Transparency by Charles Royce (children's books read aloud txt) 📕

whispers. “He’s been in Louisiana. With his aunt. He says he left because West threatened him, in that not-too-blatant way West does.”

“Oh, I know.”

“Kimbo is definitely the one who left the SSD on your doorstep.”

“I figured.”

“All that spy stuff he set up helped lead us to Project Fallback.”

“Project Fallback?”

“Didn’t Shawn tell you?”

“No. He said a lot of stuff was classified.”

“Oh, that’s right.” The edges of his bottom lip curl downward, flashing his bottom teeth. “Whoops. I’ll tell you all about it next week. I gotta hop a flight, otherwise I’d fill you in.”

“You’re going to see Kimbo?”

“Yes.” Josh smiles, divulges more. “Well, Kimbo and Agent Pillsbury. She’s meeting us there in Louisiana. Kimbo is the only one who knows what’s on the underscore file, and who encrypted it. I think we’re all going to work together on this thing, bring West down for good, and maybe get the info we need to tie West to this murder you’ve been accused of.”

“Well, I need all the help I can get,” Jenna says, still sitting in her chair. “Please give my best to Kimbo.”

“Love you!” Josh walks toward the door. “See you next week!”

C h a p t e r   8 0

“AND THEN I said, ‘See you next week,’ and left,” Josh says over the phone. “Why did I say that? Why did I lie to her?”

“It’s okay, Josh,” Shawn replies.

“And I lied about the SSD too. According to Pillsbury, James West took it and threw it in the river. The SSD is the only drive that had the underscore file on it. Now we have nothing. Jenna has no chance.”

“Buddy, buddy. It’s okay.” Shawn moves his phone to his other ear as he steps out into the hallway. He closes the bedroom door so Haylee won’t hear the next part of his conversation with Josh. “Jenna can’t know all that, she can’t even suspect. Listen, the Feds should wrap this up pretty soon, once Kimbo talks with the ArchEngine folks. Pillsbury was sure ArchEngine made a copy of the SSD when they built it for Kimbo. Once the Feds get ahold of it, they’ll decrypt the information from the underscore file and Jenna will be set free. She’ll forgive you. You guys will make up. You’ll be Josh and Jenna again very, very soon.”

“Do you know where I’m going?”

“No. I don’t. It’s called Witness Protection for a reason. There are people out there who still want to kill you. You and Kimbo both. You met with the FBI early this morning, right?”

“Last night. They video conferenced Kimbo into the meeting. Apparently, as soon as Kimbo found out that James West was in custody, he contacted the FBI. He wanted to come clean, see if he could help.”

“What did Kimbo have to say about all of this?”

“Kimbo knows everything. I mean everything. He encapsulated the whole ordeal in just a few sentences. He said the foreign investors’ endgame was always twofold: to make money and to influence foreign policy. When Élan became increasingly unstable, they began to use the organization power to further their political goals instead.”

“To assassinate Vice President Maddox.”

“Exactly. These investors were Iranian. Maddox’s Green Planet Initiative was impeding oil production in the Middle East. They saw their opportunity with the grand opening, and had me invite him. Kimbo said there was definitely a plan to kill Maddox that night, and it involved me somehow; he’s unsure of the specifics. Kimbo said by taking out Maddox, it would further the Iranians’ oil standing in the Middle East, and exact vengeance at the same time. Something about our government killing their vice president a few months ago.”

“I remember that. The drone strike late last year. To the world, it looked like our government overstepped its boundaries by taking out their vice president.”

“Shawn, this is big. Pillsbury is talking about bringing in Homeland Security. West could be convicted of treason. I don’t know if I can do this. The Feds don’t know how long it will take for the underscore file to be decrypted, or if ArchEngine will even have a copy of the SSD. Kimbo put all his eggs in that one basket, and I was the idiot who thought it was safest with me. Everything that connects West to these Iranian investors is in that encrypted file. Everything. The rest got blown to hell in the explosion.”

“You and Jenna are kinda in the same boat. You’re both in limbo right now, but you are safe. And you’re both alive. It will all work out, surely sooner than later. You got this, buddy.”

Shawn can hear Josh sighing.

“Thank you, Shawn,” Josh says. “And thanks for working it out so I could see Jenna before I left.”

“It’s what we do,” Shawn says, opening the door back up to the bedroom. “Bye for now, my friend. Safe travels, I mean it.”

“Thank you,” Josh says. “Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

SHAWN HANGS UP the phone call and reenters his bedroom. He jumps back onto the bed, grabs his wife, puts his arms around her. They continue watching the television.

“Was that Micah?” Haylee asks.

“Josh.”

“Is everything okay?”

“It will be.”

Haylee snuggles back into her husband’s arms, while staring at the replay of the building crumbling to the ground. “Did you ever find out about Micah’s involvement in all of this?”

“No. No, I didn’t.” Shawn holds his wife closer. “But that’s okay. Your assessment is good enough for me, always has been. Micah may have gotten mixed up in all of it, but he got out. Where is he now, by the way? Have you heard from him lately?”

“I’m not sure. He hasn’t emailed back in over a week.”

On the television screen in front of them, they watch as uniformed officers shove West into a back seat of a vehicle, then haul him off in a dark limousine.

“Yayy!” Shawn claps. “Bye, you sonofabitch. Thank God this part of the nightmare is finally over.”

“Oh!” Haylee puts her hand on her stomach. “He liked your screaming. Feel this.”

Shawn places his