Chapter Thirty-Five
Wednesday, March 28th
Wes walked up to his house after Tuck checked his medical records. His recent physical showed him as immune to measles. A check of Eleanor’s at the time of her physical showed her as equivocal, which meant the result was uncertain. It should’ve been flagged, and she should’ve been reimmunized. He’d left Tuck running a query of all employees’ titers.
Poe sat waiting for him on his doorstep. “Meow.”
“Come here.” He scooped him up, and the big black cat nuzzled his neck. Chuckling, he opened his large wood door and walked inside.
His thirty-second respite of enjoyment dissipated. His dining room table had been turned into a control room. Computers were placed at every seat, but it was the table’s occupants who caught him by surprise. Mike Johnson sat at the head, surrounded by Troy; Kyle; Zach; Bruce “Bean” Steele, co-executive director of infrastructure management; and Ford “Fury” Cox, the deputy commanding officer of the DC branch. Beside him sat Glenn Hayes and FBI Special Agent Preston Galloway.
Wes half smiled and groaned. “I want to thank all of you for being here. We have an additional issue to discuss. Ellie was just diagnosed with the measles. According to Tuck, she was likely exposed seven to ten days ago. Health Department was notified.” He took a seat beside Troy.
“Measles? I thought we all had our shots,” Kyle said.
“Tuck said we can lose immunity. He’s checking files and retesting for immunity.” Wes sighed.
“Wes, Glenn and Preston have been laying out the situation as they know it,” Mike began.
“Situation? Eleanor has been a pawn since she was fourteen years old,” Wes spat.
Glenn Hayes cracked his knuckles and sighed. “You’re right. She was used by the FBI and the Marshal’s office. And, Mr. Crockett, I believe the only one who did not use her…is you.”
“And your point?” The room fish-eyed between Hayes and Galloway. “Tell me one thing: why? Why was it so damn important to continually use her?” Wes demanded.
“Sarin,” Galloway said.
Wes slumped. “Sarin? What does Ellie have to do with sarin?”
Ford ran his hand through his hair. “Those government shit bags thought using a kid to find their weapons was a home run. When Eleanor turned in that shell, they knew right away it was part of a shipment that also included a metal box. Inside the box were twelve aluminum vials of purified sarin. In each vial the ingredients were separated until they were ready to be used.
“Best any of the alphabet agencies could figure out, after the fourteen-year-old Eleanor was found nearly whipped to death, the Drake family was apprehended. The sarin remained missing.” Hayes dropped his head.
“And they figured tracking Ellie would lead to the biological weapon?” Bruce asked.
“More than that.” Hayes held his head between his hands.
“Now, Hayes,” Kyle’s soft Alabama accent was gone.
“When Eleanor escaped her captors, she found and hid the sarin.”
The walls of the room shook with the cumulative anger of the group. “Her family kidnapped her missing children,” Wes could barely get the words out.
“I didn’t put any of this together until my discussion with Mr. Chase and Mr. Wentworth. I was assigned to Eleanor. Before it hit the paperwork, Starr insisted on resuming his role. My name was removed as the assignee,” Hayes said.
“And what, you felt sorry for her?” Wes was sarcastic. “You watched from afar, like a fairy godmother?”
“No…I’m a senior member of the Bureau. Assigning Eleanor to me or another senior member made sense. The kidnapping—there is no such thing as a coincidence, or she and Belinda were the unluckiest women I’ve ever encountered. It’s not how it’s done. After the Wests died, the proper procedure would be to move the girls and change their identities. Both women refused. That should have been it—out of the program. And that’s what the official transcripts showed. They were out of the program.”
“You’re kidding me. Starr played them,” Mike simmered.
“Starr insinuated himself in their lives. It was only after Eleanor was found after the kidnapping, did the Marshal’s office realize what happened. When she regained consciousness, she reached out to the office. The FBI was scaring her. Luck had it, Starr was out that day. The agent it was referred to sent it up the chain since she couldn’t find any current assignment.
“I marked the case high priority and asked for approval to become her handler. The case ID pops up with Starr was reassigned. Post the kidnapping, she regained the right to be protected. When she was discharged, her identity should have been changed, and she should have been moved. It didn’t happen. That’s when my alarm bells went off. I wondered if he was trying to sleep with Eleanor.
“I started to officially look. Prick hid it well. There’s always a problem when we give them the keys to the castle. He had access to the computer system. No way in hell should he have been assigned to Eleanor, period—much less to the Drake family as well. One checkbox on a computer screen, and it went unnoticed,” Hayes said. “There was no stopgap. No check and balance. The investigation is ongoing. More may be involved.”
“Why?” Wes asked.
