The Hawk and The Chipmunk
Copyright© 2005 R. Michael Lowe aka The Scot
Chapter 75
Brenda rushed into Hawk’s office with Maria close behind. Their husband was sitting at his desk looking at the screen of Ron Gonzales’ laptop. The look on his face was a combination of shock, amazement, and disbelief. “What did you find?” asked Maria.
“There was a hidden and encrypted area within the email storage. What the daughter observed was the counter of unread emails kept increasing, but there were no unread emails visible in the files.”
Maria then asked, “Have you cracked the encryption?”
“Ron must have either been lazy or, like so many others, had problems remembering a lot of codes. Whichever it was, laziness or forgetfulness, the password Denise sent for the computer also opened the files. The tricky part was to get to them, as whoever set this up didn’t use the normal Windows procedure for hiding a file. Fortunately, one of my utility programs was able to bring the folders into the active file list.”
“What did you find?” asked an inquisitive Brenda.
“The folders contain copies of Ron’s e-mails to and from Brandon Stokes, the Indian Agent. The interesting thing is though the outgoing mail stopped the day Ron was caught the incoming emails are still arriving.”
“Still coming?”
“They must have set up an automatic forwarding script which copies anything to or from Stokes, and relating to the tribe, to Ron.”
As Hawk scanned through a sampling of some of the emails around the time of Ron’s death Brenda asked, “They couldn’t have been stupid enough leave the script active after Ron was gone.”
“Damn!” exclaimed Hawk, “not only did they do that, the people in the Interior Department kept forwarding notes with the existing information still attached. Here’s one that’s a notated forward of an email from Laddy Armstrong, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff. What’s more, it contains an order to prevent the starting of the wind generator manufacturing operation on tribal land.”
Hawk reviewed several more before exclaiming, “Maria, get me your grandfather, immediately - preferably on one of our encrypted phones. Brenda, call Deke and see if he or one of the other lawyers can get here stat! Also, check with Bill and see if the Citation I flew to Seattle is available for a flight to DC.”
As his wives rushed to follow his orders, Hawk called White Mountain Security. When Ron’s widow answered, Hawk said, “Denise, what your daughter found is definitely important. I need the two of you, along with someone from security, on a plane to DC as quickly as you can get one. Communicate with Bill Bryce, our chief pilot, about scheduling a plane when you get closer to town. There may be some others flying with you.”
“Hawk, is it really that important? This is not the best time for me to be out of the office, or for Jan to miss school. Besides, I don’t know if I can get someone to watch my other daughter.”
“Bring her with you - and yes, it’s that important. In addition, see if you can get one of the encrypted cell phones to use for your trip. If you do, please call and give Maria or Brenda the number, and they’ll give you all three of ours.”
“Hawk, if you feel it’s that important, I’ll get started immediately.”
Hawk hung up the phone, only to be handed a cell phone by Maria. “It’s Jason. Also, the plane will be ready in about ten minutes, and Deke is almost here,” she advised.
“Thanks. Now, I want you both to go with me, but we don’t have time to run home for things.”
“That’s not a problem, we keep a few things here for an emergency. Anything else we’ll pick up there.”
Hawk gave her the OK signal with his fingers and turned his attention to the cell phone in his hand. “Good afternoon, Jason. I hope I’m not pulling you off anything too important.”
“No, actually we’re taking a break. The session is running a bit long tonight.”
“I looked at Ron’s laptop and it’s a powder keg. We’re about to leave here to come to DC, but I need two things. The first is the name of the DEA guy who worked with you in California, and second, you may want to round up some sympathetic colleagues to look at something. I think this is going to bring down the Vice President.”
“Hawk, Elijah Abrams is the agent, and he’s now based in DC. I’ll give him a call.”
“Do that, but also see if he knows a ‘good guy’ in the Phoenix FBI office.”
“Don’t need to ask. Call the local office and talk to Hap Donaldson. He and I go way back.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Good, and when you know your ETA, call me and I’ll have Joel or Bennie pick you up.”
“Joel and Bennie, as in San Diego?”
“Yeah, they’re working for me here in DC.”
“Cool. They seemed to be good guys. I’ll give you a call in about three hours. We’re taking a fast private jet.”
“At that speed, unless you’re flying military, you’re flying a Citation Ten.”
“Yes, and I’ve about decided to add one to our fleet. I can’t believe how little time it took to go to Seattle this morning.”
“It’s a good plane, but I suspect you will also need a Gulfstream at some point in the future.”
“I’ll trust your judgment on that. Anyway, Deke just walked into the office, and I need to talk to him before we leave.”
“Are you bringing Maria and Brenda?”
“Yes, with Denise and others following on a later flight.”
“Good. I’ll see you later on this evening. Have a safe trip, Son, and protect those women well for me.”
Hawk hung up, looked past Deke, and asked, “Do we need someone from security to go with us?”
Brenda replied, “We’ve got it covered.”
Hawk turned to the waiting attorney and said, “I bet you’re wondering what this is all about.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” laughed Deke.
“First, look at this email with me.”
Deke walked behind Hawk’s desk and looked over his shoulder. When he reached the end of the page, he reached up and pressed the ‘page down’ key. Moments later, Deke exclaimed, “Holy Shit! Where did you get this? Is this legit?”
“Before I give you more details, is this something that we can trust Hap Donaldson with? He’s the FBI person Jason recommended.”
“Hell yes! He’s a throwback to the old G-men days, more interested in law and justice than getting his name on the news or protecting the image of the bureau.”
“Do you want me to call him?” asked Maria.
“Yes. Tell him I need to see him as quickly as possible, and he may need to fly with us to DC to protect the chain of evidence.”
“Hawk,” Deke interjected, “at this point I don’t know if it will help, but it can’t hurt.”
“Good. Now, can you fly with us to DC?”
“How soon.”
“I’ve got a Citation Ten downstairs warming up.”
“Let me call my wife and my office. I don’t have any clothes or toiletries with me, but I guess I can pick them up in the DC area.”
“Deke, I’m in the same boat, so make your calls. I really want you involved on this one.”
Brenda stuck her head into Hawk’s office, and said, “Hap Donaldson is on line three.”
“Thanks. Also, could you see if Sean Sullivan is still here?”
“I think he lives here. Do you want to see him, or talk to him on the phone?”
“Just the phone, for the moment.”
Hawk picked up the phone and pressed for line three. “Agent Donaldson, I’m Robert Gray Hawk. Do you have a moment?”
“Hawk, Jason has talked about you numerous times. That old man thinks a lot of you, and I think a lot of him. As for a moment to spare, I’m assuming this is Bureau related. I’m already at home, but how can I help you?”
“I can give you more information when you get here, but I’ve found evidence that may bring down the Vice President, if not the entire administration. I need to place it in the hands of an honest lawman and transport it to Jason as soon as possible.”
“Son, I’m in Gilbert. Where are you at the moment?”
“The offices of N.I.D.E., at William’s Gateway. I’ve a Citation Ten downstairs waiting for us.”
“I’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes. I’ll use my ID to drive straight to the aircraft. You can tell me about everything after we’re in the air.”
“Fine, we’ll be waiting for you.”
Hawk looked up as he hung up the phone and saw Maria holding up two fingers. Realizing she was telling him Sean was on line two he punched line 2, and asked, “Sean. How are you doing this afternoon?”
“I’ve had a great day. We’ve made some great progress on the new computer, and I just finished testing your ‘pen.’ It works perfectly.”
“Good, I need you to bring it to my office as soon as possible and then forget you ever saw it. I also have a little gift for you when you get up here.”
“I’ll be right up.”
Hawk hung up and shouted, “Brenda!”
“Yes, Hawk.”
“I want you to make a foundation check out to Sean Sullivan for twenty-five thousand. Call it a research grant.”
“Not a problem. Marc is on his way here with some clothes and stuff. He’s going directly to the aircraft, and we’re ready to go.”
“Good. I need to pack up this laptop, get mine, and head to the airplane. Deke, are you going to be able to go?”
“No problem. Let’s get that missile launched.”
“Missile? I thought we were flying in an airplane,” laughed Brenda. Deke first thought she was serious and had his mouth open to explain when her laughter finally registered. He turned slightly red as he joined in the laughter.
Suddenly remembering his luncheon in Seattle Hawk handed Maria Sarah’s business card, and asked, “Hun, will you call Sarah and introduce yourself. Tell her we’re still interested, but we’ve got to make an urgent trip to DC.”
“I’ll take care of it. Geeze! Now he’s got me calling his ex-girlfriend. The gall of some men!” This added to the laughter from Brenda’s tease and helped ease the tension even further.
Hawk had just finished putting Ron’s computer back in the case when an excited young Sean Sullivan came running into Hawk’s office. Before he acknowledged Sean, Hawk asked, “Deke, can you take this laptop and my wives with you to the airplane?”
“Sure. We’ll see you in a minute.”
Brenda handed Hawk an envelope and followed Deke and Maria out the door. As soon as they left the office Hawk turned to Sean and said, “Now, let’s see what you have.”
Sean handed his boss a black leather portfolio designed to hold a letter-sized legal pad. Inside it there was a slot containing a fancy, over-sized Gold Cross Pen and several separators to file various notes. Also, in a separate box there was an identical pen. “Hawk, the one in the box, is the special, and it has a tiny red jewel in the top. The one in the portfolio writes and has a nice gel roller ball for easy writing. The top comes off like a fountain pen.”
“OK.”
“When it’s placed in the portfolio’s pen holder, it does nothing. On the other hand, if the special pen is placed there if it’s discharged it’ll recharge. If the pen is already fully charged, then, like the real pen, it doesn’t do anything. To fire the special remove the cap, place it on the end like a normal pen, aim it in the general direction, and press both the jewel and the pocket clip at the same time. It’ll not make a sound when it fires, but it’ll make a slight whining sound when it does charge.”
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