surveillance. The number of people guarding her has increased from four to seven-three armed guards outside the warehouse, three inside, and a woman. They’re in constant contact with somebody. As of yet, we haven’t been able to decode their encrypted communications. But we remain confident that we can free her at any moment. We’ve also added another team to Brattle House and doubled the protection on your father.”
“What’s the absolute minimum time we have to wait?”
“After what Carter Emerson told the FBI this morning, I don’t think she’ll have to remain in custody for more than twenty-four hours.”
“Any change in her condition?” Wilson asked, incensed by the thought of her mental and emotional torment, not to mention the blow to her face.
“She’s tied down to a cot, blindfolded, and wearing earphones. She’s being fed regularly and has the opportunity to walk around every time she uses the bathroom.”
Wilson pressed his fingers into his scalp, trying to alleviate his splitting headache.
Hap waited a moment before responding. “My men already have orders to free her the minute they anticipate any mistreatment,” he said slowly and deliberately.
“And what about the mistreatment we can’t see? Goddamnit, Hap, we’re asking too fucking much of her.”
Hap waited a moment before responding. “I understand completely,” he said slowly. “Give me the word, and I’ll have her freed immediately.”
Wilson stared at Hap and then walked to the windows overlooking the Charles River. Emily’s words “never fear” from the voice message to her parents stuck in his head. Those words were meant for him and he knew it. She’d become more determined to fight than he was. If only I could talk to her right now, what would she say? Would she want to be freed immediately? Or wait for the FBI to capture its prey? It was an impossible dilemma, he thought. Risking another’s life, not to mention the life of the woman I love, based on what? Stratagem? Suddenly, it pierced him, as if Emily had spoken it herself. Destroy the bastards. “I want her rescued at the first sign of anything unusual, and I mean anything. And, I don’t want her moved again.”
Hap nodded, “You got it.” He immediately got on his cell phone to Driggs and relayed Wilson’s instructions.
When Hap was finished, Wilson asked, “What happened this morning with Carter?”
“At nine o’clock in William James Hall, room 105, after Federal couriers delivered the necessary assurances of immunity, Carter began briefing the FBI, the SEC, the Justice Department, the NSA, the CIA, partners from Ernst amp; Young and Booz Allen, and a few others no one would identify. The FBI had the place completely sterilized, but there wasn’t a hint of surveillance,” Hap said admiringly.
“Is this really going to work?” Wilson asked as he sat down in his father’s chair at the end of the gray stone table.
“Yesterday I wasn’t sure. But what happened this morning convinced me. The FBI performed brilliantly. I thought I had seen everything, but this tops it,” Hap said. “Even the guards in the hallways were dressed like grad students.”
“How many people?”
“Thirty-eight.”
“How did they arrange the meeting so quickly?”
“I asked myself the same question. They must have been scrambling all night.”
“Why Ernst amp; Young and Booz Allen?”
“Beginning tomorrow, those two firms will deploy approximately six hundred auditors and consultants, working around the clock, to verify Carter’s records and independently document eight years worth of stock market manipulations.”
“Why so many if they’re trying to keep things under wraps?”
“Only six seasoned project leaders know the full picture. They were the ones at the briefing. The work will be parceled out in segments to minimize leaks,” Hap said, his eyes dancing. “The more people involved, the harder it will be for anyone to see the full picture before the partnership is totally exposed. The FBI has done their homework on this one. They want to make sure an independent verification of Carter’s records is underway when they start asking federal judges to issue arrest warrants.”
“How did Carter react?”
“Brilliantly. He lectured for an hour and a half and then fielded questions for another two hours. Needless to say, the audience was spellbound. This was definitely the lecture of the millennium. I don’t think Carter has any more worries about whether his disclosure will bring a revolution.”
“Where is he now?”
“On an airplane.”
“What?” Wilson asked, stunned by the words. Carter was still at it.
“Somewhere outside the U.S. It was part of his immunity package. I assumed you knew?”
“Hell no!” Wilson said, feeling stupid for being blindsided yet again. “Things must be worse than we think if the person who most wanted to see this is fleeing the scene.”
“Given the FBI’s lightning-fast response, he could be anywhere by now.”
“That’s why Elizabeth wasn’t home,” Wilson said, trying to think of what else he may have missed. “What’s his cover?”
“A history conference at Stanford University. There’s an undercover agent disguised as Carter who’ll be arriving in San Francisco in a couple of hours.”
“Does Tate know about the conference?”
“Carter said he told him about it.”
“Did he leave a message for me?” Wilson asked, his anger spiking.
“Not to panic.”
“What?”
“He said not to panic. He would be in touch.”
“Well, he’s done it again, hasn’t he?” Wilson said.
“After what he did this morning, he didn’t have much choice, Wilson.”
“What about us?”
“Unless you want to call it quits, we’re scheduled for another debriefing at the apartment tonight with Kohl, Johns, and whoever else they’re bringing.”
“Who else?” Wilson asked, pissed off about what else he didn’t know. He’d been so preoccupied with Emily that he was no longer thinking clearly or acting smart.
“They wouldn’t tell me,” Hap said, his eyebrows raised.
“Are you absolutely confident that they know what the fuck they’re doing?” Wilson asked, admitting to himself that there was nothing he could do about it even if they didn’t know what they were doing, except free Emily and leave the country like Carter had.
“They seem to have marshaled an impressive strike force,” Hap said, sympathizing with Wilson.
“I hope you’re right,” Wilson said, still considering the option of fleeing with Emily. “Are you certain that my father and the rest of my family are safe?”
Hap stepped back away from the door, “Each one of them is under heavy surveillance, twenty-four hours a day, four of our people and four FBI agents for every one of them.”
“That has to be raising suspicions.”
“We still haven’t seen any evidence of surveillance or counter-surveillance since your meeting with Tate at the Bostonian Club,” Hap said.
“Doesn’t that surprise you?”
“Actually, no. They know we’re here in full force, so they’re pretending to trust you, even when they don’t. They’re close to being free from Fielder amp; Company and they’re still holding Emily. But sooner or later they’ll figure it out. FBI agents throughout the country are already monitoring the movements of every CEO in the secret partnership, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. Kohl wants the arrests to happen simultaneously.”
“How many arrests?”
“Over four hundred.”
“They’ll never pull this off without something going wrong. What’s the actual charge?”
