The Voting Machine

Setting the Stage

Sirens screamed, echoing across the shopping center parking lot. They had become a soundtrack for my life. There was no way to backtrack to my car without running into a wall of police and paramedics. So I jogged in the opposite direction, across Jeffrey Road to a tree-lined park. A white van pulled to the curb behind a row of shrubs.

"Get in," Fatima said. "We need to get back on the freeway before they seal off the entrance."

"I shouldn't go with you. It's too dangerous."

"It's your only chance, Temo. You'll never escape on foot. This isn't Barstow."

She was right of course. This was a city in Orange County, a place where bad things weren't supposed to happen. The shooting was already being met with a quick and overwhelming response: squad cars, foot patrol and helicopters, plus an automated phone message to everyone in the neighborhood with information on possible suspects.

"Jamaal is dead," Fatima said. "We couldn't stay there with his body and wait for the police. If they took us in for questioning..."

"I know the killer," I told her. "He calls himself Davis and worked as a bartender in LA. He tried to kill me last year, spiking my drink to stage an accident."

"So he works for the same people who killed my father."

"They are tying up all the loose ends. First they strike J.P. on his hotel balcony. Then they bomb the Los Empresarios compound. Now they are trying to erase any trace of funding that came through hawala. Did anyone besides your father and Jamaal know where the money was sent?"

"I don't think so. Jamal used a special cell phone for it. He would contact a broker overseas who texted back passcodes. Then the passcodes were sent to someone else who would get the money from a different broker. I don't think we could piece it together even if we found the phone. It's impossible to trace. That's the whole point."

The old van rumbled along the freeway, heading north past the Orange Crush and Disneyland. The lanes narrowed as we passed into Los Angeles County. Fatima raised the volume on the radio.

"Terrorists have released another warning of an attack on Tuesday's general election. The Messengers of God has already claimed credit for last week's killing of two voters in Las Vegas. Now the group is demanding the cancellation of Tuesday's nationwide vote, promising widespread attacks if the election proceeds as planned.

"The President announced that Homeland Security and the National Guard are preparing a deployment strategy at polling centers around the country. He urged Americans not to be intimidated, pledging that it would be safe to vote in the general election this Tuesday. There 33 Senate races, a dozen governorships and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives to be decided. And of course the most closely-watched contest is the Senate race in Nevada between Temo Salinger and Sandy Turner, which promises to tip the balance in Congress on a number of key issues related to foreign policy, banking, immigration and illegal drugs. Donors on both sides of the ideological divide have poured billions of dollars into the Congressional races, hoping to elect a clear majority that can enact decisive legislation in their favor.

"In related news, the manhunt continues for domestic terror cell suspects placed on the watch list since the voting machine murders in Las Vegas earlier this week. A former call center worker, an Iraq war veteran and Egyptian immigrant businessman are all missing and considered highly dangerous, according to FBI Special Agent- in-Charge Emmanuel Stevens. Stevens said that he believes the suspects have now fled Nevada and they are extending their search throughout the southwest."

"Stevens must know I am in LA by now," I said. "I don't think I can outrun him much longer. I'd give him another day to catch up with me. That gives me 24 hours max to prove I am not a terrorist."

"Do you think the group they call Messengers of God really exists?" Fatima said.

"Of course it does. And I'll bet they are exactly what they claim to be: religious nuts who think that elections are evil. Shiro sets the stage with all kinds of characters. It's probably better if the actors believe the role they are playing is real."

"So if these people are really so smart that they can manipulate all these different kinds of people, how do we stand a chance? How do we make people believe our side?"

"David used to tell me an old quote 'A lie travels halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its pants on. But the truth catches up eventually.' David was chasing Shiro's lies his whole life and now we've almost caught up with them. Something happened earlier today that gave me hope. They played a video on TV that I'd sent in two days ago. The news channel let me tell my version of events, they let me say that I was innocent and call out Shiro by name. You need to build on that. Tell them how Shiro killed your father and Jamaal. Reporters will want a piece of that, it's a new angle and they'll want to keep it going. Annabelle will be released from the hospital soon and she can help you. She has money and friends in high places. You two should hold a press conference in LA where you lay out every detail. Do it tomorrow. That'll be the last chance before Election Day."