Gulfstream V, one of the most sophisticated planes in the world, taxied toward him. As the engines shut down, the cabin door opened and out stepped Colonel Taylor in a full dress US Air Force uniform. At almost sixty-five years old, he was still a strapping display of military might.
Nick walked to him, offering his hand. “Damn, you sure know
how to make an entrance.”
“The president said I could take one of his jets out to close on my house.” He smiled.
“Not bad,” Nick responded.
Inside the hanger office, Nick listened intently to the colonel as he described Hans, a German scientist who was the only one known alive who could decode the old Nazi medical formulas. The colonel reached into his valise to retrieve a piece of paper.
“Like I said, this shit is so classified I had to go through NSA to get the full story. They informed me that you were right. Turns out this guy has some sort of formula that makes cancer disappear, or something like that. NSA also agrees that this guy’s life is expendable to a few very large U.S. companies, here and abroad.”
“I would think he’s aware of that,” said Nick.
“Oh, he knows,” the colonel said, pointing to the paper. “Here is a list of the other eleven guys who were on his team. All dead. None natural. No heart attacks, stroke, cancer—all accidents.”
“Sounds like he’s a marked man.”
“Look, son, I understand what you’re trying to do, but if you somehow talk to this guy, protect yourself. If he gives you any information like you think he has, they’ll take you out and anyone else they think you’ve told about it as well. A few years back his brother was killed in Amsterdam. An accident too, of course. His car was run over by a cement truck. Never found the driver. Gives you an idea of the kind of people we are dealing with. So you need to protect yourself. Got that?”
“Yes, sir,” he responded.
“Oh, and the president never heard you ask about this, and I was
never here.”
Nick nodded. “One last thing, Colonel. Why would Hans still be
in the United States? And how is he still alive?”
“NSA pulled his passport about twenty years ago. He can’t
leave. Surveillance still has him in the Baltimore area. We know he’s