by David Archer
If she hadn’t been tired and worried about what this unnamed young woman in the CIA might actually know, she would have noticed the utility van that was parked two doors down.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Charger rolled into Washington, DC, at just before eight in the morning, and his GPS directed him to the gated, secure community where Monica made her home. There was a security fence that went around the entire subdivision, and Noah cruised along its perimeter as he took out his phone to call Allison.
“Camelot,” he said when she answered.
“Where are you?” Allison shot back.
“I’m just outside her subdivision. There are two entrances, both of them with gates that only open with a code, and I can see a security car roaming through the streets. A lot of video cameras are scattered around, but I think I can avoid them.”
“I can fix that for you,” Allison said. “Molly was able to get Jonathan Lord’s gate code. It’s five-one-seven-nine-eight and then the pound sign. He’s out of town on a trip to Los Angeles, and apparently her children are gone. My people say she’s alone in the house, but she didn’t get in until five forty-nine this morning.”
“I’d been under the impression she was coming straight home after she dropped me at Memphis,” Noah said, “but apparently she had other things on her agenda. That’s fine—if she’s a little tired, then she’ll be less likely to try to put up a fight before she hears what I’ve got to say.”
“All right. You are authorized to proceed.” The line went dead, as always, and Noah dropped the phone into his pocket as he circled around to the main entrance of the community. He pulled up to the gate and powered down his window, then reached out and entered the code. Three seconds later, the gate began to swing open, and Noah drove through it.
The GPS directed his turns, and he parked the car on the street in front of the house across from Monica’s. He got out of the car and walked directly to her front door, then rang the doorbell.
A couple of minutes later, he rang again. He considered the possibility that she might have seen him and run out the back, but he was counting on her natural intelligence to realize that he wouldn’t have rung the doorbell if he was coming to do her harm.
From inside the house, he heard faint sounds of motion. It sounded like bare feet on the hardwood floor, and then the small curtain on the window in the door moved aside and Monica’s face peered out at him. There was no look of shock or surprise, just a wariness that kept her eyes locked on his for about five seconds, and then he heard the dead bolt click as she unlocked the door. She swung it open and stood there in a bathrobe, just looking into his face.
“I’m here to talk,” Noah said.
Monica nodded slowly. “I thought as much,” she said. “I suppose you might as well come in. I’ve got coffee on. Would you like a cup?”
“That sounds good,” Noah replied, “but I’ll pour it myself if you don’t mind.”
She actually managed half a grin as she reached out and unlocked the storm door. Noah pulled it open and stepped inside, and she turned her back to him as she led him toward the kitchen. When they got there, she pointed at a cabinet over her coffee maker. “Cups are up there,” she said.
She sat down at the table and picked up her own cup as he chose one and filled it. A moment later, he sat down across from her and sipped at the hot liquid.
“Do your bosses know what happens to you if you kill me?” Monica asked.
“I had your device removed two days ago,” Noah replied. “It wasn’t that hard to do, actually.”
She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “I’ve got a little detector that says you’re lying,” she said.
Noah shook his head. “We caught the little transmitter, and I’ve got one implanted in the same spot that puts out the same coded signal. Your detector only checks to see if it’s receiving the signal, and it is. Unfortunately, it can’t tell whether it’s coming from the original device or a simple mockup, like mine.”
Monica’s face was pale, but she wasn’t letting the fear into her expressions. “So,” she said, “you said you wanted to talk. What about?”
“About bringing you into our organization as an advisor,” he replied. “Monique—sorry, Monica—you’ve been working alone and trying to accomplish so many things for a long time, but you had to have known that you’d almost certainly be discovered sooner or later. If it was anybody but us, you’d already be in a top secret holding cell, and someone would be doing everything possible to make you tell everything you know. When that was over, you’d simply disappear, but I think you’re much more valuable than that. Allison authorized me to try to convince you to work with us.”
“And if I refuse,” she said, “then I’m sure your orders are a bit more final, am I right?”
“Yes. If you refuse, I am under orders to terminate you.”
She looked directly into his eyes for several seconds, then cocked her head slightly to the right. “So, if I accept, how would this work?”
“You would remain free, using your contacts and knowledge to provide information to a very small group of representatives from several agencies. CIA, E & E, DHS, NSA, maybe FBI and a couple others. They’d be like a committee, and you would answer to them. Your true identity would be kept secret, and your operatives would never know that you are working with the US government.”
“I’d have to have the freedom to continue doing the things I do,” she said. “It’s how I maintain control over these people.”
“I expected as much, and I can guarantee that you can do so.”
She leaned back in her chair, looking a great deal like a nervous child. “My husband never knows? My kids?”
“Not unless you end up telling them,” Noah said. “That would only hamper your benefit to the government. Of course, when you retire, there will probably be a medal in it for you, so they might find out then that you were working for the government.”
She sniffled. “Sorry, I seem to be getting a cold. Who all would be on this committee?”
“I don’t have names, but they would probably be intelligence analysts. They would ask you questions, and you provide the answers. What they do with the information after that is up to them.”
“And who above them would know about me?”
“Their top supervisors, of course, and there may be a few others, but your actual identity would be classified Top Secret with special restrictions. Even the president would not know who you are, only that someone in your position exists.”
“What happens when they’re done with me? Is that when you pay me another visit?”
“I sincerely doubt it. Monica, if you had found your way into the CIA and shown your capabilities there, you would be considered a national hero. Even now, by coming in with us, you can count on absolute amnesty for everything you’ve done in the past. Your value to our national security is that great.”
“And what if I don’t want to?” she said suddenly. “Don’t you understand that our own government is little more than a puppet to the people I’ve been working against?”
“I do,” Noah said. “That’s precisely why I’m here. Allison agrees with me that we need an organization that can do exactly what you have been trying to do, and setting you up with this committee is the first step in that direction. All of your activities will remain top secret, restricted, so that you can continue your work to expose and eliminate those puppet masters.”
Her eyes opened slightly wider, and Noah suddenly saw a twinkle in them. “Are you saying I could possibly run such an organization?”
“I know of no one else better qualified. Monica, this is your chance to achieve your goals, while putting an end to all the efforts currently going on to figure out who you are. If you agree to this, you will be in a position to make a serious difference. If you don’t, all you’re going to do is leave your children motherless.”
A flash of anger flew across her features and vanished as quickly as it came.
“You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
“That’s not my job,” Noah said. “My job, right now, is to convince you to take this offer while you still can.”
“Of course I’m going to take it,” she said. “It’s not like you’re leaving me any choice, now, is it?”
“Not really. And before you try to get all sneaky, don’t even think about agreeing to take it unless you’re willing to actually commit. If you try to disappear or turn this against us, it won’t be me they send. It’ll be someone you’ll never expect, and it will happen so fast that you won’t have any chance to see it coming.”
“My children are young enough that they need their mother,” Monica snapped. “I don’t plan on disappearing, and I’m certainly not going to risk getting one of your kind set on me. Noah, I’m not going to lie and say I’m thrilled that you found me out, but I’m also not going to be stupid enough to get myself eliminated now that you know.” Her expression softened over a half-dozen seconds, and finally she gave him a slight grin. “I guess, in a way, I appreciate this. You giving me a chance, I mean, when it would be so easy to just kill me and get it over with. Of course, a part of me wonders why you’re doing it.”
Noah looked at her for a couple of seconds, then came to a decision. “The file you were given on me was completely fake. It was designed primarily to try to set you up to be caught, but you are actually smarter than we thought you were. Every trap we set for you failed to track you down, and it wasn’t until I actually saw you face-to-face yesterday that we managed to get the one detail that would confirm who you were.”
“And what was that?”
“Your hands,” Noah said, pointing at them as they were wrapped around her coffee cup. “When our intelligence department found out about how small your hands are compared to the rest of you, they actually found a reference to them on Facebook that led them back to you. Once we compared the photo on your profile to one that I had taken of you, we knew we had the right person.”
Monica stared at him for a moment, then chuckled. “The sunglasses, right? Camera built into them?”
Noah nodded. “Yes. I snapped a couple pictures of you yesterday with them and sent them back to my HQ. That’s how we confirmed your identity, and what led to me making you this offer.”
“Okay. Then who are you, really?”
“I’m a man who suffers from something called histrionic affect disorder. What that means is that I have no normal emotions, and nothing that would normally be considered to be a conscience. You made the comment that I seem to be able to analyze the situation instantly, and that’s because I really do operate on logic, but I also have learned to mimic normal human behavior in order to fit in. That’s given me an insight into human nature that allows me to predict what people will do fairly accurately.”
“I should’ve known it was stupid of me to want to recruit you,” she said. “But that’s me, I have to have the best. So, what happens now?”
“When are your children due home?”
“The girls will be home later today, but Jon Junior won’t be back until tomorrow. Why?”
“Because I need you to meet the Dragon Lady. She’s the one who will actually put this group together, and she needs to know that you’re ready to come on board.”
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Jonathan won’t be home for a couple of days, probably, and I can arrange for the girls to stay where they are another night. They’ll be thrilled. Can I be back home by tomorrow?”
Noah took out his phone and dialed Allison, then put it on speaker and laid it on the table. She answered in the middle of the first ring.
“Camelot, report,” she said.
“I’m sitting at the kitchen table with Monica Lord,” Noah said, “and you are on speaker. I’ve made my presentation, and she has agreed. I think the next step is to put the two of you together so you can begin assembling the supervisory group.”
“I agree,” Allison said. “Monica, hello.”
“Hello, Allison,” Monica replied. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I could say the same,” Allison said with a chuckle, “and probably neither of us has heard a lot of good about the other. Noah says you accept his proposition?”
“Well, I’ll be honest enough to tell you that it beats the alternative.”
“I’m sure it does,” Allison said, “but I have to say that I’m looking forward to the chance to work with you. How soon can we get together?”
“Noah just explained that we need to do it as soon as possible, so I’m going to make a couple of calls in just a moment. I’ve got to arrange for my daughters to stay with their friend another night, and then I can arrange a flight and be out there probably by lunchtime.”
“Excellent. Have Noah give you my number, and you can let me know when your flight will be in. I’ll make a point of meeting you myself at the airport. We’ll talk then, and I’ll buy lunch.”
The phone went dead, and Noah picked it up and put it back into his pocket.
“She doesn’t waste any time, does she?” Monica said, grinning. “My kind of person.”
“She definitely knows what she’s doing,” Noah said. “Make your calls, and I’ll take you to the airport.”
Forty-five minutes later, Noah dropped Monica off near the charter entrance of Dulles Airport, then drove directly to a nearby hotel and got a room. As soon as he was checked in and inside the room, he called Sarah to let her know that he was going to get some sleep before heading back.
“How did it go?” Sarah asked.
“The only way it could. She accepted my proposition, and she’s on a plane to Kirtland right now. Allison is going to meet her at the airport, and my curious side wishes I could watch.”
“I just hope she doesn’t try to pull anything,” Sarah said. “Allison wouldn’t hesitate to have her killed if she thought it was necessary.”
“I’m pretty sure Monica knows that. Baby, I’m going to get some sleep and get back on the road this afternoon. I’ll be back there by tomorrow evening. Everything going okay there?”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Neil and Marco have been playing a lot of video games, and Kate and I are going shopping this afternoon. With those two around, the groceries are getting low already.”
“All right,” Noah said. “Just be careful.”
They each pledged their love and then ended the call. Noah took a quick shower and got into bed, and was asleep within two minutes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Allison watched the Learjet touch down, sitting on a bench just outside the entrance to the terminal. Kirkland’s airport wasn’t huge, but it boasted a couple of the longest runways in the state outside of Denver. Officially, that was because of the secret military base nearby, the one that wasn’t really all that big a secret to the locals, but the reality was that it allowed any size jet aircraft to land at or take off from the facility. Air Force One had made an occasional appearance there, and hadn’t that been a nightmare, trying to manage the security necessary for the president of the United States to visit his most clandestine operation?
The Learjet taxied up to the terminal, and the side door opened. The steps were folded down, and a moment later Allison got her first look at Monica Lord.
The woman was genuinely very small, and Allison could understand why she might be mistaken for a child at times. She walked across the tarmac with her eyes focused on Allison, who got to her feet as she approached.
“Well, well,” Monica said, “the famous Dragon lady.” She held out her hand, and Allison shook it.
“That’s what they call me,” she said. “I hope it has more to do with my tendency to breathe fire than any reference to my scaly skin.”
“You don’t look all that scaly. So, you said something about buying lunch?”
Allison laughed. “My car’s out front,” she said. “Is that all you brought with you?” She pointed at the small overnight bag hanging from Monica’s shoulder.
“That’s it. As I said on the phone, I’m hoping to be home by morning.”
“Then let’s go eat.” She led the way through the airport terminal and out the front door, where she had exercised the privilege of her rank to leave her car parked at the curb. It was a year-old Cadillac, and she used her remote to unlock it.
“I arranged us a table at a local place that understands the need for privacy, sometimes. They have some small private dining rooms, and I felt it would be better for us to talk alone.”
“That’s fine by me,” Monica said. “Do they serve drinks at this place?”
“There’s a bar,” Allison replied with a grin. “If there weren’t, I’d probably pick somewhere else.”
She started the car and put it in gear. The drive to the restaurant took about fifteen minutes, and the two women continued to chat along the way.
“So you’ve got kids?” Allison asked.
“Yes. Twin girls who are fourteen and a son who is ten. They keep me busy.”
Allison barked a laugh. “Obviously not busy enough,” he said. “You’ve managed to have something I never dared. I would’ve given anything to be a mother, but my career simply wouldn’t allow it.”
“Then you just told your first lie. If you honestly would’ve given anything, the career would’ve had to take second place to the family.”
“Oh, goodness, don’t get logical on me. I have to put up with enough of that from Noah.”
“Yes, I can imagine. He explained to me this morning about his condition, and it amazes me that I didn’t spot it.”
Allison chuckled. “He’s very good at hiding it, when he wants to. Of course, it’s the same thing that makes him the best at what he does. He doesn’t stop to think about things emotionally; he simply does what he believes is right, and that generally turns out to be exactly what needs to be done.”
“Which is probably why I’m still alive,” Monica said. “Am I right?”
