The Night Gods II- Chapter XII: Newcomers

Artwork by @marty-art on Steemit... With many thanks!

[For anyone that didn't read The Lottery Council, Dick/Jack, Jim, Ann and her brother David were the main characters in that story. As for their relevance to this story... I suggest reading it.]

About the time President-elect Alan Denning was meeting with Victor Lockhart, a couple of large U-Haul trucks pulled up in front of a vacant Georgetown townhouse... One that was less than a block from another townhouse occupied by recently unemployed investigative journalist Bret Shoemaker and his new girlfriend Lena Cedeno. Had anyone been paying close attention, they would have observed that one large truck contained an abundance of state of the art electronic equipment.

The new occupants of the townhouse were Dick Donato (aka Jack Meoff, aka...), his daughter Ann Dawson, her husband Jim and his son David. They had a consulting business that they ran from their home- something to do with investing, for all appearances. Their new neighbors, Bret and lena had come to welcome them to the neighborhood and offer their assistance with the move... the cover was in place.

When everything was inside, they ordered pizza and Bret provided a case of beer- it was time to relax and party.

"Well, Dickie boy, you haven't gotten any younger," Bret said cheerily.

"Still young enough that you had to call me to protect you, tough guy," his friend returned.

"You have no idea how happy we really are to see you guys... all of you," Bret said sincerely. "This is Lena, by the way. We started out investigating the death of Melissa Womack, Alan Denning's volunteer and we just kinda..." his voice trailed off.

"Ah, let me guess, you fell in love," Dick smiled. "I'm happy for you both, although I don't know what you see in this guy," he said turning toward Lena. "You're with Senator Ashby, am I right?"

"Yes," lena said amiably, "he's a really good man."

"That's what I've heard," Dick said. "Have you let him in on this yet?"

"I think he suspects something," she said. "I've taken a leave of absence since I started getting the calls... just to keep him safe- politically as well as physically."

"Probably wise," Dick said. "Any idea who's behind them?"

"None," Bret replied. Has to be someone associated with Denning. Nobody else would have a motive. We must have been getting close to something... not exactly sure what- but something."

"Are you going to talk business all night," Ann broke in, "I thought this was a party. There's plenty of time for that tomorrow."

"Good point," Lena said. "Who wants another beer while I'm up?"

"One last thing," Dick said. "Did you get our internet connection Bret?"

"First thing I did after getting the lights turned on," Shoemaker said. "You're all set to go... You have some set of electronics."

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Dick said winking. "This is just the beginning- the little stuff. The servers and the encryption stuff- the stuff that keeps us dark comes comes tomorrow. First I have to get us secure. Everything's completely off grid... after the internet comes in, it disappears into a million different IP addresses. All anyone can see from here is just some banal social media crap... watching music videos on YouTube and stuff like that... everything else is completely masked- encrypted and untraceable."

"Wow," Lena said impressed. "You'll have to show me how this all works."

"Bret," Ann said. "How about showing Jim and me the neighborhood... I think bart would like to see some of it."

"The Golden Retriever jumped up and barked once, unable to conceal his excitement. "I'll come along too," Dick said. "I'd like to check my perimeter."

"Why don't we all go," Lena suggested, "I'd like to walk off some of this pizza."

"Good idea," Ann chimed in.

"I think I'll stay and keep an eye on things," David said. "I don't feel like walking anyway."

Off they went into the Georgetown night, the enthusiastic Bart leading the way. Dick eyed the neighborhood strategically looking for potential threats.

"Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?" Dick asked as they passed Bret's house.

"What do you mean 'out of the ordinary'?" Bret asked.

"Oh boy," Dick said wearily. "I can see I've got my work cut out. Look guys, you've got to become aware... aware of everything around you- cars that don't belong. Stuff like that."

"Ok," Lena said. "You're the boss. Just tell us what to do."

"From now on you have to keep your eyes and ears open... like cameras and tape recorders- you have to memorize everything. particularly cars... You need to memorize all the cars near your house- we'll help... keep track of what cars are usually there and what ones are unfamiliar."

"Cool," Bret said looking around already noticing the cars on the street. The war has begun, he thought grimly.

When they returned to the townhouse they found David hard at work. "What on earth are you up to?" Ann asked.

"Just sorting," he said. "It'll make it easier in the morning. I took a look upstairs, trying to figure the layout."

The townhouse had three floors and a finished basement. Dick wanted that, figuring he could keep an eye on things easier from there than upstairs... if he had to act fast running the stairs would cut into critical seconds. David would take the third floor- there were three bedrooms there, one for him and one each for the kids when they came... when Dick decided if and when it was safe enough. Jim and Ann would get the second floor- the master bedroom was there- the other rooms would be for the electronics. The first floor would serve as a traditional living area. If any outsiders came in, it wouldn't look suspicious.

The next morning found the little family hard at work. Decorative wrought iron bars had been ordered for the first floor windows. Dick had brought a state of the art security system from Arkansas, one he had custom retrofitted. The van with the "big stuff" was due just after lunch and the morning was devoted to getting the second floor secured and all of the electronics put in their proper rooms- one for servers and encryption and the other larger room would be their "office." Around mid-morning, Bret and Lena showed up.

"Need any help?" he asked.

"We can always use a good grunt," Dick said smiling.

"Just point the way boss," he said back.

"Those boxes in the corner over there go to the second floor office, you'll know it when you see it."

"Where's Ann?" Lena asked.

"In the kitchen, getting it set up her way," Dick replied.

"I'll go give her a hand and get out of your hair," she said.

By the time the van arrived everything was in it's place. The driver, Dick's former son-in-law, helped unload and headed home to Arkansas after politely declining lunch. Early evening found the War Room up and running. Bret and Lena were both impressed... it was time to put it to the test.

"Ok kids, let's rock 'n' roll. What's the name of your suspect... the guy from Boston you suspect of killing Denning's wife?" Dick asked. "Let's see what we can find."

"We're not really sure if he's a suspect or not..." Lena began.

"That's Ok," Dick shot back. "This is just a test run."

"Eddie Phillips," Lena told him. "He was pardoned by the governor after receiving 15 life sentences."

"Holy shit," David exclaimed. He fed the little information they had into his search engine. It was custom designed... Not only did it access all of the typical existing search engines, it also encrypted, masked the IP address, collated information and made comparisons based on algorithms specifically designed by Dick. "This guy is one sick fuck," David went on.

Bret was amazed at the setup... bits of information and a plethora of photos began to populate the bank of monitors with Dick moving from one to another reading as he went. "Hey," he called to Bret, "look at this." He showed Bret a photo of an aging Eddie Phillips standing at the counter of the bus station in Boston.

"How the hell..." Bret began.

"Facial recognition," Dick exclaimed proudly. "The establishment isn't the only ones with resources. We have access through tapping their satellites to police files... the whole nine yards."

"Where's he going," Lena asked.

"Washington DC, and the time stamp on the photo puts him here at exactly the right time," David added.

"And that took all of 30 seconds," Dick said. "Looks like the game is afoot."

"What do we do now?" Bret asked puzzled.

"Well, all we're trying to do is take down the new president... Shouldn't be much of a problem." Dick laughed.

Jim came in carrying a box. "Here they are, Dick," he said.

"What's this?" Bret asked.

"Phones," Dick replied opening the box. "These are encrypted- untraceable. All communication between us must be made on one of these. If there's a threat coming from the top, and we have to assume there is, before long we'll all be under surveillance... at least Bret and Lena."

"Yeah," said Ann with a wry smile. "We've got practice... you'll get used to it."

"Oh," said Lena, "I meant to tell you- I've spoken with Melissa's parents, her mom. melissa sent her a letter describing what happened between Denning nad her- she's forwarding it to me. They understandably want to be involved."

"Ok, good," Dick said. "We need to send them phones as well. Where do they live?"

"Scottsdale, Arizona," Lena said. Do you think..."

"I have a buddy there," said Dick. "I'll have him keep an eye on them... just in case. Lena will you send the phones? Use Fed -Ex, they're more secure."

"I'll take care of it right away," she said.

"Is there anywhere you don't have a buddy or two?" Bret asked smiling.

"Not that I can think of offhand," Dick said. "This guy's a retired cop from Cambridge, got in his 20 years and headed to the warm weather." He handed Lena two phones after programming a couple of numbers in them. "I've put mine in under Jack, my emergency moniker and my friend is Joe B. just tell them to call him if they're afraid or see anything suspicious. I'll let him in on what's going on. I want them each to have a phone just in case they're separated. Anybody got anything else?" he asked. "If we're going after Denning, we need to know who's behind him."

"I have an idea," Bret put in. "My former boss... the one that told me to back off just before I quit. There's got to be a reason why he wants to protect Denning."

"Name?" Dick asked.

"Victor Lockhart," Bret said.

"THE Victor Lockhart?" Dick exclaimed. "This just gets better and better..."

They all looked at each other- what to do next? The enormity of their endeavor was beginning to sink in.

GIF by @papa-pepper

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