Read The Buck Stops Here for Free Online

the table, Kimball rooted through it for a moment and then took out a plain manila file. He shut the case and set the file on top of it.
    “Callie Webber,” he said, reaching into his front pocket for a pair of glasses. “Thank you for meeting with us today. Well, tonight, I guess I should say.”
    He took his time unfolding his glasses and putting them on. Though my heart was hammering away in my chest, I remained silent.
    “I’m sure you want to know what’s going on,” he continued, “so I’m going to cut right to the chase.”
    He opened the file, tilting it toward himself so that I couldn’t see inside. After flipping several pages, he paused.
    “Here it is,” he said, pulling off his glasses and fixing his gaze on me. “I’m sure you’ve heard of a confidentiality agreement.”
    I nodded, wondering if they would ask me to sign one.
    “Often, a company will make you sign such an agreement as a condition of employment. Being in technology, Tom has signed more than his share over the years. There are a lot of secrets to be kept in the computer business.”
    “I’m sure there are,” I said. I glanced at Tom, but his eyes were fixed on some distant point across the room.
    “Six years and six months ago, Tom signed a confidentiality contract with the National Security Agency. Two years later, he signed an addendum to that contract. The fact that I can even tell you that such a contract exists required special permission from the agency and necessitated my presence at this meeting.”
    “I understand,” I said, though I didn’t, really.
    “In business,” he continued, “these contracts are often enforced with fines—sometimes heavy fines. You talk, you pay.”
    “Yes, I’ve heard that.”
    “In Tom’s case, however, the contracts are not just enforced with fines.”
    “They’re not?”
    I looked at Tom and then back at Kimball. The lawyer was putting on his glasses again, and he skimmed the page in front of him.
    “Pursuant to section five, paragraph four,” he read, “violation of the confidential nature of this agreement subjects agent to fines not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars and imprisonment not exceeding ten years.”
    He put the paper down and pulled off his glasses.
    “Imprisonment not exceeding ten years,” he said. “That means that Tom Bennett risks up to ten years in prison if he breathes even one word to you about the facts restricted by this document.”
    I sat back in my chair, my mind spinning.
    Ten years in prison…for telling me a few secrets?
    “Callie,” Tom said, reaching for my hand. “What you overheard in the hospital in Florida were things that should never have been said. I can’t take them back, but I also can’t ever tell you what we were talking about.”
    I pulled my hand away from his grasp.
    “But Eli knew things—”
    “Eli ferreted some stuff out on his own a long time ago. I never confirmed or denied what he learned, but he found enough outside sources to gain a full understanding of the facts anyway. Because he was former NSA himself, I felt free to talk with him that day at the hospital, though I really shouldn’t have.”
    “Tom, was the ‘James’ you spoke of James Sparks?”
    Tom looked back at me, helpless.
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t answer that question.”
    I stared at both men, thoroughly confused. Had they really gone to all of this trouble in order to tell me…nothing?
    “You said I have the right to know the truth.”
    “You do have the right to know the truth,” he replied. “But I can’t be the one to give it to you. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve pulled every string, spoken to every legal expert at my disposal, exhausted every option I have. My hands are tied.”
    “So what does this mean?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer. “Is there someone else I can talk to? Kimball?”
    The lawyer shook his head.
    “Tom sought my counsel on this matter, and I’m sorry to say that I also have