The Special Agent Jana Baker Spy-Thriller Series

A Tension You Can Taste

19

A Tension You Can Taste

By 7:50 a.m. Jana was already seated at her desk outside the office of Rune Dima.

Agent Chuck Stone, however, sat in the coffeehouse across the street and wrung his hands. His star witness, Jana Baker, was in a situation far more dangerous than she believed. With over twenty-three years serving as a field agent, Stone had seen situations like this go bad. Jana would be walking into the Manhattan penthouse of a known terrorist, a terrorist with a history of violence against women.

NSA Section Chief William “Uncle Bill” Tarleton had called Stone ten minutes prior and explained in terse verbiage that something big was coming down, and it was coming down imminently. NSA, in coordination with CIA field operatives, had made the connection between Jeffrey and Rune Dima. Both identities were false, but their paper trails were impeccable. They’d been raised in Syria but as early teenagers relocated to the United States with their father whose work visa enabled him entry into the country. They had blended into American society even to the point of shedding their telltale accents. To Uncle Bill, both Dima men had all the markings of sleeper agents, terrorists that had been planted inside the United States at an early age. And now that they sat in powerful positions inside an American-owned corporation, their status in society had elevated.

What that meant to Stone was that the stakes were higher. Yet proving the two were involved in a criminal act would require strong evidence, evidence he did not yet have.

FBI Agent Larry Fry walked into the corner coffee shop and said, “We’ve got a problem.”

“Just one?” Stone said. “What is it this time?”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. But they just found the body of John Cameron.”

“John . . . the SEC guy that’s been investigating this case from their end?”

“Yes. It appears he died in a hit-and-run auto accident on the turnpike. They just pulled his body from the river.”

“No wonder I haven’t been able to get ahold of him. That’s terrible, did he have a wife and kids?”

“Stone,” Fry said, “I don’t think you’re getting what I’m saying. This was a hit-and-run. One witness said it looked very intentional. A black van sped up beside Cameron’s car and slammed into it, forcing it through the railings and into the river. The van then sped off.”

“Wait, you’re thinking this was a hit? But that would mean . . . that would mean the Dima cousins are aware of the SEC investigation into their investments, and they are willing to murder for it.”

“That’s right.”

Stone paced the floor, not even realizing he was blocking the aisle of the coffee shop, preventing customers from placing their orders.

“Let’s think about this for a minute,” Stone said. “Cameron said that everything he could tell about the heavy investing into the oil futures market were already red flags that Petrolsoft had some kind of insider information about the oil market that no one else knows. But as of yet, there was no evidence to indicate anything criminal. So if we play this forward and assume the Dima boys knew they were under the microscope, and they murdered him, these guys would stop at nothing. What if they found the source of their leak? Jana would have to be next. They’re going to kill her. I can’t endanger her life like this. I’m going to pull her out, and pull her out right now.”

But no sooner had Stone removed his phone from his pocket to call Jana than Agent Fry put his hand on Stone’s arm.

“The murder of Investigator John Cameron is not all the news I have.” He exhaled. “I just got off the phone with the director. He and Uncle Bill Tarleton at NSA were old college roommates. They talk all the time. The director is aware of everything you and I know, and they fear this is much worse than any of us believed. This is not just a financial scheme involving insider trading. This is going to be bigger, although they still do not know what.”

Stone finally stepped aside to let other customers pass. He crossed his arms and leaned in to Fry. “No s**t. None of us know exactly what is about to happen. What else is it that you aren’t telling me?”

“The director says we have to go through with the operation tonight. If the witness is willing, he is ordering us to send her in there. We can’t pull her off the operation. I’m sorry, Chuck.”

“What? I’m in charge of this field operation. The director never plays armchair quarterback with us. That girl is in danger, and she needs to be pulled out.”

“Chuck, you are preaching to the choir. But remember something: Jana Baker was made well aware that she was in grave danger, and she forced the issue anyway. She insisted that she go through with tonight’s operation. To tell you the truth, I think she and the director are on the same page. They both know how much is at stake and are willing to risk it.”

Stone sat at the tiny round table in front of the wall of glass. He looked up at the height of the Petrolsoft building across the street. “You’re an asshole, Fry. You know that?”

Fry laughed. “Yeah, but I’m your kind of asshole. So now, since we know she’s going to Jeffrey Dima’s penthouse tonight, what is the plan?”

Stone rubbed his eyes. “This girl is smart as hell. She came up with this entire thing on her own. It’s brilliant. Risky, but brilliant. And to have the guts to go in there, into the apartment of a thug who she knows is going to try and drug her with Rohypnol. This is like watching a firefighter bolt through a wall of flame to go in and save someone.”

Stone went into detail and outlined the entire operation for Agent Fry—Jana’s plan on how she would avoid being drugged, how she would get her hands on the information they needed, and the fact that the apartment had electronic eavesdropping countermeasures in place.

“It’s going to be like the first time a manned spacecraft orbited the far side of the moon, a complete blackout. I’m going to pull my hair out while she’s in that apartment.”

To lighten the tension, Fry said, “Well that won’t take long,” referring to Stone’s receding hairline.

“If she pulls this off,” Stone said, “we should have access to the entire terrorist plan without them knowing they have been compromised.”