Blood Money Read online

  “Better than you, Walter.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ.”

  “Beg all you want,” Kelton said. “It won’t change anything.”

  The four-line opening was a long-running tradition; a rehash of the first exchange they’d ever had, and they’d used it to greet each other ever since.

  “You mind if I turn on a light?” Kelton said.

  “By all means.”

  He flipped the light switch and sat down on the end of the bed. Kelton stared at his old friend’s features; ringed, deep-set eyes on a wrinkled, gaunt face, small nose, thin lips, and one side of his mouth turned up in a smirk that said he always knew more than he was letting on. Walter’s face pegged him at 80, but his demeanor and vitality spoke of a much younger man. Kelton had no idea how old he actually was.

  “Sorry about all this clandestine crap,” Walter said. “But things are a bit sketchy right now.”

  “No problem,” Kelton said. “Anything less from you and I would have been disappointed.”

  “What’s it been? A year since we last spoke?”

  “About that.”

  “Keeping busy, I assume?”

  “As always.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Walter said. “There’s plenty of need for a man with your attributes these days.”

  “There certainly is,” Kelton said.

  Walter took a hit off his smoke. “So, do you have anything on your plate right now?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Are you looking for something?”

  “I’m always looking,” Kelton said. “Especially if it’s the right thing.”

  “Good,” Walter said. “Because I’ve got a job I need done, and it’s going to take someone that knows what they’re doing.”

  “Then it’s a good thing you got a hold of me.”

  Walter nodded. “Indeed.”

  “So tell me about the job.”

  “It’s an extraction.”

  “Who are the players?”

  “A young woman named Jessica Robbins and the federal government. They took her into custody yesterday afternoon.”

  “And you need me to get her out,” Kelton said. It wasn’t a question.

  “That’s right.”

  Kelton wasn’t surprised. He’d done a few jobs for Walter over the years and they’d invariably had something to do with taking something from the government.

  “So, what did Jessica do to land herself in custody with the Feds?”

  “Oh, nothing special,” Walter said. “She just created a vaccine for the AIDS virus and had the nerve to suggest it should be distributed to people that could actually use it.”

  Kelton’s eyes widened slightly. “Are you serious?”

  Walter nodded. “She was working for a government-funded company when she came up with it. Once it became apparent her handlers were going to suppress the vaccine, I contacted her about helping her get her findings out into the public sector. After trading emails for about a week, I was able to convince her that I could help. We set up a face-to-face meeting for yesterday morning. Unfortunately, she never made it. Her handlers caught wind of our plan and she was picked up in transit.”

  “How did they figure out what was going on?”

  “I’m not sure,” Walter said. “I assume they intercepted one of her emails. Last I heard from her, she was leaving the compound, a couple of hours before our meeting. Obviously, she never made it. I found out a short time later what had happened.”

  “Where was she taken after they picked her up?”

  “A place up near Mammoth Mountain. It used to be a federal safe house, but it hasn’t been in the rotation for a couple of years. Only a select few people even know it still exists in the system.”

  “Yet you managed to find out.”

  Walter shrugged. “As you know from prior experience, I have excellent sources within our government.”

  Kelton knew all right. He had seen ample evidence of Walter’s sources during his prior dealings with the old man. Walter always seemed to have access to whatever information he needed, no matter how well protected it was.

  “Who’s in charge of the operation?” Kelton said.

  “They brought in someone from the Justice Department to handle the questioning, but security is being taken care of by some FBI guys from a local office. For the most part, it’s pretty relaxed. Because this particular safe house has been out of rotation for so long, it isn’t equipped with much by way of technology. It’s got a couple of very minor things, but it relies mostly on anonymity and remote location for protection.”

  Kelton thought about this for a moment. The lack of significant technological deterrents certainly would make things far less difficult. But the question then became: “Why’d they take her there instead of someplace more secure?”

  “They needed something last minute and it was free right away.”

  “But why a safe house?” Kelton said. “Why not a federal building, someplace official?”

  “Because they’re not sure what to do with her yet,” Walter said. “They’re trying to keep the situation quiet for now, until they decide on a course of action. They figured there are too many eyes at a federal building. Too many opportunities for leakage.”

  Kelton snorted.

  Walter laughed. “Yeah, if they only knew.”

  “So, based on what you’ve told me so far, I’m guessing we’re looking at a fairly tight time frame.”

  “I’d say she’s got no more than 48 hours at her current location. After that, she’ll undoubtedly be taken to a site with better protection.”

  “Forty-eight hours? That’s a pretty tight window.”

  “What can I say? That’s all we have to work with.”

  “I assume you have specs on the house and the surrounding area?”

  “I’ve got it all,” Walter said. “Floor plan, alarm schematics, door codes, aerial photos—everything you need to be successful.”

  “All right,” Kelton said. “Let me take a look at it all, see if this thing is even possible.”

  “I assure you it is.”

  “I’ll make that determination if you don’t mind.”

  “Fine, but there’s not much time to make up you mind,” Walter said. “I’m looking for someone else to do the job as we speak, so I need your decision within the next couple of hours.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Walter pulled a compact disk from his pocket, extended his arm towards Kelton. “Everything you need is on there.”

  Kelton grabbed the disk. “Give me a little while, and I’ll let you know.”

  “Sounds good,” Walter said. “You have something I can write my number on?”

  “Just tell me. I’ll remember.”

  “Ah yes,” Walter said. “I almost forgot about that steel trap you call a brain.”

  Kelton closed his eyes and visualized the numbers in a single string as Walter rattled them off. He then filed the string away in a separate part of his mind, to be called upon at will. It was a trick he’d taught himself a long time ago, in a different life.

  “You got it?” Walter said.

  Kelton nodded.

  “You never cease to amaze me, Kelton. How many numbers do you have stored up there?”

  Kelton shrugged. He knew the exact number, but didn’t feel the need to share the information.

  “You are one of a kind, my friend,” Walter said. He stood up and offered Kelton his hand. “Just make sure you get back to me quickly, one way or another.”

  A little less than an hour after Walter left, Kelton found himself pacing back and forth in the living room, his eyes distant and unfocused, PANOPTICON by ISIS playing on his stereo.

  He had printed out and read the 97 pages of information gathered on Walter’s disk, and was now letting his mind assimilate everything and come up with a plan for springing Jessica Robbins from her captors.

  Walter was right; the safe house holding Jessica had very lit
tle by way of technological deterrents. For the most part, it looked like nothing more than a weekend getaway set in an isolated area of the mountains.

  There were a couple of minor wrinkles, but if Walter’s information was correct—and there was no reason to believe it wasn’t—none of them should prevent him from successfully extracting Jessica from the safe house.

  In addition to the meager technology protecting Jessica, there were only four individuals on site; three federal agents and one high-ranking member of the Justice Department.

  Kelton knew that at least the three federal agents would be armed and possibly the Justice official too. Together, they would be a mighty tough force to deal with, but Kelton was counting on them to be sleeping in staggered twelve-hour shifts, which meant that only two should be awake at any one time. And considering that he planned on extracting Jessica at 4AM, he might get lucky and only run across one of them.

  Regardless of how many men were awake, Kelton was confident that getting Jessica out of the safe house wouldn’t be all that difficult.

  Making it out of the area unmolested was an entirely different story.

  The house sat on a three-acre tract of private land in Long Valley; a vast, high, flat basin littered with low lying brush and criss-crossing hot springs located in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range just south of Mammoth Lakes. Because of the remote location, they would have to negotiate more than 40 miles of open plain set between two nearly impassable mountain ridges before they arrived back in anything that resembled civilization. And due to the layout of the land, they would be forced to travel by foot for at least the first couple of miles.

  If everything went exactly according to plan, they would have no problem getting out of the area before Jessica’s captors realized she was missing. But if something went awry and they weren’t able to leave the house without being spotted, the open plain would serve as a net, holding them up until reinforcements could be mobilized.

  And the reinforcements would no doubt be significant. There were two military bases within three hundred miles of the area, which meant that it wouldn’t take long before they were being hunted by extremely well-trained soldiers, with the best equipment and technology money could buy, including air support.

  Although he was fairly certain he could get out of the house without being spotted, Kelton refused to sign on for this job unless he could figure out a way to get out of the area under duress, if needed.

  So far, he hadn’t been able to come up with anything. But there had to be a solution. There was always a solution; you just needed to look at the problem correctly.

  Fifteen minutes later, he did.

  After spending another half hour probing his plan for weaknesses and not finding any, Kelton walked over to his phone and dialed Walter’s number. The old man picked up before the first ring had ended.

  “I’m in,” Kelton said.

  “Great. When are you planning on heading up there?”

  “After I get a couple hours of sleep.”

  “You have time to meet up before you leave so we can go over a couple final details?”

  “I was counting on it,” Kelton said. The clock on the microwave read 3:47 AM. “Is eight o’clock too early for you?”

  “I think I can manage that,” Walter said. “Where?”

  “You remember that sorry excuse for a park over on Second and Vineyard, near the Gaslamp Quarter?”

  “Yeah. It’s where all the bums hang out. I’ll blend right in.”

  “Why do you think I chose it?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The park was nothing more than a hundred-square foot patch of grass sitting in between skyscrapers. A single scrawny tree had been planted in the middle of the area and a cement walkway meandered throughout. Benches were scattered at random intervals along the path.

  A cup of coffee in his right hand, Kelton made his way towards an old man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a flannel shirt sitting alone on a bench in the far corner of the park. To a wandering eye, the figure would be just another bum tossing crumbs to the pigeons gathered in a swirling mass at his feet, but Kelton recognized Walter immediately. He sat down next to the old man without so much as a glance in his direction. A small canvas bag sat between them.

  “You get enough sleep?” Walter said.

  Kelton squinted up at the morning sun reflecting off the skyscrapers and took a sip of coffee. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks again for doing this,” Walter said. “I know it’s a bit of a flyer, but it’s an important job, and worthy of your time.”

  “For you, Walter, anything. Well, almost anything.”

  Walter laughed softly.

  “I do have a couple more questions, though,” Kelton said. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.”

  “What exactly do you plan on doing with the vaccine?”

  “I am going to mass-produce it and make it available to the world for free.”

  Kelton chuckled under his breath. “Good old Walter. Always trying to save the world.”

  “Not save it, merely help it,” Walter said. “Not unlike you, I might add. Only on a different scale. While you try and help out individuals with nowhere else to turn, I try and help out the masses under the same circumstances.”

  “And I don’t suppose there’s any personal gain in it for you?”

  “The personal gain comes in knowing I made a difference,” Walter said. “As for any material gains, I’ve made more than enough of those during my years to allow me to forego them for the rest of my life.”

  “Well, unfortunately, when it comes to material gains, I’m still a bit lacking,” Kelton said. “So I assume our regular deal applies?”

  “Of course. One hundred thousand dollars is in the bag between us, and another hundred upon delivery. And who knows, there may even be a little bonus if you’re able to pull this one off without complications.”

  Kelton smiled; he liked the sound of that. But he wouldn’t allow himself to be swayed by the money, at least, not until the other issues were addressed to his satisfaction.

  “How much do you know about this Jessica Robbins?” he asked.

  “Not much, besides what was in the files I gave you. I’ve never talked to her, only traded emails.”

  “So it’s fair to assume she knows nothing about you.”

  “Not even my name,” Walter said.

  “And I suppose there’s no way for her to know someone’s coming to get her out?”

  Walter shook his head.

  “So on top of everything else, I have to convince her to come along with me,” Kelton said.

  “Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem, considering the situation she’s in.”

  “Still,” Kelton said. “You know me. I’m not exactly Prince Charming.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

  “We’ll see,” Kelton said. A businessman in a ill-fitting suit and a face red with exertion walked by, yelling into his cell phone as though it was a bullhorn. Kelton waited until the man was out of earshot before continuing. “What about a post-extraction plan?”

  “Simple,” Walter said. “After you’ve freed her, just head back down here. We’ll meet in this exact spot at 7PM tomorrow evening.”

  “And if for some reason I can’t make it?”

  “Just call my cell and we’ll work something out.”

  “Sounds simple enough.”

  “As all good plans are.” Walter tossed another handful of breadcrumbs to the ground, attracting more birds to the already considerable number pecking away at their feet. “In addition to the money, the bag contains a cell phone so we can easily communicate.”

  Kelton glared at the old man. “You know how I feel about those things.”

  “Yes I do,” Walter said. “But this one is a pre-paid burner; it doesn’t have to be registered, making it anonymous, and therefore impossible to track.”

  “But someone could still listen in.”
/>   “Theoretically, yes. But even in the highly unlikely event someone is listening, I’ve equipped this phone with a double blind encryption scrambler, along with a couple other deterrents. This phone is as safe as it gets these days.”

  “But not 100% safe.”

  “Nothing is,” Walter said. “You know that.”

  “Pay phones.”

  Walter shook his head. “Not anymore.”

  “They’re still safer than cells.”

  “Not by much,” Walter said. “Besides, what if something comes up on my end before tomorrow night? There’s no way for me to get a hold of you through pay phones.”

  Kelton took a sip of his coffee and let his gaze wander through a gap between the buildings and out to the ocean beyond.

  “I know you don’t like it,” Walter said. “But I must insist on this one point.”

  “Then I guess I’ll bring it along.”

  “Thank you. We’ll use our traditional greeting as an all-clear on the phone, minus the names, of course.”

  “Sounds good,” Kelton said.

  “Is there anything else you have questions about?”

  “Not off the top of my head.”

  “Well then, good luck,” Walter said. “I’ll see you back here in 35 hours.” He tossed the rest of the bread to the birds at his feet, stood up, and started walking down the sidewalk.

  Kelton lingered for a moment and watched Walter saunter out of sight. A smile crept onto his face like a worm writhing through damp soil. Despite knowing better, he had grown to like the old bastard.

  DAY TWO

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Kelton watched the safe house for nearly six hours, starting at a distance of 500 yards at 10PM and creeping closer every thirty minutes, until he finally arrived at the tree line just outside the property.

  No one had left the house the entire time he’d been watching, nor had any doors or windows been opened. In addition, every single shade was drawn, so as to reveal nothing of what was going on inside. At first, it had seemed like an aberration, but as the night wore on and still there was no evidence of the house being anything but empty, Kelton began to secretly wonder if Jessica had already been transferred somewhere else.