Living Lies (14 page)

She spent the entire flight back to Honolulu on the cell phone. Fallon was pronounced DOA and Jack was back at the hotel awaiting further instructions.

“Melanie, I want you and Jack to resume your cover,” Ben called as the blades of the helicopter whirled noisily and lifted off the roof of the Agency’s Honolulu headquarters.

“Give me a second, Ben.” Melanie said, handing Yakimoto over to the guard who would escort him to a holding room.

Ben picked up the conversation once both the chopper and Yakimoto were gone. “Ward, there’s still the question about the couple from Texas. I’m having another agent take over with Yakimoto while you and Jack get a definitive answer as to their involvement.”

Melanie’s fuse was short and she took a breath to maintain control. Absently she glared at a flock of pigeons.

“Who’s getting this case?” she asked, knowing the answer and not liking it – Parker. “Damn it, Ben, with all due respect, how can you consider giving this to
him
?”

“I know your frustration, but believe it or not, Agent Ward, I’m still in command here. But,” he sighed, “the Board is making this decision.”

Melanie’s blood boiled. Her pride stung and there was nothing she could do but fume. Her mind flew over expletives and threats.

“You can’t do anything?”

“I know my place and Agent you should know yours.”

“OK, Ben,” she said, kicking at the cooing pigeons as they pecked at the gravel roof.

I’ll be there for you when the sniveling, backstabbing, incompetent snake screws up again. Damn it!
Melanie thought as she wound her way around the white corridors toward the interrogation room. Through a thin rectangular window in the door, Melanie looked at Yakimoto, who was already seated, his aged face defiant.

“Hey, Agent Ward, thanks for doing all the grunt work. The big guns’ll take it from here,” Finn said with a wink.

The taste of blood leaked from her bitten tongue. Thoughts of lunging at his throat were followed by contemplation of unleashing her firearm and releasing shots into each of his evil blue eyes.

Steam rose from his coffee cup as he lifted it to his grinning face. An icy shiver of revulsion shot down her spine.

She felt betrayed by Ben, and though betrayal was part of her profession she didn’t expected it within the confines of their friendship.

“They’re giving it to Parker,” Jack said, cautiously.

Even as a timid sentence the words sent ripples of fury through her.

Melanie nodded, not surprised at Jack’s trepidation. The entire Agency was aware of her rivalry with Finn Parker.

“I’ve had enough of this. Come on, we’re going to
bump
into the Texans.”

Determined, she led Jack off the sandy beach and into Duke’s for an afternoon cocktail. The Texans were balanced on stools with their backs to the bar and spotted Lisa and Todd immediately.

“Hey, look who’s here!”

“I’m glad we ran into you,” Lisa said. Tired and yearning to get back into the action, Melanie made an impromptu decision. She could explain herself later. “Today’s our last day on the island and we hoped we could interest you in a farewell dinner.”

“We should have done this weeks ago.” Melanie said, throwing her evening wear on the bed and grumbling to herself.

Though dinner went uneventful, Melanie felt the tension between the other couple. Careful not to press too hard, it wasn’t until after the third round of drinks, during a spirited retro disco, that the Texans looked at each other uncomfortably.

“Go on, ask ’em,” he said, nudging her with his elbow.

“What’s up?” Todd asked.

“Well, since you’ve asked,” Mrs. Texas said nervously, “we really like you both and thought that you might be interested in a swap.” She said the last part so quickly that all the words blurred together.

“A swap?” Melanie tried to smooth her expression as she stared. “Wow.” She stalled. “As, um, interesting as your offer is, we’re going to have to decline.”

“Are you sure, ’cause we could have another drink and you might warm up to the idea,” said the woman, who looked at her husband disappointed.

He picked up where his wife left off. “We understand. The first time we were approached we declined. But when we got home we discussed the possibility and when the opportunity came up again we accepted. Maybe when you get back to your condo you’ll change your minds.” He smiled and passed a piece of paper to Lisa. It was the phone number to their hotel room.

She accepted the number and promised to think it over. The rest of the evening was awkward and she was relieved to finally say goodbye to the Texans.

Walking along the dark beach, the sliver of moon cast a shallow light that guided them back to the hotel.

“I should be pissed, I wanted to finish the case, I wanted to beat the information out of Yakimoto.” Melanie said, irritated that a couple of swingers caused her to lose the case, she shook her head. “But I’m just too shocked to be angry. Can you believe we were so wrong about them?”

“We weren’t wrong, they did have a secret,” Jack said, chuckling. “Just not the one we expected.”

“I guess it’s sort of flattering,” Melanie admitted. “They weren’t a bad-looking couple.”

“Are you considering using that phone number?” Jack teased.

Melanie lightly punched his shoulder.

“You know, I’m going to miss Hawaii.”

“It is paradise.” Melanie looked up to the silhouette of Diamond Head and stepping into a wave that rushed up on shore and then rolled back into the ocean.

But she was still raw from Ben’s actions.

“So, are we leaving tomorrow?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, maybe we can get back in time…” She knew it was no use. She was off the case.

Packing her gear early the next morning, she went back to the beach for one last time and rented a short board. The surf was up and she played for over an hour catching waves that carried her to shore. She had improved, riding the whitecaps. And just before she was ready to give it up for the day and head off the island, Melanie scored
the
wave of her career.

CHAPTER 8

Melanie slept on the plane to Seattle, where she and Jack would part and make their way home individually. Neither knew the other’s route. It was standard, used to protect an agent’s identity.

At the airport Melanie gave Jack a handshake and vanished. From Seattle she flew to Chicago then to Miami, finally taking a train up to headquarters. It was definitely the long way home. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what had come of her troubles in Hawaii, but true to herself, she went directly to Ben’s office upon reaching D.C. She needed answers directly from him.

“You want a drink?” he asked as if nothing were wrong.

“No, thanks.” He handed her a scotch and motioned for her to sit on one of the leather chairs facing his desk.

“That was a mess. You know I had to pull eight agents off their assignments. If you can believe it, three other cases may also be entangled. So,” he said sitting down, “how are you? I heard you took the scenic route home.”

“It’s protocol,” Melanie said curtly.

She sniffed at the drink, considering, then set the glass on a coaster.

“I had Jack picked up in Seattle. We looked for you but you had disappeared.” Ben laughed and sipped his drink. “Just for fun, I put two guys to track you.”

“Fun?” Melanie repeated. “We’re in the middle of a crisis.”

He leaned back, shrugged.

“I felt the tail,” she admitted, thinking back. “Have they gotten back from across the border?”

“Not until tomorrow.”

“Sorry.” She wasn’t. “They didn’t do too badly tracking me.”

He pointed at her with drink in hand and winked. “The Board has decided to let you continue with the Yakimoto case.”

Melanie knew it but was too tired from the trip to even ask how Parker had screwed up.

“I understand your frustration, Ward, but trust me on this one.”

“I always have.”

In the control center Mike had set up an entire room devoted to the information retrieved from the little hut. He and his assistant Ed were sitting amid stacks of computer discs.

“When did you get in?” he asked, taking off his headphones when he saw her.

“Twenty minutes ago. How are things going in here?” Melanie asked, eyeing the mess.

“Too much information and not enough help. Besides going through this, I’ve got a 100 agents still needing to send and receive information. Mike overload.”

“Jane,” she said, leaning over the intercom. “I need you to get the three first-year agents to the communications center ASAP. Thanks.” Turning back to Mike, “Well, that’s a little help. What else has been happening?”

Mike recapped the events of the past few days.

Parker had dropped the ball with the Hyde Park meeting, and got nothing out of the Yakimoto interrogation.

“Maybe I can get something out of him.” Melanie said.

“That’ll be tough, seeing as he’s still in Honolulu.”

“What the hell?”

Forty minutes later Yakimoto was on a flight to D.C.

“Well, I’m not doing anything until he gets here,” she said, with a sigh. “So how can I help?”

“You mean it?” Mike was joyous at the suggestion. “Here, grab some headphones, a disc and label everything.” He pulled out a chair for her in front of a computer.

He did the same for the three freshman agents when they arrived.

Melanie went through 12 discs, looking at each file. Most of what she found was old information. It was nearly dawn when she opened the last one in her stack.

Immediately she knew this one was different. It was protected by encryption. Mike and Ed had left hours ago so she began the decoding process. Melanie’s screen was covered in green, with letters, numbers and symbols spinning at high speeds. She watched for a few minutes before exhaustion set in and Mike’s uncomfortable commercial blue rectangular couch was calling her name.

“Just a quick nap,” she promised to the empty room.

Almost three hours later Mike, sweetly but clumsily, covering her with a blanket woke her from her dreamless sleep. The computer was still whirling.

“It’s been going for hours?” Mike asked, amazed.

He went to the keyboard and hit a few buttons.

“Did I do it wrong?”

“No, everything’s working right, it’s just advanced.” Mike laughed, giving his best ‘mad scientist’ impression. “But we are more advanced. Only nine more digits to decipher and these will go fast. Why don’t you go get something to eat?”

“Good idea.”

She went to the restroom to wash her face, brush her teeth and put her hair in a fresh ponytail. She got a change of clothes from her office. Half an hour later she was back in the control center with a cup of coffee and a doughnut.

“Another two minutes and this baby is ours.” Mike had routed the information to be up on the five-foot tele-monitor. Melanie sat down and waited, hoping this was the real deal. She took a deep breath as the files appeared on the screen.

“Which do you want opened first?”

“Great job, Mike. Okay, let’s see, the one marked Fallon/General. Who’s the general?” Melanie leaned forward in anticipation.

“I guess we’ll find out.” Mike said, and with two clicks of the mouse he had the file open.

“E-mails,” Melanie said, reading the first one, dated five years ago. “Mike, scroll to the more recent ones.” Melanie, too antsy to sit, stood behind Mike with her hand on the back of his chair.

“Here’s some dated last month,” he offered.

“No, keep going go to the very last two messages.” She stepped back so she could get the full effect of the large monitor. Reading the correspondence she felt chills running up her spine. She exchanged looks with Mike.

“Holy shit,” he said, summing it up.

Melanie went to see Ben. He was sitting on the couch looking through case files.

She pulled up a chair to face him and went step by step, explaining the situation.

The General was a Chinese-American with no military background who had surfaced a few years back to protest the Chinese government. His name had hit the FBI’s list of wanted terrorists when he claimed responsibility for a bacterial outbreak that killed more than a 1,000 people in Hong Kong.

Communication between The General and Fallon had described a plan to release the same virus in six global areas of dense population to commemorate his birthday, May 12 – tomorrow.

Fallon had supplied the satellite codes to detonate bombs filled with the bacteria.

“The General has linked all six bombs to one activation device, using our satellite to relay the feed. We need to find the General. Yakimoto is our only link and he’s just arrived,” Melanie said, looking at her watch, “I’m leaving now.”

“What about disabling the satellite?”

“I’m leaving it up for now. I don’t want to spook the General. If I can’t find him then I’ll have the thing shut down.”

“It looks like you can handle this on your own,” Jackson said. “Run with it but keep me in the loop.”

She drove to the underground prisoner holding center.

“Good afternoon, Captain.”

He huffed and crossed his arms. Melanie took a seat across the metal table from Yakimoto, who grunted at her. His face scrunched up, making all the creases squeeze together and making his features disappear.

“Since we both know there isn’t much time, why don’t you tell me where I can find the General?”

“You’re joking – I’m not telling you nothing.” He turned, angling his shoulder toward her.

“You are aware that you’re sitting in a holding cell in Washington D.C., today, May 11.”

“Either way I’m a dead man,” Yakimoto nodded, his face no longer smushed together but sagging instead. “Besides, I’ve already told you what I know. He’s on a ship somewhere mid-Atlantic, that’s all I know. I’m not saying anything else until my lawyer gets here.”

Melanie continued to press but the stubborn man sat staring blankly.

“I know nothing else. I was supposed to meet someone in London.” He glared at Melanie.

With the little information he had supplied, Melanie went back to Mike.

“What do we know about the General’s ships?”

A few clicks later Mike listed all the information that’d been gathered and labeled with the word ship. Accessing Yakimoto’s information, the General’s fleet consisted of four fishing vessels and one luxury liner, outfitted with the latest technology.

Mike loved the “latest technology” – his wide smile expressed it more than words ever could.

“What people don’t realize is that everything is connected. Nothing’s private, I can tap into computers, e-mails, cell phone, I can find anyone, anywhere. The worldwide web has brought everyone to my fingertips.”

Mike located photos, taken from space, of the yacht drifting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

It was almost sunset when the two fighter jets dropped their torpedoes.

May 12 passed without incident.

On Friday the 13 the sun peeked over the eastern horizon at precisely 5:58 a.m. Five of the six bombs the General distributed already had been located and dismantled. The sixth was still at large but the team had leads and was actively seeking it out.

Melanie had spent an unusually restless night at her apartment and, during her bike ride to work, thoughts of Parker never strayed from her consciousness. An unexplainable sense of grief had taken root in her soul.

Spring had already sprung and the cherry blossoms had reached their pinnacle weeks earlier, so the trees had already lost their floral icing. Melanie had missed the bright pink flowers that cloaked the branches of the trees lining the capital building, too wrapped up in the events across the world to pay attention to the beauty that surrounded her.

As usual, Ben sat behind his big desk in his dark office, which hadn’t changed in the 10 years Melanie had worked for the Agency.

He stood when he saw Melanie. “Have a seat.”

She did as she was told. The chair facing Ben’s desk had never felt as stiff before, and she shifted trying to find comfort.

“You know, Melanie, these past few days have been inspirational.”

It was 8 a.m. – she set the drink on the coaster.

“It’s not quite over.”

“Ward, as you’ve so keenly noticed, I’ve been distracted lately. Lilly, my wife, has been ill, and though I’ve tried to manage both work and her sickness I’ve decided that her health is my greater concern. I have chosen you to head up the domestic division while I take some personal time.”

Melanie held her breath, scooting to the edge of her seat as she watched Ben place a level E badge on his desk in front of her. She was at a loss for words.

It’s what every agent works toward, just one step below executive level. She wanted to be the first woman executive, and it looked like she was going to make that happen. Smiling, she held tightly to the badge.

“You will be co-chairing my position with Parker. It is the Board’s decision that Finn will oversee international activity.”

Melanie’s heart stopped. She had assumed because of all that had occurred the past few days that Parker would have been sent packing with a ticket to a federal prison, or at the very least hiding in some dark closet until the situation blew over.

The elusive yellow plastic badge with “Melanie Ward” printed boldly on front stared at her. In an impromptu decision, she placed her ambition back on Ben’s desk and slid it toward the man she’d admired for over 10 years.

“I can’t take this.” Melanie rose from the uncomfortable chair.

“You’ve earned it, Melanie.”

“Damn right, I earned it – Parker did not. It’s a slap in the face, and I’ll have my resignation on your desk within the hour,” she said, storming out of the office like a spoiled child.

Melanie left a shocked Ben Jackson, his mouth agape, unmoving at his desk. Fuming, she sat at her computer and typed out the end of her career as a secret agent in a two-sentence letter. She had reacted in haste and now her pride had forced her hand.

She looked around her office. Outside her window the skies darkened as clouds blew in, blocking out the soft rays of the New England sun. Inside, there was nothing of a personal nature: a couple of photos and a change of clothes hung in the closet. She turned off the lights.

Ben lowered his face and shook his head. “This is regrettable but not unforeseen. Today the world is less safe but I do wish you well. Judith,” Ben paged his assistant on the intercom, “make sure the jet is ready to take Agent Ward to her choice of destination.”

“Thank you,” Melanie hesitated. “Ben, I did really enjoy working for you. I can’t pretend to understand these motives but I’m sure that if there were an alternative you’d be there for me.”

For an instant Melanie saw grief set into his eyes. “You are the daughter Lilly and I always wanted, but my hands are tied, Melanie.”

Melanie nodded and turned to leave for the last time.