Carolina Rain (40 page)

“That’s right, he did,” said Chloe.

“
That clever bastard.
I know what it is
. . .
,” started Sophie.

“
. . .
because one never knows,” finished Manny.

He entered
the words
and waited
,
hardly able to breathe
.

The screen melted into red, blue, green, and then went blank. Ten seconds later, a file flap opened
,
then grew
in large, bold font,
displaying
a
list of
eight
names
and faces
.

Manny looked at the
pictures,
and felt his mind grow numb. The total silence in the room meant that the others were focusing on the same face as he.

How could this be? How could his friend be on any list like this
one
?

C
HAPTER-53

The Enclave sped west on
Interstate
40, heading toward Raleigh, North Carolina
,
eventually taking him to his true destination. One that he had waited
for
some
time to revisit. He wanted to be there already but longing wasn’t
his
indulgence. He’d get there and right on time. After all, that’s what he did best
—
make things happen on time, particularly given th
e
set of events
over the last t
en
weeks
.
In the end, it had all worked out and everything would be revealed, shining a light that would be impossible to hide
in
the darkness. Heads would roll, figuratively and literally, but not for him. That was never part of the plan or
,
for that matter, the deal he’d struck with the others involved in this little project. In a few hours
,
he’d be off the radar completely and free to do what he wanted and needed to do.
The same couldn’t be said for the man that would come tumbling down because of his little project. Such is life . .
. and
death.

On second thought,
he’d evolved far past that. Had he not? He no longer felt the
need
to do anything; rather, he was free to decide what to do
and when to do it
. A vast difference in his eyes.

He hit the pedal. He did have one more
“
mission
”
to finish
. However, he’d do it
in his own time
, a
nd
time was something he had
. Which
was
more than he could
say for a certain FBI Special A
gent.

He laughed out loud.
Is there
a
destiny worse than the one
that
you don’t know
is chasing you
?

Turning the music up
another notch
, he cruised toward his destination.

CHAPTER-54

Josh Corner walked through the second security station, showed his Bureau ID to the armed guards, swiped it, went through the full
-
body scanner
,
and came out the other side. He strapped on his shoulder holster and motioned for the other
four
agents to follow him.

As they entered the elevator heading for his
rendezvous
, he thought again how Manny had been right
. A
s crazy as it had seemed
, t
he boy had been right. About the names he handed to h
im
on the jet, about Argyle’s association with them
,
and
ultimately,
with the man
he
w
as
going to see.
The classified files that
Josh had finally gained complete access
to,
confirmed it
.

Five of the men
,
and one woman
,
who
had appeared on the list
—
Robert Peppercorn, Max Tucker, Ben Garcia, Michael Garity, Fredrick Argyle,
and Janice Rhodes
—
had indeed all be
e
n in the same place at the same time some four years prior.
Each of them had
spent four weeks in
a
research center for the criminally insane near Dallas, Texas. His intelligence had verified it. They’d all been part of a project called HELP. He didn’t know
what the title, or possible acronym
,
stood for, but h
e
would
find out shortly. The experiment had been designed to develop mind
-
altering therapies under Argyle
’
s tutelage. The idea was to tap into alternate realities that each of the
seven
participants expressed while under the influence of a variety of drugs, including several supposed mind
-
control concoctions. T
o
make the experiment totally viable, they need
ed
subjects of varying mental capacities and different levels of mental health.

Rhodes
,
the lone female,
still somewhat of an enigma,
had served in the army
.
Peppercorn was a psychopath, Garcia
was
a harden
ed
military
assassin.
Garity and Max had passed t
he psych exams to get into the B
ureau, so they were
relatively
normal, so to speak
. Each was
assured if they volunteered for this project they’d get the call to be agents. Both
had
jumped on it.

After three weeks, Argyle
had
realized that certain drugs were more effective in control
ling
the subject’s moods and they were left open to more
severe
behaviors.
Eventually
,
he discovered he could talk them into
practically
anything. He’d used classic therapeutic theories,
including
some of the ones h
e’d been ridiculed for. Combine those therapies
with high
-
powered drugs that
significantly
reduced resistance to self-will,
and
he’d stumbled onto the ultimate method for controlling another’s
mind and
actions.

Argyle had been ecstatic over the research and wanted to publish it
as a path to redemption among his peers
but the government coordinator of the project had other ideas. He ended the project and demanded that Argyle turn over all of the research notes. Apparently
,
Argyle
had
complied
,
but not entirely. By the time the coordinator realized he’d been duped
,
it
had been
too late. Argyle had embarked on his new profession
,
and Peppercorn was dead. The others seemed to be functioning well
,
so there didn’t appear to be a reason to be concerned
—
until Max had apparently been contacted by Argyle and turned into a cognitive
, willing
zombie, a situation
Manny had figured out
.
Max
had
admitted
to
it
in the face of the evidence. Then came Garity and his act.
That was the end of the story as far as Bureau or US Marshal records indicated. Until now.

The elevator reached the fifteenth floor
,
and
the doors
crawled open
.
Josh
motioned for the others to follow
.
It was still unbelievable that he was here, in this building, to arrest the man, the coordinator behind all of this. It hadn’t truly registered
what t
he
man
was capable of
,
all
that
he
’d
done
. Walking down this hall
way
cured that dilemma.

The coordinator
must have
contacted Garcia and worked out a money deal to
take out
everyone who had been involved in the project. Argyle was already dead
,
so that left
Rhodes,
Tucker
,
and Garity. The other name on the list, C
.
J
.
Chilton, was reported
missing
in Iraq two years prior so that left Garcia
, Rhodes
, and the coordinator.

Then there was one.

Manny’s ability for deduction, combined with that
extraordinary
intuition, had set this wheel in motion
.
A
rgyle, of all sources, had helped to put the final nail
in the coffin. Without that disc
,
Josh
wouldn’t be here now
. B
ut who knew for sure. Manny always said that your sins would find you out; maybe he was right. Either way, he was glad Manny was on his side. It wouldn’t be long before this dirty piece of laundry would be cleaned, folded, and put away forever.

There was still the question of what had been in all of this for Argyle
. P
robably revenge
,
but it wasn’t like they could ask him.

Josh straightened his tie, then knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

He swung the door open and walked to the desk.
Glancing out the window, he marveled, once again, at the view from the large window. Washington
,
DC
,
was
a beautiful city.
Josh sat in one of the chairs facing the man behind the desk.

“Ah
h
,
Josh. I’ve been expecting you.
And as always, you’re right on
schedule
.
”

“
Unlike your organization, we like to be on time. But, of course, you knew we were coming, right
?”

“
Certainly
. I have an eye or two in the sky
myself
,
you know.”

“I suppose you do. You know, when we opened that disc and saw you
r
face
,
we were all shocked. But I think Sophie would have killed you. She hit the computer screen so hard, we had to get another one to print the rest of the file.”

“She’s a good agent and I like her, but she’ll have to learn to control that temper, yes?”

“Maybe, but I think I would have let her
kill you
. I don’t suppose you care to tell us why you did what you did?”

The man shrugged, folded his hands
,
and leaned forward. “I guess it won’t do any harm. I’ll keep it short. This project had gotten out of hand and, in my mind, was dangerous. Since I had full
discretion
, I end
ed
it.
In our line of work, that means getting rid of the loose strings. That’s what happened, with William
’
s help. He killed Argyle, Chilton was gone in Iraq, so that left just a handful. Now they’re all gone
,
and I’m sitting here.”

Josh felt his anger rise, but kept it in check. “Then why try to kill Manny? That makes no sense.”

“
Oh, b
ut it does. When I met him, I realized that someone like him could bring this
broken project
back on me
, eventually
. It would have been just a matter of time before
our
paths
continued to
cross and he’d help to find me out.
T
he fact you’re here proves my point. But after two attempts
to kill him, I was about to make a third, but
I found out something that I thought was a done deal wasn’t and
—
how shall I say it?
—
I
had a change of heart.”