National Burden (9 page)

“I can only relay what I’ve been told, Mr. President. The Lithuanian government requested our assistance to deal with the situation, and that is what we did.”

Bukov leaned back in his chair, rehashing the conversation in his highly analytical mind. Dryburgh had been right; President Zimmer seemed to be following the same path as his predecessor. Despite what had happened in the Ukraine, the American President didn’t seem to have the stomach to stand up to the Russians.

Igor Bukov picked up the phone and pressed a button. In Russian he said, “Bukov for the President.”

+++

President Zimmer relayed the particulars of the phone conversation to his new Chief of Staff. Travis listened intently, shaking his head more than once. “Did he say what was supposedly in the shipments?”

“Bukov mentioned nuclear components.”

“From where?”

“He didn’t say.”

Travis turned to Dryburgh. “Mr. Secretary, have you heard from Lithuania? Did they really ask for Russia’s help?”

“They’re calling every ally they have. I can only assume we were at the top of the list.”

“So it’s complete bullshit.”

Dryburgh nodded. “I’d say so. The problem is that until Lithuania unravels the secret of the mysterious official, our hands are tied.”

Zimmer slammed a hand on his desk. “Dammit. We will not allow the Russians to rebuild the Soviet empire. Travis, have Ellen call everyone in. Nobody’s going home until the Russians have pulled their troops out.”

Cal’s phone vibrated on the kitchen table. He snatched it up. “Stokes.”

“Hey, it’s Neil.”

“What did you find out?”

“We’re still sifting through Southgate’s phone records.”

“Come on, man. This is kid’s stuff to you.”

“I know, I know, but a lot of calls come in and out of the senator’s office. A vast majority of them are encrypted or at least masked. I’m not sure if we’ll have an answer for you today.”

“That’s not good enough. The deadline is five o’clock. I need something before then.”

“But--”

“Listen, Neil, if we don’t find out who’s feeding Southgate with this line of horseshit, we all may be facing conviction in federal court.”

“Cal, I know you don’t want to hear this, but the President was part of--”

“Don’t say it. I know. That’s not the point. The point is someone is trying to torpedo the President. I’m not gonna let that happen.”

Neil sighed. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

+++

The White House

The mood in the Situation Room was tense if not downright hostile. Split right down the middle, the President’s advisors couldn’t come to a consensus. The Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs all wanted the President to send in a carrier group along with a full Marine contingent.

Everyone else, including the president’s national security advisor, Attorney General and the Secretaries of Treasury, Commerce and the Director of Homeland Security, preferred a more cautious approach. To make matters worse, all communications coming out of Lithuania had ceased. The entire country was under some sort of blackout.

“Mr. President, let’s not make any rash decisions. Our markets are volatile as it is. Any hint of military incursion could send us tumbling back into a recession,” said the balding Secretary of Commerce, the most vocal of the dissenters. Zimmer made a mental note to see what he could do about replacing the man. He’d been nothing but a whiner since he’d entered office, rarely with a solution to go along with his complaint.

“I understand,” answered Zimmer, “but I will not stand by and let the Ukraine debacle happen again.”

When Russia had effectively seized control of Crimea weeks before, Zimmer deferred to his war-weary cabinet members. He’d been slammed by numerous publications for his lack of action, and conservatives had howled to any reporter within reach.

The Secretary of Defense spoke up next. “Mr. President, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is on his way over now. Might I suggest we wait and see what he’s learned from his people in-country?”

“Fine. Let’s adjourn until he gets here.”

+++

Bethesda, Maryland

Steve Stricklin could hardly contain himself as he walked back to his car. The meeting with Senator Southgate had gone better than expected. Not only had the senator taken notes during their conversation, he’d also promised to do everything he could to either see him reinstated at the Bureau or placed somewhere in one of the many companies Southgate had relationships with. The icing on the cake for Stricklin was when his host had suggested the possibility of having to testify in front of a senate investigative committee.

“I’ll do whatever you need, Senator,” he’d said, already imagining the clicking cameras and pretty reporters asking for interviews. He couldn’t wait to tell his mother about how he would soon be a celebrity.

+++

Senator Milton Southgate sat in the Congressional Country Club lounge overlooking the famous golf course, now covered in snow. He hadn’t known what to expect from the former FBI agent, but was pleasantly surprised. Put together, good looking, and a former Marine, Steve Stricklin could be the perfect vehicle for what Southgate was planning. He would have to thank Congressman McKnight for the introduction.

The stickier situation was that of the president. President Zimmer had stepped over the line. Calling in CIA assassins to kill a terrorist in a foreign country, while still repugnant to the senator, could be ignored. Associating with a company implicated in the murder of an American, and a congressman no less, was absolutely out of bounds. He wondered what other secrets the president was keeping. 

No, he would not stand idle and let the upstart from Massachusetts ruin his party. Southgate already had his hands full from cleaning up the mess left by the last president. Democrats were scrambling to keep their constituents happy. What America needed now was a strong leader, someone with a mind and heart to bring the country further out of its most recent recession and into the new world order. Secretary of State Geoffrey Dryburgh, while not necessarily Southgate’s first choice, was certainly in a position to capitalize on his personality and international relations experience. Dryburgh had been on the presidential campaign trail before, but this time would be different, even though it would mean taking certain actions that would be more than a bit distasteful for Senator Southgate, such as his ultimatum he’d given Zimmer the night before.

Southgate stood and squared his shoulders to the snowy vista. He would do everything in his power to see that the threat to the Democratic Party, and more importantly, to America, was dealt with swiftly and decisively.

Cal hadn’t stopped pacing for the last hour. Without word from Neil, the ticking seconds felt more like a hammer on his chest. In contrast, Daniel sat quietly, seemingly nonplussed by the situation.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Cal? There’s nothing we can do.”

Cal looked at his friend, annoyance clearly etched in his scowl. “How can you just sit there?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s not that hard. You just bend your knees a bit and sit on your ass.”

Cal stopped his pacing and regarded the sniper, a thin smile finally appearing. “Are you telling me that you’re not worried about going to jail and possibly taking the President with us?”

“I’ve been on the edge of the law more times than I’d like to remember. All I can say is that as long as I’ve done the right…no, the honorable thing, everything has come out okay in the end.”

Cal snorted. “I swear every day you become more and more like some monk sitting on a mountaintop giving wayward travelers sage advice.”

In response, Daniel lifted his legs onto the couch, crossing them yoga-like, with his hands resting on his knees, palms facing up. “What wisdom would you like this day, young traveler?”

Cal shook his head and laughed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Daniel crack a joke. The Marine sniper preferred to stay in the background, mouth closed, eyes and ears open. “You really are a piece of work, you know that?”

Daniel nodded solemnly. “Such wise words from so ornery a man.”

The jab was answered by a middle finger. “Fuck you, Snake Eyes,” Cal said with a grin.

The secure phone in the kitchen rang. Cal hurried to answer it. “Stokes.”

“It’s Neil.”

“Yeah?”

“Southgate’s phone records are still a no-go. I think I may have something else, though. It’s not much--”

“Spit it out. We don’t have time.”

“Okay. I was able to get into Senator Southgate’s scheduling system. He’s had a couple meetings this morning. His secretary doesn’t put names to everything so I’m not sure who he met. Nothing jumps out as far as location. I thought you might be able to help.”

“Read them off to me.”

Neil did. He was right. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Cal repeated them to Daniel, who was now standing next to him.

“Who was he meeting at the Country Club?” Daniel asked, after pressing the speaker button.

“It doesn’t say.”

“Was it just one meeting?”

“It says meeting and lunch.”

Cal knew they were grasping at possibilities. “Let’s look at it another way. Did the meeting origination have any kind of time stamp? Does it say when it was scheduled?”

“I hadn’t even thought of that. Hold on. Okay, I’m going through them one by one. A week ago, a month ago, three days ago…”

Cal tapped his finger on the table impatiently. Daniel stood waiting. Neil kept reading aloud.

“The meeting at the Congressional Country Club was scheduled…last night!”

“I knew it!” Cal exclaimed. “Are you sure there’s no way we can figure out who he met with?”

Neil took a minute to reply, going through his mental list of hacking opportunities. “I’ve got it. If I can get into the country club’s CCTV surveillance system, then maybe we can see whoever was coming and going.”

“This is all we’ve got, Neil. Call me back.”

Cal felt reinvigorated. They finally had a lead. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Hopefully Neil could use his magic to lead them farther down the trail. The minutes were still ticking down until the President’s timeline. The Marine in Cal knew they could not fail in this task.

+++

The White House

President Zimmer nodded his head as if he was listening, but everything his Secretary of the Interior was saying went right past the distracted leader. Zimmer could feel his blood pressure rising and sipped water to calm his nerves. Maybe he should finally give in and ask The White House physician for medication. He was young and healthy, but the stresses of the job had been exacerbated by Senator Southgate’s accusation. Zimmer knew that he technically was associated with a company that conducted black operations on American soil, but he also believed that such actions were needed to defend the country from those threatening the United States. If only he could make Southgate see.

+++

SSI Safehouse, Arlington, Virginia

Neil called back ten minutes later.

“Do you have your laptop?” he asked.

“Yeah, let me grab it.” Cal snagged the computer from the kitchen counter and brought it over to the phone. “I’ve got it.”

“I’m sending you an email with a link. Click on the link when you get it.”

A moment later, the email appeared on Cal’s screen and he clicked on the hyperlink. The highly secure internet browser Neil had developed, and was now being used by a select group of private corporations, opened in a new window. Cal and Daniel watched as a screenshot of Neil’s computer popped up.

“Can you see my screen?” Neil asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, it took me longer than expected, but I finally got into the country club’s security system. I figured that instead of me trying to go through the feed myself, having you two look with me might be helpful.”

“Couldn’t you just use your facial recognition software?”

“I’ll be running it congruently. I just figured that you might want to do something rather than just waiting. I’ll run the playback at about double speed, starting with the thirty minutes before and then after Southgate’s scheduled meeting.”