“Good point,” said Kintrell. “But we have to do something, so I think we go with Norm’s idea. They may go to ground for a little while, but these guys aren’t finished. They have something already planned for when the deadline passes. December 28th is deadline day, so the Senate and Congress will be home for the holidays, which only adds to the problem of protection. We can narrow it down to those personnel who are past the terms these guys are referencing, but that still leaves a hell of a lot of targets.”
“Yeah,” said Stryker, “it’s a hell of a lot easier to attack then defend, when you don’t exactly know what to defend.”
“Okay, let’s focus on how we can get a rise out of the judge,” said Kintrell.
“The difficulty will be knowing if we got a rise out of the judge. We can’t do surveillance or wiretaps. We’re flying blind,” said Alvarez.
“Not necessarily,” said Stryker, “Our friend Roddy might be able to help us out here.”
“How?” said Alvarez.
“I don’t think you want to know, Lanny,” said Stryker.
“Listen, Norm, you can’t do something illegal here, the Bureau could never go along with something like that. We ourselves would be duty bound to arrest you,” said Kintrell, winking at Stryker as he said it.
“Just a thought,” said Stryker.
“Speaking hypothetically, what would you have Roddy do?” asked Alvarez.
“Well, hypothetically, he could install certain devices in certain hypothetical places that would pick up chatter—both electronic and verbal,” said Stryker.
“Hypothetically, could these devices mimic whatever devices the target is using to spread some false information to the recipients?” asked Alvarez.
“Not sure if his people have the capability to do that,” said Stryker.
“Turns out I know someone who probably has that capability,” said Kintrell.
“Any other ideas?” asked Kintrell.
“If we think the judge knows we have the laptop, then the judge has already told the owner of that laptop to vamoose, so we could let it out that we are zeroing in on the suspect and two other accomplices. We then focus our efforts on finding the leak by tracking electronically the handful of people that we gave the false information to,” said Lanny.
“That’s good, Lanny,” said Kintrell. “Let’s talk to Dede and lay it out for her.”
They met with Dede the following morning at 8:00 AM.
Once seated across from her, Kintrell said, “Dede, I’m ninety-nine percent convinced we have a leak. Here’s what I want to do …”
After Kintrell finished, Dede rose from her chair and strode to the window, Time for me to retire.
“Agent Kintrell, you must know that I could never grant such a request. Such an act is, as you well know, highly illegal. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Kintrell.
Kintrell returned to his office, contacted Stryker, and asked to meet him at a local Starbucks.
Kintrell was seated at a small table, picking at a blueberry muffin, when Stryker entered.
“Hey, Norm.”
“Tom,” said Stryker, smiling.
“I need your buddy Roddy to do something for me.”
After Kintrell was finished explaining what he needed Stryker said, “Wouldn’t it be better if your own people did this? They have the equipment and the manpower. Roddy would have to be paid to do this.”
“We don’t exactly have the authority to do this,” said Kintrell.
“I wouldn’t want to see Roddy get hurt if this thing goes sideways,” said Stryker.
“Me neither, so I will furnish him a letter spelling out that I authorized it. He will be protected,” said Kintrell.
“What about the costs involved?” asked Stryker.
“We’ve never talked about this, Norm, but I’m kinda well off,” said Kintrell.
“How well off?” asked Stryker.
Kintrell hesitated, “I don’t have to worry about money. I want to get this done as soon as possible.”
“I’ll call him right now, Mi-Lord.”
Kintrell gave him a smile and the finger. He then thought of the promise he made to Alvarez and was torn, finally deciding he had to tell her. He would tell her only after they knew if Roddy would do what they needed.
The meeting was set with Roddy for 9:00 PM that evening.
***
The lot was empty, save for an older Range Rover they assumed belonged to Roddy.
As they entered Roddy’s building, they heard, “I’m in the office, come on back.”
They found him sitting at his desk typing something on his laptop.
“You guys want a drink?” said Roddy.
Kintrell declined the offer but Stryker said, “Whatta ya got?”
“I got some Jameson’s and Johnny Walker Blue Label.”
“I’ll have a Jameson’s, neat,” said Stryker.
Kintrell then said, “Changed my mind, I’d like a Johnny Walker, over ice if possible.”
“No problem,” said Roddy.
After they had their drinks, Roddy, with a scotch neat, raised his glass. “Here’s to absent friends.”
“Here, here,” said Kintrell and Stryker, simultaneously.
Kintrell then explained what he wanted. When he was finished, Roddy said, echoing Stryker, “Why don’t your own people do this? They certainly have the capability.”
Kintrell, after mulling it over, said, “Roddy, we think one of my people is leaking information to these killers. My aim with what I’m asking you to do, is to find out who it is.”
“You have clearance from up top to do this?” asked Roddy.
“No, but I will give you a letter on FBI stationary, signed by me, authorizing you to do this. If there’s any blowback, it will be on my head,” said Kintrell.
“Hate to sound capitalistic here, but who’s going to pay for this?” said Roddy.
“I’ll take care of that,” said Kintrell.
“It will be expensive,” said Roddy. “It will require four men in two man shifts to monitor the devices that will be used. These men will have to be within a half mile of the devices. Depending on how long this monitoring is needed it could run into a significant amount of money.”
“Not a problem. It is what it is.”
“Didn’t know the FBI paid so well,” said Roddy.
“I have other means at my disposal.”
“Cool, this will be like running an op,” said Roddy.
Roddy explained what he could do: “We’ll have to go low tech on this. If these guys are as good as you say they are, their devices will be encrypted, so trying to wire the phones will be useless. What I can do is install the listening devices on certain windows of the house. We’ll be able to pick up one side of any phone conversation or any other person to person conversation in the rooms where the devices are outside of.”
“The person who installs these devices must be very good. I’m sure the target’s residence is well-protected,” said Kintrell.
“I know just the man for the job,” said Roddy.
“Whoever monitors the devices must be sworn to secrecy and absolutely trustworthy,” said Kintrell.
“Not to worry, Agent Kintrell.”
“Call me Tom. When can these devices be installed?”
“If I have the gear in stock, tomorrow night in the wee hours, if not, the day after,” said Roddy.
Kintrell then gave Roddy his cell number, took a final pull on his scotch and said, “Thanks,” while shaking Roddy’s hand. Stryker also threw his drink down then shook Roddy’s hand.
On the way back to Philadelphia, Kintrell said, “Well, whoever he gets to do this had better be a ghost. The judge has a guy in his employ who should have bolts sticking out the sides of his neck.”
“Roddy will do the deed himself,” said Stryker.
“Really?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, that little bastard could sneak up on Superman,” said Str
yker.
“Sounds like he may have been of use to the Philadelphia Police Department at one time or another,” said Kintrell.
“No comment.”
Chapter 23
Domingo Obragon arrived in Philadelphia in the early evening. He took a cab to the Four Seasons Hotel. After checking into his room, he sent a text. Donde
He received an answer a few minutes later with an address, 2205 S. Moreland
He then texted back, 30 mins.
He removed the clothes he was wearing and donned dark jeans with a black turtle-neck sweater and black leather jacket. He left the hotel, put his right hand up to signal the next cab in line, entered the cab and told the driver to take him to the Sugar House Casino. He arrived ten minutes later. He entered the casino after paying the driver, waited a couple minutes, then exited, hailing another cab. He gave the address to the driver and arrived at the house in South Philadelphia fifteen minutes later. Upon entering the house, he found his two friends from New York waiting for him.
After embracing each man and catching up, he laid out the pertinent information on the target. He directed one of the men to establish surveillance on the subject. He also instructed them to drive to an address in Upper Darby, PA, just outside West Philadelphia, the next day. They would find a garage behind the address. The code he gave them would unlock the garage. A six-year-old van was parked in the garage. In the van they would find weaponry, plastic restraints, and an envelope containing photographs. He also told them the action must take place before January 2nd. He set December 29th as their next meeting. Domingo then made his way back to the Four Seasons, again stopping at the casino and changing cabs.
***
Two days after consulting Roddy, Kintrell requested a meeting. Attending were Alvarez, Dede, Dixon, Dixon’s assistant and three other agents.
Kintrell started the conversation.
“As you know I had someone from the NSA take a look at the laptop. He was able to come up with a few things. One: the encryption can’t be overcome with the technology currently available. Two: the calendar is encoded with a book cipher. With the aid of one of their super computers they were able to narrow down the books that could fit the criteria by using the numbers listed in the calendar. The problem is, they got almost a thousand hits. Sounds like a lot but when you consider how many books there are in the English language the number is manageable. The way it was explained to me, the computer was able to shoot out various books where the numbers in the calendar would kind of make sense. Even though there were almost a thousand hits, their cybernauts believe they can further narrow the criteria for the search, and they believe they will have something definitive within the next couple days.”
The discussion then turned towards the next possible target or targets.
Alvarez spoke up then, “Agent Kintrell and I believe the next operation they undertake will be on a larger scale. We also believe—given the precision and sophistication they used carrying out the three killings—that they already have the plan in place, and they are assuming Congress will not accede to their demands. We know they have the ordnance to kill a great many people.”
“That’s a lot of supposition,” said Dixon.
“Yes,” said Kintrell, “and we may be off base, so if you have something that will shed more light on this, Agent Dixon, we’d like to hear it.”
“The task force and I believe that they will continue to pick off these politicians one at a time. They certainly aren’t going to attack the Capitol building. They would need scores of men to try something like that and even then, they would run into fierce resistance,” said Dixon.
Dixon then looked around the room for support for his analysis. His assistant spoke up then. “I agree with, Agent Dixon. You may recall, Agent Kintrell, you yourself pointed out that these men have taken pains to avoid collateral damage. A large-scale assault would certainly lead to an inordinate amount of collateral damage.”
“You may also recall, their last threat included family members as legitimate targets,” said Kintrell.
“Many things to think about,” said Dixon, “but let’s not get sidetracked with wild theories. Let’s focus on the evidence at hand and continue our due diligence.”
With that the meeting broke up.
***
Later that night, the judge received a call.
“Are you encrypted?” asked the judge.
“Yes, sir.”
The two men in the van a quarter mile away could only hear one side of the conversation. They didn’t know it at the time, but that would prove to be sufficient.
“Okay, go ahead, George, what have you got?” said the judge.
After listening for a few minutes, the judge said, “Good work, if anything breaks with the NSA let me know immediately.”
The men in the van heard nothing further from the Judge for the rest of the evening.
At 8:00 the next morning Kintrell received a call from Roddy.
“Not much happening last night, Tom. The judge did receive a call from someone named George.”
“You’re positive he said George?”
“Yeah, clear as a bell. We have the recording if you want to listen to it,” said Roddy.
“I’ll be out there as soon as I can, and I’d like to talk to whoever heard the conversation, and Roddy, I could kiss you.”
“Rain check on that.”
Kintrell laughed as he disconnected the call. He then got Alvarez on the phone. “Lanny, we need to pay a visit to the rodeo.”
Alvarez hesitated, then she got the reference, said, “See you in fifteen minutes, you want some coffee?”
“No thanks, I’m good. I’ll meet you in the lot.”
Alvarez understood that Kintrell didn’t want anyone who might be listening to know what they were up to. Maybe she should get the bug device and go over the car they would be taking, just in case. She called Kintrell back. “Make that twenty minutes. I have to stop and get something.”
“See you soon,” said Kintrell.
Alvarez arrived twenty-two minutes later to find Kintrell leaning against his car talking on the phone.
As she approached him, she put her finger to her lips. Kintrell nodded his head while disconnecting the call he was on.
Once in the car Alvarez removed the device from her bag and activated it. She slowly moved the device first over Kintrell then the dashboard of the vehicle. She then got out of the car, reentered the back seat and swept the device over the seats and the floor. Satisfied, she returned to the front seat.
“Good thinking, Lanny.”
“What’s up, Tom?”
“The judge received a call last night from someone named George.
“George?” said Alvarez, “That slimy little bastard.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Kintrell. “It’s not one hundred percent, but it’s damn close.”
“How do you know this, Tom?” asked Alvarez.
“That’s one of the things I need to talk to you about.”
Kintrell then explained to Alvarez what he had Roddy do.
Lanny shocked, “What were you thinking, Tom? You could be arrested for this or at the very least be thrown out of the FBI!”
“I couldn’t think of any other way, Lanny, but I don’t want to see this come down on you, so I strongly advise you to stay away from me for the time being.”
“Stay away from you? I should arrest you!” said Alvarez, fuming.
“Lanny, these guys are planning something big, I can feel it. A lot of people are going to die if something isn’t done.”
Alvarez muttered, “Impossible situations.” After shaking her head slowly, she added, “We have to be very careful around him and his boss now. We obviously can’t tell anybody how we know, so maybe we can use him to our advantage.”
“Why, Agent Alvarez, you devious little minx, what are we gonna do with you?” said Kintrell.
“Don’t try to butter me up, Kintrell, I’m still highly pi
ssed at you.”
***
They arrived at Roddy’s place a little after 10:00 AM. Stryker met them there. The four huddled around Roddy’s desk, listening to the judge’s voice. After hearing it three times, Stryker said, “You going to tell us who this George guy is?”
Alvarez and Kintrell looked at each other, then Kintrell said, “We believe it’s Dixon’s assistant. If so, he knows everything we’ve done since day one. Well, not everything.”
“The question is, do we leave the devices in place or do we pull them? We may get some more useful intel, but if they’re found they’ll know they’re blown and alert their mole, and the little creep will cover his tracks. We won’t be able to prove it’s him even with the tape. We don’t have his voice, only the judge’s, and if we reveal what we’ve done, we’ll probably get fired at the very least and maybe even prosecuted,” said Alvarez.
“I’ll take the heat on this Lanny …”
“Oh bullshit, Tom, that’s not happening. Spare me the noble martyrdom nonsense. First of all, even if we manage to fry this little creep, a scandal like that would never be tolerated by the Bureau. They may ship us off to Moosedick, Vermont, but they sure as hell won’t want to advertise this to the media,” said Alvarez.
“Maybe, maybe not,” said Kintrell.
“Those devices are pretty well camouflaged,” said Roddy. “They would have to know where to look. I doubt if they’ll sweep the outside of the house looking for bugs, and if they sweep the inside, the devices won’t register.”
“Norm, what do you think?” asked Alvarez.
“I agree with Roddy. We may pick up something that would help identify their next move or target. The worst that can happen is they find out and then tell the little prick he’s blown, but what’s he going to do? Run away? I don’t think so. He’ll assume it’s a rogue operation. If pressed, he’ll just say prove it’s him on that phone call, which we can’t do at this time. Maybe we can convince certain parties in a certain clandestine organization to match a call the judge received to a phone operated by Georgie boy. That may even be an exercise in futility. We know these guys have been very careful, so they may be using burners, George included.”
Termination Limits: Tom Kintrell Book 1 (Tom Kintrell Thriller Series) Page 15
