Steve Martini - Trader of secrets

“What in the world is this?” says Joselyn. “Look at the size of some of these. And they’re all execution files. See the exe after the dot?”

“What does that mean?” asks Harry.

“That means they’re program files,” I tell him. “Applications. Software of some kind.”

“Could be malicious for all we know. I’m not going anywhere near that stuff.” Joselyn closes the folder entitled “T Data” and opens the one called “Notes.” Inside is a single file. It is entitled “Intel Notes.” “This should be safe. It’s a Word document.” She opens it.

It is not long; single spaced, it’s a little over a page in length. We start reading.

“What in the hell is Project Thor?” says Harry.

“Something having to do with NASA. He mentions it twice,” I tell him.

“And what’s AHIRST?” says Joselyn.

“I don’t know. It could be code name or maybe an acronym. A government program of some kind.”

“It sounds more like a government agency,” says Harry. “He says he wants the information forwarded to AHIRST immediately. Says it’s urgent.”

We start to concentrate on the stuff about Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula.

“This place called Coba, I know where that is,” I tell them. I’d had a case that took me down into that area some years ago. It is where I first met Herman. “Coba is an ancient Mayan city. Ruins as far as you can see. It’s surrounded by thousands of square miles of nothing but jungle.”

“It sounds as if there’s something there now,” says Harry. “An antenna array and a facility of some kind. From the tenor and tone of these notes, this man seemed to be pretty worried about it.”

“That’s probably why they killed him,” says Joselyn.

“What has Liquida got to do with all of this?” says Harry. “This would be out of his league.”

“Not necessarily. Not if he was hired to tie up loose ends,” I tell him. “Who knows why he killed the man. Maybe he was looking for this. I have to assume that Liquida is headed for Mexico, so that’s where I’m going.”

“Just because of this note?” says Harry.

“At this point it’s the only lead I have, and I’m not giving up. Nothing has changed. The reason I have to find Liquida is still there. If I don’t find him, sooner or later Liquida is going to find me or my daughter, and we’re going to end up like that bundle in the alley. I can’t ask either of you to risk your lives any further. I recommend you go back.”

“Just like that?” says Harry.

“You never wanted to come in the first place,” I tell him.

“Yes, but that’s when you wanted me to come,” says Harry. “Now that you’re telling me to go back, I have a sudden yearning to see Mexico.” Harry, always the contrarian.

“So I guess you and I are going on to Mexico.” I smile at him.

“Not without me, you’re not,” says Joselyn. “And I suggest we put a move on it before Thorpe grounds all three of us right here in Paris.”

When the phone rang, it was just after eleven. Sarah knew that only one person would be calling this late at night. “Can we stop it?”

Adin pressed the button on the remote and stopped the DVD, the movie they were watching in the living room of Sarah’s condo.

She leaped across the room and grabbed the phone, but not before it rang one more time. “Hello.”

“Sarah. It’s Dad.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re still in Paris. How is Herman doing?”

“Grouchy as ever,” said Sarah. “When are you coming back? I’m worried about you.”

“Soon. Is Herman awake?”

“I don’t know. I’ll check in a minute. First I want to know, when are you coming back? Is Harry all right?” Sarah had seen enough of the legacy of Herman’s wounds to worry about her father, Harry, and even Joselyn, whom she did not know all that well.

“Harry’s fine.”

“And Jos…?”

“We are all fine. Not to worry.”

Paul was not about to tell Sarah about the body in the alley. That would be enough to make his daughter go ballistic. “I need to talk to Herman.”

“Let me see if he’s awake. Gimme a second.”

Before she could take half a step, Herman hollered from the other room: “I’ll take it in here. And do me a favor, watch who you go callin’ grouchy, girl.”

She laughed, waited for Herman to pick up the phone in the other room, and then hung up the receiver. As Sarah headed back toward the couch and the movie, Adin stood up.

“Your father?”

“Yeah.”

“As long as we’re taking a break, I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” said Adin. “Don’t wait for me. Go ahead and turn it on. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Adin slipped quietly down the hall, stepped into the bathroom, and silently closed the door and locked it. He didn’t turn on the light because it would trigger the overhead fan. Instead he stood in the dark and listened. The guest bath and Herman’s room shared a common wall.

“Yeah, I ’member the place,” said Herman. “Ruins in the Mexican jungle on the Yucatan, a ways out of Tulum, as I recall. Yeah, I remember Coba. That’s the place you hired me, right? Sure.”

Silence for a few seconds, then: “It’s been a while since I been down there, but I think I still got some friends in the area. Why do you ask?”

More silence: “I don’t understand. You’re in Paris. Why would you be needing security in Mexico?”

Herman listened. Adin waited. “You sure you want to do that? Why don’t you just call Thorpe and tell him?…

“What do you mean, he hasn’t followed up?”

I was wearing a headset with a mic, using Skype to talk to Herman through Joselyn’s laptop while she and Harry used the landline in the room to book our flight and get a taxi.

I had to be careful what I said to Herman. I knew that the front desk at the condo would be listening. While I wanted the message to get to Thorpe, I didn’t want it to get there too quickly. If it did, Thorpe would put us on the no-fly list immediately and we would never get out of Paris.

“How are you doing? How are you healing up?” I ask him.

“Me. I’m fine,” he says. “Fit as a fiddle. I’m back on my feet. Why don’t I just meet you in Mexico?…”

“No!” With Herman you never know whether he’s telling the truth or just being stoic. I wouldn’t put it past him to jump on a plane tomorrow. “You just get better. Take care of yourself. We’ll be fine. Listen, I can’t talk long. I’ll call you again later. What time is it there?”

It took a second for Herman to check. “Twelve minutes after eleven.”

“Do you have something to write with?” I ask.

“Gimme a sec.”

I wait.

“Got it,” says Herman.

“Wait until noon tomorrow. Then I want you to call Thorpe’s office. Make sure you get through to him. Tell him to call the Paris police and ask about the package in the blue tarp that was left in the alley behind the Hotel Saint-Jacques early this morning. You got it?”

“Slow down,” says Herman. “I don’t take shorthand. Saint-Jacques. Blue tarp.”

“That’s right, blue tarp. The French police will know what he’s talking about. Tell him that the package was done by Liquida. We don’t know who it is, but I’m sure Thorpe will find out. Tell him Liquida is no longer in Paris. You got that? Tell him to check the area around Coba. I don’t know exactly where, but he can look for a large antenna array…”

“Slow down. Large antenna array…”

I am trying to keep the information cryptic so that Thorpe will not land on us too quickly, either before we can get out of France or before we land in Mexico.