Hidden Thrones (17 page)

With that, Senator Colson stormed out of the office.
Wellsenburg was seething with anger. He slammed his hand down on the intercom.
“Ms. Venoldy, call my driver. I will be out of the office for a few hours. I do
not wish to be disturbed unless it’s a real emergency.”

“Yes, sir. Very good.” There was no mystery in Ms. Venoldy’s
mind as to why he was leaving the office.

Wellsenburg needed to take a walk and gather his thoughts
before he said or did something that would endanger his ultimate plans. He
walked out of the office and down the hall that overlooked the lobby and got
into the elevator. He desperately wanted to call Dante again, but he knew it
would only make him look weak and needy and his pride wouldn’t let that happen.
He decided to hold off until next week and talk to him in person when he
arrived in Washington.

The elevator door opened and Wellsenburg walked out onto the
large marble-floored atrium, passing the huge 39-ton steel “
Mountains and Clouds”
sculpture. Above it,
suspended from the roof, were matte black aluminum clouds, the largest of which
weighed one ton. It was quite a sight to see for most visitors, but to him, it
had become invisible. He had many thoughts running through his head as he
walked out the entrance doors onto Second Street, but the one that kept playing
over and over again in his head was what he had just heard from Dante Adal. “
Our biggest nemesis is Bennett
.”

Just then, his driver pulled up. Senator Wellsenburg walked
up to the car. His driver quickly got out, walked around the car, and opened
the door for him.

“Where to, sir?”

“Take me to the club, Ralph. I need a break.”

“Yes, sir. No problem.”

Wellsenburg got into the car and took a deep breath in an
effort to relax, but he couldn’t shake the thought. He kept asking himself,
Why
would someone as powerful as Dante Adal be concerned about a nobody like this
Jack Bennett
? Even though Dante told him he would handle it, he wanted to
know everything he could about this mystery man, so he pulled out his phone and
Googled his name.

A picture came up and then a short description. “Jack Bennett,
author of Paranormal Activity and the daily blog,
The Growing Evil on Planet Earth
.”

Suddenly,
he made the connection.
Paranormal Activity,
he thought. That’s what
Harry Toller was talking about. He mentioned Frank Lederman and said he was an
agent with the new Paranormal Division of the FBI. He remembered that Dante had
put those two names together. Now it was coming into focus. Jack Bennett must
be working with Lederman. He couldn’t let them connect him to the Sons of
Nimrod. Not yet anyway. Not until he became President. After that, he figured
it wouldn’t matter.

His mind was racing. What kind of
power does this Jack Bennett have? Is he a real threat? And why didn’t Dante
tell him about this before? He was determined to find out and, if need be, he
would take care of the situation himself. He sat back in his seat and stared at
the phone that displayed the image of his new adversary.

          It
was nine o’clock on a Saturday morning and CJ’s was hopping. Emily was working hard
trying to keep up with all the orders when Jack came in carrying his briefcase.
Last night, Jack had asked her to save them a table towards the back of the
café away from the windows where they usually sat. She asked why, but Jack said
he wasn’t sure. It was just what Frank had asked for. Emily usually didn’t like
those kinds of answers. She liked to be kept in the loop, especially now that
she knew what Jack and Frank were involved in, but she knew Jack would tell her
if he thought it was important.

          She
motioned to Jack, pointing to the table against the wall in the back corner of
the café. Jack walked over and sat down. He knew Emily would bring a carafe
filled with hot coffee as soon as she could. He put his briefcase on the floor
next to him and placed his phone on the table and waited for Frank. He didn’t
have to wait long. Frank walked in, spotted him immediately, and walked over to
the table.

          “Hey,
Frank. We’re getting a little mysterious these days. I get this weird text
message last night to meet you here for breakfast, like it’s the first time
we’ve done this. You got Emily all freaked out. What’s up?”

Frank quickly glanced around the room and said, “I’m being
followed.”

Jack looked puzzled. “Followed? By who?”

          “I’m
not sure just yet, but I picked up on it yesterday afternoon when I was in
D.C.”

          “Are
you sure? Maybe we’re all just getting a little paranoid. I mean there has been
a lot of crazy stuff going on lately.”

          Frank
gave Jack an are-you-serious look, then said, “I know when I’m being shadowed.
I think it’s about my questions concerning Senator Wellsenburg and the Sons of
Nimrod. That’s the only thing I can think of.”

          “Do
you think he followed you here?”

“Yes, I do. That’s why I had us sit here on a busy Saturday
morning. It’s more difficult to use audio listening devices in a small crowded
room like this, especially with us sitting so far back from the street.”

Jack put his elbow on the table and rubbed his forehead.
“Wait a minute. So you’re not just being followed, you believe someone is using
full -blown surveillance techniques on you?”

“It’s a good possibility. We know Wellsenburg is going to
pursue the Democratic nomination for President so it makes sense that he would
not want anything that would damage his chances to get out. Think about it.
What if our little investigation somehow proves that Wellsenburg had something
to do with the deaths of the Oslows? We know they were big contributors to his
senatorial campaign thirty years ago and we know they were involved in this
secret society thing. I can see the headlines now?
Dead, Middle-Eastern
Mystery Couple Gave Millions to Wellsenburg Campaign
.”

Frank could see Emily coming with the coffee so he abruptly stopped
talking.

“Good morning, guys. Sorry it took so long. It’s crazy in
here today.”

Emily put two cups on the table and poured their coffee. “So,
what’s all the mystery about? Are you alright, Frank?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

Emily raised her eyebrow and said, “You guys are up to
something. I can feel it. Whatever it is please, be careful, okay? I gotta go.
Do you guys know what you want?”

Frank took a sip of his coffee. “I’ll have two eggs over easy,
a side of bacon and rye toast, please.”

Jack looked up at her and said, “You look great in that
outfit.”

Frank just rolled his eyes.

Emily smiled. “Thank you, honey. Order, please. Before I get
fired.”

“I’ll have the same but with wheat toast.”

Once Emily was gone, Jack asked, “How much do you think they
know?”

“I’m not sure, but my inside source tells me they have
already linked you to me, so our meeting this morning isn’t giving them
anything new, but I am worried about Emily. After all,
honey
,” Frank
tilted his head and fluttered his eyes, “you seem to be so much in love.”

Jack shook his head and took a deep breath. “There is
definitely something wrong with you. You do know that, right? We’re sitting
here talking about the fact that a very powerful man is prying into our private
lives, and you still have jokes. What do you think he would do? Would he really
come after Emily? Do you think our lives in danger?”

Frank shrugged, looking worried. “I don’t know. Maybe we
should lie back for a while. There are other cases we have to look into. Maybe
if the trail goes cold, he will think it’s a dead-end and leave us alone.”

“I don’t know if I like that idea.” Jack was skeptical. “Do
we really want him to become President? What if we stop investigating, he gets
elected, and then he comes after us with guns blazing as the President of the
United States?” Jack thought for a moment, and then continued, “We need another
plan.”

“Okay, gentleman. Breakfast is served.” Emily looked at Jack,
then at Frank. “Don’t think I don’t know you stop talking each time I come to
the table. You better tell me all about it later, Mr. Bennett.”

Jack just smiled. “Your hair looks amazing today.”

Emily gave him a look. “Eat your eggs,”
she
 
said with a sly smile and then went
back to the kitchen to get her next order.

Jack looked back at Frank who had a very serious look on his
face. “You better be careful what you say to her. She might freak out on you.
This isn’t the kind of thing that most average people have to deal with.”

Jack turned and looked at Emily waiting on the table on the
other side of the room. “She’s not your average girl. Don’t worry. I’ll figure
it out.” Collecting himself he refocused. “Okay, here’s what I think. I agree
we need to take a break from our Wellsenburg investigation, but a short break -
just for one case and then we go back at it. If this guy, whoever he is, wants
to follow us around, then let him. Maybe he will get bored and move on like you
say.”

Frank finished the last bit of eggs on his plate, took
another sip of his coffee, and said, “Fine. I can go along with that, but with on
one condition. If it doesn’t go away, we lay off until it does.”

Jack thought about it for a second. “How about we play it by
ear. Let’s agree to reevaluate after this next case.”

Frank knew he wasn’t going to win this discussion, so he
reluctantly agreed, “Fine. Let’s move on.”

Frank bent down and pulled his iPad out of his briefcase.

“This next case is a little unusual, in the way that a so-called
professional ghost hunter team who has been on TV recently is involved.”

“Really? How involved?” Jack asked, skeptically. Jack was not
comfortable with anyone else being involved. If, in fact there was paranormal
activity going on, he knew what that meant. He didn’t want any cameras or
people around that would try to turn a spiritual moment into some kind of three-ring
circus. He leaned over the table and asked, “Is this our case or are we sharing
it with this ghost hunter team? You know how I feel about that.”

“No, the FBI has taken over the case. They wanted to go back,
but they were denied. They were originally called in to verify a ghost sighting
and paranormal activity in an old abandoned inn outside of Merrifield,
Virginia. One of their cameramen was attacked, was seriously injured, and is
still in the hospital. The agency heard about it and assigned the case to us.”

“What exactly do they do?”

“I have
the file right here on my iPad. It’s best if I just read the blurb they have on
their website.
The Virginia Paranormal Society’s sole purpose is to help
those experiencing paranormal activity by investigating its claims in a
professional and confidential manner. We use the latest in paranormal equipment
and techniques, and with these techniques, we have changed the field of
paranormal investigating.

Jack
smiled commenting, “Well, that’s quite a statement. So when we go in to
investigate, there will be no cameras, no audience, and no interference,
right?”

“Stop
worrying. This is an FBI investigation. Remember, any interference is against
the law. The only audience we will have is our tagalong spy. I’m sure he’ll
find it more than interesting. They would like us to look in to it ASAP. How
about tomorrow? I can pick you up around nine if that works?”

Jack was
still a little leery about all the attention this case was getting, but he
trusted Frank and knew he was a pro. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good. I assume
this guy knows where I live already so there is no use in trying to hide it.”

Frank
smiled and shook his head. “You know it’s the twenty-first century, right? He
knew where you lived ten seconds after he linked us together.”

Just
then, Emily walked up to their table and asked, “Are you gentleman finished?”
She looked at Jack, then Frank, and then at back at Jack. “I mean with your
breakfast.”

Jack
looked up at her and said, “You’re too funny. I’ll fill you in later.” Jack
stood up, took the check from her hand, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I got
this. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Frank,” Jack said as he turned and headed
for the cashier. Frank looked at Emily. “Take care, Emily. Don’t let Jack drive
you crazy. He can do that, you know.”

“I’m
working on it, Frank. Whatever you guys are up to, please be careful.”

Frank
winked at her and smiled, then turned and walked out the door. As he walked
down the sidewalk to his car, he knew he was being watched, but didn’t want to
tip off whoever it was who was following him. It wasn’t the first time Frank
had dealt with this kind of thing. At least that made him feel he had the upper
hand. He liked it that way.

Inside CJ’s, Jack paid the check and watched from a distance
to see if he could catch a glimpse of the person who was following them. He waited
and watched as Frank got into his car and drove off. At first he didn’t see
anyone, but then he noticed a man sitting in a late, model gray, Acura sedan
about two hundred feet from where Frank had parked his car. The man watched
Frank drive away, then pulled out and headed off in the same direction. Jack
immediately picked up his phone and called Frank.

Frank was listening to his favorite album when the call came
in. He had a feeling that Jack had seen the guy take off after he left.

“Well? Did you get a good look at him?” Frank asked
immediately when he answered the call on Bluetooth.

“How did you know I was calling about that?”

“Yeah, I picked him up as soon as I got out of CJ’s. He’s not
very good, whoever he is. He won’t be too happy because I’m headed back to the
office in D.C. Too bad he came all this way for nothing. You keep your eye out,
buddy. Things are going to get real interesting from here on out.”

Jack laughed as he asked, “Like they haven’t been interesting
up until now? Do you think this guy is dangerous? Shouldn’t you let someone
know what’s going on?”

“Not yet. I don’t think this guy is going to try and do
anything to a federal agent. You just be careful and take care of that
beautiful girlfriend you’ve got. You know, you’re not getting any younger.” 

“Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I’ll be careful. You do the
same.” Jack hesitated for a moment and said, “Listen, why don’t you call me
when you get to the office. I just want to know everything is good, you know?”

“What? Now you’re my mother or something? It comes with the
territory, Jack. You know, if you’re going to get like this every time we run
into a little trouble, we’re going to have to stop seeing each other.”

“Very funny. Fine. Forgive me for being concerned. I’m not a
super FBI agent like you. This stuff freaks me out, okay? I’ll see you in the
morning.”

Jack put his phone back in his pocket and headed home.