Chapter 27: Interrogation Central

Interrogation Central

Tuesday

Matt was rousted from his sleep at 3:22 this morning. “Six helos inbound with prisoners,” the security office warned.

“On the way; call CC,” he replied.

CC and her two newest recruits, Leon and Fred, met Matt and Jodi as they all grabbed a quick bite to eat. The two new recruits were fully decked out in combat gear but didn’t have weapons yet. They still had to finish safety training and then qualify with each weapon.

“Vishay and Jerri can work tonight after we finish, following up anything we don’t get done,” CC explained.

Leon shook Matt’s hand. “I want to thank you for springing Vishay and giving her a chance,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “In prison, she was dying a little every day. I also want to thank you for giving me a job, too.”

“Just make CC happy. She’s the one you work for,” Matt told him, having to raise his voice to be heard over the roar from the approaching helicopters.

Today went much the same as the previous day had, although Raven, Carla, and Sue helped to start a few interrogations after they got home from school. Overall, Matt and the girls “convinced” sixty-eight prisoners to talk, which kept the five hackers extremely busy. After supper, three hackers headed for bed while Vishay and Jerri kept working.

“This is going to be incredibly huge,” CC told Matt. “We’ve already drained accounts and identified real property worth nearly half a billion dollars just from the first two raids, and we aren’t even done with those two yet. Too bad your cellar isn’t bigger. I’ll earn more than enough to finish filling what you have.”

“I’m sure the government can arrange permits for us to dig a hidden cellar beneath the garages,” Matt offered.

“Yes!” she hissed excitedly, pumping her fist in the air.

“Get some sleep,” Matt ordered her.

The rest of the week went mostly the same. Matt and his girls initiated between fifty and seventy interrogations a day from Wednesday through Saturday. Heads of each federal law enforcement department stopped by to see the operation and to thank Matt, who sent gift cards for two free dinners at a very nice restaurant to each family on the block, thanking them for their patience and understanding.

Bill told him that the government was using his extra share and a half to buy four helicopters they had confiscated during the week’s raids. He said they were all Bell 412 helicopters, which meant nothing to Matt. Government mechanics would go over them and make sure they were in tip-top shape and would arrange to keep them at the four closest airports. The corporation that owned them would be in Matt’s name, but the government would cover the expenses of maintaining the helicopters, as well as paying flight crews and any other expenses. Each January they would send Matt the necessary paperwork for his taxes and would make sure the IRS and state government were aware that the federal government was actually operating the business.

“This is getting complicated,” Matt sighed.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you out of trouble,” Bill chuckled.

Things quieted down for two weeks, although Matt had noticed that the four temporary helicopter pads had become eight at some point. They’d been dismantled and were now stored inside two new, huge sheds--at least Matt called them sheds. When he first called them sheds, the construction crew corrected him, insisting that they were pole barns, not sheds. They were in the far corner of the property, right next to the golf course, but still not visible outside the wall except from the air.

The field hospital had treated only six people, and only one required surgery. That had been to repair damage from a bullet wound through the leg. Three of the wounded who were treated were agents who had been involved in the raids. Their wounds were minor enough that they were brought to the estate instead of being taken to a local hospital.

When, not if, the government did this again, they would need only one of the white cargo containers and one of the medical tents, so the tent was stored inside one of the pole barns. Still, Brent had left heavy-duty fitted green plastic covers over the sleeves in the ground so they could quickly erect two of the medical tents if necessary. The way he did it, the covers couldn’t be seen unless someone was within a couple feet of them.

Everything they needed could be delivered via tractor-trailers the next time. The only thing helicopters would deliver would be prisoners and their guards. Since Matt didn’t need the room the government had used for the ATC, they left everything set up in there and just locked the door. The portable units for the rapcon were left set up on the hills, but were covered with camouflage netting draped from the tops of nearby orange trees.

Each week for the next four weeks, there was one major raid a week where Matt helped by starting the interrogations. He had heard that they were running poor Roger ragged with the raids in the rest of the country and had even brought some of the prisoners from the eastern raids to the mansion.

Bill asked Matt if he could help Roger for a week starting the fifth week, and let the girls start any interrogations at the mansion. Bill only expected one raid in the west. Matt warned that the girls were only available in the evenings and on weekends because their primary focus was school. Bill agreed, and Matt and Roger found themselves on a farm somewhere in central Virginia, accompanied by Jerri, Vishay, and Fred.

“This is an upgrade from the last two places I stayed,” Roger chuckled when they saw the interior of the farmhouse. Working together, they managed to check the room they chose to use for starting the interrogations, making sure there were no hidden cameras or microphones. The room was a large interior bathroom with a single door and no windows.

Since nobody believed they were really water-boarding the prisoners, they no longer had to mess with showerheads or pitchers of water.

Roger thanked Matt when he handed Roger four extra bottles of Dart that he had smuggled in. Matt had used small shampoo and conditioner bottles he got from a hotel on his last book signing tour.

“It has been difficult trying to buy everything I need to make more,” Roger said. “I can only buy one or two items at a time without drawing undue suspicion.”

By the end of the day, the farm had a setup very similar to the one at the mansion, just on a smaller scale. The main differences were rows of concertina wire about two hundred yards from the house and four LAV-600 fighting vehicles, one near each corner of the compound. The smaller version of the field hospital was there, along with the prison cells, as well as the interrogation rooms. They’d even set up temporary helicopter landing pads and the Air Traffic Control setup, complete with two rapcon units.

“This must be big. They’ve never used a setup like this,” Roger commented.

“It’s like what we had at our place for the first set of raids,” Matt replied, explaining how they had interviewed over three-hundred prisoners in six days.

They were awakened at 2:36 the next morning. Someone in the ATC warned that the first eight prisoners were inbound. They had warned the cooks first, and a breakfast of sandwiches was waiting by the time they showered and dressed. Roger and Matt finished another scan of the interior bathroom looking for audio or video bugs just minutes before the first four prisoners arrived.

This time, they did four at the same time, releasing them to the interrogators once they were sure the prisoners were programmed to cooperate and wouldn’t say anything about their method.

The government had been waiting for the extra help and conducted a lot of raids that week. Matt and Roger worked twelve to fourteen hours a day. To facilitate the extra prisoners, more cargo containers with interrogation rooms and more with the temporary prison cells were brought in, as well as eight more temporary helicopter pads.

The government even had guards a mile away in each direction along the road that ran in front of the house. Six times a twin-engine plane used the street to land and disgorge prisoners and guards. It would taxi to the end of the blockaded section and spin about before taking off, all while the guards continued to stop any traffic. Matt heard that they only had to stop cars twice. That’s how far out in the boondocks they were.

Late on the third day, Bill arrived with two terrified-looking teenage girls he introduced to Matt as Kendra and Naomi. “CC says she needs more help. The FBI says these two are the most accomplished hackers they were just about to arrest. We offered them a choice of one year of house arrest and working for CC for four years, earning at least a hundred grand a year, or four years in prison. CC wants you to talk to them,” he said with a wink, “and then hook them up with Jerri and Vishay, to help.”

Half an hour later, Matt introduced Kendra and Naomi to Jerri and Vishay.

“I wondered why CC sent two more complete computer setups,” Jerri said, and then began telling CC’s two newest recruits what they did and how. Vishay assured them that “house arrest” was on a ten-acre estate with every amenity they could want, as well as hot and cold running security guards who were hunks if they were interested in male company at night. Matt left at that point to get some rest.

Within a day, Roger and Matt had a system down where they could process five groups of four prisoners each hour. The government brought in even more prison and interrogation cargo containers, as well as more and more interrogators. Bill even brought two more hackers. He explained that the interrogators were getting so much information from the prisoners that the government agencies were carrying out far more raids than they had originally planned. They hoped to catch most of the top people in the criminal organizations before they realized something was wrong and fled the country.

During a lull on day eight, Roger and Matt were asleep in two recliners, relaxing between prisoners. Bill came in and woke them up. “Only one more interrogation and you’re all done,” he said excitedly. “We’ve been chasing this one for five days and finally caught her.”

Looking at Matt, he said, “Given your ability to get our prisoners to cooperate, and your success with getting the hackers to work with CC, I suggest that you get this prisoner to work on your personal security staff. She’s one of the top assassins-for-hire in the world. She’s an outstanding martial artist, knows explosives, and is an outstanding sniper. I’d feel safer knowing that she’s working for you rather than plotting her escape from a prison cell. The only chance we’d have to hold her would be keeping her shackled twenty-four-seven in Florence.”

“I know that Leonard has been hiring more security, trying to double what we have. If she’s that good, I’ll have Leonard talk to her,” Matt replied.

Two minutes later, eight guards entered with a prisoner who was more heavily manacled than any other prisoner they’d dealt with. She even had the infamous ball and chain attached to each ankle and wore a strait jacket. Once she was securely manacled and zip-tied to one of the chairs, and the guards were gone, Matt pulled her lip down and touched a drop of Dart to it. Then he backed away. Six minutes later, both he and Roger could both see the telltale look in her eyes letting them know that she was under the influence of Dart. After the usual programming, Matt added a second layer of programming, and then a third so she’d work for him if Leonard hired her.

With that, they released her to her eight wary guards. “Want a ride home?” Bill asked. An hour later, the three men were at a private airfield aboard a small but luxurious private jet that had just lifted off the runway. The hacker corps would follow in a few days.

“Damn, this is a sweet ride,” Roger commented to Bill.

“It sure is. It’s one of the confiscations from this round of raids. Matt’s air charter service bought it,” he commented nonchalantly. Matt gawked, thinking that it was a good thing he hadn’t had a mouthful of soda or he’d have sprayed it all over the plane’s interior.

“Say what?” Matt gasped.

“You have no idea how much money you have, or had, in the account that you told us to hang on to,” he chuckled. “This set of raids has already confiscated sufficient money that we were able to buy enough good confiscated helos to have one at every major airport close enough to you that it can reach your place without refueling. We’ll have helos from San Diego to Sacramento, and from the Bay area to Reno and Phoenix. We’ll even have one at MCAS Miramar in San Diego and at Edwards AFB.”

“We figured that we’d pick up a few small jets to have at major airports farther east so we can fly people to John Wayne and use a helo from there,” he explained.

“Are you sure I can afford it all?” Matt asked, concerned.

“Absolutely, since the government charters everything. Our charter fees will always cover your costs, including salaries. maintenance, fuel, and insurance. Your pilots and mechanics are all former military and have passed strict security and background checks. You’ll make enough to show a small profit each year, and the government leases the helos, and now the jets, to use at a decent rate from a legitimate, private company. That makes it a bit easier to maintain our cover,” he assured Matt.

“We’ll keep this jet at John Wayne for you to use when you go on your book signing tours,” Bill promised. Matt looked around the cabin and counted seats to make sure there were enough for his girls and extended family.

It would be a tight fit if his sisters had another kid, or when his girls started having kids.

The flight home was by far the fastest he’d made. They didn’t have to deal with airline schedules or drive to a military base to catch a flight and didn’t have to wait for their baggage at a baggage carousel. Once they landed, Matt’s own helicopter flew him home. Matt was still nervous about what Bill was doing with the charter service, but as long as it didn’t drain his bank account, Matt was okay with it.

Matt almost had to ship twenty-two boxes from the airport to his home via a secure carrier, but the helicopter there had room for thirteen passengers. He filled most of the passenger spaces with boxes, leaving a single seat for himself--after the pilot weighed everything. The twenty-two U-Haul boxes were filled with cash for the girls to count and then deposit as part of his share. He and Roger had crammed as much cash as they could into each box and taped the lids closed securely before leaving Virginia. Matt had even stood on top of the cash to compact it as Roger added more before they closed each box. Then he had to sit on top of each box while Roger taped the lid shut.

They had no idea how much cash there was beyond the estimate Bill calculated by using the weight of the cash (including the boxes). He used the weight of a hundred bills and the historical average mixture of denominations of any bills they had confiscated to date. It didn’t really matter; it would be weeks before they made the final determination of how many shares there were for each of the raids, and even longer before they determined the total value of confiscated property for each raid. Given both the number of raids and how big some of the targets were, what Matt had in cash wouldn’t even come close to his half-share for a handful of the biggest raids.

Roger had one thing to do and then he intended to take a well-deserved vacation, starting in Las Vegas. “I’m going to put a million bucks on account at one of the casinos and blow a lot of it at the tables. I’ll also see some shows and eat great meals, many comped because I’ll be considered a high roller. Then, I intend to play golf at every course in Vegas before I even consider coming home,” he said grinning.

After Roger talked to two men, Matt had two more “interviews” to do. Bill, Roger, and Matt had talked on the flight home. They needed more people capable of beginning the interrogations. Bill and Roger agreed on two possible men. One worked with their group and the other worked for the Marshals Service. Both had been wounded seriously enough in one of the first raids that they wouldn’t be able to continue doing physically strenuous things. They also agreed on two additional names in case one or both men failed Matt’s interrogation or if Matt and Roger decided that they needed even more help.

When the helicopter landed at home, there was a small crowd there to greet Matt. First, the ladies each hugged and kissed him. CC mimicked them and then asked how her new hackers were doing. Meredith and Helen were in the group, and Leonard was last in line.

“I hired six new men,” he said. “I’ll see how we do with those six, but I think we may need four more.”

“Hire as many as you need. I think we’ll have at least a month or two of relative calm for you to get them used to the way you do things here before the government starts the next round of raids. They still have to digest the information they have collected to date. I may have a candidate coming in to interview with you. She was one of the top assassins-for-hire in the world before the government captured her. She’s deadly with martial arts and knows explosives, and she’s even a sniper. If the government sends her, I already made sure she’ll be completely loyal,” Matt assured him.

“Have someone take those boxes into the dining room for the girls,” Matt added, pointing to the stack of boxes the co-pilot and one of the security guys were unloading.

It took Matt three days to unwind before he could start writing again. He had barely started reviewing his writing when Vivian and Ron Lewis came by to see him. They asked if Matt would consider letting Vickie join them permanently.

“I didn’t see that coming,” he said, mainly to Vivian.

“Aside from the fact that the sex is better, she quit her other job and works for Ron now,” Vivian explained. “Between them, they get more work done every day and both get home just after 5:00. Ron even has enough energy left that the three of us have a good time in the bedroom,” Vivian said, blushing.

“It’s entirely Vickie’s decision,” Matt replied thoughtfully. “What will Rex and Becky say?”

“We already talked to them,” Ron said. “Becky says she’s okay with it if you are. Rex says I’m the luckiest man alive,” he chuckled.

Raven let Matt know later that Laura and Bill seemed destined to be a couple. It reminded Matt that he still needed to talk to Bill’s ex-wife.

Matt put the next eight weeks to good use. Unable to get into a mood to write while the raids had been underway, he finally finished and submitted the book that he’d nearly finished before the first round of raids. It was a good thing he had been so far ahead of schedule or he’d be holding up his publisher. As it was, he still submitted the book one week early. Matt even had the next installment of the Ruy Lopez series almost ready for Tess.

Matt finally contacted Bill’s ex-wife. She was a bit bent out of shape that he stuck his nose into their personal life, but at least she listened. Neither Bill nor Matt had heard from her since then, but she had talked to Raven several times, as well as to Carla, Sue, and Jodi. Raven offered to pay for Bill’s wife to talk with Steve Morris so she could learn about dealing with submissives.

Ron, Vickie, and Vivian settled into their new life. While Matt was glad that Vickie had moved out, he felt weird not having her around, even though they rarely had sex.

Peggy moved home, but she and Becky were still occasional visitors to Matt’s bed. Their visits were infrequent enough that he wasn’t worried about becoming too attached to either of them.

The two men Bill sent Matt to train passed his questioning while they were drugged. Once he taught them how to make and use Dart, Matt gave them several layers of instructions to make sure they didn’t divulge anything about Dart, especially its existence. He also told them how he and Roger had handled various situations and stressed that they needed to be alert to people trying to figure out the secret. If someone pressed them on how they were so successful, they were programmed to give the same response Matt had given the police in the Grand Caymans.

Roger had just returned from more than a month’s vacation by the time Matt was confident enough to turn the two men loose on their own. They’d even done several interrogations at the mansion. Roger went with them and set one up in upstate New York. The second man was set up in rural Alabama. Both places were in the boondocks and each had four portable helipads until the permanent ones were built. Both places also had a dirt runway where small, propeller driven aircraft could land.

Construction had begun on the new basement to give CC more room. Rather than building it beneath the garage, they were building it alongside the house. It was where Dambach had built the original outside entrance and elevator to the basement, only much larger. Once it was completed, the original door that had been filled in with stone and mortar would be re-opened, connecting the new two-story basement with the old sub-basement.

The construction crew was small, only ten men. The contractor had been recommended by Bill’s boss. They were using a single Bobcat, trying to maintain a low profile while digging on the basement. They’d even installed camouflage netting from the roof of the house across to the security office to hide the entire construction area from above.

The four dump trucks at the house had originally arrived under cover of darkness the first night, proceeding as quietly as dump trucks could. Each night they left one at a time, as soon as they were filled with soil. They dumped the dirt and returned to be ready the next night. They left enough topsoil to backfill the hole once the construction was complete. Those twenty-foot-high walls around the estate really hid a lot. The digging took three weeks and Matt was surprised that nobody complained about construction noise.

Matt did another fantasy for Jodi, one he’d thought about and revised since the last one.

Jodi’s fourth fantasy scenario

Jodi’s POV

For a week after Irene came back into Matt’s life, I had been worried that he’d choose her over me. I had no tits, hips, or ass, and she had all three. I looked like a boy. She looked like a centerfold and was a shoo-in for homecoming queen.

Each day after school, Matt picked me up, took me to his house, and fucked me. Irene usually showed up just after Matt had fucked me for the first time. After the second day, she didn’t even wait for him to tell her what to do. She came right over and licked him clean, and then sucked his cum out of me. While she was cleaning me, Matt had me suck his cock until he was hard, and then used it on Irene while I ate her. Every other day he fucked her ass, pumping a load of cum into her ass while I licked and sucked her pussy and she sucked his cum out of my pussy.

The days that he didn’t fuck her ass, he fucked mine. He worked with Irene every day until she could take him into her throat, although he kept telling her that she needed to be more enthusiastic. Saturday morning he picked me up a block from my home. When I walked into his house, there was another naked woman there. “Jodi, this is Cindy, my mom,” he introduced us. I know my jaw dropped because he had one hand between her legs and I could tell that his fingers were up inside her at the time.

“Take Jodi into the bedroom and get her ready for me while I get a beer,” he told her.

“C’mon,” she said to me, taking my hand and leading me into a different bedroom than Matt’s. “I haven’t seen you before,” she commented casually as she began stripping me.