The Crimson Fall (The Sons of Liberty Book 1) (10 page)

It was the closest Adam had come to outright claiming that there was something more to the weapons then what was being revealed. Adam had seen the prototypes and read the electronic brochures, but even he couldn’t pinpoint whatever it was that Joe had started to uncover. He had his suspicions of the quantum tracking capabilities, but he would have to wait until his rendezvous with the few allies he had later that night to see if any of them had discovered anything new. They believed Adam was campaigning against the bill for the reasons he claimed, but only he and his wife knew about Joe’s letter. As much as Adam wanted to share everything he knew with those he had allied himself with, he intended to exhaust all other options before revealing to the others the truth that the responsibility for the Dulles Airport Massacre and his brother’s death lay in the hands of the president.

“Well Congressman, you and I both know that if there were any issues with the new technology, the American people—the four hundred million citizens who have all been given access to the blueprints—would know about it. But I’ll tell you what; if you ever find something that suggests otherwise, show me evidence and I’ll have you back here. As much as I’d like to continue, we are officially out of time. Maybe next time you can come with facts instead of theories.”

Adam only nodded back in frustration.

“Mr. Reinhart, I thank you for your time.” Dan turned to the camera. “So, America, is the Geneva Peace Treaty the answer we have been looking for, or is it too much too soon? Send me your thoughts about tonight’s interview and take our online poll. I don’t know where you stand, but I for one believe in the president and trust his judgment. I believe that Lukas Chambers has been open with the American people and that his honesty is something we have lacked with every recent administration, and I don’t think that’s something we should take for granted. That’s all for tonight’s Freedom Report. Join us tomorrow as we unearth new evidence behind the disappearance of the popular Italian Cardinal Vincent Espinosa. What is the Italian Mob hiding and what will the Pope, the very man who took the cardinal’s last confession before he vanished, do about it? Thank you, and as always, live free America.”

The red light under the camera winked out, and Adam rose from his chair. Dan, however, had no intentions of ending his rant just yet.

“I told you, Congressman, it would have been better to leave before we started. This is what we in the real world like to call defeat, Mr. Reinhart. I suggest you get used to the idea that this time next month, most of America will begin their participation in the first gun law ever to make both Republicans and Democrats happy. Hell, maybe you’ll even join the party in time.”

Adam, overcome with irritation, turned and let loose his own tirade.

“Would you just shut that mouth of yours for once? You’re joking about things that you know nothing about!”

Dan’s lighthearted smile disappeared, replacing the delight on his face with an expression of resentment.

“You know what; maybe it’s you that needs to shut up for once. Take a hint, Congressman. You’re not stopping anything. The country wants this law and they’re going to get it. You’re only destroying your career while you c on your brother’s memory. But you know what? I stand by my offer; show me something that gives reason behind your madness, and I’ll run it.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Adam grabbed his leather shoulder bag and stormed out of the room. He wanted to shout; he wanted to curse. He almost wanted to go back and attack Dan Martin. He knew his anger wasn’t due to the man’s harsh words during the interview. On the contrary, he was actually surprised the news anchor had not held a rougher tongue with him. He was purely mad at the fact that he was running out of options. He believed his brother’s letter was only the tip of the iceberg and that there was something more, something hidden behind the veil of lies. He simply couldn’t find any evidence to prove his suspicions.

Adam thought back to the letter from Joe. He had initially deliberated burning it so that no one would ever know its contents, but he couldn’t bring himself to destroy the final words from his brother. Instead, he had memorized the letter and then buried it deep in the woods behind his parents’ house. Though Adam had quickly figured out the treaty must have been what Joe was referring to with the firearms, he had uncovered nothing out of the ordinary about drones, medications, or food supplies. Drones were now as common as stoplights in the United States, but they had no capabilities beyond surveillance and stun guns, and Adam found it hard to believe the president would build a military around the idea of stunning an enemy that fought back with deadly force. The only deadly drones he knew of were those deployed by the military, and even they were programed to obey the orders of the dozens of generals that oversaw them. It had been designed that way so that no one person could ever control them all. Adam couldn’t imagine that Lukas would have every commanding officer’s complete loyalty if he ordered them to attack American civilians. Beyond that, any information related to the president, medications, and food supplies had completely evaded him. He had begun to feel as though he were running in circles and chasing shadows that only he and his wife believed were there, just like a dog that believes it will one day catch its tail by simply spinning faster. As much as Adam tried, he couldn’t find a single shred of evidence that told him what Lukas Chambers actually intended for the American people.

Despite Adam’s frustrations, he refused to give up yet. His search for answers had come up empty, but his quest for allies had not been completely in vain. Thus, he found himself waiting in a room with five other like-minded politicians two hours later. His greatest struggle so far had been his careful dance around truth. While he needed friends to help him in his fight, he also needed a better reason to convince those political allies that the popular gun law was not good for the country. Now, only a handful of those friends remained, and even they might run if he started spitting out conspiracy theories.

Among those who remained were senators David Malcovich, a boisterous lawmaker and the Republican Majority Leader; Rob Bruger, a liberal who always seemed to talk down to you, though it was due to the fact that he was a certifiable genius; and a down-to-earth conservative from Maine, Able Harris. They had all been friends of Joe and believed for their own reasons the treaty was a faulty law.  The others were Jane Williams, the congresswoman who had arranged his latest press tour, and Florida representative, Max ‘Tanker’ Jennings, a massive man who belonged on the cover of Men’s Gym instead of Capitol Hill. Had it not been for his expertise in American business and—perhaps more importantly—the success he had with the woman vote, he probably could’ve done little else than mold his impeccably sculpted figure. The five politicians were now all who remained by Adam’s side. They were a mixed group of legislators, all there for their own reasons, who had all gathered to stop what they saw as a far too intrusive law. While it had felt as though each week someone new had disassociated from the campaign to stop the president’s treaty, Senator Harris had requested this meeting and claimed to have found two more military allies that would be essential to their cause.

They had gathered at a high-rise hotel in Lower Manhattan. As soon as they arrived, Rob had activated a new handheld gadget. Though he wasn’t too clear on how he had obtained the device, he told them it was a new piece of technology that supposedly obstructed curious ears from hearing anything within a fifty foot radius.

“So who are the mystery guests, Able?” Adam asked for the second time.

The senator chuckled in return. “Relax. They’ll be here any moment.”

Being told to relax and actually doing it were two very different things as far as Adam was concerned. Though he had not yet been able to ease his nerves entirely after the interview, that wasn’t the actual source of his anxiety. It was the knowledge that two unknown guests, a pair of military officers he knew nothing about, had decided to finally speak out against their commander-in-chief. Adam was happy to have allies that operated outside of the Washington bubble, but he still knew nothing about the men. Adam wondered if they were there because they truly disliked what the President was trying to do or were they coming on behalf of Lukas and his unknown allies. Adam trusted the five others in the room with him, but he couldn’t help wonder if Lukas had found him out. Even more frightening, he wondered if there was more to the reason for Rob’s little sound blocker than merely keeping others from snooping. Naturally, his mind drifted to the worst. Was Rob’s device there to shield curious listeners, or perhaps to silence whatever shouts for help he might cry out if the men were there for darker motives? As much as he went back and forth over the matter, Adam knew he had taken a gamble with every new member and he would have to wait to meet the men before he passed judgment.

A knock on the door told him that his wait was over. Adam rose as Able Harris opened the door and greeted two men. The military officers, one in uniform and the other not, walked into the room and shook hands with their friend. Adam approached the two as Able introduced them.

The first man was surprisingly an army lieutenant general named Jackson Hewitt. He was a lean man in his mid-fifties and he commanded the entirety of Fort Bragg’s immense garrison. Donning his blues and composing himself as though he had been made to wear and do nothing else in life, the general looked every bit the part of a career solider. The other man, a colonel from the Marine Corps named Gene Smith, looked like he belonged on a ranch rounding up cattle instead of commanding a regiment of angry marines on the battle field. He wore a narrow cowboy hat, a button up shirt, and jeans tucked into authentic leather boots. After the two had been properly introduced, Gene Smith spoke with a deep Texan accent.

“So let me get this straight. Are you telling me that we have two Democrats, a soldier and a marine, three Republicans and a Libertarian all gathered together to solve some problem that most of the country doesn’t see as problematic? This don’t make a lick of sense if you ask me.”

In spite of nervousness, Adam couldn’t help but flaunt a small grin.

“What makes you say that?” Adam asked.

“Well the way I see it, what we really have on our hands are two people who are literally labeled as jackasses, two others who have historically solved problems by bashing their heads into them, and then one man leading the lot of us who thinks looking out for yourself somehow as a collective group is the only logical way to govern ourselves. Not to mention the three elephants in the room.”

They all paused for a moment before the entire room erupted with laughter. Even the lieutenant general surrendered his rigid exterior to cackle at the joke. Only the colonel refrained from laughing with the others, though a sly smile did creep its way onto his face. The tension in Adam’s shoulders seemed to dissipate and he quickly decided he was going to enjoy Gene Smith.

“Colonel Smith,” Adam said as he wiped the joyful tears away from his eyes, “and General Hewitt, it is our privilege to have you here. And you,” he said as he motioned to Gene with one last chuckle. “I have a feeling we’re going to get along just fine.”

“Well, don’t get all mushy yet,” Gene said. “I never kiss on the first date.”

Everyone laughed again, though more subtly than before, as they all gradually took their seats. After a few more moments of formalities and merriment, Gene spoke again.

“Jokes aside, I’m happy to be here with other fine Americans in New York City.”

“As am I,” General Hewitt said. “As an officer in the United States Army, general or not, it has become increasingly harder to speak our minds these days if we see something we don’t agree with. Gene and I go way back, and we both decided this was something worth putting our professions on the line for. It’s a shame really, that the country doesn’t see what the president is doing.”

“And what do you think he is doing?” Adam asked with a glimmer of hope that the general somehow knew more than he had managed to discover himself.

“It’s what it always is with Washington. It’s all about control,” the general said. “Laws like this are always about the hunger for more authority. I don’t know how, but I would bet my last dollar that they are only pursuing this as a power grab. The government does not understand a population they can’t predict and if life has taught me one thing, it’s that you always hate what you don’t understand.”

“So you think there is more to the guns than what we’re being told?” Senator Malcovich asked.

“You bet your ass there is,” Gene replied. “Don’t matter how many satellites we blanket the sky with, they can’t begin to track every six shooter out there. Let alone the twenty million assault rifles decorating safes and closets all across the country. At least I hope they can’t. Jackson’s right. The unknown scares them. But tracking the guns, that’s where my money is as well. Know the movement of your enemy and you’ll always be one step ahead.”

“You can’t be suggesting the American people are the enemy of the government, can you?” Jane asked.

“I don’t know,” Gene said. “All I’m saying is that if America ever were an enemy in the government’s eyes and our only way of protecting ourselves was with weapons they used to track us, well, then that bastard would have our balls in a vice, nice and tight.”

“Well, we’re not there yet, are we?” Adam asked rhetorically. “I’m not sure if you watched my lively interview tonight, but the nation is laughing at me right now. They’re laughing at us. They think this is some idiotic political stunt. So I want to be clear I am not here to take a stand against Lukas Chambers the man,” Adam lied. “Nor do I think any of us should be. I’m here to gather facts about this treaty and the weapons involved because I can’t help but think there’s more to it than meets the eye. As you said, every landmark law always has its hidden agenda. So, without condemning anyone without evidence, does anyone have any solid facts to present?”