The Gambit (52 page)

I began to pull out individual folders and investigate the contents. It took me a few minutes to find the ones containing information on Black Monday, but what I found only angered me further.

It was the same garbage they had spewed on the media. Strontium-90 was found at the scene. Viktor Ivankov this, Russia that. It felt like it was all planted here. These were the only records they wanted to be read. Of course, there was
nothing
about the stray animals affected by the radiation, and it didn’t even mention that they executed them all. Something was missing.

“Do you mind if I ask you what you came here to find?”

I turned around to see the blonde woman standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

“It’s confidential, miss…but I will say, it is very dire that I find what I am looking for.”

“Have you found it?” she asked. The snarky tone in her voice irritated me. I studied her facial expression in the fluorescent lighting, and there was almost a smugness about her. Like she knew something that I didn’t. My eye began to twitch in realization of what her question affirmed. She
knew
I hadn’t found what I was looking for because she
knew
it wasn’t here to begin with. I slowly approached her with one of the folders in my hand.

“What is your name, might I ask?”

“Ms. Walling,” she answered. Her smug smile diminished and was replaced with fear.

“Ms. Walling,” I said her name slowly and intensely. “I haven’t found anything besides this garbage. Whatever it is you know about what I
haven’t
found, I suggest you help me find it.”

She opened her mouth to speak.

“But wait,” I cut her off. “That’s no good, either, because I would never find what I needed in here. Am I right?”

She stayed silent and glowered at me.

“My question doesn’t need to be answered. We both know the
real
evidence isn’t here.”

“What is it you want to find so badly?”

She was testing me. She knew that I knew, but she wanted me to say it. If she wanted to play this game, I could play it better. I was the one with the clearance.
She
should have been answering my questions—not the other way around.

“It is something I believe will help preserve the freedom and livelihood of every person in this country.”

Her forehead creased. “How so?”

I set the papers down. “The fact that you are even questioning me shows that you have been lied to so well that you are beginning to believe them, even though you know the truth about what happened on Black Monday.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My steps were measured, and I neared her until I was a foot away.

“You know
exactly
what I am talking about.”

She stared back at me with a blank expression. She blinked, and I noticed her chest rose and fell quickly. Her breath was rapid—she was nervous.

“I—I’m sorry I bothered you,” she stammered and shook her head. “I need to make a phone call.” She turned back around. She made it two steps.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned.

She whipped back around, glaring at me…but behind her distrust, there was curiosity gleaming in her eyes. At this point, I was going on my first whim. I just hoped my statements would lead me in the right direction with this woman.

“Why?” she spat with a quirked brow.

“Because, you will get yourself in more trouble than you would ever want to be in.”

“How do you know this stuff? Like who the fuck are you?” She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. She was frustrated with my sudden appearance. It was obvious. She was having a normal day, then I came and screwed it up.

“I know this stuff because I work with the same people who are lying to you.”

Her eyelid twitched and lower lip trembled. Her chest still heaved with her rapid breath.

“How do you know you’re not being lied to, too?” she countered.

I snorted. “Ms. Walling, I came here to get evidence of the truth. Evidence that might help reverse the lie that’s being told on the news. Like I said, I am an agent from the CIA, and I work in Intel. I know what’s
really
going on, just like you do…but now, I need proof. I’m done sitting on the sidelines while our country is imploding before our very eyes.”

I didn’t want to reveal my true desires…to stop Veronica Hall in her tracks.

“You can call me Megan. So, this is about Owen? How certain are you that it’s a lie?”

I laughed in her face. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

She pressed her lips together. Her face was deadpan.

“Megan, it’s all a sham. My department in the CIA is ten levels below the ground. I could be expatriated because of what I just told you, but I couldn’t care less at this point. I don’t plan on going back to work because I am done being a part of the lie. The bombs were planted to frame Owen. Their party was leading the polls by a landslide, and now look at them. Their plan worked. The democrats are in the lead. The traditional parties will stay in control. The Convergence Party is dead. Owen is innocent and always has been. I will never go back to work for them. She threatened me and my family…”

Megan’s blue eyes darted across the floor, and she gently held her hand over her mouth. For the first time since I had walked into her office, she didn’t seem so rigid. Her defensive glare was gone.

“Veronica…” The name was uttered so softly, I thought I had heard my own thoughts. I stared at her with wide eyes.

“
What
did you just say?”

“Veronica Hall,” she replied, looking up from the floor to meet my gaze. “Did she threaten you too?”

My jaw dropped. Anger and sadness welled up inside of me because the memory of Veronica’s threat was still fresh in my mind. I remembered how it felt. I remembered the fear and the pain it caused. Megan’s lip quivered, and her eyes began to glisten. I could only imagine what she felt like. She had to be in her late twenties. Far too young to be sworn to secrecy and threatened by a higher up.

I nodded slowly. “She is my boss.”

Megan coughed so hard I thought she was choking.

“Your boss?” she asked, and the tears began to fall. “I don’t know how you do it. I could barely stand to be in the same room as her. The look in her eyes haunts me to this day.”

“
Did
it,” I corrected. “I quit, although she doesn’t know that. I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if she would have taken my badge. I needed it to get in here.”

“How could you work around that vile woman?” she groaned and rubbed her forehead.

“I had no choice. It looks like you didn’t, either.”

“She came here with two NSA agents one day, over a year ago. She told me I would never see my family again. She put all the responsibility on my shoulders. It’s too much pressure…too much stress. I’ve had it all bottled up…”

Her cries were guttural. She sat down in one of the office chairs and buried her face in her palms.
Over a year ago. That was after the Confinement, long before she was my boss.

“Do you know what it’s like to lie every day? Every
fucking
day I get calls, requests for appointments. All about the bombs on Black Monday. Black Monday this, Black Monday that. I smile, I go through the motions, and I give them the same paperwork you just had in your hands. They make copies, they shake my hand, and they go on their way. It’s killing me, Mr. Bolden. It’s
killing
me inside.”

“You can call me Lucas.”

She glanced up at me with tears streaming down her face.

“I know what it is like to go to work knowing that every second I spend there is contributing to more lies. The guilt keeps you up at night. It makes you want to disappear. I served overseas, Megan, and my work in the last three months has revolved entirely around the election. It was like I had a gun pointed at lady liberty, but I wasn’t the one pulling the trigger. The constitution I swore to protect under oath, I was breaking for a paycheck. I couldn’t live with myself.”

“I know…” She groaned, hiccupping violently. “I feel so guilty. A guy I was seeing recently, he goes to MIT, and he called me to tell me he knew the
truth
. I was so scared for my own safety I told, Lucas, I ratted him out. To the same people you work for. I—I feel like such a coward. I feel like such a fucking coward…”

Her bawling was so raw. It was hard for me to watch. I had dealt with Veronica for three months. She had dealt with her for much longer.

“That was you…” I mumbled. “I was working the night the tip came in.”

“Yes…” She groaned. “That was me, and I’m so ashamed to say it.”

I stayed quiet and let her emotions run their course. There was nothing I could do to console her. Our decisions were in the past. The only thing we could control now was the future, but this was a battle that couldn’t be won alone. I would need help, and Megan had the information I needed. After a few minutes her crying ceased.

“I used to date him,” she said, with her voice raspy from crying.

“Who?”

“Owen.”

I practically lost my breath.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. We were in love. Well, at least, it was the closest thing to love I’d ever felt.”

There was a pause.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” I began, “What happened?”

She shook her head and snorted, letting out a laugh.

“I made him choose between his party and me, and I regret it every day.”

I didn’t know quite what to say. I felt deeply for Megan’s situation because mine was very similar. We both had been threatened by Veronica. I still had only one thing on my mind—to get the evidence.

“Well, help him, by giving him the justice he deserves.”

She looked up at me and pursed her lips.

“Let’s give Veronica a dose of her own medicine,” I said, and held my hand out to help her up.

“Do you promise I’ll be safe? I don’t want her to do the things she said, Lucas. I am
afraid
of her.”

“I am not afraid of her, I am afraid of what she is capable of doing. I can’t promise you safety, but what I will say, is that the longer we wait to take action, the less of a chance we will have of stopping her.”

Her breathing shuddered, and she turned away from me, letting out a few cries.

“I’m…so scared…” She blubbered. “It scares me that I’ve been lying so long that I’ve begun to believe the lie. It’s been my entire existence since Black Monday.”

“It doesn’t have to be anymore.” I encouraged her softly.

“She threatened to
kill
me,” she hiccupped. Her blubbering continued. I bit down on my bottom lip to help ease my anger. Only someone as evil as Veronica could threaten a fellow citizen’s life. All because she wanted to ensure the continuity of her agenda.

“She needs to be held accountable for the damage she has done. Will you help me?”

Megan looked up at me and wiped tears across her face.

“How long will it take to bring her down?” she asked.

“I can’t say, but it’s a whole lot better than helping
them
any longer.”

She composed herself and stared up at me silently.

“When all of this is over, Megan, what side do you want to remember being on?”

The look in her eyes was priceless. It was the confidence that came along with making a decision to take back control. I imagined that was how I looked when I was walking out of the CIA building yesterday.

“Yes,” she said. “Follow me.”

We walked past the elevator and down a long hall. At the end of it, we reached a stainless-steel door. There was no doorknob, and the way the door appeared I couldn’t tell if it was automatic or traditional. Megan stepped to the right and placed her eye in front of what looked to be a peephole. I heard a scanning sound, and the door slid open. She walked through the opening, and I stayed put.

“Can I come in?” I asked nervously.

“Yes,” she answered. “Surprisingly enough, there are no cameras in here. The only people who can get in are me and Veronica.”

“Who installed the retina scanner?”

“The NSA. Oh, and just wait—that was just the beginning.”

The room was far too large to be this barren. Everything was stark white. The faded, peach-colored carpet from the hallway was replaced with white tile. Fluorescent lights illuminated the room to the point where it bothered my eyes. Against the back wall was a black file cabinet. The closer we became, the more apparent it was that it wasn’t just
any
file cabinet. There were no handles, and it wasn’t made of the typical, thin sheet-metal. It looked to be some type of iron. On the wall beside of it was a device around the size of a human head. It was chest level with Megan.