True Lies - Redux Ch. 07

Oh, and by the way - a personal note from Mrs. Peterson, Farah. She was now officially divorced from you and ALL her own wealth and resources were no longer accessible by you in ANY way, shape, or form. Plus she - and her lawyers - had a judgment for $300 million against you as her share of your "marital assets" and the lawyers were enthusiastically locking down "Grayson Enterprises, LLC" monies nationwide. Grayson had made a grave error mixing his personal and corporate monies with Farah's. The L.A. Family Court Judge was easily swayed to see it Farah's lawyers' way. The lawyers still couldn't stop grinning, as they would get a full 20% of everything they collected for the former Mrs. Peterson III. A hungry shark smelling blood in the water is a hardworking shark.

Rachel had already flown home to DC - and Elaine met her at the airport and took her to one of our suburban Washington area safe houses, complete with 24/7 armed security. We were just taking no chances that Grayson might try a suicidal retaliation with whatever few millions he probably could still get his hands on. That kind of cash could still buy violent criminal muscle anywhere in the world - and my own "deep cover" was definitely blown as far as Grayson was concerned and whoever else Grayson might just tell.

Unfortunately, Rachel and I both would have to be "renovated" into new identities after this little caper. Whatever else happened, this stage of mine - and our - lives was definitely over.

Adel had already brought with him to Paris several cases of Israeli manufactured krytron switches. They had received about 800 switches from Milco back when - from 1979-1982. After the FBI and Customs Export Control people determined these improper and illegal shipments had occurred - the US Government made a formal demand the switches be returned. About 500 were dutifully sent back, but the other 300 had already been "destroyed in testing." Or just maybe they had been "deconstructed" so they could be properly manufactured from scratch using nothing but Israeli resources.

And it just so happened Adel's krytron switches were perfectly serviceable - for about 60 days. Then key internal components would naturally degrade rapidly - and very fast transfer of high voltage high amperage currents would get very unstable in these switches after that. Unstable enough to ruin the high explosive symmetry needed for proper implosion of any designed physically small, high yield, high efficiency, nuclear warhead - like those built to be perched on a missile.

Adel did have enough with him to totally replace all those switches Grayson had on his plane. What was also good was that any Iranian attempt to deconstruct these perfectly good switches - as tested - would lead them to only build continued long term contaminated defective ones.

The brand new neutristors couldn't be subbed out with subtly defective ones. Instead just outright fakes would be made. They would kind of look like the real thing - pictures had already been published on several "science news" sites - but they wouldn't work and initial testing would show that. Poor Grayson, eh? Even before we merely sent a copy of the video to the owners of some Jihadi Web sites and posted the "undercover" video of Grayson's betrayal.

Jean-Marc came up with quite a bit of beryllium that wasn't quite pure enough to actually be useful in a nuclear bomb, but still close enough the Iranians would waste a lot of time trying to make it work.

But the plain fact was that Iran would be able to make a now "primitive" kind of A-bomb once it had enough HEU and using a simple "gun" design - but such bombs like the very first one would weigh 5000 or more pounds total and have energy release equivalents of "only" 20,000 tons of TNT - and take about 140 pounds of HEU. But modern bombs using all the now known advanced techniques could end up weighing less than 100 pounds total and use less than 2 pounds of HEU or Plutonium and still have energy yields equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT or more. Damping yields down to 1 kiloton for "tactical battlefield" type applications was yet another very technical advanced undertaking - and probably not a high priority for Iran right now.

The best we could hope to achieve now was interfere with the efforts to quickly acquire the advanced Western technology needed for advanced nuclear weaponry and to just maybe sew some internal discord and mistrust in the Iranian intelligence, military, and military science communities.

This little Grayson incident was merely now a subplot in that effort. Adel would be using Colonel Mandani to undermine other key players in all these Iranian communities. Mandani's exposure of and eventual execution of Grayson would bolster his own status in many ways.

Also high on Adel's "wants" list was info on any possible scientist that just might be a good target for corruption and blackmail himself using sex, drugs, or alcohol. The Colonel was in the perfect place to identify the weakest links, since that kind of counter-intel was part of his job, anyway. Several men were easily identified. One was an alcoholic, and since a LOT of Iranians still drank alcohol, despite its prohibition religiously and Sharia based Iranian law making it illegal - by just becoming one of his illicit "drinking buddies/suppliers" was a natural for Adel to undertake, carefully, himself.

Several others were very susceptible to honeytraps, actually helped again by Iranian society's misogynist "legal prostitution" customs using Islamic "temporary marriage" - sigheh - contracts. But the real prize was a top scientist that just might have homosexual tendencies - and homosexualism was still very much a death sentence in that Islamic theocracy. And, indeed, this turned out to be the case and Dr. Mosseghi was soon deeply ensnared in a torrid sex affair with a young Iranian stud who unknowingly worked for Adel. Audio and video of the two lovers was easily attained and the honeytrap sprung. Dr. Mosseghi cooperated fully - as he had several of his own axes to grind against the current Iranian theocratic government, as well as fear of beheading by Iranian justice.

The news was both good and bad. Two other previously unknown and very well hidden centrifuge farms were now in production working on extracting HEU. At the current production rate - about 150 pounds of HEU would be stockpiled in about 10 months. Enough for one "first generation" type A-bomb, or more than enough to try and put together multiple more advanced type nuclear bombs, depending what other technology could be acquired or developed in the meantime.

Grayson apparently did his best for us. But he just wasn't able to learn much on his own. No one in Iran really trusted him, anyway. Especially Colonel Mandani, who was still incredibly pissed about what Jennifer had done to him. Neither man knew the other one was also turned and working for us. I was almost surprised Grayson was allowed to leave Iran that final time. But he was. The switches and neutristors and beryllium he brought with him was just enough - plus his almost panicked swearing he was working on some other "wants" of the Mullahs and their nuclear scientists - like fusion implementation technology.

Grayson was rapidly running out of cash. His plane was impounded by court order as soon as he got back to New York. He very publicly fought against his financial troubles for a while, then just quieted right down as a certain desperation set in.

Many times the very rich that fall on hard times are supported and helped by their "own people" - other very rich people in that small but often close-knit community of less than 1300 "very lucky" billionaires worldwide. But for some reason that help never eventuated for Grayson.

"The Agency" people had something to do with that. Hints were dropped. Subtle threats were made. Even Chinese billionaires with any interests at all in the US economy didn't really want even the threat of US Government DoJ/IRS/Customs/EPA and innumerable other alphabet agencies sudden "special interest" investigations.

Then suddenly Grayson disappeared. He even disappeared from our agency watchdogs and no longer answered his agency cellphone and undoubtedly got rid of it - like maybe bottom of the Hudson river.

His vast wealth was gone but he probably had at least a couple million in cash, gold, and/or diamonds squirrelled away and could live off that for quite a bit off the grid, cash only. And he could also hire criminals of various sorts with some of that cash.

The absolutely key question - was he personally dangerous? What would he risk for revenge against Rachel or Jennifer, or me? Me, I wasn't so worried about. Jennifer was a pro, as well.

But, Rachel? And my own family back home who lived in Paducah, Kentucky, now?

I warned my father and my brother to be careful, that I had made some enemies of note. Self styled "important" men of low morals and a tendency to want dominance over all others, always get their own way, or extract vengeance on those resisting them. I had resisted and thwarted some of their grand plans. My family were already part of that fly over country rabble - rednecks and "trailer trash" clinging to their guns and bibles. Especially the guns. My brother was a sheriff's deputy and smart enough to take my warning seriously, and with enough friends to always be watching each other's backs and my parent's house.

An attempted home-invasion robbery of my parent's home ended very badly - for the meth-head biker types who attempted it. Two were shot dead in the home, one by my mother's 12 gauge Remington. Two more were injured pretty gravely by the motorcycle "accidents" they experienced trying to escape. If getting T-boned purposefully at an intersection by a McCracken County Sheriff's Department truck is considered an "accident"...The unofficial interviews of these two turned up some interesting information. Like that particular house was NOT a random choice but chosen for them by "someone else" who gave cash and promised them much more after the occupants had been kidnapped and delivered back alive.

Later that night, two better dressed "businessmen" types unfortunately experienced their own motel room invasion armed robbery crime - that went very bad somehow, with both these "businessmen" shot dead. The police who investigated this crime were surprised to learn these two were actually DHS agents - whose presence in Paducah had not been known to any local authorities, previously.

The DHS bureaucracy in Washington took offence and swore justice would be done and the perps were undoubtedly some "homegrown right wing militia terrorists".

I was already on my way to Chicago.

It was two months after Paris when this occurred. Rachel had only spent two weeks in the safehouse before it was deemed probably OK - as long as she left DC - to leave that almost prison like existence. It was mostly boring but Dr. Ruth visited her almost every day those two weeks. I prevailed on her to return to her family in Chicago - and also to start the divorce proceedings against me.

She cried and begged for me not to make her do this. And I cried right back and begged her to - for her own safety and also for possibly our own futures.

"We need this time apart. I need it and I really think you do, too. Probably the worst thing about you leaving DC is not seeing Dr. Ruth anymore. But please get some continued therapy in Chicago - Ruth can recommend someone that is already "cleared" so you can talk freely. YOU need to understand why you cheated. How you really feel about me - and how you really feel about me lying and deceiving you all these years. You also need to resolve the stress issues from being with Grayson AND me forcing you to do that.

"You were also right that you need to repair your relationship with your father and your family. I am sorry for the part I had in causing that rift. And because of the potential revenge factor now because of what I did to Grayson, you need to divorce me and appear to have completely separated yourself from me. Please do that for me. And I promise to re-enter your life at some point, when I think it is merely safe for you and yours, to do so. I still love you, Rach, and I always will. But that love alone wasn't good enough before - and we both need to be sure it will be enough for us both going forward at some point. Good enough to get past problems and troubles - and especially the most problematic of all - just happiness and the boredom perpetual happiness inevitably causes."

Rachel officially resigned from her law firm, went home, and started divorce proceedings against me. She did not request any assets division - just both of us keeping what we already had in our possession. She left me the condo furnished as it was. I kept it and Elaine and I decided I would continue my "undercover" status for a little while longer - while she put a very good covert surveillance and protective detail on me, just in case. I was playing "bait" for a bit.

Neither of us believed Grayson would not try for SOME payback - and possibly using Islamic fanatics of one kind or another.

Then Grayson disappeared, breaking our deal. And soon that video of ours was posted on the web by some al Qaeda jihadis where VAJA was sure to notice it - and Grayson was now "wanted" by Shia and Sunni Islamists worldwide. The gloves were definitely off. And I felt the attack on my Kentucky family was but the first jab.

I spent a day and a night with Rachel and her family. Despite our estranged status, Rachel invited me into her bed and we spent the night together. It wasn't the "hottest" sex I ever had, but it was the most meaningful and poignant session of love making, and it only fueled my everlasting love for this woman, MY little Jewish princess - a good wife worth more than jewels - once and future past. And I told her the same and to just please be patient and hold the course we were on.

I also had a heart-to-heart with Rachel's father and warned him of the quite possible danger they were all now facing, but only in general terms. I begged him to consider doing all he could for personal and family protection but I don't think I got through to him. He did not own a gun and Chicago had some of the most restrictive legal private gun ownership laws in the nation. Maybe he thought that would protect him? It was with great reluctance I left but it was quite possible that my own presence near Rachel would merely be a lightning rod.

I left the next morning with yet another tearful - but hopeful - farewell. Waiting for my flight back I tried to contact Elaine and arrange for at least a limited protective detail for Rachel. But I could not get her. I tried Jennifer but she didn't answer, either.

Neither returned my voicemails before I landed in DC.

As I got off the plane at Dulles, two DHS agents with a squad of uniforms arrested me. I was placed in a holding tank somewhere and held incommunicado for 4 days.

Finally some mid level manager bureaucratic type deigned to talk with me. Not exactly an interview. Kind of strange.

"Well, Jim, we had a credible tip with apparently supporting evidence you were a foreign agent here illegally. So, we had to check that out very carefully." Mr. William Johnson said. No relation, by the way.

"So, Bill - why didn't the FBI check all this out?"

"Oh, we did get the FBI involved but I was specifically ordered to maintain physical control of you and maintain oversight over the investigation. The good news is that you are all cleared and all your paperwork checks out as merely a low level NSA employee, an analyst of intercepts as some kind of Mideast language expert. The OTHER real good news is that you are being transferred to the CIA at a much higher position level. Here is the card for your new manager and you are expected to call him in two weeks. You will be on paid leave the next two weeks to uh,...well, I am afraid I've got some bad news to convey to you about your personal life, your estranged wife, uh..." and he was looking at his notes, while my blood was running cold, "Rachel. Yes. Her family was attacked two days ago in some kind of home invasion crime and her mother was killed and her father is in the hospital in a coma and very critical condition."

"And Rachel?" I could barely whisper.

"Well, Rachel seems to be missing. Chicago PD, FBI, and DHS are all involved in trying to figure out exactly what happened and who was involved and just where Rachel is."

"I am sorry about all this and the unfortunate circumstances of your incarceration. But you are on compassionate leave starting now and have two weeks to help your in-laws, if you wish to, of course."

My training kicked in. I suddenly felt exactly as if I was in enemy territory. I started acting distraught, almost paralyzed by my depression, and overwhelmed by my helplessness.

"Bill" patted my shoulder and said, "we'll give you a few minutes, then someone will come get you and process you out. We've got all your luggage from your last flight as well - we had to go through it..."

And I just nodded dumbly. It was all I could do not to kill this little twerp, but I seriously doubted he was in on the planning of all this - what REALLY went down. Just like that "fortunes of war" that killed so many Seal Team Six members right after some of them took out OBL, I was quite convinced internal enemies, in league with Grayson and the Iranians and worldwide "peaceful" Islam, had conspired to "offset" my own somewhat successful efforts to delay the whole Iranian nuclear weapons program with their own ideas of "fairness" - and me, Rachel, and our families were just a logical "sacrifice". Did they get Elaine, and Jennifer, too? Adel and the others I worked with?

I needed to get out of here and I also realized I needed to be very alert. I was probably released so that I could be killed or ideally captured myself in my now supposedly helpless state. I had no weapons on me and I seriously doubt anyone in this building would give me a gun if I asked for one. They did politely ask if they could call me a cab? It was 9PM and almost full dark outside.

I just looked blankly at them and said, "No. I'll walk a bit and then use the Metro."

"Well, OK - you know DC has a bit of a crime problem at night?"

They really wanted me to take this cab...

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be alright." And I kind of stumbled out.

Sure enough, there was a cab just sitting there about half a block up. I started walking towards it. The "cabdriver" was probably confused - expecting a call. As I walked towards the cab with my head down as if in deep, deep thought. I suddenly looked up as if just noticing it, then half heartedly waved at it. He started right up and came to me. I threw my bags in the back, but instead of getting in the back seat, I opened the front seat passenger door and slid right in. He looked at me surprised and started to speak while shifting to try and get his hand on the gun in his waistband I was sure he had. He started saying, "you have to sit in back..." when I smiled and then hit him in the face as hard as I could. He was stunned and I easily got his gun away from him - then I smashed his head with the gun to stun him even more. Now did he have backup immediately around watching? Or were they merely expecting a distraughtly meek victim to sit in that locked back seat and be delivered to wherever they wanted?

I didn't see any other cars and especially vans around on the streets - so I manhandled this cabby into the back seat after patting him down thoroughly and getting his ankle holstered backup piece - looked like a Sig Sauer P238 or some kind of other nice "ladies gun" based on the M1911 ACP classic - only in .380 caliber.