“Yet, the environment itself is hosted in an Air Force facility in Orlando,” DePresti said. “Despite the fact that there is no indication that it is geographically distant from the Aering facility. In fact, having it that far out—”
“Would introduce unnecessary lag,” Parkowski said, finishing his sentence.
She stood up. “So, what do we do now?”
“Two options,” DePresti said. “One, we go back to our normal lives and pretend that none of this ever happened.”
“And the other?”
He took a breath. “We confront your boss. He has to know what’s going on. And we do it together.”
She walked over and gave him a hug and brief kiss. “I’m so glad you’re on my side now.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
After a night of fun and drinking at her apartment, and an early Saturday morning drive down to DePresti’s townhouse, they planned their next move.
Parkowski had to confront Dr. Pham — her boss and mentor. There was no other option. He was the key to this whole puzzle. Rosen or Khoudry might know more, but there was no way either of them would be willing to reveal their secrets. With Pham, they had a chance, albeit a slim one.
DePresti helped Parkowski organize her evidence, thoughts, and ideas into a single-page document that detailed everything that she had uncovered. She included all of the information from the secure room as well — things that Pham hadn’t known she had learned. It was time to put all of her cards on the table. She printed out a few copies on DePresti’s printer, leaving one hidden underneath his desk’s keyboard tray for safekeeping. The others she would take to show Pham.
DePresti ran out to get them Starbucks while Parkowski sat and brooded. She was not looking forward to confronting her boss.
But, this meeting was necessary. More than anything else in the world, Parkowski wanted to know the secret behind Bronze Knot.
There was a knock on the door. DePresti was there, holding a pair of iced coffees. He had forgotten the key to his own house. “Thanks,” he said as she opened the door and held it wide.
They sat down and nursed their hangovers together with overpriced, oversweetened coffee.
“Have you decided how to approach him? DePresti asked. He was a little jittery, whether from the caffeine or from an overall sense of nervousness, Parkowski couldn’t tell. She felt renewed vigor, both from the coffee as well as the recent events that had brought herself and DePresti back together.
“Nope,” Parkowski said. “I want to meet him outside of work and show him all I know, and see if I can convince him to let me in on the secret, but I’m not sure how to get there.”
“That might be harder than you think, special access program NDAs are pretty ironclad.”
“I know, but I think he’s starting to get disillusioned with the whole thing,” Parkowski argued. “I think he’s starting to realize that it has impacted our whole mission. He made some comments when Rosen shut everything down that made me realize that the two of them aren’t necessarily on the same page.”
“I hope you’re right,” her boyfriend responded. He paused to finish his coffee. “How about a direct approach?”
“Such as?”
“You have his cell phone number, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Text him, give him some information that he doesn’t know you have, and ask to meet at a public location.”
She got a shiver. “Why a public location?”
“Because, Grace, if we’re going to go down this rabbit hole,” DePresti said, “we’re starting to get into a world that I’m aware of, but barely understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s dangerous,” he replied, “dangerous as shit. You don’t fuck around with the CIA or FBI or whoever is behind all of this.”
“But it’s worth it.”
“I agree, but we have to start taking precautions.”
“Ok, I text him, give him a new nugget of info, and ask to meet in a public location,” Parkowski summarized. “Then what, we go meet him?”
“Yeah, we meet him together,” DePresti suggested. “I’ve ran into him a couple of times, he knows me, and maybe having a military member on your side isn’t the worst idea here.”
“I just…” Parkowski said, stumbling to find the right words, “I just can’t believe that he’d be behind any kind of deception like this. He’s such a nice guy, and he’s done so much to help me in my career at Aering.”
“Grace, I’m sure he’s a nice guy,” DePresti said. “But he got swept into this, and now is a part of it, whatever it is. And to be honest, I don’t even want to speculate on what it could be. He’s got to defend himself, and it sounds to me like he’s tried to keep you out of trouble as best as he can.”
“Yeah, and I just keep putting myself in it more.”
She picked up her phone. “Ok, here goes nothing.”
Parkowski sent Pham a text message.
Hey, doc, sorry to bother you on your Saturday. I need to talk with you about Bronze Knot.
To her surprise she got an immediate reply. Grace, I thought u said u would drop it.
With DePresti peering over her shoulder she fired a text message back. I know about Orlando.
It took him a few minutes to respond. What do u know about Orlando?
We need to talk, in public, she responded. I need to know everything, she sent a moment later.
Pham didn’t respond.
“You’re pushing him kind of hard,” DePresti observed. “But that’s the only way you’re going to get anything out of him.”
Parkowski nodded in silent agreement.
She checked the clock on his townhouse wall. It was just after eleven.
“If he responds, where should we choose to meet?” she asked DePresti.
“Shoot, I don’t know,” the military officer responded. “Maybe a mall parking lot? Or the Home Depot in El Segundo? That’s a pretty safe, low-traffic area with a decent security presence. Or maybe the beach, it’s similarly populated at this time of year.”
Finally her phone buzzed. Fine, I can give u some info, Pham’s response read. She could sense the trepidation through the phone. A message a moment later said it’s not what u think. I tried to keep u out of it but u asked too many questions. Time to clue u in.
Where and where do you want to meet? Parkowski asked.
One of the piers, either Venice, Redondo, or Manhattan Beach, in an hour and a half, her boss answered.
Great, Parkowski responded back.
“I don’t want to go to the Redondo Pier, it’s too out in the open and we’ll be the only ones there. Of the other two, Manhattan Beach is closer,” DePresti said quickly.
Manhattan Beach, she shot back in a second message.
Are u coming alone? Pham replied quickly.
“What do I say?” she asked her boyfriend. “You’re coming with me, but I’m not sure if I want him to know that.”
“Tell him I’m coming.”
Mike is coming too, I told him everything. He wants to know too.
No response for a bit, then Pham finally got back to her. I guess that works. See u and ur boyfriend at 1240 at the Manhattan Beach pier.
She put the phone down. “Ok, now what?”
“We need to prepare for the worst,” DePresti said. “Grace, I have no idea what the fuck we’re getting into.”