“Any new activity from Mashburn? Phone calls, credit card transactions?”
“There was one credit card transaction in Panama, and that’s it. No calls.”
Wade was pleased to hear that Mashburn wasn’t making calls or leaving a trail of credit card transactions.
Wade still had to make the call to Megan and wanted Yari’s assistance.
“I have a strange request.”
“The stranger the better.”
“I have a call coming up with someone from my agency. The call is being patched through a secure Agency line to a home phone. However, I’m not sure someone from the Agency won’t be eavesdropping. Can you set up a secure line that overrides an existing secure line patch?”
“That’s not a strange request. We call that a ‘double patch with encryption.’ What it means is that whoever’s listening to your call won’t be able to understand either side of the conversation. My encryption will override their patch. I’ll use my new encryption code. Did I tell you that no one here has been able to break it yet?”
“I think you mentioned that.”
“We do double patches all the time when we think our unfriendly foreign neighbors are listening to an agent’s call. Will you be calling from the number you’re on right now?”
“Yes, and I don’t want this number to be identified. The last thing I want is someone tracing calls from my cousin’s house.”
“Give me about twenty minutes to set everything up. You can make your call any time after that.”
“Great. Thanks, buddy.”
“What else do we need to be doing?”
“I’m waiting for a response from the State Department after my meeting yesterday. I don’t have any plans until I hear back from them. I need you to keep tracking the calls to our friends in Belize, though.”
“Got it. I’m all over those calls.”
“Thanks. We’ll talk soon.”
Wade was torn about his upcoming call to Megan. Despite his suspicions, he felt he had to make the call. After setting up the double patch with Yari, he picked up the phone, still unsure of what he was going to say.
It sounded like she’d been waiting by the phone. “Hello?”
“It’s me. I hope this is a convenient time to call.”
“I thought it might be you calling.”
He tried to make small talk. “How’s everything at work?”
“The same — busy.”
“I miss not talking to you every day.”
She coughed as if uncomfortable. “Well, there’s nothing preventing you from calling.”
“I know. I get distracted with other things, but you’re always on my mind. And sometimes when I call, you’re out on company business.”
“We’re both busy. So you were going to tell me a fish story.”
He cut to the chase. “Before we get into that, let me ask you something. I need a straight answer.”
“Sure. Haven’t I always given you straight answers?”
“Do you totally trust the Agency? I mean, are there any areas where you have suspicions?”
A long, awkward silence followed, until he thought he’d lost the connection, but he was relieved to hear her take a deep breath and let it out. It was clear that Megan was taking his question seriously — she hadn’t been expecting it and was clearly cautious about how she answered.
“Well, I don’t always agree with how the Agency handles things. Sometimes it does things that violate its own policies. But I can’t say I have any real suspicions. What exactly are you getting at?”
“You remember the sniper incident at Fort Benning?”
“Of course.”
“Well, some things have come out about that incident that may involve the Agency. Like the fact that they knew all about Lockhart. There were also some questionable drug operations going on in Vietnam that the Agency either knew about or sanctioned.”
“Where are you getting your information?”
“Let’s just say it came up during the Lockhart murder investigation.”
“You’re kidding! I didn’t know anything about that investigation. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I was told they weren’t sure who might be involved, and I was instructed to keep quiet.”
“Do they think either of us is somehow involved?”
“No. They didn’t say that. I’m just not sure all our communication channels with the agency are secure.”
There was a pause while Megan said nothing. The silence caused Wade to wonder what she was thinking.
“Is that the ‘fish’ story?”
“That’s part of it. I really can’t go into the rest right now. I hope you understand.”
“Do you feel safe?”
“I think so, but I’m not absolutely sure.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Nothing right now. I can’t let you get involved. You’re too close to the D.C. senior people who might be implicated. I can’t have you jeopardize your job — or worse, your life. I care about you.”
“Let me worry about my job. I can take care of myself. You should know that by now.”
“Right now, I just want you to trust me. I’m in the middle of something, and my survival instincts are dictating my every move.”
“I do trust you, but I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on. I know my way around the Agency, and I’m good at getting information about what Agency people know or don’t know. I had to learn that skill to survive here in order to do my job. If anyone should know that about me, you should.”
He stood up and paced the room before finally sitting down again. “I do know that. The problem with this incident is that it goes to the top of the Agency, and heads might start to roll if it gets any closer. Other than providing the investigators what they ask for, I’m trying to stay as far away from it as possible. The investigation has now taken on a life of its own and is out of my hands. We’ll just be collateral damage if we get too close.”
“I understand the risk. Just let me know what I can do to help.”
With Megan’s last comment, Wade had to decide how much he could trust her. The thought that Megan would risk her job and maybe her life made him sick with guilt. He also needed information that he knew Megan could probably obtain.
“I need to know which Agency operatives we can trust in and around Belize. But you have to make sure your inquiries can’t be traced back to you or me.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. What else do you need to know?”
“That’s all for right now. I’m still working on other angles.”
“The obvious question is why the country of Belize?”
He sighed, feeling his frustration level rise. “That’s precisely the question that will raise suspicions, and why you can’t ask it that way. So start with a list of agents in Central and South America and eliminate names in every country but Belize. Check the grapevine for background on the names you find. Don’t ask anyone at headquarters a direct question about Belize.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve got your drift.” Megan understood the importance but still not the purpose of the secret mission Wade had just assigned her. “Where are you going to be when I get the information?”
“I’m back in Houston, staying at a relative’s house. I’ll contact you. I may be on the road. Just be careful how you source your information and make sure you use a secure line.”
“I know how to source information safely. Remember, we trained at the same facility.”
“I know. That’s what worries me. Those who taught us may well be the ones tapping the lines. Remember in the end the orders all come out of the same facility. ”
It bothered Wade that he hadn’t heard back from Jack Pisano about his call to the State Department. Wade decided to call Jake.
“Pisano here.”
“Hi, Jake, it’s Wade. Just wondering if you made that call to the State Department yet.”