“The camp or a name connected to one of these high-profile technology failures,” said Devin.
“Right. But with Wilson gone, we’ve run out of options to acquire either. Specifically, options that don’t get us sent to Leavenworth for life. I’m pretty sure the Department of Justice doesn’t have a kidnapping-and-torture forgiveness program for people who hand over evidence of espionage crimes, regardless of the outcome. And just so we’re clear, I am saying that the only way we’ll find that summer camp or get a usable name is to kidnap and very likely torture one of the sleepers on her wall,” said Berg.
“My mom was willing to go down that road,” said Devin.
“Are you?” asked Berg.
Devin took a long sip of his beer instead of answering.
“We’re going to need some help with this,” said Berg. “This is way too big for the two of us.”
“What kind of help?”
“The kind that advertises its services by word of mouth and is very picky about its clients,” said Berg. “They also have a checkered past with Russia, so there’s a chance they’ll do this freelance.”
“We have a hundred thousand dollars,” said Devin.
Berg shook his head before biting into a fried egg roll.
“How much higher?”
“Out of our price range,” said Berg. “Even with my discount.”
“Discount?”
“I got them a lot of work back in the day. I also got them in a lot of trouble. We’ll see if I came out ahead.”
CHAPTER 18
Berg had an answer from his “picky” friends in the morning. They’d do some poking around and get back to him. Devin wasn’t exactly encouraged by their cryptic answer, but Berg seemed to take it in stride. He wolfed down a cold plate of the leftover Thai food and went back to work in the vault with an espresso in one of the paper cups he’d bought at Walmart. Devin repeated the process with the Nespresso machine and joined him in front of the evidence wall with one of the better cups of espresso he’d tasted in a long time. Berg tapped the headshot photo of a dark-haired, blue-eyed man in his mid-to late thirties. His face had been circled with red marker and crossed out.
“Sean Walker. A rising star in the True America Party, when that was still a thing. A key adviser to President Alan Crane,” said Berg.
“Shot himself in a drunken stupor while sitting in the hot tub attached to his pool,” said Devin.
“Yeah. Yeah. I read all about it. Family conveniently gone for the weekend. Empty bottle of bourbon found next to the hot tub. A few more empties inside the house. Put a mystery pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger,” said Berg. “Clean up on aisle five. Sleeper with no future blew his brains out.”
“Makes sense,” said Devin. “He would have represented a major liability after True America imploded. Crane resigned after the vice president was arrested for treason. Walker’s boss, Raymond Burke, on the run—soon to be nabbed by the FBI. Walker was a dead man as soon as the VP went down.”
“They didn’t implode,” said Berg. “They were exploded, but that’s a story for another time. And the FBI didn’t catch Raymond Burke. He was delivered to them bound and gagged in the trunk of a car.”
“Story for another time?”
“Story for another life,” said Berg. “So forget I even mentioned it.”
“Got it,” said Devin. “When will we hear from the crew you’re in touch with?”
“They sounded interested,” said Berg. “But like I said, they’re a cautious bunch when it comes to jobs like this. I had to level with them about the severity of the situation. I forwarded a digital copy of Helen’s executive summary.”
“Jesus, Karl.”
“Don’t Jesus me,” he said. “We need these people, and if they get the sense that we’ve misrepresented the situation at any point moving forward, they’ll walk away.”
“Are any of them between forty-three and fifty years old?” asked Devin. “With parents that stepped off a UFO in Fresno during the seventies?”
“If anyone on this team is a Russian sleeper, we may as well just book the next flight to Moscow, drive straight to Lubyanka, and turn ourselves in. Or fly to Tahiti with the money in your mother’s safe. Tough call.”
“Not that tough,” said Devin. “Tahiti sounds pretty good right about now.”
“You ain’t kidding,” said Berg. “I expect to hear from them by tonight. They work fast.”