Jon Hersey - Spy Fishing by Leo N. Ardo - HTML preview

- "how much school do you have left?"

- "at this pace - four and a half years."

- "how long have you been going?"

- "two and a half years."

- "what's your major?"

- "business" ......

They talk - between Sinnamon customers - for about an hour: - the cart business,

- cart hours are 7 to 2 Monday through Friday, - "loss" of her parents after the divorce, - neither can afford to help with school, - bought the cart totally by

seller's loan, - paid off in one year, - improved sales and take home pay by

sticking to her business plan, - started tutoring the previous owner's daughter to

pay off the cart faster, - tutoring on weekends only ...

Jon has not enjoyed talking with anyone so much since Alissa. He is impressed

with her business skills, and joy for life.

Jon offer's Michelle a job as the office manager for his tutoring business: - she

can help him get it started, find office space in the building, she can use the office space to tutor her existing students, keep the cart as a safety net until she is

comfortable, develop the business plan, set up the bank accounts, get the

permits, ... And the pay would be $2000.00 per month for working from 2 PM,

when she closes the cart, until 6 PM, or until class starts. "Think about it

overnight and we can discuss tomorrow."

Now it is Michelle's turn to be stunned - "are you serious? Really? I guess it goes to show that things are not always as they appear to be."

Riding up a parking elevator, Jon is surprised at what just happened. He went

from needing an idea on how to solve his disrupted disruption, to helping a "poor"

yet brainy college student, to starting his own business. Now he would rent space

in the same building where Mark Dayton's office safely sits behind all that

security.

[His own business - tutoring / helping people - does not have to worry about the

complicated flight arrangements to keep his cover job intact - more flexibility to handle Zeta assignments].

He needed to talk to Peter about diverting $6000.00 per month from the Tulsa

cancer center to ... M&J Tutoring, maybe J&M Tutoring, or something like that.

Next stop on the compressed Cincinnati tour is Mark Dayton's home.

The Dayton's live in a upper scale neighborhood. Their five year old home is

10,200 square feet with well maintained landscaping. All the blinds are closed.

It's odd there are no bicycles, toys, or balls in the yard. Neighbor homes are

mostly full of activity: - basketball games, - dodgeball, - bike ramps being built, -

skateboarding, - etc.

A few GPS menu screens needed to select "Alston" from the address book - the third Mark Dayton company is 40 miles north of Cincinnati in the quiet Americana

town of Lebanon, Ohio.

It's approaching evening as Jon arrives at Alston Medical. Like Dayton Thermal

Wear the security has several levels: - corner cameras, entrance video, keypad,

enclosed dock, etc.

It's been a good day. Jon has gathered enough information to formulate an action

plan. First target is the highly secured downtown office, then the Persian Rug

store, then the Dayton home, then ... Several thoughts enter Jon's mind

simultaneously: - Dayton's home appears empty, - Mark Dayton is solo in San

Francisco, - the Dayton family is visiting relatives in [where did Peter say they were? ... And, that explains the absence of bikes and balls]. Jon pulls off the highway near a large shopping mall looking for a WiFi network advertised on a

store door. Bingo, a local coffee shop is offering free WiFi to customers ... One

latte later, he has the "super secret" pass code to log-in to their WiFi -

"GreatCoffee". Two minutes later, the Scrambler Blotter is ready to send his request to Anna, the forensics gal - need a list of Mark Dayton's family names

and locations, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins - same for his wife -

thanks. One minute later, his phone beeps to indicate a text message, "family

info in 2 hr".

Jon enters the highway for the 45 minute return trip to his downtown hotel

located two blocks from the future location of his new tutoring service, and with

line of sight into Mark Dayton's business office.

Jon parks the car, registers at the desk, enters his room, starts his computer,

launches the Scrambler, ... then orders room service. The Dayton family

information and Mark's phone logs are available on the Scrambler. Also, there is

a summary analysis of the phone records from the forensic gal.

Zeta Consulting Group

- phone log summary

- Mark Dayton disruption

1. Calls from any Mark Dayton phone (cell, factories, and office) to his home

number were 2 to 4 per day. Zero calls to home for the last 154 days.

2. 154 short calls from 25 different blocked cell numbers to Mark Dayton's cell

during the same 154 days.

3. Not a single call from Dayton to rug shop (Dayton may not need to call. Just

my thoughts).

4. Traffic between Dayton and relatives listed in second report is off slightly, but not significant to show any trend.

5. Email traffic has dramatically reduced - subjects, quantity, distribution, etc.

6. The encrypted files referencing Op3r@t!0n $un$3T , I believe to be the

Operation Sunset you asked about. Mr Dayton recently pulled his funding on

the west-end-project at the zoo. The timing of these five encrypted files

corresponds with the pulled funding.

A quick review of the Dayton family listing shows there are only two family

households in Seymour, Indiana. The rest are in Ohio and New Mexico.

Thursday's agenda: - meet with Michelle, - if she takes job, get permits, bank

account, start biz plan, - set-up meeting for Friday to lease office space, - and

road trip to Seymour.

Jon arrives at 3427 Bengal Way - parks the car - takes elevator to first floor -

then gets in line for another large-Italian-Sinnamon-Mocha-coffee ... There are

nine people ahead of him, one is a building security guard ... three are

policemen! Four minutes later, Jon is number two in line and impressed by the

speed of service. He arrives at the cart and a large-Italian-Sinnamon-Mocha-

coffee is placed on the cart as Michelle says, "you are my millionth customer. If you will wait for about twenty minutes, I will let you know what your prize is."

Jon goes over to the building security counter to find out who to contact, and

availability of offices to lease. The guard, from the coffee line, pulls out a sheet

with phone numbers, contact names, general pricing, and available spaces for

lease. The available space list includes two spaces on the fifth floor, #542 and

#544.

Jon looks over at the cart which now has 12 people in line. Michelle flashes her

hand twice [10 more minutes]. He reviews the list looking for available spaces 425, 427, 625, or 627 - the spaces above and below Mark's office, then takes a

seat at one of Michelle's tables.

Michelle sits at the table - "we have about 25 minutes before the 8 o'clock crowd starts at 7:45. Then I will be busy until about 9:30."

- "interested in being the Office Manager for the Cincinnati tutor service?"

- "I googled Jon Hersey and found out you work for Biz Planners LLC. There was

no mention of tutoring services."

- "I have been thinking about starting a business of my own. Yesterday,

everything fell-into-place. You have the experience for tutoring, the business

sense for running a biz, I want a business that helps people, and Cincinnati area

has the highest density of colleges plus elementary schools per capita."

- "I can not do anything that would jeopardize my finishing college. It may be

slow, but my current plan is at least doable."

- "my suggestion is to keep your cart and tutoring business. Take on a third job setting up the tutoring service, use the office for your current students, and see

what the future brings. If you like it, which I am sure you will, we can talk about

your next move that makes your degree possible."

- "benefits? Pay?"

- "put together a business plan that works and make sure the salary plus benefits you need are in the plan. We need an operations start-up plan and a separate

business plan. Start-ups have unique, one-time needs, and should be analyzed

separately. To get started we need office space, permits, bank accounts, etc.

This building has competitive lease rates, and it's close to your Sinnamon cart.

Here is the sheet I picked-up listing contacts and available space. Get us an

appointment to see some offices - hopefully tomorrow."

- (Michelle pulls a folded sheet of paper from her back pocket). "here is the biz plan. I have the startup cost highlighted in yellow. My proposed salary is $2700

without benefits, or $2000 per month with health and dental insurance."

- "you pick the option that works for you - either option is acceptable to me -

getting the right people is always more important than anything else in business."

- (Michelle extends her hand) "we have a deal!"

- "yes we do!"

Jon writes a check to Michelle for $3,250 which is the amount listed for the first

week on her biz plan. They talk about the action item list she prepared until the

first "8 o'clock" customer arrives. She pulls a business card from her purse and quickly shows Jon the cell number, and best-times-to-call, written on the back.

Jon borrows one of her cards and writes his cell on the back - "I'll call you during

"recess"."

Cincinnati Scintillating Sinnamon was busy with 16 people in line, and Jon was

on his way to Seymour, Indiana.

Crossroads of America

Seymour, Indiana, "cross-roads of America" is one of a few towns where east-west and north-south railroads cross. Town sign reports population at 19,045.

Interstate is lined with well know industrial, manufacturing, distribution, and

service companies. It's big enough to turn on the GPS.

The GPS voice - "Ash street ahead on the right in 800 feet" ... "turn left in 100

feet on Ninth avenue" ... "prepare to turn right on Pine street in 100 feet" ... "your destination is ahead on the right." Jon reduces speed looking for 859 N Pine St.

The house is a 50's style bungalow with an addition in progress on the back. A

closer look reveals that the original house is also under construction. Three

construction trucks are parked in the driveway: - Hansen Plumbing, - Seymour

Electric, - Drywall Specialists. Nothing here!

The next GPS address is selected. One left, 2.3 miles, two rights, another left,

and the destination is ahead on the left - 1268 N Rose Drive. The home of Sam

Argyle, Karen Dayton's only brother-in-law, is a five to seven year old custom

built home. None of the cars in the driveway have the Ohio plate GXZD371.

Anticipating that Mark Dayton's wife could be in town, but not at either address,

Jon decides to start the grid search he developed last evening. He is about to

dedicate four hours to a plan with only fair probability of producing results ... It's better than a stake-out in a small town.

Jon stopped outside another WiFi dispensing coffee shop. To his surprise no

password was needed ... [I guess that's life in a small town]. He is chastising himself for not thinking of this earlier ... Laptop - Scrambler - Blotter ...

- "Anna, any credit card activity on any Dayton credit cards in past five months in Seymour, or near Seymour, Indiana? Or anywhere?"

- "give me 15 minutes."

- "no detail needed just yes or no, and where! Can you send text message?

Thanks!!"

- "can do."

Jon decides a cup of coffee is needed to help pass the time for 15 to 20 minutes.

[Where could they be if they are not in Seymour?]....

It's been 19 minutes, Jon is getting antsy and irritable ... The phone beeps -

["Thank God, the answer to - where is the Dayton family!']. The message reads,

"appt to C office space at 2:30 2MarO. Doing deal if 2 spaces leased 4 min 3 yrs.

Michelle."

- reply: "good, thnx."

His cell beeps again, and message is, "no unusual credit card activity outside

Cincinnati and Lebanon, Ohio, except for recent charges in Park City, Utah, and

San Francisco. Same 154 days."

- reply: "good, thnx."

A drive by the Argyle home is prudent, but not likely to produce any useful info.

Exiting Seymour, Jon has a 151 minute drive back to Cincinnati. Plenty of time to

think: ... where is the Dayton family? ... If they are not in Seymour ... No credit

card activity by any family except Mark ... Why 154 days? ... How does a family

disappear? ... Can Peter somehow find out if Mark and Karen Dayton are having

marital problems? ... Phone records have a dramatic pattern change ... Check to

see if car is in garage at Dayton home ... Might need to get credit card and phone

activities for wife's maiden name ... How does a family disappear? ... Separation, euro vacation, Mexico, Houdini, exile, change names, trapped in a car crash, ...

THAT'S IT - it has to be - it explains Mark's per-occupation - it explains why Mark

is withdrawing from public - it's how a family disappears ... Where do you hide a

kidnapped family for 154 days?!?

This Disruption is now a Rescue!!!

Schedule gets Wackier by the Minute

Jon exits the interstate to call Peter.

- "hello Jon."

- "Peter, interesting twist to Mark Dayton's disruption. I think Karen Dayton and the two sons have been kidnapped. I do not have enough evidence at this point,

but it is possible Mark is being manipulated to sell medical supplies and launder

money for a terrorist cell. It's the best explanation based on the information I

have now

- "Anna has kept me updated. I like your interpretation better than mine. We need to 'cautiously' act fast and keep Zeta's involvement confidential."

- "what's your thoughts on asking Mark Dayton?"

- "no, not now! If you are right, the family is not in any additional danger. The kidnappers do not know that we know, and questioning Mark may change his

behavior which could endanger family, and alert the kidnappers. Find them!

Then, let's discuss how to rescue them. I'll discuss this with Daryl. Let's talk in the morning after you, Daryl, and I have had some time to think about Dayton's

disrupted disruption."

Jon is back on the interstate and 30 minutes from Cincinnati when his cell rings.

It's Gary Holstein.

- "hello, it's Gary here. I just got off the phone with the others and we would like to reschedule our Monday meeting to Thursday next week. Couple of us are

having difficulty getting our assignments done."

- "what's the groups' temperature?"

- "still good. A lot of enthusiasm and solid effort by everyone. Mark is still

somewhere else at times, but better than earlier this week."

- "next Thursday works for me. See you then."

It's just past evening rush hour, a good time to go for a run. Jon is looking

forward to re-organizing his thoughts; and, focusing on how to find and rescue

the Dayton family. And, how to avoid contact with Mark on Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, and the flights to Park City. And, starting his new business. A few

minutes into the run, the mental gears begin to mesh perfectly ... Kidnapping has

to be an inside job ... See if Anna can access Ohio state employment tax records

for Dayton company employees ... Schedule trip to Boca Raton to discuss

leaving Biz Planners with Paul ... Review Fly Fishing Wholesale Group agenda

and follow-up with team members individually on assignments ... Schedule time

with Michelle on Saturday morning to go over in detail the start-up needs ... How

to avoid Mark Dayton??? ... Access to Dayton's office before Mark returns is top

priority ...

Ninety three minutes later, Jon is feeling good about the plans. He orders room

service.

It's Friday - Beginning of the End

At 6:01 AM on the hotel alarm clock, Jon's cell beeps. The text message from

"Bat Phone" says, "early warning, Peter will be calling in one hour to discuss rescue of Dayton family. He is focused, engaged, and angry. He is thankful you

are assigned this disruption / rescue."

6:59 AM - Anna calls, "gentlemen, we are all here. The conference call is secure and being recorded. Present is Peter, Daryl, Jon, and Anna. Peter you called this

meeting."

Peter - "how do we find the Dayton family, quickly?"

Daryl - "first let's determine if this is an abduction. What is the evidence?"

Jon - "Dayton credit card purchases the past 155 days are authorized by Mark

only. Phone calls between Mark and other family phone numbers stopped 155

days ago. The phone calls from the Persian rug store to Mark's cell have

stopped. Anna, any progress on Ohio state employment taxes?"

Anna - "Persian rug store has one employee, a Sally Walters. The Thermal ..."

Jon interrupts - "did you say a female employee! There are six middle eastern

men in the store!"

Daryl - "I'll be out on the first flight. I can help with the search. Let's not do anything until I arrive and we can strategize. My bets are on the rug store."

Peter - "lease a Lear if it's faster. I agree that the evidence is not sufficient, but is worthy of validation. It explains a lot regarding Mark's behavior changes."

Jon - "Daryl, you can help with the search of Mark's office. My sense of Mark is there will be some form of evidence record. Peter, is Mark in San Francisco?"

Peter - "Talked with Carl yesterday and they are going to Monterey for two days.

Any more information we should share? Anything? Ok we know what to do. Bye."

Jon is more unsettled as time crawls along. To occupy the time he calls Michelle

to find out if they can view the offices. She said, "the owner arrived about 15

minutes ago to make sure the office space is presentable, and interrogate me

about you. Come on down. I am sure he would like to free up his afternoon."

Five minutes to walk the two blocks between the hotel and 3427 Bengal Way.

Michelle has tracked-down Phil Delemer, and put up her "back at 11:00" sign.

Michelle introduces Phil and Jon. Phil pulls his master key card - passes it over

the keypad then presses 1-2-2-4-4-8 - the elevator door behind them opens - Phil

pushes button "5" - and they get off at the fifth floor. The signage indicates the office numbers of Mark Dayton are to the right, and the available offices are to

the left. Phil talked about the security options as he unlocked the door with a

traditional key. The two offices are connected by a double back-to-back door and

the second office includes a small conference room. They view available office

space on the seventh and tenth floors. Jon is happy the security system ends at

the first floor elevator access.

During the elevator ride back to the main floor, Phil offers to lease any second

office at $1.00 per month for one year, with a three year lease. Jon asked

Michelle for her input, both agree the fifth floor offices are the best choice. Phil

goes over to the Security counter for a blank lease form, two office keys, and two

elevator key cards.

With their new lease in hand, Michelle and Jon, survey their newly rented offices.

A check of his watch indicates Daryl will be at the airport in two hours, and

Michelle needs to re-open her cart in fifteen minutes.

- "let's plan to meet here tomorrow morning at 8:00. We can discuss the start-up plan in detail. Maybe that nice lady at the coffee cart will lend us a table and

chairs. I have an appointment at 10:00 tomorrow morning. We will have about an

hour and a half."

- "maybe we can rent the table and chairs. (a big smile reveals her teasing). See you tomorrow."

Jon walks around the fifth floor to assess the security condition and hopefully

determine the operating hours of his "floor mates": - Twelve businesses on the fifth floor - eight work until 5:00 on Friday - and none list Saturday hours.

Time to pick-up Daryl.

Daryl is waiting at the curb - he opens the back door - places his bags on the

back seat. In 30 seconds they are traveling to Cincinnati.

- "any changes since we last talked?"

- "yes. We have rented an office on the same floor as Dayton's office. I think we can check out Dayton's office tonight after 7:00."

- "what is the situation at the rug store?"

- "they open at ten tomorrow. I think we do an old-fashion stake-out on Saturday, and enter the store on Sunday."

- "and finally, how is the tutoring biz going?"

- "meeting early tomorrow morning to plan the start-up phase. Would you like to

come along? It would save us some time and your input would be appreciated."

- "I would be honored to attend. By-the-way, Peter likes the idea of your tutoring biz and the freedom it will give you for Zeta. He would like to pay your start-up

costs."

Daryl checks-in - stores his baggage in the room - and takes his equipment bag

to Jon's room to make sure they had everything they need and it all works. For

the Dayton office job the equipment fits into their computer bags.

The streets are nearly empty on a Friday night at 6:45 PM. A few business

people with computer bags, or back-packs, scattered about as two men enter the

building at 3427 Bengal Way. Jon shows his new pass card to the Building

Security Guard, Dwayne. Dwayne asks for Jon to state his name - "Jon Hersey" -

Dwayne reaches under the counter and hands a note to Jon - "Boss, take a table

and some chairs up, Michelle."

A few minutes to set-up the bistro table and chairs in the conference room. The

table turns into a handy workbench. Daryl walks around the fifth floor to insure

they are alone. After a couple passes and a trip to check the restroom, he picks

the lock on suite 525. Jon shows as Daryl opens the door. Jon takes photos of

the office while Daryl goes through the desk. Daryl signals Jon to be quiet - he

found a bug in the phone. A family photo of the Dayton family at a zoo fundraiser

is across from the desk. In an instant Jon knows what the email reference to the

"Zookeeper and African Goats" is about. In the photo, Mark and Karen are

dressed as zookeepers in khaki shirt and pants with pith hats, Matthew and

David are dressed as African Impalas. Jon takes the picture off the wall to see if

it's dated. He finds a small spiral binder ["why does everyone put the stuff they want hidden behind a favorite photo?"]. Jon turns the cover to reveal page one: My name is Mark Dayton. This is a record of the abduction of my family to force

me and my companies to support / fund a terrorist cell. I do not know where

Karen, Matthew, and David are, but have talked with them weekly when

permitted by the kidnappers. I have also recorded a few of the phone calls and

kept them on my micro-safe account titled Operation Sunset in an encrypted

computer-speak font. The encryption code is 0009876aDh.

The overview version is as follows (details are recorded as they happen)

1. To keep the chance of detection low, only medical supplies with broken

packaging, opened for sample packs, and past shelf life items are sold to a

Pakistan company. The sales look legitimate, money is wired to my accounts,

then wire transfers are executed to six people which I have never met. I

believe the Pakistan company is a front for terrorism

2. Persian rugs are purchased from a Pakistan rug company. All profits past what

is needed to keep the store afloat, are siphoned off by an automated wire