The doctor’s secretary came back on the line. Matt perked up. “Fine. Seven-thirty this evening. Thank you very much,” He punched the red button and handed the unit back to Nicole.
“Okay,” Matt said. “Now let’s see if we can’t track down some of the others. The easiest should be Todd Cummings. His parents lived in Pittsburgh so perhaps he moved back there after school. He was also the type of person to keep in touch with people. Except me of course. We drifted apart after the explosion at the restaurant.”
Elijah looked at Nicole. “Sounds like a job for a good investigative journalist.”
Matt managed a smile. She’s very good.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad. I’ll get on the Internet. Most folks don’t even know they’re listed on some Internet databases.”
“Even me?” Matt’s eyes darkened.
“I looked up your name when I began snooping around. It was pretty easy to learn about your past.”
“And you’re still speaking to me?”
“She’s a saint-she even speaks to her old man.”
Over the next half hour Nicole dug up the names and telephone numbers for five T. Cummings living in and around the Pittsburgh area. A Google search identified one as senior legal council for Monument Oil and Gas Corporation as well as being a member of the board of directors for the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital and the Pennsylvania United Way Campaign. Nicole, posing as a journalist doing a story on Beirut in the late 1960s, succeeded in reaching Todd Cummings at Monument Oil. He would be delighted to speak with her about Beirut, he said, and agreed to meet at 11:30 tomorrow morning.
Eli stood up. “Good work. I need to go out for a while.”
“What’s going on, Dad?”
“Just a few errands. Plus there’s a man I used to work for, unofficially. He may have something on this. If not he’ll know who will.” He reached for his coat and wool hat.
“Are you sure you can trust him?” Nicole looked over at Matt.
“Trust him?” Elijah paused in the hallway. “I’ve trusted him with my life more than once and I’m still here.”
For the next several hours Matt made a list of old acquaintances he could recall and those he found browsing through the leather journal. They then tried the Internet search engines again.
“I’ve got an idea.”
“Yes, Doctor?” Nicole looked up from the computer screen.
“What if I claim to be Dr. Richard’s cousin? Just like I did at Sweet Briar. I can tell them I found a few items among Matt’s personal effects with their name on it.”
“That would give us an excuse to deliver to them in person,” Nicole said, nodding.
“So what do you think?”
“Pretty sneaky. Must be the assassin in you.” She ducked as he threw his pencil.
They both started as the door opened. Matt knocked over the chair has he bolted upright.
“Whoa. You two are jumpy.” Elijah walked into the library with his coat half off.
“You were pretty quiet coming in. Something up?”
Her father turned to face his daughter as he hung up his coat. “I may have found something interesting.” His smile was fleeting. A loud crash resounded from the front door. Elijah flung himself towards them. All three hit the floor.
“Dad!”
“We got unwanted company. Stay down. Stay down!”
Something hard bounced into the hallway. “Tear gas. I’d know that fucking sound anywhere.” A loud hiss was followed by white smoke seeping under the door. He bolted the lock as a second canister banged up against the door. “Close the shutters and lock them. Don’t talk.”
Crouching down, Eli folded back the corner of the carpet to reveal a trap door. Matt helped him pull on the cast-iron ring. The door creaked open. Eli and Nicole vanished down a narrow stairway as Matt grabbed his journal and notes.
Boots echoed loudly in the hallway. Matt ducked down the opening as the library door exploded in a shower of splinters and bent metal. The spit from suppressor equipped MAC-10s wheezed into the room. More splinters showered Matt as he reached up to pull the heavy trap closed. Blood from several cuts on his face fell onto the wooden steps.
“Bolt it! Bolt it now!” Elijah reached up. Matt threw the bolt hard.
Nicole shook, “Jesus…”
“Are you hurt?” her father asked.
“Who are they, Dad? Who are they?”
“They’re pros. That’s for certain.”
“And what is this place?” Matt looked around in the dim light.
“It’s my escape route. Just in case… There’s a tunnel here that connects with an underground Washington Gas amp; Light utility conduit and surfaces a couple of blocks away. Follow me.” Elijah ducked into a hole in the wall. About three hundred yards into the tunnel he stopped and looked back at the other two, crawling on all fours.
Thrusting his hand into a small recess in the wall the old man felt around and pulled out a small device resembling a garage door opener. It was sealed inside a zip-lock bag. “Ready?” Without waiting for a reply, he pushed the red button. Two seconds later there was a dull thud overhead immediately followed by a huge explosion that rocked the tunnel and showered them with dirt.
“What the hell is that?” Nicole exclaimed.
“It’s designed to look like a gas leak-I’ll collect the insurance money later.”
“Are they dead?” Dirt now mixed with the blood on Matt’s face.
“They’re toast!.” Elijah started crawling forward again.
“But Dad, what about all your belongings? Your clothes, your furniture, your books?”
This guy’s a professional too. Matt looked at Nicole, who stared open mouthed at her father.
“I have an emergency safe house where I’ve stashed most of my important things. We’ll hole up there.”
A few hundred yards along a ladder came into view. They clambered up, one after the other. Sirens blared just a few blocks away. Before emerging into broad daylight they brushed the dirt off their hair and faces. Nicole used a handkerchief on Matt’s cuts.
An aluminum conduit cover, bolted from the inside, lead out to the street. Eli cracked it and motioned them to follow. They scrambled out into the bright winter sunlight and walked several blocks to the rental car. In minutes they were approaching downtown Washington and a small apartment in a run-down area northwest of Union Station.
Matt looked out at the run-down buildings.
“So how are you two feeling?” Elijah said.
“Shaken up and very scared.” Nicole snuggled next to her father. “Tear gas. Guns. And they were so quiet, no loud ratta tat. Were those silencers?”
“Suppressors actually. They keep the noise level down to 40dB. Lower on. 223 calibers, but these were throwing nine mills.”
Nicole stared at him. “At times like this you frighten me, Dad.”
“It’s what drove your mother and me apart.” He turned away.
“Well at this point I’m glad you’re on our side.” Matt slowed down for a traffic light. “Eli. You talked earlier about going to meet someone you trusted…”
“I did talk to him. I told him what we surmise is happening.”
“And?”
“All he said was ‘Thank You’. Which in spook speak means I’d just given him a key piece to a very big puzzle.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” said Nicole looking at the father she barely knew. “Anything else?”
“Yes, but its water under the bridge now. There was a stakeout car parked up the street from the house. Guess I don’t have to tell you we’re lucky to be alive.” Eli shook his head and wiped his brow. “I’m too old for this shit.”
“Thanks Dad.” Nicole kissed him on the cheek.
The Hart Senate Building
Senator Stevens spoke quietly into his private cell phone. “Look, this evening is not a good time to meet. I’ve got an important dinner engagement. You know the less we meet the better for everyone concerned.”