Free The Titanic Plan by Michael Bockman, Ron Freeman Page B

one he was after. Archie noticed Finch’s meticulousness as he placed the key into the third drawer from the top, unlocked it with a precise snap of his wrist and then pulled it open. Finch leafed through the drawer in the same exacting manner, and when he found the file he was looking for, he plucked it up and carried it to his desk. Thumbing through the file’s contents, Finch snapped out a single sheet and tossed it on his desk. Archie had seen it before – it was the picture of him and Mick taken in the Philippines. “We asked you to let us know if you had any contact with this man,” Finch snarled like a prosecutor cornering a killer in the docket.
    Archie sat serenely still, not being drawn into Finch’s rising dramatics. “That you did, sir,” Archie said calmly. “That you did.”
    “ Well?”
    “ I’m a very busy man serving the President, Mr.…or rather, Director Finch. Your request must have slipped my mind. My sincere apologies.”
    “ You met with Mr. Shaughnessy on one occasion and he contacted you within the month. Have these occurrences also slipped your mind?”
    Archie was astonished by what Finch knew. The insolent little upstart was obviously very good at his job. “Shall I share with you what Mr. Shaughnessy was contacting me about?” Archie said.
    “ We already know that too, Captain.”
    “ Then what was your purpose of me reporting these things to you?”
    “ To see if we could depend on you. And while your actions have cast doubt on your dependability…” Finch was now pacing the room like a bantam rooster, “…I am willing to forego my better judgment and take a chance on you.”
    “ Take a chance on me for what?!”
    “ A very crucial assignment.”
    “ Sir, I do not work for your agency. I take orders from one man and one man only – the President of the United States. And I believe, as your agency is part of the executive branch, he is your boss too.”
    “ I am well aware of that. And the President has been informed of this agency’s request for your service.”
    Archie shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “What do you want of me?”
    “ Simply, to do what Mick Shaughnessy wishes you to do. We want you to contact him, find out what his plans are, what he’s saying, what he’s doing, where he lives, and then we want you to report everything you’ve found back to us.”
    “ You want me to become a spy for you? That is not what I do.”
    “ You’ve taken an oath to be loyal to the United States of America. Not to your anarchist friends.”
    “ I do not think I’d be very good a spy, Mr. Finch. I’m a lousy liar and I believe it is one of the job requirements.”
    “ You were unscrupulous enough not to have informed this agency of your contacts with Mick Shaughnessy.”
    “ That was wrong.”
    “ Then goddam rectify your mistake, Captain!”
    “ Mick Shaughnessy is not stupid. He’ll know what I’m up to.”
    “ Then we’ll teach you to become a better liar. Would that ease your mind about this assignment?” Finch snapped in frustration.
    “ My choice would be not to do this.”
    “ Honestly,” Finch spat, “you do not have that choice. You will continue on in your role as Military Aide to the President. You will have minimal contact with our agency. You must, of course, be protective of your identity when you are with Mr. Shaughnessy, but you must be conscious to gather any and all information about him and his activities and then report it back to us. Is that clear, Captain?”
    “ And the President has approved this?”
    “ Do you want the official or unofficial answer?”
    “ Both.”
    “ Unofficially, the Executive office has approved this. Officially, the Executive office has no idea of this meeting or that your assignment has ever taken place. And it must remain that way.”
     
     
     

CHAPTER 10
     
    "W hat shall we call you, Captain?” Mick said. “How about Archibald Davis? A distant cousin of your South’s beloved Jeff