Hybrid - Forced Vengeance (33 page)

Erik raised an eyebrow and smiled. “You’ve done your homework.”

“No,” she said sadly, “My boss did. He was killed while investigating certain facts concerning you.”

“I’m sincerely sorry for your loss.” Erik sat on the couch next to her.

“Mrs. Bertoni, I assume you’ve come a long way to get to Hopedale. You’ve also committed espionage in the process. Would you share with me what was so important that you risked your life to protect it?” he asked her.

“It’s all here, Agent Knight.” She reached into her oversized purse and pulled out a package. “The documents in these folders and on the two discs will tell you everything about Operation Homegrown, the Pendelcorp involvement, Colonel Ross and the corruption in the Senate Oversight and Appropriations Committees in Washington.”

Erik’s jaw dropped. “Pendelcorp?”

“Pendelcorp is laundering black ops funds for the study of your child once it’s born. From what I could gather from Michael’s files, they want to make an army of people like you if they can.”

Erik buried his head in his hands. “Richard … you son of a bitch, I should have guessed that you’d have your muddy fingerprints on this somehow.”

Nancy assumed, from Knight’s remark, that there was far more to Knight’s relationship with Pendelcorp than even the files suggested. She looked on patiently as the detective leafed through several pages. His eyes became watery and tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked at her and smiled sadly.

“This is the final piece of the puzzle I was looking for. I don’t know how I can ever thank you, Mrs. Bertoni. You risked your life for a total stranger.”

Nancy shook her head vehemently. “Don’t praise me. I’m not worthy of it.”

Erik looked confused and she began relating the long painful story of how she had been paid to keep tabs on her boss, to report his activities. Meanwhile the detective leafed through the entire stack of papers. He winced as she described the details of Michael Sparks’ tragic death and the attempt made on her life, an attempt that almost killed her two children.

“Mrs. Bertoni, Nancy, you can’t blame yourself for that. You were a pawn, that’s all, just a small piece on a bigger chessboard. That’s all any of us are in the spy biz. We’re just pawns maneuvered about the global chess board at the whim of governments playing the game.”

Nancy found some slight comfort in his assessment.

“I like your analogy, but if I hadn’t put my own financial needs in front of my loyalty, Michael would be here today.”

“I don’t know, Nancy.” Erik took her hand. “From what you’ve told me about Michael, he was persistent, digging until he found what he was looking for. His curiosity killed him – not you. Do you think they would have given up keeping tabs on him if you refused to cooperate?” He shook his head. “They would have found somebody else to take over or possibly had him eliminated earlier on. The circumstances surrounding his death are tragic, but were inevitable based on what he was doing. Michael Sparks was dead the moment he decided to wade into this pool of shit.”

* * * *

Alissa’s particular knock interrupted their exchange.

“Yes, Alissa?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Erik, but the police and Mr. Denton are here. They would like to see you.”

Erik looked at Nancy. “Are you ready to deal with the last act of this play?”

Nancy sighed deeply then nodded.

“Alissa, send Martin in and one police officer, preferably Detective Chan if he’s out there.”

Another knock followed.

“Enter,” Erik answered curtly.

Denton walked in, followed by the suit that normally accompanied him. Behind him entered Detective Chan and one uniformed officer.

“Sorry about the extra baggage,” Chan said as he closed the door behind him.

Erik gestured toward the empty chairs and asked Denton, “Counselor, have they cleaned up the mess out there yet?”

“Yes, the ambulance was pulling away as I arrived. Jeff is handling the disturbance rather well.” He turned to Mrs. Bertoni, and extended his hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Erik, care to elaborate on what happened here this morning?” Chan asked.

Erik framed his response carefully. “Mrs. Bertoni put herself at great personal risk to expose a scandal within the government. Mr. Hendrix was involved up to his eyeballs, which is why he was willing to kill. The documents she provided me are more than enough to blow the lid off some very ugly events inside the beltway.”

Chan scratched his head. “All this spying and treason talk…. Do we have a valid charge there?” he asked thinking aloud.

“No!” Denton boomed. “The government will not be filing any charges against Mrs. Bertoni.”

Chan zoomed in on Denton. “Might I ask who you are, sir?”

“I’m Senior Bureau Chief Martin Denton of Central Intelligence.” Denton flashed his credentials.

Chan glanced at the badge and shrugged his shoulders.

“Detective Chan,” Erik began smoothly. “Why don’t I stop by the station later and drop off a detailed report for your records? The last thing we want to do is to step on your toes.”

Chan nodded. He reached for the doorknob and said, “That would be perfect, Detective Knight, or is it Agent Knight?”

Erik smiled. “Erik, among my friends.”

“Erik.” Chan nodded and stood to leave.

Erik knew the importance of maintaining a cordial relationship with the local authorities. He appreciated Martin bullying his way through the local red tape, but that wouldn’t make it any easier on him going forward.

* * * *

Denton didn’t continue until Chan and his sidekick had left. “I gather you’ve had time to review the documents?”

“Briefly.”

“I hope you found them interesting reading. Last evening, I had a fifteen-minute conversation with a certain Robert Hildebrandt. After some convincing and bullying, he became very cooperative. Let’s compare our notes and see if we can corroborate what Mr. Hildebrandt alleges with the documents Mrs. Bertoni appropriated.”

“Agreed.” Erik added, turning a glance toward Nancy. “But first, what about Mrs. Bertoni’s safety? Just because Hendrix is on ice doesn’t mean the threat to her life goes away. Hendrix is nothing more than a gopher or messenger boy. These files incriminate several legislative bodies.”

“That assessment fits in with what I was told last night; but let us take a moment to get Mrs. Bertoni to safety and then we can discuss these matters in greater detail.” Denton reached the door and motioned his three henchmen into the office. He issued several requests and orders before turning back to Erik and Nancy.

“Mrs. Bertoni, these men will take you to a safe house since I’m afraid you’re not completely out of the woods yet.”

Erik could feel the distrust emanating from Nancy. He knelt by her side. “Martin’s a good man. You can trust him.” Nancy answered him with a shiver of fear.

He gently placed his fingertip on her temple. She visibly relaxed.

“What did you do?” she asked him.

“I just took away your fear. I owe you that much.” He smiled. “Nancy, trust me; these are good men and you’ll be safe with them. Mr. Denton is correct in his assessment; you’re still in grave danger. We must shed some light on what’s going on and expose this conspiracy before you’ll be safe again.”

“What about my children?”

“Give us their location and we’ll see to it that they’re brought to you,” Denton assured her. “You have my word that your children will be with you shortly.”

“We’ll take the necessary steps to ensure that those who did endanger your life and that of your family will be punished and then you and your children can live without fear,” Erik added.

Nancy smiled as she stood up and embraced the detective. “Thank you,” she whispered gratefully.

* * * *

Martin Denton closed the door and then flopped heavily on the couch.

“This is going to send shockwaves throughout the country if it gets to any press. Those implicated will do everything in their power to bury the accusations and cover up the conspiracy. What a pile of cow poop. I don’t even know where to start with this.”

“You’ll forgive me if I defer those details to you. I have my own agenda,” Erik replied coldly.

To Denton it was clear what the agent meant and there was nothing he could say to dissuade him. “Where will you start?”

“I know why Shanda was kidnapped and who kidnapped her, also how and where the abduction took place. What I’m missing is where they took her. I intend to beat that answer out of Richard Pendelton as soon as we wrap things up here.” He cracked the knuckles in his right hand.

“And then?”

“Then I take my pregnant wife from whatever hellhole they’ve kept her in for these weeks and let Colonel Ross know just how pissed off I am. He’s been curious about the extent of my abilities since the Hopedale Mountain escapade. I intend to give him a firsthand demonstration – up close and personal.”

Denton shook his head emphatically. “You’re going about this all wrong, Erik. If you attack Pendelton and beat information out of him you’ll only be helping him in the long run. Listen to me as you would an attorney. Anything he says to you at that point will be considered testimony under duress and not admissible in court. Let’s take this one step at a time.”

“
No!
Every second I wait is a second longer that Shanda stays locked up like a fucking lab rat, being circled by vultures that only care about the baby she’s carrying. I can’t wait any longer, Martin. I must know where she is now, not tomorrow or next week. You want the conviction; all I care about is my wife and child.”

Denton sighed heavily. “You’re partially right. I do want the conviction, but more importantly, I want our national security stabilized and this secret government toppled before it causes any more havoc. I feel for you, Erik, but my obligation to the country comes first. And so should yours.”

“Shanda comes first with me. She’ll always be first. I’m only a part-time player in this game. If you recall, that was our understanding when we started this whole thing two years ago. I still have no interest in all the political intrigue. Do whatever it is you need to do with the information you’ve gathered and let me do what I need to do with the information I’ve received.”

“There’s one small issue, Agent Knight.” Erik gave him a questioning look. “That information isn’t yours to keep. It doesn’t belong to you. As your direct superior I’m ordering you to turn over those documents immediately. You got your peek, now you need to follow procedure.”

Erik gave the counselor a look that could chill a summer day. “I still haven’t looked at the CDs.”

“You’ve got what you were looking for, Erik. You don’t need to poke around in things that you have no business seeing. Hand over the material so it can be returned to its appropriate keepers,” Denton insisted.

“Would you like to try to take them, counselor?” Erik asked in an icy tone. The suit moved in but was stopped by Erik’s paralyzing look as he said to him, “Not a smart move.” The bulky man retreated slowly. Erik gave him a curt nod. “Much better.”

Denton shifted on the couch, shaking his head sadly. “I never thought that you’d take the law into your own hands, Erik. I’m disappointed.”

“I’m sorry, counselor, but I’ve been pushed too far. I can’t sit back and do nothing. Give me another day to review the discs then I’ll hand deliver the lot to your office.”

Denton hesitated and then nodded. “I’ll stall Washington for twenty-four hours.” The counselor stood to leave but then he raised a warning finger.

“Don’t think I’m minimizing your situation. I’m not. What happened to Shanda is inexcusable and revolting. I will do everything in my power to bury everyone involved, but having you exact a ‘forced vengeance’ only makes matters that much harder. By crushing Pendelton and Ross you’ll have nailed only two rats. We’re dealing with a nest of rats and a den of vipers. Vipers have fangs and can strike back, not only at you, but at those around you. For everyone’s sake, Erik, tread lightly.”

Erik hung his head then sought Martin’s eyes. “Point taken.”

Denton offered his hand and Erik accepted the gesture.

“Good luck, Erik. Let me know what you get from Pendelton, and I’ll keep you posted on what else I uncover.”

Groom Lake Control Center 1145 hours.

The Mars Hubble 3 observation telescope had been tracking the incoming armada while acquiring a passive target lock for its four atomic torpedoes. The probe’s missile pods were prepped and the torpedoes ready for firing. The alien armada moved swiftly, and the detonations had to be timed precisely.

All the variables were calculated and an optimal firing solution fed into Hubble 3’s attack computer. The four torpedoes launched from their pylons. They quickly accelerated to their maximum velocity of thirty miles per second. At their current rate, the experimental atomic motors would burn out just before their detonation. The programmed trajectory would last slightly over eleven minutes. NORAD had calculated that the incoming targets would vector about 20,000 miles from Hubble’s established Mars orbit. Ross’s operatives at NORAD, Groom Lake and Cheyenne Mountain counted down the minutes.

Colonel Ross watched with trepidation as the main view screen became a black grid with two series of converging dots.
This has to work.
Ross also knew Anderson was right. They couldn’t win an all-out conflagration with these aliens.

He was reminded of the Plains Indians armed with their wood and sinew bows and arrows facing US Calvary armed with Winchester repeating rifles. The Native American population had been effectively conquered. Ross didn’t want that to be the fate of all humanity.

“Sir!” a technician yelled. “Targets are altering course … by three, now five degrees of calculated trajectory.”

Ross’s stomach knotted as the computerized display recalculated the alien fleet’s new course. The new flight path was taking them far from the effects of torpedo detonations. They had tipped their hand to the enemy and now their attack had failed. The fleet would come into close Earth orbit, on full combat alert.

Ross watched the simulated detonations occur. “Damn it! None of the nuclear wake touched the incoming vessels.”