Head Of The Snake. G. Rehder
what the hell you doing back here?’ He make me feel bad first time ever. I never see Mr. Mike this way. Then he say, ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’ Then I just tell him, ‘I worry when I saw those men.’
“He tell me, ‘They are bad men, Rosa. If you see them again, if they come back here when you are here, leave, leave quick.’ It scare me. I glad I never ever see those men here again, but I see a few times in town.’”
This was a serious piece of the story, I thought. I delved into it more with her even though I could tell it shook her just telling me about it.
“What about their car, the color? What kind?”
“Black, Jeep, with regular roof, four doors. Windows were dark in back. License plate Arizona, I know, it look like my cousins who visit from there.” She looked down at her hands. She was clasping them together. She sighed loudly.
I could tell Rosa was done. I asked her if I could talk to her again. She looked off to the mountains as if to avoid an answer, then said, “If it helps Mr. Mike, I do anything.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You have already been a blessing to Mike. For that, I thank you. Can I call you?”
“Yes, Mr. Jason.”
Chapter 9
Lehan was enjoying a light breakfast on the terrace outside his new suite. Andre’s old suite had a terrace on both sides to take in the Atlantic and harbor views. Lehan had moved into it right after the corporate meeting two days ago.
After he ate, he walked into the office to his own teak desk that he replaced Andre’s with. It had secret drawers that only opened by him placing his thumbprint on a pad beneath its top.
Lehan opened the hidden drawer that came out from the bottom right side of the desk. It held a laptop computer, encrypted and only accessible by Lehan’s right-index fingerprint. He picked it up and put it on the top of his desk, opened it and placed his right index finger on the keypad, and it came to life.
There were only a handful of people who could send messages to this device. This unit was reserved for his criminal activities, and those people who ran them for him. As he expected, there was a message and an attachment from Viktor Bardzecki. He opened it.
It simply read, “One down two to go.”
He opened the attachment, and when it downloaded, he watched and listened to the execution he ordered of Bogdan Gise. He then deleted the file and the message. He did not respond. He had faith that Viktor would follow through with the rest of his orders.
A knock at his door diverted his attention from the vision he had just seen. He quickly powered down the laptop, placed it in its concealed drawer, and slid it securely shut.
“Enter,” he said.
The door opened, and Maria Simpson walked in. “You wanted to see me, Joseph?”
“When they were in private, she called him by his first name. All other times she called him Mr. Lehan.
“Good morning, my dear,” he said. “Do you have an update on what Bar-Lev and Fromer are recommending? I would like to start scheduling my travel calendar, and I need to know if they are ready for that task.”
“I believe so, Joseph. Should I call them in? They are both working in the war room.”
“Yes, I would like to run some things by them. Have them meet me here in my living area. I want a little more casual atmosphere and have the kitchen send up waters, tea, and coffee, say, in ten minutes.”
Maria turned to leave then stopped and looked at Lehan. “Would you like me to be in attendance?”
“No, my dear, not this time, but thank you for asking.”
She walked out and to the elevator.
Ten minutes later, Maria escorted Bar-Lev and Fromer to the fifth-floor living area. She knocked on the door, and Lehan actually opened it himself to welcome in his guests. He looked at Maria.
“Thank you, Ms. Simpson.”
She turned and left.
“Please sit,” Lehan said. “Be comfortable. How are your accommodations here? Satisfactory?”
They both smiled.
“Absolutely,” Fromer said.
“We are being treated very well. Thank you,” Bar-Lev added.
“Good, I am glad. Now to business, I would like to begin my travel schedule soon. You will be ready to handle arrangements say in a week?”
Hava Fromer answered, “I have become familiar with your planes, your pilots, your airfields, and your global offices, their layouts, and security personnel. Your past protocols need some minor updating, but whoever put all those in place did an excellent job.”
“I’ll get to him later,” Lehan said, “but I want all protocols changed, in all locations. Don’t use any of what the prior security chief used. I will explain more later. So do you need more time to train our people to your satisfaction?”
Fromer answered, “Well, if we need to redo the protocols that were in place, may I suggest, bringing on board about six to eight of Masada Security’s best, let’s call them bodyguards for now. They are all trained by me even though they were well experienced in their line of work when I chose them. We all work very well together. Some or all can travel with you when you leave the island. And of course, I will always be with you as close as you need me to be.”
Then Hava continued, “The need to change protocols will not hinder your time frame for travel. Masada’s protocols will be followed and then implemented into all your offices globally. My people can also provide additional security here at the estate.”
“So if we bring your people on as you suggest, we can resume a travel regiment when they arrive?”
“Absolutely,” Fromer said.
“And Mr. Bar-Lev, what do you have to report?”
“I have studied your cybersecurity extensively mainly here at the estate. I believe your previous cyber person, Peter Grayden, am I right?”—Lehan just nodded—“did a great job protecting your data, program writing, and server security. But I have found several areas that we need to discuss in regards to your personnel. Someone has been able to circumvent some internal monitoring capabilities.”
“Such as?” Lehan asked.
“Such as there are some security monitoring bypass systems in place, two rooms on the fourth floor in particular.”
“So, what you are saying is that someone has been able to bypass the monitoring system in several of the rooms here at the estate?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“And what two rooms are we talking about?”
“Both residential room suites on the fourth floor.”
“I think I know which rooms you are talking about,” Lehan said with disdain.
Lehan sat in a large overstuffed leather chair. He leaned forward to get closer to his guests. “I am sure you are both aware that the Chinese government is implementing programs to monitor every one of their citizens throughout their country. They will essentially be spied on and will be issued, let’s call it a grade for their actions and speech. If the government does not like what you are saying or doing, you will have less freedom to move about your city or country, or worse yet, you can be imprisoned.
“It amazes me that one of the biggest tech companies headquartered in the United States is assisting in the development of this program. This should concern the average American citizen also, but that is not my concern.
“With that said, let me tell you, Sarnev was a pioneer in putting such programs into use here at the Bermuda Estate. We have