She's an Easy Target, page 23
part #2 of Quinton Target Series
“I agree with your priorities.”
“I’m going to contact L. Ron to tell him the ransom payment is a go and we’ll do it around 4:45 PM. Blaire is going to call me after she has her polygraph exam and talks with Lucas. I’ll let her know we’re going ahead with it.”
“Losing his two million dollars wouldn’t be the best way for you to make a good impression on Blaire’s father.”
“You’ve got that right. Blaire wants me to go to Georgia with her to meet her parents after this all over. The introduction will be tense, if I haven’t caught those responsible for attacking daddy’s little girl and returned his money to him.”
Chapter 48
Blaire had participated in enough polygraph exams to be familiar with the process, but it was still an unpleasant experience for her. Being aware that the results would be shared with Lucas Taylor put her on edge more than usual.
“You know the drill, Blaire,” Cayden said. “Try to relax. I’m going to skip the pretest because you’ve done enough of these exams to provide me with a baseline to measure you against. Are you ready to begin?”
She watched as he picked up the mouse in his left hand and made a couple of clicks to start the program. Her heart beat faster as she considered one more indicator that pointed to Cayden as the man in the mask. He was lefthanded, had blue eyes, had a line beneath his lip, and wore Versace, The Dreamer aftershave. Unfortunately, he was wearing a lab coat which prevented her from checking for a mark where she’d dug her nails into her kidnapper’s arm. These indicators weren’t conclusive but suspicious enough to make her apprehensive. It was a giant leap to get from Cayden’s meek personality to the dominant manner of the man in the mask, but not an uncommon transformation for sociopaths.
“I’m ready to begin,” she said.
“Are you sure? There was a spike in your vitals. It’s leveled out now.”
“I’m ready,” she said calmly.
“Please answer yes or no to all questions. Don’t try to clarify your answers.”
“I understand.”
“Is your name Blaire Saunders?”
“Yes.” During polygraphs, Blaire always thought to herself whether she considered her answers to be the truth or a lie and wondered whether the examiner picked up on her deceptions. Her answer to the first question was obviously the truth.
“Are you employed by the NSA?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Have you ever revealed government secrets to an unauthorized person?
“No.” — Truth, more or less. Maybe I’ve told QT things that that I shouldn’t have, but he’s an FBI agent, after all, not a foreign agent.”
“Are you in a committed relationship?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Have you ever cheated on your significant other?”
“No.” — Truth, more or less.
“Have you ever had an affair with a coworker?”
“No.” — Truth, more or less.
“Did you work with an FBI Agent Jeremy Glover?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did you have sex with Jeremy Glover?”
“No.” — Truth. The Bill Clinton defense: It depends on how you define sex. I did not have sexual relations with that man.
“Did you cheat on your significant other with Jeremy Glover.”
“No.” — Truth. What happened with Jeremy was the result of an order by a superior at work. I didn’t intend to cheat on QT.
“Were you working on an NSA field assignment on last Friday evening?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Shortly prior to beginning your assignment did you have an altercation with your manager, Lucas Taylor?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did you fake your kidnapping to punish Lucas Taylor for interrupting your dinner prior to performing your assignment?”
“No.” — Truth.
“Did you fake your kidnapping to make Lucas feel sorry for you so he wouldn’t discipline you for assaulting him.”
“No,” she said loudly. — Truth.
“Did you fake your kidnapping for any other reason.”
“No.” — Truth.
“Have you ever had a sexual relationship with Lucas Taylor?”
“No,” she said adamantly. — Truth.
“Would you like to have a sexual relationship with Lucas Taylor?”
“No.” — Truth.
“Did you have qualms about legally planting surveillance equipment at Dr. Harold Bitner’s home?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did you complete all tasks assigned to you by your boss?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Were you kidnapped on Friday night after your assignment was complete?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Was your kidnapping a sex game approved by you in advance?”
“No,” she said disgustedly. — Truth.
“Did you recognize your kidnapper?”
“No.” — Truth.
“Were you tortured?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did your kidnapper make demands?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did you comply with those demands?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Did you give the kidnapper classified information?”
“No.” — Lie. She answered the kidnapper’s questions about her assignment. Technically that was classified information.
“Were you sexually stimulated by your dominant captor?”
“No,” she said forcefully. — Truth.
“If you were threatened again would you comply with new demands?”
“No.” — Lie. He’d already made new demands which she was planning to comply with in the hopes of laying a trap to capture him.
“Are you still traumatized by your experience?”
“No.” — Lie.
“Do you feel that you’re mentally and physically ready to go back to work at the NSA?”
“Yes.” — Truth, more or less.
“Has your sexual relationship with your significant other suffered as a result the attacks against you?”
“No.” — Truth.
“Would you stay in your relationship if your significant other was cheating on you with his former lover?”
“No” — Truth. Actually, it would depend on the circumstances. How does the NSA know about Stephanie Winters?
“Do you like working for the NSA?”
“Yes.” — Truth.
“Would you do anything your boss asked you to do in order to keep your job?”
“No.” — Truth. I like to think I wouldn’t do anything illegal or immoral.
“Would you compromise your principles to obtain a promotion at the NSA?”
“No.” — Truth, more or less. I might bend the rules a little to get ahead. Doesn’t everyone?
“Do you or FBI Agent Target have any suspects in your kidnapping?”
“No.” — Lie.
“Will you accept the results of this polygraph exam?”
“Yes.” — Truth. What choice do I have? Accepting doesn’t mean agreeing.
“OK, that completes the exam. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Short and to the point.”
“It wasn’t bad for you. I can’t say I particularly like being asked personal questions, but it’s a requirement of my job.”
“I try to make it as painless as possible. Those who tell the truth have nothing to worry about.”
“When will you be done with your analysis?”
“It won’t take long.”
“How will I know when you’re ready for me to meet with Lucas to discuss the results?”
“I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter 49
The more she thought about Cayden, the more sense it made to her that he could be her attacker. There wasn’t any hard evidence against him, only subtleties in his appearance and demeaner that aroused her suspicion. When he’d said, I’ll be in touch, it had sent chills up her spine. By itself, it wasn’t incriminating. It’s a common enough utterance used instead of a simple, goodbye. But combined with the other subtleties it was becoming more and more clear to Blaire that something was amiss with Cayden Mitchell.
She moved quickly down the hallway toward her office. The possibility that she was onto something was both frightening and exciting. She had to tell somebody about it and that somebody was QT. Once she was inside her office and the door was securely locked, she dialed his number.
“Come on, come on, answer your phone,” she said while shaking the phone lightly against her ear, as though that would communicate her sense of urgency to him telepathically.
“Well, hello there,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about you. How’d your polygraph go?”
“I just finished, and I have something important to share with you.”
“What is it?”
“I think I know who attacked me.”
“Who?”
“The NSA polygraph examiner, Cayden Mitchell.”
“I don’t believe you’ve ever mentioned him by name before.”
“That’s because he’s such a meek and unassuming guy who flies under the radar.”
“Has he ever shown an interest in you at work?”
“Not that I’ve noticed. But he has all the characteristics that I recall about my attacker.”
“Such as?”
“He’s the right height and build, has blue eyes, he’s lefthanded, has a crease under his bottom lip, and wears Versace, The Dreamer aftershave.”
“Did he say or do anything during the exam that would tie him to the attacks?”
“Nothing conclusive, but there were a lot of sexual inuendo. He was trying to ascertain whether I was sexually attracted to Lucas Taylor or my attacker.”
“Those questions don’t seem pertinent to whether you are psychologically ready to return to work.”
“I didn’t think so. Oh yeah, I almost forget. He ended the interview by saying, I’ll be in touch. I know it sounds innocuous, but every time my attacker has departed, he said those exact same words to me.”
“Hold on a minute, I want to check something.”
“What?”
After a short pause, QT returned to the conversation and said, “It fits.”
“What fits? What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been looking for connections between persons of interest in your kidnapping. I found that Lucas Taylor and Thomas Thomson attended their freshman year in college together at UVA. I just verified Cayden Mitchell was there at the same time, too.”
“You think the three of them were in it together?”
“It’s looking that way.”
“How are we going to prove it?”
“I have FBI approval to proceed with the ransom transfer. We’ll do it at 4:45 PM and have L. Ron Chen locate whoever accesses the account. If we’re right, it’ll either be Cayden or Lucas.”
Do you want me to meet you at home or at your FBI office?”
“Let’s meet L. Ron at Dr. Bit’s house. That way we’ll all be together for the money transfer and follow-up.”
“I’ll leave right after I meet with Lucas to review my polygraph exam results.”
“I’m going to ask FBI Agent Parker from our Charlottesville office to tail Cayden Mitchell.”
“I’d appreciate that ... Cayden is calling me now. I’ll let you know how the conversation with Lucas goes.”
“Don’t hesitate to give Lucas another knee to the groin, if he gets out of line.”
“I’d enjoy that.”
****
She answered Cayden’s call without acknowledging she’d checked the caller ID before picking up.
“Cyber Analyst Saunders,” she said.
“This is Cayden,” he said meekly. “I’ve finished my analysis and forwarded the exam results to your manager.”
“Are the two of you going to review the results with me?”
“No, Lucas wants to talk with you alone,” he said. Blaire sensed he was perturbed about being excluded.
“Should I be concerned?”
“There were minor anomalies.”
“Anomalies?”
“A few of your answers fell outside the standard deviation.”
“In layman’s terms does that mean you couldn’t confirm whether I was answering a few of the questions truthfully or not?”
“Yes.”
Blaire couldn’t resist taking a jab. “I guess that means the polygraph isn’t infallible,” she said.
“Lucas asked me to tell you he’s ready to meet with you right away in his office,” he said and hung up.
***
Lucas’ door was partway open, and Blaire could see him sitting at his desk reading what she assumed was the exam analysis provided by Cayden. He looked up, all smiles, and said, “Blaire, come in and take a seat.”
“Thanks,” she said and sat down.
“Sorry we have to put you through this nonsense so quickly after your traumatic situation. It’s a requirement to get you back on the job. You understand how it is at the NSA.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of faith in polygraph exams.”
“I don’t believe they’re one hundred percent accurate.”
“It’s been my experience they can be beaten. I remember a prime example that occurred last year at the Fort Meade headquarters. A female analyst responded during a test she had no sexual interest in her boss and the examiner concluded she was telling the truth. A few weeks later she was caught on camera having sex with her manager on top of his desk.”
“It’s possible the woman lied and fooled the polygraph,” Blaire said. “Then again, she may have been telling the truth and been forcefully attacked by her manager.”
“I suppose that’s possible but not likely. I know her manager well.”
“Are there any answers on my exam you’d like me to clarify?”
“As a matter of fact, I am curious about a couple of your responses.”
“Which questions?”
“You answered that if you were threatened again by your attacker, you wouldn’t give into his demands. The polygraph analysis indicated your response might not be truthful.”
“It’s difficult to answer a hypothetical question like that. Who knows for sure how any of us will react to being tortured?”
“Your answers to questions about whether you’re still too traumatized by what happened to resume your duties at the NSA were inconclusive.”
“Naturally I’m going to be a little on edge until we catch the person who attacked me but there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m ready to return to work.”
“Does Agent Target have any suspects in your kidnapping — besides me,” he said and laughed a nervous laugh.
“None that I’m aware of.”
“Really? Your polygraph strongly contradicts your negative answer when you were asked if you or your boyfriend have any suspects.”
“QT may have indicated to me that he’s pursuing some leads, but he hasn’t mentioned any names to me. After that stunt you pulled at the downtown mall, he doesn’t trust you very much; however, it won’t bias his investigation. He’ll go where the evidence leads him.”
“Well, it won’t lead to me. I have a solid alibi. I was at home talking on the phone with your boyfriend when you were being accosted.”
“I told QT you didn’t fit the physical description of my attacker.”
“It’s good to know you defended my honor. I think Agent Target is jealous of our relationship and our history at the NSA together.”
“QT isn’t the jealous type.”
“Your polygraph was inconclusive regarding how far you’d go to get ahead in your job. Care to clarify that for me?”
“I’m ambitious. I thought the NSA should have given me the job you now hold. I’ll aggressively pursue promotional opportunities when they become available.”
“How far would you go to get promoted?”
“I have limits. How far I stretch those limits would depend on how badly I wanted the position.”
“You must have figured out by now that promotion decisions are based twenty percent on merit and eighty percent on who you know in power.”
“I hope you’re wrong about that.”
“I think you’ll find I’m a good person to have behind you. I like you and I’d like to help you get promoted when the time is right.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Office politics is all about reciprocity. I do something for you — and you do something for me.”
“Is that right? Reciprocity only works for me if the favors are equivalent.”
“There are some opportunities within the intelligence community I could make available to you if you’re willing to stretch your limits with me.”
“I’m open to offers but I’d have to hear a lot more about the job and exactly what you’d expect from me in return. I’ll warn you ahead of time, I’m not easy. I make no promises that we could reach a deal agreeable to both of us.”
“Perhaps we can get together at my place this evening to discuss this in more detail.”
“It’s a little premature to talk about promotions when I haven’t even been reinstated yet, don’t you think?”
“Your reinstatement was never in question. We’re just going through the motions, following procedure. I’ll take care of the paperwork and you’ll be official back on the job tomorrow.”
“Great.”
“How about getting together tonight?”
“I’ll think about it. It wouldn’t be simple. I’m under twenty-four-hour police protection. I can’t slip away without good justification.”
“We can justify the visit as a planning meeting for your next NSA assignment.”
“I’ll consider it and let you know.”
“It doesn’t have to be tonight. But don’t wait too long. I’m not a patient man.”
***
Blaire hadn’t been in her office five minutes when her mobile phone rang. The caller ID said UNKNOWN. She let it ring a couple of more times. Her heart began to race. Either it was a robocall or her assailant. She worked up the nerve to accept the call, but she didn’t say anything after she picked up.
