by Bob Blink
“Karin said yesterday that you told her we were able to stop this threat and capture those behind it,” Carlson said.
“That’s right,” Jake agreed. “We were able to stop them from ever triggering the devices.”
“You weren’t incapacitated the last time around. I assume in the process you had to use your back-tracking. Being unable to use your ability now, how will we be able to repeat the process.”
“I can effectively repeat what we did because I already know what resulted from each use of the back-tracking. I can direct those actions I was involved with just as before, without actually having to back-track.”
“You are saying you know what has to be done and who to go after?” Laney asked. “If that is the case, why don’t you simply tell us and save a whole lot of complicated maneuvering?”
“A couple of reasons,” Jake replied. “Carlson knows one of them. We’ve learned that careless use of the advance knowledge can cause unexpected changes. The timing of events has a lot to do with the ultimate outcome. In the past, acting directly has had unintended consequences we’ve had to go back and repair. At the moment, I’m in no position to do that, so I think we need to follow the same path as before which we are certain yields the desired outcome.”
“It sounds like you are evading the issue,” Laney complained. “If you know who did this, tell us.”
“There’s another complication,” Jake said. “Somehow tied into this whole thing is the reason I had to make the long jump back to this period.”
“I assumed there must be,” Carlson said. “Why don’t you explain what triggered your return. From what you say, the terrorist’s matter was resolved, so that can’t be the reason.”
Jake took a long time and walked carefully through everything that had happened, detailing the attempts on family and friends, the reporter and the false leads, and the final discovery that the Mob was trying to use him to complete a contract that he’d thwarted that night so long ago.
“That’s remarkable,” Carlson said when he finished.
“You can see why I believe I was compromised during this activity. I need to go through the events in the same exact order, being watchful for where the breach occurred. Simply bypassing the activity by telling you who to arrest and where the devices are planted, might solve the problem, and might not. To be honest, I’ve started to believe the initial revelations about me happened before these attacks, but they somehow provided the proof that was required or led them to me as opposed to the mysterious Stan Mathews.”
“You gave us a list of names of those who are suspects. Why don’t I simply arrange for them to be elsewhere during this whole effort? That would prevent them from learning about you.”
Jake shook his head. “I need to find the leak. That’s the only way I’ll ever be able to close this off completely. I owe the people behind this for the attempts on my family and friends, for Ray, and possibly others. I don’t think making changes is the best way to handle it. That approach might work, but it might have less effect than we hope. I believe there is something here I don’t understand and I’m fearful of missing it by altering events.”
“You’ve already changed things,” Laney said. “I apparently didn’t know about you the last time around?”
“You learned all about me during the investigation, and afterwards joined Susan as the only two people fully aware of who I was. At least the only two I knew about. I need your help from the beginning if I’m to unravel things. I’ll have to hope that your being aware a few days earlier won’t change the outcome. At this time, I don’t know if I’ll ever have another chance to repeat this effort. It is possible my ability is lost completely. Only time will tell.”
“Not to sound uncaring, but what if something were to happen to you?” Carlson asked. “You were key in resolving this, and only you have the knowledge of who is behind it. If you collapse and we lose that knowledge, the outcome might be very different.”
Jake nodded. “I’ll want access in Washington to a doctor who has the ability to monitor any swelling should I sense a return. I also plan to leave Karin with a full description of the players where they can be found. If something happens to me, she can release that to you and we’ll have to hope matters work out as they did the last time around. It’s the best I can do as a failsafe.”
“When will you be coming to Washington?” Carlson asked.
“I want to take another day to be certain I’m back to full strength. My plan is the day after tomorrow. That will still keep us on the old schedule. Also, Karin and I have a lot to talk about before I leave here. She is not at all comfortable with my plans.”
“I understand,” Carlson said. “We look forward to your arrival here. Is there anything we should be doing in the meantime?”
Jake nodded. “Make sure the emptied canisters make their way back to where you found them. You don’t want their removal to be discovered.”
Chapter 26
It was evening when Jake arrived in Washington, DC, and almost ten PM by the time he reached the home of Susan Carlson. Their initial meeting was planned for her place where they could speak more openly. Later, Jake, in his Bob Trask alias, would join the FBI efforts as an independent contractor as he’d done in the past, although usually he preferred to interface only with Susan Carlson and stay away from others who might wonder how he got his information. This meeting was going to be difficult. Agent Laney had already revealed his hostility, something that would have to be managed if this was to work. Jake was already sorry he’d elected to have Laney brought up to speed early. After all the times the two had worked together, something that Laney no longer recalled of course, Jake had thought it would be more productive to have him on the inside from the beginning.
“Jake, you made it,” Susan Carlson said when she answered the door. Jake could detect a mixture of pleasure at seeing him, and concern for his well being based on the information he’d revealed to her on the phone. More than an odd partnership in fighting terrorist crimes, the two of them had become friends over the last few years, and Jake knew that her worry was genuine.
Tonight Jake saw her in a different environment than was usual, and she had shed the formal attire of a senior career FBI agent. Instead of the formal and rigid suit, she was wearing a pair of well-worn Levis, a long-sleeve blouse with a small ring of sparkling stones around her neck. On her feet she had on a pair of NuBalance walking shoes. The lights from the great room behind her reflected off her hair. Jake could see even more gray than showed on the computer monitor. The job was taking its toll on her.
“Come in,” she said as she stepped aside, her eyes still taking inventory. He wondered if the trip to the hospital had left any telltale signs on him.
Across the room, Special Agent Jim Laney stood with a drink in one hand and a glower in his eye. The lines of the black face were sharp, and lacked the usual smile of familiarity that Jake had come to know. The drink was obviously something Susan had planned to take the edge off of Laney’s smoldering anger. Even though it was late, he was dressed to crisp perfection as usual.
“So, Bob Trask makes another appearance,” Laney said when Jake crossed the room. “Or is it really Jake Waters, or maybe even Stan Mathews?”
Laney knew of him as Bob Trask, although had never learned of just who Trask really was, at least not in a way where he retained the memories when all was done. Jake had always looped around events to clean up such awareness so that only he and Susan knew the full extent of his involvement. They had taken great care that only Susan was aware of the Jake Waters name. Laney, of course, knew of Stan Mathews. He and Susan had worked for several years trying to locate the mysterious killer who had committed crimes around the country before he had simply disappeared a couple of years ago. The fact that Jake was Mathews, and that Susan had kept the knowledge from him, was one reason that Laney had to be so upset.
“Look, Laney,” Jake said, standing close to the angry agent.
“You
look,” Laney interrupted. “My inclination is to pull out my gun and arrest you on the spot. Only because Susan insists that you are essential to stopping this terrorist threat and I respect her opinion and have been her partner for a long time that I’m not doing that. She has told me a tale I can hardly believe. When this is over, however, we are going to resolve this once and for all.”
“I know you feel betrayed,” Jake said, “but whatever Susan did, she did it because I made it a condition of working with her. I operated alone as Stan Mathews for years because I didn’t trust my secret with others, and when Susan learned of me, we agreed I could be more effective working through her. But I insisted on maintaining my secrecy. This particular event changed that, and as a result, you were the second person who became aware of what I could do and shared the secret.”
“You’re saying I was willing to overlook the crimes you are guilty of. I don’t see myself doing that.”
“You came to understand that what I was doing was saving the lives of dozens of innocent people, the only way I could. That was what mattered.”
“This was done somehow with a marvelous ability that Susan has told me about that you conveniently are unable to demonstrate at the moment?” Laney asked.
“Unfortunately, that is the case,” Jake agreed. “In the past you have always learned about me and had a hard demonstration that my claims are true. This is the first time you’ve been faced with taking it all on faith. Hopefully with Susan to back me up, you are willing to accept for now.”
“And if I believe you’ve somehow conned Susan?” Laney asked. “What if I don’t believe all this foolishness?”
Jake looked at the dark angry eyes of the agent. He turned to Susan.
“I made a mistake,” Jake said. “I shouldn’t have had you bring him in early. I should have let his awareness come slowly as it did the last time around. It’s just that Laney and I have worked so well together of late, and with the added burden of watching for those who are likely to find out about me, I believed this would be for the best. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“Perhaps you should pair with someone else this time around?” Carlson asked.
Jake shook his head. “That’s a major change. I’m not sure how it will play out that way, and unfortunately, the ability to fix mistakes isn’t available as it’s been in the past.”
“Can you even do this?” Susan asked. “That ability has been all that made things work before.”
“Clearly, the answer would be no if I hadn’t already done this. I think I can use the information gained last time, to function as if I were back-tracking. If that fails, then we will have to hope simply revealing what is going on and going straight to the source of the problem won’t have adverse consequences.”
Susan shifted her gaze from Jake to Laney. “Jim, you’ve got to try to make this work. For me, for all of us. It’s too important. I know you’re mad at me, and feel that a bond of trust was broken, but that simply isn’t what this is about.”
Jake was surprised to see the anger in Laney’s eyes change to a deep hurt. He looked at Susan, and let his eyes drop. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I can work with this person,” he said softly.
They had to get away from the past and onto the problem at hand. Jake sensed the only way to overcome Laney’s resistance was to get working on the problem.
“You’ve found a total of eight canisters so far,” he said. “What have you learned about them?”
“They are all of a similar design,” Carlson said, realizing where Jake was headed. “All of those we found were located inside the various buildings of the Smithsonian Museums. They had an operational timer, set for more than a month from now, but are capable of being remotely triggered. The valve can be set for a full release over a short period, or a more delayed release that our experts believe would take a week to release the entire contents.”
“The release would be into the intake of the air conditioning systems?” Jake asked, knowing the answer.
“That’s correct,” Susan agreed.
“People would be infected not knowing it happened. The symptoms would appear over time in varying degree,” Laney said. “It’s a nasty weapon.”
“Bacillus anthracis,” Jake said. “A form of anthrax. The spores are hearty and can remain inactive for years if need be. The weapon can be left in place until someone is ready to use it. Once triggered, those infected can suffer anything from minor effects to massive pulmonary shock and death.”
“Our experts believe the timer is meaningless. It can apparently be reset remotely, so the fact it is running for a set time, doesn’t really mean that is the target date,” Susan explained. She looked at Jake as if hoping he would reveal when the trigger date might be.
“Has anyone determined whether the spores are of local manufacture, or something brought into the country from somewhere else?” Jake asked.
“There appears to be no way to be certain,” Susan replied.
Jake knew that the anthrax was manufactured locally, but he wasn’t ready to reveal that.
“What about the containers?”
“Almost certainly local. The parts for the timers as all of the valves are of US manufacture. The containers are large, and could be ordered from any one of hundreds of manufacturers. The pressurant is something that is also easily available. We believe there is a factory somewhere that is building them, using the agent that is supplied to them.”
“This is bullshit!” Laney interrupted. “If what Susan says is true, then you know all this. Why waste time pretending otherwise and playing question and answer for things you already know. Why not just tell us what this is all about?”
Jake looked at Laney. “Because this is how we did it last time. We know this way works, and I want to be sure all the same questions have been raised and considered. Who knows which one might be what triggered the answers we found later? Because we have to go through this the same way if I’m to find the answer to the secondary matter that wasn’t an issue last time. Who is after me?”
“If we just go and arrest the bastards behind this, then no one will ever learn about you,” Laney argued.
“You might be correct,” Jake replied. “But here’s another thought. Before this is done and we find the factory where the weapons are being manufactured and shut it down, three hundred and forty-two of the weapons will be deployed. I know about the first eight you have found because we discussed them extensively when I was brought in. I know where perhaps half a hundred of the others were located. The threat is far more widespread than you know. Everything within the beltway is at risk, and I don’t know where to tell you to look. Those other weapons were located by following the steps of the investigation. We never knew just when they were put in place. They may be there now and ready to be triggered if we go to the leaders and try and arrest them. Are you ready for that? We have to find all of them, and this is the only way I know that works. There is no back-tracking out of mistakes.”
Agent Laney glowered at Jake, but was silent as he absorbed the information.
“There’s more. We didn’t get everyone, revealing information he’d hadn’t originally planned to give out, but Laney needed to understand. A couple of the leaders got away. If there had been any of the weapons still out there, I’m certain they would have triggered them.”
“Do you know who they are?” Susan asked.
Jake nodded.
“Can you use that to bring them down this time?”
“I’m not certain. I want to try, but as with everything, we have to make sure it is after so we don’t change the nominal flow of events.”
“You seem awfully intent on making sure that nothing is changed,” Laney said.
“Because I’ve learned what can happen,” Jake said. “That’s not even the most important reason,” Jake added after a moment.
“What’s the other reason?” Laney asked softly.
“You are,” Jake said angrily. “You are living proof that maki
ng changes is risky. The last time we did this you and I worked together smoothly. You were shocked by what you learned. Admittedly it wasn’t all at once like this time, but you saw what I could do and understood what my motivation was. We saved each other’s lives and became friends. Simply informing you out of sequence has put the whole mission at risk. If I could go and undo my request to have Susan tell you, I would. If this fails, it’s because I’ve doomed us. I’m not about to risk any more by giving out information prematurely.”
Jake and Laney glowered at one another for a moment.
Susan broke the impasse. “What do we do, Jake?”
Jake shifted his glance to her. “I guess we meet at your office in the morning. I’m the contractor who is knowledgeable about such weapons who will work with your partner. We’ll have to start looking for who placed the weapons, where they were made, and who is behind this. It’s a tall order, and the team will have to work smoothly together.”
“Jim?” she asked hopefully.
“I don’t know,” he asked uncertainly.
“Well, you had better think on it tonight. If we can’t do this the right way, then I am uncertain how it will play out. There will be times you’ll need to take my word on faith, and if you can’t, then it’ll all fall apart.”
“You’re sure you can’t back-track?” Susan asked gently.
“I can sense that it’d be a mistake to try. I’d almost certainly end up incapacitated again, perhaps dead. That may change. I’d like to visit that doctor you have arranged for after the meeting in the morning. It would be reassuring if the swelling has disappeared now.”
“Jim and I’ll talk tonight,” Susan said. “I’ll pick you up at your hotel. I have a badge for you, and a permit for you to be armed. I’ll get your gun from my safe before you leave.”
Jake had left a Sig with Susan some time ago against any case where he needed a backup weapon and couldn’t carry his usual weapon from home.
“One thing more,” Jake warned. “Have you put those emptied cases back where you found them as I suggested?”
