by Tony Lavely
“Would you prefer frolics? Amy Rose reported you were guzzling what she thought was an excellent Champagne. Admittedly, that was prior—”
“That was prior to everything else! Including Bakir… Wait, him you probably haven’t heard about.”
“That does sound a new name.”
“We’ll discuss him later. Back to Ralf… Lisa and her friend were great with him before— Will we have to change his name? He’s probably too young to care if you don’t like it.”
“I think it fine. I sense my mother’s fine hand in his middle name, of which I also approve.” He looked toward where Millie was working, forward of their location. “Millie did mention Ms Grove; it was something of a shock.”
“To me, too, believe me. I won’t embarrass her before you can renew your acquaintance, so I’ll leave it at that. But, I should warn you about the increase in our household.”
“Oh?”
Yeah, calm but definitely curious. “A sixteen year-old named Angel and her son, Ethian. They’re living in the house.” Yeah, I didn’t really answer the question. “She and another girl, Tamasha Johnson… she’s married and a little older. They’re wet-nursing Ralf, since I’m not ready to wean him, yet.”
“Indeed. That sounds eminently reasonable. I suspect the details can wait a bit.”
Beckie nodded as the sun shown through the window again. She leaned over to peer out. “Fort Lauderdale?”
“If Karen’s to be believed,” Kevin joked.
Beckie sat up straight. “Damn! I didn’t call Chelsie with our arrival time.”
“Your phone rang perhaps an hour ago; I took the liberty of answering, since I recognized the Caller-ID. Chelsie, as you said. We spoke briefly while Willie asked Karen for the planned ETA, and I gave it to her. She said someone would meet you inside Customs and Immigration.”
“Whoa! That’ll upset some apple carts. I thought they hated interference. But, that’s good, thanks.” She gave him a kiss. “I need my teeth brushed. And if you’re up to it…” She looked around. “Millie!” She waited until the doctor approached. “I’d like to take Ian with me for a meeting in Miami. I’m as certain as can be there will be nothing more than talking and that won’t even be excited. Afterward, we’ll come straight home, I promise.” She turned to gaze at Ian, but his look of contentment eased her mind. “I was going to ask if you were okay with that, but I think you’re fine.”
When she gave him a kiss, Millie snorted. “Like I have anything to say. Go. Take care of each other. Be back before nightfall.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Mom? What are you doing now?” Amy walked up the aisle to them carrying two cups. I hope that’s coffee steaming. “Here, you guys probably need some coffee. I’ll get some light breakfast stuff.”
“Thanks, Amy.” Ian echoed her words before he sipped.
When Amy returned with two plates, Beckie said, “Make sure Karen knows to head to the Nest as soon as we get off.”
“That’s the plan. But I’m going with you guys.” The girl sat on Beckie’s side away from Ian. “Just in case, you know.”
“I know, but no. Not necessary. Chelsie will play it straight; I know too much for her to risk it.” She giggled. “Even you know too much for her to risk it.”
“Yeah, but I’m still going. If not with you, behind you. Willie wanted me to practice some of his tailing lessons—”
“Don’t get me involved,” Willie said. “Too much trouble when you make the boss mad at you.” He flashed a glance at Beckie and then Ian. “Both of them… Or either.”
“Notice he didn’t say I was misquoting him.”
Beckie smiled. “All right, okay. I’ll put you to work doing something…”
“She can carry your medicine,” Millie said with a chuckle.
Half an hour later, the three of them were seated in a black car that could have been the same one Chelsie’d sent for Beckie in October. The driver looked familiar, too, so she kept quiet. Amy had taken the front seat; she leaned over the back and spoke to Ian about her work at Columbia and how they might apply it. Good girl. Thanks for filling the time with info Ian needs but Chelsie and her crew don’t.
Their route hadn’t changed; they ended up in the C14 conference room with the windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This time, instead of it being empty, Chelsie stood to offer her hand. “Good morning, Mrs. Jamse, Ian. I can’t express my pleasure at seeing you again. And here we have…”
“Amy, who you thought accompanied me when we met the first time.” She lowered her voice. “She has been well trained.”
“Ah. Amy Ardan, then. Welcome.” She surveyed them all, ending with Beckie. “You called, so I offer you the floor.”
“Thanks. I don’t believe this will take too much time, but I wanted someone to know, and you seemed to be a good choice.”
For the next fifteen minutes, Beckie reviewed the slideshow she’d seen, describing the three scenarios her captors had asked about.
“And the one who seemed to be in charge, he said they had already taken my advice, and Ian’s and everyone else they’d asked, and written off all three as impractical. I believe that could be true for the New Orleans and Alaska attacks, because of the difficulty in scheduling the precipitating event.
“The Supreme Court one, though… That seems to me to be more idealogical… though I can’t imagine that either the right or the left would want to get rid of all the justices… Anyway, it still felt like a group might make that attempt, no matter what he said.” She glanced at Ian; he had no reaction. “The man in France who would like to understand how they should react…” She read off Pascal’s name and information.
Chelsie added that to the sparse notes she had been taking; she looked up from her tablet and said, “And if it were to happen, how would that attack be orchestrated?”
“In my opinion, simultaneously, all nine at once. Within a minute of each other. Two, maybe three, teams for each justice. You wouldn’t get a second chance, ever, since if the government’s not good for anything else, it can be depended on to overreact, especially for an attack like this. Like I said before, this seems blindingly obvious to me; a child should be able to see this is the only way it could possibly succeed. I’m here to warn you that someone has thought of it, and maybe they are going to attempt it.” She sighed. “I don’t agree with all their rulings, and I firmly believe they shouldn’t serve for life, but this isn’t the way to cure that problem.”
“So you dump it on me?”
“I sure do. That’s a protection job I don’t think you can pay me to be interested in.” She cast a side glance at Ian, who was gently shaking his head. “Anyway, I didn’t come looking for more work. You can get good people for this. Don’t need us.”
“I’ll agree to the first but not necessarily the second. In any event… Why did Ms Ardan join you?”
“To protect us from you. Or you from us, it wasn’t really clear. But she’s good, and I don’t want to lose her, so… I think unless you have another question…”
“I do, actually. How would you approach the other jobs?”
“Alaska and New Orleans?” Chelsie nodded. “Alaska needs a way to schedule an earthquake on the… I think it’s the Denali fault, but I’m not certain. I think it’s possible, but still pretty high risk.
“New Orleans, you need the hurricane to be big enough and on the fifty or sixty mile wide path that will peak the storm surge. So, you really can’t put anything in place until the storm’s about on top of you, because people are going to be checking the sea walls and locks eight ways from Sunday as the storm runs up on them.” She shrugged her shoulders, then winced. “Same problem, too much risk for the reward.” She pulled her pony tail around front. “Although I have to say, no one ever said what the reward would be. Oh, well. Your problem. Enjoy.”
She stood, and Ian and Amy joined her.
“Thanks for your warning. If we fail, I guess you’ll read about it.”
/> “I have faith, Chelsie.” She gave the woman a full smirk. “San Diego is still habitable.”
The man returned to drive them back to the airport where, once they’d cleared Customs and Immigration, Lisa, Dylan and Solène ran to greet them.
Lisa explained. “I waited for Patrice, since Kerry and Dylan decided—”
“We thought,” Dylan said, “we have room; we’re headed back to the Nest, and we all agreed it would be nice for Mr. Jamse to meet his son.”
“And of course, Amy’s here!” Beckie laughed at the blush on his face.
Ralf was not impressed by the tall blond man who wanted to hold him and talk to him, but not feed him. Beckie found it both amusing and disheartening but she’d about decided just to let him have a breast when Amy chivvied a black girl, no taller than Beckie, carrying a not-as-dark baby, to her. After a glance, she handed Ralf to Kerry and said, “Let Amy take Ethian for a second, okay?”
Angel turned and allowed Amy to take her baby.. Before Ethian was really landed against Amy’s chest, Beckie gathered Angel into a comfortable embrace; comforting, but not so tight she couldn’t turn. Beckie rubbed her cheek i=to Angel’s. “Thank you so much.” The cheek rub became a kiss, then Beckie released her and placed her hand on the man’s. “I’m bound to introduce you to my husband, now that he’s back from spending months dead. Ange, Ian Jamse. Ian, Angel Sabrina.”
Ian stood to give Angel a big smile. “I am pleased beyond words to meet you.” He stepped to enfold her in his arms as he said, “Rebecca has given me the briefest of introductions to you and Mrs. Johnson; to my untrained eye, Ralf is hale and healthy, everything a father could wish. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Beckie smiled, but Angel was focused on Ian. Yeah, I understand that.
“It’s little enough,” Angel said to Ian, “I enjoy him much as my own boy. And I’m pleased to have the chance to help out.” She moved out of his embrace. “We owe Mrs. Jamse big time for offering us the opportunity; it’s like nothing we ever dreamed of.” With a quick glance, she took his hand and Beckie’s and squeezed. “Well…” The plane jounced; they all caught their balance. “I guess I better get back in my seat. We’ll have plenty of time. Thanks again.”
Beckie smiled a whole heart smile, then watched as Angel buckled in and retrieved Ethian from Amy. Kerry still sat beside her; she now held Ralf so Beckie could take him to feed him. Finally, he had enough milk. After burping him, Beckie said, “You’ll get accustomed to all this; he’s got a little while before Maurice’s dinners will do.”
“I look forward to it. May I hold him, now that the harsh edge of his hunger has passed?”
With a huge grin, she handed him over. Oohs and aahs surrounded them as the other girls watched and approved. For her part, Beckie leaned back; gratified, she watched her husband take steps to becoming a father.
The flight was otherwise uneventful though Willie wanted to see them on arrival. “I can’t imagine… Well,” she corrected herself, “I can imagine, but I didn’t expect—”
“Word from France?”
“No, I’m thinking Pakistan. But thank you; I owe the Inspector a call.”
“This would seem a reasonable time…”
She nodded and when Ralf again finished suckling her breast, she updated Pascal about Chelsie, to find that she had already made contact. “So, merci, Madame Jamse. I hope we may meet again, under less onerous circumstances.”
“I look forward to it.”
I was right, Beckie thought as Janni Meyer and Boynton rushed to the foot of the Gulfstream’s stairway to greet them. They’re here to meet Ian, I’ll bet. She took Ralf so Ian had his hands free for shaking or embracing or whatever came to pass. Boynton’s smile for Angel and Ethian was a surprise.
When they got to the house, Angel slipped inside while Boynton pointed to an envelope and its note. “From Doctor Ardan,” he said.
And why that attitude?
The note explained it. “Ian, take the pills in the envelope and then go to bed. Rest is critical! Doctor’s orders.”
To her amusement, Ian slipped the packet of meds into his pocket and walked with her to the lanai.
“What’ll we do if she comes to check?” Beckie said, as she lay Ralf in his carrier, keeping her giggle to herself.
Ian smiled. “I shall have failed to understand the dire nature of the demand, and submit instantly.”
Her guffaw was loud but short-lived. “Okay, then. Let’s use the time well. Maurice?” When he appeared, she said, “You can allow Willie out of the kitchen, but I’d like some libation. Probably whatever Millie’s given Ian will interact with anything but water, so…” He nodded and disappeared, to be replaced by Willie.
“When we landed, I found a message from Leonid. He asks that you contact him at ‘your earliest convenience.’” He handed the paper to her.
“Damn,” she said as she read it the third time. “He’s going to ask me to come back.”
“How do you know?”
“A guess. He didn’t mention the cache of weapons or whatever Tark and Else were trying to pinpoint, and it’s been too long for them not to have found something. I could ask Else…”
“We will ask Else,” Willie said. “You won’t go running off anywhere without a full brief.”
“You’re right. And I need to talk to her anyway. Maurice, can you call and ask her if she’d like to share afternoon tea with us. Get Amy and Lisa back, too, please.”
In twenty minutes, Else popped through the slider. When she saw Ian, she ran to hug him more fervently than Beckie’d seen her greet anyone but Janni, her partner. “Mr. Jamse,” she said when she caught her breath, “I am so happy to see you. Your—”
“Thank you so much for your wishes, Else. Jannike shared with me a few of your mutual concerns when I arrived; believe me, I am glad to have been returned. Now, however…”
“Now,” Else said, “to work.” She sat facing Beckie. “I assume you require an update on the imaging Tarquin and I were examining. In Pakistan,” she added, as if they’d been searching world wide.
“Correct,” Beckie said. “To begin.”
The woman nodded. “In depth, or top-level?”
“Let’s start with top-level. If appropriate, we’ll go deeper. By the way, I’m asking you because Leonid is about to ask me to return to Surab and he didn’t mention this work at all.”
“Good. That worked, then. Okay, top-level: Once we got the images of the north side above the site, the opening was easy to pin-point. We found nothing else that appeared to be of interest, at least, nothing to compare with the size of the entry.” She smiled. “Because I was here and not there, that’s all I can tell you first hand. Second hand, I can share the video feed from when they opened the cache.” Her smile became sheepish. “I haven’t edited it; it’s over an hour long, so might not qualify as ‘top-level.’”
“In brief, then, what did they find?”
Beckie gave Ian a quick smile. Thank you, love.
“Some of almost everything.” She slipped papers from the folio she’d brought. “The inventory. Top of the second page could be the most interesting.” She waited until they’d found the lines. “Similar to the one allegedly used in the Rose Creek job, Beckie. Two of them.”
“I guess no one had written ‘New York’ or ‘Paris’ or ‘Bagdad’ on their noses as a clue? Of course not,” as Else shook her head. “Well, it’s a help. I still don’t know what Lyeka would want me for.”
“The only conversation your name was mentioned in, they didn’t say anything about you returning,” Else said.
“Hmm. Maybe I’m making a mountain… Okay. Can you point Maurice at the video of the cache in case I need something to help me sleep?
“Now. No, don’t leave yet,” Beckie said as Else rose. “Tell us what we need to know about Cori.” Lisa’s gasp wasn’t well hidden. Good! Amy kept quiet about it… Or Lisa’s really good at acting.
Else seemed hesi
tant, but before anyone spoke, she raised her eyes and met Beckie’s gaze. “Shall I start from the beginning?”
“Yeah. I don’t think any of us here except Amy and me have heard it.”
The woman leaned back in her chair and began, first reviewing what she’d told Beckie during the phone call. Then, she continued, “When the plane began Patrice’s evasive maneuvers, Cori grabbed at a necklace she was wearing, snatched it off and beat it with her shoe. On the video, I could see it break apart and pieces go flying; right after that, the plane settled into normal flight and a minute later, Patrice came back to the cabin—”
“That’s when he told us about the missile, right?”
“Correct, Amy. Then, everyone began cleaning up and straightening the cabin, except you and Angel.”
“Yeah. It took us a minute to calm down. Wondering, you know, if another one was coming.”
“Yeah,” Else agreed. “I guess it was another half hour or so before Patrice called Shen to tell him, and Shen got me. It was a couple hours later that I downloaded the video, because Shakti was worried about possible injuries, and we watched Cori. I asked Patrice to bring the plane here. When he said Amy had asked him to bring her to France, Shen and I decided that he should continue on… not knowing the situation you needed her for. But I told him to bring Cori right back.
“When he landed, I went aboard to walk her off the plane and Shen took her to his ‘comfortable’ brig. I got everyone else off while I searched the plane. It took almost until the refueling was done, but I found the pieces. The necklace had a tracker built into it. When Cori hit it with her shoe, she knocked the battery loose, effectively killing it. Probably that’s why Patrice could evade the missile.”
“Wow.” Beckie looked at Amy and Lisa sitting on the sofa together. Good thing they’re seated. Neither one looks able to stand right now. “Wow,” she repeated. “So first she brings death and destruction to us, then saves our ass. And hers. And hers.” She grabbed for her ponytail, but then dropped it and sat forward on the seat. “You said you believed she was duped. Any chance she was doing it all as an act, to try and get on our good side?”
