The Life We Lead: Ascending (14 page)

***

At group headquarters, it took Tom about
thirty minutes to shed a little light on the note James gave
him.

“The city and country are what the note says.
As for Noi Rasa, that’s Laotian and means ‘little king.’ We have no
records on him. The requirements seem straightforward. I’m guessing
the negro part refers to Daen.”

“I thought that, too,” James answered. “An
English speaking person wrote this; a native English speaking
person, by the way the letters are formed. Probably Calum, so
obviously that was specific to me. Odd that they said about that
on/off switch for the electronics, though.”

“It is. So, you’re going into a
Russian-speaking area to meet a Laos-named man who is supposed to
be an Asian connection. The town is near the China border, but that
area is deserted. It has nothing, literally.” Tom unfolded a map
with satellite pictures.

“Anyone else speak Russian and both dialects
of Chinese and Laos?”

“Actually, yes. Rain Man.” Tom looked
serious. “You know that.”

“Don’t call him that. He hates it. He knows
what it means,” James said.

“Sorry. Tim. But you can’t be thinking about
taking him in with you.” Tom stood up and placed both hands on the
table, peering down at James. “You have no idea what’s out there.
He’ll slow you down tremendously, not to mention blow the cover if
someone asks him even the slightest direct question we haven’t
thought of first.”

“I don’t know the languages, and that’s more
dangerous to me than anything,” James replied. “I’ve been
repeatedly warned not to go down this path, so I’d rather rely on
knowing what’s being said and having his eyes than to go in deaf
and blind. I’ll work with him and give him specific tasks. He’s not
my biggest worry.”

“James …” Tom started.

“Can we get him the needed cover and ID? I’ll
need a new one made, as it looks like I’m going to have to burn the
Stephen Lewis identity after this.”

“Melissa can do it, and you know it. That
isn’t an issue. There are too many unknowns in this. Maybe the
‘STOP’ in the note is a last ditch effort to save you.” Tom’s voice
dropped. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop James.

James thought a moment and said, “The concern
is noted, and I’ll make every effort to keep this safe and come
back with Tim. I haven’t failed yet.”

“No one does until they do,” Tom said.

James waited patiently in the long silence
that followed those sage words. After all, knowing when not to talk
could be a powerful tool. Finally, Tom got up to leave.

“You have to work out how to get Tim for that
long and a name he won’t mess up. He isn’t used to this type of
thing, and you’re about to mess with his schedule and time. He
solves puzzles for us, but I think this is way beyond him.” Tom
shook his head and stepped from the room. He really didn’t want to
allow this, but at the same time, he had faith that James would
handle it.

James knew Tim would be excited about doing
fieldwork, and that was a problem. Tim was truly schedule oriented.
They usually had to give him a few days’ advance notice just to
make sure he’d be settled when it was time for a meeting. Tim
needed to associate a distinct time and place to be
comfortable.

The trip into Osh would be unpredictable,
cross time zones, require Tim to be around a vast number of people
he didn’t know, and require a cover story. The trip was essentially
the opposite of how Tim lived. However, James had to explore this
option, or go back to the drawing table.

“Hey, Jake!” James called as a man walked
past.

Jake paused and stuck his head into the room.
“What’s up?”

“How’d the bust go last night?”

“Smoother than silk. That information about
the audio set up was great. They had that going full swing, and it
really did sound like they had a solid extra eight people. The
sergeant in charge didn’t want to proceed, but the captain himself
called and said to. No shots fired from us, the buyers, or the
sellers. Plus, it’s all on tape. I talked to Shane, who talked to
the first two guys last night. Both confessed and are turning
state’s evidence. This is a slam dunk. Thanks again for all the
help.”

James waved, and Jake disappeared down the
hall.

Jake was new to the group, and had been one
of the people James had mentored. He was smart and even-tempered
and could make choices, but he lacked the natural ability to
actively engage others to make things happen. James had spent time
with him thinking out plans and developing reasonable scenarios and
showing him that people were like any other resource. Though Jake
took a common cookie-cutter approach like the CIA or FBI would, at
least he was open to the possibility of getting out of the
boundaries, which the federal agents couldn’t do.

Openness to ideas was typically what got you
into the group. The CIA/FBI types were good at what they did, but
they had the wrong mentality. In fact, that was exactly why this
group existed. Its members did the things that others couldn’t, all
because of their unique approach and lack of desire to get the
credit. It was all about playing the game in order to achieve the
end result.

“Tom said to tell you Tim is here and in D1,”
said Korey, Andy and Tom’s assistant and general manager of the
facility.

Korey was a nice lady who never asked too
many questions and was utterly trustworthy and loyal. The mother of
three, with a husband who had been a drug addict, she had a
remarkably upbeat personality, though the lines on her face and
general manner of moving told the true story of the stress she
experienced.

“Thanks,” James said, pulling himself out of
his seat. He was surprised Tom had moved so quickly. No doubt it
was to prove a point about how poorly Tim was going to take to this
operation. What was more surprising was that Tim had responded so
quickly.

James paused. He felt a little uneasy. He
needed to sort this out first in a logical way and for that he
needed Master.

***

“Everyone is going to be against this idea,”
James stated.

“Really?” asked Master.

“Well, aside from Tim and me, that is.”

“Assuming you are right about Tim, that means
the two people who are the most affected are okay with it. What’s
the problem?”

“Aside from everyone else thinking it’s a bad
idea, you mean?” asked James.

“Since when do you concern yourself with what
everyone else thinks of a situation? You see a path and you go for
it. As things come up, you adjust. Tim is as safe in your hands as
anyone’s. If he wasn’t, would you consider taking him?”

“I …” began James.

“This sounds like self-doubt and emotion. You
walked through a decision tree and exceeded 50 percent. You have a
path.”

***

James walked down the hall to room D1 and
entered. At a glance, he saw that Tim was in rare form, pacing
along all four walls as if doing laps and talking nonstop in a
rather scattered way. He did this when he was nervous and felt like
he was out of control.

“She was trying to make an appointment, she
said. Well, that does not make sense. Who needs to make an
appointment? You simply add the acid. It’s not a hard thing to
remember, and of course, if you don’t, you get complications.
Complications that can cause harm. Harmful burning that is very bad
and painful, yes.”

Like Tom, Tim was in his early thirties, with
brown eyes and hair. He looked a great deal like Larry from
The
Three Stooges
, though without the baldness.

Tim’s eyes found James. “James needs sleep.
He has been up for too many hours and also needs to eat today.
Those pants are new, though. Only washed once or twice, but the
shirt is old. Very old. The excuse she made, well, I do not see why
she said it. The lies are obvious and she will have to go to jail
for a long time for killing her husband and son. This is very
irregular, very. We did not have a time set up to meet.”

“Hello, Tim. I’m happy to see you,” James
said, stepping into Tim’s path.

Tim dropped his head slightly. “Hello, James.
I am sorry I commented on your clothes. They are nice, I am
sure.”

James allowed the silence to go on for a
moment before he spoke. He wanted to let Tim gain his own sense of
things.

“Tim, thank you for the help on the code for
the Rose operation. It made everything work. We could not have done
anything without your help. You are the man with the plan,” James
said.

Tim looked up, smiling. “Yes, obviously, the
encryption—it was just a number system. Like the telephone
hierarchy, of course. Very obvious once I saw it. You caught the
bad guys and they are not coming back, right?”

“All thanks to you, buddy. You are the man,
as always,” James said, taking a seat.

Tim copied him and also sat. He was making
prolonged eye contact, something he rarely did. James knew Tim
loved praise and being called “the man.” Apparently his parents had
never praised him, which did not help his introverted nature.

“Tim, I was wondering if you could help me
again, please,” James said.

“Obviously, yes,” said Tim, his legs
bouncing. James wasn’t sure if that was out of excitement at the
thought of a new project, or out of nervousness at having his
routine disrupted.

“We have a problem that is very far away near
a town called Osh in K …” began James.

“Kyrgyzstan, yes. Obviously. You do not speak
the language, or do so poorly. It is how your tongue and lips move
together. You can roll your tongue, so it makes it harder for you.
I can speak in Latin and Spanish and French and Italian and Thai
and Cantonese and Mandarin and Vietnamese and ...”

James held up a finger. Immediately, Tim
dropped his head and was silent. This was a Pavlov-style response
instilled by his parents in his childhood.

“Tim, you are awesome at everything. I wish I
could do things like you, but I can’t. I need your help,” James
affirmed.

Tim looked up and began looking frantically
around the room. “Well, where is it?” he asked impatiently.

“This time, we do not need to you translate
something for us on paper. This time, I’ll need help out in the
field,” James said, slowly and clearly.

Tim’s response was mixed, but very literal.
He froze, and a moment later he started to shake. He then froze
again, his physical response indicative of the battle going on
inside him. He had constantly insisted he was as capable as anyone
of doing fieldwork. In fact, he felt he was more capable, but it
went against his need for routine. This was truly two worlds
colliding.

They waited in silence for two minutes, Tim’s
response becoming more and more drastic.

“Tim, you don’t …” came Tom’s voice, but
James moved so quickly to keep Tim’s field of vision and attention
on him that Tom had to take a step back. James held out his left
hand behind him to signal Tom not to talk.

Tim continued to sit still except for his
bouncing left leg.

“What do you think, Tim? Will you help me?”
James asked.

“Obviously, yes, but it is my operation and I
call the shots?” It was a question filled with anxiety, not his
normal matter-of-fact tone.

“No, Tim. You and I will review, and I will
give you instructions that I need you to follow, no matter what.
Can you do that?”

“Obviously, yes,” Tim replied, dropping his
head.

“Tim, going on the trip means you will be
very far away. You will have a different name, and your schedule
will be very mixed up. You will miss all your activities while you
are gone,” Tom said.

“Tom, I am not stupid!” Tim screamed. “What
is my new name?” he asked James with a hungry look.

“What do you want it to be?” James asked.

“Tim Ferguson,” Tim said instantly.

“I like the last name, but do you think we
should change the first name, too?” James knew it was better to ask
Tim than tell him.

“Fine,” he replied with a roll of his eyes.
“Jim Ferguson.”

“We will call you Jim for the operation, but
your documents will say James Walter Ferguson, and you will have to
remember that if someone says ‘James,’ they are talking to you the
same as if they say ‘Jim,’” James said.

“What is your name, then?” Tim asked.
“Obviously, it is confusing if we are both James.”

“Grant Mathers,” James answered. “Grant Adam
Mathers. I’m the son of a rich multi-chain gas station owner. You
will be my cousin on our mother’s side, but also with a wealthy
father who is an investment banker. No need to change our ages or
birthdays. You will get all new documents for the trip from
Melissa, and we will have to stay in character the entire trip from
the moment I pick you up until we’re back.”

James paused a moment to let Tim digest this.
Then he continued, “I will have to ask you to speak as little as
possible to others, and when others are around, as little as
possible to me. Even pointing or making noises to get my attention
will have to be minimal. You will have to pretend you can’t speak
unless asked a very direct question by someone in security or
something.”

Tim nodded. He still looked anxious, but he
was no longer shaking. He took a deep breath and asked, “Obviously,
I need a new background with degrees, addresses, pictures,
contacts, friends, and things like this. When will I have those?
Then there are the trip details we need to discuss, obviously. When
are we doing that?” He began to shake again. “When are we going?
When will we be back?”

Tom stepped forward. “Tim, are you sure you
want to do this? It is very dangerous and difficult.”

Tim paused and gathered himself. “Yes.”

James smiled at Tim. “We will have all that
information very soon. Melissa will need a day, or maybe two, to
get us new documents. Then I will set up the plans as quickly as I
can and tell you the moment I can. I hope to have all of this
sorted in three days, but if I don’t, I will give you an update at
least. Sound good?”