Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 01 - Flapjack (13 page)

-Chapter 24-

I awoke early the next morning in our cramped London hotel room.  I had walked Jane to her door the previous night and only received a hug goodnight, but I was spinning even after that.  It seems we, at least, made a connection.  Galveston had never returned to the room that night, and like a nervous wife I called the front desk for messages.  No one had called.

I stood
with a toothbrush dangling from my mouth as the hotel door swung open and Galveston strolled in, primped and fresh.

“
Where have you been?”  I muttered with toothpaste foam covering my mouth.

“
No where Mom,” Galveston replied as he sat on the bed and kicked off his shoes. 

“
Why didn’t you come back here?” I asked him like a nervous parent.

“
Well, you kind of told me I couldn’t, so I took that as I shouldn’t.”  He pushed himself back on the bed and clicked on the TV.  A newscaster was spilling out the news.  “I love the British media, they have so much more spunk then those weenies back home.”  He pushed the pillow behind his head, getting comfortable.

“
What’s the deal?  You’ve already created a mess, now what?”

“
Relax.  You would be happy to know I have smoothed everything out.”  I took this as yet another fib and felt my anger rising.

“
How have things smoothed out?  We don’t have time for you to play these head games with your little friend.  What, did you decide to call her and tell her you had a terminal disease?”

“
You know, that isn’t a bad idea, but no, I didn’t tell her that.”

“
So you talked to her again?”

“
If it makes you happy, yes, through most of the night and into the morning.  I spent the night with her.”

“
You slept with her?”  I exclaimed loudly, shocked and rather impressed.

“
Technically, no, but I slept beside her in another room on the couch.  It was too late and she let me stay.”  He pulled himself away from the TV and looked at me.  “Look, I told her everything, and all of it the truth.  I apologized and I got out how much it hurt when she left.  It was not a proud moment for me.”  He turned back to the TV.  “I told her why we were here, what we needed, and why I needed her help.  There is one problem, though.”

“
And what would that be?”  I asked.

“
I think I’ve fallen for her again.  I’m still crazy about her.  She’s great.  Funny, smart, and that body, oh, that body,” he said, continuing to watch the TV.  “We’re meeting with her this afternoon.  She thinks she can get the information we need by then.”

“
Wait, wait.  You’ve fallen for her?  How could you fall for her in one night?”

“
It all came flooding back.  She’s got this crazy stranglehold on me.  No one has come close since.  I know it’s crazy to hear coming from such a rock solid guy like myself, but man, that body, oh, that body.”

“
Enough about her body.  I’m sure it’s lovely.”

“
Oh, you don’t understand.  She can do this thing with her legs,” Galveston started.

“
Okay, that’s quite enough,” I stopped him while he laughed at me.  “Now what about this meeting?”

“
These are terrible.” He was now trying to eat stale French fries, or crisps as they’re called in England, sitting on the bedside table, scrunching his face as he did.

“
Hey, focus.  The meeting?”

“
Four o’clock, London time.  We’ll meet her in a coffee shop by her office.  I think she’s into me too.  This time it will be different.”

“
I have to get some air.”  I walked to the door and began to go out.

“
Hey!” Galveston yelled to me.  “You and Jane can go with us, we’ll double date.”

I muttered under my breath and left the room and closed the door behind me. 
The problem was I forgot my pants and stood in the hall in only my boxer shorts.  I walked back in and the pants came hurling towards me.

“
Thanks,” was all I could grumble.  I was relieved, not about my pants, but that Galveston had redeemed himself.  I couldn’t show that I was actually proud of him.  That was rule 182.

The rest of the day we parted ways. 
Galveston holed himself up in the hotel room, watching quirky, poorly understood British comedies.  I followed Jane like a lapdog, checking the sights.  We stopped by Piccadilly Square, Big Ben, and the British National Museum.  The whole time I hung on her every word.  The business we were supposed to be engaging in floated to the back of my mind.  Instead, I thought of nothing more than this lovely lady.

We arrived back at our hotel around three P
.M.  I left Jane at her door and found Galveston sprawled on the bed in nothing but his underwear, food cartons were scattered about his bed, and a bag of sweets balanced on his chest.

“
This is a sight I hope I can forget.  I think I’ve burned my retinas.”

“
Hey, you know you’re seeing nothing but an Adonis of manhood.”  He stuffed more food in his mouth.  “Good day with Jane?”

“
Yes.  Very good.  Very, very good.”

“
You know you’re her boss.  There’s no fraternizing in our company.”

“
Well then I quit.”  I plopped myself on a chair by the bed and noticed a plump man on TV making a joke that only an interpreter would understand.  We wasted away the next half an hour in the room until our big meeting with Elizabeth.

The hope was
Elizabeth could get to Dr. Sloan’s daughter, Margaret.  We were running out of time, and we needed to be out of London quickly.  We met Elizabeth in a small coffee shop near the SIS headquarters at Vauxhall Cross, while Jane had excused herself to do some important shopping.

Galveston
was correct in his description of Elizabeth.  She did have a fantastic body and was very sharp.  Years of training and work in MI6 had paid off.  She was obviously good at what she did and understood the importance of what we were doing. 

Elizabeth
spoke with an eloquent English accent.  She could talk about cleaning gunk out of her ears and still make it sound elegant.  After the necessary introductions were made, Elizabeth, almost immediately, went into her quick report

“
Margaret has the assumed name of Gabriel Smit.  She lives alone near the town of Tadley in the county of Hampshire.  She is unmarried, no children, and works at a local flower shop.”  Galveston looked dreamily at Elizabeth so I assumed I would have to take the lead on questioning her.

“
Why is she in hiding?”  I questioned seriously while Galveston only smiled and sighed.

“
I’m not sure, something about her ex-husband’s ties to the Russian mafia.  Great Britain doesn’t have a formal, central government controlled program like the United States.  Witness protection in the UK is controlled by the regional police forces so any information is difficult to obtain.”

“
When was the last time she saw her father?”  I asked.

“
It’s been at least five years.  There is a report that she went against the wishes of the police and had a secret phone location where she would speak to him.”

I looked at
Galveston who continued to be in a stupor.  I snapped my fingers in front of his face, snapping him from his euphoria.  A smile crossed Elizabeth’s face.

“
It appears you gentlemen have impeccable timing.  I learned that she fears for her safety.  If someone else is trying to get to her it will only take a good government contact to find out where she is, just as you have done with me.  I’ll take you to her, but we have to be truthful with her.  Tell her all you know and the danger her father is in.”

“
I agree,” I added, looking at Galveston with a judging stare.

“
What?” he said loudly and then relented.  “Uh yeah, me too.”  Elizabeth smiled again.

“
Well gentlemen, let’s get started.”

-Chapter 25-

We drove outside the city limits of London to Tadley, a quaint, picturesque area of the country with lightly rolling green hills and neatly arranged cottages.  I secretly wished I could live in a location like this, possibly with Jane. 

Margaret Sloan’s house
was easily found, off the main thoroughfare and down a small, winding dirt road.  A small cottage came into view, decorated with a various array of flowers and planters, along with a small vegetable garden on the side of the house.  A bike was parked in the front, outside of a white fence.  The place was like something out of a Jane Austen novel.

We approached the house cautiously
and Elizabeth agreed to do the talking.  The trees at the perimeter were thick and obviously caused some concern to the pair.  I didn’t see the chances of someone lurking in the shadows just at the time we were arriving, but what did I know.

Elizabeth
reached into the glove box of the car and pulled out a Sig Saur 9 mm handgun and placed it out of view.  This was indeed turning exciting.  Elizabeth offered another handgun to Galveston, which he accepted, using his pants pocket as a holder.  I was offered no such protection, but I wanted no part of these devices. 

Elizabeth
knocked on the door and found it opened slightly on the pressure.  She pushed it and revealed what was once a quaint cottage.  Elizabeth paused and looked back at Galveston, who was in a slightly crouched position, his gun pulled out and resting on his thigh.

“
Margaret.  Margaret, this is the police,” Elizabeth called out loudly, “from the magistrate.  We need to talk to you.”   She awaited a response and upon hearing no answer began to enter the door.

Galveston
motioned for me to get behind him, obviously something was amiss.  I attempted to follow him, but he and Elizabeth had already disappeared through the door.  I hurried through the door and could now see into the house.  It was a mess.  Tables were overturned, books and papers were everywhere, a smashed TV lay on the floor, and the walls were curiously pitted with large holes.

Elizabeth
and Galveston both sensed the urgency of the situation and had their guns up in a shooting stance, quietly scanning the room.  I watched Galveston as a tense look crossed his face and I cowered behind him.  Elizabeth began to slowly move through the room and into the hall, softly speaking Margaret’s name and the words, “orange leopard”.  This was the safe word to alert Margaret that we were friendly.

Slowly, we moved further through the house.  Room after room was shattered in a mess of objects
.  Elizabeth continued to methodically check all corners, nooks, and crannies.  She motioned for Galveston to cover the small kitchen as I stayed in the main living room near the front door, unsure of what to do. 

Things had taken a bad turn from what I could tell
and I heard hear Elizabeth down the hall, again saying Margaret’s name with the words “orange leopard”.

“
That’s a funny word,” I said to myself out loud.  “Orange leopard.  Come here orange leopard.  I’ll take an orange leopard,” I nervously joked to myself, playing as if I wanted a drink with that name.  All of a sudden, I heard three knocks from behind the wall near a wood fireplace.  I yelled down the hall to the others who responded quickly, racing toward me.  We all gathered near the fireplace, trying to determine where the knocks came from.

“
Margaret? Orange leopard, Margaret,” Elizabeth said to the wall.  I stifled an insensitive chuckle because it was rather odd to be saying these words to the wall.  All of a sudden, however, an almost invisible portion of the wooden wall began to move at the bottom and slide up like magic, revealing a small hole, about four feet square.

Immediately we heard someone repeating back
“orange leopard” in a shallow, breathless voice, and a hand came jutting out of the hole in the wall.

“
Margaret,” Elizabeth said as she reached for the hand. 

A woman’s head began to appear followed by a torso of a woman in her forties.  She inched her way out of the hole and was covered in dust.  She was clearly distraught and kept repeating the safe words until her body was entirely on the ground. 
Elizabeth pulled her up and hugged her while Galveston left to continue his examination of the home.

Elizabeth
pushed back the hair from over Margaret’s eyes.  She had never met the woman before, but held her as if she was a mother holding a child.

“
Margaret, are you okay?”

“
I, I think so.  It was so quick.  I barely had time,” she stammered.

“
What happened?” Elizabeth asked soothingly, rubbing her back.

“
I, I’ve been in there since yesterday.  I wasn’t sure if they were coming back.  I didn’t have my phone and the electricity was cut.  I, I,” she continued to stammer, having difficulty getting out the words.

Elizabeth
moved her over to the couch as I cleared a path for her.  Galveston continued to be on edge and prowled the inside of the house before leaving to check the outside again.

“
Margaret, who was here?”  Elizabeth asked softly while holding her hand.

“
I don’t know.  I got home from the shop and made dinner.  The power went out and I tried the phone, but it was dead.  It was then that I saw headlights out front.  I panicked and crawled into the safe room.  There was this loud bang and heavy footsteps, and they just began tearing things apart.  They were ramming holes in the wall and making so much noise, but no one spoke.  I thought for sure they would find me.”

“
They weren’t subtle,” I added, putting my fist in one of the holes in the wall.

“
Roger, please get her some water from the spigot,” Elizabeth instructed me.

I rushed over to the kitchen and filled up a large glass with water and offered it to her.  She gulped it feverishly when
Galveston returned, coming back again into the room.

“
The outside is clear.  I found some tire tracks.  Looks like two large vehicles, probably a couple of SUV’s.”  He holstered his gun in his pocket and kept his eyes trained on the windows and the surrounding area outside. 

“
I need to make a call.  Just stay with her Roger.”  Elizabeth immediately began to dial her phone.

“
How you doin’?”  I asked grabbing her, as if I didn’t know.

“
Okay, I guess, now.  You two are American.  Why are you here?”

“
We’ll get to that in time,” I told her, “right now just relax.  We’ll make sure you’re safe.”  I wasn’t sure if we really could make her safe, but figured that was what she needed to hear. 

Elizabeth
returned from her call.

“
They’ll have you evacuated within the hour,” she said.

Margaret looked dejected and worn out.
She had been through so much.

Galveston
walked slowly around the room, his hand at the gun in his pocket.  He looked toward Elizabeth.  “This wasn’t done by the mafia.  This was done by a professional, organized team.”

“
I know,” Elizabeth answered.  “I think you boys better ask your questions.  Margaret, you need to do something for me.  These men were never here, just me, okay?  You’ll understand why.”  She said this seriously and without flinching.  Galveston immediately picked up the lead.

“
Margaret, your father is missing, and that’s why we’re here.  We’re currently helping the FBI locate him, but they wanted us to find you first.  We have information that he sent you something, something that may help us in finding him.”

“
I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I haven’t talked to my father in years.”

Elizabeth
cut in, “we know you have a number you’ve been using to contact him and that’s alright, but we must know what he sent you.”  She looked Margaret square in the eyes.

“
Did he send you something a few weeks ago?”  Galveston asked.

Margaret sighed. 
“Yes he did, and I haven’t heard from him since.”  She unzipped the couch cushion and pulled out about five pages of paper.  “He said to keep it hidden, so I did.  I didn’t know what to make of it at the time.”

“
Can I see it?”  Galveston asked.  Margaret handed over the papers.  The first page was a message and the rest were complicated drawings of a design none of us understood.  Galveston perused the first page and read it to himself.

“
My dearest Margaret,

I am glad you are safe and well
.  I wish I could be there to see you.  I’m sending you something very prized to me and my research.  I ask you to keep it very safe and hidden.  Things have been happening here in the last week which have made me nervous.  I’m not sure, but I think someone has been following me and been in my home.  Strange people have been asking about my research.  I’m close to realizing a dream, an item that could change how we consume energy as human beings.  I plan to release my findings at a conference in Memphis in two days.  Once it is out I should be safe.  I am sending you the original design.  I know you can keep it safe.  I’ll contact you after Memphis to let you know how it went or you can call me.  I think the Memphis area code is 272.  I’ll talk more about it later.  I can’t wait to see the Memphis Parkland.  I love you and I will talk to you soon. 

Love, Dad.
”

Galveston
handed the letter to me and I passed it to Elizabeth.  We perused it quickly, but carefully.

“
He hasn’t sent anything else?”  Galveston wondered aloud, looking at the pages of drawings.

“
No, that was it.  What happened to him?  What was he working on?”  The worry was clearly etched on her face.

“
He went missing before the Memphis conference and his lab has been destroyed.  We’re not sure by whom.  We believe your father has somehow developed a battery that is so revolutionary that it would probably be the greatest invention of the 21st century.”  Her mouth went agape as Galveston said these words.

“
But he’s just a materials engineer,” she mumbled out the words.

“
Well, he may be an engineer that has stumbled on the way to bring energy independence to the world.” 

The words clearly struck her hard, and she seemed to understand the implications.
  She was smart and knew what lengths people or governments would go for such a device.

“
We’re running out of time,” Elizabeth said looking at her watch.

“
Margaret, we need to take these with us and analyze them.”

“
I guess, but how will I know about my father?”

“
Elizabeth will keep you informed.  The first thing is your safety.  Let us do the rest.”  Galveston said this forcefully, noting the time again.

“
Yes, yes, anything to find my father safe.  Promise me that.” 

“
I promise,” but it was a promise Galveston wasn’t sure he could keep. 

“
You two need to go.  Go out the back and head up the road about a kilometer.  I’ll flash my lights when I’m nearing you.  Now go,” Elizabeth instructed, pushing us towards the door.  “Margaret, these men were never here, for your father’s sake.”

“
Alright,” she answered, still in a state of shock at the continually stressful situation.

Galveston
and I took the pages and raced out the door and into the wooded area in back of the house.  We followed the road away from the house, keeping out of sight in the tree line.

“
Exactly how far is a kilometer?” I asked him as we raced through the trees.

“
Good question.  I know it’s less than a mile.  I guess we’ll keep moving until we can’t breathe anymore, which should be about another twenty feet,” he responded.

As we made our way
along, we could see a stream of car headlights heading down the road at a high rate of speed.  Nervously, we stopped and watched them race past, all the while staying covered in the thick branches of the small trees.  We had made it out just in time.