Chapter 7

Sarah Brighten? She's known all along about the missing people? What the hell is that all about? If what Muller says is true - and he certainly believes it is - Sarah and Austin had to be working together to get those three inside the NSA's influence. So why did she force Austin off that balcony? And how the hell does Donald fit into the picture?

Like I said, more questions than answers. This was going to take some very careful poking around. The problem is whom do I ask for help, whom do I even trust enough to ask? Certainly not Sullivan or Freiburg at this point. Maybe Willa and possibly Ellen, although Ellen's such a cagey old bird, I can't be absolutely sure what she knows. And Willa's probably already doing more than is safe for her. If she were discovered, we'd lose our insider and she'd most certainly lose her job, possibly more.

I took a deep breath and tried to slow down the runaway thoughts. Don't be jumping to any conclusions, old boy. Give it some time and wait to hear what the NSA bigwigs have to say. You need to tread very carefully through this minefield.

I walked down the hall to Carol's apartment, hoping for comfort and some diversion. I got a beer out of her fridge and joined her on the couch. She was watching the news, so I just sat quietly sipping my beer and thinking over everything I'd just learned.

After the main news topics, she clicked off the TV and scrunched down on the couch, laying her head in my lap. "All done galavanting through the brains in our nation's capitol?"

I stroked her hair. "Yeah, for the time being. But just when I thought things were about to come clear, I found a whole new complication. Now it's all more confusing than ever."

"How so?"

"Seems that Sarah Brighten, our girl in Atlanta, is somehow involved with the NSA, possibly even the CIA. She's known all along what happened to the missing people. Frank Austin might have been little more than a figurehead in this whole thing, a convenient public face in case it went south. It's looking like Sarah, for whatever reason, engineered Austin's death, and somehow got Donald to go along with it. Now I'm beginning to wonder if Donald was duped like the rest of us."

Carol sat up and took my hand. "Chuck, what the hell are you getting mixed up in? Sounds to me like you might be getting in over your head, and I don't like it! This isn't your fight! Let the others handle their own problems!"

"Um, I'm afraid it is my fight, whether I want it to be or not. What happens to others of my kind happens to me. Besides, I'm already in the spotlight. I can't change what I am, but I can certainly take steps to see that we, as a people aren't abused or taken unfair advantage of. It's clear the feds aren't going to leave us alone, so we really have no choice but to fight for our rights, maybe even our survival. Nothing good is going to happen if we all sit around on our hands trying to wish it away."

I put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her to me. "Relax, babe, I'm not feeling any specific threats coming my way. I'm sure it'll all settle out." I kissed her forehead and changed the subject. "In the mean time, how about we go to that little Korean place over on Havana for dinner? I don't feel like cooking and I'll bet you don't either."

She leaned in and planted a chaste, sisterly kiss on my chin. "I'm not done with this subject, but you talked me into giving it a rest! You take me out to dinner and I'll take you to the moon when we get back home, how's that?"

I gave her tit a little squeeze. "I like the way you think, woman."

February 3, 2015:

I still haven't heard back from anybody at the NSA. I'm tempted to call Freiburg and push him on the meeting, but I really need to know more about Austin and his role before I dive into the deep end of the pool. Muller said they'd been set up in some sort of research lab before they were transferred to the CIA. What was NSA researching that Austin wasn't?

I decided to call Janet and ask if she'd learned any more about what Austin might have been up to. I reached her at her office and asked her to join Carol and me for dinner on Friday. She agreed.

As if on cue, I'd no sooner hung up than Jason Freiburg called from Washington.

"Chuck, there are a couple of people who want to hear what you have to say about some of your people working with the government on special cases. Any chance you can you meet with us at nine AM on Monday, the ninth?"

"When you say 'us', who do you mean, exactly?"

"For the moment, it would be me, Director Sullivan and a representative from the CIA. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not per se, given that the CIA is already using some of our people. I'd like to bring along one other person if you don't mind."

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Uh, that's to be determined, but it'll be someone with more than a passing interest in what we'll be discussing."

There was a period of silence on the other end, then, "This is all pretty damned sensitive stuff, Chuck. I'll need to know ahead of time."

"I'll give you at least twenty-four hour's notice, OK? Given your resources, that should be plenty of time for your people to run a thorough background check."

"Fine! I want at least that. We'll have a car waiting for you at the airport. Will you be staying over? Do you need a hotel room?"

"I'll let you know."

"Good. Later, then."

I hung up and sat wondering whom I wanted as a partner in these negotiations. There weren't a lot of choices, but I sure as hell didn't want to be the sole spokesperson for all of our kind. There was just way too much at stake. Prior to Austin's death, Donald would have been the logical choice, but not now, not as long as his association with Sarah and his role in Austin's death was in question. Well, there was no two ways about it, I was going to need someone by my side that at least appeared to be trusted by the others, and that left only one choice. Ellen.

I found her shopping for groceries. "Ellen, I need to meet with you. Important stuff."

"Well, if it's all that important, I guess I better hold off 'til I get home. Gimme an hour to finish up my shoppin' and I get back to ya, OK?"

"I'm talking about meeting face-to-face. I'll be waiting."

A little later: "OK, Chuck, I got my thinkin' cap on and I ain't had no booze. Tell me what's up?"

I sensed a wicked laugh. "Ooo, I'm gettin' all tingly inside just thinkin' about it! But OK, Chuck. Let me know when you're gonna be here and I'll pick you up at the airport. I'll plan to have a nice country dinner on the stove, how's that?"

"Looking forward to it, Ellen. I'll get back to you with my flight number and ETA. See ya!"

I walked down the hall to tell my boss that I'd be in and out of town over the next few days, but that I'd be able to stay on top of my work. He just wave me off and said, "Let me know if there's anything I can help with." Everybody should have a boss like mine.

February 4, 2015:

I arrived at Will Rogers Airport at three-fifteen. Again, it was going to be a quick turn around, so I had no baggage. When I stepped outside the terminal, Ellen honked the horn on her ancient red Ford pickup and waved out the window as she cut through three lanes of traffic to get to me, leaving a crowd of honking, expletive-spewing drivers in her wake. I saw a police officer hurrying toward us as I hopped in. She took off before I could even get the door closed and waved at the officer as we passed him by.

"Thanks for picking me up, Ellen. I hope the cop didn't get your license plate number."

She laughed her loud, raucous laugh and said, "I expect he's got more important things to do than make a fuss over me. Besides, between the mud and the rust, you can't even read them old plates no more. So how you doin', Chuck?"

"I'm doing well, Ellen. I sure appreciate you doing this thing. I'll give you a credit card number you can use to order your plane tickets. Since the meeting is Monday morning, we should probably fly in on Sunday night. They'll provide transportation from the airport to the hotel."

"Well, OK. You're runnin' this show, so I sure hope it all turns out like you want it to. I still ain't too damn sure why you want me there."

"I want you there because you're a more legitimate representative of our people than I am. It's not appropriate for me to be speaking for all of us."

"Seems to me you been doin' a fair job so far. So now, you're loadin' it on my shoulders, a poor, ignorant, little old lady from the sticks?"

I laughed, "Don't play the innocent with me, Ellen. I've been in your mind, remember?"

She laughed right back. "OK, OK! Well, it's about forty minutes to the farm, so lay out what you want from me while we're on the way. That way, we won't bore the hell out of Melvin when we get home. He's lookin' forward to meetin' the man I got the hots for."

"What? You actually told him that? He won't be waiting with a shotgun, will he?"

"Hell no! The only thing that'd get him that riled up is if you said you voted for Obama."

"Thanks for the warning. I'll steer away from politics."

She turned and gaped at me. "You sayin' you really did vote for him?"

"Afraid so. That's me all over; a bleeding heart liberal. Does that mean our affair is over?"

She laughed and slapped my knee. "I guess I'll have to forgive ya, 'cause ya got so many other good qualities. Now, tell me what we're gonna be doin' in Washington."

On the way to the farm, I laid out my strategy. While I'd outline my plan for a cooperative exchange program with me in the position of broker, initially, Ellen could explain just what our people would and wouldn't participate in. She'd make the point that, regardless of any role we might shoulder by way of providing services to our federal, state and local agencies, anonymity would be an essential, first, foremost and always. Any role we played would never be a part of any official report, and none of our names would ever show up in the newspapers. What's more, none of our people would ever testify in court. That was probably a given anyway, since I couldn't imagine a judge allowing any such testimony to be presented. There was no proven science behind it, nor was there any legal precedent.

By the time we turned into the drive to the two-story frame farmhouse, we'd pretty much worked out our plan for the meeting. Ellen voiced some concern about being in a room with such high-powered people, but I assured her they'd be more afraid of her than she was of them. She could know their innermost thoughts while they could only guess at hers. She liked that idea.

Melvin Cooper, Ellen's husband of thirty-four years was a giant of a man. Easily six and a half feet tall and somewhere in the three hundred and fifty pound range, he clomped down the porch steps with a big grin on his face and stuck out his hand.

"Mr. Duncan, Ah shore am please ta meet ya! Ellen's been carryin' on about what a nice feller you are for months, now. She sez you're 'bout the best she's ever run across at this mind-readin' thang."

I shook his ham of a hand and said, "Please call me Chuck. Well, I don't know that I am the best, Melvin, but I really appreciate all the help she's been to me. You can be proud of all she's done for the cause."

"Oh, Ah am! Not that Ah know anythang about that ESP stuff, but she is somethin', ain't she? Just a little slip of a woman, but she packs a mighty wallop! Well, come on in the house. The chicken's almost done and dinner'll be on the table in jest a few minutes."

The aroma as I entered the house took me back to my childhood. The Colonel has nothing on Melvin Cooper when it comes to fried chicken. Deep-fried in lard and bacon grease, it was hands-down the tastiest fried chicken I've ever run across! Maybe the fact that the chicken was still alive up until a few minutes before it was cleaned, plucked, butchered, dredged in batter and tossed in the skillet, had something to do with it.

After dinner, Ellen and I covered the fine details of our upcoming meeting while Melvin got busy cleaning up in the kitchen. Apparently, he did about everything on the farm, including the farming. It was obvious he absolutely doted on his tiny wife, and in spite of her saucy, flirtatious ways, she felt the same way about him. I couldn't quite get my mind around the mental picture of them having sex, but where there's a will, there's a way.

February 6, 2015:

Janet knocked on my door at seven PM, sharp. I took her coat, led her into the kitchen and poured her a glass of wine.

Carol was just taking the crispy duck out of the oven. It had been cooking on low heat for hours and hours, and the aroma pervaded the whole apartment.

Janet sniffed the air and smiled, "Mmm, smells like duck! And is that hoisin sauce I'm detecting?"

Carol confirmed, "Yes and yes. You know your Chinese dishes, I see."

"Crispy duck is one of my favorites. You might save some of that fat to fry eggs and hash browns in." She gave Carol a quick hug and went on, "So how have you guys been. I haven't heard anything from you for over a month."

I took a sip of my wine and answered, "Yeah, I figured you'd be pretty darned busy settling into your new position as department head. Anyhow, I haven't had anything worth reporting ... until the last few days, that is. That's why I asked you to dinner. I'd definitely like to know if you've learned anything more about Austin and what he was up to with NSA. Did you turn up any interesting information?"

"Mm, nothing we didn't already know about, but I'm sure if they found anything special on his computer, I'll never hear about it. How about you? What have you come up with?"

"Several new developments you'll be interested in. But let's enjoy this nice dinner Carol's knocked herself out cooking for us before we get into the shop talk."

"Agreed! I'm starved!"

Carol served the crispy duck finger-food style, with the hoisin sauce, green onion strips, julienne cucumbers and Chinese pancakes. She even served some sweet plum wine to compliment the flavors. Between the three of us, there was hardly a crumb left on our plates when we were done. I helped Carol clear the table and load the dishwasher, then we retired to the living room with our wine.

"OK, Janet, here's what I've learned since the last time we talked." I took a few minutes to tell her about my meeting with Freiburg, then Sullivan. I took care to leave Willa's name out of the story. Her eyes popped wide open when I told her about our 'missing persons' showing up in Puerto Rico in the employ of the CIA. She was even more stunned to hear about Sarah's and my roll in Austin's death and her apparent association with both of the government agencies in question.

"So here's my big question for you, Janet: You know pretty much everything Austin would have been doing by way of testing for extrasensory capability. We know he tested our three missing people and then handed them over to the NSA, and we know now that the NSA set up a lab to research them even further. Do you have any idea what they would have been looking for that Austin wasn't? I mean, surely they would have been running the same tests you guys were with me."

She thought about it for a while before answering. "I hope I'm wrong, Chuck, but the only thing I can think of that Frank and I couldn't do is an actual study of the their brain tissue. I wonder if powerful agencies like NSA and CIA would have any such constraints."

I recalled my contact with Muller. "I don't think so. At least, I didn't get even a hint of anything like that from the missing person I made contact with. He seemed absolutely satisfied with how things were going. I didn't pick up any fear or anxiety at all when I was in his mind. Well, except for being discovered by me."

"How about the other two?"

"I had no contact with either of them. Maybe I should follow up on that."

"Well, if they're not studying their brains under a microscope, I can't think of anything different they might be testing for, unless it's some way to either block or enhance their ESP capabilities. I'd sure like to see their research from the inside, but I seriously doubt they'd be willing to share."

A thought flashed in my brain. "You're probably right about that, but you know what? It sure wouldn't hurt anything to ask. Ellen and I are meeting with NSA and CIA people on Monday morning. My asking about their current research wouldn't be at all out of line, as far as I can see. At the very least, Ellen and I can probe some brains to see if they're trying to hide something."

Carol grabbed my arm and squeezed. "Just don't do anything to put yourself in any danger, Chuck!"

Janet said, "I'd sure like to be a fly on the wall when you ask about that."

I made one of those executive decisions on the spot. "Maybe I can offer something better. Why don't you come to Washington with Ellen and me? We'll be flying in on Sunday evening. The meeting's at nine AM the next morning."

Janet wasn't expecting that. "Are you serious? How would they feel about that?"

"We won't know until we ask, will we? Can you get away from your office for a day or so?"

"Sure I can! Look, Chuck, I'd very much like to participate as an advocate for you and your people, but I don't want you to do anything to jeopardize your position."

"Janet, from my perspective, it's them on the defensive, not us. Why don't you plan to go with us and I'll set it up tomorrow with Freiburg. I think a strong representative from the academic community will enhance our position. My one meeting with Sullivan tells me he'll try to overpower us, and I intend to have a strong presence there to counter that."

She finished off her wine and set her glass on the coaster. "Sure! Why not? If you'll order the tickets, I'll arrange it with the school. My department has a travel budget, and this would definitely be a legitimate usage of the funds. Of course, it may be a month or so before you're repaid."

I stood, held out my hand and pronounced, "I'm not going to worry about it. Welcome aboard the team, partner! I think between the three of us, we might just kick some ass in Washington."

Carol laughed and pinched my butt, "Just make sure this particular ass gets back home safe and sound to your woman! And I don't want to see any teeth marks in it, either."

After Janet left, I decided to make another unannounced visit to Eric Muller, in spite of the late hour. Janet's comment about the other two struck home, and I needed some answers before I met with any government agency representatives. I didn't stop with Eric; I tracked down and contacted the other two as well.

Now, I knew where I was going.

Before crawling into bed and snuggling up to Carol's backside, I did one more mental visit to verify my suspicions. I learned exactly what I expected to learn. He wasn't happy about being jolted out of his sleep in the wee hours, but after I explained, he understood and agreed to cooperate.

February 7, 2015:

I reached Freiburg on his private line. It was no surprise to find him in his office on a weekend. He answered on the first ring.

"Freiburg speaking!"

"Jason, it's Chuck Duncan. I have the names of the people who will be coming with me."

"Names? I was under the impression you were talking about one other person."

"I was, but I changed my mind. Anyhow, they'll be Ellen Cooper, one of our own, and Dr. Janet Christy. You may remember her as Austin's associate."

Jason put on his hard-nose negotiating persona. "I'll go along with Cooper, but not with Christy."

"Not negotiable, Jason. You can't tell me you don't already have a thick file on Christy."

After a significant pause, "I'll get back to you."

He hung up, then called back about five minutes later. "Sullivan says OK."

"Good. We'll be flying in tomorrow evening and we'll need three hotel rooms. Can you arrange that?"

"It'll be taken care of. Let me know when your flights are due and I'll have a vehicle waiting at the curb."

After he hung up, I thought, Now, that was a helluva lot easier than I expected. These guys must really be feeling the pressure.

Janet and I arrived in Washington at half past six in the evening. Even before we were off the plane, Ellen made contact. "Chuck, I'm in the main terminal. You got baggage?"

"Janet does, I just have carry-on. We'll see you in a few minutes."

She was dressed in a nice gray suit and granny heels. I introduce them, "Ellen, I'd like you to meet Dr. Janet Christy. She's involved in research to find out how we do what we do. Janet, this is Ellen Cooper, one of our brightest stars and part-time saucy flirt."

"Oh, you!" Ellen scolded as she punched my arm. "It's so nice to meet you, Dr. Christy."

"Janet, please. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ellen. From what Chuck tells me, you'd be the perfect subject for my research."

Ellen laughed, "Ain't no way in hell I'd sit still for any pokin' n proddin', but I might be willin' to answer one or two questions."

A man in the proverbial dark suit with the American flag pin in his lapel stepped up and asked, "Charles Duncan?"