Walking an Endless Path Pt. 02

Finally, they were all on the elevator, riding it up to one of the upper floors. Joe endured the woman's stare the entire way. Finally, the director noticed and quietly said something that caused her to quickly look away.

Once they entered the conference room, they took seats, the lawyers on Joe and Amy's left side and their parents on their right. Only Director Bannon and the female agent sat on the opposite side. Bannon began with introductions.

"Hello, my name is Roger Bannon. I'm the director of the Los Angeles branch of the NSA. With me is Agent Rachel White from our Washington office." The woman nodded to the others, a slight smile at the corner of her lips. He slid two business cards across the table to the lawyers. Selina collected them and slid their two cards across to the agents.

"Good morning, I'm Christof Waechter, and my partner here is Selina Bergstrӧm. We're from Waechter, Bergstrӧm, and Volkov and represent the Neumann family. To my right are Joseph, Amy, Clara, and Karl Neumann." Each nodded as their name was said.

Bannon cast his eyes over the group of people on the opposite side of the table. "For an interview regarding what Joseph and Amy possibly witnessed at the airport, quite a few people are involved. Especially legal counsel from such a prestigious firm. Was Ms. Volkov unable to attend?"

Christof's smile was polite, but Joe could see the steel in his eyes. "Natalya is standing by in Moscow."

The lawyer wasted no time to begin. "It came to my attention that your agency displayed photos of my clients on television and asked for the public's assistance locating them in the context of some foul play at the Los Angeles International Airport. This was broadcast multiple times a day for the last two days. With the social climate being what it is today, that approach has painted my clients in a rather unfortunate light. Amy was invited to come to Hollywood to begin an acting career. Now, she has this stigma on her name before she even begins. Joseph hoped to get into personal security, but again, his integrity has been put into question. Joseph and Amy did not see the story until hours after it had been presented multiple times. I saw it first and contacted their parents, who in turn reached their children. As the damage was done, I asked them to hold off on contacting you until I could arrange to be with them. I was in New York City, so we could not arrive until last night. I conferred with my clients and contacted you immediately. We intend to clear up this issue with you, and hopefully, we can all be on our way."

Joe noted the expression on the female agent's face gradually changed from smug to barely suppressed rage during Christof's speech. She jolted and then got herself under control when Bannon touched her hand.

"Mr. Waechter, we are investigating the violent assault of two of our NSA agents in a public washroom at LAX. This event also knocked out a large section of the terminal's power and its security and surveillance systems. The very social climate you describe was instigated by similar activity, so you can understand our response was completely justified. The televised statement simply identified them as potential witnesses." Bannon coolly responded.

"Witnesses? LAX is a very busy place. Thousands of people were in the airport at the time of the event, yet my clients were somehow singled out for inclusion in the broadcast when, as you say, the surveillance systems were knocked out. May I ask how they were chosen from amongst the thousands of potential witnesses to have their identities connected to the criminal activity on national television?" Christof asked.

Bannon considered the lawyer. The call for public assistance locating his suspects had been a calculated risk. He rarely used that particular method for exactly the potential ramifications Mr. Waechter mentioned. That said, rarely were the witnesses so well represented legally. Unfortunately, the actions of the personnel under Agent White's direction, starting with the airport security officer in Fargo to the two incompetents from his own office, had left him with few other options. He knew the young man was involved, but security in Fargo didn't properly detain him, and there was a high likelihood that the two men in the hospital hadn't followed authorized procedures. Still, if he didn't open that particular Pandora's Box, there was little else to say in this meeting. He realized Christof had been aware of this from the start and had pushed him into this corner. That was the lawyer's calculated risk. Bannon still had some directives he could invoke to incarcerate the man until they had their answers, but he despised that kind of bullshit and would not resort to them unless there was a clear and present danger to the public.

He sighed, eyes looking down at his hands on the table. When he brought them up, he looked Christof straight in the eye. "I'm going to answer your question in a second. First, though, I will tell you about some events that transpired in the past few days that we believe are directly related. Agent White will display some footage at one point in my statement so you may see it. I will pause at certain intervals for questions you may have or answers you may be able to provide. How does that sound?"

Christof looked at his partner, and she raised her eyebrows. The man then looked at Joe, who nodded.

"This would be fine," the lawyer stated to the director.

Bannon turned to the agent and asked her to connect her tablet to the large monitor at one end of the conference room and queue the footage for when he called. She got up and did so. He turned back to the lawyers when she nodded to indicate her readiness.

"Two days ago, Joseph and Amy were in Fargo preparing to go through security for their flight to Los Angeles. Amy proceeded through the security station with no issue, as we saw her do today downstairs. As we saw in the lobby, Joseph could not go through the metal detector or pass the hand wand test without setting off the alarms. But instead of using the pat down in Fargo, as he experienced today, the security agent led Joseph to a Full Body scanner, which uses Millimeter Wave Scanner technology. They attempted to scan Joseph, but the result was deemed abnormal. When they attempted a second scan, the machine malfunctioned violently. So violently, in fact, that Joseph's shirt was set on fire." Clara gasped, and Karl looked visibly upset. Obviously, this information had not been presented to the parents. The lawyers remained impassive.

Bannon nodded to Rachel, who played the video of the scanning event. On the large screen, it was all the more dramatic. When Joe stepped from the machine with his shirt ablaze, Clara actually cried out.

When the video ended, Agent White rolled it back to the frame that had upset Clara so much and left it there. Her son was almost life-sized on the screen, with flames shooting up from his back and across the back of his head. Bannon nodded to Rachel in approval but kept the smile from his lips.

"This was a terrible event, and as you can clearly see, the back of Joseph's shirt is engulfed in flames which reached to the top of his head. Could you show us the injuries you sustained in that fire, Joseph? How much hair did you lose? Hair burns so easily and quickly."

Christof stepped in before Joe could answer and asked his own question. "Is my client being blamed for destroying the airport scanner? I'm not sure how you could say that, considering the film clearly shows he cooperated fully with the security agents and was rewarded with being set on fire for his efforts. Joseph was lucky to walk away from that with only the loss of the shirt on his back."

"Luck?" Bannon said. "Okay, let's say Joseph was lucky with his encounter with the exploding scanner. To let you know just how lucky he was, understand that cotton burns fairly quickly at a temperature of two-hundred and ten Centigrade or four-hundred and ten Fahrenheit, but lab analysis of the remains of the shirt and careful frame-by-frame review showed the fire consuming the shirt was approximately twice as hot and moving twice as fast. Healthy hair burns at two-hundred and thirty-three Centigrade or four-hundred and fifty-one Fahrenheit, so Joe's luck was... phenomenal. But let's move on. It was a busy day."

"Do you recall an elderly woman on your flight named Eunice Graham? She sat up in First Class, right outside the first-class washroom."

Joe nodded, and his face flushed crimson.

"Ah, I see you do remember her. She's quite a spirited woman and had an interesting, if torrid, tale to share with us when we interviewed her in the hospital last night. We investigated a report that a passenger was taken off your flight on a stretcher. She had a very mild episode of heart arrhythmia after the flight. She got too excited about something... what did she say... oh yes, she grabbed your penis through your pants, didn't she?"

Joe shifted uncomfortably in his chair and just nodded.

"It seems you were having difficulty using the washrooms on the plane because, according to her, it was too big, and you couldn't fit in the small rooms. We found the report of a broken door in the first-class washroom on the plane, and based on Eunice's discovery, you probably were still unable to relieve yourself. That would have made finding a washroom upon landing a priority." Bannon looked for confirmation, but Joe looked at Christof, who just smiled and shook his head.

"Upon landing, you proceeded into the closest washroom, which was directly across from the gate your plane used. The same washroom in which the assault took place. The two agents followed you inside. We know this because Agent White asked them to detain you, and one of the agents sent a two-word text message to her just before entering the washroom. It said got him, but the message never left his phone as the local network was saturated. Agent White asked them to detain you because she was notified of the events at airport security in Fargo. When she discovered that you had not been denied access to the flight as standard operating procedure demands, she contacted the two agents here in Los Angeles. She requested they detain you for questioning upon your arrival. We haven't been able to get a report of what happened in the washroom from them, as the two men remain unconscious from their rather severe injuries. I would welcome hearing your side of these events."

"Could I have a moment with my clients?" Christof asked.

"Of course," Bannon said, gesturing for Rachel to join him outside.

Once the two agents were out of the room, Selina spoke up. "There are several listening devices in this room, so please be aware that the walls do, in fact, have ears."

Karl's eyebrows rose as he assessed the lawyer. "A hobby of mine," she remarked, deadpan.

"So, Director Bannon has presented his case. My initial assessment of the man seems to be holding true. He is driven by truth and fact. A man of reason. I believe this means there is hope. Agent White is the wildcard. She seems particularly driven by something and has been obsessively observing our Joseph here. How are you feeling?"

"I'm nervous as hell. That woman is seriously creeping me out. I feel like she's dissecting me with her eyes, if that makes sense." Joe shuddered.

"It does. I believe we should give them your statement of the events that took place between your arrival at LAX and when you departed the terminal. Do not embellish; be factual and honest. Nothing you did was criminal, so you should have no concern reporting it. Are you comfortable with this?" the lawyer asked.

"Yes, I have no problem with that," Joe replied.

"Amy, are you willing to give your statement of this period if required?" the lawyer asked. He received a nod from her.

Christof gestured, and the two NSA officers entered the room again. "Before we begin, please turn off the screen. The scene is disturbing for a mother to have to witness."

"Oh, right. My apologies." The director nodded to Agent White, who shut down the display and retrieved her tablet.

"Joseph is prepared to give you his statement of the events between their arrival at the terminal and when they left," Christof announced.

Bannon and Rachel looked to Joe, who cleared his throat and began. "Before I start, is Mrs. Graham going to be okay?"

The question caught Bannon by surprise, but he answered. "Yes, she'll be fine."

"That's good. I had no idea why she grabbed me like that, but I'd hate to think she was hurt by it." Joe collected himself before continuing. "You were correct about my needing to use the washroom when we landed. And I did go into the one across the hall. I didn't see anyone following me as I really had to go. I was in the stall for maybe five or six minutes and heard nothing. When I came out of the stall, I noticed two men were in the washroom, one by the door and another by the back wall. I avoided making eye contact as they creeped me out. I washed my hands, and as I turned to get some paper towels, I saw the one by the front door walking closer and pointing something at me. I thought it was a gun, and he shot me with it. There was a terrific flash and explosion, and the lights went out. When I could see again, the man stood before me, but a big chunk of his hand was missing. It was sickening. He stared at it, his eyes rolled back, and he fell to the ground. Then the second guy I'd forgotten about hit me on the head with some kind of antenna."

Bannon interrupted. "Did you say he hit you on the head?"

"Yeah, what he thought he would achieve by hitting me with an antenna, I don't know, but he certainly looked surprised when I turned around. He started pulling something out of his jacket, but I'd already been shot at once, so I punched him in the chest before he freed his hand."

Bannon interrupted again. "You punched him."

Joe looked at Bannon's incredulous expression. "Yes, I punched him. Hard. I thought he was pulling a gun, so I punched him. When I checked to ensure he was breathing, I saw he was holding a gun, so I'm glad I hit him before he shot me. You have to understand I thought they were creeps trying to mug me in the men's room... or worse. I'd heard things about Los Angeles. Things that don't happen in North Dakota."

It was Christof's turn to interrupt Joe. "Then what did you do."

"Right, well, after I ensured the guy was breathing, I noticed my shirt was speckled with bits of the first guy's hand and blood. I also noticed the darts with wires running from them stuck in my shirt, so I guessed I'd been shot with a malfunctioning Taser. I pulled the darts free, but that tore holes in my shirt. Since my shirt was torn and bloody, I took it off and tied it like a tourniquet around the guy's bloody hand. Did I mention his hand was gruesome? Then, I washed myself up as best I could and went to the washroom door. I listened to hear if they had a third mugger waiting outside, but all I heard was people rushing by. I looked out and saw the out-of-order sign on the door, which wasn't there when I entered. I crossed the hall back to Amy and put another shirt on. Then we left the airport." Joe purposefully left Melissa's name out of his statement as instructed.

Bannon was sitting back with a grim expression, but Agent White was practically grinning, and her eyes were bright with interest. The director looked at Christof, who maintained his pleasant countenance. The Director cleared his throat and asked Joe a question.

"At any time did either of the two men identify themselves as NSA officers?" he asked.

"No, sir," Joe replied.

"What did they say?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir. That's what made their attack so creepy. I had no idea who they were. The first one just had this really mean look on his face when he walked towards me. The second one just looked scared. But neither one said a word."

"Do you know what a police issue expandable baton looks like?" Bannon asked Joe.

"No. I don't think I've ever seen one. I don't think the police use them in Glennville," Joe replied.

"Actually, you have seen one. That's what the second agent hit you with. You say he hit you on the head? Was it a glancing blow across the top or the side, maybe hitting your shoulder?"

"No, he hit me right on top of my head. I remember because I ducked automatically after getting hit... which was stupid since he'd already hit me." Joe looked right at Bannon.

"How did you get the darts out of your chest?" the director asked.

"No, they were only stuck on my shirt. The darts didn't stick in me." Joe corrected him.

Bannon looked at Karl, Clara, and finally back to the lawyers. "He doesn't know?"

Karl looked uncomfortable and looked over at Christof, who was watching Joe.

Rachel White was on the edge of her chair, staring at Joe with a kind of feverish joy.

"Sir, would you please ask Agent White to stop looking at me like that?" Joe pleaded.

Bannon looked at Rachel and saw her excitement. He guessed he couldn't blame her, but the boy was right. "Agent White. Please!" he said sternly.

That got through to her. She looked at Bannon's disapproving look and immediately collected herself. He was right. This wasn't a time to lose her professionalism. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Bannon turned back to the lawyers. "Well?"

"Well what?" Christof asked.

"Seriously. He was shot point blank by a Taser, but the darts wouldn't penetrate, and the gun exploded with more energy than it could possibly produce on its own. We checked. It was standard issue and was functioning normally when it left the office. He's struck with a police baton so hard that the weapon bends, and he barely notices. The man he punched? All his ribs were broken, all of them. The gun was jammed sideways between his ribs, and he must have been thrown across the room because of injuries he sustained on his back as well. Combined with Joseph's inability to pass through metal detectors, his explosive reaction to airport scanning machinery, and his apparently fireproof skin and hair, there is enough here to deserve an answer better than well what."

"That implies an answer is deserved to begin with. If I'm not mistaken, nothing Joseph did was illegal. In fact, much of what was done to him was. He has not put anyone's safety in jeopardy, while the actions of your agents did. He simply wanted to follow his sister to Hollywood and get some training in private security to build on the skills he picked up while working security for a theatre stage troop. And why did he want those skills? To continue to protect his sister as her star rose to the heights it is destined to go. Nothing nefarious in that. Yet here we are in the offices of the NSA, being told it deserves answers. Why? Why do you deserve to disrupt the lives of these fine, upstanding citizens? Never have I met people with a stronger moral and ethical grounding or a higher amount of personal integrity! It is an honor for our firm to represent such people. The NSA was created to protect people like these from threats. Not to treat them like the threat."

Bannon knew Joseph was telling the truth. He'd still have to hear the statements from his agents, but he knew the truth when he heard it. His radar was also telling him the same things about the Neumanns, so he was willing to entertain that what Christof said about them was, again, the truth. However, Joseph was different, significantly so. While not a crime in itself, the why and how might be or may represent a threat to the nation.

He turned to Joe. "You understand it's not humanly possible to deflect a Taser dart, cause a Taser's energy cell to explode like that, or hit someone that hard with just your fist?"