“Right,” Fred said and saluted.
As he pulled around the back of the building, the medics were rolling a gurney out of the back door.
Nagle came running. She stopped for a moment to check on Marshall then she hurried over to Fred. “Were you able to install the tracking device?”
“I installed it, but I didn’t have a chance to initialize it. I’m going to try to do it now, but I’m not hopeful.”
“Didn’t this model keep all the stuff in the original model. The original model didn’t have to be initialized, did it?”
“No, it didn’t, but this one does.” He added, “What’s the use of have a model that does everything including letting us hear everything that she hears, if I can’t initialize it.”
“Well, do the best you can. Do you need help moving the equipment inside?”
“I’m not moving it. I don’t dare until after I get it initialized, but I think it might be a good idea to have some guards nearby. I could use Lt. Evans. He knows this stuff, too.”
“I’ll send him out. I’ll get some guards out here, too. Do you need any night vision goggles or anything like that?”
“No. I’m going to curtain off the back of the van so no light will show, but I can’t do that until Evans gets here.”
She pulled out her cell and pushed several numbers. “Get Evans out here, now.”
“His shift is over, ma’am,” a voice said.
“I don’t care. Unless he’s got a bullet through the heart, I want him out here in five minutes or less.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Less than two minutes later, Evans came running out the door, buttoning his shirt as he ran. “Sorry, ma’am,” he said saluting, “I was showering when the call came.”
Fred said, “I need help initializing that new tracking model.”
“Where’s the model?”
“In a kidnapped woman. I didn’t have time to initialize it before they took her.”
“It can’t be done.” Evans said.
Nagle stepped over to him. “You’d better figure out how to do it because if we lose Sheba, I’ll have your hide.”
Fred said, “We can track he. Once we find where they are taking her, we can get the other stuff running.”
Evans nodded. “I don’t think we have to initialize it if all we are doing is running a tracking algorithm.” He stepped into the van, pulled the door shut and drew the lights out curtains.
Fifteen minutes later, Nagle’s phone buzzed. “Ma’am, we were able to pick up her signal. She’s in Kent on the A200 going toward Maidstone.”
“Maidstone,” Nagle exclaimed. “Why Maidstone?”
Maitland said, “Breckenridge has a huge mansion in Wortham. It’s on the way to Maidstone.” He looked at his watch. “I guess we can assume that she was kidnapped by Breckenridge.”
“What do you want to do, sir? I can send a team to pull her in.”
“No. We don’t want her nephew hurt. We screwed up royally when we let him be taken. If anything happens to that kid, I’ll not be able to sleep at night. I have a son that age.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Nagle said. “You didn’t know that Bond was working for Wyatt.”
“I didn’t but I should have figured it out. When this is over, I’m thinking of turning in my resignation. I haven’t screwed up this badly since I was a rookie.”
Nagle said, “Toby, what are you going to do about Wyatt planting a mole in our organization? Bond has done some real damage these last few days. I have no doubt that it is at Wyatt’s orders.”
“I’ve thought about going to the President, but I haven’t wanted to be seen as a whiner.”
“Sir, I don’t think I’d worry about being a whiner. Wyatt is hurting our department. Sheba and Braden are at risk. The press would have a field day if they found out that an eight-year-old boy was kidnapped because we had a mole in our organization, a mole put there by the head of the CIA. It would look worse if they found out that we knew about the mole and didn’t do anything about it.” She shook her head, “We’d never be able to climb out of the mud.”
“I agree,” Maitland said. “I guess I’d better go deal with the mess before Wyatt beats me to the President with his own story.”
“True. I’m going to check on Marshall. Hopefully, he’ll be able to help us with the equipment Sheba now carries. I’d like to know how she is going to know how to use it.”
He groaned. “That’s all we need. She has the equipment, but doesn’t know how to use it because she was kidnapped too fast.” He shook his head. “If she can receive information, I wonder if we could use Morris Code. As an analyst, I would think she knows Morris Code.”
“I’ll check it out. Good luck, sir,” she added as he left the room. He looked like he was going to his own execution.
As Ms. Nagle walked toward the door, her cell phone buzzed. “Nagle,” she said after she had turned it on.
“I need to talk to Sheba. This is her sister, Theo Rossi.”
“Hi, Mrs. Rossi. How can I help you?”
“I want to talk to Sheba. My son is missing. He didn’t come back from school. When I talked to the Ambassador, he told me that Braden has been kidnapped.”
She paused, “Sheba was also kidnapped by the same people. “We are working to get both Braden and Sheba back.”
“What are you going to do?” There was fear in her tone.
“I can’t tell you anything over an unsecured line.”
“You will let me know when you rescue them, won’t you,” she said sarcastically slamming the phone down.
Nagle frowned, she can’t even be nice, when her son’s life depends on it. She slipped her phone in her pocket and headed for the door.
---------
A few minutes later, Slater pulled up in front of a huge mansion that looked like it had been built in the Tudor period. It had the typical towers on either end with a loggia between the towers. Three steps led to the loggia and the front door. A man stepped out from behind a pillar, walked down the steps and pulled the door open.
“You’ll have to undo the seatbelt. He’s got me attached to it.”
He reached across her, and unhooked the handcuffs. Then he helped her out of the car.
“Thank you,” she said.
Slater walked around the car. “Don’t flirt with him. He’s trained to do what he’s told.”
She frowned. “I’m not trying to charm him. I’m being polite. Talk about paranoid.”
He marched her up the stairs.
“Temper, temper,” she said. “Just remember that the information you need is in my head. You don’t want to damage me.”
The butler came into the foyer. “Mr. Breckenridge is in the library. He wants you to go in now.”
Breckenridge was standing next to the French doors, looking out on a plush green lawn. He turned, looking at her cuffed hands. “Slater, take those off. She isn’t going anywhere.”
Slater unlocked her cuffs, attaching them to his belt.
“Thank you. Now, I’d like to see my nephew.”
“Of course,” Breckenridge said suavely. “He’s sitting right over there.”
She turned quickly. Braden was sitting in a large overstuffed chair. He looked like he had been crying, but had tried to hide his tears. As she moved toward him, Slater stepped in front of her.
“Move it, Slater,” She snapped. When he didn’t move, she could feel the anger start from her toes moving through her blood vessels and nerves, up her legs and through her core. Her neck felt hot, and suddenly she saw red.
This man had the nerve to stand between her and her terrified nephew. She took several steps back, lowered her head, pushed off with both legs and slammed her head hard into his gut with everything she had in her. Startled he stepped back, tripped over a foot stool and sat down, clutching his mid-section.
Before he could move, she grabbed Braden. She held him close, letting him sob out his fear.
When Slat
er angrily got to his feet, Breckenridge said, “Easy, Michael. Let her see her nephew. I never meant to keep them apart.”
Michael glared at him.
“We need her on our side,” he said quietly.
“Easy, sweetie,” Sheba said. “I’m here now. It will be all right.” She pulled him away so she could see him. “Did they hurt you?”
“No.” He said wiping his nose with his hand. "I was scared. I wasn’t sure you’d find me.”
“Sweetie, I would move heaven and earth to find you. No one, and I mean no one will keep us apart ever.” She glared at both Slater and Breckenridge.
Breckenridge said smoothly, “I wouldn’t dream of keeping you away from your nephew. If your friend hadn’t grabbed you, we would have taken you, not him.”
Sheba’s voice was cold. “He isn’t my friend. He is a coworker.” She sat down in the big armchair with Braden on her lap, adding, “If he walked in the door right now, I’d kill him.”
----------
Suddenly, the van door was yanked open. Marshall slid between the blackout curtains. His head was heavily bandaged.
Frank turned to look at him. “What are you doing up. You should be in the hospital.”
He shook his head wincing. “I don’t want to do that again.” He looked at the screen Frank had been monitoring. “Are you tracking her?”
“She’s in Kent, we think at Breckenridge’s mansion.”
“Slide over,” Marshall said. When he was in Frank’s seat, he tapped the keyboard for a few minutes. Suddenly, they could hear Sheba’s voice.
“What’s she saying?” Nagle asked. “I can’t understand her.”
Marshall adjusted a couple of dials. “Better?” He asked.
Nagle followed him into the van. “Can you turn it up?”
They heard Sheba say, “He isn’t my friend. He is a coworker. If he walked in the door right now, I’d kill him.”
Marshall looked at Frank, “Have you tried to communicate with Sheba?”
“I didn’t have a chance to synchronize the module with our receiver. They grabbed her too fast.”
Marshall looked frustrated “The company said that it would automatically sync. We just need to figure out how to contact her.”
“Hush,” Nagle said. “Let’s at least hear what they are saying. We can make plans when we know more.”
Chapter 18
Sheba looked at him. “I’d like to know what you want me to do.”
He looked at her. “When we first met at the embassy reception, I underestimated you. I thought you would be like your sister. I found her to be shallow and self-serving.” He looked at Braden who had fallen asleep in her arms. He had turned to face her, his arm around her neck.
“I wouldn’t say this if he were awake. Believe it or not, I like young children even though I’ve driven mine away. Her attitude toward him angered me. Like me, she had put her career before her child. Like me she will pay for her neglect.” Breckenridge looked at her. “You are different. I do believe that you would face death to save him.”
“I would.” Sheba said.
Braden whimpered, then twisted in her arms, “I wish Captain Marshall were here. I felt safe with him.”
She got to her feet and laid him on a sofa. She said ,“He’s here or at least he’s in London. We were following you when I let myself be kidnaped”
Braden looked delighted, saying softly. “All right! If Marshall’s here, we’ll be okay.” He turned on his side and closed his eyes.
Breckenridge turned to face her. He sighed. “I wish you hadn’t destroyed Aschler’s papers?”
She smiled, “I wish I hadn’t been forced to, but I did read them before I burned them. I have a photographic memory.”
“But will you use what is in your head to help me find it?”
She walked over to look at the papers that were on the big library table. She noticed that he had copies of the books she’d purchased in Florida. Laying her hand on them, she said, “Obviously, embassy security isn’t as tight as the ambassador thinks it is.”
Breckenridge smirked. “One of his employees is on my payroll.”
“All my life, I’ve lived in the shadow of my sister. She’s prettier, more popular and smarter.”
“Not smarter,” Breckenridge snapped.
“Intellectually, no. People smart, yes.” She looked from Slater to Breckenridge. “All I’ve ever had that she didn’t take was Sheba. Sheba and my analytical ability. I don’t care about the glory of finding Sheba.”
“Really?” Slater sneered.
“Yes, really. I want to find Sheba to justify my father’s faith in me. I want to do it to prove to myself that I can do it.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Breckenridge demanded.
“Because I want to work with you to find the Land of Sheba. I think apart we’ll both fail miserably, but together we’d be unstoppable.”
For a moment, Breckenridge was carried away by her words, but Slater said, “That’s a nice speech, but do you really think you’re that much better than my boss?”
“Not better,” she stated. “We complement each other. What he knows and what I know will mesh into success.”
“You’re that good?” Slater jeered.
“Yes. I’m that good.” It wasn’t a boast.
Suddenly Breckenridge said, “I want wheels up in 20 minutes so get my pilots on their preflight check.”
“I’ll alert them,” Slater said, nodding to the radio clipped to his collar. “They will be ready to go by the time we get there.”
Breckenridge looked at her. “You make a convincing argument. I will let you know what I decide.”
She smiled coldly, “If you decide to let me work with you, wonderful. But,” and her voice dropped softly, “You hurt Braden, he will be the last person you hurt--ever. That’s a promise.”
Chapter 19
Nagle looked at Marshall. “What is she doing? First, she offers to work with him, then she threatens him. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t get both of them killed.
“He said he wants wings up in 20 minutes. That means they will be flying.” Marshall snapped his fingers and grabbed the telephone. “What kind of a plane has he got?”
“Bond will know.” Nagle said. “They picked him up before he got off the compound.”
“As if he’d give us any help.” Marshall said, bitterly. “I thought we were all in this together, but obviously we’re not.”
The door to the van was flung open and the blackout curtains were pulled aside. Tony Bond climbed into the ops center.
“Can’t you people afford the real thing?” He asked looking around.
“What do you want?” Marshall snarled, his Glock pointing at Tony’s heart.
Tony raised his hands. “Easy, easy. I’m on your side.”
“In a pig’s eye,” Frank said colorfully. “You’re on your own side.”
Tony grimaced. “Too true. However, since the president--”
Nagle’s phone buzzed. “Alex, this is Maitland. Wyatt and I just got through talking to the president. I’d hate to have that man lose his temper at me.”
“What happened? Tony Bond just arrived. We’re in the mobile command center.”
“He’d better be there with you. The President just informed me that he is going to merge NSA and CIA—two unites under one director. I’ll be director.”
“What?” She exclaimed.
“It gets better,” he chuckled. “Both Bond and Wyatt are on administrative probation pending the outcome of this operation. If either Sheba or Braden get hurt, their heads are going to roll. The President used the word, treason, so use Tony as much as you need to. But,” he cautioned. “This isn’t for public knowledge. It’s on a need to know basis.”
“Marshall and Frank need to know,” she stated firmly. “Because they don’t trust him as far as they can throw him right now.”
“That’s your decision. You’re in command of this operation.”
“Then I need to tell you that we need a bigger command center. This mobile center works okay for small operations, but we’ve got five people in here. I’m beginning to feel like a sardine.”
Tony looked up from watching the computer screen. He said, “I would suggest that you move to the CIA command post. Our center can accommodate your unit with room left over.”
“Did you hear that, sir?” Nagle said.
“Put me on speaker, please.”
“Yes, sir.” She touched the screen again. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes. Tony, where is the CIA command center?”
“Sir, is this a secured phone?”
“Yes. Secured and scrambled.”
“It’s in Kensington.” He reeled off the address. Then he looked at Frank. “Are they in the air?”
“Yes. They just turned south-southeast.”
“It looks like they are headed either for Switzerland or the Middle East. Breckenridge has a house in Switzerland. I suspect they are going there. He’ll need to get the information out of Sheba before he’ll know where to head in the Middle East.”
“Tony,” Maitland said, “Contact the CIA command center. Tell them you’re coming in.”
“Yes, sir. Do I have your permission to move the CIA satellites to track Breckenridge’s plane? If I don’t do it now, we could lose them. He has a brand new Lear Jet—top of the line.
“Go ahead. Can you do it from the mobile command center?”
Tony had motioned Marshall away from the computer. He began typing. His fingers flying over the keys so quickly that they seem blurred.
“I think he’s doing it now,” Nagle said.
Stifling a groan, Marshall crawled over Tony’s legs and fell into the driver’s seat. Sluggishly, he turned the key, putting the Hummer into drive.
Frank crawled over Tony. “Marshall, you’re in no condition to drive. Move over.”
“I need to help Sheba. I promised Braden I would come and I didn’t. I let them down.” His words were slurred.
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