Chapter 61

  Jesse watched Clayson’s face as he said her name. The man didn’t even flinch, and his face remained stoic. He wondered if a conspiracy involving the President of the United States was a daily occurrence for him. Perhaps it was.

  Almost immediately after hearing her name, he recalled the conversation that he had with the FBI director regarding the bombing in Connecticut. “Someone had to have inside information about Congressman Becket’s cancer,” and he suspected that it was someone in the government. “Forensic tests prove that the bomb had been planted long before his death." He remembered that the usual conspiracy theorists suggested the Vice President was involved. In fact, he knew that the FBI had discreetly looked into her records at the CIA. Ultimately, they came up with nothing.

  “Okay, so who do you think hired Choi, and why do you think this person has waited this long to pursue this if he had any idea what was in the file?”

  “I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I believe its Corporal Shawn Harris. He is the only one I shared the information about the letter in Sanders's hand. His name was on the list that I requested from General Jackson.” Jesse handed Clayson the file on Shawn.

  Clayson accepted the file and looked it over very quickly.

  “As you can see from the report, Harris disappeared sometime in late 1975. As far as why he has waited this long, I can’t even begin to speculate. As I stated before, I haven’t seen Corporal Harris since that night of our last recon mission when I was wounded and airlifted to Saigon. Clayson nodded and continued to read Shawn’s file.

  “I see that he was a very highly decorated Green Beret. It also looks like he had a problem with authority. I see he was busted in rank at least twice for insubordination.”

  “He may have had a problem with authority, but I can’t think of anyone that I would rather have at my side in a firefight or any kind of fight for that matter, sir. The man is fearless.”

  Clayson leaned back in his chair and decided they needed to move on.

  “Alright, at this point, I’ll have to agree with you that it is a very strong possibility that Harris hired Mr. Choi and that he has the encrypted letter you have described in his position. Now, let’s move on to Rakov. General Jackson tells me that you had a recent run with the man, but because of the time constraints, he didn’t elaborate. However, he mentioned that President Roberts contracted your agency directly. I know you’re under no obligation to tell me the details of your contract, but under the circumstances, I was hoping it wouldn’t be a sticking point.”

  Clayson knew there was no way he wouldn’t give him the details of his encounter with Rakov, yet he felt obliged to ask politely for his cooperation. The agency that Bennett started simply received too much work from the government.

  Jesse would need Clayson’s help, so for the next ten minutes, he reviewed everything that happened in Prague, including the nature of their contract with the former President. Clayson stopped Jesse a few times and asked questions, but for the most part, he just listened. As he recalled the incident, he could see the wheels turning in Clayson’s head, and Jesse was reasonably sure that Clayson would reach the same conclusion as he had.

  When Jesse finished, Clayson tried to put this new information into perspective. When he first read Choi’s e-mail, he was only interested in Rakov. Clayson wanted him found, questioned, and brought to justice, yet he was also intrigued by the content of the e-mail. He had no idea where it would lead. After listening to Jesse’s story and finding out that Sydney had been stationed in Xuan Loc, things were starting to fall into place. He had no doubt that Rakov was working for the same employer and that they were dealing with a well-funded, highly organized, and very deadly entity. With this new information, President Roberts may have been targeted because of his energy policies and not because he was the leader of the free world. Although Clayson felt it was more than just controlling energy, he had no idea what it was. He certainly knew that it wasn’t simply industrial espionage. Not when you have spies in the NSA. If Sydney was indeed the person they were trying to protect, they also could have been behind the bombing at the Mystic cemetery that placed her in power; this led Clayson to ask Jesse a question.

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  “It is apparent that Mr. Rakov has some extremely powerful friends. From what you’ve told me, his escape was well-orchestrated, timed, and funded. Do you have any idea who he was working for, and do you see any connection with what transpired in Phuket?”

  Jesse shook his head, “Nothing solid, but it’s been rumored that Rakov has been working for someone in the Middle East. I also know that over the past several years, there have been a lot of research centers all over the globe that have been infiltrated, their research stolen, or their scientists have simply disappeared. It appears that Rakov may be part of the muscle behind this. That is just one of the reasons that President Roberts built the research center in Nevada. As far as what took place in Phuket, I now believe that it’s connected.”

  Clayson was about to ask him if he thought the bombing in Connecticut was also connected, but he decided against it. He wanted more information first. And part of that information was to find out what Harris knew and what was in the document that was supposedly in his possession. Clayson had already checked. His resources in Thailand were thin at best. He read the report on the ones he had, and he wasn’t exactly impressed. This was something that he couldn’t take a chance on. He needed extremely good men to handle this. He could have a dozen men on a plane within the hour, but he decided that another approach would be necessary with the political unrest in Thailand and the red tape involved in getting them on the ground. He knew the men before him, and Bennett’s company was exceptionally capable. They had hardened men who could get in and out of any country without much trouble.

  On the other hand, Clayson had to play by the rules, especially in today’s political climate, and that often didn’t sit well with him. That was why Bennett’s company was flourishing. And Major Taylor knew Harris personally, and he didn’t want any more people involved in this if he could help it. Especially when it led to the White House, so he decided to offer Jesse a deal. However, he had to inform him of the hard facts before he did. He was about to do this when his aide knocked and entered the room. He quickly walked over and handed Clayson another folder, which he immediately opened and read. He wasn’t surprised by his query. There was nothing in Phuket or Thailand, for that matter, that indicated that Harris resided there. If the man was on the run, he covered his tracks very well.

  “You may be right, Major, but a man like Rakov could have many employers.”

  “I agree, sir, but the only way we’ll know is to find him.”

  Jesse continued, “I’m positive that Tim Choi contacted Shawn soon after the incident at his office. I understand that the only phone records we have for Choi are his landline at his office and not his cell phone. I also understand that you had your agency call every number on that list and found no one remotely related to this… incident.”

  “That’s correct. The only phone listed on Choi’s website is his landline. We searched all the cell phone providers in Phuket and can’t find any provider that has him as a customer. This leads me to believe he’s either not using his real name or on someone else’s account.”

  Jesse rubbed the stubble on his chin and said, “It’s my understanding that Choi sent the photo of Rakov to someone in the Thai National Police. Did he send it from his cell phone or from his computer?”

  “I’m afraid the informant that gave us that tip didn’t provide that information. I was told that our assets inquired about his cell phone number, and apparently, he didn’t know or wouldn’t reveal his source. We do, however, have Choi’s e-mail address. You or General Bennett could simply send him an e-mail and tell him who you are and ask that his client contact you. However, there’s a problem with that. The people trying to find Choi and Harris have some deep-reaching communication surveillance. If they have moles inside the NSA, it’s a sure bet that they’re monitoring his e-mail and his cell phone if they have it to try and locate him because, frankly, that’s what we would do. If they find out that we are on their tail, they may just back off, and we may never find out who’s behind this, and that’s something that I don’t want to risk. I did, however, have one of our assets in Phuket send an e-mail to Choi from a local business to ask for his help on a local matter. They left a number for him to call, but as of this meeting, he hasn’t responded. At the risk of sounding callous, I don’t see any other alternative but to try to find Choi and Harris with all our resources without directly contacting Choi by e-mail. I just hope that we can find them before they do.”