Ollie

Chapter 1

Prologue

"Mr. Barkley – "

His secretary opened his door slightly and looked in. Jarrod Barkley was working on a motion before the California appeals court, but he looked up at the sound of her voice. Emily would not interrupt him if it were not important.

"Yes?"

"Someone to see you. He doesn't have an appointment but he says you know him and it's urgent."

"Who?"

The man moved in far enough that Jarrod could see him and said, "I'm sorry, but it is urgent."

Jarrod put his pen down and rubbed his eyes. This was one man he did not want to see, ever again. "Macklin, I don't – "

Macklin pushed by Emily and came in. "It's very urgent. I'm sorry."

Jarrod waved him all the way in, and Emily left, closing the door behind her.

Jarrod motioned Macklin to sit down and said flatly, "I won't do it."

"I can understand why you'd say that," Macklin said, "but please read at least this summary page before you say anything else." Macklin took a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket.

Jarrod took it and started to read it, saying in as unhappy a voice as he could muster, "I don't think there's anything that would change – "

He stopped as he read and understood. He read more, and he looked up, astonished. "This can't be true."

"I'm afraid it is," Macklin said.

Jarrod put the paper down, then picked it up again and read some more, then put the paper down again. His mouth was opened for a few moments before he said, "Even if it is, why are you coming to me with it? Surely you have people to handle this."

"We want you because of your help on the Alderson case, your legal background, your intelligence work during the war, and the fact that you are local. This problem comes out of San Francisco."

Jarrod shook his head. "You know what working with you did to me the last time."

"I know," Macklin said, sincerely, "and I hope you believe me when I say that none of this is my idea. I have my orders to come to you, and I opposed them, but to no avail. I have my orders."

Jarrod glared at him. "And if I refuse?"

Macklin took a deep breath. "This isn't anything I want to say either, but again, I have my orders. If you decline, I am instructed to tell you that certain criminal charges will be brought against you – "

"What criminal charges?!" Jarrod cut him off, starting up out of his chair, just about ready to grab him.

"Assault," Macklin said. "Assault with intent to kill. Attempted murder. Bribing an elected official – "

Jarrod sat back down. Of course. "Rimfire."

"Rimfire," Macklin said. "Nobody is sorrier about this than I am, Jarrod. I tried to resign my position, but frankly, they had me over a barrel, too. I wasn't permitted to resign, any more than you're going to be permitted to refuse this job. If it's any consolation, we will pay you this time."

Jarrod threw the paper at him.

Macklin caught it, produced more papers from his inner coat pocket, and put them back in front of Jarrod. "Read this full briefing. You might actually want to help us."

Jarrod picked the papers up, looking doubtful, and Macklin waited patiently while Jarrod read the four full pages. Jarrod looked up. "Is this for real?"

"I'm sorry to say it is. We really need your help, Jarrod."

"Just what is it you want me to do?"

"It's going to entail some intelligence gathering, like you did during the war."

Intelligence gathering. The polite words for spying, for pretending to be someone you're not and doing things you might not otherwise do. "Just how am I supposed to do that with a face that's been in the papers a lot around here?"

"Don't shave or get a haircut. You should have enough of a change in a week to ten days that you won't be recognizable. You'll wear glasses. We'll put a little gray in your beard if it doesn't come naturally."

Gray? Come naturally? Jarrod thought they were trying to insult him now.

Macklin said, "In some ways this is even more important than the Alderson case was, believe me. A lot of people have been torn apart by this ring. And your family won't be involved in any way. They won't even know you're involved."

Jarrod felt an uncomfortable itch. "This is gonna take time. What am I supposed to tell them I'm doing?"

"Write them telling them you're going to Washington on an important case and you will be out of touch for quite a while."

Jarrod blurted out a laugh. "Come on, Macklin. How am I supposed to get away with being 'out of touch for quite a while'?"

"Just tell them it's important and because of attorney client privilege you can't tell them any more. You're a high profile lawyer. They'll understand."

"You didn't learn much about my family the last time, did you?"

"Like I said, none of this is my idea, and I'm as trapped in it as you are. The only thing I can say is that every word in the report has been verified, and we have to stop this. It's already devastated a lot of people. It IS an important case and you can't tell anyone about it or what you're doing. Secrecy is too important."

Jarrod handed the papers back. He couldn't argue with how devastating this had to be to a lot of people, but he couldn't help thinking the government had its own people to handle it. He wasn't needed, not really. "You aren't really sending me to Washington, are you?"

"No. You'll stay here in California, mostly around Sacramento and here in San Francisco."

Jarrod still wanted nothing to do with this – but then he thought of the people who had been affected by it, and of course, they had those criminal charges they could file against him. "Even if what you're trying to do is good and necessary, you are a rotten bunch of vermin, you know that?"

Macklin nodded. "I know."

"Emily!" Jarrod called.

Emily came in.

Jarrod said, "Emily, I want you to forget you ever saw this man here or anywhere else with me. I need to go to Washington for a while. I'll be out of touch. Talk to Adam Newhouse about taking over my cases."

"What do you want me to tell your family?" Emily asked.

"I'll write to them. Send them a wire that I need to go to Washington and a letter is coming explaining things."

Emily nodded, gave Macklin an unhappy look, and went back out.

Jarrod got up and grabbed his hat from the hat tree behind his desk. "I'll need to stop by my house and collect a few personal items. You want to come along and make sure they're permitted?"

Jarrod said the latter with a sneer. Macklin stood up, nodding. "You won't need much. We'll see you have what you need, from clothes to identification papers."

Jarrod understood. Jarrod Barkley was to disappear for a while. He would be someone else for the duration. "You people stink," he said and led the way out the door.