The Choice

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

ADMIRAL PARKER GOES to General Taylor’s office on the west side of the base. The two men respect each other. Their work has brought them together multiple times. Today, they will lay out a plan to unravel the circumstances around the assassination attempt on the President. When he crosses the foyer, an airman at the front desk dials the general. “Yes, sir. The admiral has arrived. Very good, sir.” The airman tells the admiral, “The general will be right out, sir.”

No sooner has the airman finished speaking than the general enters the waiting room.

He grabs the admiral’s hand. “Parker, great to see you again. Come on in.”

The two share a firm handshake. “Always great to see you, Taylor. Wish it were under better circumstances.”

“You can say that again.”

The general leads the way down a short hall to his office. He motions for the admiral to take a seat on one of the dual-facing couches in the oversized room.

“Coffee?”

“I just had some. Thanks for approving a pass for Ms. Tucker. My gut tells me she can help us.”

“At this point, I’ll take any help I can get. What’s the world coming to if you can’t even trust your leadership, right? The base is still reeling from General Miller’s traitorous acts.”

“Well, I’m here to help if I can.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer. This case is more complicated than you might realize, and frankly, I need help to resolve it. According to Staff Sergeant Paul Gruner, who was with Brad at the end, General Miller acknowledged trying to kill Brad and Sarah on Lake Oroville and then said the assassination formed just a small part of a much larger plan. He inferred that heads of state had involvement. We don’t know who lies behind the conspiracy, but it may include key players among our enemies.”

The admiral shakes his head in dismay. “Mindboggling. Brad called me about Miller. I told him that he was as straight as they come. Military school and all. But Brad saw through it. I still regret I didn’t.”

“None of us saw it coming, Parker.”

“Yeah, but you’re not the one who put Brad in harm’s way.”

“Hey, think what would have happened if he hadn’t stepped in. Who would be running the show?”

“God only knows.”

“All right, then, enough said. You did the best thing. We need to turn over every leaf and pebble in this muddied story.”

Taylor sips his coffee, looking pensive. “To help protect the drones from getting hacked, we have three layers of backup on those weapons. We remain afraid someone will figure out a way to launch a drone and blackmail who knows who into doing who knows what. Can you believe that?”

“Yeah, you’ve got a mess on your hands. If we don’t get to the bottom of this situation, it could escalate into uncontrolled acts of aggression leading to war. That’s the critical nature of this whole business. Sadly, we didn’t see it coming because the perpetrators are among our own.”

“So true. General Miller would have used those drones to blackmail world leaders into recognizing a one-world government. I can’t imagine what would have happened if one of those leaders had refused. We came within a hair of annihilation. A hair. Thank goodness Miller failed.”

Parker nods. “The SEAL team reported the details of the threat back to me. When I read the reports so much remained unexplained. Some scripture came to mind. Words I’ve repeated to myself every day since this mess started. From Matthew 10:26. ‘There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.’”

“I like that. How about you repeat it to me every day as well.”

A grim smile settles on Parker’s lips. “We’ll find the bastards.”

Taylor finishes his brew. “That’s my plan. The two of us need to talk about what to do and when.”

“I have a question that might get us started.”

“Go ahead.”

“Shortly before Brad died, he called me and asked for information on Dennis Wade. Seems he was a former student of Sarah’s but now works for the CIA. When she started working out here in California, he called her. Even Sarah didn’t know her new office phone number, but this Dennis guy did.”

“What does that have to do with our investigation?”

“Maybe nothing, but it seems peculiar. After all, Brad worked for the CIA too.”

“Did this Dennis character say anything to Sarah?”

“Only thanked her for how she’d helped him and said she deserved the best in life.”

“Did you look into it?”

“Uh-huh. I determined his status as an agent. Odd thing is, just before I made this trip, I made more calls. Dennis has disappeared.”

“You sure he’s not on assignment?”

“Not according to my source. Even his family has no idea of his whereabouts.”

“Did your source mention a case he was working on, or if he was part of a team?”

“We didn’t get into it, but I got the feeling my source knew more. I had no proof, but by the way he acted, I picked up he hadn’t told me everything. If that’s the case, I’d wager Dennis stumbled onto something he shouldn’t have, and my source doesn’t want to open a can of worms. Especially since he may not have the whole story himself.”

“You mean he got wind of traitors in the CIA?”

“That scenario would prompt him to disappear, sure.”

A knock at the general’s door causes both men to jump. The general gives an enter command.

An airman pokes his head around the door and announces a call from Jim Anderson.

“I’ll take it.” The general picks up the phone.

“Jim, you have good news for me?” The general listens.

After a short time, he disconnects.

“Finally, a thread of hope. Your guest, Donna Tucker, is going to work with Jim on the journals. He believes she has information that can help us.”

“Well, I’ll be damned, sometimes my intuition is right on.”

“Are you ready to jump into this case, Parker? As you can see, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and if we are to believe the ravings of General Miller, not much time.”

“Count me in. I owe it to Brad and to my country. I’m tired of the desk, anyway.”

“You’ll need to hang out here for a while. Can you manage the time?”

“Yeah, not an issue. I told my team that I’d be gone for the week. If I need longer, I can arrange it. As for home, cancer took Sally last year, and the kids are grown. My once busy household is now just me and dusty memories.”

“I’m sorry to hear about Sally. That’s a hell of a thing to experience at any age.”

“She went to a good place, though. And I’ve made my peace with her passing. So, put me to work.”

“How are you with staying in guest quarters on base?”

“Best offer I’ve had in a while; it will make things easier. I need to get my bearings, and I need to see the case records.”

“You’ll have the file tomorrow, but I’ve got a summary report that you can take with you now.” The general picks up his phone, asks his assistant to bring in the report, and instructs him to put it into a briefcase.

Ten minutes later, his assistant knocks and brings in a black briefcase. The general looks inside, dismisses the airman, and hands the case to the admiral. “Your homework.”

“This mine to keep?”

“Yeah. It’s just the summary report, but you’ll soon have it filled with other stuff. Let’s meet at 0800 tomorrow. Work for you?”

“Absolutely.”

“You’ll have Quarters 23. Brad and Sarah’s old abode.”