Mark Young - Off the grid

His eyes glistened, and Joe covered his face to hide his shame. Gerrit remained quiet, allowing his uncle to gather himself.

“They said this was just an example of what they’d do next if I helped your folks. Next time-if I didn’t play ball-they’d let me suffer a long time before killing me. Slowly and painfully.” He looked up at Gerrit. “I believed them.”

He came and sat next to Gerrit. “I met your dad in Seattle and told him I wanted nothing to do with his investigation. That I thought he was a fool to continue to poke his nose where it did not belong.”

“And what happened?”

“Your folks and I met in that garage-where they were killed. After we argued, I jumped out of the car and made it to the stairs when the bomb went off. It threw me to the ground. The ringing in my ears was so bad, I couldn’t hear anything for a few minutes. I finally ran back to find… “ He choked back the words and wiped a tear from his eye. “It could have been me that day.”

Flashes of the video came back to Gerrit, remnants of what was left of his parents. His voice grew hoarse. “What did you do?”

“I realized that they intended to kill all of us. I started running. In a way, I’ve been running ever since.”

“So, you never found out who was behind this bombing?”

Joe gave him a rueful smile. “I found out one name.”

Gerrit slowly raised himself from the bed, his whole body suddenly rigid. “Who? Who did this?” His mouth felt dry as he waited for Joe to answer.

“I could never prove it, but I know who was behind it-Richard Kane.”

Harrogate, England

A rap on the door drew Richard Kane’s attention from a file on his desk. “Come in.”

George Lawton barged in, his face flushed and rigid. “What the bloody hell’s going on, Richard? First, that incident in Vienna. Now, three murders in Seattle? What have you gotten us into?”

Richard pushed away from the desk and ran his fingers through his long hair. “What do you mean?”

Lawton leaned on Richard’s desk, fingers knuckled to support his weight. “You send Gerrit into Adleman’s place-using a cover we set up for you guys-and the next thing I know, Gerrit’s on the run and Adleman’s dead.”

Richard studied the British intelligence officer for a moment. “Things don’t always go as planned.”

“As planned? Nothing’s gone as planned. Gerrit was supposed to go in there and fish around Adleman’s apartment to see what he might turn up. Low-key and quiet. Now, Gerrit may have been blown up in Seattle. Not only that, but the prosecutor he’s shacking with is gunned down and his partner is tortured and killed. Not going as planned? This is not acceptable. What did you unleash?”

Richard bristled. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, George. The thing in Vienna…mishap of the trade. Adleman died. Who knows why?”

Lawton leaned closer. “Who are you trying to kid?”

“Prove otherwise.”

“I don’t have to prove anything. I just have to pass along my suspicions. Those up the chain will have you jerked tomorrow.”

“Don’t think you want to do that, George. After all, they acted on your recommendation. You set up the Vienna cover. Now you have cold feet? How’s that going to look…up your chain?”

Lawton glared back. “And what about Seattle?”

“What about it?” Richard stood and faced his visitor. “Looks like the handiwork of the Russian mob. Bombs, torture, killing a federal prosecutor in her own backyard. You do know that all three were working a case against Russian organized crime. In fact, Gerrit shot and killed one of their leaders. Maybe they were just trying to get even, retaliate for one of their own getting wasted.”

“You think Senator Summers is going to swallow that?”

“As far as I am concerned, this all seems plausible. And, by the way, Adleman’s death has been classified as a heart attack-a ruptured aorta, I believe, is the way they described it.”

“You never cease to amaze me, Kane. The degree by which you manipulate events. So where does that leave you”

“Leave me” Richard’s eyebrows rose. “Are you part of the team or not, George?”

Lawton’s head lowered. He gave a heavy sigh and lowered himself into the chair. “I guess I’m still in. It just feels like we have too many loose ends. What if everything begins to unravel?”

“Who’s going to poke his head into this mess? Gerrit’s probably dead and Senator Summers knows he has to play ball or his backside will be exposed.”

“But his daughter-”

“His daughter is dead. The senator is a practical man. He has nothing to gain now by fighting us. Nothing to gain, and everything to lose.”

“And if Gerrit is alive?”

Richard relaxed. “Then he is still out there chasing ghosts. Thinks the Russians had something to do with his parents’ murders.”

“And why would he believe that?”

“Because I tainted the evidence from the bomb site and made sure a Russian detonator was seized as evidence. And I made sure the crumbs of evidence led Gerrit right to Nico.”

Lawton shook his head. “Unbelievable. All this time, O’Rourke believed the Russians were behind the bombing? That’s why he was so fixated on that criminal organization?”

Richard nodded and just smiled. At least until Gerrit found out he’d been set up in Vienna. It was a good thing the man died in his houseboat, or the detective could have given them real trouble.

Richard would have to make certain Gerrit had died in the explosion.

After Lawton left, Richard sat back down and dialed a number on a secure line to the United States. “How y’all doing out there? Any complications?”

“Sir, we got people on the ground, covering the houseboat and the federal building. So far, all fingers are pointing toward the Russians. They’re still sifting through evidence.”

“And Gerrit. Have they identified his body?”

“Not much to identify. Talked to one of the bomb guys. Said there might not be enough left to run DNA. The fire burned hotter than even our people expected.”

“What are you saying? Someone added to the blast?”

“We don’t know, sir. Talked to the guy who was set to activate things. He said the blast went off before he had a chance to trigger it.”

“You mean the blast went off all by itself?”

“No…um, well, maybe. That’s just it. Our guy said someone could have piggybacked his signal and set it off on their own. But he’s not sure how they did it…if they did it.”

“I want your people to go through everything. Make sure Gerrit is dead and there aren’t others out there involved in this thing that we don’t know about. Understand? Gerrit knows too much to be left out there alive. If he did survive, he might be able to start putting pieces together.”

“I don’t see how he could have survived it. And the investigators are pretty sure there was a body that burned up in that blast.”

“I don’t want any guessing. I want to know for sure. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir. We’ll keep on it.”

Richard slammed down the phone. There was too much at stake. He had to get everything under control. If those who empowered him started to question his abilities, it would only be a matter of time before they retired him. Permanently.

That wasn’t going to happen. He was a survivor, willing to do whatever it took to stay on top. To do that, he had to be aware of all the options. He needed to know who he could trust and who he needed to purge.

There was one person who might be able to help. No one but Richard knew about this person. Contact between them must be kept to a minimum. He couldn’t risk exposing this person. At least until now. He needed to know right now! Whatever the cost.