2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [68]
“You heard, huh?”
“I’m watching it right now. I was going to call you.”
“What’s going on?
“I don’t know. This was a surprise.”
“Is this related to the bus shootings?”
“I don’t know.”
“Christ, somebody is angry. That’s a big hole out there.”
“Maybe one of your members thought the dues were too high.”
“Very funny.”
“Sorry. So you’re okay?”
“I’m okay. So how are you?”
“I’m fine. At least my building doesn’t have a hole in it.”
“Keep making fun,” Paul said. “Seriously, let me know if you find anything out.”
“You know I will. Have you been back to the club?”
“No. Not since you.”
“Well, I enjoyed that night. It was fun talking.”
“I agree. We’ll do it again.”
Paul walked back into Golden’s office and found four people there. Two were from the FBI and two from the Secret Service. “Folks, this is Paul Prescott; he’s my number one here.” Golden then handed Paul a sheet of paper. It was the note left by the bomber:
WARNING—GIVE BACK. ALL YOU DO IS TAKE. YOU HAVE HAD YOUR FUN NOW IT’S TIME TO LET OTHERS HAVE THEIRS. WE WILL NOT STOP. THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT YOU WILL SEE IF YOU DON’T SHARE YOUR COMFORT AND YOUR WEALTH. WE HAVE NOTHING, YOU HAVE IT ALL.
And it was signed, YOUTH FOR EQUALITY.
Prescott sat down, not knowing what to say. He asked one of the FBI agents if they knew who that group was. They didn’t. “So what happens now?” he asked. An FBI agent said they were aware of these kinds of groups but not this specific one. They were going to increase security around the building but do it in a way so as not to attract attention.
“How can you do that without attracting attention?” Golden wanted to know. “And maybe we should attract attention. Maybe we should let these people know they can’t just attack us like this.”
“There’s a way to go about this, Mr. Golden. Let us do our job, and if we feel you or your people are at further risk, we’ll step things up. The one thing we don’t want to do is to act scared. That’s what they look for and that will give them encouragement for more attacks. If it looks like it caused some commotion, but things promptly went back to normal, it will make them plan more aggressively, which is the best way to catch them.”
“What if we don’t catch them?”
“We will.”
Paul asked a good question. “Did this note go everywhere? Does the news have it?”
“Yes,” one of the Secret Service men told him. “It was sent everywhere.”
“So how do we deal with that?”
“We will help you craft a statement that will be out within an hour, and you will do your best to avoid answering questions directly. If you are forced to do so, you will say you don’t know anything, which is true, since you don’t.”
“And you think it’s safe to work in this building?” Golden asked. The Secret Service agent gave him the best answer.
“Mr. Golden, my sister works here and I would tell her to show up as usual.”
“Who’s your sister?”
“Janice Eaton.” Golden thought a moment and then went to his screen to check on the name.
“Oh, sure. She’s wonderful. In accounting.”
“She was in accounting; she was transferred to event planning.”
“That’s great,” Robert said. “She is a valuable employee.”
“She hates event planning. Any chance she could get her old job back?”
“Done. Tell her she’s back in accounting.” As if Golden was going to piss off the Secret Service.
* * *
When Max Leonard saw the news of the bombing and then read the note, he felt as though his life was coming together. At times he thought he was the only one who was passionate about this, even though he knew others were out there. But when he saw someone brave enough to make a big statement like this one, he knew he was on the right track.
Max was almost jealous. All he had done was to have meetings and talk about it, but here was someone who put those words into action. When he saw Kathy that night he was so excited. “I have to find out who this group is. Maybe we can join.”
Kathy seemed excited, too, but she really hadn’t thought it through like Max and she wasn’t sure if bombing buildings was the best way to