I had met her on several occasions and after she donated a lot of money to the Yale Art program, I was assigned to help with the transactions as part of my internship. She is a very influential person but she would never use her power or money for something like an assassination of an American citizen because of her political views.”
“Well, Peggy is retired now and moved to Switzerland. Her daughter, Helena is running the Foundation out of their London office and at this point it is uncertain in what direction she will take the Peabody Foundation,” Partridge replied.
“The Foundation can be an excellent cover for some dirty politicians…especially with the change in the directors,” Tim Haspel made a valid point.
“What do we know about Helena Peabody?” Bette asked with interest. Peggy never mentioned that she had a daughter.
“Nothing much…” Partridge waited a minute while Hazel distributed the copies of the FBI report among the agents and then continued, “According to the preliminary investigation, she was growing up at the boarding school in Switzerland. Her father died when she was a teenager and he left her some money she could use when she turned 18. The night of her eighteenth birthday party, Helena ran away from home…the rumors were that her mother and she never got along and Helena used her newly acquired wealth and independence to start a new life. She traveled all over Europe and then came to the United States, spent a year at Harvard studying law but didn’t have a chance to graduate when her mother’s lawyers found her and brought her back to London. Apparently, there was a stipulation in her father’s will that Helena didn’t read or ignored completely but according to that Helena could use the money only if she would stay in London and work for the Foundation that her mother created until the age of 23. After that she was free to choose any school or profession. There’s a big gap after Helena’s return to London until Peggy Peabody retired.”
“It seems as if Helena kept a very low profile. Anything unusual happened while she was traveling or studying at Harvard?” Bette asked, wondering how the Peabody Foundation could be connected to the assassination threat. “Something criminal or scandalous that would make her vulnerable to a blackmail?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Partridge shook his head, looking through the FBI files. “The FBI only ran a routine background check on both Peggy and Helena. If there’s something that connects either of them to the threats, they need to run a thorough investigation with interviews and records search. It is our task to establish the connection to give the FBI a reason for the invading of the Foundation’s private records. Agent Sweeney…as of now, you are assigned to dig anything incriminating on the Peabody Foundation. Start now…use any means available to find if there’s more to their presidential support than just money.”
Max nodded and grabbed his laptop, going to the computer room where he immediately began accessing some of the Foundation’s files, hacking into their computers. The remaining agents began quietly talking, knowing that the briefing was about to end, when Hazel interrupted them again, “Sir, you have a phone call on line 1.”
“I’m still in the briefing, Hazel, could you tell them to call later.”
“It’s Senator Grisham…she said it’s urgent,” the secretary replied.
“Pass it through to this room,” Partridge said and waited for the phone to ring, “Senator…how can I be of service? What do you mean you and your staff are leaving for London Monday morning?”
Meanwhile, in London
Helena Peabody put down the receiver and wiped a sweat from her forehead. The voice on the phone was still on her mind and she kept replaying everything that she was told.
It was the same voice that she heard once before. Her mother just left to retire to her mansion in Switzerland and informed Helena that the Foundation was now hers but she has to be wise and dedicated to use its money. Helena was determined to prove to her mother that she could be trusted with her hard earned money and reputation.
A phone call a week ago, however, changed her plans. A phone call that was a reminder of a debt she owed long ago and was yet to pay back…a phone call she could no longer ignore.
Today’s phone call was just another reminder of inevitable and the caller finally left enough details for Helena to understand her mission.
“It’s time to repay that debt, Miss Peabody.”
“What do you want me to do?” Helena asked. Her hand was shaking as she poured herself a drink.
“Senator Barbara Grisham and her staff are traveling to London for a week-long tour. Grisham is your main priority but your first step is to get closer to her personal assistant, Tina Kennard, to find as much information as possible about Senator Grisham’s plans for the next few public appearances in Washington DC before the Senate goes into a session.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to do what you want me to do with the Senator while she’s here in London?”
“Absolutely not…” the voice was harsh and muffled. Helena had a hard time to determine if it was a male or female, just like the first time. “First of all, we can’t draw attention to Peabody Foundation because we need to use it in the future and we respect your mother too much to cause her legacy any trouble. Secondly, we want to make it a statement, so it has to be public and it has to be on the US soil. It would be a warning to anyone who wants to follow in Senator Grisham’s footsteps. The senator is getting the Secret Service protection as we speak and she’s changing her plans and public appearances schedule on a minute notice so we are not aware of her plans until the last moment.”
“What about your informant?” Helena asked remembering something that the caller told her during their last conversation.
“Forget about the informant for a moment. She’s doesn’t belong to the senator’s confidential circle yet…Grisham doesn’t trust anyone right now, except Tina Kennard. The senator appears tough and unwavering on the surface as if she doesn’t give a damn about her safety but we know she’s panicking. Ms. Kennard was with her since the beginning of the senator’s political career. Rumors are that they have been an item at one time, so they have complete trust in each other. This is your task…get close to Tina Kennard…seduce her if it’s necessary and find out about the Grisham’s plans.”
“What do you want me to do after I get closer to Tina and learn about Grisham’s itinerary?”
“Are you still good with the rifle?”
“My father taught me well.”
“What a bloody mess,” Helena whispered bitterly, trying to block out the latest conversation and pouring herself another glass of whiskey. The one time she went against her principles while she was at Harvard to keep her ass out of jail and now it came back to haunt her. She realized that if her mother knew about it she would never leave Helena her company and she would never trust her again. Peggy would disinherit her immediately and now it was too late to change things. She had already agreed to do anything to get her life back.
“What a bloody mess,” Helena repeated, finishing her drink and wishing for everything to go back to normal.
TBC???
