Marti asked, “What does that mean?”
“That means he helped develop defensive and take-back strategies in the event someone was to take over the plant. The sheriff has also been involved with the Coast Guard to make sure there is a restricted area one mile off shore.”
Marti was quiet, which either meant she already knew all this or that she was surprised that I knew it. Then her voice dropped a few decibels. “I wasn’t around when they did their critical asset protection studies last year, but I was briefed on the results. What you are talking about is confidential information. How the hell do you know so much? And should we be talking about this over an open line?”
“For the sake of brevity, and to expedite things right now, yes,” I told her. “But I want you to stay near your office on the plant site. We may need more information, and you’ll have an easier time getting that over your secure phone. I’m sure FBI and NRC headquarters would prefer you communicate with them on your encrypted phone. You know how to use it, right?”
I could tell Marti resented at the dig. “It’s not exactly like picking up a cell phone and dialing a number, but I’ve done it before. So yes, I’m qualified on how to use our secure equipment!”
“Good. As for the sheriff, he’s probably put his SWAT team on alert and is dusting off their take-back strategy. Your job is to make sure they don’t pull a John Wayne and come charging onto the site until we know more. We don’t want to spook the bad guys until we know what we are dealing with. Can you do that?”
“I’ll do my best. Is there anything else?” she says with little warmth in her tone.
I could tell I’d pissed her off. She didn’t know me and didn’t know the full scope of what was going on. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but in this case, she was an inadvertent participant and not a trained operative. I didn’t know exactly what her role was going to be, but whatever it was, it would be better to have her on my side than not.
“Look,” I said, softening the tone in my voice. “I know this is unusual for you. But you’re doing a good job. Just hang in there and stay collected. If you need anything, let me know. I’ve got some stuff to do. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She apparently responded well to my change in demeanor. “Wait a minute,” she said, suddenly sounding cooperative. “If you’re going to call me, let me give you my home and personal cell numbers, just in case.”
“I’ve already got them.” Without waiting for a response, I terminated the call.
Marti put down her phone. She admitted to herself that being told what to do by this ‘contractor’ annoyed her, but she was also intrigued and a bit excited. She breathed out and instinctively looked around her. She didn’t expect to see anything, but her level of paranoia was increasing.
CHAPTER 28
I stayed overnight at the Old Man’s house, and we talked long into the night about ideas, strategies, problems, and solutions. Neither of us knew what form the threat would take, or what exactly the terrorists had in mind, so we could only conceptualize defensive strategies.
“If they have a man or maybe two on the inside, especially if it’s a security person, maybe we should have someone of our own inside.”
The Old Man smiled and nodded. “I agree. But we have to assume they’ve got eyes on the inside and would see you coming a mile away. They’ll be prepared for that.”
I let the beginnings of a grin cross my own face.
“Let me guess — this has something to do with information you left out of your report. I assume you looked at potential ways into the plant from the outside and haven’t told anyone of the really ridiculous ways in?”
“You’ve got that right. I noted all of them in my report, except one. It was just too crazy to consider and too hard to breach the plant that way, so I left it out.”
“Well if it’s that crazy, then nobody else will be looking for it either. Lay it out for me.”
I explained my idea for getting into the plant, after which the Old Man immediately said, “Can’t be done. Not to mention, it’s too dangerous to even try. It’s certainly never been done before. There’d be no reason for anyone to have tried it.” He paused for a minute, looking down, just shaking his head slowly from side to side. Then he looked up at me and said, “And for that very reason, it’s probably the only thing that’ll work.”
“That was my thinking. I’m counting on them not anticipating it.”
The Old Man gave me a piercing look and said, “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. But if this is going to work, you’re going to need some help. You’re going to need someone along who knows the plant and the details of the systems you’re planning to bypass.”
I knew what was coming. “No! Absolutely not! You’re too old for this shit. You’re retired for God’s sake! Besides, it’s not your problem.” I got up from my chair in the kitchen and walked into the family room. I knew the Old Man had the skill and knowledge I needed. That’s why I was here talking with him. But taking him with me was out of the question. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—risk it.
Looking at him, I knew that the Old Man’s age and demeanor belied his actual ability. He was an instructor in Shotokan karate and trained regularly, so he was in pretty good shape — for a man his age. But I didn’t want to put him, or this mission, in jeopardy. And having him come along would add a number of variables to the equation.
The Old Man followed me into the family room. “You know the feds are only going to muck up the works. They have their protocols to adhere to and will be coming through the front door soon.”
I sat down heavily in a large, overstuffed leather chair. If you let them, these chairs would suck the life force right out of you, they were that comfortable. Perhaps that’s what softened me up a bit.
“That may be, but I can’t take you along and be responsible for what might happen to you.”
The Old Man sat down on the couch and leaned back. He had a peaceful look on his face.
“Look,” he said calmly. “We can play this little game for a while, but quite honestly we don’t have the time. You know it and I know it. You need to get back to the plant. You, more than most, know how serious this is or can be. We have solid intel and now we have a plan. We just need to find two guys who are aggressive enough to do this.”
I just sat there listening. Damn it! He could tell I was having the argument in my head. “You mean stupid enough to do it, don’t you?”
He decided to truncate the discussion. “So how long are you going to take before you tell me what we both know you’ve already decided to do?”
I looked at Blackie and sighed. I knew the Old Man was right. He could help me; and with him along, the odds of success would go up. It was risky, but I didn’t have a lot of options. I didn’t have enough knowledge of the plant to make this work on my own.
“You know there is a fine line between aggressive and stupid. And I think your idea to come along has crossed that line,” I finally said.
I watched as the Old Man looked around the empty house. I could almost feel his heartache. He missed his wife. If she were here now, I was sure he wouldn’t be volunteering for this. He knew the risks, but I knew he wanted to protect what little he had left.
“So what’s it going to be?” he asked.
I looked him in the eye and gave him the slightest nod. He didn’t smile but had the look of a man with grim determination. I took comfort in that, at least. This wasn’t going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, so having someone along beside me who had some confidence in the plan struck me as a good idea. Or at least that’s what I told myself.