“A dog!” Brian said.
“A German shepherd,” Ben said. “Four of them were missing the night you were shot.”
They were all there. Four guard dogs. They were wrapped carefully in thick plastic sheets and taken away.
Nor were they the only corpses in the pit. Five human bodies were there as well.
Ben seized up the phone, punched in a number. “Dave, are you there — on the site? Good. Call me the instant you get positive identification on those bodies. All men, yes, I understand.”
When they brought in the body bags Brian turned the television off.
“Enough. I don’t have the stomach for this. Don’t forget I almost…”
He could not finish the sentence, dropped his face into his hands.
“Brian — are you all right?”
“Not really. Get me a glass of water, will you, Ben?”
He drained most of the water and was surprised to find that he was crying. He took out his handkerchief, tried to laugh. “Never thought I would cry at my own funeral.” The way he said it didn’t sound funny. “We know who those men are — don’t we, Ben?”
“We don’t know yet — but by God I can make a good guess. The missing guards will be there for certain.”
“But who else? There were only three guards on duty that night. Who are the others?”
“There is no point in this, Brian. We’ll know soon enough.”
“There is a point!” Brian found himself shouting, lowered his voice, jumped to his feet and paced back and forth, the knot in his gut almost unbearable. “The point is that I was supposed to be under that slab as well, sharing the horrid black stillness of eternity down there.”
“But you are not, Brian — that is the important thing. You survived thanks to yourself — and the skill of Dr. Snaresbrook. You are alive and that’s what counts.”
Brian looked down at his clenched fists, opened them and stretched his fingers, worked hard to control his emotions. It was still some moments before he could speak.
“You’re right, of course.” He sighed heavily, felt suddenly chill, dropped back into the chair. “Join me in a drink — but something stronger than water this time. I’m thinking of giving up the booze — but not just right now. There’s a bottle of Irish whiskey somewhere in this cabinet, put aside after the party. Found it? Neat if you don’t mind, maybe just a few drops of water. There, that’s the good man.” It burned going down — but it helped. By the time Ben’s telephone rang again Brian was feeling more human. He jumped at the sound, wrung his fingers together unknowingly as Ben answered it.
“Right. Yes. That’s positive. Okay, I’ll tell him.” He put the phone away. “We were right about the guards. All of them were there. McCrory too, he was in charge of the lab. And something I was not expecting at all. They have identified Toth’s body—”
“The head of security!”
“The very same. The man who probably organized the entire theft. It must have been him, since he was the only one in a position to do so. These people are so ruthless that it is unbelievable. It has been cross and double cross. With Toth dead it undoubtedly means that we will never see Toth’s brother alive as well. He’s not in the mass grave because he had to return the copter that night. But he’s dead, we can be sure of that. What I find most disturbing is the man who is not in that grave. A man I knew well, who I have been grieving for, who up until now we all assumed to be one of the victims gunned down that night. Didn’t we find his blood on the floor, sure sign of assassination?”
“Ben — what on earth are you talking about.”
“Sorry. I’m talking about J. J. Beckworth, the Chairman of Megalobe Industries.”
“But he was certainly killed with the others. He could be buried somewhere else.”
Ben shook his head in a sharp angry no. “Not possible. Everything was planned so carefully, down to the last detail, almost the split second. The grave was open when that truck arrived and the bodies were dumped into it. If Beckworth isn’t in there with the others — he is still alive. He was a great executive, a really careful planner. So it looks much as though he was the one who set up this robbery, arranged the murders. We may never know who fired the bullet into you, Brian. But I am positive of one thing. We can be very sure who arranged it.”
34
September 22, 2024
Next morning Brian was just about to leave for the lab when Ben telephoned him.
“All that excitement in Texas has really stirred things up — both here and in Washington. It’s powwow time. I know that you will be happy to hear that the conference starts in a few minutes. You and I at this end, Kyle Rohart too since he will be representing Megalobe. In Foggy Bottom Dave Manias will flesh out the report on the operation yesterday — and he has the pleasure of having General Schorcht at the table with him. I’m downstairs and all the security transport is ready.”
“Hold on — I’ll be right there.”
“How are Shelly and her father?” Ben asked as they climbed into the troop carrier.
“Stable, that’s what she said. He’s still in the hospital and holding his own. But the big news is that she called me from the airport. They actually gave her permission to leave here, to go to Los Angeles.”
“That could only be General Schorcht’s doing. If he’s easing up on security then there is a possibility that you…”
“Say probability, Ben, it sounds so much better! I feel like I’m being let out of jail. Do you realize that other than that flying trip we had to Mexico, I have been locked away ever since I rejoined the living?”
“No, I didn’t know that. You forgot to tell me.”
“Idiot!” It was a stupid joke but they both laughed. It was the relief of tension, Brian realized. His prison term would soon be over.
Rohart shook hands with them both. “Looks like things are coming to a head at last. I’ll be happy when this entire thing is over with — not as happy as you, I realize, Brian. Running Megalobe is enough work for me. And I want to break some good news. The lawyers are drawing up an agreement for both of us to sign. A lot of ifs in it but the intent is clear. If Megalobe buys DigitTech, which seems very much in the cards now, and if there is a profit on sales of Bug-Off, and if the government watchdog commission approves the whole deal, then after all expenses and lawyers’ fees — you get to split the profit with us as per the new contract.”
“You were right about the ifs. Your lawyers caved in on this one pretty fast.”
“I talked to the board about it — then we instructed the lawyers to cave in. The unanimous opinion was that you’ve gone through enough, Brian, and we didn’t see the need to jerk you around anymore over a matter like this.”
“I appreciate—”
“Least we could do. Oh, oh — there goes the view. Looks like we’re starting.”
The picture window was gone and the Washington conference room had appeared in its place. Dave Manias was just sitting down next to the General. Who was radiating his normal dour grimness.
“No need for introductions,” Manias said, “I think we all know each other. I’m going to give you a report from the FBI end, then Ben can put us in the picture on the overall investigation. Under that concrete slab in Austin we found the bodies of the security guards, the head of security, Arpad Toth, Dr. McCrory, as well as the four guard dogs. The body of the Chairman, Mr. Beckworth, has not been found.”
“That is a big slab — it extends under the entire laboratory,” Ben said.
“Was a big slab. Every bit of it has been removed — as has the sand, right down to the bare earth. This is the original compacted sand and rock and was not disturbed. Therefore Mr. Beckworth is removed from the presumed-dead category and is now top of our most-wanted list.”
“What about my files — records and notes?” Brian asked.