Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 01 - Flapjack (31 page)

-Chapte
r
6
1-

We arrived in Washington D.C. at Dulles International about 10:30 P.M.  It had been an extremely long and draining day, but we weren’t done yet. 

Galveston
read his messages.  He had a text from May that said to call him as soon as possible.  Galveston had been waiting for this news, we all had.  I was very interested in what role Chase played in all this, and what May thought about their meeting.

“
David, got your message, how did it go?”  Galveston asked him without further pleasantries. 

“
It was interesting, very interesting,” May started.  “I think our Mr. Chase is involved, probably more than we think.  I told him about Dr. Sloan and he was pretty cool about it, really no emotion.  I didn’t press him further about it.  I just got the feeling he was silently relieved.  I don’t trust him.  I have a team examining Dr. Blout’s car for any peculiarities and checking into all of Chase’s latest moves.  We’ll see what we find,” May explained to him.  “Are you already back in San Diego?”  He asked.

“
Not exactly David,” Galveston said slowly.  “We took a little detour.”

“
A little detour?  What exactly does that mean?” May questioned.

“
We’re in D.C.” 

“
D.C.?  I don’t even want to ask, but I know I have to.  What happened in Brazil that made you stop in D.C.?  How much am I not going to like this?”

“
Oh, you won’t like any of it, but it may be the break you’ve needed.”

“
Go on,” May pressed.

Galveston
proceeded to tell May about our exploits in Brazil, the same as he had to Dr. Morales just the previous day.  May listened intently, silently shocked at the new wealth of the information, and horrified at the way we went about it.  Galveston finished up, but left the last bit of juicy information until the end.

“
Guess who is behind this entire operation,” he asked like a quiz show game host.

“
I don’t have any idea at this point.  Who?”  May asked exasperated.

“
None other than Wallace Murray,” Galveston said dramatically.

“
You don’t say.”

“
He planned the demise of our Colonel Espinosa, Patelo, the explosions, all of it, I bet.”

“
And do you have any hard proof of this?”

“
Of course not.  How good do you think we are?  That’s why we’re here in D.C., to talk to Placer, Timothy Placer, the CEO of Black Bear.”

“
You’re not going to talk to Placer, no way, no how.  Let my men handle it from here.  You guys have already broken enough international and federal laws under my watch.  Let us handle it from here,” May ordered.

“
Uh, oh, David, you’re breaking up, I can’t…you…what…,” Galveston mumbled using shushing sounds between the words to simulate a breakup of his phones signal.

“
Alright, alright.  That’s enough.  What do you need?”  May asked giving in to Galveston’s childish ploy. 

“
We need some leverage with Placer.  Can we use a promise of some federal leniency to get him to talk?”

“
You know I can’t authorize that, come on,” May said growing impatient.

“
Uh, Oh, I’m losing you again, what…did…,” Galveston pulled the stunt again.

“
Okay, just be quiet.  How old are you, six?” May managed to joke.

“
I know you want us to find this out,” Galveston pleaded.

May thought about the offer.  This would be a big risk on his part.  If anything went wr
ong his career would be over, but he trusted Galveston.  May wrestled with the decision.  In any other case it would be strictly off-limits to question a potential suspect, but in this case things were different.  He was already receiving considerable pressure to stop the investigation, even as close as they were to resolving it.  The case could be over if it got to his superiors that he was opening up another portion of the case and questioning a CEO without a shred of evidence.  Either way, he was in a bind.  He needed answers quickly and he wanted them now. 

H
e sighed heavily over the phone and relented to Galveston’s request.  “Okay, on one condition.  I have men standing by to take him into custody for questioning, or if you screw this up.  You can offer him whatever you want, but no mention of me, the Bureau, or any other connection.  You can say that you’ll work on deal for him if he cooperates, that’s it.”

“
Agreed,” Galveston said, knowing he would end up offering this leverage to Placer.  “We’re going there tonight.  We’ll get him to spill the beans, I have a plan.”

“
Well don’t tell me about it.  Just give me the location where you’ll be and I’ll have men standing by.  I don’t want him to flee.”  May was noticeably uneasy about the arrangement.  His job was now on the line.  “Oh, I almost forgot.  I have another bit of information you’ll be interested in,” May started again.  “Your friend Alex should be proud of this.”

“
What is it?”

“
The San Diego P.D. picked up a group of men at a local hotel about an hour ago.  They were tinted a strange blue.  They found heavy armament, masks, electronics, the works.  None of them would talk, but the agents that we sent over said they had managed to get some cell phone numbers from them.  They are being interrogated now.”

“
Alex’s subtle security.  They must have tried to break into his computer system, not a smart move,” Galveston laughed.  “Another one of Murray’s teams, I bet, looking for Dr. Sloan, and the same ones who probably tried to accost Roger and Jane.”

“
We have a number they were communicating to regularly, probably Murray, but none of them are talking.  They’re all using the same line about first seeing a lawyer.”

Galveston
thought for a second about how this may work in their favor before they saw Placer.

“
David, do me a favor.  Do you think your men can get a message sent that Dr. Sloan is dead, and the team got to him.  Or that he tried to fight and they shot him? Something to that effect.  Send it to that number that you have.  It’s got to get to Murray.  I’m curious to see how much Placer is involved and if this pushes some more cockroaches out of the woodwork.”

“
I think the agents can do that,” May answered.

“
As quickly as possible,” Galveston responded.

“
I’ll make sure it happens.  What do you hope to gain from that?”  May asked.

“
I think that a primary goal of everyone involved is to have Dr. Sloan out of the way.  The having him dead part is a better lie for us.  He would be the only remaining link in the chain to their plan, the only other one who knows what’s going on.”

“
I see where you’re going with this.  We’ll get it done within the hour.  Just do me a favor and don’t get yourselves in hot water.  Having you guys on the job puts me on the line too, you know.”

“
Don’t worry David,” Galveston told him confidently.

“
Good luck, try not to get me fired.”

“
It looks like we’re on stage,” Galveston announced to me, putting his phone away.  “May reluctantly gave us the go ahead.”

“
Yippee,” I said without emotion.

“
You could show a little more excitement.  Just wait till you hear this.”

Galveston
told me the news of Alex’s incredible security coup and his ability to form a blue man group.  It must have been a sight. 

Galveston
’s plan to send a fake message to Murray was stellar.  It showed how well he could think on his feet.  The news of Dr. Sloan’s death should spread like wildfire through everyone involved in this scheme.  Dr. Sloan was the final connective link in the chain.  They needed him out of the way and the news would work in perfectly with our uninvited meeting with Placer.  We needed to find out what Placer knew about Murray and Chase.  They must have a plan in place when Dr. Sloan was out of the way. 

Alex finally called and
was able to locate Placer.  It was no easy task and he had to do some interesting detective work. 

“
So, what did you find out, Alex?”  Galveston asked.

“
I called his office earlier in the day and managed to get through to his secretary.  This part I know you’ll like, Galveston.  I posed as a reporter for Wall Street Week.  His secretary said he would be in the office until six, and probably would be at his home after that,” Alex explained proudly.

“
Ah, very good.  You remembered Lesson 127, a fake reporter always gets the best information,” Galveston said.

“
Yeah, sure, I was thinking about that lesson,” Alex said dismissively.  “Placer lives in the affluent suburb of Spring Valley in northwest D.C.”

Spring Valley is
an area that houses embassies, the campus of American University, and many of Washington’s elites.  Galveston knew the area relatively well from his time spent in D.C. many years ago.  The homes weren’t available for those light in the pocketbook.

“
Anything else?” Galveston questioned cautiously.

“
Nope, that’s about it.  Good luck.  Remember rule 232,” Alex instructed.

“
Rule 232?  I don’t have anything for that.”

“
That’s my rule,” Alex said.  “It means, don’t get your ass caught.”

“
I’ll have to add that one in.  Thanks, Alex.  Good work.  I’ll talk to you soon.  Stay near the phone,” Galveston told him and hung up.

Galveston
drove our rental car in classic D.C. style, honking his horn at the person in front of him at red lights when he saw the adjacent light turn yellow.  We wouldn’t need to even go through D.C. itself, instead taking the I-495 to MacArthur Blvd that hugged the Potomac.  It took us over an hour and a half to finally reach the Spring Valley neighborhood.

Galveston
came up with a simplified plan on how we would get in.  Jane would get to exercise some of her acting muscle and distract the guard at the gated community while Galveston, Elizabeth, and I gained entry, any way we could.  Galveston convinced Elizabeth that she needed to be in on this one; we needed all the eyes we could get.

Placer’s house was huge and surrounded by a large brick wall with trees that lined it on either side.  The obstructions were helpful
, but the security cameras were poised at every corner.  Jane was going to have to do some really good acting and use all her womanly charms.  It would be up to her to get us in.

The guard house stood at
a large metal gate and the entrance to the enclave of spacious homes.  Jane got in the driver’s seat and buckled up.  She moved the car slowly up the road while we stayed out of view on the sidewalk.  Jane reached the turnoff in front of the gate, put the car in park, got out, and pushed the intercom.

“
Yes,” a gruff voice said. 

Immediately Jane changed personas from a strong, vibrant woman to a blithering mess.
  “My name is Sally,” she cried into the intercom, “I’m lost and from Kentucky.  I can’t find my way back to my hotel,” she said in a southern drawl.

“
What do you need ma’am?”  The voice said again gruffly.

“
I can’t find my way, I’m almost out of gas, please,” Jane pleaded, an act worthy of an Oscar.

About that time the guard must have seen who he was dealing with, because the gate swung open and the voice changed over the intercom.

“Just stay right there, let me see what I can do for you,” he said, this time in a much more pleasant tone.

“
Oh thank you sir, thank you,” she stammered appreciatively.  Jane gave us a wink and a devilish smile.  She loved every minute of this, I thought. 

A guard in a gray uniform appeared at the gate as it slowly opened.  He walked to her confidently and she went into
acting overdrive.

“
Oh, thank goodness.  Thank you so much.”  Jane reached for the guards arm above the elbow and let the tears fly, money well spent in acting class.

We saw our opportunity and took it.  The three of us crouched behind the car as Jane was able to turn his back towards us
and slid through the gate quickly without being seen.  We hugged the brick wall on the other side of the gate out of view, as Jane turned on the waterworks further, causing the guard to prop her up as we moved well out of sight.

Placer’s
incredibly massive house was lit up like a Christmas tree.  Huge marble stone pillars lined the front and the perimeter seemed to go on forever.  Near the back of the home stood a bank of French doors in front of a pool.  Luckily, one of the doors was open and we let ourselves in, unannounced.  Just a little case of unlawful entry.