The Traitor's Revenge, page 17
Norman had felt like he was being let into some kind of club. He had spent the entire day not saying much of anything and just watching all of the men he regularly saw at church or hanging out in his house laughing and carrying on in ways he’d never imagined they even knew about. Mr. Palmeroy had given him one of his cigars and the men had laughed and slapped his back when he breathed in too deeply and started gagging. Tom held the flaps of his coat back when he puked into the leaves. Harry had complained, saying Norman was such a kid, even though they were only separated by a few years.
Norman stood there breathing in the familiar scents, trying to remember the sound of his father’s voice when he was distracted by a heated conversation going on in hushed tones deeper in the woods. Something about the voices seemed familiar. He opened his eyes and slowly looked around trying not to shift his weight and crunch any of the leaves. Suddenly, he felt exposed in the thin part of the clearing where he stood.
“What the hell are you doing here?” asked a man, a little distance from Norman.
“I came to see my brother,” said the other man. “I need to make sure he’s alright and this is the one place where I knew I could see him without being detected.”
“You had better be damn sure of that.”
It was Richard Bach, Norman was sure of that and he was talking to someone who was supposed to be over eight hundred miles away looking after senior citizens. Norman risked being heard and walker closer to the men, stopping behind a large oak that had several large sucker trees growing off of the base giving him some cover.
He was able to just make them out and when he saw the older man standing next to Richard Bach he doubled over and placed his hand against the tree to steady himself but he never took his eyes off his older brother, Harry for a moment.
“Things have gone too far for you to suddenly have any ideas about just going home,” said Richard.
“I fully realize that. I’m not a simpleton. But I never expected things to get back to my own family. I received assurances that this would never happen,” said Harry. “You gave many of those assurances yourself and now, you’ve managed to threaten my brother and his family.”
“That wasn’t me,” said Richard, bending toward Harry till he was only inches from his face. “I did not have anything to do with what that idiot deputy has been up to.”
“He’s under your command,” said Harry, who didn’t even flinch.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Richard, backing up and waving away the concern. “I’ve taken care of it.”
“More violence,” said Harry, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“No, no violence. A little justice, maybe,” said Richard, looking annoyed. “Look, get the hell out of here. If anyone sees you, and I mean anyone including Robin Spingler then more hell will be set loose. You’re supposed to be back in Florida, anyway where everyone can see you going about your normal routine. That’s what you said you wanted, isn’t it? A chance at a normal life with no one bothering you? How are we supposed to deliver on that if you come up here right in the middle of the mess?” said Richard.
“No one was supposed to die,” said Harry.
“Yeah, well, next time don’t dangle such a large carrot in front of our noses without having the goods already in your hands. Look, you gave us Schaeffer’s name and we went to get the drive. Things got a little more complicated from there.”
“You murdered her,” said Harry, the anger rising in his hushed voice.
“She didn’t give us a lot of options.”
“And you let the damn thing slip out of your hands before you even saw what was on it,” said Harry.
Richard let out a low growl and kicked the nearest tree. “None of the Georgia operation was in my control! You know what I’ve never understood? Why you don’t know what was on it. You claim you were pretty high up in the organization and yet you can’t give us anything beyond the name of a woman you claim held the secret to the Circle’s grand plan and then some guy in a utility department that took the drive from her. I’ve never really bought any of that.”
“I’ve told everyone already a thousand times. The Circle is broken up into hundreds of individual cells and only one person knows who is in all of the cells. They keep that name a secret from everyone but the previous successor. That woman was the most likely candidate but your thugs killed her and then let the drive she always had with her slip away. If it wasn’t for me following her, you would never have known it was in Richmond in the first place.” Harry sounded like he was whining.
Norman realized what his brother had done and he leaned his head against the tree willing himself to not wretch in the woods. He was the center of their solution. The pest that could bring down an entire organization. Norman’s head was spinning as he listened to Harry pleading his case with Richard Bach about all that he had missed in this life because he was saddled with a lifetime membership in the Circle. No wife, no family and always having to look over his shoulder.
“Coward,” Norman whispered, swallowing the bile in his throat. His foot slipped on a wet leaf and he caught himself just in time, making only the slightest of noise. But Richard Bach was on edge and heard the sound, turning in Norman’s direction as he hid behind the wide oak, his chest heaving from the mix of anger and grief.
“Enough! Enough of your whining,” said Richard, throwing up his hands. “I can’t keep doing this. If you want out, then do it. Tell Spingler you want out and see how she handles it. I’m done with you,” he said. He strode off toward the revelers breaking small saplings as he tore through the woods. Norman could hear Harry’s muffled crying but he felt no compassion for his brother.
He stepped out from the stand of trees.
“You could have come to me,” he said, quietly. Harry’s face jerked up and he quickly wiped his faced on his sleeve. “You never even tried.”
“Norman!”
“You aren’t a stupid man, Harry. You had to know what they would do with the information you were turning over.”
Harry took a couple of steps backward, his body shaking. “It was better than going through my entire life trapped in that day to day boredom.”
“So your dissatisfaction was worth a few lives? Were you always such a coward?”
Harry reeled back like he had been slapped. He made a gurgling noise as if he was starting to choke.
“Your stupidity almost got my wife killed. My neighbor, a nice old man was found dead in a field. He had nothing to do with any of this. Was his life worth it? And that woman you offered up, did you even know her?”
“Carol Schaeffer. Yeah, yeah, I knew her. She was in my cell. She never really liked me,” said Harry.
“Is that still what’s important to you, even now?”
“I told her what I was going through and she said I should get a hobby. A hobby! So imperial and acting like she had it all. I knew she had to be the Keeper,” he cried out, snot from his nose running down into his mouth. He had turned his shoulder to Norman, cowering as if he was trying to protect himself from a body blow.
“Who’s out there?” It was Robin Spingler moving through the woods with a couple of men from Management.
Harry looked back and forth between Norman and the sounds of the approaching people. He ran closer to Norman grabbing his arms tightly and quickly sputtered, “They’re watching your house around the clock. They’re planning something to happen tonight. I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said. “They know Max has the thumb drive.”
Norman saw all of the pain in his brother’s face and how tortured he was but the image of Mr. Blazney greeting everyone as he walked his dog flashed in his head. He jerked his arms away and turned his back working his way back to the field. Let them have him, he thought bitterly. Let them do what they want with him. He turned his back and quickly trudged out of the woods.
He found Father Donald and said, “I’m going to need another drink.”
“What’s wrong? Helmut came back a few minutes ago and said he never saw you. You look like what I’ve always imagined hell would be like,” said Father Donald. Norman pulled him away from the small clusters of people to the edge of the party.
“I know who betrayed us. I saw him in the woods. It was Harry,” he said, his hands trembling as he tried not to cry. He took the drink from Father Donald and drank it down quickly, pressing his eyes shut for a moment as he felt the slow burn down the back of his throat.
“He thought he could break apart the Circle and find a new life for himself. He gave them Carol Schaeffer because he thought she slighted him. It was a calculated guess that she was the Keeper. He is just as responsible for killing her as if he had held her under the water.”
“You need to get a hold of yourself,” said Father Donald, firmly grasping Norman’s arm. “If that means you need to leave early then I suggest you do it. Go home and tell Tom you’ve seen Harry in the area.”
“Max almost died,” he said, “Harry did that.”
“Go home,” said Father Donald.
“No,” said Norman. “My brother started all of this and he’s managed to hurt a lot of people. I can’t stay on the sidelines anymore. I’m going to try and make some of it right if I can. Where is Helmut Khroll? I’m going to tell him what I know about Management.”
“That’s a very dangerous game, Norman,” said Father Donald, “and is it really all that different from what Harry was trying to do?” he said gently.
“Harry was trying to save his own pathetic ass. I was more like him when I was trying to do nothing and ignore that any of this was going on right outside my door.”
“Hey, you don’t look so good,” said Helmut, walking up. “People are starting to notice.”
“Take him home, Helmut,” said Father Donald. “That’s what you want, isn’t it Norman? There’s your cover.”
“Sure, sure, I wasn’t really making any headway with any of these guys anyway,” said Helmut. “No one would give me anything.”
“My friend, that is about to change. Drive Norman home to Max.”
21
Mark got up early to scan the internet again for the sites Circle operatives were known to use most. He was searching for Robert. Later in the day, he was planning on heading out to the shad planking to at least make an appearance. His neighbor was coming over to watch his children.
The boys were already up and doing their chores. The youngest, Peter was fussing about getting stuck with trash duty two weeks in a row. Mark reminded him that’s what happened when you make bets with your older brother over who can make the most hoops. Peter harrumphed and insisted on holding his nose as he dragged the bag the entire way.
“You’re going to end up cleaning the kitchen floor too if that bag tears,” he called after him. Jake came in the kitchen and said, “I’m done cleaning my room. Can I go over to Lexi’s house now?”
“No, remember, we talked about it. You’re helping the neighbors watch your brother and sister for me while I go to the annual shad planking.”
Jake groaned and swung his arms around in frustration. Lexi was a girl he liked in school. It was going to be hard to suddenly move him across the country but there was no other way. Just a little longer, he thought. Then we’ll be free of all of this.
He went outside to the deck to get the early morning encrypted signal on his phone. The words started playing across the screen, ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.’ It was the thirteenth amendment ratified in 1865 telling Mark that his worst fears were rapidly coming true. Management was planning to use him as their scapegoat.
For a moment he couldn’t catch his breath. The panic was taking over and he wasn’t sure what to do next. The message didn’t say how long he had or what they were going to falsely accuse him of but he had a good idea. It didn’t matter anyway. Once Management decided to put someone in prison it was hard to reverse the process. He was out of time.
The words kept spilling across the screen and he had to force himself to hold the phone steady and read them even though his head was spinning. A short series of numbers appeared after the rest of the amendment and just as quickly he decrypted them. It was instructions to download two songs, Wayward Son and Sympathy for the Devil, from the Apple Store at exactly ten that morning. Everyone who bought the songs at the same moment would get a version with metadata tucked underneath the tune. The few hundred who bought the altered songs would never notice anything except for a slightly reduced quality in the tone.
Things were coming apart. He couldn’t be sure what he was going to still be able to do for Robert if he had to quickly leave town. His own family was in jeopardy.
Robert had looked drawn and tired when Mark caught the brief glimpse of him coming out of the parking deck. At least Mark knew that Management didn’t have him or the boys.
“Jake? Jake, can you come here?” he yelled upstairs, trying to keep the rising tension out of his voice. Jake appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Yeah?” he said, still looking a little sullen over not being able to see Lexi.
“Something’s come up and we’re hitting the road. I need you to help Peter and Ruthie pack a few things. We’re taking a short trip,” he said. He couldn’t risk upsetting any of the kids and giving away what they were really doing to anyone watching him, including the Circle operatives.
“What? Why? I have a test coming up. I can’t go anywhere,” said Jake.
“No arguing, I just need you to do this. I need you to take the lead,” he said, pronouncing every word very clearly. Jake looked at his dad like he was expecting him to say something else and clear up the confusion. Mark had told his son the phrase and had him practice it ever since he turned thirteen with the express directive that it was to be used only in case of an emergency. He was to take the lead. They were now operating under protocol and there wasn’t a lot of time. Jake needed to get moving.
His mouth fell open but Mark shook his head hard just once and pointed toward Peter’s room. “Go help him. We can talk later.”
Jake looked frightened for just a moment and looked back toward Peter who had come out of his room. “What’s up?” asked Peter. “Why is everybody standing in the hall?” Jake straightened up and said, “Come on, we’re going on a road trip, Whiting family style. We have to get packed if we’re going to make the first surprise.”
“Surprise? What is it?” asked Peter. “Can you tell me a little?” he said, poking his brother. Jake gently pushed him toward his room.
Mark found Ruthie sitting in front of the TV still wearing her Hello Kitty pajamas and sent her upstairs to help the boys. He sat down on the edge of a chair at his kitchen table and tried to calm down enough to think about how he was going to do this.
At precisely ten o’clock he made sure to spoof his MAC address and went to iTunes to purchase the songs. It wasn’t long before he had the metadata with the longer instructions that were coming from an unknown cell above him.
Robert had made contact and needed to be met. The safe house had been compromised and it was going to take personal contact. He was to drive to a parking lot at the Short Pump Town Center in front of Macy’s and switch cars. The new car would have a license plate with the first three numbers from the current OTP and the keys would be in the driver’s side wheel well. The GPS would have directions to Robert’s location. Get Robert and his boys and drive them to an address in Northern Virginia, switch cars again and keep going. The second car would have details about their next destination. He was to leave immediately. He had been compromised.
He knew there was hardly any time and if he foolishly waited too long Management drones could come in his front door and it would all be too late.
There were things that had to be done first. He made himself sit down and call the realtor from a throw-away cell phone. Mark gave the false name he’d been using as the contact at Rosecroft and said he was returning the signed contract to the realtor with the full asking price in cash but he would need a signature from the owners within 24 hours or the entire deal was cancelled. He told them Rosecroft already had a renter interested in the property and needed to move quickly.
The realtor said the owners were anxious to sell and were already aware of the investment company’s offer. As long as there was no problem with signing the codicil that prohibited commercial use, dividing the land or harvesting the timber on the land there shouldn’t be a problem. He’d get back to Mark within the hour.
Mark hung up and transferred enough funds so that the full amount would be ready to go and he could finish the operation from his phone. The entire transaction had taken only fifteen minutes but he knew it was far too long. Circle’s message had been marked imperative and there was no time. He was expendable to everyone even if Robert was not and they wouldn’t go to any extraordinary measures to save him or his children. That had its advantages when it came time to disappear but not if Management got them all first.
He ran upstairs to his room and pulled the emergency suitcase out of the back of his closet. It was packed with the essentials and always ready to go. This way, anyone who came along later and looked in his closet would think he was still somewhere in town instead of making a run for it. He checked to make sure the cash was still in the bottom. There was more than enough to get them where they needed to be. He would have to cut up his credit cards and use the cash until he was safely in Montana and could access the new accounts.
