Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 33 (March 14, Thursday 9:30am Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

Ron had been heavily engrossed in his work when Dave and Dana walked into his office. He had been listening to an audio recording that had just been sent to him from one of his guys.

“Good morning,” Dave said as Dana and he walked into Ron’s office.

“Wow, I’m a little surprised to see the two of you in here so soon this morning,” Ron responded. “After last night’s event I’d figured the two of you would need some serious recovery time.”

“On the contrary,” said Dave. “After last night’s situation, I’m convinced we need to speed up our timetable on making the public aware of what our country’s political leadership is up to. Dana has obviously been targeted by her management at ABO, and the administration, as a threat. The two of us are convinced that they were trying to kidnap her to use her as a bargaining chip to stop us, and to get access to our technology.”

Ron nodded in agreement as Dave spoke. When Dave finished speaking he looked back at his computer.

“Your timing and assessment are spot on,” said Ron, as he looked back at his computer screen. “Dave and Dana, I need the two of you to hear the audio that I was listening to when you came into my office. It is from a conversation transmission that we received earlier today between Dimitris Barbas and Christos Grivas. Our nano-audio sensors implanted in Barbas recorded his phone call early this morning with Christos Grivas. As you concluded Dave, they are on to NSurv, and are using Dana as a pawn and conduit into us.”

Dana gasped in shock. Yes Dave and she had already surmised this was the case, but to have clear evidence from Barbas and the top boss at ABO made the situation unfolding even more frightening.

“Let me close my door and I’ll put the audio on speaker so that we can hear the conversation,” Ron said.

After closing his office door, he pulled the headphone wires out of the laptop and reset the transcript recording to the beginning. He then hit the play button icon on his computer screen and the conversation between Barbas and Grivas began.     

Chapter 34 (March 14, Thursday 7:30am Atlantic Standard Time)

It was another beautiful morning in the Caribbean. The temperature was a balmy 75 degrees and the easterly trade winds were light. St. John Virgin Island was looking like an emerald stone rising out of the sea, as the early morning sun rose above it. A couple of pelicans lazily floated in the sky overhead searching for prey below. Occasionally they plummeted from the sky and into the crystal clear blue water below to catch small fish in their bills. To the northeast the long and mountainous island of Tortola’s east side was awash with the morning sunlight. Dive boats and catamaran sailboats were just beginning to tie up to buoy markers along its coast for a day of fun and relaxation. It would be another gorgeous day of diving and snorkeling for the winter vacationers. Dimitris Barbas had just finished his morning swim and jog along St. John’s Cinnamon Bay beach, and was resting on the top deck of his yacht in just his bathing suit. His body was bronzed by the sun and still wet from his swim back from the beach.

Barbas had returned on Monday to his yacht the Kosmos from his trip to San Jose over the weekend. It had been both a productive and pleasurable weekend, as he thought of Secretary Devins. A slight smile formed on his face. The administration’s new plans were audacious and fantastic. It made him bristle in excitement every time he thought about it. A plan that could address global climate change once and for all, and simultaneously, enable his business enterprises to profit handsomely. It was much more than what he had expected from the clowns in the White House, a group that he had been financially supporting for more than a decade. Heck, he thought, he’d done much more than just financially support them. He helped hand pick and politically groom the man who now occupies the residence of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A man up until that point that hardly anyone on the national level had ever heard of. And in the ensuing years, he, Dimitris Barbas, had run defense for this President and his team of political hacks too many times to count. The Vice President in particular had been the biggest headache to deal with over the years. If it hadn’t been for his investment in ABO five years ago to help cover up the Vice President’s multiple transgressions, the entire administration would have been thrown out on its butt in the last election.

Barbas sipped from his glass of freshly squeezed orange juice that a galley employee had just placed on the deck table next to him. It was time to call Grivas to see how things went last night out in McCall, Idaho. He reached for his mobile phone. Grivas had confirmed that Dana Cogswell’s friend Dave Henson, and his company NSurv, had been the source of the video recording of the Vice President’s latest peccadillo.  With Ms. Cogswell’s decision to take a weekend trip to McCall, Barbas and Grivas had decided it was the perfect time to step in and put an end to NSurv and Mr. Henson’s surveillance operations.  If all had gone as planned, which he had no doubt it did, Mr. Henson would be falling in line with their immediate cease and desist orders, and be handing over the keys to his company.  Similarly, Ms. Cogswell would be looking for a new line of work this morning.

Barbas dialed Grivas’s phone number and listened impatiently as the phone rang on the other end. The phone rang half a dozen times before Grivas picked up.

“Hello, Grivas speaking,” said Christos.

“Good morning Christos,” responded Barbas.

“I am anxious to hear how things went out in McCall last night. Please update me?” pressed Barbas.

There was a long hesitation on the phone before Christos had the courage to speak.

“Not well, I’m unfortunate enough to have to tell you,” responded Christos. “As a matter of fact, it went fatally and terribly wrong.”

“What do you mean fatally and terribly wrong?” asked Barbas anxiously.

“Cristian was accidently killed last night,” responded Christos. “As was the plan, Lazaro and Cristian abducted Ms. Cogswell as she was leaving a restaurant with Dave Henson. Unfortunately Mr. Henson chased after Cristian and Lazaro. From what Lazaro told me late last night, Mr. Henson swerved his car into their vehicle and caused it to flip. The vehicle rolled several times before coming to a stop up against a tree. Cristian was killed on impact and Lazaro barely escaped the scene with his life.”

“What about Ms. Cogswell?” asked Barbas as he fidgeted angrily with his glass of juice. “Was she killed or injured?”

“Lazaro saw Dave Henson pull her from the damaged vehicle,” responded Christos. “She seemed injured, but was able to walk away from the scene and into Mr. Henson’s car.”

“Damn it,” yelled Barbas into his phone. “This is a worst case scenario. NSurv and Ms. Cogswell now are fully aware that someone is on to them, and they’ve probably got a good idea it’s somehow related to ABO.”

Ron looked up at Dave and Dana, as Barbas ranted to Christos.

“Oh, we are much more aware of who is on to us Mr. Barbas than you could ever imagine,” Dave said coolly.

“We’re going to need to regroup and come up with a new plan very quickly,” said Barbas angrily to Christos.  “We need to shut down NSurv fast. We can be assured Mr. Henson is working up alternative plans, as we speak, to go public with the Vice President’s video. And God knows what else he and NSurv have been up to or could release. Have Jeff Kolosky call Ms. Cogswell ASAP. He needs to convince her that we need her back at ABO headquarters immediately for a new story we want her to work on. By keeping her at arm’s reach we can at least keep better tabs on her, and NSurv.”

“From what Jeff told me, she was planning to be back in the office on Monday,” responded Christos.

“Good, but still have Jeff call her today and confirm that she is still planning to be back on Monday,” Barbas said. “Again, she very well may have drawn a connection between last night’s event and ABO. If so, her plans to return may have changed. We know that Ms. Cogswell and Mr. Henson had a very close relationship in the past. Mr. Henson may be convincing her to stay under his protection.”

“And what if she has already made the assessment that her abduction last night and ABO are connected?” questioned Christos. “What if she elects not to return to ABO, at least not immediately?”

“That can’t happen” responded Barbas angrily. “You and Jeff will need to convince her otherwise that she needs to get back to ABO headquarters ASAP. If you can’t come up with a juicy story to entice her back, then threaten her with possible termination due to a breach of contract.  If you go with the latter approach don’t hold back. Remind her that she may also find it impossible to find new work in our industry, as the journalistic world is a rather small one.”

“We’ll do our best,” said Christos.

“No, you’ll do it!” responded Barbas. “Another screw up or apology will be unacceptable. I have too much riding on this administration.” And now more so than ever thought Barbas. “You and Jeff get Ms. Cogswell back to New York, and fast. Also, I still want to get access to NSurv’s surveillance technology. Work with Lazaro to see if he can learn more on what NSurv’s core technology is and if he has any ideas on how to get a hold of it. I’ve already got one stick in the fire on getting access to it. Chief of Staff Ken Hardy is working quietly with a close friend of his in the Pentagon, but I’m not optimistic that avenue will pan out.”

“We’ll get it done,” responded Christos, but thinking to himself the difficulty of meeting Barbas’s expectations.

“Good. Call me when you’ve heard back from Jeff and Lazaro,” replied Barbas, as he then hit the end button on his mobile phone.

Chapter 35 (March 14, Thursday 9:40am Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

“I knew we were right about ABO and that they were behind last night’s incident,” exclaimed Dana to Dave and Ron. “I thought I had recognized that man they called Lazaro. Now I know for sure I’ve seen him before. We have to bring these guys down, but how do we go about it.”

“Clearly they have no hesitation kidnapping people,” Ron said. “So anything appears dangerously possible with them.”

“Based upon Barbas’s level of urgency on shutting us down, we’re going to need to speed up our timetable and start letting the American public see what’s going on in its government and political leadership,” said Dave. “Ron, we’re going to need to plan on airing a PG-13 version of the Vice President’s actions in Buenos Aires. Can you edit the film and prepare to have it ready to be released in the next few days?”

“No problem boss. We’ll have it ready for public viewing by Sunday,” responded Ron.

“Excellent, I’ve got the perfect time and venue for showcasing it to the country,” said Dave. “I’ll work with our IT department on making sure we’re ready to do a surprise emergency broadcast announcement for early next week.”

“So what do I do about Jeff Kolosky?” asked Dana. “I assume I’ll be hearing from him in the next couple of hours. What am I going to say to him?”

“Tell him the truth. Tell him you were injured last night in an attempted abduction,” responded Dave. “Of course he’ll feign surprise, but we all know differently, and he won’t be able to fully deny the fact that you may have actually been hurt. Explain to him that your leg was injured pretty badly and that you’re going to need to take the next month off, and that you plan to stay out here in McCall.”

“He won’t buy it, because from the sound of Barbas and Grivas’s conversation they won’t accept no for an answer,” responded Ron. “He’ll relentlessly pressure her in fear of the repercussions to his own career.”

“Well, Jeff is going to have to accept no for an answer,” responded Dana in a determined voice. “I can’t go back, as Dave and I discussed last night. And from what we just heard from Barbas, he simply wants to use me as a pawn and conduit into NSurv to help take you guys down. My career with ABO is over. For me, listening to this conversation between Barbas and Grivas only strengthens my resolve in bringing these men, and the administration down. The American public needs to know what is going on in its nation’s capital. By working with the two of you in bringing these corrupt men to public justice, for the first time in a long time I’ll actually provide real journalistic value to the American people.”

“Dana, when you talk to Jeff, try to get a sense of how fully onboard he is with Grivas and Barbas,” said Dave. “Having a friend inside ABO could prove to be helpful down the road.”

“I’ll try,” responded Dana. “But right now I’m so angry and disgusted I’m tempted just to tell Jeff and ABO to shove it when he calls.”

“For now I’d try to stick with playing the sympathy card,” replied Dave as he looked at his watch. “We’re going to need all the help we can get when we release our information to the nation and all hell breaks loose in the White House.”

“Ron, please show Dana around the company and introduce her to the staff. Also, see if you can find her an office to temporarily work out of. I’ve got to make a call to our newest employee back east. He’s planning to come out here next week and go through an orientation with us while his university is on spring break. I want to see if I can convince him to come on board permanently with us, at least until the end of the summer. I know my request may delay his graduation by a few months, but I think we could really use him right now for an extended period of time.”

Ron looked at Dave questioningly while raising his left eyebrow.

“Yes, he’s that good,” responded Dave somewhat defensively. “Dr. Zempke highly recommended him, and after personally meeting him and reviewing his transcripts, I’m convinced he could prove to be quite an asset for us over the next couple of months.”

Dave looked over at Dana. “I’ll be back in an hour Dana to talk with you. I’ve got a hot project for you to work on.”

Dana had a puzzled look on her face as Dave left Ron’s office in a rush.