Chapter 499

Christmas was upon us; in the blink of an eye it was Christmas Eve. The gym was still open for those that had an access card, but they were on their own. The elevator codes were changed to require a JBG ID card swipe. The refreshment stand was closed.

At Morton Field the restaurant was closing at 8, but the tower was still 24/7; it was now part of the FAA network. All the shops were closed, but the UPS and FedEx flights were still operating to get those last minute and critical packages delivered.

The church that my and Jenny’s family had been going to for years had an early service Christmas Eve. This year when Mom and Lisa asked if we could go as a family, we said yes.

Even though it was not lady-like for church I wore a pant suit with two of the light vests and my hardware. Other than a down sized escort to get there I was sending most of the security team home; after all, it was Christmas. I would be my own bodyguard. There be the two who were at the house and the EIT duty man still was watching all the outside cameras of the house.

The question was how the boys would behave. They were as good as gold as they normally were. It was a traditional Christmas service. After the service we socialized for a few minutes with old friends and the minister before leaving.

We made the rounds, Mom and Dad’s first; Jake and Mindy were there and we exchanged gifts. Then on to Jason and Lisa’s and more gifts. The boys who - would soon be two - made out like bandits.

They had all kinds of toys, clothes that they would soon out grow and some they needed to grow into and they had a blast opening presents. Some of the toys would be put away and brought out in stages while older toys were put away for a month or two.

At home with the boys sound asleep we girls opened our presents. There were plenty of presents to give to each other. I and the girls had been making lists all year. With the help of internet shopping and Cindy there were only a few items that I did not get.

It was a wonderful family night together with Christmas music and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ playing on the TV. The boys would have more presents to open tomorrow morning under our tree.

I was up early - my natural clock would not let me sleep in - so I carried my clothes and dressed in the living room then quietly slipped out and took the tunnel to the office.

After checking with the EIT duty man I sent a general Merry Christmas email to all the security employees. Then I opened a VCATS and paged the communication room at the South Korean embassy; according to the schedule JBG employee Berry Simms was working.

“Record the conversation,” I instructed the duty man.

I looked at the employee file that was setup by HR for each embassy for easy reference so I would know for sure who I was talking to.

“Hello Berry; Merry Christmas,” I greeted.

“Merry Christmas to you ah-mm, Ms. Jones,” he replied.

“You can cut it with the Ms. stuff. BJ, Boss or Ambassador, whichever rolls off the tongue the easiest is fine. Are you alone in the control room?” I asked.

“Fred and I are the only ones in here,” he responded.

Fred was Fredrick J. Monahan, one of the three shift leaders for the JBG security group.

“Have Fred come sit in front the camera so we can talk,” I instructed.

“Howdy boss, how are things in Maryland today?” Fred asked.

“Things are good here. You do understand that the conversation we are about to have is JBG classified, strictly between you and me?” I said.

“Yes Ma-am,” they replied.

“Scramble the feed,” I replied and at the same time motioned to the duty man working the console to begin recording the conversation. The little red light on the corner of the screen came on indicating it was being recorded.

With the feed scrambled no one on either end system could monitor the conversation.

“What the hell is going on there,” I asked point blank.

There was a delay; a long delay - I thought I was going to have to ask the question again.

“There has been a lot of tension between the State Department personnel lately. There had been conflicting instructions and orders almost daily,” Fred replied.

“Is Foley the problem?” I asked.

“No. the assistant Ambassador Hammond Baines and Foley’s boss Clayton Albright seem to be the issue and neither is supporting Foley anymore. Foley is trying to do right but the assistant is undercutting him with the support of his boss,” Fred replied.

Clayton Albright had a dozen embassies in Asia under his assignment as assistant director.

“Baines is leaving a lot and dumping the security detail. Then he calls several hours later to be picked up, very drunk and reeking of sex. He is rarely picked up at the same location and not in the better parts of the city. Oh, and he always has his secure briefcase with him. Before he goes out he always spends a lot of time on the computer and printing documents. Several times it was unlocked when he was picked up and obviously empty,” Fred replied.