Page 142 of False Flag

Please, Vicki, let today be the day.

She went first to the kitchen where she cracked two eggs in a frying pan and quickly scrambled them. She ate at the counter, then grabbed a sealed yogurt container to eat at her desk.

She looked longingly at the full coffee pot but decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Instead, she grabbed a clean mug and one of Phillip’s teabags. She could brew it in her office after she googled how to make tea.

It couldn’t be that hard. Heat water in the microwave and steep? The restaurant had machines that dispensed iced tea, and guys watching sports weren’t big on ordering hot tea. So she was a bit clueless.

She set the mug, teabag, and yogurt aside before settling in front of the desktop computer in the office she’d shared with Lloyd. The office was fully hers now, and she no longer felt his presence, but after two nights of poring through his texts and emails, she felt closer to him in a way she hadn’t before.

Vicki had included her notes on Lloyd and his role in the chats with her data dump, and, after reading through them all, Staci had to agree: Lloyd hadn’t been a Truther in the way she and Jake had feared. He’d been trying to find out about Staci’s attack. Possibly even attempting to identify the man who’d attacked her.

She knew Vicki had shared her assessment with Jake, and she looked forward to the moment when they could raise a toast to honor another Burns who embodied the clan motto. In his own way, Lloyd had shown he was prepared to take action and remained steadfast to his principles.

Staci turned on the desktop computer assigned to her and logged in. She opened the web browser and went to YouTube, which, as usual, was firewalled with a message to request access from the web administrator.

The font with the link to make the request was no longer white. A small concession from the techbros.

She filled out her request, then went to the one website that always loaded for her, Lost Civilizations with Gerard Campbell. One-stop shopping for all things Gerard.

He’d uploaded a new podcast early this morning. A surprise given that this wasn’t his usual schedule and he usually posted at eleven. She hit Play.

“I know my regular followers aren’t expecting to hear from me today, but we have a Code Red. I was just informed this morning by my close friend Casper Osborne that the governor of Washington is signing a bill that was passed in secret just after midnight by the state legislature. This bill will require reparations to federally recognized tribes. Reparations which we know they don’t deserve.

“I don’t ask my fans for much, but this is too important. This bill is based on bad science. It’s based on lies and fraud committed by Big Archaeology and Indians. We need to convince Governor Kelly to veto this bill. I have been informed that the signing won’t be happening in Olympia. It’s going to be done at a state park that will be given to a coalition of tribes after the bill becomes law.

“State land is our land. And the tribes are stealing it from us.”

That was rich considering Gerard was a resident of Delaware.

“I happen to know that if this bill is successful, the governor plans to push for similar legislation on the federal level, and tomorrow’s signing ceremony is his first salvo in a campaign to be selected as the Democrats’ nominee for vice president of the United States.”

Gerard leaned forward, giving the camera his most serious look. “We need to disrupt the governor’s plans and make it clear to both parties’ nominees that we will not accept this abhorrent legislation. We will fight any ticket that has Governor Kelly on it. I’m asking all my followers who can travel to Washington and be on Whidbey Island by noon tomorrow to show up and send a message to both Washingtons. This legislation is a slap in the face to people who have faced a true genocide. We will not stand by quietly as Big Archaeology’s lies corrupt our past and steal our future.”

So there it was. The big event she’d been waiting for. The whole reason she’d been brought here. Her purpose was to make the expedition look legit, but something would happen tomorrow to make it look like a bad-faith effort on her part. Big Archaeology sabotaging the research.

She continued watching the episode, but hit Pause when Gerard brought in a guest via live stream. A Washington State resident who was incensed by Governor Kelly’s actions.

The man looked familiar. Was he one of the apostles from the dinner last December?

No. She’d gone over the list of names that Vicki had sent two nights ago. This man, according to the caption on the screen, was Walt Costner.

All at once, it hit her. Costner had been seated next to her last December. The man she’d pegged as Gerard’s mole.

He lived in Washington? Why attend the DC dinner, then? There had been a Seattle event just a week later.

She made a note to tell Vicki to look into the man, but no doubt Vicki had already compiled a dossier. If he was coordinating with Gerard from the outside, he was almost certainly in the Truther chats.

There was one person active in the chats for the last year who she was certain wasn’t on the expedition team: Crash.

Was it possible that Costner was Crash?

Why did that…sound familiar?

Crash. Costner, Walt… Wait. Wasn’t Crash Kevin Costner’s character in Bull Durham?

She googled it and, wonder of wonders, the IMDb page loaded. Sure enough, the catcher played by Costner was Crash Davis.

Staci wasn’t much into baseball, but Rand loved the game. His father had played in the minors once upon a time. The movie was one of Rand’s favorites, and in the early days of their relationship, back when they both thought it might go somewhere, they’d watched it together.