Derek turned to Alex, “You are the plant?”
“Yes, I am trained to resist the psychiatric conditioning while looking like I am giving in.”
Derek glanced over at Sandra and then back at Alex. “So this knowledge stems out of the past high level espionage cases?”
“In the early 80’s, the Soviets used special psychiatrists to help their agents in the United States turn naval personnel in some of the highest levels of the military to sell them secrets vital to national security. Once we arrested these personnel and some of the agents, and through their interrogation, we were able to identify not only the methods, but also the psychiatrists who made it possible. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, these psychiatrists reappeared, helping organized crime to penetrate secure networks. These same psychiatrists helped to corrupt our poor friend Eric here and other customs officials. Now they are trying to penetrate the FBI. That is where I come in.”
Derek looked at Alex with sudden great respect. “How do you come in?”
Alex glanced over at Sandra who nodded her head up and down while saying, “Derek is cleared for this.”
Alex responded. “I have been trained and tested to resist the conditioning that these guys use and to provide an illusion of being compromised, effectively making me a double agent.”
“So how do you plan to use this ability?”
“Wait and see.”
Elise reflected on her conversation with Joe regarding his Great Grandfather’s secrets while working on accounts receivable documents in the winery office. She smiled to herself. Joe was just too honest for his own good. He was never a good liar. She had quickly figured out that he did not tell her everything about his Great Grandfather’s secrets. There were some glaring omissions and Elise could read between the lines. Joe did take her out to the far end of the vineyards to peer into the hole leading to the wine tunnel. Elise could not even imagine herself descending into the hole. When she was a little girl, while playing hide and seek at a friend’s house, she had crawled into an old refrigerator, locking herself in. Her friend’s parents did not find her for almost an hour. She had passed out from fear. Since then, her claustrophobia made even elevators difficult for her to tolerate. There was no way that she was descending into that hole.
The door to the office opened and Cathy walked in. “Mom, dad was acting awfully strange the other day. I have never seen him do that. After thinking about it, I almost believe that he knew that Teresa and her mom were going to be in a car wreck. How could that be?”
Elise looked directly at Cathy for a moment, deep in thought, and then started building her own white lie. “Your father, like other members of his family, was blessed by God with a gift of foresight. He can sometimes see into the future. Please don’t ask him about it. He is both very embarrassed and frightened by this ability.”
“That is kind of what I was thinking! I remember the stories about Grandma.” Then Cathy developed a slight pout. “Then why couldn’t he have prevented the accident altogether?”