The Gillespie Five (A Political / Conspiracy Novel) - Book 1 (42)
Page 18
Alex didn’t want to feel sympathy for her, but he was losing that battle. In an effort to stay focused on his rage, he asked through clenched teeth, "Will that happen to Tommy?"
She closed her eyes again, shaking her head. "No. I don't think so."
Walking back over to the chair, she sat and picked up her laptop. "I've done everything I could since I got here to keep him company and provided him, and the others, with things to occupy their mind. He talked a lot about you. He looks up to you."
Alex swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and said, "He's a good kid."
"Then help me figure out how to get him, all of you, out of here. They've built up so many lies, none of you will stand a chance in a court of law."
"You mean if we ever get there?"
"Oh you will. That's where all of this is going."
"And when we start talking about the interrogations?"
"By now they'll have made up some story to either legitimize it or make it seem like you all collaborated to make up this story because you knew you were guilty. Now, are you going to help me or not?"
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"You don't."
He looked at her, studying her face, her eyes, the way she held herself. Finally he said, "We need proof this has all been a frame up. I have some of it, but no one will believe me if what you say about the trail of lies they are leaving is true. We need some help from the outside."
"Who?" She glanced at her watch. "Quickly, I am running out of time."
He told her about his logic bombs and what he'd hoped it would accomplish. Then said, "But I need to reach someone."
"Your family?"
He shook his head. "No. As much as I’d like to let Tommy’s father know, I don’t want to chance him being taken too."
"Then who? And how do I reach them?"
Not wanting to explain the cloak and dagger dance he'd had with µβ he simply said, "Some friends of mine."
"How do I reach them?"
"You ready to type fast?"
She positioned her fingers over the keys, "Ready."
Without taking her eyes off of him, she typed rapidly, recording everything he said. When he finished she asked, "Won't they know it's not you because of your logic bombs?"
"Just type what I told you. If I'm right, they'll come find you."
Glancing at her watch, she reached over to turn off the jamming device and placed it in her bag. She had just pulled out another syringe when the door opened.
"Ma'am, there seems to be a problem with the audio. Agent Barrett would like you to hold off further questioning until we get it fixed."
"I have my notes."
"Yes, ma'am. But those are his orders."
Sighing heavily, she put the syringe back, closed up her laptop and said, "Fine."
Rising, she grabbed her things then said to the guard curtly, "Get it fixed fast though. I can't get them their answers if I can't finish my questioning."
"Yes, ma'am."
Without a backward glance she left saying, "Make sure he's untied after you take him back to his cell. He won't be giving you any trouble."
Alex wanted to laugh, but knew it probably would result in another blow to his still throbbing head. Instead he kept his mouth shut, thinking, I hope this works.
He felt the guard's hands on him and the snap as the zip ties were cut. A few moments’ later needles shot up and down his arms and legs as the blood began to flow back into his limbs. The pain was brief though. He wondered again if he could trust the doctor. But it wasn’t like he had much choice. If it was a trap, hopefully µβ was smart enough not to get caught.
He would just have to wait and see.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ken peered from behind the press conference divider and scanned the crowd of reporters in front of the raised platform. Karen's grip on his hand tightened as she noticed how many there were. Just in front of him, Mrs. Borne stood beside her son trying to look calm and only half succeeding. He saw her glance up at Duncan, giving him a quick squeeze on his arm before turning back to the platform where Commander Lee stood next to the Denver Chief of Police. The other two families had declined to speak or stand with them, but were sitting in the audience.
"Are you ready for this?"
Ken glanced at his wife's worried face and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We'll be just fine. And, yes, before you ask again, I think this will help."
Karen had the grace to blush. Since the commander had called them the day before, asking them to come and speak at the conference, Karen had asked Ken at least a dozen times if he thought it would work. Knowing she was worried about all of the negative results they had received from going public, he had reassured her each time that he thought it would help, but certainly couldn't hurt. At least, he hoped not.
"Ladies and gentlemen."
Everyone turned to look at Daren Kopeks, Chief of the Denver police force.
"First, I'd like to thank each of you for coming today. Up front, I would like to say that we hope that what we present to you will encourage you all to use your incredible skills to aid us. Because, today, we are asking for your help."
Ken heard a murmur go through the crowd of reporters. Sally glanced at him and he gave her a nod and small smile before she turned back.
"Today I'd like to bring up two families, one of whom you've already heard mentioned in the media over the last several weeks, and get them to tell you a story that I am sure you will find as difficult to believe at first as I did. I can assure you, however, that we have enough of a reason to believe that what they are going to share has merit. After they speak, I have someone that will elaborate on the details."
Ken moved forward with his wife, following Mrs. Borne and her son, as the chief motioned for them to come up to the podium. As they climbed the steps, Ken continued toward the podium, Karen following. Earlier, Sally Borne had asked him if he would speak for them all and that she would speak, but only if she had to. As he stepped behind the podium, he glanced again at her, a questioning look in his eye. When she nodded, he turned to the reporters and began to speak.
"As most of you know, my name is Ken Moore and this is my wife, Karen. We have been putting out ads for many weeks looking for our eighteen-year-old son, Tommy. As the weeks passed, we didn't have a lot of hope that we were ever going to see him again. But some evidence arose that the police and a few other people have been investigating, including my brother, Alex, who works for the NCCIC."
He paused to squeeze his wife's hand. She gave him a small smile and he continued.
"The initial evidence, however, seemed to be a dead end. That is until I received a call from Mrs. Borne telling me that her son Duncan-" He gestured towards Sally and her son. "-who happened to know Tommy from school, had some information she thought might be important."
"Though he feared something might happen, Duncan bravely came forward a few days ago and told her that he thought his dad’s disappearance might not be what they had originally suspected. You see, just like our first evidence - that appeared in the form of another friend of Tommy’s who told us a similar story about someone else’s disappearance - Duncan told his mom that his father disappeared on the same night as Tommy."
He stopped at the sudden wave of questions, each coming too fast for him to distinguish. The chief stepped forward and Ken moved away from the microphone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could please hold your questions for later, Mr. Moore has further information I think will catch your interest."
Ken could see that the reporters were reluctant to stop and yet they seemed surprised that there could be more. As the chief stepped back, Ken cleared his throat and then continued.
"Chief Kopeks is correct. After the initial evidence and then this new information, the police started looking at Tommy's and Frank Borne’s disappearance from a completely different angle and what they found is both encouraging and disturbing.
It turn
s out that on the same night my son and Frank disappeared, there were a few other disappearances throughout the Denver area. One we already suspected, but after some additional investigation, it turns out there was a third person taken whose son also knew Tommy. And, as the stories began to come out, we began to suspect that their disappearances may be related to an effort executed by the FBI."
He watched interest turn to incredulity on the face of every reporter and he had to smile. "Yes. I know. Until recently, I had a hard time believing this as well. And it gets stranger. You see, a few nights ago my brother, who was helping us look for Tommy, also went missing."
He paused to let that sink in. He was still trying to come to grips with it as well.
"Due to some other information the police will get to in a moment, we not only have reason to believe that our loved ones have been taken by the FBI, but we have reason to believe that this is directly related to an announcement made just a few days ago by Senator Gillespie in regards to his hacker program and the five people they have taken into custody."
The questions began to flow again and Ken raised his hands for silence before continuing. "These four, now possibly five people, guilty or innocent – and I have reason to believe they are innocent – were not taken in broad daylight. As far as we know they were not read their rights nor have any of us – their families – been notified of what has happened to their loved ones. Even the police have not been able to get a straight answer from the FBI."
One reporter blurted, "Then why are you coming forward saying the FBI is connected?"
At this, the chief stepped forward once more and Ken backed away with relief.
The chief looked at the reporter and answered, "For one, as Mr. Moore just stated, the senator announced that they had, through his program, managed to make several arrests of alleged hackers starting around the time of these disappearances. Second, though we have not been able to get confirmation from the FBI that these people were being held, we also did not get a denial. Lastly, the other evidence, some of which we will relate, points to the likelihood that these people inadvertently may have stumbled upon one of the traps used in the senator’s program to catch hackers."
"If you have this evidence, doesn’t that mean these people were hacking?"
"We don’t know. Maybe they were. Regardless, if the FBI is holding US citizens without due process, we need to know. The families need to know. They have the right to know what has happened to their loved ones."
More questions came and the chief, along with Commander Lee and Ken, tried to answer them as best they could. When Ken noticed his wife tiring, he held up his hands. When everyone had quieted down he continued, "I apologize. I'm sure you have many more questions and the police will answer what they can. I just have one last thing to say and that is to ask you all for your help. Please."
He stopped to scan the audience, making eye contact with as many of them as possible before continuing.
"Please help us find our son and my brother. Help us find Duncan's father and the others who have disappeared. I believe that the only way we're going to find out the truth is if we force the FBI to talk, and get them to tell us the names of the five people Gillespie mentioned. If they are hiding this, then what else can they be hiding? No matter who they are, they cannot just swoop in, take American citizens, and disappear with them as if this were some third world country.
If they have my son, I want to know. And, if they have him I want him freed because I know he has done nothing to warrant this. And I have no reason to believe the others have either. Please. Help us find our relatives."
With that said, he thanked the reporters and then stepped from behind the podium as the chief moved forward to continue speaking about their findings. As Ken led his wife from the chaos, he prayed that this would work. Because, while he truly believed his son and brother were with the FBI, hearing the FBI admit this would make it more real. It also meant, that soon, they might be able to see Tommy and Alex again.
Chapter Forty-Four
Jane waited until after midnight to try and reach Alex’s contacts as he had told her that they most likely would not be online before then. As instructed, she was careful not to log on to any of the chatrooms she normally hung out in, or anything else that might show her as online. She then located the chatroom Alex had mentioned. No. Channel, Alex had called it. Or was it chatroom? She couldn’t remember.
When the chatroom came up, she typed in the userid and password he had given her, which logged her in as gr@yg@nd01f, and then waited to see if anyone pinged her. As the posts flew by, her eyes widened in shock. There were things being said and posted she would have thought were illegal. Several minutes passed as she tried to ignore these increasingly graphic posts. When ten and then fifteen minutes passed with no response, Jane typed in what Alex had given her, word for word. Then, she continued to wait. Lurk. He had called it lurking.
More conversations flew by, now accompanied by what she considered very inappropriate pictures. Minutes passed. Then minutes more without any response. And then, finally, one came.
< gr@yg@nd01f > who am I supposed to be?
The next series of comments flew by too fast for her to read. She tried to reply but could not think of an appropriate response. The next thing she knew, she was booted out.
Alex had told her this might happen. When it did she was to wait and then sign back in as another user and try to get an invite into a private chat called #HGTTG.
When he had first given her this acronym, she'd asked, "Homes and Gardens?"
He'd laughed a bit and told her, "No. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."
She'd stared at him blankly.
"42?"
She shook her head and he laughed again.
"Okay, never mind. Just trust me on this."
While she waited she decided to Google ‘42’. When the search brought up too many hits, she tried searching Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Clicking on the Wiki link she began to read. She was halfway through the description of the very strange book and movie when she remembered she had to sign back on, this time as qu3st3r.
Requesting the private chat, Jane waited once more, watching the comments scrolling by and wondering how Alex could read this stuff all day long. When pictures of nude girls and people engaged in sexual acts that seemed to defy the basic laws of physics - and taste - began to appear, she switched tabs back to the Wiki page and finished reading the article.
A dinging sound let her know that she had received a response.
More comments followed and Jane was sure she was going to get kicked off again. Quickly she typed in another comment Alex had given her and waited.
When they booted her this time, she logged right back on as qu3st3r and typed Alex's message again. More comments followed about feddies and what they could go do with themselves and, just in case she didn't understand the terminology, they posted pictures to illustrate. Patiently, she waited, not responding, and praying that this would work.
An hour passed. The comments had long turned away from her, though she noticed several of the users had dropped off after making comments about feddies, moral fags and other words she couldn't decipher. But she wasn't booted off again.
While she waited, she purchased and downloaded the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ebook and began to read. Somewhere around chapter ten, she received a ding.
Glancing at the chatroom, she noticed a private invite for the room #HGTTG. Heart racing, she accepted it.
She hesitated not sure what she could and couldn't say. This person wasn't µβ.
Several seconds past and Jane waited to get booted again. Finally another user appeared.
She typed the third message Alex had given her. He said that if she were talking with the right people they would give back the correct response.
Jane’s fingers froze over the keyboard, heart racing. What was she supposed to say? I'm working with the feds just like you thought, and I'm responsible for their interrogations?
Nothing for several minutes and then:
<µβ> Where is he?
Finally, she thought, but hoped he didn't boot her out for the response she had to give.
<µβ> Is this related to Gillespie?
<µβ>