Wisdom Spring, page 25
We were each now going through the longer files. Every once in a while someone would make an exclamation as they came across a familiar name.
“Well, I found the second mole in Mill’s office,” said Joe at one point. He was holding one of the thin folders. “I remember meeting her not too long ago. Some sort of researcher or gofer. I only remember her because she was cute.”
“And I think we can confirm Exchange Systems as a front,” said Scott with a mouthful of bagel. “I’ve found two in a row who worked there.”
I was listening, but I was also busy reading Ben Fremont’s file and had to keep my mouth from hanging open. “Something mind-boggling here in Hillstrom’s folder, labeled Ben Fremont. A lot of it is stuff we already figured out, but there’s some new stuff, as well as something that will knock your socks off.”
“Which you’re going to save for last,” stated Scott.
“Just like you did with Wolf Run,” I retaliated.
“Oh, no, I approve. I was just checking to see if you had picked up the Harper family trait.”
“Their focus for him at Wisdom Spring was politics and business,” I said, “and it sounds like they had some good instructors there. When he became Hillstrom the politician, that thing I told you about him,” I said, looking at Jess, “about him starting as a Democrat, becoming a Republican, then running as an Independent, developing fierce loyalties from each side? That was planned from the beginning. All of those traits I liked about him when I voted in all those elections were all learned at Wisdom Spring. Not one bit of it was genuine. Not one bit of HIM was genuine.”
I continued. “His boss at Exchange, who also seems to be his contact with this organization—I haven’t found what it’s called yet—is someone by the name of Corbin Mays. He’s the CEO of Exchange.”
“I’ve got him in my box,” said Jess. “I’ll look at him next.”
“And now for the big piece of information. Jess, your father was right on with what he was trying to tell you with the ‘replacing’ or ‘exchanging’.”
“Oh,” exclaimed Jess. “So it is more than just the company name?”
“Yes, this whole operation with Hillstrom is called ‘Operation Exchange’. And I think I know why. Once Hillstrom is elected they are going to make an exchange. Sometime next year, Gary Hillstrom is slated to be assassinated.”
Chapter 38
They all looked at me in stunned silence.
“Does it actually say that?” asked Joe.
“In so many words. It refers to him taking office in January, and that his mission will ‘reach its conclusion,’” I made quotation signs with my fingers, “by the middle part of next year. Does anyone have a folder for Paul Gilmore?”
“He’s on the ticket with Hillstrom, right?” asked Scott.
“Yeah. We have to assume he’s involved in all this, but to what extent?”
“Found it,” said Jess, pulling it from the box. She handed it to me. “You do the honors.”
I read out the top matter to the others, which was almost a carbon copy of Ben’s:
Paul Gilmore
Entered Wisdom Spring 10-4-76, age 7
Obtained from Nevada Camp for Boys
Original name: Robert Smith, changed 5-10-77
Graduated 3-31-90
“Other than the fact that he’s younger than Hillstrom, it was the same procedure. They even came from the same place. They obviously had a deal with this Nevada Camp for Boys, just as they did with the orphanage in the Ukraine. I’m sure there were others.”
Jess had gotten up and was tapping on the computer.
“The Nevada Camp for Boys had a major fire in 1988 and went out of business” she said. “Most of the buildings were destroyed, including, I’m sure, the one that housed the records.”
“They are good at covering their tracks,” I said, looking back at the folder. “Gilmore graduated from Wisdom Spring in 1990. Didn’t the 1990 census put Wisdom Spring’s population at around twelve? Could it be that Gilmore was their final graduate?”
I studied the material further. The others went back to their boxes in the meantime.
“He knows,” I finally said. They all looked up. “He knows he’s going to take over as president. It says it right here that his mission includes taking over the presidency from Hillstrom in his first year in office.”
“Who exactly is he?” asked Scott. “Until this vice presidency thing, I’d never heard of him.”
“He’s a Congressman from Arizona. He’s served two terms. He doesn’t have anywhere near the charisma that Hillstrom has, but he seems to be a lot smarter. He was heavily promoted by Arizona senator Stephen Brice and former Arizona governor Alfred Barlick. I remember all that from the days when I actually cared about politics.”
“I have both Brice and Barlick in my box,” said Scott. “I already looked at them. I think their only connection with these people is money. Looks like they’ve been paid off pretty well. It also listed a few of the bills that they’ve voted on. On another note, I’ve also found one of the current senators from Alaska in here, and one from California. The Alaskan one went to Wisdom Spring. The other is connected by money.”
“I’ve found a few too,” said Joe. “Most seem to be connected by money, but a couple of the younger ones went there.”
“And I saw the name of one of the Supreme Court justices.” I offered. “There was a ledger full of numbers in his folder. I assume they were bank transactions of some kind.”
“The ones I saw who were connected by money had those ledgers too. I’d say you’re right.”
“Oh … My … God!!!” I suddenly exclaimed. “‘Operation Exchange’ isn’t just about replacing the president. Don’t you see what’s happening here? Slowly, over the years, they’ve been replacing members of Congress with their own people! They start by paying off some of the older sleazier ones, then when the time is right, they have them support a Wisdom Spring graduate. Their goal all along has been to take over the U.S. government!”
Dead silence. Then Jess covered her ears and said, “I’ve got a marching band in my head. The impression I get is that my father is very happy. Hard to explain, but it seems like he’s actually celebrating. I think you’ve nailed it.”
“But they can’t replace everyone,” she said, dropping her hands. “I can’t believe, first of all, that they had that many people graduate—especially ones who could become politicians—and second of all, that they could bribe that many members of Congress. After all, they’re not ALL crooks.”
“Yeah, they are,” mumbled Scott.
“They don’t need everybody,” I said, ignoring Scott. “They just need a few people in key positions. I bet if we found all of the people connected to this in Congress, we’d have most of the important committees covered. And besides, look at how many fellow politicians Hillstrom won over. It doesn’t take very many to control Congress.”
“Okay then, something else I don’t understand,” said Jess. “If Hillstrom is so popular, he could help bring people together to further their cause. Why kill him?”
“Here’s my theory,” I said. “You worked for him. Would you say he was overly intelligent?”
“Intelligent? I never really noticed one way or the other. He was very charming.”
“Right. And that’s what got him to where he is. Hell, I voted for him a few times and I couldn’t really tell you if he was intelligent. Popularity eventually wears off. At some point the presidency gets real and people are going to want answers. I don’t think he’s capable of providing those answers. Gilmore, on the other hand, is intelligent. So what better way to solidify their mission than to kill off Hillstrom and make him a martyr? Best of both worlds. You still have Hillstrom’s popularity working for you, this time from beyond the grave, with the intelligence of Paul Gilmore.”
“So who profits?” asked Scott. We looked at him with funny expressions. “Hey, I don’t have three heads. It’s a legitimate question. It’s one thing to have control of Congress, but it won’t be forever. So there has to be a plan behind it. Someone has to profit. You know that, down the line, it’s going to be all about money. Someone started this. Someone or some group is funding it. They have to get something really good out of this to justify the time and money spent. Who are they and what are they gaining?”
Silence once again.
“And another question.” Scott was on a roll. “Okay, so this ‘school’ at Wisdom Spring began in the late ‘60s. Are you telling me that forty some-odd years ago they came up with the idea to replace the president with one of their own? How much sense does that make? First of all, the people who came up with the idea are probably dead by now. They sure made out in this deal. They decided that they could grow a president? ‘Hey, if we start now, then in forty years or so he’ll be ready.’ I’m sorry, but that makes no sense at all.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I responded. “But the fact is, there was a school there and one of its graduates is now running for president. I’m sure there’s more to this story. There’s gotta be. I don’t have the answer to it, but I think we’re getting closer.”
“Just so somebody is thinking how illogical it is.”
“Well then it’s time to put some logic to it,” I said. “I wonder if Hillstrom knows he’s going to be assassinated. I bet he doesn’t. He doesn’t strike me as the willing terrorist martyr type. I wonder how pissed at these people he’d be to find out. Maybe we need to get off the sidelines and get in the game. I think it’s time to shake things up a bit.”
“And I think,” said Joe, “it’s time to bring Mill in on all of this. We’re going to need his help.”
“He’s going to have to come up here,” I said. “Right now, this is a safe haven. If he can get up here without being seen, he can be right in the middle of it.” I looked at Scott. “Do you mind one more person here?”
“He’s not sharing my room. He gets the couch.”
We talked about it for a few minutes, then Joe dialed Mill’s cell phone.
After verifying through a series of questions that he was really Joe and was not under duress, and Mill doing the same, Joe gave him some bare bones information in the unlikely event that someone else was listening. He assured Mill that it was necessary for him to come to us. It was agreed that Mill would borrow a friend’s jet and fly to Anchorage, where Scott and Joe would pick him up.
“What’s next?” asked Jess.
“We have the phone number of the security guards’ boss. I think it’s time we use it,” I said.
“Who are we calling?” asked Joe.
“How about Hillstrom?”
“We’ll never get through to him. Why don’t we just call the press now?” asked Jess.
“I’d rather leave that to Mill,” I said. “That’s his area of expertise. No, I suggest we spend the rest of the day scouring through these files. Pull out the name of every influential person we can find. Somewhere in those boxes is our invitation to Hillstrom.”
We got back to work. Occasionally someone would bring up some big name politician or news reporter. There were a number of news people with folders in the boxes. It just proved to me beyond a doubt that the press was equally involved. Unfortunately, we got no further in figuring out who was behind it. There were no folders on the masterminds, as far as we could see.
About an hour into it, Scott asked, “Has anyone else found any asses?
“What?” I asked.
“So far, three of my files have the word ‘ass’ somewhere near the end of the file, followed by a colon, then someone’s name, with what looks like a date. One of the guys has three asses in his file, followed by names.”
“I did see a couple of files that had that in them,” I answered. “I kind of dismissed them because I had never heard of the person, and I was trying to concentrate on the files of people I was familiar with.” I shuffled through until I found them. “I have three. So far, at least. I still have more files to go.”
Meanwhile, Jess and Joe were doing the same. They each found one.
“I was curious about that too,” said Jess. “I figured I’d look at it more closely later. So what does it mean?”
We all looked over the eight files. None of the subjects were familiar to us. They weren’t politicians or famous businessmen. Joe, however thought two of the names after the “ass:’ seemed vaguely familiar.
“Do you mind Googling them?” he asked Jess. She got up, went to the computer and started typing.
“You have a theory?” I asked him.
“I do,” was all he would say.
After a few minutes Jess said, “Well, if I have the correct people, both of these guys are dead. One was the president of a big ad agency in England…”
Joe interrupted her. “Did he die on January 7, 2010?”
Jess looked at him, nodded her head, then continued typing. It was beginning to dawn on us all what these were.
“The other guy was the mayor of a small town in Colorado. He died in a car accident May 12, 2011. But then, you already knew that.”
“I did.”
“Why would the mayor of some hick town be familiar to you?” I asked.
“Because he was in the news. It was a big deal. Some company wanted to buy up water rights in the area and he was leading the fight against it. Then he died in a crash, but I kind of lost track of the story after that.”
Jess asked us for the other names and went to work. As we suspected, all of the names following the “ass:” were deceased.
“‘Ass:’ stands for ‘assassinated’,” said Joe. “I bet as we go through the files we’ll find more names of dead people, and I can guarantee that the subjects of the files will be people we’ve never heard of. You see, they weren’t just training future politicians and corporate heads at Wisdom Spring. They were training assassins.”
Chapter 39
This was getting scarier.
“So you’re saying that anyone who has an ‘ass:’ in his file is an assassin, and those are the people he’s killed?” I asked.
“That’s what it looks like,” answered Joe. He had just pulled out another file. “They’re not all guys, though. Here’s a woman, and she’s responsible for two kills.”
“I don’t see anywhere in these files where they are referred to as assassins,” said Jess.
“You have to read between the lines,” replied Joe. “And I’m betting if we compared them all, we’d find some consistent label they’ve all been given. It really doesn’t matter though. There is no doubt that they are assassins. And from what I’ve seen so far, their missions aren’t to take out high profile figures, but more obscure targets.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I think if we investigated a bit further, we’d see that whoever took their place was somehow connected to this organization. They’ve probably discovered that it’s important to replace lower-level—but strategically-placed—people, as well. That’s probably how most of the Wisdom Spring graduates are being used. Not everything is accomplished at the top.”
We needed to stop for a while to absorb it all. Jess and I went for a quick walk to clear our heads, while Joe retreated to his room. Scott, meanwhile, decided it was time to feed us something healthy and got to work in the kitchen on an early dinner. “We’ve all earned it,” he said, and prepared a feast of salmon and crab legs, finishing it up with crème brulee.
The break did us all some good and when the meal was ready, we came to the table in much better moods.
“Is there anything you can’t do?” Jess asked Scott, cracking open a crab leg.
“Yeah, find the perfect woman. And now, after watching you and Jon interact, and how perfect you seem for each other, my standards can only go up, which will make it even harder to find the right person.”
I felt a little sorry for Scott at that moment. Jess was right, Scott seemed to be without limits. He deserved somebody as amazing as Jess. But in typical brotherly fashion, I could only respond with, “Hey, I think my ex-wife might be available.”
He made a face.
“So what did we learn from all the folders?” I asked.
“That we can’t trust anybody,” answered Joe. “It’s as simple as that. I think we need to make a list, filed under categories, of everyone we’ve found who’s involved in this. We have media people, politicians, corporate executives, and now, assassins.”
“I’ll make the list,” said Jess. “After all, I am the researcher.”
“No argument there,” I said.
“And you say there are more boxes still in the mine?” asked Joe.
“Yeah, six more,” I said. “This was all we could take, though. And of course, I shot the keypad, so we can’t go back for them. But, all of those contained the really thin folders. Using the thin ones we have here as examples, some are the children who died or were sent away, but most seem to be those from the lowest level of the organization—insignificant, for the most part. If I had to guess, I’d say we’ve got most of the important ones right here.”
Jess and I went to work. I read out the names and categories, while she typed. If I had never heard of them and we couldn’t determine a category, we put them under “unknown.” Scott and Joe cleaned up after dinner, then read through files after we listed the names, hoping to find something we had missed the first time.
It was seven o’clock. We had done enough for one day and were all slumped in chairs in the living room. Jess and I had the couch and I was massaging her feet.
“Well, there was no clear link to Hillstrom,” said Joe. “The only avenues we seem to have to contact him are through the guard’s cell phone, or this Corbin Mays guy, the head of Exchange Systems. I think we’d get the furthest by calling the number the guards had to call. By the way, I checked Billy’s phone. It doesn’t have any kind of GPS on it. It’s real basic, and nothing has been added. So they can’t find us that way.”
“Then I say we should get this ball rolling,” said Scott. “Let’s call the number.”
