Steve Martini - Trader of secrets

“He could have been lying,” says Harry.

“Chances are, if he had dealings with Liquida, it would have been under a different name,” I tell them, “an alias.”

“God knows he’s used a few of those,” says Harry. “All of his banking records here were under aliases, remember?”

“And, of course, they couldn’t show him a picture of Liquida,” said Joselyn. “The FBI was still working on that.”

“You’re right.”

“Do you know, did the agents actually get inside the office to look around?” says Harry. “Any kind of a search of the premises?”

“I asked Thorpe. He said he didn’t know, but that it was difficult sometimes to get local authorities to go along with a search unless there were formal documents.”

“What does that mean?” says Harry.

“He didn’t say. I’m assuming maybe a search warrant from a judge in the States, an affidavit, maybe something from the State Department by way of an official request.”

“Or maybe crossing the palm of the local cops with some coin,” says Harry. “But whatever it takes, it sounds like they didn’t do it. So the fact is, they don’t know any more about what’s in that office than we do.”

“It sounds like all they know is what the tenant told them,” I say. “Thorpe told me he’d have his people at the embassy keep an eye on the place. No round-the-clock surveillance-they don’t have the manpower over there-but they’d check back in a while. I looked on Google Earth. It’s a long way between the embassy in Bangkok and Pattaya. I’m guessing maybe two hours by car; that’s if the highway is good.”

“We know what that means,” says Harry.

“They think it’s a dead end,” I tell him.

“And they’re not likely to waste their time,” he says.

“No.”

“Do we have anything else?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“So it looks like we either sit tight right here…”

“We’re not going to waste a lot of money, take a chance, and fly off to Thailand?” says Joselyn.

“No, we’re not. I was thinking more along the lines of Harry and me,” I tell her. “Somebody has to stay here with Sarah.”

“Don’t look at me,” she says. “Besides, Harry already has experience in that field.”

“And you saw how much good it did,” says Harry.

“Yes, but you know her. You’re almost family. I’m just a stranger.”

“Maybe she’ll listen to you,” says Harry. “An older woman and all.”

“Watch it! Those are fighting words,” she tells him.

“I’m afraid I’m going to need Harry with me.”

“That’s fine. Then that’ll make three of us. Cuz if you go, you’re not leaving me behind.”

“That means I’ve got to bring Sarah.”

“The plane’s going to be crowded,” says Joselyn. “You, me, Harry, Sarah-and the dog,” she says.

“Shit! I forgot about the dog. We can’t take him with us,” I say.

“Why not?” says Joselyn. “From all accounts, he’s the only one of us qualified to deal with Liquida.”

“You can’t take a dog overseas. They’ll impound him. Probably want to hold him ninety days, maybe six months,” I tell her. “And if they don’t take him going over, U.S. Customs is sure to hold him coming back.”

“Not if he has all his shots,” says Joselyn.

“Over there they’ll probably want to eat him,” says Harry.

“Unless he eats them first,” says Joselyn.

“Cut it out,” I tell them. “This is serious. I’m going to have to deal with Sarah, and that’s not easy.”

“One thing’s for sure,” says Harry. “You can’t take Sarah and leave the dog. He’ll tear the place apart and then eat the help when they come to clean it up.”

“You’re right. We’ll have to leave Sarah and the dog. The question is, who’s going to tell her?”

“Sounds like a father’s duty to me,” says Harry.

“Yeah, I know, but how?”

“If we move quickly, get over there and back in three, maybe four days,” says Joselyn, “perhaps you can talk Thorpe into having Sarah remain here. And she’ll have the dog. You’ll have to explain to her that that’s the reason she can’t come with us. There really is no other way. Unless she wants to put the dog in a kennel.”

“And I suppose you’d want to draw straws to see who gets to talk to the dog about doing time in a kennel?” says Harry.

“OK, you sold me. Sarah stays here,” I tell them.

“Now you just have to convince her and the dog. I hope she keeps him on a short leash when you’re discussing all of this,” says Harry.

“And you think Thorpe is going to let us go, just like that?” asks Joselyn.

“Not if I tell him we’re going to Thailand. I’ll tell him Harry and I have some pressing business to take care of back in Coronado. Something that can’t wait. We’ll be back in three or four days. We’ll be very careful. We won’t stay at the house. We’ll stay in a hotel.”

“What about me?” says Joselyn.

“I’ll just tell him you’re coming along.”

“Good, then let’s hope he buys it,” she says. “Cuz if he doesn’t, I’m telling him you’re going to Thailand.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“In a word-no,” she says.

“And what if he wants to take our passports or assign agents to accompany us to California?” says Harry.

“Then I suppose the urgent business in Coronado is somehow going to resolve itself, avoiding the need for any travel. It’s worth a shot.”

“There’s a Wi-Fi hot spot in the lobby downstairs,” says Joselyn. “I saw it on my cell phone when we were down there yesterday. If you loan me a credit card, I can book the tickets in the morning. Right after you talk to Thorpe.”

By the time Bill Britain got to Thorpe’s office on the fourth floor of the FBI building, he was running late. Thorpe’s secretary had called him away from a staff meeting. She told him to drop what he was doing and come up immediately.

“Go on in, they’re waiting for you.” Thorpe’s secretary gestured toward the closed door.

Britain opened the door and stepped into Thorpe’s office. “What’s going on?”

“Close the door,” said Thorpe.

Britain knew it was something big the minute he saw Herb Llewellyn closeted inside with his boss. Britain was the head of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. Llewellyn headed up the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate.

“Take a seat.” Thorpe picked up the receiver to the phone on his desk and punched a button. He waited for a second. “Nancy, I don’t want to be disturbed. Hold all my calls and clear my calendar for the rest of the morning. I’m not sure when I’ll be available. Good.” He hung up the phone. “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t go beyond the confines of this office, is that understood? I am told that any other assistance that we might need has to be cleared by the White House.”

Llewellyn and Britain glanced at each other and then nodded toward Thorpe. “Must be pretty bad,” said Britain.

“Less than an hour ago I received a phone call from the White House. I was told that a weapons program, something that DARPA has been working on with the air force and NASA for a number of years, now appears to have been compromised. We don’t know the full extent of the damage yet. NASA and DARPA are still doing an assessment.”

“When you say compromised, you mean information has found its way into the hands of a foreign power?” asked Britain.

“We don’t know for sure, but it’s a possibility,” said Thorpe.

“The White House wouldn’t get involved in something like this unless there was a top-of-the-line national security breach or the prospect of some lethal political fallout,” said Llewellyn.