Free The Peace Proxy: Part 1 by Cyril Adams Page A

before deciding Katherine was not going to respond. Garrett
gave him a hard look, and he rapidly
retreated. Garrett turned his attention back to Katherine.
    “Tell me everything,” he encouraged, again
taking her hand across the table, but managing to stay seated in
the process.
    Katherine started again, “When I got to the
office, two men were guarding the entrance. They were casually
dressed, but they were creepy, coolly detached. I guessed they were
CIA or NSA, one of those freak show outfits. They let me in without
a word. Greg and Rachel were in the reception area. Rachel was crying, and Greg was staring at the wall with
a blank expression,” she looked at Garrett. Now Katherine was
crying with no attempt to stop the tears. She continued vehemently,
“They injured Greg’s brain, those bastards.” She stopped for a
moment before proceeding, “When Rachel saw me she started to get
up, but stopped after glancing at the corner of the room. She was
frightened. I followed her gaze to a man standing silently next to
Robert’s office. He stepped forward as he told me they had been
waiting for me. The way he looked at me was …well, it scared me. He was so arrogant; absolutely no
concern for invading the office of the Secretary as if it was no
more than a menial clerk’s position; beneath him.”
    Garrett had not thought the word scared was
part of Katherine’s lexicon. It disturbed him that the mere
presence of a man could illicit such a
response.
    Katherine continued, “That look, it was chilling, but I wasn’t going to let this
thug push me around. I demanded to see the Secretary. He motioned
to the Secretary’s office as he stepped closer. I took the lead,
determined to show these guys who was really
in charge. Robert was sitting at his desk. I’ve never seen him look
so defeated.” She looked past Garrett for a moment, reliving those
moments. “I asked him what was going on. He said he was sorry, but
I was going to have to submit to some questions. I asked him for
clarification, thinking of invoking some legal precedence. He just
looked back to his desk and told me as soon as I was
finished they would allow Greg to get medical attention. I
didn’t even realize Greg was hurt.” She stopped, again trying to
hold back the recently restrained tears. Garrett waited
patiently.
    “It’s all right. Take your time,” he
encouraged.
    She continued, “The man from the reception
area told me to come with him. They had a scanner set up in my
office. When I protested he calmly reminded me Greg’s life probably
depended on my cooperation, so what could I do? I let them hook me
up and answered their questions. The feeling of having that machine
scan my thoughts...” She shivered as she recalled the
experience.
    “What did they ask?” Garrett cautiously
inquired.
    “Most of the questions concerned my computer
security.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “He wanted to know if I had ever allowed
someone access to my account or tried to access areas not essential
to my office. Was I loyal to the current administration? That kind
of stuff. Some questions about our relationship.” She paused for a
moment, appearing more composed for having talked through the ordeal. “They repeatedly asked about
accessing ARC protocols.”
    Garrett became tense as the world swam
around him, leaving a mild sense of vertigo. How was this possible?
It was hard to believe the information Mike had for him was tied to Katherine’s office. Not that he held the
government in particularly high esteem, but
because he still could not reconcile such a chance occurrence. The
uneasy feeling that had been nestled deep in the recesses of his
mind began to force its way forward, and his
stomach tightened in acknowledgment . His mind
reeled as he struggled to bring the situation into a framework he
could understand.
    “Garrett, are you listening to me?”
    “Sorry, what were you saying?”
    “I said Greg is at
First Memorial. After lunch, I’m going