“Thank you, Esther. Please make sure I’m not disturbed—unless, of course, he calls.” Payne’s voice still sounded nasal.
“Yes, Dr. Payne.” Esther walked out of the office and closed the door.
Paolo walked to the desk and held out his hand. Payne stayed seated.
“Paolo, so good to see you. Please sit down.” Payne pointed to one of two chairs opposite his desk. He took off his glasses and leaned back in his chair.
“Good to see you as well, Colin. I take it your reference to “he” is the president?”
“Yes. You two went to Yale together?”
“Yep. We traveled in the same circles until he went to Columbia—we lost touch. Make sure you tell him I said hi.”
Payne ignored the comment. “You’ve done quite well for yourself. A self-made billionaire, international contacts, and nobody knows who you are. Until next week, of course, when Time magazine publishes your story about how you gave away all your money. Impressive.”
“I like to stay under the radar. The Time article was a favor to the editor.”
“Well, you’ve certainly stayed under the radar. I recall the last time we talked, you were not interested in helping. You were quite irate.”
“So were you, Colin, with your threats of taking me public.”
“How foolish we are when we’re young and trying to make it in this world. As you can see, I’ve made my mark.” He pointed to the pictures of him and the president.
“Yes, you have.”
Colin leaned forward, his forearms on the desk. He twirled a Mont Blanc pen in his hand as he looked Paolo straight in the eyes. The time of truth had come. “How is the gift?”
“It’s still there.”
“Can you still remote view?”
“Yep.”
“I will never forget that day when you and your mother called. It happened on a Sunday, if I remember, at your parents’ house. Something with your cousin Carla, wasn’t it?”
“Yep.”
Payne diverted his eyes from Paolo’s. “Have you remote viewed recently?”
“No.”
“I see. Do you still have visions?”
“On occasion.”
“Care to tell me?”
Payne reached in his drawer and pulled out a manila folder. He laid it on the desk and opened the dossier of Paolo DeLaurentis. He thumbed through a series of handwritten lined paper and withdrew a photograph.
Here we go, no turning back. “The vision that I continue to see is blackened steel girders in a pile of debris. I thought before we continue, we could lay out some ground rules—your expectations, my expectations, what I’ll agree to and what I won’t.”
“Fair enough. Would you like to start?”
“No, you tell me what you want. If I agree, I’ll say yes; if not, no.”
“Wow, you’ve got some balls, kid.” Payne’s face was red. “Do you know who I am, son? I can be your worst nightmare. Why don’t we start with what you are going to do?”
Paolo wanted to jump up and punch the bastard in the face. Instead, he remained calm and focused on the goal of putting this traitor in jail. However, he was not going to allow Payne to talk to him in this manner.
“Well, I guess our conversation is over.” Paolo stood. “Have a nice day, Doctor.”
As he approached the door, Payne spoke up. “Paolo, Paolo. I’m sorry the stress of the day overtook my emotions. Come, sit down. We’ll figure this out.”
Paolo turned. The red-faced doctor smiled. Paolo wanted to throw up.
“Come on, sit down.” Again Payne pointed to the chairs.
Paolo stood behind one of the black leather chairs, his hands firmly planted on the back. “Okay, maybe I was a little jumpy, too. I’m not used to being talked to that way. If I wanted that, I would have stayed married.”
“I’m sorry, Paolo.” An evil smirk crossed Payne’s lips. He stood and offered his hand. Into the spider’s web. Paolo sat down. “Apology accepted. Don’t let it happen again.” He chuckled.
Payne stared at him with lifeless eyes.
“Alright, let’s put all this shit aside. After all, it’s about our country and our people, not about you and me.”
“Agreed.” Payne paused. “My country.”
My country, that’s interesting. What does he mean by that? “Agreed. First, I don’t work for you. Second, I can quit whenever I want. And third, and most important, this is between you and me. No one else without my approval.”
Payne leaned forward. “I see. Well, my friend, if you are to be paid, then you work for me.”
Paolo laughed in his face. “What do I need your money for? I have my own. I’m volunteering my time to help our country. If you don’t like it, I can always go to the president.”
“The president will never believe you, I can make sure of that.”
“Maybe.”
Payne’s face was red, the tips of his ears white. Paolo knew he was pushing his buttons. “Okay, let me put it another way. You helped me when I was a kid, let’s just say I want to help you.” Paolo wanted to throw up, the bile caught in his throat.
The redness in Payne’s face began to diminish. “Okay, I can live with that. Are you willing to come here when needed?”
“Why?
“I want to use your remote-viewing capabilities; it would be easier to debrief you here in our offices.”
Paolo paused for a moment. “Sure, that will be fine. Give me a couple of days’ notice, I’ll make it happen.”
With a smirk on his face, Payne handed Paolo a photograph of a little blonde-haired girl and a man walking with a cane. Paolo recognized Arnaud and Emily immediately. He gave it back to Payne, saying nothing.
“You know what’s interesting about that picture, Paolo?”
“No.”
“You’re nowhere in sight. You’ve been erased from the picture.” His voice sounded like fingernails scratching on a blackboard.
“Interesting word choice—erased.”
Payne grunted. “Watch out who you associate yourself with. It might be construed the wrong way.”
“I have a few international contacts that I do business with, no concern of yours.”
“Let’s just say a picture can be worth a thousand words in the wrong hands—almost treasonous.”
Paolo stood, furious, his buttons pushed. He began to speak but was cut off by Payne’s intercom.
“Dr. Payne, the president is on the line.”
Payne picked up the receiver. Just before he pushed the button that would connect him to the most powerful man in the world, he said, “I have to take this, Paolo. I’ll be in touch. Thanks for stopping by.” He laughed. “Yes, Mr. President?”
CHAPTER 29
PAOLO WAS BACK in his office that day by four o’clock in the afternoon. He sat at his desk, opened his drawer, and pulled out the secure satellite phone. He pressed speed-dial. The call was answered immediately.
“How did it go?”
“He’s an asshole.”
“So you’re tell’n me something I don’t know?”
“Pard, I thought I was going to vomit twice. His face sneered of evil. I don’t know, Bill, this guy is trouble. I feel it, I sense it, I know it. Are you sure you want to go after him? I guess that was a dumb question. We don’t have a choice, do we?”
“Right now, no.”
“During our talk, he gave me a retouched photo.”
“Of who?”
“A Frenchman by the name of Arnaud Chambery and his daughter Emily.”
“Why? And how do you know it was retouched?”
“Because I wasn’t in the picture.”
“Oh.” Bill paused. “Pard, what were you doing with a known arms dealer?”
“I saved his and his daughter’s life.”
“What!”
“Remember when we met at the end of October and I told you I was going to Paris?”
“Yeah, you were helping Sergio find a money launderer.�
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“Exactly. Long story short, the bad guys held Arnaud’s daughter hostage until he provided them with some nuclear arms. I happened to remote view the meeting. I anonymously made a phone call to the DGSE and the rest is history.”
“Shit, Pard, the French secret police. Did they know it was you?”
“No, of course not. Anyway, back to Payne. He’s playing his cards right now, letting me know that he’s keeping very close tabs on me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he always had. I was in his inner sanctum and can easily remote view him. The problem is, he knows my capabilities, and is very suspicious of my out-of-nowhere appearance. And if he’s been keeping such a close eye on me, then our job is going to be very difficult. I hope you have another avenue?”
“We’re working on it as we speak. We have an insider within Payne’s organization. I’m surprised, Paolo, you’re not pissed off. You’re sounding rather calm.”
“It’s the calm before the storm, my friend.”
“Shit, I hate it when you talk like that.”
“Sorry, Pard. I was pissed and he did push my buttons. I wanted to slap him.”
“Slap him?”
“You know what I mean. But as I was driving to the airplane, a sudden peace came over me and then I knew everything would work out.”
“You’re freak’n weird. If it were me, I would’ve kicked the crap out of him.”
“We must learn tolerance, my friend. Forgiveness, not revenge.”
“What are you, the Dalai Lama or something?”
“No, I’m serious. We must learn to forgive.”
“Oh boy, you’ve lost it.”
“Thank you. What do you want me to do?”
“Let me know if Payne calls. He will. It’s just a matter of time, he’s not going to let you pass by. I agree with you, he’s just showing you who’s boss.”
“You’re absolutely right, Bill. I’ll talk to you next week.”
Paolo sat back and closed his eyes.
Payne sat at his desk. He took his glasses off and rubbed his face. He opened the right desk drawer and took out a black-and-white photograph of a couple holding a baby boy. With photo in hand, he swiveled his chair around and grabbed his brown leather briefcase. He entered the combination code and inserted the photo on top of a file labeled “Paolo DeLaurentis.”
Paolo opened his eyes. “Bill’s right—he’ll call. But when?”
CHAPTER 30
THE MORNING’S CRISP air waited for the warm spring sun to rise. Paolo arrived at his office earlier than usual. He looked at his watch as he set his coffee on his desk. It was five o’clock in the morning. Paolo felt refreshed from a good night’s sleep, not haunted by the previous night’s apocalyptic vision. He swiveled his chair and looked out the window. The streets were almost empty. A lone garbage truck traveled Church Street under the glow of the orange street lights. The offices of the Knights of Columbus Building twinkled in the early morning.
The conference call was to begin in fifteen minutes. Paolo opened his drawer and reached for his secure satellite phone just as the phone’s warbled tone rang. He punched in the five-digit access code and was connected to Bill and Rami.
“Good morning, Bill, good morning, General. Of course, I assume we are all on the eastern seaboard.”
“Good morning, Pard, not quite—we’re in Europe.”
“Good morning, Paolo, how are you?”
“I’m doing fine, Rami, and you?”
“Fine. When are we going to get together?”
“Soon, I hope. It will be great to see you again.”
“It most surely will. I look forward to it.”
“Okay, you two love birds—it’s almost noon here and I’m getting hungry.”
“Oh, poor baby.”
“Thanks, Pard. What do you have?”
Paolo opened up his journal. “Well, guys, not much. It’s been almost three months now and I haven’t heard from Payne. I’ve remote viewed him every day at his office, his home, and even when he was at the White House. Nothing, squat, zero. If he’s doing something, he’s keeping it very close to his chest. I still believe he’s on to us. I don’t know how, but he is.”
“We think so, too. Bill said you have a well-secured office, better equipped than most intelligence agencies.”
“Yep, that’s correct. Currently I’m in the process of updating it.”
“Well, my friend, that’s a good thing. The problem is, we’ve uncovered a detail of men who’ve been dispatched to watch you. We believe Payne has been watching you for the last ten years. We know through our inside man that he’s tried numerous times to plant someone in your office. Without any success. This in itself is amazing.”
As Paolo listened, his blood began to boil. His face turned red as he repressed the hidden anger that was within him. He interrupted Rami, “Shit, I knew it. I knew twenty years ago when I told him to go take a hike, he wouldn’t let go. What do I do?”
“Pard, do nothing. We have you protected. It was a good idea to have Tony and Steve take over the Brewster project. We can insure that all your security measures will be in place and not tampered with. There is one issue.”
Paolo said nothing. He closed his eyes. A tear trickled down his face.
“Pard, you there?”
His teeth clenched, his reply was curt. “Go ahead.”
“Payne tried to approach your son. We’re lucky we got hold of Giacomo first.”
“What happened?”
“A number of our new captains who show the qualities of potential good agents are hand-picked by their commanders for the intelligence agencies. Giacomo was one of those picked.”
The general interrupted, “I happen to be on the committee. After the vetting process, the files come to me at the Pentagon for my review and approval. Since I’m also the commander of BOET, I get first pick. Anyway, I spoke with Giacomo. I told him that it would be in the best interest of the Army that he’d be unavailable to meet with any other intelligence agencies.”
“How did he respond?”
“Like a dedicated Army officer, he was conveniently unavailable and asked to be removed from the list.”
“I have a smart son.”
“Yes, you do, Pard, but that didn’t stop Payne from trying to contact him.”
“We intercepted a phone call from Payne directly to your son’s cell phone. The interesting point here is that Giacomo had already been removed from the list of eligible captains.”
“So, in other words, Payne had no idea that my son was selected for the interview process.”
“Exactly. We sent Giacomo overseas to prevent any potential contact.”
Paolo was enraged. “Okay, guys, let’s stop right here for a moment. I’ll take care of the asshole Payne. He’s not going to bring my son into this…”
Bill interrupted him, “Pard, before your Italian anger blasts off into outer space, listen to us.”
“No. He will not interfere with my son! And I’ll call that son of a bitch and tell him.”
“Paolo, calm down and listen.”
“Listen my ass, Rami. All Payne wants to do is get to me through my son. I will not allow that to happen!”
“Okay, Paolo, I understand, now calm down. First, your son is a member of the United States Army, we’ll protect him as we will protect you, but you have to allow this to play out. Don’t say anything to Payne. It is important that he thinks he can use his political power to manipulate you for his own agenda, even if that includes your son.” There was a long pause. “Paolo, do you understand?”
“Yep. I just don’t like it, Rami.”
“I understand. Okay, now that is taken care of. We did uncover some information about Payne’s Center of Behavioral Studies. Were you able to find anything out?”
“No, I believe it’s a front for something other than NSC. My investigator, Mike Quinn, was able to track down some info but nothing concrete. What did you find?”
“You’re semi-correct, it’
s a front for something. We don’t know what yet. But it’s also part of the NSC, with government employees.”
“What do you mean, semi-correct?”
“Our man inside discovered something out of the ordinary. Payne’s budget is non-reportable. In other words, he’s operating similar to BOET, with the caveat that the president knows nothing about it. The other interesting point is, we can’t establish where he gets his money.”
“Interesting, Could that be for the president’s own protection and deniability?”
“It could be. We doubt it, though. He’s operating a secret agency within the NSC, without the knowledge of Congress. Totally rogue.”
“Pard, the people that are following you don’t work for the NSC.”
“How do you know this?”
“Remember the driver who picked you up at the airport the day you met Payne?”
“Yeah, his name was Mark.”
“Very good. After he dropped you off, we had him followed. On the morning of the second day, on his way to pick up Payne, he discovered our people. In an effort to avoid the tail, he made a sharp one-eighty turn to try to lose them. He must’ve thought he was in a movie. Well, it didn’t work. His car was sideswiped by the oncoming traffic. He was killed instantly. Our agents ran to the scene under the guise of medical personnel. Before the police arrived, we were able to get DNA samples as well as fingerprints.”
“And what did you find?”
“Go ahead, Rami, tell him.”
“Mark’s real name was Alexander Trotsky. His father was a Russian diplomat during the Cold War. He was attached to their embassy in Washington until 1967, when he disappeared. His wife and children stayed in the United States. Alexander, or I should say Mark, grew up in Baltimore and eventually joined the military. Early on in his military career, he was given a dishonorable discharge. Somehow he came to know Payne and became his personal driver and bodyguard.”
Messenger From God (The Last Eulogy Series Book 1) Page 13
