by David Archer
“Not all of them,” Holloway said. “We know that you’ve got certain people who are extremely capable, and we need them. As it happens, we have actually found a friend within your organization, so we know who it is that we want, and we’re doing our best to make sure they become available. The idea is to make it appear that some of your people went off the grid while you were indisposed in this situation, and that you have no idea what could’ve happened to them. Once that’s done, the idea is for those people to be free to do what we need them to do.”
Allison was staring into her eyes. “Tell me who it is you think you want,” she said coldly. “And bear in mind, I still haven’t promised any kind of cooperation in this.”
Holloway looked at the two men, and turned back to Allison. “A few months back, you sent a team into Arkansas to take care of an organized crime outfit that was proving too tough to prosecute. What we’ve done is create a situation where the Ascension Project’s members can believe that that particular team has deserted, run out on you and probably are trying to start a new life somewhere. We put you back in your office, where you pretend to become the good little girl who does what daddy government says, while that particular team stays off the radar and out of sight in order to bring the Ascension Project to a timely and bloody end.”
“Cut to the chase,” Allison said. “You claim you got somebody in my house? I want to know who it is, and I want to know who you think it is you want. You can either answer those two questions right now, or you can get the hell out of my cell.”
“Allison, please,” Holloway said. “I was just trying to give you a foundation for what I’m about to say. The person we’ve got on the inside of your organization is the only one you’ve got who was capable of understanding just how devious and despicable this plan really is. You know the old saying, it takes a thief to catch a thief? We needed someone who was just as devious as these people, and we found it in Doctor Nathan Parker. When we caught him during a recent visit to D.C. and showed him all of our evidence, he agreed to help us set up this whole thing. He’s that convinced that the situation is dire.”
“Doc Parker?” Allison said, incredulous. She burst out laughing. “Hell, if he’s with you, then I probably am. Of course, I want to hear it out of his own mouth. I’m not taking your word for anything.”
“Understandable, and we’ll be glad to let him confirm it to you. As for who we want, I think you’ve already figured that out. There’s only one team you’ve got who could possibly move through this kind of an organization and pick them off, and it’s the one you sent to Arkansas. I’m talking about…”
“Yes, yes,” Allison said. “You’re talking about Camelot.”
“Yes,” Duckworth said. “Allison, we’ve seen enough intelligence reports about what he’s accomplished to believe that he’s the only one who might be able to pull this off. He’ll be without the support of your organization, of course, because it all has to be done secretly, with no way to trace back directly to you, or to us. Parker tells us there is no one else who could possibly get him to do what needs to be done, that if the orders don’t come from you, he’ll ignore them. That’s why we have to get you on our side, if we have any hope of saving America.”
Allison stared at him for a moment, then leaned her elbows on the table and rubbed her hands over her eyes. “Who else have you compromised in my organization?”
“No one. I give you my word, Parker is the only one we’ve spoken with.”
She leaned her face in her hands for several seconds, then leaned back and slapped the table.
“I’ll think about this,” she said. “For now, I want all three of you out of my cell. I need time to digest everything you said, so come back and see me in about six hours. Oh, and bring along some of this evidence you claim to have. I want to see it.”
Holloway grinned. “I’m way ahead of you,” she said. She reached into a pocket on her dress and withdrew a smartphone. She laid it on the table and pointed at it. “Everything we’ve got has been scanned and loaded into that phone. You can look through it all, but I’m told the phone won’t work from inside this building. We’ll go, and we’ll give you your six hours.”
She got to her feet and motioned toward the door, so Duckworth knocked on it. When it opened a moment later, she and the two men walked out of the room without another word.
Allison sat and looked at the phone, then picked it up. She powered it on and watched as it came to life, then shook her head. As Holloway had said, it had no signal.
Chapter ELEVEN
Parker was sitting in his office when the phone rang, and he snatched it up quickly.
“Parker,” he said.
“Nathan, it’s Marvin Duckworth. Are you secure?”
“Hell, yes, I gave you that damn phone, didn’t I? What happened?”
“Well, she’s pretty pissed off that we went to you first. Other than that, I think we’re making headway. She’s going to want you to confirm that you are part of this operation, but that’s to be expected. What about the special team? Are they safe?”
“I’ve got them put away safely for the moment,” Parker said. “Believe me when I tell you, though, they are not going to take these orders from anyone except her. To be perfectly honest, I’m not even certain they’ll do it if she tells them to, unless she can convince them that this is real. Camelot is not the normal kind of man, he doesn’t think like the rest of us. He’s been known to completely change his mission objective on his own initiative, if he didn’t believe it had to go down the way we plan.”
“Hopefully, that will be his strength in this case. We are meeting with her again in six hours, and if everything goes according to plan, we will be taking her out of here. You may need to make arrangements in a hurry to get her to them.”
“I can do that,” Parker said. “I know approximately where they are, and I know who will be able to take her directly to them. You just make sure you got everything covered on your end, and I’ll handle mine.”
He hung up the phone without another word, and then leaned back in his chair. A lifelong skeptic, he had never believed that the day would ever come when he would willingly take actions against people who were supposed to be part of his government, but the oath that he took so many years before was to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Most people didn’t even think about what that line truly meant, but Parker had seen through it on the day he was enlisted into the United States Army. “All enemies, foreign and domestic,” he had recited along with everyone else, but in his mind, he was thinking about what each word he spoke actually meant. By swearing to defend against all enemies, including those who would be considered domestic, he was taking an oath to take up arms against American citizens.
He’d never had to do that before, but the time had certainly come. While he might be too old to actually go after them himself, he wasn’t a bit bashful about aiming the only weapon in his arsenal that might be capable of saving what America stood for, and that weapon was Noah Wolf.
* * * * *
Dinner had been fantastic. Noah actually considered asking Beatrice for her recipe for roast beef, but he decided against it. A true artiste had a tendency to guard his or her secrets, and Noah wasn’t about to get on her bad side. A good cook can make something taste fantastic, but they can also make it inedible. He’d be eating her cooking for a while, so it might be a bad idea to get her riled.
After dinner, he and the others had gone for a stroll around the grounds. The air out in the countryside was incredibly clear, and he was surprised to realize that he could see stars appearing even before the sun had dropped all the way behind the horizon.
“Travis,” Sarah said, following his order to make sure they maintained their view identities, “this place is incredible. Do you think there’s any hope we might actually be able to stay?”
“I don’t have any idea, at the moment,” he said. “I thought ab
out checking in again, but I’m afraid it might be too soon. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, but I’m certainly hoping that everything works out. If it doesn’t, though, I’m hoping we can stay here for a long time.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Neil said. “Stacy actually likes it here, don’t you, baby?”
“I sure do,” Jenny said. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so peaceful inside. This place just makes you relax, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, I know,” Sarah said. “I think the only part about it I might not like is not being able to do our own cooking. I’m going to wait a few days, but I want to talk to Beatrice and see if I can sneak into the kitchen, now and then.”
“I’m sure she’d let you,” Noah said. “She might watch you like a hawk while you’re in there, though.”
“Hey, that would be okay. She might even give me some tips, and I could stand to learn a bit more about cooking.”
“You know what I want?” Marco asked. “I want to get a rifle and go hunting. I’ve seen everything from rabbits to deer wandering around here.”
“I saw a gun cabinet in the Great Hall,” Noah said. “We ought to check out what weapons are available in it. I’m not sure I like not having a gun handy, just in case of trouble.”
“I know what you mean,” Jenny said. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve gone anywhere unarmed? Makes me feel naked.”
When the sun was fully down, and the sky was a beautiful latticework of stars, they finally headed back toward the house. There was no television on the main floor, but each of them had a large screen TV mounted on the wall in their rooms. At Sarah’s invitation, they all decided to join her and Noah in their large room to see what programs might be available. There was a couch and a couple of chairs in the room, so there was plenty of room for everyone.
Noah took one of the big wingback chairs, and Sarah just settled into his lap. They found that they had satellite TV, and just about every channel was represented. After a few minutes of searching through the guide, they found a movie that sounded good and settled down to watch.
* * * * *
Allison read through the files in the phone, and then took it with her to the bed and lay down while she went through it again. She had watched videos of politicians she had actually thought were reasonably faithful to their oaths of office, as they discussed massive loss of life without the slightest hint of remorse. She had read dozens of emails that hinted at the mysterious plan that would kill off tens of thousands of school-age children, and the rage that was boiling inside her was almost more than she could contain.
Of course, she realized that this evidence could be faked, and that thought occupied her mind to some degree. If that were the case, it was one of the most incredible forgery jobs she had ever seen, and she had seen a few.
The biggest benefit of the phone, however, was the fact that she could keep track of the time. When the slot popped open in her door, she shoved the phone under the blanket as she went to pick up her lunch tray and carry it to the table.
Lunch was a cheeseburger and fries, with some kind of ready-made cupcake for dessert. Instead of coffee, she had a can of cola, but that was okay with her. She popped it open, sat down at the table, and began to eat.
The things that she had read, however, had interfered with her appetite. She forced herself to finish the burger, but the fries were just a bit too greasy for her. She saved the cupcake for later and put the tray back in the slot, then climbed onto the bed and lay down as if she were going to sleep. The tray vanished about fifteen minutes later, and the slot was closed again.
She took the phone back out from under the blanket and began reading once more. She was still reading three and a half hours later, when the three politicians returned. They came in and waited for her to join them at the table.
“I’m ninety-five percent sold,” Allison said. “You let me hear Doctor Parker say he’s behind you on this, and that will probably be enough to make me want to help you. Until then, I don’t know what else to say.”
“That’s good enough,” Holloway said. “Are you ready to blow this joint?” Her face twisted in a grin.
Allison looked her in the eye. “To where? As far as I know, I’m still under arrest, remember?”
“We’ve already taken care of that,” Holloway said. “Allison, we are taking some serious risks, here. Marvin Duckworth, Clarence Gibbs, and I are recently recruited members of the Ascension Project. We are also part of a—I guess you’d call it a resistance movement, within this thing. As far as the people involved know, we’re completely in support of their efforts. Same goes for Ryan; as Marvin told you, he’s also part of it all, but he’s in with us. There are a few others, as well, including a couple other members of the intelligence committee.”
Allison stared into her eyes as if trying to see through them. “You’re playing double agents? You know they won’t hesitate to kill you, right?”
“Not as long as they think we’re valuable,” Gibbs said. “The reason we’re here is because they want to have you under their control. We were sent in to make sure you understand that you take your orders from them, now—through the intelligence committee, of course.”
“That’s never going to happen,” Allison said, but Holloway raised a hand to cut her off.
“It has to,” she said. “At least on the surface, you’ve got to appear to be cooperating. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to keep Camelot out there doing what has to be done. We’ve got to be able to report back that we have you firmly under our control, and we are going to claim that your capitulation came from threats we made against your people in Neverland.”
“How the hell am I supposed to keep Camelot safe,” Allison demanded, “if I’m kissing the asses of the people he needs to be taking out?”
“Who said anything about kissing any asses? All they want to do is take over making the decisions on who your organization eliminates, and you may have to do some of what they want if this thing takes any time to sit in the motion. Your Team Camelot is going to have to work on their own, while you’re making it appear that you decided to be a team player.”
“With bastards like this looking over my shoulder. How am I supposed to even keep in touch with Camelot under conditions like that?”
Holloway sighed. “The warrant for your arrest is going to be quashed, and you will be reinstated to your position. However, we need your help to get Camelot on board before you go back to your office. What we’ve got in mind is to take you out of here today, secretly, and meet up with Parker outside of Kirtland. We’ll let you speak with him privately and make your decision. If you come in with us, then we’ll move on to the next phase of our plan. If not, we will have to bring you right back here.”
Allison’s eyebrows came down. “Then, all of this really was just a way to get me alone so we can talk? Do you realize how Machiavellian that really sounds? I’ve seen movies about stories like this, and none of them were this convoluted, I swear.”
Holloway shrugged. “We had to be certain that no one could possibly figure out what we were talking to you about. This was the only way that felt safe, to us. Remember something, we know without a shadow of a doubt that doing this could get us killed. None of us is ready to die, not unless there’s no other way. At the same time, any of us would be willing to give up our lives if it means saving our country. I know you understand that, because you’re just like me in that regard.”
Allison sucked on her cheek for a second, then nodded. “You’re right about that,” she said. “Okay, then let’s get this show on the road. What kind of hoops do we have to jump through to get me out of here?”
Duckworth knocked on the door and a guard opened it.
“We are ready to leave,” he said. “All four of us.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said. He held the door open wide and nodded to Allison. “Your escort is here,” he said.
Allison glanced at Holloway, then got up and followed
the three of them out of the room. She stopped in the doorway and looked back for a moment, then turned back to the Congresswoman.
“You know, Barbara,” she said, “if you ever just need a break from the pressures of your office, getting arrested and thrown in here is a nice way to get one.”
They walked back to the changing room where she had come in the night before, and she was given her own clothes back. After she had changed into them, the door opened again and she found Marshal Howard standing there.
“You’re not going to arrest me again, are you?” Allison asked.
“Relax, Allison,” Holloway said. “Howard is with us. We had to pull a few strings to make sure he was the one who arrested you, but it was worth it. We wanted to be sure you got here safely, and he just happens to be Duckworth’s nephew.”
Howard was grinning. “I wasn’t allowed to tell you anything,” he said. “But I wanted to. Sometime back, I was involved in a mop-up operation after one of your people took out some Russian mobsters. That’s when I learned about your outfit, so when uncle Marvin called and said he needed somebody in my position, and told me what it was about and who I’d be dealing with, I was more than happy to volunteer.”
Allison shook her head. “Fine, fine,” he said. “Just remember what I said about if you ever want a better job.”
“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll have my application within a couple of weeks.”
They left the building and climbed into the back of a limousine that was waiting outside, and then it headed toward the airport.
“We’ve got a helicopter standing by,” Gibbs said. “Parker is going to meet us at the airport at Xenia. You’ll be able to talk with him for a bit, and then we’ll discuss what to do next.”
They made it to the airport in fairly short order, and climbed into the helicopter. The flight to Xenia took less than an hour, and Allison saw Doctor Parker standing on the tarmac as she stepped down to the ground. He had a car beside him, and the two of them climbed into it.
