in his role as Fred Hickam when he’d accepted the job at the San Francisco newspaper. Hickam would have come across as his friend. Jake could see the double date as something that Mallory-Hickam had set up.
“Let’s celebrate,” Jake could imagine him calling Ray and suggesting. “I know a couple of girls.”
Henry Ray would probably have thought things were really looking up for him. He had a new job at a better newspaper across the Bay in the City that he’d be starting in a couple of days, and his new friend who worked there was already introducing him to a couple of willing ladies. That was probably the real reason he’d gone shopping for new clothes, not because he planned to disappear. Jake now knew that Ray had no such plans.
The girls were probably hookers that Mallory could supply. That would explain why they went along with the charade that night. Mallory would have made it clear that something was going to happen and they were to play along, and then go home and forget all about it. Hookers owned by the mob would know better than to ever speak of what might have happened to the original guy who had been the double date. Mallory and Watson with criminal backgrounds and ties to organized crime, with a couple of women with good reasons to never speak. It would work. Henry Ray had no idea what he’d gotten involved in.
“There has to be a tie in with the San Francisco newspaper,” Jake said. “Jon Mallory isn’t a reporter, but he worked there as one for months, at least part time. It’s unlikely that Henry Ray being offered the position is coincidental either. That had to be planned as part of the cover someone was creating for the fake Ray.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Carlson said. “I’ll put a couple of agents on it when we finish up here.”
“What about the Kerns affair? This somehow has to tie into that. With Ray out of the picture, it looks more like Karin might be right and the Senator is the real target. Someone, possibly someone in organized crime, wants to use me to correct the failure of the attempt on him.”
“If that is the case, you have a much bigger problem on your hands than you realized. They would have the resources and the people to pursue this more diligently than a single obsessed individual.”
Jake had similar thoughts and realized his family might be at greater risk than he’d realized.
“I’ve done some preliminary checking on what we did to investigate the attack on the Senator. Five different organizations within the FBI were involved in the task force that was set up at the Director’s insistence. There was also one shadowy character who claimed to be from the CIA, although I suspect the actual organization he represented was something else. Since there was belief the attack might have been from external terrorists, the State Department wanted the agencies represented.”
“From the FBI, I represented Domestic Terrorism. We also had senior people representing Counterintelligence, Corruption, Drugs, and finally Organized Crime. There were reason for each of these, but given what we have just uncovered I am especially interested in the Special Agent who represented the Organized Crime division. It is especially interesting that he has been unavailable to speak with me all day. I have spoken with three of the other four, and have a request into the CIA to try and pin down the man who attended under their direction. I have friends in the other agencies, but they can’t help with this.”
“When do you think you might be able to follow up with him?” Jake asked.
“I will go directly to the Director and demand a face to face. Tomorrow, you and Jim should hold off on the call. I’ll phone you as soon as I’m available, but it might not be before noon your time. I’ll have something by then.”
“The other big question remains is just how they learned about me,” Jake said.
“I’ve been trying to compile a list of those who know anything about you, or your alternate identity Bob Trask,” Carlson said. “Here’s what I have. Besides myself and Jim Laney who know exactly what you can do, your wife, and friends Nate, Zack, and Cheryl also know pretty much all about you. During the Washington affair a couple of months ago six FBI agents, three reporters, and two Washington policemen had extended contact with you, and might have