Cloud Dust

by Connie Suttle

  Ilya and I left the same way we'd gotten on-I moved us.

  Looking both ways as the bus engine rumbled into gear and pulled away, Baikov walked toward a trail leading into a rose garden nearby.

  Ilya and I, still invisible to anyone around us, followed from a safe distance.

  The roses were beautiful when we arrived, and their scent filled the air on a beautiful Vancouver day. Baikov, with little regard for his surroundings, walked up to Hal Prentice-the one posing as the former President of the United States.

  Chapter 12

  Corinne

  Secret Service agents were posted discreetly throughout the rose garden while Hal had his conversation with a Baikov clone. Ilya and I watched and listened nearby; neither suspected how close we were-or were aware that we were there to begin with.

  I was grateful.

  "They are dead," Baikov's clone reported. "The ones in Colombia-also dead. Not the same ones of course-forensics bears this out."

  "Then our few losses were worth it-to destroy the Program in the U.S.," Hal said.

  "Our experiments were much more successful," Baikov agreed. "While there was moderate success with those created in the U.S., they were not equal to what we created."

  "We've seen that evidence for ourselves," Hal agreed. "We remain committed to the plan, one-hundred percent."

  "As do we."

  "Do you have more information on the break-in?" Hal switched topics quickly, leaving me puzzled as to what the plan actually was.

  "Nothing yet. We inventoried everything carefully-nothing was taken."

  "Whoever it was likely didn't know what they'd found and left, looking for more lucrative contraband."

  "We concur, and steps have been taken to protect the new facility. Everything was moved afterward, you understand."

  "Of course. My condolences on the loss of your lover. She was instrumental in bringing the U.S. Program down, and we will honor her memory."

  "I thank you. Perhaps you will see fit to provide a replacement?"

  "We will consider it-if you remain faithful."

  "You have my promise."

  "Good. Return to Seattle tomorrow. Take the rest of the day for yourself," Hal instructed.

  "Thank you."

  Baikov turned to walk away while Hal went in the opposite direction. His agents gathered about him then, and herded him toward a waiting car.

  What should we do? I asked Ilya.

  You follow Prentice, he said quickly. I will track Baikov.

  * * *

  Notes-Colonel Hunter

  Auggie, I'm following Hal Prentice, Corinne's voice settled into my head. Rafe is following another Baikov clone. They met in a park in Vancouver, had a few words and then went their separate ways.

  Never in my life did I wish for Corinne's gift so badly.

  She was tailing one enemy while Ilya tailed another.

  I wanted to shout. Or swear. Probably both. I settled for swearing, which brought James at a run.

  "They're in Vancouver," I said. "Corinne and Rafe had to split up to track two different people." I shook my head, as if that would effectively relieve my worry or solve the problem.

  "Colonel Hunter, just relax. We have to wait this out," James advised.

  "I know that, dammit. And I don't want to relax."

  * * *

  Corinne

  Ilya, he's boarding a helicopter, I sent.

  Corinne, do not follow that bastard-we can find him easily enough later. Do you hear me? Do not follow him!

  Honey, calm down, I returned. He's on his way to Toronto-I saw that much.

  Good. I am tracking this Baikov duplicate. Meet me at the coffee shop-I believe he is heading back that way.

  Okay. I'll wait there for you.

  He is boarding another bus-I will follow.

  * * *

  Forty minutes later, I watched as Baikov's clone walked past the coffee shop as if he had nothing to do with murder and mayhem. Not far behind Ilya strolled, feigning interest in his surroundings like any tourist. I could see past his disguise, since I'd created it. Anyone else saw a shorter, brown-haired man who wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

  I only intend to see where he goes, Ilya answered my questioned as he passed the coffee shop without a second glance.

  Let me know if you want me to come get you, I said.

  I will.

  Twenty minutes later, he did just that. We now had the address of a condo, where the Mary clone and the Baikov clone had likely spent their short time together, before she was ordered to commit suicide, taking four cruise ships filled with passengers with her.

  I figured Auggie was having a panic attack by the time I got back to him with the address and the news that I hadn't followed Hal Prentice to Toronto.

  My cell phone rang shortly after I sent my mental message. No surprise-James was on the line.

  "I'm in a secure place," he said. "Colonel Hunter says he'll have someone watching the condo soon."

  "I think the target is going to Seattle tomorrow," I said. "That's what we overheard, anyway."

  "All right. We've had word through Matt Michaels' office that the Russians are increasing their fly-bys and flirting dangerously with U.S. airspace," James said. "There's a meeting on the Hill tomorrow to discuss this with the Russian Ambassador. Matt spoke with the Ukrainian Ambassador earlier today, but I haven't heard what they talked about."

  "He's probably glad that Russia is annoying us, now, instead of harassing Ukraine constantly," I said.

  "And trying to kill them," James added.

  "Yeah. We've seen too much of that lately," I agreed.

  * * *

  Merle Askins' Office

  CIA Director Merle Askins picked up the phone reluctantly. His assistant informed him that the doctor's office was on the line.

  "Askins here," he barked, as if that would stave off bad news.

  "Merle, it's Doctor Warner," his doctor said. "I'm afraid I have bad news-it's lung cancer. We need to run more tests to see how far it's spread, or whether we can contain it with surgery."

  "When?"

  "Tomorrow if possible. We don't want to wait on this-you understand."

  "I do."

  "I have the number of a counselor who specializes in this sort of thing," Doctor Warner offered.

  "Not needed." Askins hung up the phone, stood and swept everything off his desk in one, angry motion.

  * * *

  Corinne

  "Unless they have an alternative method of getting to Pilchuck, they'll have to drive past us," Richard said as he and I stood at the kitchen window, with its view of Mountain Loop Highway.

  "I'll know when he goes past," I said, sipping the club soda in my hand.

  "I'm impressed that you and Ilya came up with the same information on the rented condo that Nick and Opal found," Richard smiled. "Good Scotch," he lifted his glass and drank.

  "Nick and Opal are special," I said. "As are you and Maye. It's just a different kind of special."

  "We had a nice day in Vancouver," he smiled as he lifted his glass again.

  "I got to see the Rose Garden at Stanley Park," I shrugged. "While we watched Hal Prentice, posing as former President Phillips, trade secrets with a Baikov clone."

  "They just referred to it as the plan?" Richard turned toward me, curiosity in his gaze.

  "Yeah. I couldn't see past the fog in both of them to determine what the plan actually is. As for the break-in they talked about, somebody probably found their secret stash, didn't know what it was and took off."

  "The plan could be anything from stealing a secret recipe for fried chicken to Armageddon."

  "I'm more worried about the Armageddon thing," I said.

  "Me, too. As for their stash, well, we didn't know where it was to begin with, so we're no more in the dark now, after they moved it."

  "I still can't figure out what they intend to do with all the furred, fanged and scaled folks on the mountain."

  "
I'm worried about what they intend to do with DB if they find him."

  I snickered and choked on my club soda. Richard thoughtfully patted my back until I cleared my throat.

  "What did you do?" he asked. He smiled as he said it.

  "DB is now roughly the size of a large tuna," I shrugged. "Unless they recalibrate their search criteria, they're not going to find him."

  "So my crew in Alaska is just a front?"

  "Yeah. Sorry for the wild goose chase."

  "Brilliant." His smile grew wider.

  "As long as we're still looking for him," I added, "They'll continue to look and waste their resources doing it. Whatever they were hoping to do with him, well, they're still hoping."

  "One arm of their plan has withered," Richard nodded. "What's for dinner?"

  * * *

  Dinner was grilled steaks and vegetables on an outdoor grill beside the heated pool. Rafe and Nick handled the steaks while Opal and I skewered vegetable kebabs.

  "Nice work on locating the condo," I said.

  "I was going to say the same thing about Hal and Baikov," she laughed.

  "I thought about getting on that helicopter with Hal," I said. "Just to see where he went."

  "I would not allow it," Rafe said, taking skewers from my hands to place on the grill. "I would have to follow, and I would be angry when I caught up with you again." Ilya was out in force, accent and everything. Opal snickered.

  "Do not frown at me, cabbage," he said. "We are together. Of course I will be angry if you are in danger."

  "Just remember you said that," I said, pointing a finger at him.

  "The angry part?" He sounded surprised.

  "No, the together part."

  "I will never forget that," he huffed.

  "Okay."

  * * *

  The Baikov clone drove past the house before noon the following day. "He's on his way up the mountain," I informed Ilya, who sat nearby in our suite while I watched current news on a tablet with earphones in my ears, so I wouldn't disturb Ilya's reading.

  "Good. All the mice in one trap," he said.

  "Not all. I'd feel better if they were in one trap. The big rat is still out there somewhere."

  "This I know," he agreed. "I want his throat in my hands."

  "Honey, that may be too close for my liking," I responded. "Just shoot him from a distance, all right?"

  "Whatever you want."

  "That's what I want, if I can't get to him first."

  "You don't think he might be bullet-proof?" Nathan asked.

  "If he were bullet-proof, I think we'd have seen him before now," Ilya growled. "A vulnerable man hides. He has a weakness."

  "I think Corinne terrified him," Nick observed. "You see he did his damnedest to get her out of the way? The rest of us were just icing on the cake."

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence," I told Nick. "I just don't like the fact that he felt comfortable killing so many people just to get to me."

  "That's why it's prudent to stay dead until he declares himself," Maye said.

  "I'm beginning to wonder when that will be," Richard broke in. "We have no idea who else he may target-now that he has discredited Colonel Hunter. Word has it that the President is searching for Hunter's replacement-according to the media."

  Ilya had some choice words to say in his native language, which expressed his feelings on the sensationalism-hungry media succinctly. I ducked my head to hide my smile. He didn't miss it, though. Pulling my face up with a finger under my chin, he kissed me decisively.

  What did he say? Maye asked.

  He called them sphincter-sucking deviants, I replied.

  Remind me not to make him mad, she struggled to hide a smile.

  "Opal and I may do some hunting tonight," Nick announced. "Up the mountain."

  "But what if," Maye began.

  "They won't recognize us," Opal said.

  "It's time to show you," Nick agreed. "Don't be shocked-these are my favorite jeans, he said, unbuttoning them and letting them drop before coming out of his T-shirt.

  "He has to get naked?" Nathan asked.

  "Just hold on," I touched Nathan's shoulder. It happened in a blink. Nick's underwear was torn to shreds and dropped beneath the huge wolf he'd become.

  Opal, with a huge grin, also changed.

  A huge version of a velociraptor continued to grin at all of us.

  Chapter 13

  Corinne

  "That explains a lot," Maye breathed, her eyes wide with wonder. Nick stood as tall as her shoulder as he stretched and yawned before lolling his tongue in a wolfish version of a chuckle.

  You knew this? Ilya's voice sounded in my head. He didn't appear to be happy.

  Their secret to tell, not mine, I replied. If they meet up with anybody tonight that's on the enemy list, it'll suck to be them-the enemy, that is.

  What if they are in trouble? Ilya asked.

  "I'll know," I said aloud.

  "Cori will know," Opal was back to herself. "Just have your weapons ready if she says we're in trouble."

  "What weapons will I have, cabbage?"

  "Whatever you want," I shrugged. "Just tell me and it's yours."

  "Just remember that a loaded rocket launcher weighs almost as much as she does," Opal said. "In case that's on your list."

  "I can handle my cabbage easily; however a rocket launcher is not on my wish list."

  "Let's eat before we talk big guns," I said.

  "Good idea," Nick said, becoming human again and lifting his jeans off the ground. Clothed or naked, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

  * * *

  Ilya

  I wanted to be furious with Corinne for not telling me about Opal and Nick. After thinking it over, however, I appreciated her willingness to protect them, because she also protected me with the fiercest loyalty.

  It helped, too, that she provided our small compound with enough weapons to fend off most attacks-I worried that the creatures at the mountaintop would be set on us, should the enemy learn how close we were.

  While I didn't ask for a rocket launcher, Opal did. Corinne equipped all of us who were able to handle weapons expertly, including Richard Farrell.

  The last thing she gave me I hadn't asked for-it was a type of pistol I'd never seen before.

  It appeared before her instead of in her hands, like all the other weapons.

  "Reach out and take it," she told me. I lifted it from whatever energy held it in mid-air. "It will only fire for you, now," she said, visibly relaxing.

  "What is this? Something experimental?" I asked, looking the weapon over.

  "No. It's alien technology."

  "Where are the bullets?"

  "There aren't any. It's solar powered and fires blasts. Be careful-it'll bring down a helicopter with no trouble."

  "If I shoot a person?"

  "There won't be much left," she explained.

  "Very nice," I handled the weapon with new respect.

  "I suggest using it as a last resort. If it falls into any hands except yours and they attempt to use it, it will explode, taking them with it."

  "Impressive."

  "Anybody trying to take it apart will be met with the same results," she warned.

  "I like this." I turned the weapon in my hand. There were markings on the barrel that I couldn't read. I wondered whether she could read them before deciding I didn't want an answer to that question.

  "You still mad?" she asked, her face tilted upward to mine.

  "No." I leaned in to kiss her. "You did the right thing."

  "Good. You can go play target practice now, if you want," she said.

  "I have a better idea," I mumbled, setting the gun aside and reaching for her.

  "I was hoping you would," she responded dryly.

  * * *

  Corinne

  "My cabbage is feeling neglected?" Ilya breathed against my neck.

  "Um-hmm," I sighed as he nibbled sensitive skin. "I thought you were l
eaving me for a pistol."

  "Never." His fingers tickled my ribs gently as he pulled the hem of my T upward. "Do not suggest such a thing again. It was only a mild flirtation."

  "Mild? Your hands were all over it."

  He bit back a laugh. "Come," he pulled me toward our bed.

  * * *

  Notes-Colonel Hunter

  "Look-they're using too much power," James set his tablet in front of me. We were at the office late, deciphering information Matt's team in Bogotá had sent, complete with specs on the rockets my team handed over before their untimely faked deaths.

  Too, the squatters at the Seattle facility were drawing more power than appeared normal as they settled into their new hiding place. Corinne sent information earlier when the Baikov clone made his trip up the mountain.

  Whatever the plan was that Prentice and Baikov discussed, it wasn't hinted at anywhere. The technology used in the Colombian rockets was also a mystery-nobody had seen anything like it.

  A few theories swam through my head, but I didn't know how to search for information without alerting Askins and his cronies. Resolving to ask Matt about it, I studied the graphs on James' tablet.

  "Who knows what they're doing and the taxpayers are picking up the tab," I grumbled, comparing charts on the power usage while we'd been in residence to that of the ones now using the facility.

  Theirs was higher, for some reason.

  "James," I said, lifting my gaze to him. "I want to talk to Corinne tomorrow. I know she can get in there without being seen. I need to know what these fuckers are doing."

  "I'll make sure the call is safe and you're not disturbed," he promised.

  * * *

  Corinne

  Opal and Nick's hunting party had no results, but I think they enjoyed letting their alter egos out for a stretch. Nick certainly appeared happier when they returned after midnight.

  "No scents?" Ilya asked the proper question as Nick foraged in the fridge for leftover food.

  "Nothing," Opal answered for him as he handed her a container of leftover steak. Apparently, the shift in their bodies required extra sustenance. Ilya and I made sure the food was heated, fresh bread toasted and drinks supplied as both settled at the kitchen island to eat.

  "So they're staying inside for now," Ilya took a seat at the island. He and I had risen after our lovemaking session, just so we'd be available when Nick and Opal returned.