“Glad to meet you, Dr. O’Rourke. I’ve been wanting to talk with you for a long time.”
Something about the man’s voice sounded very familiar, as did the man’s eyes. Very familiar. “Have we met before?”
Joe smiled. “A long, long time ago, Gerrit. Before we get into all that, I want you to meet a very good friend of mine: Travis Mays. This is his cabin. He’s a professor at Washington State University in Pullman.”
Travis stepped forward and shook Gerrit’s hand. “I am glad to see you awake and breathing, Detective. You gave us all a scare.”
Gerrit felt something cold and wet press against his arm. A dog’s nose. He glanced down, thinking it was Bones. It wasn’t.
Travis laughed. “Let me introduce you to another member of this household. Sam…Sam Spade.” A yellow lab nudged his arm almost on command.
“Glad to meet you, Sam.” Gerrit smiled as he stroked the dog’s head. Bones emerged behind Sam, tail wagging. Gerrit looked up at Travis. “Thanks for putting me up here.”
“Hey, glad to help. And Sam’s thrilled to have a new friend.”
“I’ll try to be out of here real soon.”
Joe took a step closer. “That’s what we need to talk about. A lot has happened while you were out.” Joe drew up a chair and nodded at the others. Alena and Travis headed toward the door, with Sam padding behind. Alena turned for a moment. “We’ll take a walk and give you two a chance to talk.”
Bones seemed undecided. Alena coaxed the dog outside and closed the door.
Joe watched them leave and then turned and smiled at Gerrit. Those eyes seemed so familiar to Gerrit, just like his… No, it can’t be.
The man seemed to fathom what Gerrit was thinking. “So you are starting to understand.”
Gerrit stared back. “It’s impossible. My dad and mom…” He couldn’t bring himself to utter the words.
The man leaned closer and took Gerrit’s hand. “Your mother and father were killed because of what your father tried to do. To make the world safer for everyone. They died as true heroes.”
“Some lowlife blew them up and got away scot-free. Wrong place. Wrong time. How do you figure they’re heroes?”
“Because they were willing to put their lives on the line for something they believed in. Just like you did in Iraq and Afghanistan. A family of heroes…and one coward.”
“One coward?” Gerrit stared at the other man.
“I should have died that day with your folks. Instead…”
An eye-piercing pain shot through his forehead as Gerrit tried to focus, tried to understand. “Are you telling me-?”
“Joe Costello’s not my real name, Gerrit. I’m Joseph O’Rourke, your uncle.” Joe faced Gerrit. “Reconstructive surgery can really change one’s features.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I should have been,” Joe said, a look of sadness in his eyes. “I should have died that day with your folks.”
“What happened?”
“Before I tell you, I just want you to know that I-along with Alena and others-have watched over you ever since we believed Kane might be targeting you. It has taken seven years, but Richard Kane finally made his move. Finally tried to kill what he thought was the only surviving member of the O’Rourke family.”
“Why is Kane trying to do this?”
“That’s what I am here to tell you. About Kane, and about a war going on inside our own country. It is about whether we will survive as one nation under God.” Joe leaned back in his chair. “I’d better start from the beginning.”
Chapter 22
Before his uncle could begin, Gerrit heard a car braking outside and looked through a cabin window. A patrol vehicle with Nez Perce Tribal Police markings pulled off the highway on the far side of the river. A man in plain clothes and a woman emerged. Police officers?
He glanced at his uncle. “Should we get out of here?”
Joe shook his head. “They’re on our side. His name is Frank White Eagle, chief of the Nez Perce tribal police, and his daughter, Jessie. Both are close friends of Travis Mays.”
“And how does Mays figure into this?”
“He helped me disappear after they killed your parents. We met through the university many years ago when I was a panelist on a cyber-security symposium in Seattle. Travis was an ex-cop teaching criminology. He introduced himself and posed some interesting questions that made me pay attention to this guy. We struck up a friendship, and when-”
“You were there when Mom and Dad died?”
“Nearby. I was in Seattle at the time. Found out that night I might be the next target. At the time, I knew very few people in law enforcement I could trust. Travis was one of them. He put me in touch with an FBI agent. Together, they and another person helped me disappear.” Joe looked around the cabin. “That’s when it all started. The day I became Joseph Costello.”
“And your face? I see you still have my father’s eyes. And I remember your voice. But everything else…”
“Yeah. I had them reconstruct my face and Malloy-FBI Special Agent Beck Malloy-contacted a source in the U.S. Marshals office. Between the four of us-and my knowledge of computer systems-we created who I am today.”
Gerrit steeled himself. “Tell me why you called yourself a-”
“Coward?” Joe finished the sentence, a look of regret darkening his face. “First, you need a little background. Your dad, through his work at MIT, became aware of certain outside influences on some of his fellow researchers in the area of nanotechnology, quantum computers, and biotechnology. Governmental and private interests working together to gather and control any research developed in these fields-particularly in the U.S.”
“That would be impossible to control,” Gerrit said. “There are too many studies and too many researchers to allow any one group to control their efforts and findings.”
Joe nodded. “True. However, what your dad learned was that this group-whoever they are-was able to control government financing for any projects of interest. This was a big hammer to wave in front of those researchers scrambling for money. And what this group could not control, they began to monitor and sabotage.”
“You mean like blow up and destroy?”
“In a way. Key scientists yanked from their projects through any number of dirty tricks-trumped-up criminal charges, accidents, medical issues, fabricated claims about their characters. The list just keeps growing.”
“And my folks?”
“This is why your dad was upset when you redeployed to Iraq. He wanted you to return to MIT, where the two of you could start digging into this. He didn’t know who to trust.”
Gerrit lowered his eyes, thinking back just before his last tour of duty overseas. He had gotten a weekend pass to fly to Boston and meet with his folks before shipping out. His father could barely hold in his anger after Gerrit refused to allow him to intercede to get him removed from full duty. His father wanted to use his military and political contacts to have Gerrit return to MIT.
“I have something really important I need your help with, son. Others can serve their country over there. You already sacrificed. And they don’t have your special skills-those gifts you can bring to the table to help me in a special research project. It is important.”
But Gerrit dug in his heels.
Vainly, his father persisted “It’s a matter of life and death, Gerrit. I need your help.”
“Tell me what it is. I have people depending on me to keep them alive over there. What can be so important on that campus that I should turn my back on them and help you?”
His father’s angry eyes bore down on him, jaws clenched. “I can’t tell you-unless you are cleared to work with me.”
Gerrit’s stomach tightened as he thought of that last day. “I can’t, Dad. I’ve given my word. My men need me.”