“Here are your papers,” he says, handing my documents to me. “Enjoy your trip to Ukraine.”
He spins on his heels and steps away to the side, looking at the vehicle behind, waiting to gesture them forward. The other guy hands Collins his papers without a word, and we both get back in the car.
“Heh… that was tense!” he says as he starts it up and drives slowly toward the barrier.
“I’m not sure those guards realize how close they were to being killed just then,” I say.
The barrier lifts for us and Collins eases through and builds up speed on the other side.
“So this is it,” says Collins. “The home stretch. Ya have any idea what’s waiting for ya in Pripyat?”
I shake my head but say nothing. I honestly don’t know what kind of presence the Armageddon Initiative has in the deserted city, but I know I’ll find out soon enough.
27
I hear a faint ringing noise, and realize my cell is in my bag, still hidden away under the back seat. I reach behind and retrieve it, dragging it back through to the front. I open it, take out the phone, and answer it.
“Yeah?”
“Adrian, it’s me,” says Josh. “Where you up to?”
I look over at Collins. “Where are we?” I ask as I place the phone on speaker.
“We’re about eighteen klicks out from Pripyat, traveling along the P-56,” he announces.
“You’re making good time,” observes Josh. “And… Hi, Collins.”
“Mr. Winters,” he replies professionally.
I raise an eyebrow. “Mr. Winters?” I ask.
Josh is laughing on the line. “Shut your face. Listen, I’ve got someone on the other line who wants to speak to you.”
“Who is it?”
“He’s an FBI agent.”
My spider sense immediately starts to tingle. “How’d he get your number?” I ask. “What have you told him?”
“Relax,” says Josh, recognizing my concern. “Bob put them in touch with me. They reached out to him. Look, I’ll let the guy explain, but I’m inclined to trust him.”
“Whatever,” I say, choosing to remain skeptical following recent events. “Put him on.”
The line falls silent for a moment, and then another voice speaks. “Adrian?”
I frown. I know that voice. I scratch my head trying to remember where from.
“Adrian, it’s Special Agent Tom Wallis, FBI.”
There it is!
“Tom?” I say, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. “Jesus! How are you doing? It’s been a long time.”
Close to three years, to be exact. I worked with Agent Wallis when I agreed to help the FBI, back in San Francisco, when I had that thing with Danny Pellaggio. My God, that was a lifetime ago…
“I’m good, considering. You’re a hard man to get hold of.”
“I know… What can I do for you?”
“I’ll cut straight to it,” he says. “A couple of local agents came to see you over a week ago about the murder of three men who were found in a car near where you live in Texas.”
It was more of a statement than a question, but I felt obliged to confirm it all the same. “That’s right,” I say.
“Adrian, I’m now working on a Counter-Terrorism taskforce for the FBI. As part of my job, I have to liaise with other agencies regarding any issue pertaining to suspected terrorist activity. As I’m sure you can understand, I’ve been hearing your name a lot recently.”
I shrug. “Is there such a thing as bad publicity?”
He chuckles for a moment then falls silent. “Is there anything you want to tell me?” he asks.
“Not really.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You mind if I ask why?”
“No, I don’t mind. Me and you go back a little ways, Tom, and I’ll admit I think you’re a good guy. At least you were when I knew you. But in the current climate, I hope you won’t take offense if I tell you that I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you.”
“No offense taken,” he says. “In fact, that’s exactly the reaction I was hoping for. I’d be worried if you trusted me, given what I know.”
I shift in my seat. “You have my attention…” I say.
“Josh, are you still on the line?” asks Wallis.
“Yeah,” he replies.
“Okay. So, Adrian’s currently sitting atop the CIA’s most wanted list, and GlobaTech are the only focus of the NSA right now… anybody wanna tell me why?”
“I would if I knew,” I say. “A lot of things don’t make much sense at the moment, if I’m honest.”
“I’m gonna level with you,” says Wallis. “I’ve got a pretty good idea what you and GlobaTech have been doing. While it’s not a matter a private military contractor has any jurisdiction over, or any right whatsoever to be involved in, that’s not to say we’re not glad of the help. In fact, on behalf of a government agency who is essentially trying to do the same thing, I want to thank you for your efforts so far.”
“You’re welcome,” says Josh. “Just a shame no one else seems to be so grateful.”
“And why is that, do you think?”
“No idea,” I say. “But it’s getting real old, real fast. I’m involved in this whether I like it or not. It just so happens that GlobaTech has had an eye on things for a while, so I decided to help them out where I can.”
“I wanted to get in touch with you to propose the same thing.”
“What, you want my help?”
“I’d like to compare notes, yeah.”
“Remember when I said I didn’t trust you?”
“Yeah…”
“I still don’t. Everyone else is trying to kill me, what makes you think I’ll believe you aren’t as well?”
“They’re not trying to kill you, Adrian. They’re just trying to stop you from interfering in an inter-agency investigation.”
I glance at Collins, who is driving quietly and now looking a little confused.
“Is that what they told you? I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure they’re trying to kill me, Tom. In fact, scratch that — I am an expert, remember? My first clue was the special ops team that the CIA sent to hijack and blow up my plane…”
Wallis says nothing.
“Then there was the twenty-man NSA squad, all armed to the teeth, who stormed a GlobaTech safe house and opened fire on me without any provocation,” I continue.
Still nothing.
“Tom, if they want me to stop, they just need to ask. I’ll gladly step away from all this if they’re willing to take over. But I don’t think they are. I think, for whatever reason, myself and GlobaTech are being set up. Whether the acronyms are being fed bullshit information, or whether they’re running the show themselves — I dunno. But what I do know is that it’s me against them, whether I like it or not. And I’m sure you can’t blame me for assuming your acronym isn’t any different.”
I hear Wallis sigh heavily on the line. “Just out of interest,” he asks after a moment. “What happened to all these men that were sent to kill you?”
I massage my forehead as I stare out of the window at the desolate landscape passing by, remembering everything I’ve been through recently.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t wanna know the answers to, Tom.”
He sighs again. “Shit. Okay… I’ve made contact and asked for your help, so my job’s done. After everything me and you went through back in ’Frisco, I hope you can see past whatever’s going on here and trust me long enough to accept my help. I’m not asking you to trust the FBI. I’m asking you to trust me. Josh has my number if you change your mind.”