Finding North

by Christian, Claudia Hall

  Stunned by his cruelty, Alex’s mouth dropped open. She shook her head at him.

  “Fuck you,” Alex said. “Fey Team, clear out. Let’s leave the French to their own problems.”

  “Your vehicles have been disabled,” Dom said.

  “Mine haven’t,” Sergeant Dusty pointed to the helicopters hovering in the parking lot. Sergeant Dusty said into his cell phone, “Yes, sir, it looks like it was a miscommunication between intelligence officers. That’s correct, sir.”

  Sergeant Dusty gave Dom a dirty look.

  “French Intelligence screwed up,” Sergeant Dusty said into his phone. “Yes, sir, I will, sir.”

  Sergeant Dusty looked at Alex.

  “They want you to call,” Sergeant Dusty said.

  Alex gave Dom a curt nod and followed the team out the back door. Vince, Matthew, and Joseph waited for her at one of the US Air Force Pave Hawk helicopters, while the rest of the team got into the second.

  “We need to talk,” Matthew said.

  Alex nodded to the helicopter and got inside. Matthew and Sergeant Dusty followed her inside. Raz and Joseph got in, and Trece stepped inside last. Trece was just closing the door when Dom tried to get onto the helicopter. Trece sneered at him and looked at Alex. She thought for a moment before giving a slight nod. Trece let Dom onto the helicopter. Matthew moved over, so Dom could sit next to Alex. He sat down, Trece closed the door, and the helicopter took off.

  “What the hell, Dom?” Alex asked in French.

  “‘What the hell’ is right,” Dom said. “What are we going to tell the world?”

  “Training exercise,” Alex said.

  “No one was injured?” Dom asked.

  “Colin was wounded.”

  “Oh, Christ,” Dom said in French. “That’s going to start World War Rebecca.”

  “You know it,” Alex said. “Any of your men?”

  “No,” Dom said. “Thank you for that. They noted the special care taken not to wound or injure them. I should have thought . . . I didn’t.”

  “I got that,” Alex said.

  She smiled, and he chuckled.

  “What happened?” Alex asked.

  “I don’t know what happened,” Dom said. “We have been looking for you. You can ask your command because they have been looking for you.”

  Alex nodded to Raz. He took out his cell phone and played the message they’d received from Dom last night. Dom shook his head.

  “It’s not me,” Dom said.

  “We were instructed to go down to the US Embassy, pick up vehicles, and meet you at the bookstore,” Alex said. “We did just that.”

  “We went to the apartment to pick you up,” Dom said.

  “At the bookstore, we found your assistant,” Alex said. She looked at Raz and asked, “Do you remember his name?”

  “Frenchy?” Raz said.

  “Frenchy?” Dom asked.

  “Something like that,” Raz said.

  “Frenchy . . . French . . .” Dom repeated. “You mean Françoise.”

  “That’s it,” Raz said. “He told us to call him Françy. I never got the hang of the pronunciation.”

  “Yes, I see that,” Dom said. “He doesn’t work for me anymore. He left our agency . . . three years ago, maybe more.”

  “He was at the store,” Alex said. “He was with a woman who said she was the bookstore owner’s assistant. I’ve never seen her before. Who did you have with you?”

  “The girl who worked for the bookstore owner,” Dom said. “She said she talked to Raz this week.”

  Raz nodded.

  “We got a call,” Dom said. “A neighbor, I think, but I’d have to check. They said they saw an armed military team breaking into the bookstore. The store is in a residential neighborhood. The caller said there were terrorists setting to explode the store. We arrived and saw military and . . .”

  Dom shrugged.

  “You failed the exercise,” Alex said.

  “Obviously,” Dom said. “Did you get what you were looking for?”

  “We found some maps,” Alex shrugged. “We found some books that belonged to me and my Weapons Sergeant, Jesse Abreu. We purchased them in the store years before the assault. To my knowledge, they were in the vault.”

  “That’s disturbing,” Dom said.

  “Yes,” Alex said. “It’s been a disturbing morning.”

  Dom nodded.

  “If you don’t mind,” Alex said, “I think we’ll have them drop us at the apartment.”

  She nodded to Sergeant Dusty, and he got up to relay the information to the pilots.

  “I’ll talk to NATO and US European Command,” Dom said.

  “Let me know what I need to do,” Alex said.

  “Is Colin going to be all right?” Dom asked.

  “Just a scratch,” Alex said.

  Dom nodded.

  “She’s still going to kill you,” Alex said.

  “I know,” Dom said. “I might not survive it this time.”

  “Damn straight,” Alex laughed, and Dom smiled.

  “Listen, we’re looking into Philippe’s suicide,” Alex said. “We have some questions which need answering.”

  “For the record, I never thought he killed himself,” Dom said. “I was still living at home, going to Notre Dame.”

  “Who found him?”

  “Our mother,” Dom said. “I called the police.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Why would someone murder Philippe?” Dom asked.

  “We think it’s possible they were trying to remove Ben from service,” Alex said. “Stop him from doing whatever he was doing.”

  “What was he doing?” Dom asked.

  “He doesn’t remember,” Alex said. “Philippe’s death blocked out everything else.”

  “I’ll see what we have,” Dom said. “Do you need my permission to exhume Philippe?”

  “Do I?” Alex asked. The helicopter banked and landed on the helipad of the apartment building.

  “Yes,” Dom said. “I am the executor of his estate.”

  “Raz is taking the case,” Alex said. “You’ll hear from him.”

  “Good,” Dom nodded.

  They got up and walked off the helicopter. The helicopter with the team landed on the roof nearby. They weren’t there more than a minute before a small black helicopter came to pick up Dom. Without saying another word, he stepped onto the helicopter and was gone.

  “What now?” Matthew asked.

  “Lunch?” Alex shook her head to indicate that she had no idea what was next.

  Matthew nodded and dismissed the team. Still carrying their heavy weapons, they clomped down the stairs to Alex, Max, and Raz’s apartment below.

  F

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Thursday morning

  May 19 — 7:23 a.m. MDT (4:23 p.m. CEST)

  Denver, Colorado

  Helen took Stefan’s hand and got out of his car. She looked at the duplex and then at Stefan.

  “Are we sure this is the right place?” Helen asked. “Troy says it’s safe, like guarded, and . . .”

  “The address is correct,” Stefan said. “We’ll go together.”

  He held out his hand, and Helen took it. They walked hand and hand to the porch.

  “Which door?” Helen asked.

  “I’d guess it doesn’t matter much,” Stefan said.

  They stood looking at the building for a moment when a woman came out of the house next door carrying a small boy. She came across the front lawn and went to the left side of the rooming house.

  “Hi,” the woman said. “Are you here for . . .?”

  “We are meeting Niamh Mac Kinney here,” Stefan said.

  “Neev?” the woman asked. “She’s right inside.”

  The toddler squirmed in her arms and got away.

  “Paddie!” the woman yelled.

  He ran off the porch. Helen stepped in front of the boy, and the child ran right into her. He looked up at Helen w
ith enormous blue eyes.

  “I’m Paddie,” the child said.

  “I’m Helen,” she said.

  “Are you in trouble, too?” Paddie asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Helen said. “Are you?”

  Paddie nodded.

  “I have to stay here rather than go to school,” Paddie said.

  “Sorry,” the woman said. “I’m Julie Hargreaves. This is my son . . .”

  “Paddie, the sick one,” the little boy hung his head.

  “Hey, that’s pretty good,” Stefan laughed.

  Paddie gave him a grin out of the corner of his mouth and then hung his head.

  “Paddie can’t go to school today because he has a little bit of a fever,” Julie said. “Neev’s husband Jack said he’d keep an eye on him.”

  “I could go to Katy’s house,” Paddie’s voice brightened at the idea.

  “His best friend,” Julie said. “Paddie, you know you can’t go to Katy’s house. She’s sick, too, and . . .”

  Julie looked at Stefan and Helen.

  “It’s always hard when the team’s gone,” Julie said.

  Julie picked up Paddie and carried him up the stairs. Stefan looked at Helen, and she shrugged.

  “Come on in.” Julie unlocked the front deadbolt with a key from her pocket.

  “You didn’t even ask who we were,” Helen said.

  “You’re Troy’s sister, Dr. Helen Olivas, and he’s Dr. Ebo Stefan Atta,” Julie smiled. “I got the email with your photos.”

  “Email?” Stefan asked.

  “Alex sends them out when new people are coming around,” Julie said. “We can keep an eye out.”

  “Who’s at the door?” Jack said in a loud voice. He stomped to the front door. “And who might you be?”

  “I’m Paddie,” the boy said from his mother’s arms. The boy looked at the giant of a man and turned back to his mother.

  “I’m Jackie,” the man said. “Come on, lad — let’s see what we can find to do.”

  Before Julie could say a word, Jack plucked Paddie from her arms and went back into the house. Julie gave Helen and Stefan a little wave and left the porch. She was across the front yard when she turned around.

  “Go on in,” Julie said. “They should be expecting you.”

  Helen shook her head.

  “Why don’t we sit down for a moment?” Stefan asked. “Catch our breath.”

  Helen bit her lip but stayed rooted in one place. Stefan helped her to a porch chair and sat down next to her.

  “This is very nice,” Stefan said.

  “Aunt Helen!” Hermes came out from the other door. “What are you doing?”

  Helen and Stefan turned around to look at them. The boys were standing on the small porch on the other side of the building. An English Springer Spaniel came out of the house to dance around them.

  “We’re over here!” Hector James said.

  “We have everything ready!” Hermes said.

  “We made breakfast and . . .” Hector James said.

  A dark-haired man came onto the porch and shooed the children inside. The dog zipped inside before he closed the door. When they turned back, there was a grey-haired, blue-eyed, middle-aged woman standing in front of them.

  “Was that a trick?” Helen asked.

  “No,” the woman said. “I’m Niamh Kelly Mac Kinney. You can call me Neev.”

  “Helen,” she said. She stood from her chair and shook Neev’s extended hand.

  “Stefan,” he said.

  Neev gave him a big smile and shook his hand. She threaded her hand through Helen’s elbow and led her into the house.

  “He’s very handsome,” Neev said in a low voice to Helen. They went through Max and Wyatt’s private living room.

  “I know,” Helen said. “He wants to marry me.”

  “Aren’t you the lucky one?” Neev patted Helen’s hand.

  Neev put her hand on the door to the shared living space.

  “There you are!” Hermes threw himself at Helen to hug her. She held him against her legs. “Who’s that guy?”

  Helen smiled at Hermes and looked at Stefan.

  “I’m Stefan,” he said. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Hermes,” he said. “That’s my brother, Hector James. You don’t look Irish. I don’t think Uncle Cian’s going to . . .?”

  “Who said my name?” Cian came into the shared living space. He glared at Helen and at Stefan.

  “He said you wouldn’t like me because I’m not Irish,” Stefan said.

  “I don’t like you because you’re damned awful at lománaíocht,” Cian sniffed.

  “You know him?” Hermes and Helen said at the same time.

  Cian laughed.

  “We’re on the same Hurling team,” Stefan said.

  “But you’re not Irish!” Hermes said. “Only the Irish are allowed to play the holy game of lománaíocht.”

  “I may have exaggerated a bit,” Cian said.

  “I had Irish roommates who taught me the game at college,” Stefan said. “I played all four years. Alex told me about their team, and . . . It was a nice way to pass the time.”

  “You must be Helen,” Cian said. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

  She nodded and smiled.

  “It’s a real pleasure,” Cian said. “Please, come in. The boys have been beside themselves, and . . .”

  Cian led them into the dining room.

  “We’re glad you’re here,” Cian said.

  Cian helped Helen with a chair, and Stefan sat next to her. Neev sat next to Helen.

  “Alex asked me to help you,” Neev smiled.

  In Neev’s smile, Helen saw a terrible pain equal only to the one she felt inside.

  “I might understand where you’ve been,” Neev said, as if she could hear Helen’s thoughts.

  Jack came into the room with Paddie Hargreaves on his shoulders.

  “I think we can find a way out together,” Neev said.

  “I hope so,” Helen said. “Because I have to . . .”

  “Yes,” Neev said. “I’ve heard.”

  Helen nodded. Seeing Erin standing in the doorway, Helen got up to hug her.

  “You know each other?” Neev asked.

  “We met through Troy,” Erin said. “I’m a virologist, and Helen is . . .”

  “Was,” Helen said.

  “Once an internationally renowned theoretical physicist, always an internationally renowned theoretical physicist,” Stefan said.

  “Stefan!” Erin said. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  Erin looked from Helen to Stefan.

  “Did you?” Erin asked.

  Helen held up her ring.

  “Yea!” Erin said. “Sami! Helen and Stefan are engaged again!”

  Samantha came into the dining room to hug Helen.

  “You know Samantha, too?” Neev asked.

  “Our parents are friends,” Samantha said. “And, of course, Troy’s been a fixture at our house forever.”

  “You knew about Stefan?” Helen asked.

  Samantha and Erin nodded.

  “Troy told us,” Samantha said. “When you moved here.”

  Helen nodded.

  “Are you here . . .?” Erin gestured to Neev.

  “Alex said she thought Neev could help me,” Helen said. “I have to talk to my dad . . . and . . . He’s evil.”

  Stefan put his arm around Helen’s shoulder.

  “I need to speak to the Senator,” Samantha said. “He drugged me and . . . used me . . . and . . .”

  Samantha shook her head.

  “Next week, I have to go to Guantanamo Bay to talk to my horrible ex-boyfriend,” Erin said. “He’s the reason I have a fake nose and plastic cheekbones and capped teeth and . . .”

  “Alex wants us to see what we can do together,” Neev said. “Eoin has already developed something that might work.”

  “First, you have to eat breakfast,” Hector James said.

 
“It’s the most important meal of the day,” John said.

  He came in holding the twins. Erin grabbed Joey, and Samantha took Máire from him. He sat down next to Paddie. Hector James sat next to John, and Hermes next to him. Cian came in with Ooljee on his shoulders. Ooljee went to sit with Paddie. Their similar ages and temperaments made them close cousins. Paddie moved over, so Ooljee could share his chair.

  “Where’s Grace?” John asked.

  “She went to school, so I could focus on what we’re doing with Neev,” Erin said.

  “Grace got to go to school?” Paddie asked. “How come I don’t get to go to school?”

  “Katy’s not at school, love,” Neev said.

  “Oh, never mind,” Paddie said.

  They settled into eating. Eoin came in the back door and slipped into a chair next to Cian. With her head down, Helen peeked at the people around the table. She felt Stefan lean into her.

  “You okay?” he said in her ear.

  “Yeah,” Helen smiled. “I think I am.”

  FFFFFF

  Thursday evening

  May 19 — 5:55 p.m. CEST (8:55 a.m. MDT)

  Paris, France

  Alex closed the door to the room they’d drawn — Raz’s bedroom. Trece and White Boy had drawn Alex’s room, and Zack and Cliff had Max’s room. They had sent Matthew on his way to his honeymoon in Hawaii around midday. The rest of the team had pushed the furniture in the main room to the side and were planning on sleeping in the middle. Everyone was having a great time. Alex smiled.

  She’d spent the last three hours in a meeting with British and French Intelligence. No one was sure what had happened today. CNN ran with a story of the upset caused by a joint French-American military exercise performed in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The other news services followed their lead. There was a lively debate on the safety of such urban military exercises on the political talk shows. To Alex’s surprise, the world had bought the story, and still, no one in intelligence was sure how their wires got crossed.

  Alex went to the bedside table and began unloading her pockets. She took out the pocket computer Sergeant Dusty had given her, a yellow pencil, and a piece of paper with a note from Dom. She balled up the note and threw it in the trash. From her other pocket, she removed her identification badge, a set of keys, and the cufflinks and ring she’d gotten from the bookstore. Scowling, she bent down to pick Dom’s note from the trash. She smoothed out the wrinkles and set it with the rest of her junk. She set her Leatherman Freestyle knife on the table. She removed her Glock 9 MM from her sacrum holster. She checked that the safety was on and the chamber empty. She removed the clip and set the weapon on the table.