Chapter 21
“Who the hell is Dimanche Maginot.”
“Okay, let me just type it in.” Sophie, Anna’s secretary behind them replies. As she types the message on her laptop.
Typical Linda, answers the question with a question.
“Defiant!” Anna, angry at Linda’s answer. “Pretending to be defiant when she is not.”
“Let’s ask her more, there is a quiver in her voice.”
“What will that be?”
“The transcript of her text message with Dimanche.”
“Okay done.” Sophie answers half a minute later.
Silence in the van.
Another JESTER hands out photos to Anna.
Anna looks at the photos, the results of the facial recognition search on the web. It was Linda, and in the photo, she was always near Aleksander Tunney.
“Hey, Ernest,” Anna hands out the photos to Ernest, “what do you think of these.”
“Are you thinking what I am thinking?”
“It does not seem they are an item.”
“They may perhaps be, and both, a henchman or henchwoman who pulls the strings from behind and Aleksander’s lover.”
“You don’t have a photo with her Ladyship and here you are.”
“Oh, maybe she is careless, I do make it a point that I do not get photographed. And I, well we just got on.”
“Make sense.”
“What’s your secretary’s name?”
“Sophie.”
“Okay, can we throw in another follow up question? ‘What does Aleksander want?’”
“You heard the man Sophie.” Anna orders her secretary, while she is already on it.
“Done!”
“She gave us her name and it looks like she is giving in.” Ernest observes.
“Look for Linda Cunningham in the database.” Anna orders her secretary.
They have access to the Social Security database and even copied the whole database of Social Security ID, although it is two years old.
“Silence, sometimes it is just deafening.” Ernest brooding. “I think we need her more than we need the mercs. Ransom, exchange her for them.”
“There were US Marshals that passed by before the confusion. She is working for the government. I think. And she will talk to us.” Anna gives her analysis from the raw data the JESTERs sent her. Then she hands it out to Ernest.
“Two phones or maybe even more. She is some sort of double agent or a mole, a government mole.” Ernest agrees with Anna’s theory. “And taking the fifth?”
“This is not the bloody court bitch.” Anna with an indignant voice.
“Exchange, her for all of you. Send that message.” Ernest recommends Anna a question.
“Really, we are doing that? I want all of them.”
“We need to show some good faith.”
“Why? When we have all of them in our hands.”
“Yeaahhh…”
“In our hands Ernest, we have them, in our hands, wrapped around our fingers like that bloody song from the police so to speak, all we need is to press hard.”
“Which are we the servant or the master?”
“What is your point then?”
“We let them win, but keep tabs on them, isolate them each. The news crew might be easier to find, but the mercs are trickier I suppose. Can we maintain a long range surveillance on the three.”
“I see why she likes you.” Anna gives her nod. “I do not know if we can follow all of them. I mean the mercs of course.”
Sophie sends the message.
Anna jeering, “Still defiant.” As there was silence again.
“Come on Anna who wouldn’t be when you have lost all of your strings and your pawns, well it seems checkmate.”
“Sophie, please send this message please, ‘We can do this the easy way, or… NOT! We could have done this without telling you.’”
Sophie obliges.
“Ernest. What happens when we have the three mercs?”
“Well it need not be an abduction we could ask them nicely.”
“Like show up and say ‘hey, we could have killed you, or picked you up, but we want to be nice, and please come and talk to us.’” Anna replies mockingly.
“More or less.”
“You’ve got to be joking are you.”
“More or less. But no. After they leave the news crew, if we could get them individually the better. Tell them I request their presence.”
“Why you?”
“They mentioned my name.”
“Makes sense, I suppose. But which agency is she attached with?”
“She seems to know about military grade, but the ‘I don’t know this agency’ is a clear giveaway. How do you know so much about government agencies?”
“Sophie, send this message, ‘Which agency are you working for Linda?’” Anna orders her assistant, as if on cue from Ernest.
“Still defiant is she. ‘There is no agency’ my ass, this wench is really annoying.”
“‘What will it be Linda? Decide now. Or…’ ask her that.” Ernest trying to up the ante.
“Sophie…” Anna realizes her assistant froze.
“Oh sorry, that was for me, what was that again.” Sophie stammers, “p… please.”
“‘What will it be Linda? Decide now. Or…’” Ernest repeats the question, and Sophie types and sends it right away.
“What the fuck. She still does not trust us.”
“Man she is just dragging this. Well after all she is the director of all of these actors, she has the right to be afraid.” Ernest trying to defend her.
Anna notices Linda’s movement, “oh she is going to try and get away. Ask her this quick Sophie, ‘If she starts her car it means no’”
There were a few moments of silence from Linda.
“Finally, we have her. I sure hope this works Ernest. Sophie tell them ‘Deal’”
