Читать книгу Maximum Reach - Adam MD Hamedi - Страница 9

Two weeks after their wedding, the Hunters returned to Texas from their honeymoon. While they were gone, Viktor Romanov had returned home to Moscow accompanied by Boris, after meetings with Tom Baker discussing what else was needed for the factories in Russia. Tatyana stayed behind and traveled to Disney World with Cal Hawadi and his family, then they all returned to Texas the day before the Hunters. Sheriff Rice and his bride, Shirley, had returned from Europe a couple of days earlier, with Jason and Rebecca expected back from Hawaii the next day.

By the time everyone was back, the ranch house was buzzing like a beehive. They were all trying to tell the others about their adventures, with photographs spread out over several tables.

The new company headquarters were in the final stages of construction; Jerry Hue had done an admirable job and every person had their own projects to accomplish.

Austin’s project was to establish the Parker-Johnson Aviation Wing, but he knew that was not going to be easy. He had been in aviation most of his life and had deep experience of how much work and heartache was involved in establishing a new aviation company. However, he had plans; plans that would expedite the process. Whilst on his honeymoon, he had even started on a list of pilots he wanted to hire.

A week after their return from honeymoon, the Hunters finally relented and allowed the Hawadi’s to return to Lebanon, promising they would visit them there as soon as they had a chance. They were not to know how soon that was going to be.

Tatyana, with the help of Mrs. Johnson, was settling in very nicely and registered for classes at the University of Texas, at Arlington, a mere twenty minutes drive from the ranch house. Mrs. Johnson even took her there and purchased a vehicle, a bright yellow Chevrolet Corvette convertible, for Tatyana’s use while she was with them.

Tatyana was living a dream. She knew how good she was going to look in that yellow sports car with her long blonde hair. She was ecstatic, and made herself a promise never to disappoint this family that all of a sudden had become her own. She even convinced Austin and Emily to take motorcycle riding classes and they all went for a ride every evening. Riding motorcycles was a passion of hers and when the Hunters became confident enough, they purchased four motorcycles, even including a small one for Presley.

Tatyana was now also very close to the Sheriff and his wife, Dr. Shirley. One day when finished with classes at college, and on her way to her vehicle, two tall basketball players started harassing her. The boys were not used to being rejected and were becoming very abusive. On instructions from Sheriff Rice, she had programmed his private mobile phone number on speed dial and decided to call it. When the Sheriff answered the phone, he did not have to ask who it was, he immediately grasped the situation, picked up his office phone, dialed a number and gave instructions. Within a very few minutes, Tatyana heard the sirens of the Arlington police vehicles and four of them converged on her location as if they knew exactly where she was. The two boys were handcuffed and led into one of the vehicles and driven away.

One of the police officers approached her, offering her any further assistance she might need. Very respectfully she declined.

Soon after the incident, Eudean Rice took her under his wing, gave her a course in handguns, after which he supplied her with a small caliber pistol and a concealed weapon permit. Although she thought that she would never use the gun, it made her feel safe.

Tatyana loved everything about her new life and loved everyone in it.

One month after everyone’s return, Austin received a call from Sheriff Rice early in the morning.

“Good morning Sheriff,” said Austin when he answered the phone. “To what do I owe the pleasure so early?”

“Agent Hamilton contacted me this morning and he wants to talk to you. He asked if he could give you a call.”

“Absolutely not,” replied Austin with apprehension. “Tell him he is never to call me direct. I want no one to be able to connect me to the CIA; a phone call from them would raise a lot of questions.”

“Whatever you wish Austin. I’ll ask the man what he wants and get back to you.”

“Who was that?” asked Emily.

“That was the Sheriff. Our ‘friends’ seem to want to talk.”

“Any indication what about?” she asked, with obvious excitement.

“Eudean will get back to us after when he finds out. They wanted to call us direct and I told the Sheriff to insist they never do that.”

“Good thinking, sweetheart,” a word she used a lot when addressing him. A word he loved hearing.

“Tell him we’ll meet them in Chicago if they need to talk. We need to make a trip there anyway to check on the advertising agency.”

Austin realized that his new bride was already thinking things out. Her excitement about the whole thing really scared him. He did not want to get her involved. What the hell did they know about espionage? They were a couple of amateurs and he feared things might not turn out the way he wanted. This was the big league and they were getting involved. This should be left to the boys who knew how to play hardball, the people that knew how to handle these situations as professionals.

When the call came from the Sheriff a couple of hours later, a meeting was set up at a hotel in Chicago for one week later.

*****

“Our party is already here,” said Austin as Emily and he walked towards the front desk to register.

“How do you know that?” Emily asked.

“Don’t look now, but when we turn around to head for the elevators, look around the lobby. I have never seen such an assortment of nationalities in one place.”

“Now I think you are being paranoid,” she exclaimed. This is the United States of America, Chicago in particular. Every nationality in the world lives here.

“Just notice how so many people are trying to look busy but yet doing absolutely nothing,” he replied.

After they had checked in and were assigned a pre-arranged room, Emily realized that her husband knew what he was talking about. She was amazed that he would even notice such details and realized his reasons for not wanting to talk to the CIA directly. She saw that a phone call to the Sheriff could be interpreted one way, yet a call to a private number totally differently. She held onto him tightly and somehow felt safe.

As they entered their room, Austin headed for the door connecting to the next room, unlocked their side and knocked.

The corresponding door to the next room was opened almost immediately and both Barrow and Hamilton entered.

“You are a very popular man Mr. Barrow,” said Austin after the initial greetings.

“What makes you say that Mr. Hunter?”

“Just about every nationality in the world is represented in the lobby of the hotel.”

“Very perceptive Austin”, interjected agent Hamilton. “How do you figure they are here for our benefit?”

“I have never seen so many people in one place acting busy yet doing nothing. One thing they were all doing together though, they were all watching who checked in.”

“Did you notice how many Arabs were there?” asked Hamilton.

“I noticed at least three.”

“Actually there are five of them; they are the ones we have to worry about. A couple of them are known Al-Qaeda operatives. The others might be too, but we’re not yet sure. Their pictures have been snapped and are being analyzed as we speak.”

“Why are they interested?” asked Austin

“We believe they suspect that we know something about the nukes, and want to see who we converse with,” answered John Barrow this time. “They may have snapped your pictures. I wouldn’t worry about it too much though, there is nothing to connect you guys to us. As far as anyone is concerned, you are just a couple who happened to check into the hotel.”

“And what makes you so sure, director?” asked Emily.

“We can’t be a hundred percent of course, but we haven’t used a husband and wife team in a great many years, besides which you two have no ties whatsoever to us. You are not even on our payroll and that is the one ingredient that usually exposes people. Hell, with your fortune, you could almost buy the CIA. Trust me,” the Deputy Director continued, “you are above suspicion.”

Emily seemed to be satisfied with Barrow’s answer, yet somehow Austin was not totally convinced.

“What is it you want from us?” asked Austin finally.

“We have discovered that the nukes are in Lebanon,” said Barrow, grimly.

“Then go get them. Why did you ask us here?”

“We don’t know who’s got them. We only know they are there,” replied Barrow.

“You are kidding, right?”

“We don’t kid about crap like this,” interjected Hamilton, clearly annoyed at the way Austin kept addressing his boss.

“Don’t get in such a tizzy Brad,” said Austin. “I find it difficult to understand how you guys always come up short.”

“We wouldn’t have had this problem had you not killed Habib. We were positive he was the connection to Al-Qaeda. But we did find out that he transported the nukes; we just don’t know who he gave them to.”

“Don’t you start blaming this problem on me, Brad. How long were you willing to allow that guy to get away with murdering innocent people?”

Hamilton glanced at Barrow and Barrow understood. This was the first time Austin had admitted to killing the four Lebanese, and Austin realized what had just happened.

“Yes, O.K., I admit I killed him and his hoodlums. Are you satisfied?”

“We knew Mr. Hunter,” said Barrow “and we don’t care. What we are saying here is that we really need your help. We are not sure if you can do anything constructive, but we are at a complete loss and are hoping that you will look into it.”

“We shall Mr. Barrow,” said Emily, to Austin’s complete surprise.

“What do you think we can do Emily?” he asked. “And how do you propose we go about it?”

“Well, we promised Cal and his wife we’d visit them. Besides, ever since you described the place to me, I have been anxious to see it; to see Cal and his family in their home setting.”

“So what do you think we can find out?”

“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’ll make the trip and maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Barrow and Hamilton were watching and listening to the dialogue between the two, absolutely pleased. They knew they had an ally in Emily. They were not sure why, but they were satisfied.

“We’ll discuss this further,” said Austin, accepting Emily’s suggestion. “Is there anything else gentlemen?” he asked the CIA men.

“That should conclude our meeting,” said Barrow. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Actually there is. We are trying to get our Aviation Division certified and it is a long, tortuous process. We have already ordered the aircraft; our crews are in training and should complete the training course in about another week. Any chance you could make a call and speed up the process?”

“Consider it done Austin,” said Barrow. “By the time your crews are finished, you will have your licensing complete; anything else?”

“How are we going to leave this place without arousing suspicion?”

“Not to worry, Austin. As soon as you leave, we have arranged for a couple of our well-known agents to come in. The spies will think they are the reason for us being here.”

“Thank you director,” Austin said as he shook hands with the two men. Emily did the same and they watched them walk back into their room, locking the connecting door.

“Well, what do you think of that, sweetheart?” asked Emily.

“When you live a life like mine, darling, you will understand.”

Emily understood. She had been nursing this man’s nightmares ever since she got involved with him. They were becoming few and far between, but she had to wake him up many times to comfort him, running her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. She loved this man with all her heart. She knew he was struggling with his demons but she also knew that she was determined to drive them all away. She knew it would be a slow process, yet even now she felt she was succeeding.

*****

“What did I tell you?” Hamilton asked his boss after they re-entered their room. “Is this guy smart or what?”

“He continues to amaze me,” replied Barrow. “Are you sure he had no previous training?”

“Not to my knowledge, and I have checked. I am not sure how this shit comes to him so naturally, but I would sure like to know. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, I believe he gets guidance from Sheriff Rice. I do know a few things about him too.”

“Like what?” asked Barrow.

“Unlike Hunter’s situation, Rice has a reputation not to be messed with. Many people suspect him of fixing the perps of quite a few unsolved cases, with absolutely no evidence to connect him; he also has the confidence of the Texas governor.”

“It doesn’t really matter,” said Barrow. “I am glad you found him and I am especially glad he married that Emily. She is definitely on our side.”

“You know Brad, if anyone planted any listening devices without our knowledge in our offices, we might divulge enough information to give those two away.”

“But we sweep the offices every morning,” answered Brad.

“I know, but what if we miss one someday? We need to come up with a code name for the two that couldn’t be connected to them.”

“Actually, I have been thinking about that and I have a name, if you approve.”

“What is it?”

“Maximum reach. We refer to them as our maximum reach team.”

“Sounds perfect,” said the deputy director, “very ironic.”

*****

“I’m glad I picked the right pilots for our company,” started Austin as they were driving away from the hotel. He had decided not to check out so quickly and raise suspicion. He figured they would either call or come back later – after the CIA men and all the spies had gone.

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” asked Emily.

“A couple of the pilots, actually three, are from the Middle East. Two Lebanese and one Iranian.”

“How can that help?”

“People talk, baby, especially in bars and pilots are known to frequent a few. Who knows, those guys might pick up something that could be helpful.” Austin had no idea how true that statement would prove to be.

“How does your brain work? I sure would love to know.”

“Just lucky I guess. I’m not really as smart as you make me out to be.”

“I know,” she said showing a playful smile. She knew that if she didn’t agree with him, that argument would take forever; she knew better anyway.