Smoke Reactivated

by Cherry Laska

  Jessica was excited and wanted to talk to Joe, but it was the middle of the night. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was 4:35. She’d have to wait until morning. She decided to send him a text, so he’d see it when he woke up. She grabbed the phone he’d given her.

  I read all the files and I’m reconsidering your offer. My kids have to remain a priority. As long as I can manage that, I’d like to join the team.What do you think?

  She put the phone down and turned off the TV. Jessica put a pillow under the covers to hook her leg over and was just getting comfortable when she heard the vibration. She felt a little guilty about disturbing Joe’s sleep but was excited to see the text.

  AWESOME! Don’t worry about anything, whatever you need to do for your kids—do it. When can you come to D.C. for a few days?

  She checked her calendar on the phone. She was supposed to golf on Tuesday, but she didn’t have to. She could cancel. There wasn’t anything she needed to do for the kids.

  I can come on Monday.

  Great. I’ll pick you up in the Citation. You can get some flight time. Meet you at the Orlando Executive Airport at 0930.

  13

  JESSICA PUT A DAB OF mint jelly on her lamb chop and took a bite. Yum. She’d done a good job making them just the way she liked them—marinating them in olive oil, balsamic, and Zesty Italian seasoning then grilling them over high heat to sear the outside while keeping them medium rare inside.

  “Wow, did you see that shot? That was amazing.” She and Lacey were sitting on Lacey’s lanai watching the Masters.

  “Yeah, that was awesome,” Lacey agreed and smiled wickedly. “You know my dumb ex-husband never made a wise decision when it came to spending money, but I’m so glad he bought this huge TV for out here.”

  “To Rick always being frivolous,” Jessica said, holding up her glass of sangria that Lacey met with a clink from her own.

  “Hey, Jess, you really struggled on the course today. I could tell you weren’t focused. What’s up?”

  Jessica hadn’t really been in the mood to play, but she had wanted to get out of the house and away from Anderson. Spending time with Lacey today also allowed her to start setting up a story for a change in lifestyle and to ask her cousin to check in with her kids while she was away. “Oh, I just didn’t sleep well last night. I’ve just been feeling … how do I put this … that I need something to do that gives me a purpose. And I know this is a shocker, but Anderson is being an ass. Well, let me clarify, he’s being more of an ass than usual. He’s traveling all the time and the kids’ schedules are so busy. So, I actually have been thinking about going back to work.”

  That was all true and would help explain the time Jessica would be busy working for Joe. She didn’t say anything about what she walked in on or about Anderson asking her for a divorce. She knew she could. Lacey would be one of the few people to get the whole story. She would support Jessica one hundred percent and only bash Anderson when Jessica was in the mood for it. She would tell her cousin soon but just didn’t want to deal with any of that today. Plus, it had the potential to complicate her getting away undisturbed tomorrow. “So, I have to ask you a favor. You don’t have to stay at the house, but can you keep an eye on my kids tomorrow through Wednesday?”

  Lacey reached for her phone. After checking her calendar, she said, “I’m free. Same rules as usual I assume. No parties, no sleepovers, no skipping school, and no trashing the house. They love me!” Jessica laughed. “Where are you going?”

  Jessica took a sip of her sangria and chewed on an orange slice while preparing to give the cover story.

  14

  TEHRAN, IRAN

  MAJOR GENERAL PAHLAVI was a hard and fearless man. As the head of Iran’s most feared government agency, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), which was staffed with the country’s most intelligent, most politically devious, and most deadly men, he had to be. But Pahlavi had been feeling an unusual sense of unease ever since he had told his assistant to place a call to request a special, private meeting with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Zardooz.

  Pahlavi wasn’t looking forward to updating Zardooz on a development in their search for the last of the missing IYRM members. When the Ministry’s report revealed their sweep of the city had failed to capture all the men on their list, Zardooz had exploded, berating and threatening everyone on the case and everyone with the misfortune of crossing his path. It was not acceptable that SAVAK and the police squads had let some of the opposition leaders evade capture on the night of the raids. Heads had rolled. Pahlavi had been lucky to escape blame. That luck would not be enough to save him if he didn’t capture and deliver every last traitor.

  Pahlavi arrived at Ayatollah Zardooz’s private residence at the scheduled time and was shown into the sitting room. The room was devoid of opulence. The only furniture in the room was a small couch that was positioned against the far wall under the window. Zardooz was sitting on the floor in the middle of a very old but beautiful Persian rug positioned in the center of the room. Pahlavi crossed to him and bent to kiss the Ayatollah’s hand.

  “Sit.”

  The General did as he was told. He waited silently until Zardooz asked the purpose of the visit. Pahlavi started by explaining the background and credibility of one of his intelligence sources in Paris. This source had reported the arrest of a French chemical executive charged with illegally selling chemicals to an Iranian, possibly one of the wanted IYRM men. Pahlavi sensed Zardooz was losing patience and hurried to get to the point. The Iranian had eluded capture in Paris and his location was still unknown.

  Zardooz exploded upward and pushed away the servant who had just come in carrying a tray with a drink and his medication. “Get out,” he bellowed, as the tray and its contents crashed to the ground.

  Pahlavi resisted the urge to flinch, knowing he couldn’t show fear in Zardooz’s presence. Zardooz despised weakness, and it would only serve to enrage him further. Pahlavi was unsure if he should stay seated or stand up. He opted to stay as still as possible.

  The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Zardooz glared down at Pahlavi and said through clenched teeth, “Send your best SAVAK agents to Paris immediately.” Then came the warning Pahlavi had been dreading. “I will not be embarrassed by your continued failures, General. If you want to keep the honor of your position, you’d better capture those behind the protests. I don’t have to tell you of all people what happens to those who fail Iran and fall out of the favor of the people.” The most powerful man in all Iran filled his lungs with air, rose to his full height, and pointed at his own chest. “And I am the people.”

  15

  LANGLEY, VIRGINIA

  DCI HENLEY HAD BEEN NEAR Joe’s office and stopped by for an impromptu visit wanting a quick update. Already late for his next meeting, Henley didn’t bother to sit. Joe ran down the little they had on the chemical threat.

  “Whitley’s in. I’m picking her up in the Citation tomorrow morning.”

  “What changed her mind?”

  Joe thought about it and answered, “It’s just how she’s wired.”

  Henley nodded. “Good. I’m counting on results from your team. Keep me updated on this one.”

  The DCI left, and Joe sent an email to disseminate the official version of Jessica’s file to the team. It was redacted and contained limited information, but her dossier still listed her Aviation and Chemical Engineering degrees, her language abilities, and some of her military certifications and schools. Despite all this, Joe knew how his guys thought and knew they’d have some legitimate concerns about bringing someone new on the team; especially someone who’d been inactive for quite a while. Joe wanted to address their concerns right away.

  Twenty minutes later when they were all seated around the steel conference table in the windowless room. Joe told them to ask whatever questions they had about the file he’d sent them. He answered everything he was authorized to before sharing his personal knowledge of Jessica’s capabiliti
es and character. He could only disclose a fraction of what he knew, but that was enough for his team to trust that the woman he was vouching for could contribute and perform as a member of their elite team. They were also sharp enough to read between the lines and knew Joe was holding back the classified, really good stuff.

  16

  ORLANDO, FLORIDA

  “CITATION EIGHT-FOUR-NINER, ORLANDO EXEC TOWER. You are cleared for takeoff runway two-five. Fly through three thousand feet, right turn to zero-two-zero, climb to flight level twenty-two-zero.”

  “Roger, Orlando Exec Tower,” Joe answered over the radio, “Citation eight-four-niner cleared for takeoff runway two-five. Through three thousand feet, right turn to zero-two-zero, up to flight level twenty-two-zero.”

  Sitting at the controls on the left, Jessica slowly increased the throttles to full. She loved the feel of being forced back in the seat as the two Rolls Royce engines accelerated the plane. She had studied the Citation files and felt comfortable. She also knew Joe was there to take over if she started getting into trouble.

  She made slight movements on the foot pedals to keep the nose on the centerline until they reached Vr—the rotation speed of the three million dollar plane was one hundred fifteen knots. She applied pressure on the yoke, smoothly pulling it toward her. They lifted off and were up and climbing. As they passed through seven hundred feet, Joe read the after-takeoff checklist for Jessica to complete. Once they were at altitude and set the autopilot to take control, she relaxed her grip on the yoke. Her tingling fingers and white knuckles made her realize she’d been squeezing too tightly. “That was fun.” She couldn’t stop grinning. “I just hope I can land without popping a tire.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Joe laughed, looking like the quintessential pilot in Aviator Ray-Bans and a crisp, white, button-down shirt. “The tires aren’t cheap.”

  The Citation was an incredible high-performance aircraft. The swept wing design with supercritical airfoil allowed a top cruising speed of five hundred twenty-five knots. They wouldn’t push it that close to its limits, but they’d still be on the ground in D.C. in less than two hours.

  Shortly after Jessica had met Joe, they had a scare with an aircraft malfunction. It’d been a close enough call that Joe started taking flying lessons a couple months later. He’d had a lot of years since to develop his skills. During the preflight, he laughed about having become a sturdy, competent pilot but still lacking her finesse. He’d told her to take the left seat and perform the PIC (pilot in command) responsibilities of flying and overall safety. He’d take the right seat and be responsible for controlling the radios and equipment for navigation. “By the way, what did you tell your family about where you were going?”

  “I said I was going to my friend Kristen’s in Philadelphia. She can be a little tough to be around. My kids won’t ask questions. It’s a good cover.” Kristen and Jessica had been friends since college. Kristen was a little self-centered and demanding, but she didn’t push it with Jessica, who had never put up with Kristen’s crap yet had always been there for her.

  Even thought he’d never met her, Joe had a sheepish grin. Jessica gave him a quizzical look. He explained, “I know who she is.”

  Of course, he does, Jessica thought. She had to stifle a laugh. He’s CIA. He probably knows what color underwear I’m wearing. It’s a good thing I always wear sexy underwear. Her supply of nice lingerie was one thing she never let slip. Just like she’d never be caught dead in a mini-van, Jessica would never wear granny-panties. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on the team and hearing everything you know about the threat.”

  “We’ll get you up to speed quickly. I have a feeling that whatever’s going to happen is going to go down soon.”

  She glanced over at Joe. He looked strong and sharp. He exuded the confidence that she hadn’t completely rekindled. She would. She just hadn’t yet. Logically, she knew her military training would kick in. The skills to handle any and everything they encountered had been ingrained into all the members of Grey Winds. She just hoped her skills kicked in sooner rather than later. She felt a renewed sense of responsibility for national security and other peoples’ safety.

  Her mind flashed back through some of the missions they had pulled off. They hadn’t just been good; they’d been great. It isn’t bragging if you can back it up, and they could. Each of them had been handpicked to create the elite unit. Specialized experts had been rotated through to train every member to be experts on just about everything. They had put that training into action on numerous live missions all over the world where mistakes were deadly and failures triggered international incidents. Despite all their expertise, though, something had gone terribly wrong on the mission in Argentina. Jessica had barely walked away with her life, and Max hadn’t.

  “What’s going on? You okay?”

  Jessica realized she must have let her face reflect her emotions. “I was just thinking about our training … and Max.” She paused. “Joe, I want you to know I understand you suffered too. Max … he was your best friend.”

  “Jess, we don’t—”

  “Yes, we do.” She repeated more gently, “We do. You’re taking a chance bringing me back in, and I know there’s a lot riding on us. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid that might affect us. Argentina … got completely screwed up, and with the drugs and my injuries, I was never able to wrap my head around how my cover was blown or how Di Carli found out who I was.” She shrugged in resignation. “I got caught, but if I could have somehow escaped, no one would have gotten hurt. The team wouldn’t have had to hit the compound to get me out. Max wouldn’t have … gotten killed.” She couldn’t look at Joe. She turned her head. The peaceful blue sky, speckled below with a few white clouds looked blurred as she fought back the tears. “He’d still be alive. It’s my fault, and I’m just … really sorry.”

  “Jess, look at me.” She slowly turned to face him. “Don’t blame yourself. No way is it on you. I’ve gone over it in my head so many times. We did everything right. Maybe we shouldn’t have let you go undercover alone. Di Carli was a really bad, really connected guy. Even so, when we found your location, we should’ve been able to take the compound, but they were ready for us. Guards had been added, and they had more firepower than we’d reconned. There’s no other explanation than they knew we were coming.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “What? You really think that? While they had me, they kept me pretty drugged. I don’t remember much at all, and what I do remember isn’t clear.” She absent-mindedly rubbed the scar on her stomach. “But who? Who would have betrayed us and why?”

  “I don’t know for sure.” Joe shook his head. “I have my suspicions, but I don’t have proof. We thought we knew everyone Di Carli had in the government working for him. Maybe there was someone we missed. There were a couple major American corporations who had ties to legitimate businesses owned by the Cartel. If we were successful in completing our mission, they all would have lost a lot of money. Another possibility, and I don’t want to believe this one, is someone connected to Grey Winds sold us out. The Cartel was ruthless. They used bribes, violence, blackmail, or whatever it took to get someone to do whatever it was they wanted.”

  The thought of that was very disturbing. Jessica was furious just thinking about the possibility. She’d spent a long time blaming herself and living with the guilt. She’d only been able to keep it pushed down deep and locked away by focusing on her children.

  “I’m determined to figure it out and make whoever is responsible pay. No matter how long it takes. We need to forget all that for now though. What’s really important is for you to know that you’re not to blame in anyway.” His voice softened. “We shouldn’t have made you deal with Di Carli on your own for so long. Then we couldn’t find where he’d taken you. I’m sorry for everything they did to you.”

  The horrific memories tried to make their way back into her conscious mind. She beat them back. “Listen to me, and I mea
n every word of this. I don’t want you to blame yourself either. It wasn’t your fault or the team’s. You saved my life. Honestly, I’m ashamed I didn’t handle it better. I was angry about everything, and I ran away. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m the one who owes you an apology. I feel awful I wasn’t there for you when you regained consciousness.”

  Jessica shook her head. “No. We’re older and wiser, so we can see it more clearly now. I admit I felt abandoned when you weren’t there, but only because we were so close, and I was so sad. I know that I was not thinking clearly. You had to follow orders. I … I just wish it could have been different for all of us, especially … Max.”

  “Sounds like we both have a lot of pain and guilt we need to let go of,” Joe said softly.

  “I still wish we had gotten a chance to talk. I missed you, but I wanted you to be happy. Max would have wanted that too.” Joe was quiet for a minute while he debated if he should ask what he wanted to know. He spoke up. “When we got back from the mission, I rushed to find you and couldn’t. General Schilling told me you’d been discharged, had gotten married, and were having a baby. Do you mind telling me how that all came to be?”

  “As you can imagine, when I woke up I was in a bad place. During the time the Cartel had me …” She couldn’t say it out loud. She didn’t even want it in her head.

  “It’s okay,” Joe said quietly. “I know from the AAR.”