‘McKenzie broke the terms of his agreement,’ Nellis went on, ‘and Majestic Twelve sent both him and the other three hundred people from Clearwater a real clear message: stay silent by choice, or you’ll be silenced permanently. This crash appeared on media networks in states across the east, Doug. An automobile wreck, one of countless dozens that occur in every state every day, and it’s now national news? How does that happen without somebody pulling some heavy strings to put the word out? Every former Clearwater citizen would have seen or heard about it and will know damned well what it means.’
Jarvis thought briefly of the general’s family.
‘They won’t target you,’ he said finally. ‘You’re too high profile, too much of a risk.’
‘Glad you think so,’ Nellis shot back. ‘Personally, I don’t fancy taking any chances with the lives of my daughters. Would you?’
Jarvis avoided the challenge. ‘What happens now?’
‘Nothing happens now,’ Nellis replied. ‘We can’t operate with these people breathing down our necks! They know we’re onto them and they’re applying pressure, letting us know that if we don’t back down then things are going to get nasty — Red McKenzie nasty.’
‘You’re quitting?’ Jarvis asked. ‘You’re the one who instigated this whole thing! You called me out here in the middle of the night to start this program up.’
‘I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,’ Nellis countered. ‘I’ve been dragged up here and informed, in no uncertain terms, that any further intervention by the DIA in these matters will result in direct action against my office, against me. I thought that this was about inter — agency corruption. I wasn’t prepared for what I’ve found out since. These people are dangerous, Doug. They don’t obey the law but are able to manipulate those same laws to hide behind them, to get whatever they want, even if that means strong — arming the administration itself. We’re powerless against this kind of activity.’
Jarvis stared down at Nellis for a long moment.
‘If we’re powerless against such people, then why the hell are we even here? What’s the point of having an intelligence service dedicated to wiping out the enemies of the United States if we’re going to quit at the first sign of danger?’
‘Because the enemy is the United States!’ Nellis snapped. ‘It’s not our government we’re fighting, it’s the big businesses! They’ve acquired so much power, so much influence that our administration is no longer the governing force in our country. Eisenhower was right: we should have believed him when he warned of the growing power of the military — industrial factions that were cosying up to the president at the time. Their power exceeds that of the White House now in all but name: our president has become a cypher, the public face of something that even he does not understand and cannot influence. If the White House cannot control the machinations of global industry, what the hell can we do?’
Jarvis tried to maintain a confident expression.
‘Bring it to the attention of the people who really own the power in our country: the people themselves.’
Nellis scoffed and waved Jarvis aside with a wince.
‘Like hell,’ he uttered. ‘The media can be controlled by this Majestic Twelve, we’ve already seen that. Look at what Fox News does, pushing the opinions and upholding the preferences of its CEO instead of providing unbiased reporting. Majestic Twelve are powerful enough to make Fox look like a madman shouting in the street. We can’t oppose that, we’d be crushed overnight. I take it that you haven’t seen the latest reports coming out of Virginia?’
‘I’ve been in a cell.’
Nellis used a remote to switch on a wall — mounted screen nearby and instantly Jarvis was treated to a report, recorded he guessed, showing Ethan, Nicola, Amber Ryan and Stanley Meyer as wanted fugitives.
‘Local news, at the moment,’ Nellis reported. ‘I’m guessing that if Stanley Meyer doesn’t fold to the demands of MJ–12, this will go nationwide by tomorrow and your people will spend the rest of their lives on the run.’
Nellis switched off the television and tossed the remote down onto his desk.
‘I’ve been told that you’re free to go,’ he informed Jarvis.
‘By whom?’ Jarvis asked. ‘And how come they’re just going to let me go?’
‘Damned good luck?!’ Nellis suggested. ‘You’ve directly assisted fugitives using agency resources, and not for the first time, to evade arrest in both Saudi Arabia and Virginia by the FBI. Any sudden moves, Doug, and they’ll bury you in a federal prison for the rest of your days. I’m sensing that this is our first, last and only warning. I’m shutting the program down and I suggest that you enjoy the rest of your retirement in peace, Doug, otherwise it’s going to be a lot shorter than you planned.’
XXXII
‘You see anything?’
Ethan crouched low behind the wheel of the decrepit 1970’s Dodge Fire truck that they had found abandoned on an old cotton farm. Ethan had managed to liberate a battery from a vehicle on the street and get the old truck running, and using it they had snuck into town and lay low as the sun rose.
‘Nothing that screams FBI,’ Ethan replied to Lopez in a whisper as she sat low in the driver’s seat and watched a run — down motel nearby. ‘If they’re actively looking for us then motels are the way to go. We can’t get in there without attracting attention to ourselves — you’ve seen the news reports.’
A pre — dawn drive through a nearby small town had taken them past a television repair shop, and there in the window behind the grated metal shutters had been a screen showing a local station. They had waited only minutes to see their faces emblazoned across the television. Straight afterward they had seen the report on the crashed Ford Ranger and an image of Red McKenzie had appeared, deceased, the victim of a late — night hit and run out on the Interstate.
‘They’ve got us completely covered,’ Lopez hissed. ‘That was a local station, right? We haven’t seen anything to suggest they’re broadcasting that stuff nationwide.’
‘Haven’t seen anything to suggest they didn’t either,’ Amber pointed out from the back seat. ‘I guess this is what Stanley was afraid of — total loss of control.’
‘We’ve been in this situation before,’ Ethan assured her as he watched the motel. ‘Lopez and I were dark for almost six months and we never got caught.’
Amber smiled without warmth. ‘That’s lovely and I’m very happy for you both, but I’d very much like my life back if it’s all the same to you. Living out of dirty motels and wearing disguises for five decades wasn’t part of my game plan, y’know?’
‘Me either,’ Lopez agreed. ‘I’m not going on the run because of those assholes. They murdered Red and now they’re after us. I say we start fighting back.’
Ethan sighed as he kept his gaze fixed across the street.
‘It’s not about going on the run and hiding forever,’ he said. ‘We just need to lie low until this blows over and then we can start building ourselves back up again. Jarvis will come through for us, we need to give him more time.’
‘Jarvis is out of the picture,’ Lopez insisted. ‘If the FBI are after us, they’re sure to have figured out who’s been assisting us. Jarvis said they were breathing down his neck, didn’t he? We’re fugitives now, so the first thing they’ll do is shut him down.’
Ethan saw a vehicle pull up alongside the motel, a non — descript silver sedan with government plates and tinted windows.
‘Here we go,’ he said softly.
They watched as two FBI Agents got out of the vehicle and walked toward the old motel and into the reception.