chapterNine
who’sReallyInCharge
“Juan this is Mitch….Yea, I had to get out of there….My baby and wife are safe for now….Let’s meet….I have some recruits that used to work with me……OK, I’ll meet you there…..Midnight or so….”
Mitch pulled the battery out of his cell phone and through the phone out the window of his vehicle. It landed in the Potomac River.
The former Secret Service agent was to meet Juan Garcia at midnight in Western Pennsylvania just a few miles north of Baltimore. It was a little over one hundred miles to the little town of York, Pennsylvania and it was nine PM. He had to hustle.
His other cell phone buzzed and he answered it as he took the on ramp to interstate 83 north. “Yea, it’s me…..Where are you? Get the other guys and meet us in York, PA….He has all we need…He’s been under for a while….Yea, they want him bad…He and Issachar have information to destroy them all….but..somehow I don’t trust Issachar….I don’t know what it is….Abby?...She’s sincere…I keep in contact with her..OK, see your there.”
The supped up Dodge Charger sped down the interstate at ninety miles per hour. In a little less than seventy minutes, Mitch pulled up to the location where he was to meet Juan and three other former Secret Service agents.
He saw several cars of which only one was familiar. He parked his Dodge out of sight from the road but in position to exit quickly. He started walking toward the bar when someone walked out of the shadows toward him.
He was startled for a second until he came into the light. It was Juan Garcia. Mitch said, “Juan, you scared me for a minute there…The other guys get here yet? That Camaro over there looks like David Gile’s car… Remember him?”
Juan peered into the darkness and saw the car that Mitch spoke of. Then he replied, “That’s his alright. Not too many Chevys with scoops and with almost a wing on the back. Why did he drive that thing up here..to get caught for treason?”
“He’s that kind of guy…No fear.”
“Well, let’s go see them, shall we?”
“Yep.”
The two friends walked toward the bar and scanned the area with their eyes for potential trouble. Mitch stopped abruptly. He inserted, “Wait, Juan, we better…I don’t like this….Let’s get back to my car and have them come out here… Just have a bad feeling about all this.”
“Me either but you are the expert.”
Mitch and Juan slowly backtracked to the Charger and Mitch called Gile on his cell phone. No one answered. Mitch was even more concerned than before.
Juan Garcia added, “Mitch, look at the bar…Out in front….Is that Leonard’s goon, Jeff McNamara? I knew I recognized another car parked there…Are we set up? Did one of your guys turn on us?”
“I don’t think so, but what is McNamara doing here.”
The duo watched as Jeff McNamara got in his vehicle and sped away. Mitch mused, “What was that all about? I’m calling Gile again.”
Mitch redialed his friend and this time the phone was answered. “Dave, I called you earlier. What’s the scoop?..........Why was he here? He could turn you in and ruin are whole plan……Is it safe?…We are close by, but we saw the jerk come out…….Meet us out here…five minutes…OK.”
Juan asked, “So what, now?”
“They saw him, but he didn’t see them. They were in the back room playing poker. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Juan stared toward the door of the bar and then spoke, “Here they come, now. Who’s the fourth guy?”
Mitch shrugged his shoulders and drew his pistol. “I’ll be right back…You stay here.”
The former agent stuffed his gun in his belt line in back and walked slowly toward the four leaving the bar. David led the way and noticed Mitch as he came into the light.
“Mitch, you OK? We’ve been here about an hour…Killing time by playing poker…By the way, guys this is Mitch Miller. I think, Mitch, you know Jerry and Rick. This other guy behind me is my brother, Dan. He’s come to help us get our liberty back.”
“You had me worried for a bit…It’s clear, Juan, come on out,” Mitch called.
Juan Garcia with gun in hand, walked slowly toward the four standing in the light.
Juan said, “Hi, Jerry and Rick…and Dave…Is this Dan guy safe to have around, Dave?”
David replied, “Yea, he’s a former Seal that’s tired of the tyranny just like the rest of us.”
Mitch asked, “Is there a private room in there we can talk or do we need to go somewhere safe?”
Dan inserted, “If I may, I have a cabin just a mile or two down this little dirt road behind the bar. It’ll be a perfect place to work out of. I have about forty acres to run around on, if we need to.”
Juan quickly inserted, “What are we waiting for…Let’s go!”
Dan, Jerry, and Rick piled into David’s Camaro and led the way with Mitch and Juan in the Dodge. Juan decided he’d go get his car later after the planning session.
Two miles down the dusty road in the deep forest stood a little cabin in the dark. By the time Mitch and Juan got to the door, David had an outside light on so they could see the path.
Once inside the cabin this group of freedom fighters talked for a couple hours about the troubles going on in America and how maybe they could help change it. They went over several suggested strategies but wouldn’t settle on any at this meeting .
The biggest question each member of this team had was whether Juan’s friend Jeremiah Issachar was for them or against them. Juan spoke, “Last time I talked to him he wanted out of that mess in DC…Abby is disgusted with all the lies and dishonesty. I’m sure about Abby but Jeremiah has too much to lose…I don’t know.”
Mitch asked Juan, “Can you do us a favor.”
“What’s that, Mitch?”
“Find out…don’t reveal where you are but talked to him and get a idea where he stands…It would be great to have him on our side. He’s your friend and mine.”
Juan thought for a few seconds and then responded, “OK, I have a plan.”
Two weeks later……………………Washington DC
Abby asked her husband, “Jerry, I know this a hard for you, but have you heard from Juan since the last time?”
Issachar was quiet for a few seconds in thought and then he responded, “Every time I think of Juan…I feel the pain of that bullet,”
“It wasn’t Juan that shot you…Was it?
“I don’t know…I don’t know what to believe. Sid and the AG think it was a freedom fighting militia that…. “
Abby interrupted, “Do you still believe those guys?…How many times have they lied to you? They even told you they would blame the Tea Party for all this countries violence, right now. You believe what you want, but those …your bosses are flat out liars.”
“They say they have proof.”
“Jerry!! Do you think Juan will try to contact you again?”
“If he does…I might have to turn him in to the FBI.”
“What? Why, would you have to do that?”
“I hope he contacts me. But if he’s smart, he won’t meet with me. They watch everything I do. They want the flash drive….the backup he has.”
“Where’s the one he gave you?”
“I…I gave it to them and I suppose they destroyed it. They explained everything on it to me and it made sense…”
“In other words, you are taking their word for all this, just like you did in the beginning. Fool me once shame on you…Fool me twice shame on me. I don’t believe you….”
“Abby!” The President almost yelled.
The first lady ran to the bedroom and locked the door. The President just sat and pondered what had just happened.
Two hours later…………………………Situation Room
Kadafi spoke, “This is the situation; we have riots and insurrection from Seattle to Tampa Bay. The police are begging for National Guard troops and there aren’t enough of those. The jails are full. There are only two courses of action we can do to bring order from chaos. Mr. McDonald will explain those two options.”
“Thank you, Remere, Number one is for the President to declare martial law in the larger cities or where the turmoil is the worse. Secondly, the Homeland Security Team has been preparing, for a few years now, a special force of fully trained militia that is ready to move in any metropolitan area of the country at a moment’s notice. As well, we have built and staffed, unbeknown to the public, detaining facilities that are already in place in Utah and several other western states. There are hundreds of detainees already held in several of the facilities.”
Remere continued, “The President has to speak to the American people within the next twenty-four hours. He needs to tell them that he is declaring martial law for the people’s own good. He needs to explain the danger that is being perpetrated by many citizens who could even be one of their own neighbors. We will write the speech for him and he will not deviate from the written script. Does everyone agree to this?
Around the table the agreement was unanimous. Everyone voted that the president had to give this speech prepared by this council of defense. They adjourned the meeting and Morsi prepared a speech for Issachar to deliver the next day at noon.
Sidney Leonard’s job was to inform the President tonight, so he could practice the speech when it was completed.
Two hours later after the speech was prepared, Sidney Leonard met with Issachar.
“Sidney, this speech is what Horace wants me to read…memorize?”
Leonard replied, “Yes, with no adlibs and no exceptions.”
Issachar looked over the speech and began to practice in front of his Chief of Staff. When he had read it over once, Sid asked Jeremiah, “Can I ask you a question? Horace wants to know. Have you heard from your old friend, Juan?”
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. Why do you?…Why does he ask?”
“We…He thinks that Juan has another copy of that flash drive. We need you to talk to him and arrange a meeting. We have reason to believe he is part of the resistance. He and some former Secret Service agents are gathering an insurgent team to bring havoc to our way of life.”
“Sir, with all due respect, Juan is my friend and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me or my family. At least I don’t think he would.”
“You can believe what you want but we have proof he is against us.”
“What proof?”
“I sent McNamara on a mission to find Juan and his ex-agent friends. He found three of them in a bar in York, Pennsylvania. Juan and Mitch weren’t there but we believe they we nearby. He, Jeff, was spotted before they exposed themselves.”
“You call that proof, Sid? You know that’s not proof. He didn’t see them there.”
“No, that’s true. But we are pursuing leads from his action.”
Jeremiah thought for a minute or two, walked around the room and then responded to Sidney, “OK, I’ll contact him if he still has the same phone.”
“He does…That’s why we know he was close by. Let me know what you find out. I’ll be in my office all day tomorrow. I expect to see you come by with an answer.”
“Sid, when did you become my boss? I’ll do it and you’ll see that Juan is not part of this bloodletting. But I choose to do it on my own.”
Issachar stormed out of the Oval Office leaving Sidney Leonard with a smirk on his face. Jeremiah continued to his residency followed by his contingency of Secret Service agents. Abby was waiting at the door.
“Dear, you are home early. You don’t look so good. You and Sid at it again?”
Issachar walked by his wife ignoring what she had just said. He continued into the kitchen and poured himself a class of milk and he promptly spit it all out as his wife walked in.
“Abby, what’s wrong with this milk? It’s sour, I think”
“Jeremiah, what a mess. I’ll clean it up. By the way, dear, the milk is sour. Why the mood?”
“Just talked to Leonard and he is ordering me to do some things I don’t want to do. It’s not that I don’t want to…but he ordered me to do it.”
“What this time?”
“A speech..that I can’t talk about….and he wants me to call Juan…”
Abby interrupted, “So he can kill him…that’s why.”
“Well, he tells me that Juan and Mitch and a few other guys, we know, are part of the insurgents that are burning houses and killing people. I told him I didn’t believe that Juan was part of that mess. He wants me to call him…..and he wants the flash drive.”
“You aren’t going to do that, are you? You won’t lie to your best friend? If you do that…that means you will lie to me, as well.”
“Abby!! That’s not true. I don’t know what to do. This country is ready to fall apart and a lot of it is because of me and my following these…”
“Liars and cheats….Jerry, he’s your best friend. Can I give you some advice…If you set your best friend up for Sid, then I’m out of here. I’ll leave somehow or other. I mean it, Jerry……”
“Babe, I promise you…I won’t set him up…just talk to him. I’ll ask him if he’s part of the insurgents…He will tell me he’s not.”
“You’d better hope so…These guys have you doing so many things you would never have done before.”
“Trust me, Abby…Please.”
Abby reached out her arms to Jeremiah and he embraced her.
Two hours later…………………….Washington DC
“Juan, it’s Jerry…I need to ask you a question…No I’m not trying to set you up….I need a straight yes or no…When we are done, throw your phone in the river or something afterwards …. We are friends…Tell me are you and your friends part of this group of people killing and slaughtering all over the country?”
It was silent on the phone for several seconds and then the answer came, “No!”
“That’s all I needed to know. I wish I could see you but we’d both end up dead before our time. Here’s to better days when freedom returns to America. Bye, friend.”
