The Target

by David Baldacci

  Robie hesitated before answering. “Yes.”

  “So you’re both in trouble?”

  Robie glanced sharply at her. She stared back at him with an expression that said his look of surprise was unnecessary.

  “I’ve spent a lot of time with you, Will. When people were trying to kill us. When you were moody. When you didn’t have many options, but you still figured out how to get out of a jam.”

  “And your point?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

  “You look to me like a guy who doesn’t see a way out of this. And that’s just not you. So it must be really bad.”

  Robie said nothing while Julie fiddled with the straw in her drink. She said, “I read in the papers a while back that Ferat Ahmadi, the crazy Syrian trying to gain power over there, was gunned down. They never found who killed him.”

  Robie remained silent.

  “I’m not going to ask you if you and Jessica had something to do with that because I know all I’ll get is a blank stare. But if you did, then it seems that your mission was successful. So it has to be something else. Is it connected to Jessica?”

  “Why do you ask that?” Robie said abruptly.

  “Because things were going good for you at your agency. Until she showed up.”

  “I can’t get into that with you, Julie.”

  “Because, you see, I liked her. I think she’s a good person.”

  “I think so too,” said Robie before he could catch himself.

  Julie smiled. “Cool.”

  “What?”

  “You’re letting your guard down around me. And you must really care for her,” she added in a more serious tone.

  “I can relate to her and what she’s going through,” Robie said diplomatically.

  “So she’s your friend?”

  “Yes.”

  “You need to take care of your friends, Will.”

  “I’m trying, Julie, I really am.”

  “Are you ever going to be free of all this crap?”

  “I wish I had the answer to that.”

  After they left the restaurant and Robie dropped Julie off, his phone buzzed. It was Reel.

  “I think we need to talk.”

  “Okay.”

  “But you’re being followed and I want some privacy.”

  Robie’s gaze flicked to his rearview mirror. He noted the car on the street two back from his.

  “Okay, let me see what I can do.”

  “No need. I’ll take care of it.”

  “So you’re back there too?”

  “Did you really have to ask? How’s Julie?”

  “Concerned. Where do you want to meet?”

  “In case someone is listening in, our place in the rain.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Take the next right. When you reach the alley, punch it.”

  Robie clicked off and sped up. He hung the right. The tail did the same.

  He saw the alley and floored it, creating separation from the tail. In the rearview he watched as a semi pulled out of the alley, blocking the road.

  He heard brakes screech and a horn blaring.

  “Nice, Jessica,” he said to himself.

  He punched the gas, made a series of turns, and then glided onto Constitution and passed the Washington Monument, no longer shrouded in scaffolding after the earthquake and lit up like the Eiffel Tower. Some people thought they should have left it that way.

  Five minutes and as many turns later he pulled to the curb, put the car in park, cut the engine, and got out. He walked to the car parked in front of him and slid into the passenger seat. Jessica Reel started the car and sped off.

  “Where to?” he asked.

  “Nowhere. Just want to move while we talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  “The Burner Box.”

  “We’ve both been there, Jessica.”

  “And you really want to go back?”

  “I didn’t think we had a choice.”

  “You have a choice, Will. It’s me they really want. I’ll go. You don’t have to.”

  “I think it was a package deal.”

  She pulled off the street, stopped the car, and slammed it into park.

  “Look, if you think you’re doing me a favor by coming with me, you’re not. It’s just one more thing for me to worry about.”

  “When did I say you ever had to worry about me?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. It’s better if I go it alone.”

  “And what if they kill me for not going? How is that better for me?”

  “I pulled the triggers on those two, Robie, not you. You can work out a deal. Go to your people. They’ll provide you cover. POTUS is on your side, for God’s sake.”

  “But what if I want to go to the Burner Box?”

  “Why in the hell would you? And don’t say for me, because that’ll just piss me off even more.”

  “Then I’m doing it for me.”

  “You’re making no sense now.”

  “I want to know if I can still cut it, Jessica. The Burner will tell me that.”

  “The Burner could end up killing you.”

  “Well, if I can’t cut it there, I sure as hell can’t cut it in the field.”

  “You heard Marks. She’ll be gunning for both of us. It won’t be a fair evaluation, despite what she said. Evan Tucker will have seen to that.”

  “I don’t really care.”

  “Robie, how can you not care? You’ve only got one life.”

  “Now you’re the one not making sense. Every time I walk out the door I’m risking my one life.”

  “Evan Tucker went after us once and missed. This is his follow-up act. I doubt he’ll make the same mistake. Unlike in Syria, he can control all aspects of the Burner Box and what goes on in there. Take it from me, an ‘accident’ will happen that will tragically end our lives.”

  “Well, if we’re both there he’ll have to work twice as hard to nail us.”

  “But he’ll still nail us.”

  “You need to be more optimistic.”

  “And you need to get your head out of your ass.”

  “I’m going, Jessica.”

  “What about Julie? You’re just going to walk out on her?”

  “No, I’ll do my best to get through this and see her again. But I have a job to do. And I’m good at it. And I’m going to keep doing it. And I’m going to have as normal a life as I possibly can while I’m doing it.”

  “That’s impossible and you damn well know it.”

  He shook his head wearily. “You really have to work on having a more positive attitude. And the only thing I know for certain is that I’m leaving on a trip tomorrow. So just drive me back to my car. I need to pack my bag and get some shut-eye.”

  She dropped him back at his car. As he was getting out she broke the silence. “You are the most exasperating person I have ever met in my life.”

  “You need to get out more.”

  She snorted and then, despite her evident anger, she smiled. “Why are you really doing this?”

  “Just remember the rain, Jessica. What I said then is what I mean now.”

  “That you’ll always have my six?”

  “Just so you know, it’s not a freebie. I expect the same in return. Figure it’s the only way we survive this.”

  Then he was gone.

  Chapter

  7

  EVAN TUCKER STARED ACROSS AT her. They were in a SCIF at Langley. Technically, Langley was one big SCIF, or Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, but Tucker had become paranoid and had demanded an extra layer of protection from prying eyes and ears at keyholes.

  Tucker’s waist had thickened over the last month and his hair had turned whiter. In fact, he seemed to have aged even more since his meeting with the president in the Situation Room complex.

  Amanda Marks looked back at him.

  “So it’s a go?” asked Tucker. “I told the president it was.”

&n
bsp; “They both agreed to it, so I’d say yes. It’s a go.”

  “Like they had a choice,” muttered Tucker.

  “Well, they did. It just wasn’t much of one.”

  “And you have eyes on them now, just in case? They’re slippery, Marks, trust me. I speak from experience.”

  “I’m sure you do, sir. To tell the truth, we lost them for a bit this evening. It seems they wanted a quiet word with one another.”

  Tucker came halfway out of his seat. “You lost them?” he exclaimed.

  “Only temporarily, Director. They went their separate ways and we regained surveillance. Robie is at his apartment and Reel is staying at a hotel.”

  “Don’t let that happen again. You have carte blanche in the way of assets to throw at this sucker, Marks. Do what you have to do. But do not lose them again.”

  “Understood. And now a question for you, Director?”

  “I’m listening.”

  “What outcome do you want on this exactly?”

  “They’re going to the Burner Box.”

  Marks nodded, crossed her legs, and placed her hands in her lap. “I understand that. But what exactly is the endgame here?”

  “You put them through their paces. You put them through their paces hard. I want to see if they still have it. And I’m not simply talking about shooting straight and kicking someone’s ass. By what they just accomplished I have little doubt they’re fully qualified there, but I don’t want that personal assessment to cause you to let up on them one iota, Amanda.”

  “Rest assured, it will not. I was a trainer at the Burner for two years. I do not let up on anyone, most of all myself.”

  “What I’m most concerned about,” began Tucker, “is what’s going on up here.” He tapped his head. “You know what Reel did?”

  “I know the allegations.”

  “They’re not allegations,” he snapped. “They’re facts. She’s admitted to them.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said quickly.

  “And Robie was sent after her, disobeyed orders, and joined forces with her. Under any other scenario they would both be in prison right now. Hell, Reel should be executed for treason.”

  “Granted that, sir. But the men she killed, weren’t they also traitors?”

  “That was never proven. That is an allegation, but from a less than trustworthy source.”

  “My apologies. I spoke with APNSA Potter and—”

  “Potter just came on board and doesn’t even know where the damn bathrooms are in the White House. He’s the national security advisor, Marks. He works for the president. You, you work for me.”

  “Indisputably,” she replied. “Which gets me back to what you want to accomplish here.”

  “If they pass the Burner they’ll be deployed on a mission that is currently shaping up. It is a mission to end all missions, and I have to know that they’re ready for it, because there is no margin for error.”

  She looked at him curiously. “We have lots of teams that can do those sorts of missions.”

  “I told the president we were vetting Robie and Reel for it. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “And do you want them to pass the Burner, sir?”

  Tucker looked at her warily. “That’s not up to me. Either they pass it or not. It’s up to them.”

  “If you say so, sir.”

  Tucker took off his glasses, laid them on the table, and rubbed his eyes. “But just so we make this as clear as possible, you are to stretch them to their absolute limits. And then you are to keep going. If you can break them, break them. If you can, they’re of no use to me in the field. They will not qualify for this mission. I have a Plan B standing by just in case.”

  “It’s not a question of if. I can break anyone, Director.”

  “One reason I selected you for this task.”

  “And made me the DD?”

  “Hand in hand.” He tapped his head and then his hand dipped to his chest. “Those are what count, Amanda, the head and the heart. If they’re not with us, with me, then they are against us. Against me. I cannot have agents going rogue, I don’t give a shit what reasons or grievances they have. Rogues cause international incidents. International incidents can get this country embroiled in unnecessary conflicts. That will not happen on my watch.”

  “But it seems that they acted to avoid just such an international incident,” said Marks. “And they succeeded. I think that’s why they have such powerful allies, starting with the man in the Oval Office.”

  “I’m quite aware of that, thank you. But your friend today can be your foe tomorrow. It all depends on what happens on the ground.”

  “And conditions on the ground can be dictated, as I’m sure you are aware.”

  “You just do your job and see how it shakes out.”

  “And no preference?”

  “If they pass they get the mission. It’ll be the most difficult one they’ve ever attempted so they might die trying. And if they don’t pass the Burner, well, that’s their problem.”

  Marks rose. “Understood, sir.”

  “Do you really understand?”

  She looked taken aback by this. “I’m on your side, Director.”

  “I thought others were on my side too, but it appears they weren’t.”

  “I’m not sure who you’re referring to. I just arrived on the scene and—”

  “That will be all, Marks. I want hourly reports on how my protégés are doing. Make sure I get them.”

  “Consider it done, sir.” She turned and left.

  As soon as the door was closed Tucker rose and poured himself a drink from the small bar in a cabinet behind his desk. A bar behind a desk at CIA seemed very Cold War-ish. But he didn’t care. With this job one needed a belt of booze every once in a while. Well, perhaps more often than that.

  He envisioned having to stand up at an AA meeting one night and say, I’m Evan Tucker. My job is to keep all Americans safe. And I’m a raging alcoholic.

  He sat back behind his desk.

  There were forces aligned against him here, he was aware of that. Someone had tipped off Reel and Robie about the mission in Syria.