The interrogators asked dozens of questions about Farok, but she remained mute. They quizzed me, but I knew as little about the man as the panel members did.
Finally, Keyes spoke. “I’ll tell you everything if you give me and Dr. James full immunity from prosecution.”
Perkins responded by pressing the intercom. “Please take our visitors to their quarters.” Then, he turned to Keyes and me. “We’ll break for dinner now. We’ll summon you when we’ve made a decision.”
Two soldiers arrived and led Keyes and me to separate rooms, where we spent the night.
During the closed session, the panel members discussed Keyes’ involvement with the terrorists. She was just a courier. ISIS used her to find the drone site, nothing more. If Keyes, indeed, had the photographic memory that was attributed to her, she had a wealth of information to divulge.
Immunity was a good thing, if she would talk.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
They brought us back in. To my relief and surprise, they promised us full immunity. The only condition being that Keyes had to be perfectly forthright in disclosing information. If Keyes withheld something, or if she lied, the immunity would be revoked immediately.
I was taken to a private room while Keyes faced her interrogators.
She took a deep breath and began telling them all she knew. “Omar Farok planned this entire mission. He is the son of Ismael Muhammad Farok. He was born July, 17, 1970, in Damascus, Syria, and has five brothers and six sisters.” She proceeded to give them the full names, birth dates and birthplaces, and even the last known addresses, complete with mail codes, of each member of the Farok family.
Keyes continued talking about Farok and his people and operation for almost an hour before the representative from the Advocate General’s office in the room said, “Okay, okay, I’m satisfied with your knowledge and memory.” He turned to the rest of panel. “If she keeps going like this, she gets immunity.”
The CIA wasted no time putting Keyes’ revelations to use. Over a three-day period, forty arrests were made in the United States, and eighteen terrorists were taken into custody in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and The Sudan.
Keyes gave exact instructions on how to apprehend Farok. If he did what he’d done in the past, he would direct his Learjet to fly toward the West Coast and over the Canadian border, to escape to Asia.
The Canadian Air Force was put on alert. Radar picked up the aircraft right where Keyes said it would be, and six Canadian F-35 fighter planes intercepted it and forced a landing in Winnipeg.
But Farok was not on the plane, a mystery that not even Keyes could solve.
After three days of separate questioning, Keyes and I were brought back together, and taken to the conference room. Perkins was there with two men I’d never seen before.
Perkins conducted the final debriefing. “Dr. James, I should inform you that Detective Harris’ body was found in the trunk of a car in the hospital parking lot. The car was traced to a rental car company in Raleigh, North Carolina. The “official” report was that his beheading was the act of Middle Eastern terrorists whom Harris had gone looking for the night he was murdered.”
“He was a friend of mine,” I said.
“Mine, too.”
Perkins looked down for a moment, then continued, with a smile growing on his face, “I should also inform you that the Jackson Police Department has dismissed the charges of murder in regards to Dr. Carey and Officer Wilson.”
I smiled. I was incredibly relieved… until Perkins continued. “Now, we found a Mercedes parked at an apartment complex with two bodies, both from the Congo. The gun that was in your possession killed both of the men.” The general lifted up a plastic bag containing the Browning pistol. “Dr. James, your fingerprints are all over this gun.”
He looked me in the eye. “With so many of your prints on this, I assume the pistol belongs to you.”
“It was just—”
“I have some advice for you, Dr. James,” he interrupted, silencing me with a stern look. “Be more careful with this in the future.”
He handed me the gun. Only then did he smile.
The other two on the panel laughed.
Perkins turned his attention to Elizabeth. “Ms. Keyes, somehow, you entered the country illegally, probably in one of Farok’s jets, but you never forged any false passports or financial or legal documents, or engaged in any fraudulent activities that we are aware of. Nor have you withheld information from this investigating body. In fact, your testimony has helped us greatly.
“I should tell you that coincident with the missile firing you witnessed, there was a car-bomb blast in Nice, France, yesterday, at one of the two residences owned by Herbert Waters. Three people were killed, including a woman identified as Mrs. Waters. There are no heirs listed in Mr. Waters’ will other than several charities, which will receive a lot of money from foreign banks.”
“But what about the hospital property?” I asked. “There’s strong evidence to support Waters’ ownership of Jackson City Hospital.”
“We sifted through your notes, which were in Detective Harris’ office. It does seem that through Waters’ manipulation of the hospital bylaws, he is the legal owner of the hospital and all its entities. But the citizens of your city still think they own it, so unless Waters resurrects from the dead and lays claim to it, there’s no one to challenge the city’s ownership of the hospital.”
He returned his attention to Keyes. “Ms. Keyes, you’ll be our ‘guest’ in D.C. a while, until we’ve had access to all your information. If you continue to cooperate, we will allow you to return to Great Britain, your only place of apparent citizenship. Of course, we’re fully aware that ‘Keyes’ is not your real birth name. But at this time, we don’t have enough information to locate your actual birth certificate, if there ever was one.
“As we see it, ISIS attacked our country, and the two of you — an American physician and an English woman — fought valiantly to protect it. But the press won’t get that part of the story. You will both be signing a mountain of confidentiality agreements. Prepare yourself for a case of writer’s cramp.”
Perkins smiled a little.
“The only thing the press needs to know is that American defense systems are operational and have outwitted ISIS.” Perkins chuckled. “Maybe that will help us when our next budget goes for Congressional approval.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
The Homeland Security Agency took complete control of the media coverage. They were ably assisted by the National Security Agency and the U.S. Air Force. We were sequestered at Camp Peary. All other witnesses to the events in Jackson City Hospital’s Emergency Disaster bus were dead, except for Colonel Edwards. No ISIS group stepped up to claim responsibility for the attack, so the American news makers had the privilege of telling the story as it best benefited the interests of the United States, a real triumph in the war on terror.
The President of the United States received strong commendations for his actions in dealing with the terrorist attack in Jackson City. Interviews and polls of the American public showed overwhelming support in the handling of domestic terrorism with a great deal of praise for the administration, the performance of Congress, and the military complex, even though they had nothing to do with the outcome.