Jacques Beaumont was a small fastidious man always dressed in the finest clothes befitting a man of his stature and accomplishments. His father was French and his mother a Moor from Spain. He favored his mother with his dark skin. In public he was addressed formally as Mr. Beaumont. In the underworld, he was known as Black Jack and belonged to a secret cabal. Outwardly, he was perceived as quiet and aloof. To those that knew better, he was a dangerous, merciless man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Sitting back in his executive chair, he considered his next move and dialed his secure phone.
“Yes,” A voice answered.
“What kind of progress have you made in securing the technology?” Black Jack’s question sounded more like an interrogation. He had conducted many.
“We are searching everywhere. Grace has gone off the grid, but President Jarrett has pulled out all the stops. Grace’s face will literally be everywhere. We’ll find him.”
Black Jack was losing his patience. “I’m sure he’ll be found. I’m concerned about getting access to the technology. No matter what happens, you need to get me a copy, preferably the only copy. Am I making myself clear?”
“You are very clear. I’ll have a copy soon.”
“How can you do that?”
“A full copy was made of all of Grace’s files, source codes and documentation. I’ll have a copy of that shortly.”
Black Jack lifted his left hand to rub his eyes. “That’s fine, but listen to me, carefully. Dr. Grace is a very smart man. He may well have left a useless copy behind to send everyone in the wrong direction. Humor me and assume that he did.”
There was an awkward moment of silence. “If he did, the best and the brightest minds will conclude that soon. In the meantime, we will continue to hunt him.”
Patience was not a virtue that Black Jack possessed. “There is keen interest in Dr. Grace’s technology on the part of my colleagues. But there is a more profound reason to secure it.”
“More profound?”
Black Jack’s face grew dark and menacing. “Yes … like your future depends on it.”
There was silence.
“Unless he destroyed it, we will get it.”
“See that you do.” Black Jack terminated the call.
He dialed another call.
“Jack. How is the progress?” a man said.
“Interminably slow. I think Dr. Grace has escaped a very clumsy security team. The US government is engaging in a full hunt. I fear that our quest has become more … complicated.”
“We stand ready to assist in any way we can,” the man assured him.
“Activate all of your resources in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. Something has drawn him there. If we can find out what the connection is, then we’ll find him and that will get us closer to the technology.”
“What are we looking for?”
“I think the good Doctor went to the area to retrieve something or meet someone. He is alone, and he has no obvious tie to the area, so my hunch is that someone drew him to it.”
“Why do you think he is looking for anything in the area?”
“He’s desperate, and desperate people do desperate things,” Jack said.
“What makes him desperate? The government hunting for him?”
“That makes him cautious, but that’s not what makes him desperate.”
“Jack, no word games. What do you know?”
“He’s dying. He’ll be dead in less than ninety days.”
“I’ll make the calls.” The line went dead.
Black Jack looked out the window. His mind examined all the facts that he knew and created possible scenarios that would draw Dr. Grace to the Delaware Valley. He was deep in thought as he gazed upon the endless sea of clouds below him as he sat in his Gulfstream at thirty-thousand feet.
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