Off the Grid (A Gerrit O'Rourke Novel) (26 page)

Gerrit O’Rourke sat on the sofa, legs crossed, as if he owned the place.

“How’d you…? You’re alive.”

“Still breathing, Senator. No thanks to you and your friends.”

“Me? My friends? What in Sam Hill are you talking about?” It felt like he was staring at a ghost. “They told me you died.”

“As Mark Twain once said, ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”

“I don’t give a rip about Mark Twain. How come they thought you were dead? I mean, Kane told me—”

“Kane lied.” Gerrit rose off the sofa and moved closer to John.

“He told me those Russians killed you…and Marilynn.”

“If they’re Russians, then Kane was the one who hired them. Right now, I don’t know who pulled the trigger. But I do know Kane was behind it. In fact, up until a moment ago, I thought you might have had a hand in it.”

“Me? You think I might have had my own daughter killed? Are you insane?”

Gerrit edged closer. “Then tell me what Kane told you.”

John hesitated as the man drew closer still. John took a step back. “He said the deaths appeared to be connected. That the Russian gangsters retaliated after you killed their boss. Said they’d hit the three of you because of the case you all were working on. I thought…” He fell silent, trying to remember exactly what Kane told him. His face flushed with anger. “That lying son of a—”

“Tell me why Kane seemed to know about the deaths. Think about it, Senator. You do the math.”

John looked at Gerrit for a moment without speaking. “What have I done?” Slowly, John sank back into the chair, head in hands, his voice a tortured whisper. “What have I done?”

G
errit didn’t want to lose momentum. Maybe the senator had a heart after all. It was time to make his move while the man seemed vulnerable.

Gerrit crossed the room and made a drink for both of them from the wet bar. He felt the handheld radio under his coat and heard someone click a static transmission in his earplug. He hoped Joe and the others were picking all this up.

He glanced over at the senator. The man’s shoulders sagged, chest heaving as he tried to stifle deep sobs. Drinks in hand, Gerrit drew near and handed one glass to Summers. “Here, drink this. It might help.”

As the senator reached for it, Gerrit’s jacket opened to reveal the holstered weapon under his left arm.

“You came into my house armed. What are you going to do? Kill me?”

Gerrit drew back and looked down at the senator. “I didn’t know what I’d face here. For all I know, you and Kane were working together to cover up everything.”

“You must not think very highly of me to believe I’d be complicit in Marilynn’s death.” The senator glared at him. “I may be a lot of things, but I’m a father first.”

“That was not the feeling I got from Marilynn.” Gerrit returned to the sofa and sat down. “She never felt she was good enough for you. Always trying to impress you.”

Summers clasped the drink in both hands, peering down into the glass. “I may have pushed her hard, but I did it for her own good. She had the potential to do great things. Maybe even run for office.”

Gerrit took a drink before replying. “Yeah, that’s quite an achievement, Senator. Look what it got you. Working with bottom feeders like Kane.”

The senator scowled. “I have this country’s best interests at heart. Always have.”

“You mean like selling this country out to those who want our sovereignty to take a backseat to a one-world order?” He remembered what Joe had said, and thought it might be a good time to test out his uncle’s theory. See if Joe might be right.

The senator seemed to bite. Summers straightened. “We need to work together as a world community to face the challenges ahead. We cannot be the only gunslinger in town. We need other world powers to deal with terrorism, dictators, and those crazy enough to drag us back to extinction. I’m talking about fanatics like North Korea’s Kim Jong-il or Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”

“So tell me, Senator. How do you and people like Kane propose to create this world community? By lessening our country’s ability to protect itself? By allowing others in the world to decide what’s in our country’s best interests? And at what cost? Just look at what it has cost you already.”

The senator stared at him without speaking. Gerrit couldn’t tell what the man was thinking. “Tell me what Kane has planned for our future. It looks to me like you have already bought into it. Tell me why he had to kill my father and mother. Why they were so dangerous he had to eliminate them.” He realized he was almost shouting.

Summers seemed to shrink in his chair. “I don’t know anything about what happened to your parents. Kane said…” And then he stopped speaking. Any anger the man had shown earlier seemed to vanish into the night air. He stared at the floor without speaking.

Any further conversation with Summers would be futile. As Gerrit got to his feet, the senator whispered something. “What did you say, Senator?”

“Megiddo.” The man’s voice grew stronger. “That’s all Kane ever mentioned to me. It was a code name for a project he and others were involved with that would give them the upper hand. Allow them to begin to control the bases of power they needed to create this world power. This world community.”

“How were they supposed to achieve this?” Gerrit held his breath, waiting for the man to answer. Naming this Project Megiddo in the context of world domination gave him a chill. Were they dealing with a bunch of suicidal maniacs? He could see Kane in that role.

Summers gave him a dazed look. “It was all supposed to make the world a better place. A safer place.” The senator gave a bitter laugh. “Save lives. What a joke. Look what it has done so far. Kane takes the life of my only daughter. What does he have planned next? My execution because I didn’t handle her right? Oh, jeez, if he finds out I talked to you—I’m history.”

Drawing closer, Gerrit asked again, “What’s their plan, Senator? What is Project Megiddo?”

Summers shook his head. “I don’t know exactly. They’ve developed—or are about to develop—a self-replicating technology that can embed itself into any communication system, computer program, or spyware. I don’t fully understand its capability, except that they are able to intercept, decrypt, and monitor anyone’s communication—online and off-line.”

“What do you mean off-line?”

“I mean anything you own that involves technology—cell phones, laptops, eReaders, computers—can be used to intercept anyone’s communications. They can gain access to anyone’s financial accounts, medical records, tax files—anything you might want kept private—and they can expose it to the world.”

The senator shakily rose to his feet. “For all I know, they’re listening to us right now. If that program’s operational.”

“Where is this project housed? And who’s working on it?”

Summers gestured helplessly. “All I know is Richard has people coming and going from a place outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. Whatever they are working on can be found there. Kane rarely visits, but he’s in contact with someone there on a regular basis. I’ve been in the room with him when these calls come through. You can tell it’s a high priority by the way he acts. I think they must be really close to making this happen—if it hasn’t happened already.”

Gerrit’s radio squawked with a transmission. “Gerrit, can you hear me?” It was Willy’s voice, very excited.

In response, Gerrit hit the transmission button twice. He didn’t want to interrupt the senator.

Willy almost screamed over the line. “We’ve got three vehicles bearing down on us at a high rate of speed. Richard’s in one of them.”

Gerrit wheeled around and faced Summers. “We’ve got a problem. Looks like Kane and some of his people are headed this way. The way they are traveling, they mean business. I would suggest you come with us.”

“Us? There are others with you?”

“Exactly, Senator. And they heard everything we’ve said.”

The man’s face paled. “You don’t know what you’ve done. You’re going to get us killed.”

“Not if we get out of here right now.”

“And go where?” The senator rose and screamed at him. “Where could I go to hide from that man?”

“Now would be a good time to find out. Are you coming?”

A look of resignation crossed Summers’s face. The man slowly sat down.

“Senator, you’d better get out of here.”

The man shook his head. “Nowhere to run that he can’t find me.” He picked up his drink and took a sip before speaking. “Gerrit. One more thing. Once Megiddo kicks in, watch out. You’ll be facing the forces of hell. They’ll be able to throw everything at you and anyone else standing in their way. They’re about to launch it—any day. Time is running out.”

Gerrit spun around and sprinted for the door. As he felt the cold night air, he heard the engines of several vehicles several blocks away. He ran to where Joe and the others sat hidden and jumped inside the vehicle just as Redneck pulled from the curb.

Alena leaned next to him. “We thought you’d never get out of there.”

Gerrit glanced back and saw a stream of headlights a block away. Redneck had blacked out their own lights, using moonlight and streetlights to navigate their escape. Joe sat next to Redneck. Gerrit learned forward and touched his uncle’s arm. “How did they know we were here?”

His uncle cocked his head to one side. “I think since Marilynn’s death—maybe even before that—Kane must have been watching the senator very closely. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has the house wired for sound.”

“So they know Summers spilled the beans?”

Joe looked back and nodded.

Gerrit settled back into his seat. “Then I just left a dead man back at that house.”

Joe looked forward. “I think he was always going to die at their hands. Just a matter of time.” He grabbed one of the throwaway phones. “Maybe we can create a little trouble for Kane.” He quickly dialed, waiting for the call to be answered. “Hello, Dispatch. I want to report an attempted murder. Someone is breaking into Senator John Summers’s residence. I think they’re trying to kill him.”

He hung up, leaned out the window, and hurled the phone into a field of weeds. Picking up an encrypted phone he always carried, Joe dialed another number. “Hey, it’s me. Just left Senator Summers’s house in Bethesda. I think Kane is about to take him out. You better start rolling. I’m going to forward a recording of a conversation between the senator and Gerrit. Keep it in a safe place. The puzzle’s starting to come together.”

Gerrit shot him an incredulous look. “Who was that?”

Joe replaced the phone and stared out ahead of them. “One of the good guys. Someday, I’m afraid, you’re going to meet him face-to-face.”

“Afraid? Of what?”

Gerrit was met with silence, his uncle motionless, staring out into the blackness ahead.

S
enator Summers finished his drink. Carefully, as if his glass were made of eggshells, he set it down on the table next to him, a trembling hand shaking ice cubes like a gambler rolling dice in a cup.

He flinched when the front door slammed open. Intruders pounded inside, boots heavy on hardwood floors, footsteps echoing throughout the house. Richard Kane emerged from the darkness like an evil apparition, a spirit made of flesh and blood.

“John, you betrayed us.” Fury underscored every word.

John’s voice, unlike his hands, came across strong, as if he was speaking on the floor of the senate. “We’re all traitors, Richard. You, me…all of us.”

Richard approached with a semi-auto in his right hand. He knelt down at eye level with John, arms crossed, weapon pointed upward. “Oh, Senator. How I wished you had stayed strong. I wanted us to finish together. But now…?” Richard shook his head. “Now, I must travel alone.”

“Just make it quick,” John said, his voice now a whisper. “Like you did for my daughter.”

“In good time, my friend. In good time. My people have to check out your house. Make sure we have some…privacy.”

Collette emerged from the shadows, standing just behind the senator. Richard glanced up. “Did you find anything?”

She drew closer and leaned over, huskily whispering into the senator’s left ear, loud enough for Richard to hear. “I found this in his bedroom, Richard.” She held up a small revolver with a gloved hand as she ran a finger through Summers’s hair. “Hardly big enough to hurt anyone.”