Part II

  Loose Ends, Vengeance & Justice

  Chapter 28

  It was an unusually balmy May evening in Minnesota. A warm, southerly breeze had brought up warm, moist air from the gulf, but as the sun started to set, the temperature began to drop as fast as the retreating sun. In the twilight hour just before sunset, a rented 1975 slate blue Ford Granada pulled off the paved road and onto a gravel and dirt road a few miles west of the small farming community of Castle Rock, just 35 miles south of the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. On either side of the road, the driver could see newly planted black dirt fields with tender green shoots sticking out from the surface in long, straight rows. A short distance later, the midsized sedan stopped at a mailbox with “The Jensen’s” stenciled on its side in faded, bold type letters. The nearest farmhouse appeared to be a quarter of a mile down the road, or at least the driver assumed that it was a farmhouse, given that there was a yard light in a large grove of trees surrounded by fields. The driver of the sedan looked in all directions before pulling onto the single-lane dirt road that led to the Jensen’s farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings.

  *****

  Sydney landed in Saigon, but no one was there to arrest her. Feeling very much relieved, she searched for Shawn without success. She had to be one hundred percent sure that he didn’t have the encrypted letter. If he did, she would decide how to deal with him, when and if that proved to be true. She could be very persuasive if she had to, especially with men. But not knowing made her very nervous. She had only met Shawn a few times when he was with Jesse, and she didn’t like his looks. He was the exact opposite of Jesse, who was smooth and polished, while Shawn was extremely rough around the edges. She hated his cockiness, and she didn’t like the way he looked at her. Needless to say, she didn’t like him at all.

  She had a few loyal spies at Tom Polgar’s office in case he showed up there, but after a few days, she was informed that he had shipped out. She was still nervous. If Shawn turned the copy over to Langley, and they were able to decipher it, she could be called in at any moment, and Jensen’s case file would be re-opened. She didn’t want that to happen. Sydney was positive that lead investigator Christopher Page would keep his mouth shut. She made sure of that. The man was creepy and veil, but gold was better than sex. However, she had her doubts about Billy Brown, the other CIA investigator. The man seemed to see right through her. She decided that she needed another layer of insurance. She had to make sure the letter was intended for his parents and not some little spook girlfriend she didn’t know about. She had read the partially destroyed letter a dozen times and still had no clue as to who Jensen was writing to, but if Jeffery was right, she would have her answer very soon. It could have been anyone he knew, but whoever it was, that person would know how to decipher his code. The questions she was about to ask and the answers she received would dictate her course of action.

  *****

  Sydney had looked into Zedekiah Jensen’s past and come up empty. He had no military record she could find, but something Peter had said to her didn’t confirm that. She couldn’t recall his exact words, because she often paid little or no attention to him when they did have a conversation. But now, as she was about to interview the man’s father, she wished she had. She tried repeatedly to remember what Peter had said about his father’s past, and she always came up blank. Still, in the back of her mind, it connected to the path Peter had chosen in life.

  *****

  Sydney pulled into the farmyard between the farmhouse and the newly painted classic red Midwestern barn and parked the car. Two sodium vapor lights lit up the entire farmyard, which proved to be a magnet for every species of flying insect in the area. The mid-sized sedan stopped under their bright lights, and Sydney watched as a tall, slender man wearing bib overalls stepped out of the barn door, closely followed by an old golden Labrador who walked with a bit of a limp. The lab slowly approached the car and waited for the door to open, his tail wagging back and forth in anticipation of meeting the car’s occupants. Zed Jensen didn’t recognize the car, so he followed the old lab, wondering who might be stopping by to visit.

  He didn’t have a long wait. A tall woman, Zed guessed her to be in her early to mid-twenties, opened the driver’s door and swung her long legs out onto the ground. Sydney gave the farmer a big smile as she closed the car door, showing off her pearly white teeth. Zed had never met the woman before, but something about her was very familiar, although Zed couldn’t quite place it. The woman was blond and beautiful. She extended her hand and said, “You must be Mr. Jensen; I’m Cindy Swanson. I work for the United States Government.”

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  She held up her gold badge and flashed her credentials at the tall man, but she quickly placed it back into her purse before he could fully examine the document. Zed thought it odd that this woman was working so late, yet he was polite and asked.

  “How can I help you, Miss Swanson?”

  “You are the father of Peter Jensen? Is that correct?”

  Zed was about to answer when a short, slightly overweight, middle-aged woman emerged from the farmhouse door and walked onto the front porch holding a large spoon in her hand.

  “I see we have a guest, Zed. Why don’t you invite her into the house before the flies carry that pretty young lady away?”

  “I was just about to do that before you interrupted me, Mary.”

  Zed Jensen turned back to Cindy and extended his hand.

  “I’m Zedekiah Jensen, and yes, Peter was our son. Why don’t we step into the house? The flies are bad out here. After all, it is a farm. By the way, this can’t be you’re regular working hours? What branch of the Government did you say you were with?”

  As they approached the house, Cindy diverted his question as any good politician worth his salt would do.

  “I don’t know much about farms, but it looks like you have a very nice one. When I was a young girl, I always wanted to have a slumber party in a hayloft.”

  “Well, miss, I know it sounds adventurous and a bit romantic, but frankly, I’d prefer a nice comfortable soft bed any day over a smelly old barn. Not to mention the bats, cats, rats, mice, gnats, flies, chiggers, and all the other creepy crawly things that make it their happy home.”

  “Wow, you really know how to spoil the image of a fun night.”

  “Yeah, I thought that might do it,” Zed said with a slight chuckle.

  Zed led the way into the farmhouse kitchen, where Mary was preparing dinner. The smells emanating from the room were wonderful! Something was simmering on an old 1950s stove, and Mary had on a pair of oven mitts and was extracting a cookie sheet of what looked like biscuits from the oven.

  “Ma, this pretty lady works for the Government. I think she’s here to talk to us about Peter.”

  “Oh, did you know our son?” Mary asked.

  “No, I don’t know him personally. I just have a few questions I’d like to ask the two of you. It’s just a formality.”

  “Well, you’re just in time to join us for supper. We can talk and eat at the same time. I hope you’re hungry because we have plenty to eat. It’s just the two of us now, except when Nils is helping Zed with the chores. Then it’s like feeding a thrashing crew. I swear that boy can eat more than two grown men,” Mary said with a chuckle.

  “You’re in luck, young lady. Mary makes the best beef stew in the state, and her biscuits will melt in your mouth. To tell the truth, I think Nils just likes to help me because Mary feeds him so well,” Zed said with a bit of pride.

  “Well, actually, I haven’t eaten all day, and everything smells absolutely wonderful. I would love to join you for supper.”

  “Terrific; you couldn’t have timed it more perfectly. The biscuits are the best when they are right out of the oven. The washroom is right around the corner; you can freshen up there, and I will set another plate,” Mary said.

  Sydney made her way to the bathroom and looked in the mirror as she washed her hands. She smiled at her reflection and then walked back to the kitchen. This was going to be easy!

  *****

  Zed watched the woman walk into the bathroom, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen her before. Then it finally dawned on him. Peter had sent them photos of some of the people he was stationed with, and she was one of them. Her short blond hair and blue eyes had thrown him off, but she was definitely the same woman. The simple fact was that her skin color and facial features didn’t quite match the Scandinavian look she was trying to convey. He whispered to Mary, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Where are you going?” Mary said with a confused look on her face.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  And with that, he was out of the kitchen as fast as his long legs could carry him.

  Zed quickly found the photo he was looking for in the stack of letters that Peter had sent them. He looked at the beautiful dark-haired woman in the photo, and he instantly knew that it was the same woman that was now in his house. Zed didn’t know what her game was, but he definitely knew that she was deliberately trying to deceive them. However, he had no idea for what reason and to what end. He didn’t even know if she was using her real name. All it said on the back of the photo was one of the agents I work with. Zed returned to the kitchen and found Mary and the woman standing by the stove, making idle conversation. Mary looked at him with a puzzled look; however, she said nothing about his odd behavior. She had been married to him long enough to trust his instincts.

  *****

  Zed was absolutely right. Mary’s beef stew was excellent, and the biscuits did melt in her mouth. She praised Mary and thanked her for one of the best meals she ever had. Mary blushed and said it was nothing, just some things she threw together in a pot to satisfy her man after a hard day’s work. Sydney turned down a piece of rhubarb pie that Mary had baked the day before, insisting that she couldn’t eat another bite of anything even though she claimed to love rhubarb pie. After coffee was served, the conversation finally turned to the reason for her visit.