Neil hmmphed in disgust, but he understood the logic employed by the Agency in dealing with a reprobate like Perkins. The word tabloid jarred his memory. He thought of the call from Andrew Kincaid that he had cut short this morning with a promise to call later today. What had he said about microfilm? “I’d better call when we get to the airport.”
Fred dropped Neil and proceeded to turn in the car rental while Klein placed a call to Seattle.
Andrew answered his phone almost immediately. “Neil, thanks for the call…”
“What’s this about microfilm in the packet?”
“Neil, Kelshaw put some information on microfilm in the packet.”
“How do you know that, Andrew?” Neil was puzzled, he was certain the packet had not been compromised.
“Listen to me, Neil; Jack Hubbard told me about Kelshaw’s last days with him in Bangkok—didn’t you know about GCI?”
“GCI? No, Andrew I don’t know anything about GCI and we haven’t found any microfilm in the packet.”
“Look again, it has to be there!” Andrew insisted.
“All right, Andrew, I’ve got to go, they’re calling my flight…, I’ll talk to Wellman.”
As Neil and Fred fastened their seatbelts Neil quickly surveyed the seating area close to them. Several seats behind and next to them were empty. Fred noticing Neil’s sudden heightened awareness, whispered, “What’s going on?”
He waited until Neil turned and quietly asked, “Have you looked at all the contents of Aunt Martha’s luggage?”
Surprised Fred responded, “I believe so, why?”
“Because Andrew Kincaid believes we may have missed something; he believes there may be some microfilm in the luggage. He said Aunt Martha put it in and it’s very important.”
“I’ll go through it again; do we know what it’s pictures of?”
“No, I haven’t any idea; Fred what do you know about GCI?”
“Only that it’s a big international construction company that works all over the world.”
“Have you heard anything negative about it?”
“Not particularly; oh there have been some rumbles and rumors about some of their labor practices, but since they use labor pools from all over the world I would suppose that could be a common problem. I haven’t heard anything that would cause anyone to raise their heads. Why do you ask?”
“Andrew Kincaid mentioned it in conjunction with his assertion that there is more in the luggage.”
“I guess we’d better look in the luggage again.”
Harry Browne caught up with Andrew as he was coming back from his meeting with Savalza. “Kincaid, I have some very interesting information for you on GCI.”
“You’re a good man, Harry; what have you got?”
“Take a look at this,” Harry said excitedly as he waved a sheet of paper at Andy with a list of names and countries. “It’s list of the Board of Directors of GCI. All their names and the twelve countries they represent and who the officers are.”
Harry read the list, “CEO and Chairman of the Board, Karel Schneiderman, Switzerland; President, Helmut Herzog, West Germany; CFO, Roget Navarre, France; followed by Board Members: Carlos Cardoso, Argentina; Oscar Gustavson, Sweden; Johan Von Amsberg, Netherlands; Elias Nasser, Egypt; Juan Aznar, Spain; Mohammed Said, Saudi Arabia; Rafael Betancourt, Venezuela; and Harrison A. Carr, United States. It looks like an international who’s who list. Most of these guys carry a lot of weight; they’re big time Bankers, Lawyers, Industrialists and diplomats. You’ve got to tell me what you’re working on Andy,” Harry urged.
Andrew stared at the list of names and said, as his eyes focused on the name Harrison A. Carr, “Harry Browne, I could kiss you… actually, several people I know owe you!”
“Thanks a lot Kincaid, but I’ll settle for a story and never mind the kisses,” Harry smiled. When?”
“Soon, Harry, very, very soon. Hold on for a little while longer. Oops, I’ve got to go, got a date with a lady at Harborview.”
When Andrew arrived, Sister Ruth was with Charlene gathering some of Charlene’s things as she prepared to leave the hospital.
“Ready?” he asked looking at Charlene. “I have a cab waiting, I wanted you to go home in comfort,” he laughed lightly. “The Land Cruiser needs work.”
“Andrew I am glad to see you here,” Sister Ruth hugged him. I’ll just take these things with me and I’ll meet you two at the Convent,” she smiled at Andrew knowingly and whispered, “I think you two should have a little time alone.”
“Me too, Sister,” Andrew closed the door behind Ruth, and said to Charlene, “Come here.”
She was standing, her eyes still bandaged, but she carefully stepped toward his voice. “Andy, I’m so happy to be leaving here.”
“Me too, sweetheart.” His arms were around her and lifting her face he gently kissed her. They held each other briefly and she touched her fingertips to her lips, then to his. “I want so much to see you, Andrew. The bandages come off in a day or two, then ..,” she faltered.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay, trust me,” he said confidently as he kissed her again. “C’mon let’s get out of here!”
The Convent of St. Helena was housed in one of the old ivy covered brick Capitol Hill family homes. It had belonged to a doctor whose family of ten had left the seven bedroom nest, at which time he and his wife opted for less space and more freedom and selected a townhouse on Tenth Avenue.
Several of the Sisters of St. Helena were waiting as Andrew delivered Charlene into the capable hands of Sister Ruth and Sister Cecelia, a tall, smiling upbeat Nun.
He winked at Ruth as he kissed Charlene on the cheek and said, “I’ll call after while and make sure the Sisters are treating you well.”
Charlene smiled saying over her shoulder, “Thank you, Andy and I’ll look forward to your call,” as Sister Ruth took her hand and led her toward a sitting room.
“Don’t think about anything right now, dear, you just sit here and put your feet up and rest,” Ruth said tucking a soft throw around Charlene.
Ruth hurried back to where Andrew waited. “Now don’t worry about Charlene, we’ll take very good care of her. Before you go though there’s something you should know, Andrew; while I was at Charlene’s house getting some clothing and some of her personal items I took a call from a friend of hers, Olivia Coleman.
I told her that Charlene had been injured and that she would be staying with us at the Convent for a time. She seemed most distressed, Andy, and briefly mentioned that she wanted to come to be with Charlene. I haven’t told Charlene yet; I wanted to talk with you first. What do you think?”
Andrew pondered a moment and then said soberly, “Sister Ruth, I think you had better tell Charlene. If it were up to me I wouldn’t want her to come, but it’s not my decision or yours… its Charlene’s. You know it’s possible that it could be a good thing.”
“I suppose so, Andy, I’ll tell her, but I’m going to pray about it first,” Ruth stated firmly.”
Andrew grinned at the out-of-character serious face of the Nun, “You do that, Sister, and throw one in for me too. Call if you need me. I’ll check in with you later.”
Chapter 19
Washington, D.C.
Friday, October 3, 1980
Neil and Fred had spent several hours searching the packet again and found the microfilm hidden in a small slit on the inside of the packet.
After viewing the enlarged documents both Wellman and Klein were speechless with surprise and shock.