company. He was relieved to see from her dimpled grin that he hadn’t offended her.
“Hey, man, I’m already at the airport…got socks, sans jock,” Henry jokingly replied. “I was about to call you myself. We’ve had an interesting development. But go ahead…what’s up?”
“The lead at Holloway’s estate paid off in spades, bro. I met his girlfriend. She tells me Dr. Coscarelli was in Hilton Head as recently as last night,” he stressed going for shock factor. “She thinks these guys took her someplace in Kentucky and mentioned a fort. Jason, I know it sounds crazy…but I think these guys are going to hit Fort Knox.”
“Not crazy at all, pard’,” Henry replied evenly. “Your information squares perfectly with evidence we’re piecing together out here. The last communication from Conrad mentions a place in West Point, Kentucky, called Wildcat Catfish. I’m on the next flight to Louisville in about twenty minutes. This is big, man. I’m betting Penburton was Holloway’s lackey. He’s the real mastermind behind this whole deal,” Agent Henry said confidently.
“Well, I’ll be go to hell,” Palmer said, sounding like a hillbilly. “I’m on my way back to the airport myself. Just so you know…I’ve got the woman with me.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Don’t ask; she insisted,” he explained, looking sideways again at Angelina, who was studying him carefully. “We’ll hook up with you later today. What about the locals? Have you alerted them yet?” Palmer asked.
“Absolutely not…we keep this under wraps. Lieutenant Morris has been authorized to accompany me to Louisville. But I’m having a devil-of-a-time keeping him from blowing the lid off. But I can’t just cut him out either; he’s my contact between Sarah Marshall and Dr. Conrad. Trust me, though…this is a federal matter. The locals will only hamstring us. I’m keeping Morris involved on a limited basis so we don’t lose contact with Mrs. Marshall. Other than that, he’s been ordered to stand down unless I authorize it.”
“I’ll bet he’s not happy about that.”
“Yeah, he’s pissed alright, but he’s got no choice…I’m not trying to make friends. Listen, can I call you back?” Henry said, assessing his priorities. The news that Holloway may have relocated the Coscarelli woman to Kentucky was a new wrinkle to consider.
“Sure thing…what gives?”
“I need to discuss this with Freeman before we do anything else,” Henry continued. “There’s information you don’t know about, Emerson, but believe me, it has national security implications. It’s why DOD’s been tracking this new technology all along. As I said before, we see a weapons potential. I’ll bring you current when we meet in Louisville. For now, consider everything classified.”
“Okay, you got it…but throw me a bone, will ya? Don’t leave me hanging,” Palmer pleaded, pressing his old comrade.
“Okay…okay. Remember I mentioned there’s twenty pounds of missing plutonium from the Lawrence Livermore lab?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we suspect these guys have it in their possession,” Henry blurted out. “It’s critical to operating Conrad’s machine. It’s looking like they’ve figured a way to use it at Fort Knox.”
“The antigravity machine? You think they’ve got it working?”
“Almost certain of it. We knew Conrad had a prototype at Stanford…but I’ll bet you these guys have the real McCoy.”
“Ho-lee-shit,” Palmer enunciated slowly. He couldn’t believe his ears. “Okay man, that’s all I need to know. Get authorization from the old man and we’ll make the next move in Louisville together. What’s your recommendation?” he asked, hoping for music to his ears.
“The joint chiefs will want to consider all options, but I’ll recommend that General Freeman activate the cleaners. We need to keep everyone but the president, the secretary of defense, and the Fort Knox base commander in the dark,” Henry replied. “Because of the weapons potential and the national security implications, I’m confident he’ll see it my way in the end.”
“That’s all I wanted to know, my man. I’m en route to Kentucky. See you later today,” Palmer said.
“Wow! That sounded important, Emerson,” Angelina said when he hung up. “Who’s the old man? ”
“Sorry, Angel, I can’t share that information with anyone. If I told you…I’d have to kill you,” he said grinning, using the over-worked phrase.
“Oh…you wouldn’t do that to me, would you, honey? You haven’t seen my best feature yet,” she said, touching his forearm playfully.
“Believe me, ma’am…Angel,” he corrected, “my imagination’s in overdrive. Now you behave yourself,” he said with a wink. “We’ve got work to do.”
Palmer’s next call was to Ben Dare. He could see from the highway signs that the airport lay just ahead. He figured he’d need just a few moments to bring Ben up to date on the news about Sela Coscarelli.
“Ben, it’s Emerson Palmer.”
“Good morning, Mr. Palmer. Have you found anything?” Ben asked impatiently.
“Good news of sorts. I’ve located a woman who was with Sela last night. I don’t want to get the senator’s hopes up…but tell him I’ve picked up the trail. Keep Metro out of this. This is for the senator’s information only. Is that clear?” Palmer asked.
“Awesome; I should say that’s great news, Mr. Palmer. Can you give me a reason not to involve the police?”
“Unless I’m mistaken, it was my distinct impression that the senator wanted the cleaners to handle this matter. I’ve made inquiries as I promised. The potential exists but only if the local authorities are excluded…best I can do,” he explained.
“Say no more, Mr. Palmer. I’ll inform the senator that you’ve picked up the trail but nothing is to be leaked to the media or D.C. Police. You have my word, sir.”
“Okay, Ben…please tell the senator I’ll be in touch the minute anything new develops…I’m fairly encouraged here.”
“Mr. Palmer, we still haven’t received any ransom demands. Isn’t that unusual by this time?”
“For reasons I can’t explain, I don’t expect you’ll receive any contact from the kidnappers. Sela’s abduction is much more menacing than we first thought. It’s linked to the case in California with Mrs. Marshall. But don’t worry…we’re close to a breakthrough on all fronts.”
“Oh, thank God,” Ben said, amazed the man had apparently pieced together so many of the facts involving Sarah and Jer.
“Remember…no police. That will slow us down. I’ll be in touch.”
Palmer completed the call just as he saw the exit leading to the rental car return lot. He looked over at Angelina, who had a perplexed look on her face.
“You’re a bona-fide secret agent, aren’t you?” she said, a hint of admiration in her voice.
“Something like that,” Palmer replied with a wry smile.
“Well, my goodness, isn’t this just my lucky day?” she said, looking pleased.
“No, Angel…this is distinctly my lucky day. You could turn out to be the reason we stop one of the biggest crimes in history. You’re going to be famous, my dear,” he said affectionately, tapping his index finger on the back of her hand.
“Famous. Me? Hah! I like the sound of that. I knew we were going to be good friends,” Angelina said proudly. “Let’s go find Miss Sela.”
“Yes…let’s do,” Palmer said. “Let’s do.”
FIFTY-SIX
West Point, Kentucky
10:00 hours
Travis Marlon couldn’t shake his feeling of impending doom. He regretted to his core giving in to Kilmer’s latest demand-agreeing to carry out the abduction of Dr. Coscarelli. It was one thing to be associated with Kilmer’s ne’er-do-wells, piloting them around, breaking one law after another; after all, their history together was long and
