Chapter 60

Chuck

A ringing phone brought me out of a deep sleep. When I picked it up, a recording told me that I had left a wakeup call for this time. Looking at my special black Rolex, I saw that it was seven.

The Rolex always brought a smile to my face while I was still in the special dreamy state between slumber and being fully awake. The watch held some special memories for me, as the Hawaiian trip had solidified my thoughts of Lisa, and given me opportunity to become more entwined with Steve and his family. The watch was also special because it had been a gift from some special Irish friends. Friends I hoped to see again soon.

No sooner had I hung up than phone rang again. It was Nightfox, and he said: "Just making sure you got a wakeup call. I'll see you downstairs in twenty."

I did the triple S morning routine, and was waiting for the elevator, when Sam walked out of his room and came toward me. We went to the area where a free breakfast was being served and had some bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and gravy. The food wasn't as good as on the patio, but it was good. While we were eating, my cell phone went off.

"Johnson."

John was on the other end and said, "You now have some DC elite dancing around this morning. Someone arrested the grandson of the Martinson Corporation, Carter Martinson. Do you know anything about that?"

"John, the man will be in court this morning on charges of murder, espionage, theft, and criminal conspiracy. I didn't direct him to be arrested, but would have if I hadn't been beaten to it. Ask anyone that inquires why they are concerned and get a statement."

"I can't do that with the politicos here. That isn't healthy, and I would prefer to keep my job."

"Why do you want the hassle, you don't need that job, and I know you like living the good life on the beaches and on the water."

"Johnson, don't tempt me, although I do like living here where I am. My family is happy here, and I do a service for my country in the job I'm doing. Just be careful out there and don't step on the wrong toes. Martinson has always been known for having tight security, so don't be surprised to find someone on your back."

"No sweat, John, that's why I have a new man watching my back for me. Should I shoot them or warn them first."

"Damn, don't be shooting anyone from Martinson. That would be a sure way to get us all in trouble."

"John, we did that last night inside the hotel when we were in a firefight with some hired shooters. There's a total of six dead and all had Martinson employee cards."

"Oh shit, this is not going well, is it? Does the Director know?"

I said, "If he doesn't, he will as soon as he's in his office. Are you in your office yet or still at home?"

"It's after eight here. Of course, I'm in my office. I don't lollygag around like you do."

"Go get the reports from his office so you can catch up on the evidence. There are probably several hundred pages of interrogations and evidence there by now."

"Were you up all night getting this evidence?" John asked this accusingly.

"Yep, went to bed near five for a couple of hours. I'll sleep more later, but it's mop up time now. Listen, my breakfast is getting cold. I'll call you later." This time I hung up on him.

After eating, I said, "Let's go into the station and see if we can file our reports, then we'll go see the Bureau boys to see what the deal is with them. Come on, we'll see if we can either get a car or catch a ride."

The front of the hotel had people being searched as they left. The people who objected were taken back inside and held until Bureau people could talk with them before forcing them to be searched.

A deputy came up to us and said, "I'm here to be your taxi driver. The Chief has me on nanny duty for you."

As soon as we entered the station, Frank Sterling came up to us. He said, "You probably only got a couple of hours sleep last night too, huh? If you need to use a desk to write your reports, use any of them." He waved his hand at multiple open desks with PC monitors on them.

Sam and I sat at computers and went through the incidents we were involved in, as well as the interrogations. It took well over an hour before we were done and handed in the printed reports. The station clerk asked if I saved the file. I told her I had, and she found that Sam had saved his as well. I said, "I've already transmitted mine to Tampa, so if you would, send Sam's too."

She said, "Oh yeah, you're the Charles Johnson who reviews these, aren't you?"

Nodding, I said, "That's Chuck to you, Ma'am. Charles is kind of formal for a guy like me."

She smiled and went to work on the reports.

Frank Sterling, the Station Chief took us to the break room and poured us some coffee and offered us some law enforcement donuts. Sam and I each had a special donut with our coffee while listening to Frank's summary of what all had transpired since the major incidents last night.

I said, "You know those techs that were recording had to be the ones that alerted someone that the other two men were caught. They haven't mentioned that yet, so we need to get that out of them so we have the right order of what happened and who was notified by whom."

Frank said, "We'll get them all back into the interrogation rooms and work on them. I'll get a good time line on all of the activities. The fake agents that followed everyone upstairs fooled our guys last night. If they were fooled, a lot of others may be fooled as well. Both the Bureau and my station have been warned to ask for ID every time they meet someone they don't know. Hope you don't get mad at being stopped."

"No problem, Frank. That way I'll know we're all being careful." After pausing, I asked, "What can I do for you? Sam and I are good for leg duty if you need something done."

"Got it all covered, Chuck. Ned and I have over a hundred visiting agents and deputies helping on this now. We both have mixed the teams to help us coordinate our activities. The place that's going to need help is DC. A lot of shit is rolling downhill toward them. Hope they can handle it."

I had to nod in agreement to that statement.

"How about I talk to the prosecutors for a few minutes before court this morning? Do you know where they might be?"

Frank smiled, "They are all lying down on cots in the ready room. You probably should wake them up so they can clean up for court. The two women will probably want to brush their hair."

Sam and I went into the ready room and woke the four prosecutors. As they sat up and stretched, the lead man said, "This is some kind of case. I'll bet the boss is going to have a shit fit over all the high profile people we're messing with."

The two girls excused themselves and headed for the bathroom. The two guys were given razors and toothbrushes and told there was shaving cream and toothpaste in the locker room. They headed that way.

I sent the clerk into the women's locker room with toothbrushes and asked the clerk to give them whatever supplies they might need.

A half-hour later, the four looked presentable and began gathering all their documents to go before a federal judge.

The prosecutors played a game for the arraignments. They had only one prisoner in the courtroom at a time. The judge asked the prosecutors for every man accused, "Are you sure you have evidence to convict this person without wasting the government's money?"

Each time one of the prosecutors would say, "Yes, Your Honor, we have sufficient evidence to present and convict today if you want to convene a trial."

A single law firm had been hired for all of the prisoners, including the Martinson kid. The prosecutors were grinning, as it became even more evident there was a conspiracy of some sort. All of the prisoners were remanded to custody since they were all considered flight risks. The judge specified that the prisoners were not to be removed from this building unless he personally authorized the transfer.

After court, the prosecutors, the Marshal Station Chief, and the Bureau Special Agent got together to discuss what needed to be accomplished during the interrogations. They did say the law firm was leaving an attorney at the building to attempt to be present for all questioning. Ned said, "Hell, we have four interrogation rooms and there's only one legal eagle. We'll bring Martinson and three others up, so we should be able to get information from at least one of them. The lawyer will stick with the money, so we should be able to question the others freely unless they specifically ask for an attorney."

The prosecutors all looked at each other and said, "One of us will try to be in each of the interrogation rooms so there is no coercing the prisoners."

I told the group, "Sam and I are going to take a short nap, then head up to Salt Lake City. We'll give you a call to see if you need us back here. I think you have all of the big loose ends tied up right now. Keep me posted through my Tampa office."

Before we left, I asked Ned if he had heard how Bud and Jim were. Ned said, "Bud's a tough one. He's going to have sore ribs, but nothing's broken. No cuts or tears on him either. Jim's solid, no problem there. He says he needs to get this done and back to Las Vegas for some important business of some kind."

I laughed and said, "He met his match. The girl of his dreams walked into his world a couple of weeks ago and he is lovestruck. Now that he knows what a little heaven is, he wants more."

Sam, Ned, and I laughed at that, then shook hands all around and headed back to hotel for a nap. Sam and I agreed to meet at noon to head out to the airport. Our nanny deputy said he would be in the lobby waiting for us.

Two hours later, Sam and I were refreshed and heading out to the airport. When we entered the hangar where my Citation was parked, we were challenged by the deputies guarding the place. We had to show our IDs and badges and have them confirmed before they let us proceed to the bird.

While we waited for confirmation, I called Wanda. She said she had received all of the reports and asked about Bud. I assured her he was all right, then she said, "You may get a call. I was notified to advise you to keep an open channel." There was a pause, then she added, "Mark, from out at the trailer park, asked for your cell number. He said he had forgotten to record it on his phone. Should I give it to him?"

"Sure, Wanda, he rode out here with us. I have his personal cell number. I can give him a call. He's in Cheyenne visiting with his son and his family."

Wanda said, "I heard you gave him and Caroline a ride. That was nice of you."

"Easy to do, Wanda."

She said, "Remember to keep a channel open on the required frequency. Call me if you need anything."

I did a very thorough preflight of the aircraft to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. The plane had been fueled, so I had the aircraft towed outside then began the startup. While waiting for the gauges to get stabilize, I filed a flight plan for Salt Lake City, set my radio receivers for the frequencies I wanted, punched up the information on the instrumentation, and waited for clearance for taxi and takeoff.

While we were cueing up to takeoff, three successive airplanes landed that were all government owned, including an Air Force air transport. I suppose some big shots were coming to town to muddy the waters. Glad we were getting out of there.

The Salt Lake City visit was pleasant. The Station Chief was very happy to have special congratulations. He asked that all of his off-duty men join us for dinner and set up a reservation to handle everyone.

During the dinner, I made a special announcement and congratulated the Chief and all of the men who had helped during a key period of the investigation of escapees that were moving back into the U.S. from Canada. Their ability to keep the prisoners out of sight may have saved many lives, as they could have been involved in any number of other terrorist activities.

Sam and I stayed overnight and slept soundly as we were both worn out. In the morning, I checked in with the Omaha operation and found that they were in good shape since the federal judge had issued a directive all the way to DC Justice regarding his order to remand all of the prisoners. All out of town non-Bureau or Marshal Service personnel were forbidden contact with the prisoners. The only people who could interview them were law enforcement, prosecutors, and their own legal counsel.

We sat back at the breakfast table, sipping our coffee and talking about what was next. I called Mark to see what his schedule would be. Mark said, "Caroline and I don't want to go home yet, but could you stop by here for a while. You can enjoy a meal and I'm sure my son has room for you to stay the night if you want. He wants to talk to you about something you may want to hear. Would you mind stopping in?"

"Not at all, Mark. We'll be in about eleven this morning. Will that be all right with your son?"

"Sure, my kid is on a sort of forced vacation right now, so he has plenty of time."

"See you soon, Mark."

When I filed for Cheyenne, I was redirected to call it in personally. I had to give my agency security number for permission to land. I gave my U.S. Marshal security travel number and was granted permission to land. They must be doing something special in Cheyenne to have security that tight.

As soon as we set down in Cheyenne, a follow-me truck pulled in front of us and led us to the operations building. There, a handful of Air Force Air Police came out to the aircraft to greet me. A young lieutenant asked for our IDs, then took them to his vehicle to call us in. When he came back he said, "Why did you use a different number to land this time? The number you gave us before wasn't from the Marshal Service, it was a Secret Service number."

I looked at the man hard trying to remember the sequence of events that happened when we left Tampa and filed to come in here. "Let me see that number to see if it matches what I have."

The man produced a pad of paper with a number written on it. I compared it to my Secret Service agent number and they matched. I told the officer, "Must have just forgotten which branch I was traveling for. I often have to mix travel for both agencies."

He nodded and told me, "You have people waiting for you in operations. If you prefer, I can detail someone to watch your aircraft."

"Thanks, Lieutenant, I appreciate the courtesy."

As Nightfox and I walked to the operations building, I said, "I think I know who our watchdog is at home. Pretty sneaky. I wonder how long they were watching me before they approached me for that first mission."

Sam said, "They watched me for three years in the Corps before they offered me the position. They had someone on my own team that I didn't know was observing me. They were smart too, since they waited until it was time for me to re-up before they approached me. They did tell me later who had been watching me. The Service is pretty thorough, you know."

Inside operations, Mark's whole family was there to greet us. Mark, Caroline, Gene, his wife Sandy, and their two kids were all happy to see us. Sandy said, "Come on, we'll get back to the house and have a tall cold glass of iced tea so you men can talk."

At the house, Gene got right down to business. "My job with Martinson is in question because of some kind espionage the company was involved in. They must have been trying to get information from other companies and now my division is locked up tight. As you saw, even our little airport is locked up tight with security. So far, the company is paying me, but I can't take a chance they will continue. I have a family."

Mark said, "I know you're involved out at the airpark, Chuck. You may even be one of the owners the way DeDe talks about you. Gene needs a job that he can depend on. He's an aeronautical engineer with emphasis on electronics. If you could let him submit an application to S&S, he could be of value with R&D or at the airpark. The man is rated to fly almost anything and is a great instructor. Sandy here is also an instructor, so you would be getting two for one. Do you think you could help get him an application?"

"This is easy," I smiled. "Let me call Ruth at S&S to see what we need to do. You know Steve, Mark; he always wants a shot at talent."

I called Ruth and she asked for Gene's personal e-mail address. She said, "I'll send him our forms and he can fill them out and e-mail them back. As soon as we have them, I'll run him by Steve."

Gene gave Ruth his e-mail address, then he was transferred to someone else who was obviously knowledgeable about the equipment Gene had been working with. He then talked to another person who he answered with some technical questions. He paused, listened then said, "Thank you, I hope to meet you soon. Here's Chuck."

When I took the phone, John Truant said, "If this man checks out, he's hired. Steve and Wes are looking for someone with his qualifications for here and in the R&D center. Steve is going to go nuts until he has him locked up. Tell him to just sit tight and begin thinking about working in warmer weather."

Sandy had gone to their PC and was printing out the forms that had been sent. She handed them to Gene who began filling them out by hand while Sandy was doing something with the forms on the PC. Her fingers were flying on the keyboard then she printed out the forms and circled some boxes. She came over to the table where Gene was working and said, "I've filled in all the areas they asked for except the few that are circled. You may not be able to give them straight answers because it's going to be classified. Write what you want. I'll check what I filled in with what you've written to make sure it's correct."

Gene rolled his eyes and began scribbling on the forms. Sandy went back to the PC and compared what she had typed to what Gene had handwritten. Gene brought the forms back to Sandy and she entered the last of the data. She made up an e-mail that contained Gene's school transcripts, his work resume, his security clearance information, and his pilot information. She included her own information, with a short note, and sent it all.

The whole time we were having the conversation and the frantic filling out of the application, Sam and Caroline were playing with the kids. Sam had gone outside to play catch with Gene's son, while Caroline was doing something creative with Gene's daughter.