Blood Money Page 16

  “Come on, don’t give me that crap. We both know you guys have been watching us since I pulled Jessica from that safe house.”

  Nicholas brought his hands together and set them on top of the table. “And what makes you believe that?”

  Kelton felt his anger flare but he kept his voice flat. “Look Nick, if you’re going to dick me around, then this is just going to be a waste of our time. We both know that you guys have been on to us from the beginning of this whole operation. If you’re going to sit there and deny it, then this conversation is pointless. I have no problem giving you guys everything you want, but you have to stop trying to play me. I simply won’t stand for that kind of crap. Not this late in the game.”

  “I think we are having a communication breakdown here,” Nicholas said, his tone not altering in the least. “Perhaps I should phrase my question differently. I do not mean to imply that we are unaware of the situation at hand. I simply mean to inquire as to how you know so much about what is going on.”

  “It became painfully obvious that our initial intelligence was incorrect after multiple attempts to lose our tail were unsuccessful,” Kelton said. “From there, we simply worked out what the situation must be, based on what we knew. This gave us a very good picture, but what continued to give us problems was trying to decipher who was behind the whole thing.”

  “Which is why you turned yourselves in, to find that out,” Nicholas said. It was not phrased as a question.

  “Exactly.”

  “So I am supposed to believe that you turned yourself over to us solely because you wanted to know who was behind this whole operation?”

  “Not solely,” Kelton said. “There were other reasons also.”

  “Like what?”

  “I told you earlier. I want to know what’s really going on here. Because, quite frankly, based on what’s happened over the last few days, I think I may have been mislead about the specifics of this job by my employer. And, depending on what the truth is, I may decide to try and find out if there’s any way we can cut a deal to get us both what we want.”

  “And what is it that you think we want?” Nicholas said.

  “My employer.”

  “Suppose you can indeed deliver him to us,” Nicholas said. “What are you looking for in return?”

  “Come on, Nick. You don’t really think I’m going to give that up without getting something from you first, do you?”

  Nicholas’s mouth flicked in what might have been a smile. “No, I suppose not. Shall we begin our discussion then?”

  “Not yet.”

  Nicholas waited, his curiosity marked solely by a slightly raised left eyebrow.

  “I need Jessica in here with me before I decide on a course of action,” Kelton said. “This is her decision as much as it is mine.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “Where should we start?” Kelton said.

  “How about with your employer,” Nicholas replied.

  They had moved to a larger, less sterile room; one that had actual furniture and pictures on the walls.

  Jessica and Kelton were next to each other on one side of a oak banquet table, each seated in large, comfortable chairs. Nicholas sat opposite them, a pad of yellow lined paper open in front of him. The setup made the whole thing seem more like a business meeting than an interrogation.

  “Okay,” Kelton said. “What do you want to know?”

  “You know your employer as Walter, right?”

  Kelton nodded.

  “Last name?”

  “He’s never mentioned one.”

  Nicholas scribbled something on the paper without losing eye contact with Kelton. “But you’ve worked with him before?”

  Kelton tilted his head, looked at Nicholas sideways. “Don’t you guys already know all this stuff? I was under the impression that you’d been listening to us throughout this ordeal.”

  “While it is true we had listening devices prying into your conversations in various ways over the past couple of days, our information is by no means complete. So you should answer whatever questions I ask. Think of it as humoring me, if that helps.”

  “All right,” Kelton said with a shrug. “Yes, I’ve worked with Walter a couple times over the years.”

  “In jobs similar to this one?”

  Kelton nodded. “In spirit, if not specifics.”

  “How so?”

  “Every job I’ve ever done for him fit within the same basic parameters, in that I’m acquiring something from the hands of the undeserving and giving it to those who need it. Righting some wrong, so to speak.”

  “And the wrong you were righting here is what, exactly?”

  “Allowing me to get my AIDS vaccine to the masses,” Jessica said, leaning forward in her chair. “Something that my handlers were trying to prevent.”

  Nicholas shifted his gaze towards her. “Do you really think our government would sit on something as monumental as an AIDS vaccine?”

  “Do you really think they wouldn’t?” Jessica fired back.

  “I am certain that they would not,” Nicholas said. “And even if they considered it, they would quickly come to the conclusion that it would be impossible.”

  “Don’t give me that crap,” Kelton said. “Cover-ups like this happen all the time.”

  “I am not going to lie to you,” Nicholas said. “Did stuff like this happen ten years ago? Five even? Sure it did. But now?” He shook his head. “Something this big, in this day and age? Somebody would talk. Or more accurately, somebody would write a book. Or put it in their blog. Word would leak out. There would be an investigation. And the people in charge would blame some lowly clerk for the whole debacle, just so they could save their own ass.”

  Jessica scoffed, shook her head. “You can sit back there and spin it however you want, but my AIDS vaccine worked, and you guys sat on it.”

  Nicholas crossed his arms at his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Really? Because I was under the impression that it failed the final trial run.”

  “That’s what my handlers told me. But the data was altered to make it look like it failed. It didn’t.”

  Nicholas pursed his lips and nodded his head as though contemplating this idea. “I see. And you know this because . . .”

  “Because Walter contacted me and told me the truth,” Jessica said

  “What makes you so certain that he was indeed telling you the truth?”

  “I wasn’t convinced, at first,” Jessica said. “But he produced copies of the real test results, which—”

  “Could have been faked just as easily as the ones that your handlers showed you,” Nicholas said.

  Jessica shook her head. “No. Well, yes, I guess they could have been, but they weren’t.” She looked at Kelton, her eyes pleading him to take over.

  “Her point is, why would Walter lie?” Kelton said.

  Nicholas’s gaze lingered on Jessica for an extra beat before he turned towards Kelton. “For the same reason everyone does. Because there was something for him to be gained by doing so.”

  “And what did he have to gain?”

  “Money.”

  Kelton scoffed, shook his head.

  “What?” Nicholas said. “Oh, that is right. You think your friend is nothing but a Good Samaritan. Someone who is looking out for the masses.”

  “Not think,” Kelton said. “Know.”

  “Really? And how do you know this? Because that is what he tells you?”

  Kelton nodded.

  “Then let me ask you something,” Nicholas said. “Have you ever seen any direct evidence of his good deeds?”

  “Well, not exactly, but—”

  “But what?” Nicholas said. “He talks about them all the time?”

  Kelton stared across the table at the little, balding man. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “That this man you know as Walter is not even remotely what you think him to be,” Nicholas said. “He is a con man. He tells people wh
at they want to hear in order to convince them to get him what he wants, plain and simple.”

  Kelton said, “Bullshit.”

  Jessica narrowed her eyes and shook her head from side to side.

  “The fact that you both doubt this so vehemently simply proves that he is very, very good at what he does,” Nicholas said.

  He turned his attention to Jessica. “In your case, my dear, he told you what you already believed in your heart to be true: That your vaccine actually worked. All you needed was a little nudge, a little shred of pseudo-proof, and you bought his lie, hook, line, and sinker. And who could blame you? Certainly not me. If I would have spent six years of my life on a labor of love—especially one with such far-reaching implications as yours—only to have it fail at the last possible moment, I would have done the same.”

  Before Jessica had a chance to respond, Nicholas shifted his gaze to Kelton. “And you, Kelton. The loss of your family at the hands of someone you loved has left you so utterly alone in the world that you desperately wanted to believe that there was someone else out there, someone who thought like you, who shared the same goals as you, someone who was only concerned with serving the greater good. Walter simply played upon your hopes and desires, just as he did with Jessica. You were both pre-inclined to believe him, based on your situations. He used you to get what he wanted, just as he has used countless others.”

  Kelton crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “I must admit, you certainly provide a compelling argument,” he said. “But tell me; why should we believe a word you just said?”

  “Because you know I speak the truth,” Nicholas said. “You came to us, remember? After you had removed the transmitter, no less. Which means that you were not comfortable with the way things were progressing, which really means that you were not comfortable with Walter. Somewhere, deep down, you doubted the veracity of his claims, or else you would not have turned yourselves in.”

  Kelton considered Nicholas. The small, bespectacled man had a point. But still, some lingering doubts needed to be addressed. “Suppose I believe you,” he said. “Suppose Walter is, as you say, simply a con man. Why then, are you so desperate to capture him that you would go so far as to plant a transmitter inside someone’s body. Or allow an operation to proceed even though you know the targets were aware of the situation?”

  “Do you think this is the first time Walter has stolen something from the government?”

  Kelton knew for a fact that it wasn’t. But he simply shrugged and said, “I guess I haven’t thought about it too much.”

  “Well, let me assure you, it is not,” Nicholas said. “The man you know as Walter has been stealing secrets from the government for nearly fifteen years. He is not only a con man, but he is also a thief and a traitor, and he has cost the government billions of dollars. But more importantly, on at least two separate occasions, the information he stole lead directly to the death of American operatives.”

  “Holy shit,” Jessica said.

  Nicholas looked at her and nodded. “The past decade has seen a severe increase in significant security breaches within the government. And no matter who looked into them—CIA, FBI, DHS—no progress was made. So, sixteen months ago, the case was handed to us. After extensive research, we eventually recognized a set of variables that were consistent with each intrusion, a specific methodology that linked every single one of these unsolved breaches to each other. So we sat back, and waited for this set of variables to pop up again. And when they did, we pounced.”

  Nicholas drank from his glass of water before continuing. “Unfortunately, we were not able to put all the clues together until after Jessica had already fled her post and been picked up. Because of this, we were forced to deviate from our original course of action. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed at this missed opportunity. But we came up with an alternative plan.”

  Kelton nodded, seeing the specifics come together in his own head. “So after you picked her up, you planted the bug on her, dropped her off at an easy to penetrate safe house, and leaked the location through official channels, knowing that Walter would hear the information from his sources and set up an operation to rescue her.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But what if he had just let you guys have me?” Jessica said.

  “Then we would have dealt with you and waited for another opportunity to arise,” Nicholas said. “As you can imagine, not every trap that is set gets sprung.”

  Kelton took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair. “I must admit, everything fits pretty tightly.”

  “As well it should,” Nicholas said. “Considering that it is the truth.”

  “There’s just one thing bothering me,” Kelton said.

  “What is that?”

  “You said earlier that Walter only wanted Jessica’s AIDS vaccine so he could sell it on the open market, right?”

  “That is correct,” Nicholas said.

  “But you also said that Walter is the one that falsified the data, not Jessica’s handlers.”

  Nicholas offered a tight, humorless smile, as though he had hoped this would slip by unnoticed. “That is also correct.”

  “But both of those claims can’t be true,” Kelton said.

  “What do you mean?” Jessica said, turning towards him.

  Kelton met her gaze. “Well, if Walter falsified the data, as Nicholas claims, then that means your vaccine didn’t work.”

  Jessica considered this for a moment. Then it registered. She bolted up in her chair. “And how the hell is he going to make money off a vaccine that doesn’t work?” She spun towards Nicholas. “Care to explain that one?”

  “Certainly,” Nicholas said, his demeanor as composed as ever. “While it is true that your experiment failed as an AIDS vaccine, it had potential in other areas.”

  “Like what?” Jessica said.

  “Unfortunately, I do not have enough expertise to cite specific examples, even though they were explained to me by your handlers. Suffice it to say that your experiment showed significant promise in regards to a wide spectrum of diseases.”

  Jessica’s lips were pressed together so tightly that the blood was drained from them. “Why didn’t my handlers tell me any of this?”

  “At the time, their hands were tied by red tape,” Nicholas said. “They were in touch with their superiors, in the process of deciding how to handle the situation when you disappeared. Your handlers were going to tell you eventually, but they wanted to make sure they did it correctly. They did not want to get your hopes up until there was a reason to. By the time they were ready to act, you had already made other plans.”

  Jessica shook her head and laughed humorlessly. “Un-freaking-believable.”

  “In a way, it almost is,” Nicholas said, taking her utterance literally. “But I assure you, it is the truth.” He turned his attention back to Kelton. “So, is there anything else you want to know?”

  Kelton thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

  “Good,” Nicholas said. “Now suppose you decide that you are going to deliver Walter to us. Tell me; what do you want out of the deal?”

  “I just want to walk away,” Kelton said. “Start over somewhere, free from any part of this hanging over my head. I want you guys to forget this ever happened.”

  “What else?”

  “Nothing.”

  Nicholas gave him a curious look. “No relocation assistance? No help with your problems with local law enforcement, or perhaps with the Preston family?”

  Kelton shook his head. “Nope. I don’t want anything from you except a free pass.”

  Nicholas shifted his gaze towards Jessica. “And you?”

  “The same thing,” Jessica said, flashing a brief glance in Kelton’s direction.

  “Exactly the same?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to start over together?”

  “Why the hell do you care?” Kelton said.

  “I do not,”
Nicholas said. “Not really. I just find it curious.”

  “And why is that?” Jessica said.

  “No reason,” the small man said, waving his hand. “Let us just move on. Forget I ever said anything.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Kelton said. “So what do you think about our terms?”

  “They seem like reasonable enough requests.”

  “Is that a yes?” Kelton said.

  Nicholas nodded. “That is a yes. You two can both walk away from this without any repercussions. Provided, of course, you are able to deliver Walter to us.”

  “Of course,” Kelton said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a few things to talk about.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “Well, what do you think?” Kelton said after Nicholas had left the room. He knew that the agent leaving them alone was nothing more than a symbolic gesture, as the small man was undoubtedly listening to them talk right now via several hidden microphones, but it was a necessary one nonetheless.

  Jessica shrugged. “That all depends on whether or not you believe what Nicholas told you.”

  “I think I do,” Kelton said. “Granted, I’m not one hundred percent sure, but he certainly made a number of valid points.”

  “It all sounded legit to me.”

  “What about your end?” Kelton said. “Could it really have gone down the way he said?”

  “It easily could have,” she said. “The drug I invented was initially created to cover a wide set of diseases. It wasn’t until later that I began to specifically tailor it to HIV. So for it to show promise in other areas isn’t a stretch at all.”

  “So if we both believe Nicholas—”

  “It’s a no-brainer,” Jessica said. “We take the deal.”

  “I agree.”

  “But how do we know they’re going to hold up their end of the bargain?”

  “We don’t,” Kelton said. “Not for sure, at least. But we don’t have much of a choice. We have to trust them.”

  Jessica nodded but Kelton could still see the presence of doubt reflected in her eyes.

  “What is it?” he said.

  She shrugged, averted her gaze. “I just want to make sure that you can do this to Walter.”