“Go on,” Andrew urged. “What happened next?”
“George arranged a contact with Vang Pao, and they agreed to a meeting place near Sam Neua right in the middle of enemy territory. George had a map of villages and a mental list of persons who he had been told he could trust, who would help him.
“I know that I complicated his life; George was built slighter than I, not to mention the difference in our heights, and I know that I slowed him up. He moved through the jungle with the ease of a native. I felt like a giraffe traveling with him. Plus, I didn’t understand any of the language other than a few words here and there. He was good at finding trails and avoiding the Pathet Lao and the NV guerillas; I spent a lot of time hunching along behind, trying to make myself less visible.
“It was amazing, moving around that country with George. He could tell just by observing a village for a time, whether or not it was safe for us to enter. It was uncanny, when we would finally enter it, George would seek out the oldest inhabitants and before long they were old friends. Occasionally, we would find a village elder who remembered George’s parents. It was like that until just before we got to Sam Neua,” Jack said thoughtfully.
“We had come to the rendezvous point where we were to hook up with Vang Pao’s people, and suddenly we were looking into the muzzles of five North Vietnamese weapons pointing at us. George started talking and gesturing, telling them that we were journalists and were lost. It was silly, he knew arguing was hopeless… they kept shouting in Vietnamese, “CIA and something else that I couldn’t understand. George kept telling them, “No, no, Journalists, news correspondents,” over and over. The long and the short of it was that they didn’t believe him or didn’t care and they were getting madder by the minute. I remember saying to George, “Let’s just do as they say!” I was scared.
“They kept prodding us with their weapons and gesturing for us to start walking down the trail. So we did; we‘d gone about fifty yards and there were shots. At first I thought we’d bought it—we dove into the jungle beside the trail. When we looked, the North Vietnamese troops were dead and we were surrounded again, but this time by Vang Pao’s men.
“George looked at me, I think I must have been shaking all over like a leaf, and he calmly asked, “Is this enough adventure for you, Hubbard?” Then he laughed.”
“With you gone from Vientiane with Kelshaw, what happened with the Peace Negotiation assignment?” Andrew questioned.
The phone was ringing, he frowned, hesitating to answer it before Jack could respond, but reached for it and reluctantly said, “Hello.”
“Hi, Andy, it’s Jim. I’ll be in your neighborhood in about ten minutes. Meet me downstairs, I’m on a short leash and haven’t time to park and come up. It’s Saturday, you know. I’m on my way to a Scout thing for one of the kids, but I have this present to deliver to you, so I’ll put it in your hands and go on my way. Okay?”
“Fine.” Andrew responded. “I have a friend here with me, so a drive by will work perfectly.”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Andrew told Jack. “I have to meet a guy downstairs who has something for me,” he said vaguely.
An unsmiling Detective Savalza was standing at the entrance by the time Andrew opened the front door of the apartment house. “You’re here already! That was fast. What do you have for me?” Andrew asked, noting Jim’s frown and the empty hands.
Jim said grimly, “Here’s your present. We did the sweep of your apartment and Ms. Thayer’s house. There are taps on your phones and there are also some very exotic listening devices in each of your homes. In fact, the guy who did the sweep said the ‘stuff’ is so sophisticated that whoever has access to it would have to be connected to, or be part of a high level intelligence agency.” Lowering his voice, he asked with urgency, “Andy, for crying out loud, what have you gotten yourself into?”
Andrew shrugged, “I don’t know, Jim, but I’m working on finding out. Thanks for the report. I’ll talk with Charlene later and I’ll be in touch with Evan Scott also, by the way, Scott’s real name is Neil Klein.” He was thinking about his and Jack’s conversations of last night and this morning, and wondering who might have been tuned in.
“Neil Klein, uh huh, okay, take care of yourself, Andy. If you need anything, holler,” Jim said as he walked to his car.
Sticking his head in the door of the apartment, Andrew motioned for Jack to follow him. He led the way to the elevator and pushed the button to the garage. On the way down Andrew explained the reason for Jim’s visit and the sudden change in his behavior.
Jack commented, “I wonder who you’ve ticked off so much that they want to hear every tiny little word, Andy. This has got to be linked to Kelshaw.”
“Probably and there is one person I can think of that just might fit that profile,” Andy said.
Jack offered,” Before we get back to your pad, in answer to your question about the assignment, as it turned out the experience with Kelshaw became far more relevant than any possible source of coverage on Peace Negotiations in Vientiane. But we’ll have to go into that later.”
Andrew nodded, “We will, I want to know all about that, but right now I’d better make a few calls.”
Washington, D.C.
Saturday afternoon, 4:30 PM
When Brad’s plane landed in Washington, he anxiously looked for Olivia at the gate, but as he entered the terminal he was intercepted by his DIA aide, Lieutenant John Carswell, who handed him an urgent message. As she hurried toward him, Olivia saw the officer hand Brad the message and noted the look of anger and then concern cross his face as he read it.
Seeing her he quickly forced a smile and opened his arms to warmly greet her, “Olivia,” he started to kiss her, but she turned her cheek to his lips. “It’s so good to see you, my dear,” he said attempting to overcome the chill.
“How are you, Brad,” she asked coolly. “How was your flight?” She restrained herself from asking about the exchange with the aide.
“Fine; Olivia, please… my dear, let’s not have this kind of unpleasantness when I arrive home,” he pleaded. “Please.”
She sighed, “I’m sorry, but sadly too much has happened that must be addressed before the ‘unpleasantness’ will end, Brad. When we get home we have to talk. There are serious questions that must be answered.”
“Yes, Olivia, you’re right; we do have to talk and I promise you all of the questions will be answered to your satisfaction. But it will have to wait. An urgent matter has come up and I must take care of it. I will have John take you home and I will drive myself to the office and be home as soon as possible. This should not take long. I promise we’ll talk just as soon as I get there and for as long as you want.” He kissed her cheek and instructed Carswell to escort Mrs. Coleman to their home.
Brad’s attempt to exude the old self-confidence he often used in dealing with Olivia’s doubts or concerns felt hollow. He was having trouble convincing himself. The message his aide had handed him was from Dolliver reporting conversations picked up in Andrew Kincaid’s apartment between Kincaid and Jack Hubbard the night before and earlier in the day.
In his office Brad quickly returned Dolliver’s call. His anxiety level rose hearing the content of the recorded conversation. His own name connected with Lia Duprè had been a major topic in their talk together.
He listened to the information about Kelshaw and Thayer and the plan to get Chernakov. Kelshaw had told Hubbard what had happened to Chernakov and Thayer. Brad learned that Neil Klein was still a player in the Kelshaw matter. He was now certain that whoever Evan Scott was, that he must be connected to Neil Klein.