Sheba's Gambit

by Kristine Frost

  Theo looked over at Sheba who was walking on Tony’s other side. “She doesn’t talk much about what she does for NSA.”

  “She’s not supposed to. I just assumed that you knew what she did.” He said with a sideways glance at Sheba especially since you let her take your son to Orlando.”

  “We have different interests and different jobs. No one in our family has ever been close.” Theo said a little defensively.

  “So sis, tell me about the Nathan Breckenridge. He seems very knowledgeable.”

  “Like I said, he’s the half-brother to the Earl of Olney. He is married but you never see his wife. He has two children—a girl who’s 19 or 20. She’s at the Sorbonne in Paris. She’s a very gifted artist. His son is in the military. I’ve dated Breckenridge a few times. He’s very much a gentleman.”

  Theo led them to a man in an immaculate tuxedo with a satin shawl collar and a perfectly tied bow tie. “Ambassador, I’d like you to meet my sister Sheba Bentley and this is Tony Bond, a friend of hers.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Bentley. Hi, Tony.” He said, putting a less than friendly hand on Bond’s shoulder.” He turned to Theo. “You’d probably better check on your boy. One of the maids told me that he’s looking through the staircase.”

  “Heavens, he should be in bed. Matilda is supposed to be watching him.” She hurried toward the stairs.

  He looked at Tony, his face changing. “What are you doing here, Bond?” He glared at Tony.

  “I’m just here with Sheba.”

  “I don’t believe it. I want to know why you are here.”

  Tony looked at him. “You know I can’t tell you anything that is classified. But my being here has nothing to do with the embassy. I’m just Sheba’s date for tonight.”

  The ambassador glared at Tony, then turned to speak to one of the dignitaries that had been standing near to him.

  “You don’t seem very popular with him,” Sheba said softly. “What did you do? Blow up the embassy?”

  “Well, not exactly. One of his guests was carrying a vial of bio-toxin. My assignment was to take it away from him before he could sell it or use it. He didn’t want me to have it so things got a little messy. The ambassador never forgave me for taking out the front of the embassy. I don’t know why, he didn’t even have to pay for the damages.”

  “Tony, I have to admit that I’m a little worried. I know that everyone wants me to find Sheba in a country that is friendly to the United States, but what if Carmichael or Bergeron are right. What if it’s in Yemen or the Sudan rather than in Turkey?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we just tell them and let them handle it or bury it as the case may need.”

  “They’d really bury finding the Kingdom of Sheba? That would be the find of the century.”

  “Trust me, if it hurt the balance of power, they would bury it really, really deep, like half way to China.”

  At two, the party began to break up. Sheba and Tony stood in a small alcove watching the guests leave. “Tony, what do we do next?”

  “There’s another expert, Aaron Aschler. He has studied Middle Eastern History for years. He may be able to help.”

  Sheba nervously twisted a lock of her hair. “Tony, we’ve both read the diary. I think we need to find the location of those small towns that Captain Seacliff mentioned. I looked at a bunch of maps on the internet, but I can’t find their names anywhere.”

  Tony rubbed the back of his head. “I think we may need to show the diary to Dr. Aschler. He may be able to tell us where these towns are. They sound Turkish to me, but I’m no expert.”

  “Then we’d better take the diary with us. Hopefully, he can help. When is our appointment?”

  “It’s at eleven, but it’s in Oxford. We should catch the 8:00 train. I’ll pick you up at 7:30. I’d rather be early than late. I understand Dr. Aschler is very strict on punctuality.”

  “I’ll be ready,” Sheba said as she turned toward the stairs.

  The next morning, she dressed in a navy blue skirt, low heeled pumps and a red blouse. She took the important pages from the diary, folded them in half and slipped them into a wide black belt and buckled it under the blouse. Then she added a navy blue jacket. She looked in the mirror to make sure that nothing bulged. Satisfied that she looked professional, she walked downstairs.

  When she got to the bottom of the stairs, the guard pointed to the dining room. “Breakfast is laid out in the dining room if you’re hungry.

  “Thank you,” she said following his pointing finger.

  As she entered the room, the Ambassador and his wife looked up from a small table at the back of the room. Sheba nodded to them, then went to the buffet that looked like it had every breakfast food known to the British on it. There were three kinds of eggs, kippers, bacon, sausage, Belgian Waffles with fruit and different syrups. Since she didn’t know when she’d get to eat lunch, she loaded up her plate then walked to a small table that overlooked that embassy garden. She ate slowly, savoring each mouthful. She had nearly finished when Braden and Theo walked in.

  He bounced over to her. “Aunt Sheba, are we going to that giant Ferris Wheel today? Sheba laughed. “That’s called the London Eye. I asked Tony about it, but we can’t go today. I have to go to work. You need to go to school.”

  “But Aunt Sheba, it’s your first real day here. I think I need a vacation.”

  Theo said sharply, “No vacation. You need to get your grades up. I had a call from one of your teachers who said that you haven’t been concentrating.”

  Braden looked like he was going to cry. “Every time I look out the window, I see that man.”

  Sheba put her arm around him. “Hey, kid. That man isn’t going to hurt you. There is a guard near you at school so don’t worry about that man, okay?”

  He didn’t look convinced, but nodded.

  “Hey, why don’t I plan on going to school with you tomorrow? You can show me the

  man you keep seeing. If he’s there tomorrow, I’ll call my boss. Maybe, we can get Marshall to come for a few days.

  Braden brightened. “That’d be great. I like Marshall. Can he bring his car?”

  “I don’t think so, but maybe he can rent one just like it.” She looked at her watch. “I’d better be going or I’ll keep Tony waiting.” She picked up her purse. “Hey, Braden, do you want us to drop you off at your school?”

  “That would be great. I’ll get my book bag.” He ran out of the room.

  “Sheba, Tony isn’t a safe man for you to associate with. The last time he was here, he blew up the embassy. If the ambassador would have known he was your date last night, he wouldn’t have let him in.” Theo sounded angry.

  Sheba raised her voice so the ambassador could hear what she said. “Theo, I told you I’ve been assigned to work with Tony. I can’t afford to lose my job so maybe the ambassador needs to tell Director Maitland that he won’t let Tony in the embassy.” She picked up her bag. “I’d like to see the fireworks.”

  Braden was waiting by the door when Sheba walked across the highly polished parquet floor. She had only walked a few steps when her foot slid.

  “Careful,” he called. “This floor is slick. I got in trouble for sliding on it.”

  She grabbed for the wall. “Wow,” she said breathlessly. “It is slick. I’m glad I didn’t land on my behind.”

  Braden walked over to her. “You can hold on to me. I have rubber soles. They don’t slide.”

  Sheba took his arm. “Thanks, hon.”

  Solemnly, he nodded to the marine that opened the door for them. “Thanks, Mike,” he said politely.

  Tony was waiting in a dark grey BMW. He reached across and swung the door open. “Is the kid coming with us?” He demanded.

  “No. We’re dropping him at his school.”

  Tony opened the door. Braden climbed in the back and fastened his seatbelt.

  “Did you tell Mom where you are going?” Braden asked.

  Sheba glanced at Tony.
“No. She didn’t ask me. Why?”

  She told someone on the phone that she’d find out and let them know. So I wondered if she asked you.”

  “No. I’m not sure where we’re going. Tony is driving.”

  Tony turned right. “He’s at Westminster Prep, isn’t he?”

  “Yes. I think we need to see if the man from Orlando is the same man he keeps seeing outside his school.

  Tony frowned. “No one told me that someone was watching your nephew.” He looked over his shoulder. “Braden, are you sure that someone is watching you?”

  Braden’s lip quivered. “I guess he could be watching someone else, but he’s always just on the other side of the fence from me. It’s like he’s looking at me.” His voice rose, “I always see him outside my classroom looking in.”

  Sheba reached around the seat to grab his leg. “It’s okay, sweetie. We believe you. Tony just needed to ask. Okay?”

  Tony pulled up in front of the school. As Braden unfastened his seatbelt, Tony said, “Braden, will you be okay today? We have an appointment that we can’t miss.”

  Sheba snapped her fingers. “I have an idea. When it comes time to play outside, ask your teacher if you can stay in and read because your tummy hurts. Then you won’t have to be where that man can watch you. Do you think that would work?”

  “What if they want to send me home?”

  “If they do, then you’ll have to go home, but I think that if you tell the teacher that it was something you ate and you’re starting to feel better, she probably won’t make you go home.”

  Braden smiled a little sadly. “I could tell her that I want to stay in and get caught up. I keep getting in trouble because I don’t get my work done because that man scares me.”

  When they got to the school, Sheba got out of the car to let him out of the back seat, “You do which ever feels best to you. Don’t worry about that man. We’ll take care of him.”

  Suddenly, he gave her a hug, clinging to her. “Aunt Sheba, I’m scared. I don’t like it here. No one likes me.”

  Sheba hugged him back, then knelt to face him. “Honey, I know that moving to a new place is hard. Moving to a new country is even harder. We’ll talk about it tonight. I’ll bet we can come up with a plan to help you. I promise I’ll come to school with you tomorrow. Okay?”

  Sadly, he nodded. He slowly walked toward the building entrance.

  Sheba could feel her heart breaking as she watched him walk with his head down and his feet dragging. He looked so sad and lonely.

  When she got back into the car, she had to wipe the tears from her eyes. “There are days when I could just strangle my sister. She never thinks of Braden, only herself. She took this job because it made her a glamourous big shot. She never even thought what it would do to Braden.”

  “He reminds me of me at that age.” Tony said as he started the car.

  Sheba waited for him to say more, but he just took one last look at the school entrance, then put the car in gear.

  Tony pulled into the parking lot of an old, rather ugly building a block from the train station. “This is the NSA office in London.” He noticed her expression. “I know it looks terrible, but we’re not supposed to be here so we can’t look like we’re here.”

  Sheba looked confused for a few seconds, then said, “Okay, gotcha.” She tilted her head. “Tony, what did you think about Braden’s comment about Theo’s phone call?”

  “I don’t like it. Would your sister rat you out?”

  “Tony, would you please speak English. If you are asking if my sister would tell someone my movements, I’m afraid I’d have to answer yes.” She paused. “I think the person that wanted to know where I’d be was Nathan Breckenridge. Both she and the ambassador like him. They don’t like you. I think she’d do whatever she thought would further her with the ambassador.”

  He opened the door for her. “Then we probably shouldn’t tell her anything we don’t want Breckenridge to know.”

  They began walking across the parking lot. Sheba said, “I agree, but if she asks Braden to ask me, I won’t be able to lie to him.”

  Tony sighed. “That’s one of the things that an agent has to do and do well. We can’t tell the truth without compromising an op.”

  “I know. I can lie to anyone else, but not to him.”

  “Then we need to find a way to work around your sister without hurting Braden.” Sheba looked startled. Is this Tony Bond talking? I didn’t know he had an empathetic bone in his body.

  “Don’t look so surprised. I occasionally think about someone besides myself. But,” he grinned, “If you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”

  Tony opened the door of the NSA safe house. “We have a few minutes. Why don’t you sit down here? I’ve got to visit the men’s room.”

  Tony leaned against the men’s room door, listening. After a few seconds, he carefully turned the knob locking the door. After listening again, he punched in a number on a prepaid cell phone.

  “Wyatt, it’s me. We’re on our way to Oxford to visit Aaron Aschler.”

  “I thought I told you to get rid of her.”

  “Get rid of an NSA operative? Either you’re nuts or you’ve been drinking.” Bond snarled.

  “I want her off the case. I’m paying you big bucks to get to Breckenridge first.”

  “I’ll get to him first. You don’t think she’s capable of taking him down, do you?”

  “No, but she could get the goods on him first, then call you in to take care of him. I want Maitland out of NSA. He’s been a thorn in my side for years.”

  “For right now, she’s greasing the path. She got more out of Breckenridge last night than Carmichael and Bergeron have gotten out of him in years. I think she might help us a lot if I let her talk to Aschler before I incapacitate her.” Bond said.

  “I said, take her out.”

  “I said, no. I’ll make it so she has to stay and take care of her nephew. He’s having trouble at school, thinks someone is watching him. If she has trouble walking, I think she’ll concentrate on helping him and leave the investigating to me.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Wyatt demanded.

  “You don’t want to know, but I’ll take care of it.”

  Chapter 12

  They were silent as they crossed the road to the train station. Sheba gripped Tony’s arm nervously. When they got to the other side, she laughed, “For a minute, I imagined that a car would come squealing around the corner.”

  Tony smiled grimly, “So did I, but don’t let your guard down. We’re still not on the train.”

  He looked around. “This way. We have first class tickets.”

  They heard a whistle blow a long, loud blast. Tony looked down the track. “I think that’s our train. Suddenly, Sheba stumbled forward. Tony grabbed at her, catching her jacket just as the train rumbled to a stop. She grabbed at him to avoid falling to her knees.

  “What happened? Were you pushed?” He asked as he slid a six-inch metal bar with a heavy ball on the end up his sleeve.

  She looked up at him, her face pale. “

  “My knee.” She gasped, tears of pain cascading down her cheeks.

  “The first class cars are this way,” he said as he took her hand.

  “Tony, slow down,” she said. “My knee keeps buckling.”

  He looked down at her. “Your knee? How can you knee be bothering you? You didn’t even touch the ground.”

  “Tony, it hurts. I mean really hurts.”

  He put his arm around her waist, lifting her a few inches off the floor. Quickly, he wormed his way through the crowd to the first class cars. He set her in the first set of seats that they came to. “Let me see!”

  He looked at her right knee. “I don’t see any bruises.” Then he gently pushed against the outside of her knee. “Oh-h,” she groaned. “That really hurts.”

  “Is something wrong?” The conductor asked.

  “She seems to have twisted her knee when t
he crowd surged on to the train. I was trying to determine the extent of the damage.”

  A man across the aisle said, “I’m a doctor. Let me take a look.” He had her sit on the outside seat. Gently, he straightened the knee and then bent it backward. The he wiggled it from side to side. “Aah,” Sheba groaned.

  He frowned. “I don’t like this.” He ran his finger along the outside side of the knee. She winced when he touched a certain spot. “It looks like you hit something with the outside of your knee.”

  Sheba said, “Or something hit me. I was just standing there when my knee gave out. Tony caught me before I fell but, it hurts.”

  “I think you have damaged your lateral collateral ligament or LCL. You need to see your doctor to determine the extent of the damage. I’ll strap it for you.” He quickly wrapped her leg, then handed her a couple of Motrin. “I’d suggest you see a doctor when you get back to London.”

  After Sheba slid over to sit by the window, she said very softly, “Tony, this wasn’t an accident. I was prepared to be pushed. I was standing with my feet planted, but this was different. It was like someone hit me really hard with something. Do you think Nathan was behind this?”

  Tony looked around, then leaned toward her. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He might have thought that if he could incapacitated you, you’d go back to America and leave him to his search.”

  “Well, he’s wrong about that. I won’t go. Maybe I can get a brace or a shot or something, but I’m not giving up my search.”

  “You may not have any say in the matter. If Maitland or Nagle find out about this, they could call you back to America.”

  “You are not to tell them, Tony. Promise me that you won’t.”

  “I can promise, but if the ambassador finds out about this, he could tell them just to get rid of me.”

  “We don’t have to tell Theo or Ambassador Barrus how bad it is. We can just tell them that I twisted my knee and I’m wearing the brace to protect it until it heals.” Sheba gently rubbed the elastic bandage. “Please Tony, promise me that you won’t tell anyone.”