders. After a couple of years, I decided to go out on my own, started out just hustling intelligence between rival nations, but then I developed an affinity for wet work. I’ve been changing names and doing this sort of thing ever since then.”
Noah nodded. “I guess that makes some kind of sense,” he said. “How did you get mixed up with Spear?”
Dawson chuckled. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Camelot,” he said. “I don’t really give much of a damn whether you like me or not. I’m only going along with this because I’m not quite ready to die just yet, and it’s the only shot I got at staying alive. I’ll work for the Dragon Lady, but only because the alternative is being turned into shredded beef by this crazy bitch.”
Jenny gritted her teeth, but said nothing. Noah looked at her for a second, then turned back to Dawson.
“I didn’t even mean to imply that I liked you, or that I would ever want to. I was just curious how you came to be who you are.”
With a sigh, Dawson looked at him again. “I got recruited, same as anybody else,” he said. “Somebody in the organization found out who I was and that I would kill for hire. I was offered pretty lucrative contracts, more money than anybody else was ever going to pay, and each target was presented with most of the details already mapped out. Seemed like an easy way to keep the money rolling in.”
He turned and looked out the window, and they rode the rest of the way in silence.
Neil, in the front seat, had been working on his computer during the ride. As they approached the airport, he turned and looked over his shoulder at Noah.
“I’ve got three distinct possibilities,” he said. “Robert Fleishman is scheduled to fly out in about twenty minutes on a commercial flight, and he was on the guest list last night. His ticket was purchased more than two weeks ago, so he didn’t come up on my earlier search for people hurrying to leave the country. Next is Michael Morgan, he’s a British national with some known underworld ties. Like Fleishman, his ticket was bought well in advance. The third one is Larken Mitchell, retired Senator from Alabama. He’s been seen at a lot of international events lately.”
He held up his computer and showed photos of the three men. Noah nodded toward the monitor and then looked at Dawson. “Which one?” he asked.
Dawson shook his head. “It’s none of those,” he said. “The guy we’re looking for is about six foot two, roughly fifty years old and with dark hair that’s graying on the sides. When I saw him at the embassy, he was carrying a tray of drinks around.”
Neil snapped his head around and looked at Dawson again. “And you couldn’t offer that little detail before now? Noah, this guy is playing us.”
“I’m not playing at anything,” Dawson said. “You need to remember that nobody asked me any questions about what he looked like. You guys are holding all the cards, I’m doing exactly what you tell me to do and nothing else.”
Neil muttered something under his breath and turned back to his computer. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to find anything on the waiters,” he said. “I would bet just about anything this guy isn’t going to be on the list of catering staff.”
“You’re probably right,” Noah said. He turned to Dawson. “Is this something that’s common for him? To disguise himself as a simple staff member or something?”
“He can be whoever he needs to be,” Dawson said. “He shows up where he wants to and then he leaves when he’s ready. As far as I know, he’s never left any kind of trail behind him. If we don’t spot him here at the airport, then our next best move is to let me set up a meeting.” He looked knowingly at Noah. “That’s probably the best move in any case. Somehow, I don’t think he’s going to be easy to spot wandering around an airport this big.”
Noah looked at him for a long moment, then turned his face forward again. “Gary, pull us over. Park someplace out of the way. I don’t think there’s much point in continuing toward the airport.”
Gary spotted the parking lot of a restaurant and pulled in, finding a place away from the building where they would go unobserved. He put the car into park and turned to look at Noah.
Noah turned back to Dawson. “It’s time for you to make that phone call,” he said. “Set up a meeting, and don’t even think about trying to play games. You let us go on a wild goose chase when we should have been concentrating on setting a trap. Pull that again, and you cancel our deal. Do you understand me?”
Dawson looked into his steel blue eyes for several seconds, then nodded his head. “Understood,” he said. “In that case, we need to go back to my hotel. I have a dedicated phone that I use to call in, and I won’t get anywhere if I call from a different number.”
“That’s bull,” Neil said. “What if your phone dies, or gets lost or stolen?”
Dawson let out a sigh. “Then I know better than to call in until I get it charged or replaced. Believe me, it’s the only number I can make the call from.”
“Which hotel?” Noah asked.
Dawson told them, and Noah nodded to Gary. He started the car once more and put it into gear.
TWENTY-ONE
The ride did not last long. When they arrived at the Royal Embassy Hotel, Noah and Jenny accompanied Dawson inside. Noah told Gary and Neil to go back to their own hotel and gather their things, because they were probably going to be leaving Sydney. They walked through the front door of the hotel as the Toyota drove away.
Dawson stopped at the front desk and asked for any messages, then thanked the clerk when he was told that there weren’t any. As they walked away from the desk toward the elevators, he said solemnly to Noah that he had done so simply to stay in character.
They rode the elevator to the ninth floor and got out, and Dawson punched in the code that opened the door to his room. Jenny stepped inside first to make sure no one was waiting, then nodded for Noah and Dawson to come in.
“Where’s the phone?” Jenny asked, and Dawson pointed toward a carry-on bag sitting on one of the beds.
“It’s in there,” he said. “There are five of them. You want the blue one, none of the others.”
Jenny glanced at Noah, who nodded. She opened the bag and found the phones, then took out the blue one and looked it over carefully. After making certain that it was not some sort of concealed, disguised weapon, she handed it to Dawson.
“Thank you,” he said politely, but Jenny only growled at him. He touched a button to power on the phone, then waited while it went through its start up routine. A moment later, he started punching in a phone number from memory, and put the phone on speaker when it began to ring.
“Mr. Lancaster?” said a man’s voice.
“Hello, Joshua,” Dawson said. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the fiasco here in Sydney.”
“There have certainly been some interesting comments,” Joshua said. “However, I was told just moments ago that the assignment was completed successfully this morning. Is that correct?”
“It is,” Dawson said. “However, there have been some complications. I need a meeting with the Director, soon as possible.”
“And what are the natures of the complications?”
Dawson looked sideways at Noah, then winked. “Remember that young lady who was with me? Turns out you were right, she was an American agent. I thought I had her under control, but she escaped and it almost got me caught. I need to speak with the Director about how we handle the situation, because she’s got far more information than we want her to have.”
Joshua was quiet for almost a minute. “I shall make contact with the Director and pass on your request,” he said. “Call me again tomorrow at this time and I will have an answer.”
Once again, Joshua hesitated. “The last communication I had from him indicated that he was going to meet with another of his people in Rio de Janeiro. I expect he will be there for at least a few days, if you would like to visit the city.”
Dawson chuckled, but there was little humor in it. “That figures,” he said. “You guys know how much I hate the hot weather.”
“Yes,” Joshua said, “but I understand they have excellent air conditioning in the hotels there. Call me tomorrow.”
The line went dead and Dawson powered off the phone again. He handed it back to Jenny and looked at Noah.
“You heard the man,” he said. “Sounds like we need to head for Brazil.”
Noah looked at him and nodded slowly. “Jenny,” he said. “Dump out all of Mr. Dawson’s bags and check them for any kind of weapons. We can’t have the man traveling without a change of clothes.”
Jenny grinned and then dumped out the carry-on bag first. In a false bottom, she found a couple of pistols and an assortment of knives. She picked up a couple of them and eyed them appreciatively, then tucked them into her pocket. “You won’t be needing these anytime soon,” she said. “They’ll make a nice addition to my collection.”
Dawson shrugged. “Be my guest,” he said. “Just don’t use them on me, that’s all I ask.”
Jenny smiled and winked at him. “Oh, why not? I keep hoping you give me a reason.”
She found a couple of suitcases and searched them quickly, but there were no more weapons to be found. She double checked the drawers in the dresser, and then stood back and watched as Dawson began packing his clothes and toiletries.
“It’s possible they’ll be watching me,” he said to Noah as he worked. “Not directly, but watching my travel cards and such. If I don’t buy a plane ticket, it could look suspicious.”
“Then you’ll buy a ticket,” Noah said. “But you’ll fly on the Gulfstream with us. By the time anyone realizes you’re not on the flight you bought the ticket for, this should be over.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Dawson said as he folded a shirt into the suitcase. “We may take out the Director, but someone else will simply take his place. This thing is like a giant spider, and its web spans the entire world.”
“Then you have a lot more to tell us,” Noah said. “Luckily, we have a nice, long flight ahead of us. You can do a lot of talking in a comfortable jet like the Gulfstream.”
Dawson grunted and continued with what he was doing. A few minutes later, with all of his things packed and his weapons stuffed up under the mattress of the bed, they left the room and went down to the restaurant off the lobby. They sat down and ordered coffee while they waited for Gary and Neil to return.
Thirty minutes later, the Toyota pulled in and they walked out of the hotel. Gary opened the trunk of the car for the bags and then they all got back inside.
“Neil, Mr. Dawson needs a ticket to Rio de Janeiro. He’ll provide you the credit card number.”
Dawson glanced at Noah, then reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and produced his wallet. He took out a credit card and handed it over to Neil, who brought up an airline webpage and quickly purchased a first-class ticket with it.
“Done,” Neil said. “Your flight will arrive tomorrow afternoon, twenty-three hours from now. I hope your expense account can handle first-class.”
“I always fly luxury,” Dawson said. “It’s so much more comfortable that way.”
“Where to, boss?” Gary asked.
“Let’s head back to the airport,” Noah said. “I’ll call ahead and arrange for the pilots to get a flight plan filed to Rio. They should be ready to leave by the time we get there.”
Neil glanced back at him. “That’ll put Dawson in the city several hours before his commercial flight is due to arrive.”
Noah nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on. We need to know if anyone is watching for him to arrive, and that’s how we’ll spot them.”
Gary pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward the airport. Noah was right, and by the time they arrived, the Gulfstream was fueled and ready. They all walked up the ramp together as the flight crew loaded their luggage.
Noah sat down beside Dawson, while Jenny and Neil took the seats facing them. Gary took the single seat on the other side of the aisle, where he could hear the conversation that was about to take place. Noah logged his subcom on to the built-in Wi-Fi of the airplane and made contact with the server, then put a call through to Allison.
Back in Kirtland, Allison saw the caller ID register the number from the server that was assigned directly to Team Camelot and answered instantly. “Camelot, report,” she said.
“We have taken Caleb Dawson prisoner,” Noah said. “It turns out that Spear is not a single individual after all, but an organization that uses many people like Dawson to achieve their purposes. In return for assisting us in taking out the current director of the organization, I have agreed to give Dawson a chance to come to work for E & E. I’m about to debrief him on the organization, as we are on the plane headed toward Rio de Janeiro. It’s currently expected that this is where we will find the Director.”
Allison was quiet for a few seconds, then she let out a sigh. “As much as I hate it, it might be worth it. None of the agencies have been able to get any real information on Spear, so this could be a windfall.” She paused for a second. “Do you have any way to record the debriefing? I’d like to hear it, later.”
“Actually, yes,” Noah said. “The server that routes our phone calls can also record what comes through the subcom. It’s a new feature, but I’ll set it up now.”
“Do so,” Allison said, and then the line went dead. Noah told the server to record and heard a voice that sounded a lot like the technician who designed the system say, “Recording activated.”
He turned to Dawson, who had been staring at him while he seemingly spoke to nobody. “All right,” he said. “Start talking.”
Dawson shrugged. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell us about Spear. I want names, places, situations—absolutely anything you know that might help us take this organization down.”
Dawson sighed deeply. “I don’t have a clue how many people are involved,” he said, “but it’s got to be quite a number. They have a ruling council that plans their operations, and I know some of the people involved in that. Doctor Harold Simpson was one of them, but he’s met with an untimely end.” He looked at Noah and raised an eyebrow. “I have a feeling that might have been your work?”
“It was,” Noah said. “Keep going.”
“Okay,” he said. “There are a few names on the Council you’re likely to recognize. Senator Larken Mitchell is one of them, the retired senator from Alabama. There’s also Philip Gates, he’s a current congressman from the Philadelphia area. Arthur Adams, the Deputy Attorney General, is another one. Lord William Struthers, he is a member of Parliament in England. I think those are the only names I know for sure, but I’ve met a few others and could probably identify them if I saw them again.”
“Wait a minute,” Neil said. “You’re telling us that all of these people are involved in this organization to manipulate different governments?”
“Oh, yes,” Dawson said. “Do you have any idea how much money can be made in financing wars and conflicts? The organization is all about that, all about making money by deciding who is going to win and who is going to lose. Ironically, it’s the losers who end up paying the most.”
“Then what about all the terrorist actions?” Noah asked. “Why do things like the stuff that happened in Berlin? All that’s done has been to limit what Germany can accomplish.”
“That’s how you see it,” Dawson said. “To the organization, it has put Germany in a position of needing assistance from the rest of the EU, which will lead eventually to an e
conomic collapse of the entire union. When the euro falls apart, there’s going to be a run on the banks throughout Europe. Like I said, the organization is all about making money. When the banks over there start to collapse, you can expect several of those countries to suddenly erupt in border wars. They will all be handing over whatever they have in the form of gold or other precious metals to get their hands on the weapons and supplies they need to survive the conflicts.” He grinned. “Don’t feel too bad for Germany,” he said. “I happen to know that the Director has already set it up for Germany to come out on top of the entire European Union when the dust settles. In fact, it’s likely that several of the smaller countries will be absorbed right into them.”
“Won’t that lead to another world war?” Jenny asked. “The rest of the world isn’t going to stand by and watch Germany take over Europe again.”
Dawson turned to her. “If it was a matter of German aggression, you’d be correct. In this case, however, it’s going to be a matter of Germany coming to the rescue of those other countries. They are actually going to be the one that stays out of fights, and the money that the organization will funnel into Germany, money that will be carefully laundered through several other countries, will enable them to offer humanitarian aid. A lot of those smaller countries are going to be grateful just for the chance to survive, so becoming part of the Fatherland isn’t going to be nearly as bad as extinction.”
“And how do we stop this from happening?” Noah asked. “Taking out the Director surely won’t be enough. What will we have to do to prevent it?”
“I sincerely doubt you can,” Dawson said. “This is the culmination of a plan that has been in the works for more than twenty years. Spear has been around a lot longer than you might think; I’ve even heard rumors that Henry Kissinger was one of its founders, and when you think about some of the things he said, it’s believable.”
