“Hello?” Harry Kincaid did not recognize the 405 area code that appeared on the screen of his cell phone and made a habit of not answering by name. It was a Friday night and Harry was about to walk out the door of his trendy Foggy Bottom bachelor’s apartment in a very chilly District of Columbia. It was going to be drinks, dinner and laughs with several friends. He was meeting his pal and business associate, Bobby Lawson, before picking up their lady friends for an atrociously expensive dinner at Chez D’Artagnan on Capitol Hill. He’d been out of the country for a bit and was looking forward to catching up.
“Uh, hi. Is this Harry? Harry Kincaid?” It was a female voice with a slight Texas accent.
“Who is calling, please?” he asked, still not giving away his identity.
“Um… this is Carol Von Karmenn. I’m Pete Von Karmenn’s wife… I mean… I’m his widow. Is it you, Harry?” she asked.
“Oh. Yes. Carol, how are you? It’s me. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize your voice. It’s been a while.” Harry had met Carol Von Karmenn just once a couple of years prior when she and Pete were in D.C. Pete Von Karmenn and Harry had worked together. More accurately… they had fought together. Even more accurately, they had almost died together. Harry Kincaid had been a lone operative working for the CIA early in the war on terror. On several missions, he was attached to the Delta Force team that Major Peter Von Karmenn led. After a couple of tough scrapes with some Taliban goons in northeastern Afghanistan, Pete and Harry became hard and fast friends. The kind that you could count on when you needed one.
“Yes, it has been a couple of years. I guess I’m doing okay,” she began. “Well, not really.” She paused for a moment, then said, “This is kind of awkward.” Another pause, “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No, Carol. Not at all. It is good to hear from you.” Harry took off his blazer and hung it on the knob of his bedroom door. He had no earthly idea why Carol Von Karmenn was calling him but he thought enough of her dead husband to be interested. Much like himself, Pete had left the service to join an “outside consulting firm.” Truth be told, such firms carried out clandestine operations for clients who didn’t care to be identified but had pockets deep enough to afford them. Often the number one client was the U. S. Government. And why would someone leave the armed forces or an intelligence service to join such a firm? There were two very sound reasons: One, the money was more than a government employee could ever dream of, and, two, the rules of engagement were considerably different. The second reason, by far, appealed to the Harry Kincaids and Pete Von Karmenns of the world more than the first. Harry was one of a handful of men who left various agencies to join Oceanic Import-Export, LLC. Their most effective recruiting tool was their unofficial motto: “Tired of playing by the rules? Come on over.”
“I’m, uh…” Carol was clearly having a hard time getting to the purpose of the call.
“What is it, Carol. How can I help?” he asked as he paced slowly through the apartment. He could feel, more than hear, tears on the other end of the phone.
“Pete said you’d be like that. He told me that if I ever needed help that I should call you.”
“I’m glad that he did. And, he was right. Now, what’s up?” Harry asked. He stopped pacing and sat down on the end of his bed.
“Oh, Harry, it’s a mess. You know that when Pete left the Army he joined The Talon Group?” she asked.
“Yeah, I do. I did my damndest to get him to hook up with us but he felt like he was getting a sweeter deal at Talon.” Harry remembered almost begging Pete to join Oceanic.
“I wish he had. Talon was being formed by a general who was still on active duty with the Army. He offered Pete some ownership and convinced him to come on board to help form the group from the ground up. Pete also thought that the general was in position to bring in some work right away. At least that’s what he told me.”
“Yes. He told me as much at the time.” Harry saw no reason to tell Carol that he had cautioned Pete about the potential conflict of interest with the general’s involvement. Nor did he mention that he had heard about the general and did not feel comfortable with him. “So, what’s up?”
“Do you happen to know General Jack Hastings?” she asked.
“I know of him, Carol. I’ve never had any direct dealings with him.”
“He’s stopped paying me, Harry. There was supposed to be a continuation of salary paid for a year if something ever happened to Pete. And there was supposed to be a lump sum payment, too… he called it a “death benefit.” Pete told me that it would be several million dollars… if...” her voice trailed off. “I never thought I would need money. I never thought I’d lose Pete.”
“When did the payments stop?” he asked.
“The direct deposit was made at the end of the month two months ago as usual but there hasn’t been anything since then,” she said. “It’s coming up on two months with no pay.”
“That’s not good. How are you making ends meet?” Harry asked.
“Just from our savings. I will go back to work as soon as I can, but I haven’t yet because of the kids. Right now, they need me at home.” She seemed to be tearing up. “I just never expected anything like this… and I really… I’m sorry to call and lay my problems on you.”
“It’s okay, Carol. Do you know if Pete had a partnership agreement? Or, an employment contract? Anything like that?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ve got a copy of the documents forming the company and it lists Pete as a partner. And I’ve also got an employment contract that spells out what I just told you… a year’s salary and a lump sum death benefit based on some stock fund that was set up. He also has some ownership in the company.” Carol had the documents in her hands as she spoke.
“I assume you’ve talked to the general about all this?” he asked.
“Yeah, I did at first. He was the one who came over and told me about Pete’s death. He was very nice then and seemed concerned. I called him when there was no paycheck last month and he was completely different. He said that there was no more money and he hung up. Now he won’t take my calls at all,” she said.
“Have you seen an attorney?” he asked.
“Yes, I have. But the lawyer tells me that my claim would be against the partnership. And he says that Hastings claims that the partnership has no assets. He says he can’t pay.”
Harry thought for a minute. He stood and resumed a slow walk through his apartment. Then, “First of all, Carol, I’m glad that you called me. I’m sure that there’s something we can do. Will you give me a day or two to work on it?”
“Really? Is there something that you think can be done?” she asked.
“We can try. Where are you now, Carol? Do you need some money now?” he asked.
“I’m in Lawton, Oklahoma. This is where General Hastings was when he formed Talon. Pete and I bought a house here when he joined,” she said.
“And the other question?” he reminded her. “Do you need money?”
“Probably not, Harry. I’ve got almost a thousand dollars left in savings. If you think there is some way to get the money Talon owes I can probably get by.”
“No. Let’s not cut it that close. I’m going to send you ten thousand dollars. That should tide you over for a while. If not, I’ll send you more.” Harry Kincaid was not about to see the family of Pete Von Karmenn suffer because General Jack Hastings and the Talon Group was not holding up their end of a bargain. Before hanging up he got Carol’s bank details and would later arrange for a transfer.