Chapter 16: Operation Bear Trap

Operation Bear Trap got its official start the second week of September which corresponded with the second week of the new fall semester. I was busy teaching and getting my research better organized. Now that I had gained some recognition of my work it was time to get serious about it. Every week since that article in that professional journal mentioned my work in the field of statistical analysis I would get several letters inquiring about my research. Most wanted additional information, one from a company in Germany offered me a position with them if only I moved there. I even had a couple of letters offering to do co-research if I would share my work with them. The last category of communications were round filed right away. They were an offer of them stealing my work and getting joint credit for my labors. The fear of Publish or Perish was a constant fear for Academics.

Sadie’s job had gotten more demanding of her time over the summer so she wasn’t able to visit like she planned. She was basically working more hours for the same pay. Her boss was demanding more from her as in turn her boss’s boss was demanding more from her in turn. Turmoil rolls down hill it seemed. Our Sunday night phone conversations got more intense, more serious. She was considering to heck with it and chuck it all and move to Minot to live with her grandmother. Sadie would be able to get a decent job on the near by air base if nothing else. I offered to inquire at the college for her but she declined. She wanted to make it on her own she said. Fearlessly independent that girl was.

While all this was going on in my life and those who I cared about, Operation Bear Trap was making progress. The FBI was able to secure the loan of one of those masking devices to try out. It was to see what practical applications the agency could use it for. Agent Foster let me know that he and it would be coming to Minot in the next couple of weeks and set up shop so we could continue with baiting the trap. Agent Foster was able to obtain Ginny B’s phone number and after we got the device secured and set up I was to give her a call over it. And start the ball rolling to reconnect with Ginny B over the phone. With that done and running well, part B was to be activated. It would be a midweek trip for me into Chicago and just happen to run in to good ole Jeffy when he was making a delivery to a tavern near the campus. Chicago FBI agents followed him around for several days tracking his route and the times of day he made a delivery. One thing about Jeff, he was regular as clockwork. It was fortunate that there was a bar near the college campus and the times of his delivery worked out perfectly.

The FBI scored big on this one. The pub was just a few blocks north of the campus of The University of Chicago. The university has a stellar reputation as a center of research of the sciences. What better place than there for a numbers cruncher to be. With that settled, the logistics were hashed out and my being at the right place at the right time was choreographed. First though I needed to start talking with Ginny B and get her hormones flowing in my direction once again.

It was determined it would be best if the cloaking device, what we called it for lack of a better name, would never leave the possession of the FBI. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust me, they just didn’t want to have to explain how a valuable piece of equipment on loan to them developed legs and walked. So Agent Foster stayed with it when I was in the room and the “little black box” as it got to be known was secured.

Plans were I would come on base to call Ginny B. The phone conversations would be monitored and taped as evidence. When the call was completed the “little black box” and any recording tape used could be secured in a vault somewhere on base. Agent Foster was able to stay in a decent motel close to campus so we could ride out to the base together. During his down time he got to become a regular dinner guest at Mrs Jorgenson’s house. She did her best to try to fix him up with another of her grand daughters. He was a confirmed bachelor and that made her try just that much harder to make that connection. He even got talked into going to church with us on Sunday mornings. We soon got the reputation as “her boys” when she was in a clutch of her church friends.

For the next week Agent Foster and I worked on developing a script I would follow to draw out Ginny B, play with her emotions and then finally dump her. We figured that would be enough to raise her wrath and start her on her way to her downfall. We worked on the script for a full week before we felt it would work as we had planned. To further check on its effectiveness Agent Foster faxed a copy of what we had planned for me to say and had several of the female agents look it over and asked them if it would do what we hoped it would do. We were four out of four with the female agents who were asked to look it over. One female agent went further to say if she ever met me after reading the script I would be sporting a third eye from her 357 magnum. I guess we got it right after learning of that statement.

To make sure the system worked and it hid my current location I decided to use it to call my parents house. It was now over 2 years since I had any form of communication with my folks. Besides letting them know I was doing OK, we were going to use the phone call to support the idea that I was in Chicago working. I dialed my folks’ phone number and I heard the black box makes some funny popping and squeaking noises on my end and then I heard it dialing out. It rang three times and I heard it being picked up.

“Hello” I said nervously into the handset.

Then I heard the shaky voice of my dad answer back, “Is that you champ?”

“Yes, Dad its me. I missed you.”

I heard my dad shout over his shoulder, “You better get in here and right now. You won’t want to miss out on this. Hurry your tail in here!”

I listened as I heard footsteps coming towards the phone. “Whats got you so riled up?” I heard my mom say.

“Just say hello on the phone and don’t ask so many questions!” my dad huffed.

“Hello?” my mother asked questionably. I could sense the uncertainty in her voice.

“Mom, its me. How are you?” I said in a shaky voice. For a second I thought she had passed out.

“Is that really you? And just where have you been for the last two years? Too good to take a couple of minutes to call us and let us know where you were and that you were at least alive.” she said in her perturbed voice.

So far the next five minutes I was subjected to her ire. How I was an ungrateful offspring, etc, etc ... Then finally the kicker came how I ran off and left Ginny B brokenhearted and severely depressed.

I looked over at Agent Foster and he just rolled his eyes. Was all I could do to keep from laughing at my mother’s tirade. I had her really wound up. Poor dad was really going to suffer when we ended the phone conversation. After all I was his demon spawn to put all of them through this terrible hell for the last two years. She finally wound down and it was time for me to put forth the greatest acting job of my twenty something life and lie to my mom.

“Mom, I couldn’t tell you where I was before now. I was in a very secure undisclosed location working on some highly confidential information for the government. And that is all I can say about that.” I lied. “Mom now I am working at the University of Chicago doing basically the same thing but not as secure as where I was.”

“We are coming up there and I won’t take no for an answer.” she said in her best I am in command here voice. “Remember you aren’t too old and too big for me to take a switch to you.”

I wasn’t planning on that response and I had to think fast on my feet or the whole Operation Bear Trap was doomed from the start. I had to put up a road block of some sort to keep her from getting around it. I knew I was going to hell for the whopper I was about to tell.