by David Archer
“He should’ve thought of that before he started dropping my name,” Jenny said. “You don’t want to die? The price of your life is the answer to my question. Where can I find Efraim Nelson?”
“He’s…” Newsom swallowed. “He’s back in Miami, at one of his hotels. He owns five or six of them, I can’t remember which ones.”
Jenny nodded slowly. “You just sit here and think about it,” she said. “Maybe it will come back to you.” She looked at Neil. “I need to freshen up,” she said. “If he moves, kill him.”
Neil nodded. “No problem there,” he said. “If it was up to me, he’d be dead already.”
Jenny giggled and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then got up and walked toward the bathroom. She stepped through the door and immediately started whispering.
“Activate all,” she said subvocally. “Jenny to Noah, are you there?”
“Noah to Jenny, go ahead.”
“Got back to our hotel room and found Newsom waiting inside with a gun. He claims somebody named Efraim Nelson told him that I’m not Victoria. Nelson claims to have hired Victoria to kill Longo in South Africa, and says he’s the only client she ever met face-to-face.”
“Are you in danger?”
“Oh, no, I took the gun away and Neil is keeping him covered. I just think we need to get Nelson out of the picture. This could cause problems. I told Newsom that Nelson is a liar, and I’ve never heard of him.”
“All right. I’ll touch base with Neverland.”
“Marco to Jenny,” they heard. “You guys need me?”
“Jenny to Marco, I think we’ve got it covered. Keep this on, just in case. Jenny to Noah, let me know what happens.”
She stepped out of the bathroom a moment later, and sat down beside Neil on the bed once again.
“Now, where were we? Oh, yes, we’re going to talk more about these other jobs you might want me to do. This thing with Mr. Whitcomb, that’s obviously just a test assignment. He may be some kind of bigwig in the U.K. police, but I have trouble believing he could actually cause you any serious problems. Who is the real target, the one you were not planning to tell me about until after this?”
Newsom looked at her, and a small grin appeared on his face. “If I tell you that now,” he said, “what will I have to surprise you with later?”
“If you don’t tell me,” Jenny said sweetly, “you don’t have to worry about surprising anybody later, because there won’t be any later.”
The grin faltered. “All right, look,” he said. “There are targets that are pretty much impossible...”
“There is no such thing as an impossible target,” Jenny said. “It all depends on the difficulty, and what it’s worth to the client.”
“It’s worth a lot, I assure you, my dear,” Newsom said. “That’s because it’s an extremely difficult one. There’s also the fact that you have to be absolutely certain that it could never come back to the PRA. Is that something you can handle?”
“I don’t believe anyone has ever found out who my clients were. To be honest, I’ve always prided myself on that.”
Newsom nodded nervously. “Yes, yes, I’m sure,” he said. “On the other hand, I don’t think you’ve ever taken on an assignment quite like this one. The target is the head of a very secure organization, and is literally surrounded by people with skills that rival your own.”
ELEVEN
Noah checked the time and saw that it was nearly 2 PM, which made it almost 7 AM back at Neverland. He dialed Allison’s direct cell number.
“Camelot? Report.”
“We may have a slight problem,” Noah said. “Newsom showed up here in London and has confronted Jenny. He claims that a man named Efraim Nelson told him that Jenny could not be Victoria. Nelson apparently owns hotels in Miami, and he’s at one of them now. Can you arrange for him to disappear?”
“What’s his connection to the situation?” Allison asked.
“According to Newsom, Nelson claims to be the one who arranged for Victoria to kill Thomas Longo, a South African reporter. Jenny denied knowing him, of course, but this could become a serious issue.”
“I’ll handle it,” Allison said. “Any progress on identifying leadership of the PRA?”
“The only thing we know so far is that Newsom is not running it alone. He had several people with him in Miami, and they all seemed to have a voice in the activities of the organization. This is going to take a little longer.”
“Very well,” Allison said. “Report when you know more.” The line went dead.
Noah dropped his phone onto the nightstand and looked at Sarah. The expression on her face made him tune into Jenny once again.
“Noah,” Sarah said, “do you hear this?”
Noah nodded. “I do. He’s talking about Allison.”
* * * * *
Jenny looked at Newsom. “Okay, so there might be some difficulty,” she said. “That’s never stopped me before.”
“And that’s precisely why we wanted to test you on Mr. Whitcomb,” Newsom said. “As the chief officer of the British law enforcement community, getting to him will present some difficulties of its own. If you can accomplish that, then we can believe that you might be able to accomplish the other assignment.”
“So, Whitcomb is not really an important target? Did you pick him at random, just for a test of my abilities?”
“Of course not,” Newsom said. “Whitcomb is definitely a problem, and we absolutely want his successor in place as soon as possible. We’ve already got arrangements made with him that will simplify a lot of our operations in the U.K.”
Jenny looked him in the eye. “Well, you’ve already paid the retainer, so I’m committed. I’ll take care of Whitcomb, but you can go ahead and give me the details on the next job. Of course, I want the rest of my pay for this one and a retainer on the next before I actually commit to it.”
“Naturally,” Newsom said. He seemed to be starting to relax. “And we’ll be happy to pay. I simply had to be sure that you were exactly who we believed you to be. Surely you can understand that.”
Jenny leaned down until she was almost nose to nose with him. “Of course I understand,” she said. “However, if you ever try to surprise me again, I’m going to cut off certain very important parts of your anatomy and feed them to you. Do we understand each other?”
Newsom swallowed hard. “Of course, Victoria,” he said. “I can assure you, there is no longer any doubt in my mind that you are the person we want for this kind of work.”
“Noah to Jenny,” she heard inside her head. “Try to confirm that the next target is Allison.”
She leaned back and smiled. “Excellent. Now, let’s talk about this second job. You said the target will be surrounded by people with skills like my own. Just who is this target?”
“Have you ever heard of the American organization known as E & E?” Newsom asked.
“Of course I have,” Jenny said. “They handle assassinations for America and its allies. You’re talking about whoever runs it? I take it you’ve learned who that is? The last I knew, that was one of the United States’ most closely guarded secrets.”
“Yes,” Newsom said with a grin. “E & E is run by a woman, and her name is Allison Peterson. According to our intelligence, she was a low level CIA analyst until she got the attention of the president. For some reason, she was chosen to run the organization and was given absolute control over decisions regarding assassinations. Every other organization has to submit a request to her, and she decides whether or not the assassination is justified. Unfortunately, she has been authorizing the assassinations of certain people we prefer to have in place. We believe that if she is eliminated, it will stymie the organization for at least several months, allowing us to complete some plans that are already laid out.”
Jenny hunched over as if deep in thought for a moment, closing her eyes and appearing to concentrate. In reality, she was talking to Noah.
“Jenny to Noah,” she wh
ispered. “Holy crap, Noah. Allison is going to go through the roof.”
“Noah to Jenny. Agree to the job, but set a very high fee and demand to meet with his superiors. This might be how we identify the top people in the PRA.”
Jenny opened her eyes and looked at Newsom. “I can accomplish it, if my fee is met,” she said. “For something like this, we are talking about ten million, and one half of that upfront. On top of that, I want to sit down face-to-face with your bosses. I’m not taking on something like this until I know everyone involved.”
Newsom’s eyes went wide. “I can ask,” he said. “However, we don’t ever get together in one place. That would be madness, because it would risk exposing our association. I could arrange individual meetings, perhaps.”
“Noah to Jenny, agree to it. The key is identification. Once we know who they are, taking them out won’t be that difficult.”
Jenny nodded. “Then get it set up. Just make sure they understand that I’m not playing games, here. If I decide to take on this job, then I’m going to want to move quickly. For now, though, I want you to get out of my sight and out of my hair. You want Whitcomb taken out, and you already paid my retainer, so get your ass out of London and wait for me to contact you after the job is done. Understood?”
Newsom looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he simply nodded his head. “All right,” he said. “What do you want me to do about Nelson? If he’s been lying to us, then we need to…”
Jenny smiled. “You do nothing,” she said. “I’ve already taken care of it.” She reached over and took the gun from Neil, and removed its magazine and cleared its chamber, then handed it back to Newsom. “You can keep this, but don’t ever point it at me again. You won’t live through it a second time.”
Newsom swallowed again as he took the gun, then tucked it into the holster at the back of his pants and got to his feet. “I’ll have the meetings arranged once this job is finished,” he said. “I look forward to hearing from you.” He turned and walked out the door, and Neil stuck his head out to watch him walk away. When he closed the door, he turned and looked at Jenny.
“Are these people for real?” he asked. “Neil to Noah, this is getting crazy.”
“Noah to Neil, I agree. Scan the security in the building, make sure he doesn’t have anybody watching you. Sarah and I will be right over. Marco, meet us there.”
“Neil to Noah, you got it, boss.” He went to the table and opened his computer, then hacked into the building’s security video system as Marco came inside the room. As near as he could tell, there was no one standing around in the lobby or hallways that seemed to be overly watchful. He scanned for any kind of listening or recording devices, but found nothing. By the time Noah and Sarah arrived ten minutes later, he was confident that no one was paying any attention to them.
“I think we could all hear fairly well,” Noah said. “These subcoms are worth their weight in gold, for that ability alone. I’m going to call Allison and bring her up to date now, so everybody be quiet for a moment.” He took out his phone and dialed Allison’s number again, and she answered even before he heard it ring.
“Camelot, report,” she said.
“There’s an entirely new development,” Noah said. “Jenny was able to learn the identity of the next target, the real target. It’s you, Allison. Somehow, they know your name, how you came into your position and everything, and they believe that if you are taken out, it will throw the organization into an uproar and keep us from accomplishing anything for a while.”
“Seriously?” Allison asked with a chuckle. “I think I’ve got contingencies covered better than that. If anything happens to me, Don Jefferson knows exactly how to take over and run this outfit without even missing a beat.”
“Yes, ma’am, but my concern is how they gained so much information. We may be able to find out, because Jenny has arranged to meet with PRA’s so-called Board of Directors. They won’t gather in one place, so she’s going to have to meet with each of them individually.”
“Well, that will at least let us identify their top people. Don’t get me wrong, Noah, I’m a little concerned about how my identity got out there, myself. On the other hand, if it leads to shutting their organization down, it may well be a small price to pay.”
“Understood,” Noah said. “We’re going to proceed with the Whitcomb fake assassination, then. She’s to meet with these people after that’s accomplished.”
“Good work, Camelot,” Allison said. “And give Jenny a pat on the back for me.” The line, as it always did when Allison was finished speaking, went dead.
Noah looked around at his team. “All right, onto this mission. I got Whitcomb’s itinerary from Catherine Potts just a bit ago. Jenny, since we want to do this in front of witnesses, the ideal opportunity is going to come tomorrow at lunchtime. He’s going to be having lunch with none other than James Bradley in the Excelsior restaurant tomorrow at twelve thirty. We’re going to set it up for then, because that way even Bradley will be convinced.”
“Okay,” Jenny said. “Now, Victoria likes a headshot with a twenty-two. Any idea how we’re going to pull this off without actually killing the man?”
“I’ve already figured that out,” Neil said. “A little Hollywood movie magic is all it will take. I can rig up a squib, the little gizmo that makes it look like somebody’s been shot. Whitcomb has a full head of hair, so we can hide it in the hair on the back of his head. I’ll set it up with Bluetooth; Jenny will have an app on her phone that will make it go off and splatter blood just as she fires a blank at the guy, activated by the sound of the blank going off. And all he’s got to do is fall down and groan for a bit. Twenty-two doesn’t always kill instantly, even with a headshot, so he gets loaded in an ambulance and hauled off to the hospital, where he passes away conveniently.”
Jenny grinned. “Oh, I like it,” she said.
“So do I,” Noah said. He picked up his phone and dialed another number, then said, “Catherine? Camelot. I’ve gone over the itinerary, and we’ve chosen Whitcomb’s lunch tomorrow as the perfect opportunity. He’s having lunch with Bradley, so that lets the PRA’s new fair-haired boy be the number one witness.” He quickly explained how they wanted to pull off the fake assassination, and Catherine assured him she would make all the necessary arrangements.
“And incidentally,” she said, “I spoke with my man Albert just moments ago. Whitcomb is furious about this, but he’s agreed to cooperate. I told him that he would need to meet with you, and he said to let you know that he will be available at any time. I’m assuming you want that meeting in the morning?”
“Yes, because we’ll have to set up the device that makes it look like he’s been shot. Let’s arrange to meet with him at ten. That should allow plenty of time to set it up, and make sure we are out of sight before all the excitement begins. Now, once the shot is fired, we need to coach him not to try to play dead, but to moan and groan. The story will be that he was shot in the head with a twenty-two, which doesn’t always kill immediately. He needs to look and act like a man who’s completely disoriented as he’s hauled off to the hospital. You’ll need an ambulance to pick him up, and be ready to make a public announcement that he passed away at the hospital after the shooting.”
“That’s actually going to be the easiest part,” Catherine said. “I’ll make sure the right doctor is on duty in the trauma ward, a man I can trust. He’ll cooperate, because there will be great recognition for him when this is all over. Whitcomb will be pronounced dead in the trauma ward, and the coroner will certify it almost immediately.”
“That’s good. What about security around him for his lunch meeting?”
“They’ll all be my people,” Catherine replied. “They know what’s coming, but they also know not to catch the shooter.”
“That’ll be perfect,” Noah said. “I wish all of our jobs went as smoothly as they do when we work with you. Set up the meeting for tomorrow morning, and we’ll be rea
dy.”
He ended the call and turned to Neil. “What do you need to set this up?”
Neil grinned. “A quick trip to the electronics store, and something to use for fake blood. And I can probably get that at any costume shop.”
“All right, you and Marco go get what you need. Jenny will stay here with us. Don’t forget about the twenty-two blank round. We don’t want to accidentally kill the guy.”
“Quick question. Do we have anybody in London that can provide us with guns and ammunition?”
“Well, Leon Kendall is our station chief, here. He can generally get anything we need, let me give him a call.”
He dialed the number from memory and put the phone to his ear. When it was answered, he said, “This is Travis Lightner. Would Mr. Kendall happen to be in?” He waited for a moment, and then Kendall came on the line. “Mr. Kendall, this is Travis Lightner. You remember me?”
“Of course, Mr. Lightner,” Kendall said. “This line is secure, what can I do for you?”
“I’m in need of a small, easily concealed twenty-two caliber pistol, and some blank cartridges. Can you help me out with that?”
“No problem at all,” Kendall said. “When and where?”
“You tell me. I got a couple people going out to do some shopping right now, so they could meet you wherever you like.”
“Hey, that works. I was just about to take a break for a late lunch. I can gather up what you need and meet somebody at Nine Elms Tavern. It’s just across the road from the U.S. Embassy, on the Riverwalk. Say thirty minutes?”
“It might take them a few more minutes to get there, but they’ll meet you. I think you’ll recognize them.”
“Sounds good,” Kendall said. “Looking forward to it. By the way, what brings you to town?”
“We’re here on business,” Noah said. “I’ll let them fill you in, or you might talk to Catherine. I’m afraid she’s gotten ahead of you on this one, too.”
Kendall laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me a bit. Just let me know if you need anything else.”
