David Baldacci - Simple Genius

The man finished writing and nodded. “Got it.”

“Good. Now I’m going to check on the amounts paid over to them so don’t try to screw with me on the dollars. And I don’t care if it takes an act of Congress, but all the money goes to them tax-free.”

The man said, “That won’t be a problem.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“And we want to see Viggie, to make sure she’s all right,” Michelle added.

“That can be arranged.”

“Then arrange it,” Sean said. “Sooner rather than later.”

“Give us one week and it’ll all be done.”

“Make sure it is.”

“And you’ll say nothing about any of this?” the man asked.

“That’s right. I’m not looking to go to prison.”

“And who would believe us anyway?” Michelle added.

“And then we get the copies?” the man asked.

“And then you get the copies.”

“And we can trust you?”

“As much as I can trust you,” Sean said.

A WEEK LATER SEAN AND MICHELLE met with Joan Dillinger in her office, along with another man who gave neither his name nor affiliation. He would only say that the ownership of Babbage Town was grateful for the work done by them and he had presented them directly with a check. The amount, Sean quickly saw, would resolve ll their financial problems for the foreseeable future and fund some vacation time as well. They certainly needed it.

“Hope you found someone to take Champ’s and Alicia’s places. Too bad you lost such valuable people.”

“Oh, we have. But thanks to you our research won’t be preyed upon by electronic eyes anymore,” said the man.

As the fellow was leaving Sean couldn’t resist a parting shot. “So why spend all this time and money on creating something that will stop the world in its tracks?” he said.

The man had looked at him quizzically. “Who told you that’s what Babbage Town was doing?”

“A couple of real geniuses.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Well, let’s just say that while what you described is certainly a possibility, it’s a tad more complicated than that.”

“And you’re just ready to roll the dice with the whole world at stake?” Sean exclaimed.

“Well, if we don’t, someone else will.”

After he left, Michelle added glumly, “I’m sick of geniuses.”

Joan smiled. “Good work, Sean.” She paused and glanced at Michelle.

“And you too, Maxwell. From what I’ve heard I don’t think Sean would’ve made it without you.”

She knew nothing of their ordeal at the hands of Valerie Messaline or their arrangement with the government, and never would.

The two women extended to each other a grudging handshake.

When they returned to their apartment and were getting out of their car in the underground parking garage a limo pulled up in front of them. Ian Whitfield leaned out and said tersely, “Get in.”

They sat across from Whitfield, who said, “Sorry it took me so long to spring you.”

“And how exactly did you manage to turn the tables on the wicked witch?” Sean asked.

Surprisingly, Michelle answered. “You found out she was taking a cut from the drug shipments and selling them. You nailed her with that, right?”

Whitfield said, “How do you figure that, Maxwell?”

“When I was at the airport and they loaded the drugs on Champ’s plane, I noticed they kept some bales back. That was Valerie’s cut. The old guy from the government told us the CIA was destroying the drugs, but Hayes and Ventris said the area was being flooded with drugs.”

Whitfield said sternly, “Not even Valerie was connected enough to dig herself out of that one.”

Sean snapped his fingers. “That explains her going to that bar and pretending to get hit on. She was really moving her drug shipments.”

Whitfield nodded. “I finally got one of her team to turn on her. I used his information to crack her plan open, spring you two and nail her.”

“But why take the risk of Champ flying the drugs out? Why not just destroy them at Camp Peary?” Michelle asked.

“We don’t have the facilities to do it there. But when Michelle caught Champ in the act, we didn’t have time for anything else.”

Sean said, “Okay, what happened to old Val and her homicidal sidekick, Alicia?”

In answer Whitfield held up a copy of the Washington Post . On page A-6 was a brief story about the unfortunate deaths of two State Department employees in a car accident near Beijing. There were two grainy photos of the victims.

Sean looked at Michelle and then back at Whitfield. “Damn, I didn’t mean for them to be killed.”

“And what exactly did you expect would happen to them? That we’d try them in a court of law where their stories would come out? Where highly sensitive programs they were involved in might possibly be revealed to the public?” He looked at the photo of Alicia. “I was riding in the Humvee with her in Iraq when we hit the IED. I was the one who pulled her out. That’s how my leg got banged up. She used to be a good agent. Something just went wrong somewhere.”

“What about the treasure?” Sean said.

Whitfield pulled out some documents and handed them to Sean.

“The full proceeds were split into thirds, tax-free, as you requested. A nice gesture,” he added. “Most people wouldn’t have been so magnanimous.”

“And Viggie?” Michelle said.

“That’s where we’re headed right now. And she’s absolutely fine. It was fortunate Valerie was so busy with you two she put her plans for Viggie on hold.”

Sean hunched forward. “Ian, you took our side against your own agency. Why aren’t you dead or under arrest?”

His features turned grim. “I was the technical head of Camp Peary, but Valerie really ran the place. She’s done impressive work and her rise at the Agency has been amazingly swift. I didn’t know that was the deal when I took the job, but I had to live with it if I wanted to continue my career.

“Very quickly I saw it was a mistake because she started doing things that were way over the line. She co-opted several of the paramilitary squads based at the camp. All I could do was wait for an opening, though it didn’t look like one would ever come along.” Whitfield glanced at Sean. “I know Valerie made a hard rush at you to get you in the sack.”

“I didn’t have much trouble resisting,” Sean said almost truthfully.

“Good. Because you wouldn’t have walked out alive. That’s why I showed up on the beach. I knew she was concerned about how much you were finding out. I followed her and pretended to be the cuckolded husband. She was pissed at me for letting you get away.”

Sean looked stunned. “Thanks for saving my life. Again.”

“It’s my job to protect Americans, even from my own agency.”

“I’m surprised Valerie just didn’t have us killed right away.”

“I think she wanted to pay you back, for messing up her plans. And she also needed to find out how much you knew.”

“So who killed Len Rivest?” Sean asked.

“The only thing I can tell you is that Alicia’s interest in Rivest wasn’t romantic.”

Sean said, “And her and Champ being at Babbage Town was no coincidence?”

“Champ and Alicia were recruited long ago by the CIA. They were posted at Babbage Town when it first started. By the way, they were the real deal in the science world.”

“And they were at Babbage Town to steal whatever technology they came up with on quantum computers?” Michelle said.

“Let’s just say they were very interested observers. But what they were really working on at Babbage Town was a counter to the quantum computer.”

“A counter?” Michelle said.