“Foreign operatives? Do I look like a foreign operative? And what do you mean by access? Are you talking about-?”
“This guy is not willing to level with us. He believes he has a mandate from God to share his findings with the world. That, my friend, would not be in our country’s best interests.”
“What exactly does he want to unleash on the world?”
“A way to make the Internet virtually unprotected. No secrets. No privacy. No way of shielding governments from the prying eyes of their enemies.”
“You mean computer technology and data open to the world? Like Internet banking?”
“Exactly. This moron-like those whackos from WikiLeaks-believe that all communication and data storage should be available to the world community. Everything open to gawk at. They want to curtail commerce to on-site transactions, for example.”
“How do they expect to achieve this?”
“They’ve almost achieved it. By combining recent research in quantum computers, finding the flaw in the latest bio-inspired cyber security, and by linking recent developments with nanotechnology-we believe they may have reached their goal.”
Gerrit shook his head. “There is no way one scientist was able to accomplish all that. He’d have to-”
“Conspire with a core group of scientists with the same goals. That’s exactly what this idiot did. Joined forces with other do-gooders in interrelated fields to break down our security.”
“What’s their objective? Destroy the country?”
“Naively, they think by exposing all governments to world scrutiny, this will somehow bring about world peace.”
“I can see some merit to that. But total exposure?”
“Exactly. This is why I detest weak-minded academia. No offense, Gerrit. Unlike you, they never lived in the real world.” Kane stood. “It would be absurd to be that open in the kind of world we live in. Look at the dangers we face in the intelligence community alone.”
Gerrit nodded. “Has our government sanctioned this operation?”
Kane raised his hands palms up. “Let’s just say the government would like to see us succeed.”
“What makes this guy so important? Can’t you put pressure on him to back off? The feds ought to be good at that.”
“It gets worse, Gerrit. This guy hacked into a closely guarded server the government maintains that stores every known operation-military and intelligence-throughout the world. Names, dates, times, resources, covert scientific projects, and a list of operatives and scientists in each of these operations.”
Whew! “And he intends to publish this?”
Kane nodded. “That’s why we need to stop him cold. To discredit his work, and take what he’s already stolen.”
“And if I get caught?”
Kane shrugged. “We’ll try to intervene, but…”
Gerrit had heard this music before. They’d intervene on his behalf about as solidly as he could tap dance on a sheet of thin ice with steel-toed combat boots. “These foreign operatives…how will they achieve what you want. Coercion?”
Kane grimaced. “Coercion is such a strong word. Let’s just say they will be able to reason with him more forcibly than we could under U.S. law.”
CIA interrogation efforts overseas? Gerrit heard about some of these operations, however he’d never witnessed any. He found himself divided over this issue, having seen firsthand what these terrorists were capable of. But U.S. citizens? “I won’t be a part of any operation that calls for torture-whether U.S. citizens or foreign nationals.”
“And you won’t. All we need for you to do is grab this guy’s files and extract anything that might harm our national security. He won’t even be around to bother you.”
Uneasy, Gerrit sat back down. This operation seemed to have been cleared through his chief, and the Department of Justice’s sanction would make it appear that Kane and his people would be on their best behavior. His own boss ordered him to cooperate. “Okay, tell me more about this guy and what you want me to do.”
“The target is a scientist by the name of Ron Adleman.” Kane began sharing details of the operation.
As Gerrit listened, he didn’t hear anything that would be outside the realm of sanctioned covert operations. It was more Kane himself that made Gerrit wonder if he was doing the right thing. Instinct urged him to walk away from this.
Instead, he sat and listened. He could not walk away from a threat to his country’s security. However, the absence of a clear chain of command, a clearly identified sanction from the government meant that he would be swimming in murky waters.
And he would be on his own. No backup. No safety net.
He’d better not fall. “Okay, I’m in.”
Kane smiled broadly and rose, walking toward the door. “Good. Be ready to move in about a week. We will be in touch with details. Now, return home and relax. Have a good trip.”
A long trip for a short conversation.
Kane wasn’t telling him everything. Lawton’s chiding words about this man’s lack of forthrightness seem to jive with Gerrit’s gut instinct. And Cromwell’s warning about watching his back with these guys troubled him. Everyone around him-Cromwell, Marilynn, the senator-all seemed to know more about what was happening than he did.
He felt like he was working in the dark without a flashlight, and he’d have a lot to lose if things went wrong.
Chapter 12
Seattle, Washington
Gerrit drew closer, sighting down the barrel of his semi-auto Smith amp; Wesson M amp;P. Squinty eyes, fat jowls, and a heavyset man slouched in the armchair, sleeping. Gerrit eased the safety off and pressed the. 40 cal barrel into the fat man’s forehead.
“Wake up and die,” Gerrit hissed, watching the man’s eyes suddenly open.
Fear and stale beer mingled with sweat on the killer’s face. “Don’t hurt me! I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Gerrit clutched the man’s throat and squeezed. “Can you bring back my mother and father?”
A look of recognition and terror flickered in the man’s eyes. “Are you…?”
Squeezing tighter, Gerrit drew closer. “I’m your worst nightmare. Your first mistake was killing my parents. Your second mistake-leaving me alive.”
The man gasped for breath.
Gerrit felt like ripping the man’s throat out. “Just one question. Who hired you to kill them?”
His eyes widened. “I can’t,” he gasped. “If they find out I snitched, they’ll hunt me down.”
“Wrong answer,” Gerrit said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. He slowly squeezed the trigger until-
Gerrit jerked awake. Light flickered across the darkened room as the black-and-white video played on the screen. A cold, wet nose nudged his hand.
Bones.
The dog placed his head on Gerrit’s lap and whined.
Stroking the animal’s head, Gerrit tried to clear his mind. Waves lapped against the pier as his houseboat creaked from Lake Washington’s current, lights from Seattle seen in the distance through a bay window. Bones always sensed when Gerrit had troubled dreams. The dog had been with him-with a few absences-since that day in Fallujah. No longer skin and bones, the dog never missed a meal. And it showed. No fat, just muscle.
The dog had been Gerrit’s jogging partner since they returned from the Middle East. Bones could run Gerrit
