Page 111 of False Flag

“So? My contract is with Gerard.” She blocked his path to the door. “And if I’m fired when I’m following my contract to the letter, the NDA as related to fieldwork won’t apply. I’ll tell the world exactly how you were attempting to fix the evidence.” She pulled out her digital recorder. “To ensure my words aren’t taken out of context by you or Gerard, I have my own recording of this entire interview.” She tilted it so he could see the red light that indicated it was still recording. “Got anything you want to add?”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

A damp nose nudged the back of Vicki’s elbow, pushing her arm away from her side, making a gap wide enough for the orange tabby to burrow his way onto her lap. She let Fezzik have his way, even though her lap was supposed to be off-limits when the computer was there first.

Given what she was watching, she could use a feline snuggle. No doubt, Fezzik had picked up on her anxiety. He probably had his own under the circumstances.

She scritched around his neck and ears with one hand and hit Replay on the video with the other.

Once again, Drew Bishop made his tearful confession, which he’d uploaded to YouTube seven hours ago. He stared at the camera and announced that the Truther attack on him, Staci, and Dr. Ellen Garrison had been planned and staged by a group of activist archaeology students.

A false flag operation intended to discredit pseudoarchaeologists and their claims that Big Archaeology was hiding the truth. Drew went on to say he and Staci had volunteered to be victims of the attack, which was why their initial wounds weren’t life-threatening. But then a MRSA infection had hospitalized them both, and for the last seventeen months, he’d wanted to admit the truth.

Vicki lifted Fezzik and hugged him to her chest as his fuzzy head rubbed against the underside of her chin. “I’ll figure it out, Fezzie. I’ll find a way.”

Tears streaked Drew’s face as he stared straight into the camera and said, “I’m confessing now because Staci Allen, who was complicit in the attack, is now being paid by Gerard Campbell. She used the attack to get a high-paying job working for a pseudoarchaeologist. Whether she says his expedition is real or fake, she can’t be trusted.”

Dahlia exited the control room as Staci stepped from the studio. She spoke in a low tone. “You’ve got balls, girl.”

“He’s just an incel with money,” she murmured as she headed for the stairs.

She tucked the digital recorder in her pocket. It had been risky to show Gerard and Casper the device, but no doubt the techbros had already given them the heads-up, and Jake had her back. It was better to put them on notice rather than wait for them to smear her by turning the podcast recording into a deepfake in which her words were twisted into praise for Hitler or something equally grotesque.

She climbed the old, narrow basement stairs, taking deep breaths as she left behind the artificial light and stuffy air of Gerard’s studio. When she stepped outside, she was disappointed to see Jake wasn’t waiting on the porch. Maybe that meant he’d hit paydirt searching Gerard’s office. She debated her options. Head back to Geoduck or go down the hill to Rosalie?

She chose Geoduck. She needed to copy the audio file onto both laptops. Maybe even copy it to a few more backup disks. Later, she and Jake would take out Rosalie, and then she could upload it to the cloud.

She would also upload all of Lloyd’s files so Vicki could sort through the mapping files and Lloyd’s dark web screenshots.

How active had Lloyd been in AT? Vicki could probably figure out usernames with Lloyd’s Rosetta Stone of screenshots. Was Dahlia active?

Had she orchestrated any attacks? Participated?

Two people had attacked Staci, Drew, and Dr. Garrison. Beau was a large man—taller and more muscular than Jake. Both attackers had been smaller—under six feet—but definitely male.

The Truther attack in Newark had been perpetrated by a woman. How far was Newark from Gerard’s Wilmington studio? Two, three hours by car?

How deep was Dahlia in this con? Or was she just Gerard’s efficient assistant?

The job had to pay well, considering how much Gerard took in each year from all his revenue streams. Right now, Dahlia even got free room and board on a private island. She was easily earning three times what Staci was making.

But she was young, straight, single, attractive, smart, and stuck on an island of incels. Staci could easily understand why she’d stripped naked and thrown herself in an icy sea to get Jake’s attention.

She reached Geoduck House and went to the office she’d shared with Lloyd, hoping to find Jake there. Next, she checked her suite, but he wasn’t there either.

She should have gone to Rosalie first.

She was feeling a bit desperate to find him. She hadn’t expected Casper to be part of the interview, but he’d given her so much more than she’d hoped for.

The laptop provided by FMV wasn’t in the suite. Jake must have it with him on Rosalie. She grabbed her personal laptop and slipped it into her backpack along with her cell phone and the burner Freya had sent.

She was halfway down the path when she rounded the curve and finally got a view of the harbor. She came to a dead stop.

Rosalie wasn’t at the dock. She scrambled down the hill to reach an area with a more expansive view. The flybridge was underway and neared the mouth of the harbor.

Two meters downslope, Beau stepped onto the path, a nasty grin on his face as he twirled a single red rose, then sniffed the bloom. “Looks like your new boyfriend is headed back to the US.” He glanced toward the water, where the boat picked up speed as it cleared the harbor and headed out to sea. “It appears he couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”

Jake wouldn’t abandon her. He must have gotten a message from NSWC.