However, first, he needed money from Alice for the deposit on his house. He’d have to find out if the Feds, or Frank, were going to trace any money Alice withdrew. That meant another trip into Frank Brubaker’s mind to find out what he had planned for following the money.
Joe thought he’d better see if Alice had heard from Mike. He popped into her mind while she was standing in front of her wardrobe mirror, hairbrush in her hand, holding it up to her mouth and pretending it was a microphone. Alice was rehearsing for when John would be filming her for her television report. Joe watched and listened before he spoke.
“I’m outside the residence of Jimmy Murphy, where, behind me, the DEA are arresting the alleged drug ringleader.” She pulled the hairbrush from her face. “No, that’s not right.” She put the brush back to her mouth. “Hi. I’m Alice Timberlake, a freelance journalist, and I’m outside the house of Jimmy Murphy. He owns three restaurants and a bar in this area, and the DEA are taking him in to help them with their inquiries.” She sighed: “Shit … that’s not right, either.”
“Peek-a-boo, are you busy?”
Alice jumped. “Oh … Joe! I was hoping you’d call.” “Did you miss me?”
“Mike phoned,” she said, ignoring his question. “He
wants to know if you can get into Rodriguez’s dream, hypnotize him and have him call his tax accountant. They want him to ask about the IRS tracking his offshore accounts—his phone is tapped.”
“I could try, what else did Mike say; did he like the report you gave him?”
“Like it! He couldn’t believe it! He said it was brilliant— they’ve had to bring in more agents to cope with the workload.”
“Good, then I’d better see what I can do for him tonight. Alice, I was wondering if you could draw some money from our account for me.”
“Sure, but I thought you said it would be traced?”
“I know … I’m working on that … I’ll let you know in the morning how much I need.” Joe gave a big sigh. He didn’t like to ask her about the money, but he needed it. “How are you and John managing?”
“Okay. I’ve opened an account at the bank under Joe Mann and Partner, Criminal Advisers. That’s the best I could come up with. I was thinking of adding, ‘the only telepathic advisers in the world,’ but I know we’ve got to keep that a secret from everyone.”
Joe chuckled. “Yeah, I think that would be a tough one to keep under wraps. Okay, let me figure out what we are going to do about the money situation, and I’ll get back to you soon. Thanks, Alice—I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Before Alice could respond, he was gone.
~
Joe knew he had to settle matters with Frank Brubaker, once and for all—he couldn’t keep working with the FBI and constantly looking over his shoulder. He needed to access his money, but he couldn’t take the chance of Homeland tracing it to him. What Joe needed to do was get into Brubaker’s mind and let him know he could do it at any time. He didn’t want him to resign, but he was hoping he could make him see sense and they could work together. If his plan didn’t work out, he’d put Frank back under hypnosis and wipe his memory clean. Joe knew he had to come up with a plausible story to tell Brubaker of how he got into his mind. He couldn’t say he had been in Burrows’ mind and then just popped into his at their meeting; it would be better if he could tell him they had bumped into each other somewhere.
Joe entered Frank’s mind and stayed with him as he went about his daily activities, hoping he would go to a café, or somewhere else public, so he could say that’s where they had met.
Chapter45
At 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning, the surveillance team on the Rodriguez house recorded him talking to his accountant. Five minutes later, he was on the phone to
the guy in charge of the warehouse asking him if the shipment was on time, and when did he think the merchandise would be on the street.
Mike was in his car in downtown L.A. carrying out surveillance on one of the new names Joe had given them when his captain phoned him to tell him the good news. Joe had come through again, and the Legal boys thought they had enough evidence against Rodriguez to make a bust.
This was all made possible by the Magic Man. Over the years, the team had been slowly building their case against Jimmy Murphy. When Mike had joined the team a year ago, there had been a dozen agents trying to crack a small part of a drug ring, and they had been no closer to finding out the source. Now, everything was moving at roller coaster speed. Within a matter of weeks, they had their source and were ready to bring the ring to an end. Now it was going to be one of the biggest drug busts the U.S. had ever seen.
It was Saturday afternoon when the judge finally agreed to give out search warrants for all the premises the DEA had asked for. There were over five hundred agents, SWAT teams, and detection dogs waiting for the go-ahead. Everything was in place for a dawn raid on Sunday morning.
Mike had promised Alice he’d let her know when they would be making the bust. He also had to approve the report she would be giving to the press—he was curious to see what she had written. He phoned her and asked her to meet him later that evening at the same parking lot they had met previously.
~
Alice was sitting in her car at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Mike pulled up next to her and got out of his car with a warm smile on his face.
“Alice, I’m sorry to call you out at this time on a Saturday,” he said as he slipped into the front seat. “But if I didn’t, you’d never forgive me.”
“Are you going to do the bust tonight?” Alice asked anxiously.
“Not tonight, but at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, California is going to wake up to the sound of doors being battered in.” He smiled as he saw Alice’s face light up. “Tell Joe the Legal boys couldn’t believe Rodriguez would be so stupid to talk as openly as he did over the phone.”
“Yeah, Joe told me he got him to phone his accountant, and he said he even told Rodriguez to phone and find out if the shipment was going to be on time.”
“That’s why the bust is tomorrow morning—to catch them with the drugs in the warehouse before they get a chance to distribute them.” Mike shook his head. “We couldn’t have done this so quickly without Joe’s help. Tell him thanks.”
“I will.”
Mike’s smile faded. “You can also let him know the Legal boys and the head of the department think it’s best to forget about the Columbian, Colonel Mendez. We could never get enough evidence against him in time. Ronald Rodriguez is the next best thing—he’s the ringleader in California.”
“Yes, he is a big part of it, and the money he’s made is unbelievable.”
“The IRS will take him to the cleaners. If we can’t make the drug charge stick, then at least we have him on tax evasion. He’ll go down just like Al Capone.”
“I should have put something like that in my report,” Alice said. She had her report on her lap waiting to give it to him. She handed it over. “I guess I can always put it in my follow-up story.”
“I guess I’d better read this and make sure you spelled my name right,” Mike chuckled.
~
Early the next morning, Alice and John sat nervously in the car as they put her plan into action. They were only forty yards away from Jimmy Murphy’s house.
“I think it’s time,” Alice said as she looked at her watch. “It’s 6:30 a.m., the KTVU station should be awake; if not, let’s give them a wake-up call.”
“I hope they’ll believe you.” John crossed his fingers as Alice phoned the San Francisco television station.
“Good morning, this is Alice Timberlake, a freelance
journalist; I have a story that’s just about to break down here in
L.A. that has links with a VIP in your area. Are you interested?” “Are you the one who reported on that rape case?” “Yes.”
“Hang on; I’ve got the assistant director here right by
me.”
“The
y are putting me through to the A.D.,” Alice
whispered to John.
“Mrs. Timberlake, I’m Morgan Elliot––what’s this about
a breaking story?”
“Can you get a crew to the SFPD? The DEA will be
arresting an important public person. I can’t give you the story
yet, but it will be on national TV before most people are awake.” “Okay, Mrs. Timberlake, you’ve got my full attention.” “Get your crew down to the station. When I film the arrest
of one his associates down here, I’ll send you the story, and how
the two are linked.”
“So, the DEA is making a bust at the same time on these
two?”
“Yes, but it’s bigger than that.” Alice paused. “I hope I
can trust you to keep this quiet until I call back. If this were to
leak out, it would piss my informant off.”
“I understand, Mrs. Timberlake. I’ll be waiting by the
phone, and have a crew out there ready to roll at your go-ahead.” It was 6:58 a.m. when Alice saw four unmarked cars and
two black and whites pull up outside Jimmy Murphy’s house.
Alice and John got out of the car and John zoomed in with the
camera, catching the moment the officer with the battering ram
knocked the door in. They could hear shouts of “Police!” and
“DEA!” as agents swarmed into the house. Alice stepped in front
of the camera, took a deep breath, and put the microphone to her
mouth.
“I’m Alice Timberlake, and behind me, the DEA, with the
help of the local police, are carrying out an early morning raid
here in downtown Los Angeles. Mr. Jimmy Murphy—who is the
owner of three restaurants and a bar in the Los Angeles area—is
allegedly a drug dealer working for Mr. Ronald Rodriguez, a
well-known lawyer and upstanding citizen in San Francisco.
Rodriguez is purportedly the commander of a drug ring that spans
across the entire state of California. As we speak, the DEA—
under the lead of Special Agent Mike Jones—is performing
simultaneous raids in cities across the state.” Alice stepped aside,
and John zoomed in on Jimmy Murphy, in his pyjamas, being
escorted to a police car. Alice stood there watching, but unable to
comment on what had just happened. It was a frightening scene,
and as the car with Jimmy Murphy pulled away and more officers
moved into the house to search for evidence, Alice realized she
had been an integral part of it. John shut the camera off, took the
mic from Alice, and gave her a big hug as he whispered in her
ear: “You’ve done it, babe! Everyone will know who Alice
Timberlake is now!”
Alice sent the film to both the Los Angeles and San
Francisco television stations, and emailed her full story to the
newspaper as she had promised them. KTVU offered Alice a job,
as did KCOP-TV, but Alice wanted to be a freelance journalist,
not a television reporter. She had no wish to tie herself to one
place, especially if the government wanted the help of Joe Mann
and Partner. Several newspapers and television stations took her
name, though, and Alice knew that no matter what cases she and
Joe worked on in the future, she would never have a problem selling her scoop. Alice had accomplished her mission, and couldn’t wait to write the follow-ups.
~
Frank Brubaker was having a late night drink before going to bed. He was fed up with seeing Alice Timberlake on television; she was amateurish, but he had to admit the story more than made up for it. He had read her report in the newspapers, and speculated the public must be wondering how she got her information. They probably think she’s screwing someone in the Bureau. He made a mental note to tell Agent Burrows that Alice would have to cool it for a while. For Christ sake, she had filmed the arrest of the boys at the university, and now she had Jimmy Murphy being dragged off on film. The public would know she had to be getting the information from someone inside––and that could mean danger for her and her husband, from some not so nice elements in the society.
Frank knew all the big boys in the Pentagon would have seen and read Alice’s report, as well, and he knew it would receive mixed reviews. There would be those who would see the Magic Man as an asset to the Bureau, and those who would still be concerned his gift could be a threat to the country’s security. However, Frank was hoping the Secretary of Defence would call him tomorrow and tell him to call off the hit on the Magic Man. Frank’s men had failed to catch him at every stakeout––the shopping centre with Jessica, the bowling alley to meet Scott Bailey, Gerald Lomas at the betting shop, and Rodriguez at the golf club. It didn’t look like they’d be bringing him in anytime soon. Frank thought Invisible Joe would be the best nickname for him—no one had seen him, not even his partner, Alice Timberlake––no one had a clue who he was. With that thought, he retired for the night.
Chapter46
Beep-beep, beep-beep . Frank Brubaker shut his alarm off, pulled the sheets away, and swung his legs out of bed. He stared down at his slippers. His shorts—which he had
slept in—were folded tidily on top of them. He froze. A cold shiver shot through him as he realized the Magic Man must have paid him a visit. “This can’t be happening,” he whispered as he looked around the room. “Please, tell me this is a joke.”
Frank put on his shorts, and decided to check the security alarm and the front door. Panic raced through him as he ran downstairs. He noticed all the lights were on, and his intruder alarm was off. He stared at it in disbelief. I know I set it … I know I put the lights out. He was relieved to see the front door was still locked. Then, Frank looked in the living room and saw a note propped against the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table. “Oh, shit!” He walked over and gingerly picked up the note. “This is my handwriting.” He slumped down in his chair and read it.
Hi, boss–– Don’t worry about the shorts. That was just a joke, but you and I have to have a chat, and getting into your mind was the best way I could think of for that to happen. Frank, I want you to stop looking for me. I don’t appreciate you trying to exterminate me—it makes me feel like some kind of vermin. I haven’t committed any crime, and I don’t need a pardon. I don’t want to spy on the U.S.—I’m a patriot through and through— and, I have no interest in seeing any harm done to this country. If you could convince the ones above you that I’m not a threat, I’d be indebted to you, and I will be happy to continue working for you through Alice Timberlake. I also promise I’ll never get into your mind again.
I know you’re thinking of resigning now that I’ve invaded your mind––your rules, right? That’s not necessary; I only came to have a chat to set things straight. I haven’t asked you anything other than what you know about the Magic Man, so don’t go getting your gun and blowing your brains out either— it’s not worth it. It’s best you carry on as normal and don’t tell anyone about this meeting, and I won’t visit you again. Trust me! I hope we have come to an understanding, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Bureau.
Yours, patriotically––Joseph Mann.
P.S. I know you are wondering how we met. Do you remember in the parking lot yesterday when an old man asked you if you dropped that FBI pin?
Joe was in Frank’s mind as he read the letter. He wanted to see Frank’s reaction. Joe had planted only good thoughts in Frank’s head about the Magic Man and how Frank could put his powers to good use. If Frank panicked in any way while reading the letter, Joe would put him back under hypnosis, have him destroy the letter, then erase the entire episode from his memory. During his seven years in prison, Joe had mastered the art of getting
people to trust and like him.
“That old man in the parking lot was the Magic Man,” Frank whispered. He remembered taking the pin, a badge that most FBI agents had pinned on the lapel of their suits, from the man. Frank hadn’t thought much of it at the time. “I had the Magic Man right in front of me, and he got away.” He tried to picture the man, but he couldn’t remember any of his features, only that he was thin, old, and of average height. “That’s how he got into my mind; now, what am I going to do?”
He looked at the note, still shocked. “I guess there’s no need for anyone to know about this,” he mumbled. He was confused. He paced around the kitchen, thinking, I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am to give it up now. With a big sigh, he said despondently, “I guess I’m going to have to trust him, screw my own rules, and hope for the best.” He looked around the room as if searching for the invisible man.
I’m not going to blow my brains out, that’s for sure, and we could use a guy with a gift like Joe’s. I could use Joe and the new task force to infiltrate one of the terrorist groups. Joe could get into one of the terrorist’s minds like he did with Lomas and Rodriguez.
Frank started to feel better. He needed to show the top brass what an asset the Magic Man and the new task force could be. He would ask the Secretary of Defence’s permission to have Joe infiltrate a terrorist cell and see what he could learn. Joe had to be put to the test—to see if he really was the patriot he claimed he was, or if he was the threat the government assumed him to be. This test and the information Joe would be able to provide would determine his fate. If he succeeded, they would have no choice but to reconsider eliminating him. If he didn’t…
“Joe Mann, you better not let me down.”
Get Out Of My Dreams Page 30
