“Text him, give him some information that he doesn’t know you have, and ask to meet at a public location.”
She got a shiver. “Why a public location?”
“Because, Grace, if we’re going to go down this rabbit hole,” DePresti said, “we’re starting to get into a world that I’m aware of, but barely understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s dangerous,” he replied, “dangerous as shit. You don’t fuck around with the CIA or FBI or whoever is behind all of this.”
“But it’s worth it.”
“I agree, but we have to start taking precautions.”
“Ok, I text him, give him a new nugget of info, and ask to meet in a public location,” Parkowski summarized. “Then what, we go meet him?”
“Yeah, we meet him together,” DePresti suggested. “I’ve ran into him a couple of times, he knows me, and maybe having a military member on your side isn’t the worst idea here.”
“I just…” Parkowski said, stumbling to find the right words, “I just can’t believe that he’d be behind any kind of deception like this. He’s such a nice guy, and he’s done so much to help me in my career at Aering.”
“Grace, I’m sure he’s a nice guy,” DePresti said. “But he got swept into this, and now is a part of it, whatever it is. And to be honest, I don’t even want to speculate on what it could be. He’s got to defend himself, and it sounds to me like he’s tried to keep you out of trouble as best as he can.”
“Yeah, and I just keep putting myself in it more.”
She picked up her phone. “Ok, here goes nothing.”
Parkowski sent Pham a text message.
Hey, doc, sorry to bother you on your Saturday. I need to talk with you about Bronze Knot.
To her surprise she got an immediate reply. Grace, I thought u said u would drop it.
With DePresti peering over her shoulder she fired a text message back. I know about Orlando.
It took him a few minutes to respond. What do u know about Orlando?
We need to talk, in public, she responded. I need to know everything, she sent a moment later.
Pham didn’t respond.
“You’re pushing him kind of hard,” DePresti observed. “But that’s the only way you’re going to get anything out of him.”
Parkowski nodded in silent agreement.
She checked the clock on his townhouse wall. It was just after eleven.
“If he responds, where should we choose to meet?” she asked DePresti.
“Shoot, I don’t know,” the military officer responded. “Maybe a mall parking lot? Or the Home Depot in El Segundo? That’s a pretty safe, low-traffic area with a decent security presence. Or maybe the beach, it’s similarly populated at this time of year.”
Finally her phone buzzed. Fine, I can give u some info, Pham’s response read. She could sense the trepidation through the phone. A message a moment later said it’s not what u think. I tried to keep u out of it but u asked too many questions. Time to clue u in.
Where and where do you want to meet? Parkowski asked.
One of the piers, either Venice, Redondo, or Manhattan Beach, in an hour and a half, her boss answered.
Great, Parkowski responded back.
“I don’t want to go to the Redondo Pier, it’s too out in the open and we’ll be the only ones there. Of the other two, Manhattan Beach is closer,” DePresti said quickly.
Manhattan Beach, she shot back in a second message.
Are u coming alone? Pham replied quickly.
“What do I say?” she asked her boyfriend. “You’re coming with me, but I’m not sure if I want him to know that.”
“Tell him I’m coming.”
Mike is coming too, I told him everything. He wants to know too.
No response for a bit, then Pham finally got back to her. I guess that works. See u and ur boyfriend at 1240 at the Manhattan Beach pier.
She put the phone down. “Ok, now what?”
“We need to prepare for the worst,” DePresti said. “Grace, I have no idea what the fuck we’re getting into.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we might not be able to come back here,” he said. “We might not be able to talk to our families or go into our jobs or show our faces in public for a while.”
He started pacing around his living room. “Grace, what if we’ve stumbled across something really big? And really bad? Like I’m talking JFK assassination level, or Iran-Contra, or even something as big as a procurement scandal like the tanker leasing crap back in the 90s and 2000s. I don’t live in that world, but I have buddies from the Academy who do, and it’s scary.”
