Page 75 of Nixon’s Promise

Nixon and the guys had been going over the intel Alec had left and they were still coming up empty. They’d spent hours running through different scenarios, but without a clear mission objective from We the People, the team couldn’t plan much.

“The local PD has been alerted to the threat,” Jameson announced, looking down at his phone. “They’ve agreed to go soft and have the bomb disposal unit sweep the building around the marathon route.” He looked up from the text and continued. “Shouldn’t tip Homeland’s hand. McKenna was able to crack some of the message; after the Boston marathon security has been tight. They were scheduled to go in day after tomorrow anyway.”

“Great. And did Alec say if the PD will allow you and Weston to assist?” Nixon asked.

“He’s working on it. So far they haven’t invited in any outside agencies and Alec doesn’t want to push too hard too soon,” Jameson answered.

That made sense, as much of a pain in the ass it was and it certainly slowed the team down, the fewer people who knew who was behind the threat, the better.

“So, on the surface, these knuckleheads look like a bunch of doomsday freaks. Their website is scattered.” Holden started pacing, working through what they knew. “They talk about stockpiling food and provisions, hoarding antibiotics, how to grow and can your own food, and the importance of unknown underground bunkers. But if you dig deeper their forum is all about forming a militia. They’re recruiting fighting-aged males for the cause. However, they’re not clear what that cause is. One other thing that is bugging the fuck out of me is the website is almost five years old. No updates in the last three. Same with the forum. Then two months ago, a flurry of activity on the message board, but no updates to the website. And the tone has changed. It used to be all about prepping, now it’s political. Why’d they go silent? And what happened two months ago that triggered them to reactivate?”

That had been bothering Nixon as well. Why did We the People go dormant?

“Maybe they went underground,” Chasin surmised.

“Yeah, but they weren’t on any government radar. There was no reason to go to ground and plot in secret. And the website’s owner is an old man who bought and now lives out in Idaho on three hundred acres in solitude. It’s doubtful he even has access to the internet,” Jameson told the room.

“You said, now lives—when did he buy the land?” Holden inquired.

Jameson tapped the keyboard of his laptop and answered, “Two years ago.” Jameson looked up with a deep scowl. “The same time his website and forum went stagnant. And before you ask, I’m checking who’s been paying for the domain name and hosting all of these years.”

“What intel do we have on the old man?” Nixon asked as he shuffled through a stack of papers.

“Olan Peters, seventy-two, widowed, no kids. Utilities are up to date, paid by reoccurring direct withdrawal. No cell phone service contract, but that doesn’t mean anything, so the DHS went a step further and there’s no cell pings from that location. No cable, either. Seems like he is as off the grid as he can get yet still lives comfortably. Nothing about the guy screams extremist,” Weston told him.

There was so much that was nagging Nixon about this group. Holden was right, the website was all about survival in the aftermath of an infrastructure collapse. Nothing about violence, militia—hell, the forum didn’t even mention guns and ammunition until a few months ago.

Now it was inundated with posts about amassing weapons and munitions, improvised explosives, and banning together to fight The Man. It was semi-political but didn’t take a side, it wasn’t right or left, it was simply extremism. No religious affiliation; all denominations, theologies, and deities were welcome. Race didn’t matter, either.

Nothing about the group was right. All were inclusive to anyone who would fight an unknown force. That was what the team had to elucidate. Who in the hell did We the People want to fight and why? They couldn’t stop them until they knew. And Nixon was running out of time.

Nixon pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed McKenna. It rang twice and her sweet voice filled the room.

“Hey.”

“I have you on speaker,” he told her quickly. “I have a question, just yes or no answers, yeah?”

“Okay.” Her tone was unsure and he hated he couldn’t explain that the line was unsecure and she couldn’t ask any questions.

“If a website was say… abandoned, how difficult would it be for someone who was not the legit owner of that website to take it over?”

“I have an answer but it’s not yes or no,” she said.

Nixon smiled and shook his head. “Would it be easy?”

“Yes.”

“Could you do it?”

“Yes.”

“Could someone who wasn’t very skilled do it?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to marry me?” Holden shouted from across the room.

“No.”