The Manifest

Chapter 47

     Smith had been in the zone all morning, and he was eager for his supervisor to come back from his meeting with Willis to share what he had discovered. There was so much information he had to pass over he was going to burst at the seams if he didn't get some of it out very soon. The old man had taken off hours ago and as he promised Willis, he left alone and went in without backup. He had one of his men tail Carlson to make sure Willis didn't try any funny stuff but also to make sure everything went all right. Carlson returned to the building they were stationed in hours after he had left, but before he could say anything, the old man grabbed Smith by the arm and dragged him into a empty room for a little privacy. The man didn't seem too impressed.

     "Last time I checked," Carlson started, "I didn't order any one to tail me to the meeting."

     "Well, I was thinking..." Smith started.

     "You are paid to do as you're told, not think!" Carlson interrupted, "You could have ruined the entire trade had Willis thought I was double crossing him. We're so close to getting our resident back and getting everything back to normal. The last thing I need is for you to think outside the box and do your own thing and interfere with my operation."

     "I understand, but we have a problem." Smith said as he handed over a piece of paper that was in his hands, "A family member of one of our residents is liquidating all assets. He started this a few days ago and will be finished later today before the end bell on Wall Street. There's even a rumor going around that he's going to sell his own company."

     Carlson went over the papers, and the kind of money that was being tossed around was making what Willis was getting paid chump change, "Didn't this Norsberg person work with Willis in the past?"

     "Yes, he did." Smith confirmed, "But they had a falling out a few years back. Do you think they're working together again?"

     "Willis admitting during our meeting that someone was backing his hunt." Carlson said as he kept reading, "How much will Norsberg have if he managed to sell everything?"

     "Just north of two billion," Smith answered, "After he sells the company, you're looking at anywhere between ten and twenty billion added onto that. This guy could be a major threat to the program."

     "That he is," Carlson said as he never looked up, "I can contact someone to stall the sale of the company. We can drag that one out for years. But this number he could have by the end of today is still troubling."

     "We need to take him out before he can provide anymore help to Edgar Willis." Smith added, "With him out of the way, there's no way anyone in his estate would want to fund his crusade. While he'll still have some of his original funds left, there are ways to cut that down. We'll limit Willis' funds and hopefully that will get him to back off."

     "I don't think that will work, and I'm not going to authorize the murder of an elderly person." Carlson said with a sense of distaste in his tone.

     "We need to do what is necessary to protect the program!" Smith rebutted as he became a little hot headed. Carlson noticed this before but Smith was very passionate about keeping things together.

     "Is that what was going through your mind when you took care of Mr. Tucker and his people?" Carlson asked, hoping to see what kind of reaction Smith would have to such a serious accusation.

     Smith seemed to be taken back from this comment, but quickly recovered, "We have to do what is necessary to protect the program, even if it means getting our hands a little dirty."

     "Your job is to do as you're told and not take any kind of action without prior approval from myself or my superiors!" Carlson shouted as he seemed to loose his patience with the young agent, "I should have stepped in the minute you ordered the taps and the tail on Ms. Johnson, but didn't since no one was hurt. After the fire, I had some of my own people do a bit of investigating. That's where I found your connection to the people who burned that building to the ground, and likely murdered Mr. Tucker and his people. I got the evidence I needed late last night, as of right now you're no longer an active agent of the program."

     Smith seemed stunned. "But I was only doing what was necessary..."

     "I'm the one who deems what is necessary and what isn't!" Carlson barked, not amused by Smith's broken record routine, "I've been running this operation and many others for over thirty years, and the reason why they've all been so successful is because actions like that are only used as a last resort! You only use them when other tactics are unsuccessful, not when you think they are right to implement. If anything, your actions were a direct cause to what has transpired over the last week. With that, your involvement with this program is coming to an end."

     "So what are you going to do?" Smith said with a cocky grin on his face, "Charge me with murder? Do you really want the reason why I did it to come out in a court of law?"

     "No, I don't." Carlson conceded, "Which is why you are not going to be charged with anything. You are going to be inserted into the program and relocated as a threat to the system. Your family will be told you were killed in an automobile accident." As he said that, three men came into the room and grabbed Smith from behind, "You're going to disappear, just like everyone else. That is how we take care of our problems. Get this man out of my sight."

     "You can't do this!" Smith screamed as he was dragged out of the room, "You need me to protect the system! I'm here to help you!"

     "The system does need protection." Carlson said as he was dragged out, "Sometimes protection from itself when things go too far."

     He turned his back and didn't watch as the young man was hauled out and taken away. This wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this happen, but Carlson was relieved to have stopped him before anyone else got hurt. There are ways to get your way without having to hurt people, but Smith just seemed too eager to silence people before they did the actions that would be considered a threat. You only take action if someone crosses the line, not when they are considering crossing it. Sometimes people will change their mind and back off. Smith wasn't willing to show the faith and the patience necessary to find out which way some were going to go before flying off the handle. That was the last thing he needed at this point and was glad to have him removed from the picture. This kind of attitude was bound to eventually jeopardize the mission he was trying to save. He was ready to deal with Edgar honestly because the risk was too great not too. He needed to get the resident back in custody and taken care of, then after that he could try to deal with Edgar Willis on his own terms.

      After the young man was removed, the blackberry on his belt started to chime and vibrate. Carlson removed it from his belt and took a look at it to see what the message was. He had sent a text to his superiors on the way back to the compound to get their reaction to Edgar's more than generous offer along with his recommendation. The message was short and clear:

     THE DEAL IS APPROVED. MAKE THE TRADE.

     That was all he needed to see. After that he walked into the main room and started to brief everyone on the operation that was about to take place. They needed to be ready for any double crosses from Willis. He didn't think Edgar would try anything funny, but one has to prepare for everything, and once everyone was busy working on prep, he took a moment to sit down and relax. The loss of Smith was going to hurt. Despite his paranoia and apparent psychosis, he was a good trooper when he did as he was told. He needed to ignore that for now and deal with it when things were back to normal. If this deal went as planned, he would be able to get that sooner than later. His approval from those in charge of the program gave Carlson the confidence that what he was doing was the right course. Right now killing anyone would only raise suspicion, not make it go away. The trade was the right way to go for now, and after that he'll let the PR department deal with Willis and whatever claims he'll try to take to the press or the viewing public. They had ways to distract the people when necessary, and he considered them magicians of media. It would take a dozy of a story, something like a big celebrity arrest to get them off the scent but they could do it. They had many times before, but it would be something to look into after the trade is taken care of. Right now that was his biggest priority.