Chapter 39
When I slid into the guest chair in Stemp’s office he eyed me in silence for a moment, his reptilian features betraying no emotion.
Shit, was I in trouble for shooting Mud-Eyes?
Or maybe Stemp was just organizing his thoughts, and any disapproval was being manufactured by my own guilty conscience. Resisting the urge to blurt out justifications or confessions, I met his gaze with my best poker face.
“So… Labelle,” Stemp said at last. “What was his intent?”
“The guy said Labelle told them to look for the ultrasound weapon. Maybe Riel was the one who hired Labelle to have these guys break into my house at six o’clock. I had told him I could get the weapon, so maybe he was checking to see if I was dumb enough to keep it at my house. After all, why pay for what you can steal? And Labelle obviously offers full-service arms brokering with thugs à la carte.”
“Yes.” Stemp considered for a moment. “Although after you dispatched Labelle’s previous thug a few months ago, one would think he’d be more cautious.”
“That would make sense of Labelle’s comment about not sending his best. These guys weren’t the brightest, and it didn’t seem as though they had any prior relationship with him. Maybe he just scooped them off the street thinking it would be an easy job. After all, he knew I’d be two hours away at the time. Although…” I fell silent, frowning while puzzle pieces shifted in my mind.
Stemp didn’t rush me; just sat waiting until I spoke again.
“When I got the alert from my surveillance system, I left the table to call you,” I went on. “When I got back, it looked as though Riel and Labelle had disagreed over something and Labelle was looking pouty. They would have guessed what that call was about, and if Labelle had supplied the thugs he’d be pissed off that they’d gotten caught.”
“Logical,” Stemp agreed. “Unfortunately we can’t confirm their conversation. We still aren’t receiving consistent audio from our bugs. All we’ve caught was Labelle’s call yesterday and Riel’s call to Kane this morning.”
I gulped down my chagrin and attempted a non-confrontational tone. “Do we know for sure it was Kane?”
“Yes. The voiceprint analysis was definitive.”
“Shit.” The word popped out before I could stop it, and I hurriedly added, “I know it looks bad, but I’m positive Kane’s still on our side. He helped me out quite a bit at Harchman’s.”
“We shall see.” Stemp’s expression gave away nothing.
Trying not to betray my anxiety, I held my voice steady. “Has Holt had any luck tracking him down yet?”
“Holt hasn’t called in, so I presume that to be negative.” Stemp’s gazed pinned me to my chair. “Where do you think Kane is?”
Thankful that I didn’t have to lie about it, I said, “I don’t have a clue”, and changed the subject. “I’ll call the numbers Riel and Labelle gave me and leave messages. They’ll likely check their voicemail so maybe we can pick up something with the bugs while they’re using those phones.”
Stemp nodded, and I went on, “Riel’s definitely interested in the weapon, but it’s just not making sense for him to be the terrorist.” I blew out a breath of frustration. “I told him I could get the weapon. He didn’t make an offer, and the Remembrance Day services are less than eighteen hours away. I can’t see him making plans that hinge on getting it from me before eleven o’clock tomorrow. Have any of the other teams made progress on the terrorist threat?”
“No, there is no intel indicating that anyone else is even aware of the existence of the weapon. However, I did inform the civilian authorities about the murder threat against Harchman. Battalion Park has been thoroughly searched. No explosives were found; and the area is under guard and will remain so until after the service ends tomorrow.”
“But the ultrasound weapon can’t be detected with regular weapons scanners.” I ground my knuckles into the tense muscles at the base of my skull. “Somebody could carry it in tomorrow and we’d never know until everybody dropped dead. Can’t you get them to cancel the service?”
“I tried.” Stemp pinched the bridge of his nose as if attempting to subdue a headache of his own. “The organizers had already announced that the Battalion Park service would be cancelled, and many other services across Canada had also been cancelled as a precaution after the threat was issued. But the public will not be intimidated. Have you heard of the EndTerror hashtag?”
“Um… no… I haven’t had time for social media lately.”
“There was an enormous social media backlash after the cancellations were announced. Thousands of people posted and tweeted that they would be assembling at the cenotaphs at eleven hundred hours on the eleventh as a show of solidarity against terror, and as a gesture of respect to the veterans who had braved such threats in defense of our freedom.” Stemp let out a small breath that might have been a sigh. “Intel indicates that we’ll have the largest-ever public turnout for Remembrance Day services this year.”
I groaned. “Oh, for shit’s sake! I mean, it’s great that people don’t want to give in, but… but…” I let out a sigh of my own. “Shit.”
“Precisely. However, due to the specific threat against Harchman, the organizers cancelled his appearance; both for the public’s safety and his own.”
“They cancelled Harchman’s speech?” A smile spread unbidden over my lips. “No wonder he was so pissy this morning. Did they explain to him that they were trying to save his miserable hide?”
Stemp’s tone turned even dryer than usual. “Apparently he loudly questioned the effectiveness of our military if they couldn’t even protect him with a full assembly. The organizers took offense. Harchman’s speech is permanently cancelled, regardless of the presence or absence of any bomb threat.”
My grin widened. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Is it wrong of me to wish he’d get blown up anyway?”
A quirk of humour tugged at the corner of Stemp’s mouth, quickly suppressed. “Yes. It is definitely wrong of you.”
“Okay, I take it back.” Sobering at the memory of the horrible sim, I added, “I was kidding anyway. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
“Understood.”
A glance at his eyes assured me that he truly did understand. I gave him a half-smile and went on, “But now that James Helmand is dead, Harchman’s probably pretty safe anyway. Did Brock and Tammy decrypt that sim?”
“Yes, and Brock agreed with your initial assessment, that James Helmand created it. However, I’m not convinced that James’s death negates the threat. Although we have no evidence pointing to Tawny Harchman, she has the best motive and opportunity to murder Harchman. If she colluded with James to test the effects of an explosive in the sim, then she might have also acquired the explosive from him. Perhaps she eliminated James after she had what she wanted.”
I frowned. “If she’s already got a bomb, Harchman is going to be strawberry jam sooner or later; whether he speaks at the Remembrance Day service or not. She could slip it into his pocket anytime.”
“True.”
“So can’t we just arrest her?”
“No. In the first place, we have no evidence pointing to her; and in the second place, even if the sim did contain hard evidence incriminating her, we couldn’t admit that we had it without revealing our clandestine operations.” Stemp surveyed me in silence for a moment before dropping the bombshell. “So you’ll need to protect Harchman.”
“Wha… me?” My jaw dropped, my mind rebelling at the thought. “Protect him? That disgusting little-”
“Innocent civilian,” Stemp finished my sentence, deadpan. “Yes.”
“But you said we weren’t in the bodyguard business,” I protested.
“We are not. But you will be present to keep Riel under surveillance, and also to determine whether Tawny is involved in the Remembrance Day threat. That is your stated mission; and with it comes the usual responsibility to avoid collateral damage. That would include Lawrence Harchman.”
“Fuck.” The f-bomb popped out before I could stop it, and I pressed my lips together. “Sorry,” I added as soon as I was sure no other obscenities were going to slip out. “I’ll see if Riel can get me invited back to Harchman’s. I checked out of their guesthouse this morning, and they sure as hell won’t invite me back of their own accord.”
“Very well. And if Kane contacts you at any time, report to me immediately.” Stemp held my gaze and I resisted the urge to squirm. “That is a direct order,” he added, his words as precise as a scalpel. “Failure to comply will have serious consequences.”
“Got it,” I muttered. “Are we done here?”
“Not quite. Have you seen Helmand lately?”
I blinked. “Um… not since I found his body.”
“Arnold Helmand,” Stemp clarified.
“Oh. Sorry, I’m really tired.” I rubbed my gritty eyes. “No. The last time I saw Arnie was Saturday morning around eight-thirty AM. He called me after lunch that day…” My heart sank as I made the connection between the timing of that call and James’s estimated time of death, but I kept talking without a pause. “…and I haven’t heard from him since. I don’t know where he is, either.”
“Interesting timing,” Stemp murmured.
Damn his brilliant mind. I should have known he wouldn’t miss something like that.
I shrugged, keeping my tone casual. “Maybe; maybe not. He had a mission a few days ago so he might be doing something related to that. Or…” My throat tightened. “Maybe he’s been abducted, too. Maybe that was Kane’s ‘situation’.”
“Perhaps.” Stemp studied me, eyes narrowed. “But I also happen to know about your loyalty to both men. Perhaps I should ask you these questions with the lie detector activated.”
Weariness overcame me, and I slid lower in the chair with a yawn. “Knock yourself out.”
After contemplating me in silence for a moment, Stemp said coolly, “Very well, I shall.” He dialled the phone and said, “Dr. Travers, please bring the lie detector to my office immediately. Thank you.”
A knot of anxiety lodged itself under my breastbone, making my heart beat a little harder as I sat up. “You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t believe anyone. The best way to catch a liar is to lull them into a false sense of security. I have taken your word many times in the past. I believe my trap has been adequately baited.” He dipped his chin a fraction in my direction, expressionless. “No offense intended if you are telling the truth.”
I swallowed to prevent my voice from coming out in a dry whisper. “None taken. And I am telling the truth.”
He nodded and sat back in his chair. Heavy silence blanketed the room. My pulse thumped in my ears and all the moisture in my mouth seemed to have migrated to my palms.
I resisted the urge to rub my clammy hands on my pants.
I was telling the truth, dammit. Why did he always make me feel so guilty?
Probably because I had bent the truth in his office far too many times, the small unhelpful voice between my ears reminded me.
Shut up and look honest.
I leaned back in my chair and made a show of smothering another yawn.
An eternity or possibly five minutes later, a tap at the door heralded Dr. Travers’s arrival. At Stemp’s ‘Come in’, she entered with a worried glance at me and set the portable lie detector unit on the corner of Stemp’s desk.
“Thank you, Dr. Travers,” he said. “Please prepare Agent Kelly and then wait in the corridor. This will only take a few minutes.”
She complied without speaking, but I read her concern in the small crinkle of her flawless forehead as she secured the crown of electrodes around my temples.
After she had closed the door behind her, Stemp activated the machine and lobbed the first question my way. “Is your name Aydan Kelly?”
“Yes.”
My heart rate stepped up to double-time, and I glanced compulsively at the indicator. Green light.
Get it together. I knew my own name. Calm down.
“And did you pass your previous lie-detector test with Dr. Travers this past Thursday?”
“Yes.” I swallowed in spite of my best efforts to prevent myself. Where was he going with this line of questioning?
“Have you done anything between then and now to cause you a guilty conscience?”
I stared at him open-mouthed.
A few seconds later I found my voice; and with it, my temper. “Are you kidding me? I’m undercover. Everything I do gives me a guilty conscience!” My voice rose. “I caused the abduction and possible murder of an innocent man! I broke into some poor shopkeeper’s store and stole fancy designer clothes! I terrorized people at a party with a firearm and ran from the police! I lied to so many people I can’t even remember all the shit I said! I shot a guy in the balls! I had happy thoughts of blowing up an innocent civilian! Yes, I have a fucking guilty conscience!”
It was Stemp’s turn to stare, incredulity warring with a twitch at the corner of his mouth that looked suspiciously like an attempt to keep from laughing.
“Very well,” he said in a slightly strangled tone. “Let’s proceed.” His deadpan façade descended again. “Do you have any idea why Kane was at Harchman’s?”
“No.” Irritation still sizzled in my blood, making my voice hard and level. The green light flashed as if it was afraid to do anything else.
“Do you have any idea where he is now?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea what his plans were or are?”
“No.”
“Do you have any reason to suspect that he may have been compromised?”
“No.”
“Can you think of any reason why he would be communicating with Riel?”
“No.”
“What about Arnold Helmand? Do you have any idea where he is?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea what his plans were or are?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea if he and Kane were in contact prior to Helmand’s disappearance?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea if either of them conspired to murder, or actually murdered, James Helmand?”
“No.”
Stemp surveyed me, one eyebrow cocked quizzically, and I stared back, daring him to push me just a little bit farther.
Go ahead, asshole…
“Very well,” he said, and turned off the lie detector.