Edge of Apocalypse Read online

  In the cab Gallagher pretended to strangle his Allfone with both hands.

  He said, "Sally, can't we skip that stuff? I'm really in a rush."

  "Look, you're the one who caught me in my comfy pj's in front of the TV. I was already halfway into the old version of The Detective with Robert Mitchum. I love that movie. And they almost never run that one on television. So back off, John--"

  "Give me a break here, Sally--"

  "No, you give me a break. I did you a favor. And I know what's going to happen. You'll use my analysis as the reason for some Normandy invasion you want to launch somewhere. And if things go bad, who do you think the Bureau's going to blame?"

  "Me, of course," Gallagher said. "But fine. You win. Give me the drill."

  "Okay," she began. "Facial ID in biometric matches depends on the quality of the subject image. In this case, that video clip you sent me was not good."

  "But adequate for analysis. Right? Tell me it was minimally adequate?"

  Borcheck sighed. "Yeah, minimally adequate. Now there are eighty facial variants we use to create a face print. Skull size, facial measurements, interrelationships between facial structures..."

  "Eighty variants. Good. Moving on..."

  "Range of certainty on the upper scale is measured from sixty to ninety percent."

  "And how'd you score this one?"

  "Remembering the qualifiers I just mentioned--"

  "Sure. Right. What's the score?"

  "I rated your video image at a sixty-seven percent certainty that the facial characteristics in the video matched that of the known subject, Atta Zimler."

  "Certainty...I love that word."

  "Yeah, but it's on the low end of certainty," Borcheck reminded him.

  "But only because of the poor quality of the video and the angle that the guy had with his head partially obscured."

  "True. On the other hand, with better video and a full face shot, who knows, maybe we'd have much less than a sixty-seven percent match...in other words, no match at all."

  But Gallagher didn't care about the negative possibilities. Right now he had the necessary forensic basis to pursue a full investigation of Atta Zimler's presence within the United States. He was on a roll.

  "Sally, I got what I need," Gallagher said as he reached over to pay the taxi driver. "You're brilliant!"

  Gallagher rushed his way through security at the Bureau headquarters by 8:35. He was in Miles Zadernack's office at 8:39.

  Miles was dressed in his black suit, pressed white shirt, and plain single-colored tie.

  Gallagher was crumpled from the all-night train ride and was sweaty.

  "Miles, I've got some breaking stuff I need to tell you about," Gallagher said.

  "And I have some things to tell you," Zadernack said blandly. "Let's start with my agenda item first."

  "Sure."

  "You are going to have to remove yourself from any further investigation into Atta Zimler."

  Gallagher kept up his grin and nodded his head athletically up and down. He half-expected this. But he figured he now had something he could wedge in the door before his supervisor closed it on him completely.

  "Okay, which is what I wanted to talk to you about," he started to say. But Zadernack cut in. It was clear he had a speech and he was going to make it. "You don't understand, John. You are being removed from any further investigation. Not just dealing with Atta Zimler, but any fieldwork. For the time being. You're being placed on desk duty here at headquarters. Meanwhile, I'm arranging for you to take some counseling in Bureau professionalism."

  Gallagher was getting red in the face. "Wait just a minute--"

  "This is exactly what I'm talking about," Zadernack said. "Your attitude borders on insubordination--which is a serious problem!"

  But Gallagher was going to bull his way through. "I have a facial match between Atta Zimler and a suspect who just tortured and murdered the son-in-law of a former high-ranking Pentagon general. It just happened. Over in Philadelphia. We have a forensic match, Miles. Come on--"

  "Our forensics?"

  "Yes. Sally Borcheck in biometrics. She did a match from some lobby surveillance video taken at the time of the murder and at the scene of the crime."

  "What level of certainty?"

  Now Gallagher had to swallow hard. This was the hard sell. "Sixty-seven percent. But this was from lobby video. Zimler was clearly trying to duck away from the camera. But we're still within the ranges of certainty we need for an investigation. Enough for probable cause for warrants, wiretaps, you name it."

  Zadernack gave his favorite emotionless, plaster-of-paris expression. He spoke in something just above a monotone. But what he had to say was outrageous. "Okay, John. Take a deep breath. All right? Relax. Here's the story. We've been told that Atta Zimler is in custody. In Paris."

  "Who took him in?"

  "We're waiting for confirmation, but the attorney general himself has told us to stand down. We don't want to risk some false identification of innocent persons. Apparently, some foreign diplomat is entering the U.S. and is worried he'll be flagged as Zimler. That's all I know."

  Gallagher shut his eyes and shook his head as he spoke. "No, we wouldn't want that. Sure, maybe a psychopathic terrorist might slip through our fingers and mosey around America slashing, killing, torturing. But the main thing is we treat people nicely--"

  "That's enough!" Zadernack nearly shouted. It was a rare show of emotion. Then he continued. "John, it's called 'Bureau professionalism.' You'll learn all about it in your counseling sessions. That's all for now. I've got some other matters to attend to. Thank you for your time. Vera, my secretary, will assign you a desk."

  Gallagher felt his brain go numb, like someone had given him a shot of novocaine there but forgot to do the surgery.

  He walked out to Vera's desk. She smiled courteously and led him to a cubicle, not even an office. She pointed to a desk. "This will be your work area," she said. Then she left.

  Gallagher sat down at the desk. He knew then that he was standing on the banks of a Rubicon. A place where, years later, he would look back and realize he needed to make one really smart decision. Something that would make sense, a path that would insure his future.

  He would be retiring before long. He had put too much into his work at the Bureau to trash it all now. So there was a serious question pending: Was he going to throw it all away for a mere sixty-seven percent certainty? The more he thought about it the more it didn't make any sense. Man, sixty-seven percent isn't even a passing grade. That's flunking.

  Then he drummed his fingers on the naked desk top in front of him. He couldn't shake another competing thought: On the other hand sixty-seven might be passing after all. Some teachers grade sixty-to-seventy as a D. Right? And then there's the fact that some teachers grade on a curve...

  He propelled himself up on his feet. He walked fast, past Vera's desk on his way to the elevator.

  "Agent Gallagher?" Vera called out toward his quickly moving frame.

  "Gotta feed the meter," he called back and disappeared into the elevator.

  When he was on the street he put in a call to Ken Leary over at the CIA.

  "Ken, Gallagher here. Got to talk fast. They're closing me down on my investigation into Zimler."

  "Whoa!"

  "I need any further updates you have on Zimler or the murder of that professor over in Bucharest. And I need it in like, oh, five minutes."

  "You're really out there on this one, John. And I don't know how much I can afford to stick my neck out any more than I have."

  "If you ever owed me money, Ken, all debts are cancelled. How about that?"

  "Actually, you owe me money--"

  "Okay, forget it. Look, Ken. I really need this. You know how long I've been after this sicko, Zimler."

  Leary took a full five seconds.

  Gallagher was pacing on the sidewalk, looking around to make sure he wasn't being observed.

  Finally Leary spoke.
"Look, there's a Korean laundry about two blocks from my office. Yang's Dry Cleaning. Meet me there in ten minutes."

  "First, tell me something," Gallagher asked.

  "What?"

  "Do you have more stuff on Zimler or not? I can't afford to waste time."

  "Uh, figure it out, John," Leary said with a laugh. "We're going to discuss possible clandestine information from the CIA about a world-class terrorist, and I chose a Korean dry cleaners as the meeting place. What does that tell you?"

  FORTY-EIGHT

  Joshua Jordan was locked in a tight embrace with Abby. He was kissing her passionately in the foyer of his Palace Hotel suite.

  "I missed you so much, baby," he said, still holding her tight.

  "Not as much as I missed you," she purred and then kissed him again.

  Then she stopped and moved her head back slightly to tell him something. "Oh, I've had such bad dreams," she said.

  "Being there with Rocky and Peg in that house. Helping them with their grief. I'm not surprised."

  "Not about them. About us."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Bad dreams. For a while now. This sense of disaster. Like something bad, impending doom or something. I can't shake it. Last night I dreamed there was this shadowy figure in our condo. Looking through our things. Wanting to hurt us, I think."

  Joshua shrugged it off. "Just a dream. That's all."

  He noticed her overnight bag on the marble floor and snatched it up and carried it in for her.

  He asked her how things were going with Peg as she dealt with her loss, and how Rocky Bridger was doing. Abigail gave him the rundown in detail.

  But Joshua saw the exhaustion in her face. "The way you give yourself to other people, Abby...you've got to look out for yourself too."

  "I'm fine," she said. Then she looked around the spacious hotel suite. "So, this is home for a while."

  "Yeah. Comfortable. But definitely not home. Honestly I'd rather be at Hawk's Nest together, in our rocking chairs, watching the stars."

  That sounded good to both of them. But they knew that wouldn't happen for a while. Not until the mess with Congress and Judge Jenkins' order and the AmeriNews project had all been taken care of first.

  "Abby, sweetheart, you came here at a good time. Well, sort of."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, good news and bad."

  "Let's start with the good..."

  "We've got a conference call with several of the Roundtable folks thirty minutes from now. Hopefully to tell me that AmeriNews will go live later today. I'd like you to sit in on it with me. I need you on this."

  "So what's the bad news?"

  "The reason I want you on the call is that I received an email from Fort Rice. He now says he has had to bow out as head of our legal section. He says he has a conflict of interest."

  "What kind of conflict?"

  "Darley followed your advice and checked herself into a drug rehab place. The one you recommended."

  "But that's good news."

  "Not from Fort's standpoint. He thinks her 'addiction' has been blown way out of proportion. Truthfully, I think Fort is suffering from some embarrassment that his wife needs help. He's a very private, old-school kind of guy."

  "You know," Abby said, "I think Fort is going to see that she really does need help."

  "Well, it's more complicated than that. Darley's become a born-again Christian at that Center."

  Abby's eyes widened; then they filled with tears. "Dear Darley. My precious friend. I couldn't be happier for her. That's so incredible..."

  "Fort is really blowing a gasket over this. He's not real keen on the Christian thing. He holds you partly to blame."

  "I'll take that kind of blame, Josh. I really will. Darley is going to get better. From the pills, sure. But she's also going to be spiritually healed, from the inside out. That's what happens when Christ comes into your life. He changes you."

  "I don't blame you for anything," Joshua said, taking her hand and squeezing it, "but between Fort and me, there's been a freeze-out. I just find it hard to believe that Fort is bailing out of the Roundtable like this..."

  "Look, Josh, you called him 'old school.' Remember he's a former state supreme court judge. He takes conflicts of interest very seriously. Judges are trained to think like that. If he has a grudge against me, thinking I influenced his wife, and really thinks that will impact his effectiveness on the Roundtable because you're the chairman, then Fort Rice is the kind of guy who would recuse himself. I know it sounds nitpicky, but strangely, I can understand where he might be coming from. Then there's the personal problems he's having with Darley's situation too..."

  "Well, the point is, that's where you come in."

  "How?"

  "You've got to be the legal representative on the call today."

  "How are the others on the Roundtable going to take it?"

  "I'll handle them."

  Abby was looking around the kitchen in the suite to make herself some tea when Joshua's signal-cloaking Allfone rang. Abby and the Roundtable were the only ones with that special number.

  "That's funny," Joshua said. "They're early."

  He clicked it on. Phil Rankowitz and all the other members were on the call.

  Phil started out. "Josh, we've got an emergency here. Everyone else has already been briefed."

  "I know. Fort's taken a leave of absence," Joshua said. "Not important why right now. Says he has a conflict of interest. But we need some legal counsel with us--"

  "We'll need it big time," Phil said. "You'll hear why in a minute. Something else is going on."

  "I've asked Abby to join us on this call," Joshua went on. "She's a smart lawyer. I think she can pinch-hit."

  "I think you're underselling your wife," Phil shot out. "She's got a brilliant legal mind. Let's bring her in."

  "Wait a minute," Alvin Leander called out. "Maybe it's my old days from serving on the Senate ethics committee coming out, but speaking of conflicts of interest, don't we have a problem with Abby advising the whole Roundtable while her husband is the chairman?"

  "Screw the ethics lecture." The voice on the phone was Rocky Bridger's.

  "Rocky," Joshua said. "We're all so sorry about your loss. We'd understand if you bowed out--"

  "I'm on this call because I think it's that important," he said. "And as far as Abby being on board, I vote a resounding yes."

  Leander backed off that point.

  Joshua switched to his speaker phone so Abby could join in.

  Phil Rankowitz jumped right to the crisis. "World Teleco has cancelled our contract for AmeriNews."

  "What?" Joshua yelled out. "On what basis?"

  "They've contrived some ridiculous argument based on the fine print. I've gone over it with our transaction lawyers. They say it's a pretty pathetic excuse. I call it a breach of contract, pure and simple. Call me paranoid, but I see something very political behind all this. They know something about our message. And World Teleco doesn't want any part of it."

  "Okay, counsel," Rankowitz said, addressing Abby. "Where do we go from here?"

  "Assuming it's a clear breach," Abby said, "we can go into court for injunctive relief. But that's a tough call. No guarantees. Besides, the telecom company can tie us up in litigation for years."

  "We don't have that kind of time," Rankowitz said. "Josh, didn't the judge order you to produce your RTS documents by tomorrow?"

  "That's the deadline," Joshua replied. "Harry's appealed the order. But he says the chances are nil."

  "So I ask again," Rankowitz said, "Abby, what can we do?"

  "Give me some time to think this through," she said. "Give me an hour or two."

  Everyone on the conference call could hear Alvin Leander grumbling in the background.

  "Okay," Joshua said, "we reconvene in one hour. Phil, you set up the same conference call. Patch Abby and me in last."

  When the call ended Joshua looked at Abby. She was deep in thought
.

  "I need some tea," she said. "And some time to think."

  She walked into the kitchen and heated up the tea carafe.

  Joshua knew enough to leave her alone. He went into the large study and tried to scan some information he had received from his engineers, suggesting improvements for the RTS.

  But he was having a hard time focusing. How am I going to run this company from the inside of a jail cell?

  A few minutes turned into an hour. Joshua looked at his watch and then called to Abby. But he couldn't find her.

  He started searching the large suite. Until he found her in one of the bedrooms.

  Fast asleep.

  He stroked her cheek gently. You're exhausted. I'm sorry.

  She opened one eye.

  "Time's up. I'm afraid we've got our conference call now, honey."

  She nodded and worked to open the other eye and then started to rise. Abigail trudged into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face.

  Then Joshua and Abigail sat next to each other on the couch in the great room with the Allfone set up on speaker phone for the call.

  A minute later the call came in.

  Phil Rankowitz began. "Okay, Abby. Let's hear it. Have a plan?"

  Abby asked, "Can you get me some lawyers?"

  "How many?"

  "Four."

  "When?"

  "By eight tomorrow morning, and they have to be versed in telecommunications law."

  "Yeah. I think we can arrange that."

  "I thought you said litigation would tie us up for years?" Alvin Leander said.

  "It would," Abby replied, "but I'm not talking about a lawsuit."

  Beverly Rose Cortez spoke up. "Abby. You can work some magic by tomorrow on this? You really think so?"

  "I've got an idea. But it requires one vital piece of evidence."

  "What's that?" Joshua asked his wife.

  "We need to know something definite about World Teleco's motives. Some hard evidence that Phil's suspicions are right. That they shut us down to keep our message from getting out."

  "Digging up that kind of proof," Leander said. "takes too much time."

  But Joshua intervened. "Not necessarily. Folks, let me work on that one."

  FORTY-NINE