Page 36 of Knight Moves

“Don’t I know it. We need to know what he has on us in terms of proof. Do you think he can tie us to Lando’s boating accident?” That was the real sticking point, wasn’t it? If only he could be sure of what Sinclair had. “Although, if he had proof back then, he wouldn’t have vanished. He’s bluffing.”

“It’s a risk to assume that.”

“Perhaps, which is why we need his youngest daughter to draw him out. We know he’s already reached out to her once, so we should assume he might do it again.”

“What about the other daughter or the wife? Can they be leveraged?” There was a noise in the background, a car honking and the squeal of tires.

“They could, and that’s the backup plan, but neither of them appear to be actively trying to find him,” Isaac explained. “The youngest daughter is poking around places and causing trouble. She’s given us some of our best leads on him. Now he’s reached out to her and made contact for the first time in fourteen years. That’s huge. She’s the key to this thing.”

“So, what’s our next step?”

“Tell the others we need a two-pronged approach.” Isaac considered his words carefully. He’d thought everything out and had planned this for a long time. “On the one front, we’ve got to use the girl to bring him out of hiding. On the other front, I must discredit Sinclair with the Justice Department. It shouldn’t be hard. Once everything quiets down, we find him and make him disappear for good.”

“How are you going to get at the daughter? She’s behind the security perimeter at UTOP.”

“Every day except Saturday, when the candidates go into town for their weekly break.”

There was a short pause. “Good point. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Isaac suppressed a sharp retort. It shouldn’t be this hard. Did he have to spell everything out? Didn’t anyone else share his forward-thinking vision? He kept his voice even, patient. “Yes. So, if we need to do something, we do it then. She’s the leverage we need. Then, after a family accident, there’ll be no more problems or witnesses left to worry about.”

“Oh. Do you think they could connect his disappearance back to us? After all, you’ve been pretty vocal about your dislike for him.”

He hated the weak spirit of his compatriots. Fixing that would be a priority when he became director. “Please. Sinclair has been backdooring terrorists for years. I don’t think it would be too difficult to imagine a scenario where certain factions weren’t happy with him when he’s found out. A sudden, permanent disappearance shouldn’t be any surprise at all. We simply blame it on the terrorists, and that’s the end of that.”

A longer pause and then a laugh. “Wow, that’s ingenious.”

Isaac smiled. At last they were seeing what he was capable of doing for the nation. “And that’s exactly why I’ll be a formidable director.”

Chapter Twenty-One

ANGEL SINCLAIR

The rest of the week was essentially the same as the first day. More group sessions with grueling questions, psychological testing, exercising in the gym, and classes with homework. To say it was brutal would be an understatement. Added to the mix were written tests, which I assumed were IQ tests. Those I didn’t worry about. I’d always tested well, so that was one concern I felt I could put to rest.

I spent what little downtime I had gaming in the gaming room, doing my homework, washing my clothes, or hanging out with Frankie and Wally. There wasn’t much free time to be had, and when we were together, it was obvious we were all becoming increasingly nervous about Friday and the first trial.

On Thursday morning, during the group session with Jax and Bo, Mr. Kingston told us today our session would consist of only one question and we’d have free time until our next class. That was good news to me, because the group session was the hardest for me to manage every day. One question would be a walk in the park.

“So, Mr. Coleman, I have a scenario for you,” Mr. Kingston said, adjusting his tie. “Your mother is desperately ill. A pharmaceutical company, located two blocks from your house, has a cure to your mother’s illness. The medicine is too expensive for you to afford. If you could break into the company building and steal the medicine without the slightest fear of repercussion, would you do it?”

“No repercussions?” he asked.

“None. You would get away with it completely, and your mother would be cured.”

“Oh, man.” Bo sighed, rubbed his forehead. “It would be tempting, but I wouldn’t do it. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be honorable. It’s not the way my mom raised me. She wouldn’t want me to steal.”

“So, is that a no?” Mr. Kingston asked.

“It’s a no.”

“Thank you, Mr. Coleman. Ms. Sinclair. How about you?”

I considered. “Is it a terminal illness?”

Mr. Kingston shrugged. “That’s unknown.”

My mind went through a number of scenarios, none with a clean answer. “I have mixed feelings about this,” I finally said. “Legally and morally, it’s wrong. But we’re talking about helping someone I love. I honestly don’t know what I’d do unless I was in the situation, at that very moment. But I have to say I’m leaning toward stealing the medicine, especially if there are no repercussions.”

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