CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Senator Hampton, thank you for seeing us,” said Ben.
Kiel and Wyatt stepped through the door, already knowing what AJ, Tanner, and Hiro had found. The repeated IP addresses led to one office and one office only. Senator Cain Hampton of the state of Kentucky.
“My pleasure, gentlemen,” he said in the syrupy sweet voice. “You people, your daddies and granddaddies have always been a friend of this nation. You’re appreciated.”
“Thank you for saying that, sir. But that brings us to a bit of a conundrum,” said Ben. “Do you know a woman by the name of Marilyn Sanders?”
“Marilyn Sanders,” he repeated with a questioning gaze. “Marilyn. Hmmm. Does she work in government? There are so many of us it would be hard for me to remember everyone I’ve met.” Kiel grinned as he turned his phone toward the senator. The face of Marilyn Sanders staring back at him.
“Look familiar?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, boys. She just looks like every other woman working in Washington.”
“We didn’t say she worked in Washington. You did,” said Ben. The Senator looked at his watch and started to fidget with papers. “Don’t even think about brushing us off, senator. See, if you know us, you know how good we really are. Marilyn Sanders is your daughter. Want to know how we know that?”
The senator said nothing, just staring at the men as he plopped back in his big leather chair.
“I’ll tell you anyway,” said Ben. “Ellen Sanders was the babysitter for your children. Your legitimate children. At seventeen, she admitted herself to a small clinic outside of Richmond and delivered a beautiful baby girl. She sent a letter to you, of which she kept a copy. That copy was scanned and saved to a computer owned by Marilyn Sanders.”
He still said nothing but his lip trembled from fear and anger, the sweat on his brow a sure sign that he was about to hear something he didn’t want to hear.
“That little girl grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with her mother. Now, we thought that was interesting since deposits were made into her account every month for more than five-thousand dollars. It seems Ellen was good with money. No extravagant lifestyle for her.
“Then one day she’s found dead by the river.
Her daughter, thankfully was grown and off to college.
You being the kind-hearted senator that you are, stepped in and offered to pay for her continued education.
Of course, that was after you discovered she was dean’s list at UVA and was thought to be one of the most brilliant technical minds they’d ever seen. ”
“This can all be explained,” he said in a shaky voice.
“Yes, how do you explain raping a seventeen-year-old girl and then leaving her to raise a child?”
“I supported her,” he said shaking his fist. “I didn’t abandon my daughter. I did the right thing even after her mother tried to bilk me for more money.”
“She never did any such thing,” said Kiel.
“All she ever asked from you was that you make her legitimate and help her to obtain a loan for a house of her own. Tell the world that she was yours so she would have a name. You couldn’t even do that.
And all the other young women that you forced to abort your children, what did they receive?
Nothing. Too afraid to speak, too afraid to come forward and tell the world they’d been raped by an old man. ”
He started to speak and Wyatt held his hand up, holding a sheet of paper with more than twenty names on it.
“These were all the young girls you raped. Every last one of them aborted your children. Marilyn had a purpose. She could get into any system, steal information, credit card numbers, names, all of it. In fact, you thought she’d wiped out any record of these women.”
“She told me she had,” he said biting his fingernail.
“She tried. We were better,” said Wyatt. “Where is Marilyn?”
“I don’t know. She was here earlier, angry and running because of all of you.”
“What is she doing hacking into the Pentagon, the DOD, the DOJ, and every other fucking agency in this shithole town?” growled Ben.
“I-I’m not sure what you’re…” Kiel’s fist came down so hard on the top of the old desk, he cracked the wood. A long split from the front to the back.
“What. Is. She. After?” he said slowly and deliberately.
“The nuclear defense systems and codes,” he said calmly. “She intends to auction them off to the highest bidder. There are several that are interested, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“You fucking traitor,” said Ben reaching across the desk. He gripped the old man’s lapels and pulled him over the desk just as his assistant walked into the room.
“Oh! Oh, my. Security!”
“Yes, you call security,” said Ben over his shoulder. “Your boss is about to be arrested.”
Security didn’t have a chance to get into the room. Outside were five federal agents hearing everything that was occurring on the inside.
“We have to find the woman,” said Ben.
“We sent two federal agents out to look for her car, a Lincoln SUV. We haven’t heard anything yet, but we’ll let you know when we do.”
“Thank you,” nodded Kiel.
“You guys are something else,” smirked the agent. “We suspected this asshole for years but no one could pin anything on him. Now we know why. The daughter was erasing everything.”
“Let us know what you find. We’ll check things from our end as well. We’re headed to the Pentagon to help them change the codes in the system and block anyone else from getting in.”
The agent nodded and Ben turned to Wyatt who was talking to AJ and the others.
“They’re going to meet us at the Pentagon,” said Wyatt. “Let’s go.”