The Warren Files 04: Jim and Lisa

"Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of them," I told him. Resigned, he nodded his head. I backed off a bit to make him feel more at ease.

"As you know, I work for G&S Labs," he said.

"I know that," I said. "But what, specifically, are you working on?"

"Okay, okay," he said. "Most of what we do is theoretical. We brainstorm ideas, then work the formulas out on a whiteboard. Only then do we begin working them into something tangible. The idea is to think like an enemy might, then come up with possible treatments or antidotes."

"I understand," I said. "Your job is to think outside the box. I get it. Give me details."

"The formula my team and I are working on is based on the idea that a potential enemy might come up with an agent that incapacitates a soldier by attacking his testosterone and his manhood," he said. "Imagine, a compound that emasculates highly driven and trained soldiers, turning them into simpering wimps incapable of doing their job."

"And you actually made something like that?" Smith asked. Jim nodded his head.

"Yes," he said. "It's still in the early stages, but initial tests with animal subjects have proven to be effective so far."

"Can something like that be weaponized?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"Theoretically, yes," he said. "Although it could take a few years for it to become a viable weapon."

"What could happen if this were released in a major city?" I asked.

"In theory, every man exposed to the agent would experience a rapid depletion of their testosterone, followed by a decrease in muscle mass," he said. "They would also find that their sex organs no longer worked and their overall sex drive would basically vanish. In high enough concentrations, the reaction could happen within minutes of exposure."

"Fuck," Dale said. Smith and I agreed, nodding our heads.

"Tailor made for someone like MMAS," I said. "Have you developed an antidote for this?"

"Not yet," he said. "We were still perfecting the agent when I came here."

"Who would've known about this?" I asked.

"Well, me, of course," he said. "My team, my managers and I'm sure others, but I don't know exactly who."

"What about Henderson?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No," he said.

"Have you used this on any human subjects?" Smith asked.

"Oh God, no," Jim said. "We never do any human testing."

"If you think of anything -- anything at all -- that might help us determine who leaked this out, you let me know," I said. He nodded his head.

"I will, Officer, I promise," he said nervously. I motioned for him to join his group then pulled out my phone and called Ron.

"What's up, boss?" he asked.

"Ron, I need for you to do a deep dive on G&S Laboratories," I said. "I want to know everything about everyone at that company."

"And I suppose you want it, like ten minutes ago, right?" he asked.

"Fifteen will do," I said jokingly. He chuckled at that.

"I'll start right now, boss," he said. "I'll be in touch." We ended the call and the three of us headed back to the main administration building.

"Do you think they could actually develop something like that into a weapon?" Smith asked.

"Yes," I said. "And trust me, MMAS would jump on it as fast as they could. They have no scruples whatsoever and they'd use it without batting an eye." Halfway to the building, Cliff and one of the deputies came up to us.

"We've got two deputies stationed in tree stands at the entrance to the road, so we can see anything that turns off the highway," the deputy said. "We also have two unmarked cars patrolling the main road five miles in either direction of the turnoff. There is a gas station and convenience store two miles south of the turnoff which would be an excellent assembly point since they have a huge parking lot."

"We also have units patrolling the main road as well as the secondary roads in that perimeter," Cliff said.

"Our security guys are also setting up some surprises for our guests," Dale said.

"Good," I said. We got back to the main administration building and went into the conference room/command post, where John briefed us on everything.

"Just curious," Smith asked John. "What if they come in with a vastly superior force?"

"I don't think that will be much of an issue," John said. "They'll be fighting an uphill battle no matter what. And they'll be doing it at night and on unfamiliar ground. Plus they don't think we know they're coming." Smith nodded his head.

"I agree," he said. "Well, let's get everyone in place and wait for the party, shall we?" We all agreed and I sat down with my laptop to review the information Jim gave me. It looked as though there had been several calls between Lisa and her MMAS contact, but none of those calls provided much information. It didn't help that I could only hear one side of the conversation.

Eventually, it was approaching 11:30 and I new things would start to break loose soon. In ten minutes, we would have satellite imagery, so I went to Smith's mobile command vehicle, where he was busy setting up his electronic gear.

"We should start seeing something any minute now," he said as I entered the cramped space. A couple minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and saw Cliff.

"There's a caravan of four SUVs just south of the turnoff," he said.

"That would probably be them," I said. "Get the word out." He nodded his head and went into the main building. Smith's radio went off and I heard the helicopter crew report the same four vehicles were slowing down to turn off the road. According to the observer, all four vehicles had turned off their headlights. A few seconds later, both deputies at the turnoff reported the same vehicles turning onto the road leading to the camp.

"Showtime," Smith said. I nodded my head in agreement and radioed the preset signal. Suddenly, Smith's satellite monitor came alive and we could make out the four vehicles on the road. John, Dale and Joni had joined us by this time and we all watched as the vehicles stopped just short of the first set of spikes.

We could see the heat signatures of the men as they exited the vehicles as well as the signatures from our guys, stationed at the spots John had mapped out. As we watched, the group of men headed to the base of the slope on the north side of the camp, just as John predicted. I counted 28 bad guys in all.

"Looks like you were right," Smith told John. "They're all heading for the north slope."

"I count 28 of them," I said. Smith nodded his head.

"Me too," he said. Keying his microphone, he spoke to the men on the hill. "Twenty-eight bogeys heading for the base of the north slope. Stand by." I heard as they all acknowledged his signal.

"Let's hope our little surprise works," Dale said. We saw them fan out at the base and begin working their way up. They were moving pretty slow, due to the terrain and the heavy vegetation on that part of the hill. They were also using night vision goggles, which slowed them down somewhat. We watched as they slowly inched their way to our defensive positions.

Suddenly the whole north slope was awash in bright light. We saw the intruders react, knowing the bright light would blind them. Then we heard the gunfire. Some of the intruders tried to shoot out the lights with automatic weapons, but their aim was wild and they hit nothing. Then our guys opened up.

The entire firefight lasted less than a minute and when it was over, all but one of the intruders was down. I saw one person working his way up the hill on the eastern side as he edged closer to the barracks. Apparently, none of the officers had spotted him. Smith prepared to say something but I motioned for him not to and jumped out of the command vehicle. Dale and Joni followed close behind.

As we went into the paved "grinder," I could see the man approaching the corner of the barracks where Jim was. Dale and I pulled out our handguns and prepared to take him down, but he spotted us first and fired. I heard Dale grunt and saw him fall, then took aim and fired three rounds. I saw the man fall and noticed his right arm moved after he was on the ground, indicating he might still be alive.

I looked at Dale, who was holding his shoulder, blood soaking his sleeve. Joni had already started performing first aid on him.

"You gonna be alright?" I asked him. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, just a scratch," he said. "I get hurt worse than this working on my car." Joni looked up at me.

"He'll be fine, Officer, I got this under control," she said. I nodded my head and ran to the man I shot. When I got there, I could tell he was dead. His eyes were glazed over and white foam was at his mouth. I saw very little blood from his gunshot wound, but noticed an auto-injector pen in his right hand and realized what he had done.

By now, the cleanup operation had begun. The FBI agents, with the help of the ISP troopers were bringing the bodies up and staging them on the grinder. The deputies had removed the spike strips and wreckers were on their way to pick up the SUVs. They were to be impounded by the county and gone over for any evidence.

Dale had been moved to the infirmary, where the doctor was tending to his wound. Fortunately, it looked worse than it really was, as the bullet grazed his arm, but missed the bone. By the time I got there, the doctor was sewing up the gash in his arm.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Like shit," he said. "But I'll be okay. You get that fellow?"

"I hit him, but it looks like he did himself in," I said. Dale shook his head. "You take care of yourself," I said as I prepared to leave. John came in to check on his old friend just as I was leaving.

I got to the line of dead bodies and noticed that well over half had the same foam around their mouths as the man I took down. Apparently, they were under orders not to be captured. As I stood in front of one man, I heard what sounded like a radio. I looked and found he was wearing a headset attached to what appeared to be a satellite phone. I took the headset off and listened.

"Report, Taylor," a woman's voice said. "What's going on? Did you get him yet? Talk to me, Goddammit!" Could this be Mona, I wondered. I took a chance and keyed the microphone.

"You lose, Mona," I said. "And I'm coming for YOU!" There was silence for a few seconds, then I heard a primal scream before I lost connection. I put the headset back down and looked at the line of bodies. From what I could tell, all of them had been wounded, but less than half actually died from their wounds.

I stood up as Smith came over to me.

"You sure do know how to throw a party," he said.

"It would've turned out a lot different if you guys weren't here," I said. "Thanks." He smiled as we shook hands.

"What do you want done with all this?" he asked, motioning to the line of bodies and the pile of gear.

"I want all of it shipped back to Fort Apache," I said. "Our people will take it from there."

"Your base, right?" he asked. I nodded my head and handed him my card. "Okay," he said. "It is your party, after all. Sure save me a shitload of paperwork." He walked off as John came over to me.

"How's Dale?" I asked.

"He's tough. He'll make it," John said. "You know, Dale and I have been together for years. He saved my ass more than once. He's set to retire in a couple years. I may resign over this. It's the least I can do."

"You think Dale would want that?" I asked. "He doesn't strike me as the quitting type. And neither do you. These men need you."

"Thanks for saying so," he said. "I'll certainly give it some thought." He turned to Joni who came over when she found us. "Put out the word," he said. "Cancel all classes for tomorrow. Let's give these folks time to clean up and do their work." She nodded her head.

"Yes, sir," she said. She started to turn away but John stopped her.

"You were there for Dale and I appreciate it," he said. "Good work, Joni. Thanks." She smiled at him.

"It was my pleasure," she said before leaving. By then, the SUVs had been hauled off and several vans showed up to collect the bodies and the gear for shipment. I went to Jim's barracks to check up on him. He was alright, but shaken up by the firefight, as were all of the students.

"Officer," he said. "I just remembered something. About a month before my wife went on that retreat, we hired in a new tech, Allison Gatsby. Good-looking, redhead, fairly petite. I didn't work with her much, but there was something about her that set me off. She was always trying to figure out what the other teams were doing instead of focusing on her own work. I caught her watching my team several times, as though she was listening to what we were doing."

"I'll remember that, Jim, thanks," I said. I went to the main administration building and called Bill to give him a brief report.

"Glad you're okay, son," Bill said. "You say over half of them died from some kind of poisoning?"

"That's what it looked like to me," I said. "Anyway, they're all being transported to Fort Apache for our forensics people."

"Thanks," he said. "Anything else?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I may have spoken to Mona after the firefight," I said.

"Really?" he asked. I told him about the incident with the radio. "Hmmm," he said when I was done. "Interesting. Well, get your report to me as soon as possible, and make sure to thank everyone for me. I take it you'll be flying out tomorrow?"

"Yes," I told him. "I want to stop in Denver and speak to the folks over at G&S before I come back. I'd also like to arrest Jim's wife while I'm there."

"Good idea," he said. "I'll get an arrest warrant for you, then alert the local FBI office. I'll also have someone from our Denver office pick you up. Let me know what you find out." We ended the call and I finished my report. It was nearly 4:00 am before everything was cleaned up. I looked up as Cliff, my ISP escort, plopped down in a chair.

"I don't know about you, but I've had about as much fun in a 24-hour period as I can stand," he said. I laughed.

"It's been quite a day," I said. "Why don't you get some sleep. I'll be leaving about 7:00." He nodded his head and closed his eyes. Soon, he was asleep. Loni came in wearing her normal work clothes and put an afghan over him.

"I'm surprised you're still up," I told her. She smiled, showing off her dimples.

"John and Dale need me," she said. "They won't admit it, but it's true."

"You sure did a helluva job giving Dale first aid," I said. "I know John appreciated it."

"Not the first time I've had to do that," she said wistfully. "I just hate that it had to happen here."

"I know what you mean," I said.

"Are you going to be here for a while?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I have a few more things to check out before I leave," I said.

"Okay, I'll put a fresh pot of coffee on," she said.

"Thanks," I said as she walked out. I suddenly remembered what Jim told me about Allison. It dawned on me that I had seen someone with that general description in one of the the DVDs I got from Jim. I pulled it out and scanned through it quickly. There she was -- petite, red hair, generally attractive in a girl-next-door sort of way. And she was with Lisa. I grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and watched the video.

They were talking, but I couldn't make out everything they said. I recognized Allison's voice right off -- it was the same woman I heard on the radio earlier. I was also able to make out fragments of their discussion, which seemed to center around Jim's work. After that, they headed to the master bedroom for some one-on-one time. I wasn't interested in watching a lesbian scene between the two women, so I ended the video. I made a note to have the tech guys enhance the audio, however.

I then sent Ron an email asking him to do a deep scan of Allison and provide everything he could about her. Then I sent Bill an email requesting an arrest warrant for one Allison Gatsby. I made copies of Jim's DVDs and PI reports and put those in my briefcase. By the time I was finished, it was 6:00 am.

John came into the office looking refreshed and asked if I wanted breakfast.

"I could use a bite to eat," I said.

"Been up all night?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"I needed to get some work done and copy off the stuff Jim gave me," I said. "I'll sleep on the way to Denver." We headed to the mess hall, where the cooks had made omelets and hash browns.

"You'll love these," he said. "Better than anything you'll get at most diners." I took a bite and was impressed.

"So, you eat here with your men?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"I eat here, I sleep here. Hell, I live here," he said. "I owe it to them. I'm responsible for their well-being."

"I would've thought you'd have a nice big cabin on the lake somewhere with a wife and a few children," I said. He snorted with a mouthful of food.

"Maybe in another timeline," he said. "Didn't work out for me, like so many in the service."

"Divorced?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"Yeah," he said. "After 20 years. Came back to an empty house. She even took the toilet paper rolls. Tell me, who does that, anyway? All she left was a note and her rings. Oh, and some of my clothes. Said she found someone else. Someone who happened to be around while I was off fighting terrorists. She blamed me, if you can believe that."

"I can," I said.

"Anyway, the Sergeant Major and I retired at the same time," he said. "I got offered a job to set up and run this place, so I took it. I offered Dale the senior instructor job and he accepted. Moved up here with his wife and they have a nice home on the lake. I promised them he'd be safe."

"I understand," I said.

"His wife's been after him to retire for the last year or so," he said. "She might get her way after this." He thought for a second before he spoke again. "You know, I've seen a lot of men come through these gates. Men screwed up and abused by the very women who promised to love them for the rest of their lives. I've made it my life's work to help these men. I can't imagine doing anything else."

"Then don't," I said. "Have you talked to Dale?"

"I have," he said. "He told me he'd kick my ass into the middle of next week if I even thought of resigning. He's probably the only man on earth I'd let say that to me. So, I'll stick around. But I promise you there'll be a lot of changes around here. This'll never happen again."

By the time we finished our breakfast, the students were coming in to get their breakfast. The instructors hovered over them like mother hens, making sure they took everything they were supposed to. They got their breakfast only after the students were finished. John and I put our trays in the stack to be washed and headed to the instructor's table.

"How's everyone doing after last night?" he asked. They all responded affirmatively, nodding their heads. "Well, I've canceled class for the day, so use this as your time with the men." I spotted Jim's instructor and addressed him.

"I'll be leaving in a bit, but I'll bring Jim's original paperwork and DVDs back before I leave," I said.

"Thanks," he said. "There should be someone in the office." We said our goodbyes and left.

"By the way, we have a ceremony here that we do at the end of each class," John said. "It's called the 'burn the bitch' ceremony. Anyway, Jim's will be coming up in about two weeks or so, so maybe you can come back and witness it."

"I'd like that," I said. "I've never heard of anything like that before. What's it all about?"

"It's a way to help them blow off some steam before they leave," John said. "Truthfully, it's my favorite part of the training here, followed by the graduation."

"Since I'll be escorting Jim back home, I'll make sure to be here for that," I said.