“Look,” he said to Vogel. He picked up the phone and showed it to her.
“It’s him, he knows we’re talking, he knows you don’t believe me.”
“He can see into this office? How for Christ’s sake?”
“I don’t know, Stew, but why would he call just at that moment?” Vogel voice was pleading.
“What should I do?” Nolan was suddenly nervous.
“Answer it.”
He paused for a moment then pressed the ‘accept call’ button. “Hello.”
I answered. “Mr. Nolan, would it be okay if I joined you?”
Nolan looked at Vogel. “He wants to come here.”
“Say yes, Stew,” she was beaming a broad smile across her face. This would prove to Nolan what she’d said earlier.
Nolan said gingerly into the phone, “Okay.”
“Mr. Nolan, I will bounce into your office, by the picture of you and President Bush. Please don’t be frightened. Close the call, don’t say anything else.”
I suddenly realized that the cell phone could have been used to listen to the conversation. “Sally, did the NSA pick up that call?”
“Oh shit! They were listening to everything through the phone. Sorry boss, missed that.”
“Damn, how long till they arrive.”
Sally’s face went blank. “One minute, maybe two.”
“Bounce me in.”
I was in Stewart Nolan’s office, standing by his picture of himself and George W. Bush. Nolan’s face was aghast.
“Mr. Nolan, Cathy, thanks for allowing me to come, this has to be short, the NSA were listening to your conversation through your cell phone,” I pointed at the device on the desk. “Please set up an interview on camera, outside of America, I’ll be there, okay. The FBI will be here in one minute, so I have to go.”
I bounced back home just as the door flung open and two FBI agents with pistols drawn rushed into the room. Sally and I watched on the monitor, it wasn’t fun.
The lead FBI agent was speaking into a microphone on his shoulder. Then he turned to Nolan. “Mr. Nolan, we need you and Miss Vogel to come with us.”
“What the hell for?” screamed Nolan.
“Aiding a wanted terrorist.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” But he wasn’t and within ten minutes Stewart Nolan and Cathy Vogel were carted off in a police car.
I was standing still, staring wide eyed at the monitor, fuming. Then I began pacing around the room. I was livid, I was so mad. “Now look what I’ve done. Fuck! Fuck, fuck!” I screamed at no one. I needed a drink, I needed a large drink. Now!
Sally stood up, her expression exuded apprehension. She placed her holographic arms around me and snuggled her body up close. I felt nothing but allowed her to come close to me. Then she kissed me. I was shocked. I pulled back instinctively and stared at her, she was truly beautiful.
“I felt your kiss, I felt your lips,” I said.
She smiled.
“How did you do that?”
“Kiss me again, Jo-el.”
I kissed her again, long. Her lips were soft and I felt her tongue reach inside of my mouth. But it was weird, I had no body to hold close. I pulled back.
She smiled again, then sat down not uttering a word. She looked content, happy. It calmed me, somewhat. I fixed a large Black Label and Sally played Jason Mraz on Pandora. I mellowed.
Time drifted by and my thoughts whizzed back and forth, from Vogel and Nolan to the whole bloody mess. I sipped my second scotch lovingly, Sally was still sitting patiently in the armchair. “What did they do with Nolan and Vogel?”
Sally glanced over, I could see she was reviewing data. “They took them underground.”
Damn. “I might have guessed. I bet they wished they’d never met me. I feel sorry for them.”
“They can’t hold them forever and no court will convict them for what they did.”
“I thought the US can hold you indefinitely on terrorist charges?”
“The military can, if they ship them to Guantanamo Bay.”
“I’ve been upgraded to a terrorist, it’s incredible.”
“That’s just so then can hold you, Jo-el.”
“I wonder if they can set something up outside of the US? Somehow I doubt it.”
“Not until they’re out, they are the only ones who know about you. My guess is they’ll be kept overnight then let go if they do nothing to assist you.”
“So, back to square one. Time to exit the American media. Who was Cathy Vogel planning for me to meet in Australia?”
Sally began reviewing again. “Oh, wow, you’re not going to believe this. She called this lady before emailing about Australia. The reporters name is Adrianna Murphy.”
“Murphy,” I laughed, “one of the clan. That’s funny. Show me this Adrianna Murphy?”
Sally initiated the disc monitor and a very attractive, young woman wearing business attire appeared in view. She was sitting as a curved desk with a handsome, equally young man, discussing the events that had recently taken place in New York. It was a morning news show in Sydney.
“Did Vogel explain what she wanted?”
“Sure, she told Murphy that you wanted a live interview in Australia and she’d picked Murphy to conduct the interview.”
“Why Murphy?”
“Up and coming reporter, well respected.”
“So, how did Vogel leave it?”
“She’d get back to her.”
“Well, I think we should do that in person, what do you think?”
“You’re the boss, Joey.”
“When does Murphy finish the current show?”
“About twenty minutes, then she has to debrief, followed by a break for an hour or so before reviewing stories for the evening show. It’s eleven-forty, Monday morning there right now.”
“Well I think I should zip down there and buy her lunch.”
“You’ll need cash for that and I would lay off the Scotch.”
“Right, good idea. Can you get me some local cash, you said you had a plan for that?”
“Steal it.”
“Huh!”
“From a crook. I’ll tell you where and you just go get it.”
I considered Sally’s new cash acquisition solution and decided I liked it. “Okay, cool.”
The news studio was downtown Sydney but it was Easter Monday so the streets were mostly empty and many shops were closed. The weather was sunny and warm, a faint haze hung over the tall office buildings. Sally had chosen a small-time car thief to fund my lunch. He was away at Manly beach, a favorite hang-out for youngsters in Sydney. I bounced into his apartment, south of the city and helped myself to two hundred and fifty Australian dollars. I had no feelings of guilt, which surprised me somewhat.
Adrianna Murphy had completed the news show and was headed to a sandwich bar in the studio building. I waited in the building foyer until she came out of the escalator. She was tall, with long blond hair, layered loose around her face, streaked with thin brown highlights. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly and her skin was pure silk. She walked with confidence, keeping her head forward, avoiding the glances from men who couldn’t help taking a second look. She had no one in tow, so I moved in quickly behind her as we reached the line to order.
“Miss Murphy,” I said. She turned and almost didn’t look at me, no doubt trying to avoid my approach instinctively. But she must have noticed me in the corner of her eye and recognized me immediately. I was dressed in a light-weight suit, white shirt and tie. I was as handsome a man as she was a beautiful woman.
She stopped dead in her tracts and looked directly at me, her lips parting briefly as she considered her reply. “Are you…?”
I nodded and said, “let’s go somewhere more private.” Adrianna Murphy was from Tumby Bay in South Australia, I planned to take her there.