by David Archer
“Do we have any idea where Dawson is now?”
“No,” Allison said. “Sooner or later, however, he will be ordered to kill again and all of our intelligence agencies are scanning for information on when that might take place. I’m sending you and your team, Noah, to find and track this son of a bitch and identify Spear, who is actually responsible for Donald’s death. I want you to get started as soon as you can, but not before the day after tomorrow. Donald’s body will be arriving back here tomorrow, and his funeral is scheduled for the day after that.”
“I’m curious, but why didn’t you have his body brought back on the same plane with us?”
“Because there can be no association between you and him. Donald was known as part of our agency; given half a chance, some of our enemies would use the fact that you were on that plane to connect you and your team to the organization, as well. We can’t risk that.”
“You’ll have identity kits and such ready for us by then?”
“Molly is going to be taking over for Donald,” Allison said. “She’ll be handling such things, so check with her tomorrow. She should have everything ready in plenty of time.” She paused and looked at him for a moment. “Noah, Sarah is not going. I’m not risking my grandchild, and don’t you dare say a word, by letting her go on this mission.”
Noah nodded once, then got to his feet. “I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Mr. Jefferson was a good man.”
A tear snaked its way down Allison’s cheek. “He was that,” she said. “And a lot more, besides.”
Noah recognized the dismissal as he heard it. He got up and walked out of the office, then took the elevator down to the first floor. He wasn’t surprised to find Doctor Nathan Parker sitting on the bench outside the front door.
“Doc,” Noah said. “Are you waiting for me?”
“Of course,” Parker said, getting slowly to his feet. “First, I knew you were going to need a ride out to your house, but there’s also the fact that I want to discuss a couple of factors regarding your new mission.” He got up off the bench and started toward the Cadillac parked at the curb. “Get in, son, I’m not going to waste a lot of time. We can talk on the way to your place.”
Noah followed him and got into the car on the passenger side. Parker slid behind the wheel, started up the car and pulled away from the curb. He didn’t say anything until they had passed the first intersection.
“Donald Jefferson was one of the finest men I’ve ever known. This world is not going to be the place it should be without him in it.”
“I can agree with that assessment,” Noah said.
“However, we must also remember that Donald was an experienced and capable agent in his own right. He was one of the most powerful men in the free world, being the right hand of the woman who can order the death of any human being for any reason she chooses. I don’t believe there is anyone in the world who would not have considered Donald an extension of Allison Peterson, so had he ever suggested that someone needed to die, that suggestion would have been taken as an order by almost any intelligence operative of our country or its allies. Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“Sir, it sounds like you are implying that Donald may have been tempted to use that power from time to time?”
“He was a man, wasn’t he? One of the curses about being in my position with this organization is that some of you people seem to think of me as your Father Confessor. Donald was one who made a point of catching up with me from time to time, so I’m privy to a few things that even Allison may not know. While our intelligence does indicate that Spear is behind the assassination, I need you to be aware that there could be other factors involved. Some of those factors could exist within our own government.”
“Mr. Jefferson had enemies, then,” Noah said. “Do you have any reason to believe one of those was responsible for the assassination?”
“I don’t even have a reason to believe the sun will come up tomorrow morning,” Parker said, “not at my age. There is absolutely nothing certain in this world, Noah, other than the truth you see directly in front of your eyes at a given moment. Truth has a habit of mutating itself; it is always possible that, no matter what the evidence in front of you might suggest, there can be another explanation for any event you can imagine. All I’m trying to say to you is that, while I expect you to carry out your mission and eliminate Spear, you need to be aware that there could be other forces at work, as well.”
“Very well, sir,” Noah said. “I’ll make a note of it and pay close attention to what’s happening around us.”
“You do that, Noah,” Parker said. “And I want you to do yourself one more favor. My gut says you’re going to need somebody on this mission who isn’t on any intelligence radar. It needs to be somebody who can mold himself to whatever situation comes along. I know that you have absolute autonomy on planning your missions, but I’m going to make a suggestion and I hope you’ll take it to heart.”
“Please go ahead, sir,” Noah said. “A suggestion from you is always going to be welcome.”
Parker glanced over at him, then cut his eyes back to the road. “Gary Mitchell,” he said. “Gary is the acting coach, I’m sure you remember him. He helped you prepare for a couple of missions in the past, I believe. Gary is a chameleon; he can be whoever he needs to be, even down to making incredibly complex alterations to his appearance. Take him along, and do your best to bring him back. He’s a valuable asset in his regular job with us, but I think he may be even more valuable to you in this particular case.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be an infiltration mission,” Noah said. “I think he may be quite valuable indeed.”
They chatted about mundane things for the rest of the ride, and then Parker dropped Noah off at his country home. Noah walked in the house and found that everyone had gone back to sleep when they arrived, so he stripped down quickly and crawled into bed beside Sarah.
He was awakened a few hours later by the sound of Neil coming into the house from his trailer across the yard. As he sat up to begin getting dressed, Sarah rolled over and looked at him.
“I didn’t even hear you come in,” she said. “I never seem to be able to get any rest when I sleep on airplanes. I was so tired when we got here that I just flopped in the bed and was asleep in no time.”
“That’s all right,” Noah said. “We should all take every opportunity to rest, especially with a mission hanging over our heads.”
Sarah let out a sigh. “There’s a mission, then? What is it this time?”
“Come on out into the living room,” Noah said. “I need to tell everyone at the same time.” He pulled on his jeans and tugged a T-shirt over his head, then walked out of the room in his bare feet. Sarah got up quickly and dressed herself, then followed and found them all in the kitchen, rather than the living room. Renée had made coffee, and they were all sitting around the table. Sarah got a cup for herself and sat down with them.
“All right,” Neil said, “she’s here. What’s all this about? Why did we have to come back over here so soon?”
“Donald Jefferson is dead,” Noah said. “He was assassinated in London the night before last. The assassin has been identified, and Allison believes she knows who was behind it. We are going to eliminate both of them.”
There was silence at the table for several seconds, and then all of them tried to speak at once. At first, they all tried to deny what Noah had said, but his calm demeanor told them he was telling the truth. When they finally came to the point of acceptance, each of them had something to say about Jefferson, and Noah simply let them talk until they were finished.
“We’ll be meeting with Molly tomorrow, she’ll be taking over Mr. Jefferson’s duties. She’ll have our identity kits and such ready for us by then.” He looked at his wife. “You will be sitting this one out. I’m not taking you out on any more missions. Marco can drive, and so can I. In fact, we all can.”
“Neil can’t,” Marco said, and Neil
shot him a glare.
Sarah stared at Noah for a second, and then her face clouded up. “Now, you just wait a…”
“Allison agrees with me,” Noah said. “I think you may be the precedent for a new rule, which will probably state that pregnant operatives do not go into the field.”
Sarah sputtered, but gave up on arguing. “I’m not going to be happy about this,” she said. “Remember what happened the last time you went out on a mission without me.”
“That time he went without all of us,” Neil said. “Don’t worry, Sarah, we will take care of him.”
“Of course we will,” Jenny said. “We all have his back, Sarah.”
A sigh escaped her as Sarah settled back into her chair. “I know you do,” she said. “And I understand why I can’t go, because of the baby. I just hate the idea of us being apart.”
Noah took her hand and smiled at her. “I understand, babe.”
* * *
The following morning, Noah walked into Allison’s office again, this time followed by Neil, Jenny, Marco and Renée. Molly was there waiting for them, looking slightly uncomfortable as she sat at the same spot Donald Jefferson had always occupied.
“The nature of this mission is different from many of your other missions in the past,” Molly began. “You are to locate and engage Caleb Dawson, then maintain some form of surveillance on him until he leads you to Spear. At that point, your orders are to eliminate both of them. How you achieve the mission, of course, is entirely up to you, Noah, but I have your mission identities ready.”
She picked up a large fabric shopping bag and reached inside it, producing a wallet, a watch and a cell phone in a plastic bag. “Noah, your identity for this mission is William Rogers. Your back story is that of a purchasing representative for a large tobacco company.” She handed the bag over to him, and he began looking at the photos and other items inside the wallet. Most of them were mundane, probably even nonsensical, but they would lend credibility to the identity, should they be examined by police or other agencies.
Molly withdrew another bag and passed it to Neil. “Neil, you are Leonard Roth, CEO of Roth Technologies. The company produces security software for computers, and actually does exist. It’s one of the front companies for E & E, so it was easy to insert you as its CEO.”
She took a purse out of the bag and handed it to Jenny. “Jenny, your name is Jennifer Roth, and you are Leonard’s wife. Your back story indicates that you were his high school sweetheart and that you are responsible for marketing for the company. Again, should anyone bother to check, both the website and the company staff will confirm your position.”
Another purse went to Renée. “Renée, you are Abigail Willis. Your back story is that you are an effective executive assistant, working regularly for temporary agencies throughout the world. One of the jobs you held was actually for Roth Technologies, while they were expanding into Europe.”
The final reach into the bag produced another plastic bag filled with wallet, cell phone, etc. “Marco, you are Jeremiah Duchesne. This takes advantage of your Cajun upbringing, so you can let your accent out again. Your back story makes you a former government agent from the United States, now occasionally involved in some shady deals. That identity might come in handy on this mission, and we have built an extensive record of various nefarious activities. You will find a list of them in the cell phone, so you need to scan through it and memorize as many as possible.”
Each of them took a moment to examine what they had been given, and then Noah looked at Molly.
“What about Gary Mitchell?” he asked. “I had put in a request to have him assigned to the team for this mission.”
“And it’s been approved,” Allison said. “He’s being advised of that fact this morning, and will be waiting for you at R&D. He’ll already have his identity kit.”
“Which I’m basing on his real past,” Molly said. “If he’s checked out by the authorities, he will come up as an actor who is looking for work.”
Noah nodded. “All right, then. How soon do we leave?”
“As soon as we get any information on where you can find Dawson,” Allison said, and then she licked her lips. “Noah, we’re having Donald’s funeral in the morning, and I thought you would all want to be there.”
“Of course we do,” Noah said, and the rest nodded their agreement.
TWO
“Someday, in the near future, your grief will fade away. While today we lay the body of Donald Jefferson to rest, we know that Donald himself now sits at the right hand of Our Lord in the kingdom of Heaven, where we all will one day be reunited with him. And, despite the fact that he is no longer here with us in the flesh, he shall forever remain alive in our hearts.”
Noah watched Donald’s funeral from a distance, as always stoic and unmoved. He watched and listened as the minister’s words faded away and Donald’s family and friends moved back from the casket.
“Noah? What are you thinking about?” Donald asked him one night, when the two of them were alone. They were standing outside the headquarters building, leaving a meeting that had run late into the evening. Now, standing here watching Donald’s body being lowered into the ground, Noah suddenly remembered the conversation, but it was almost like it was happening all over again.
The question managed to bring Noah out of his thoughts. The coolness of the air had settled around him without even being noticed. The street lights were blinking on around them, making it harder to see the stars up above. He turned to look at the ops director. “I was thinking about whether I would ever make it to retirement,” he said casually, knowing that Donald would be surprised.
“Why?” said Donald. “Why on Earth would you want to retire? Then you’d have to figure out what to do with yourself every day, and that’s not easy for somebody who’s been in our line of work.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged back. “Or maybe it wouldn’t be all that hard.”
“But why? You can’t try to say you’re getting old; hell, you’re still in your twenties.” Donald waited for Noah’s usual grunt of acknowledgment, and Noah noted Donald’s typical resort to sarcasm. It was Donald’s way of deflecting feelings, and a trait Noah had always admired. It reminded him of the kind of banter Neil and Marco liked to engage in.
“Your last few missions may not have all gone off exactly as you planned, but you’re still at the top of your game. Hell, Noah, you are the best there is at this job. It’s who you are, you know that. E & E wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Some part of Noah’s mind recognized that things had changed with Jefferson’s death, and the imaginary conversation turned toward the present.
“It’s not supposed to be the same. As a team leader, I know that when things change, you have to adapt. And you know that what works for me isn’t always going to work for anybody else. How is my team supposed to cope, now that you’re gone? Who’s going to have our backs?”
Donald was shaking his head.
“It’s not about how many of our missions come off successful,” Noah tried to explain. His record of success had never been out of any need to be perfect, but Donald had always assumed that it was.
Noah decided to move to the heart of the matter. “Donald, my team has done more than any other team you’ve got. They need a break, and they deserve one.” He felt compelled to clarify. “I’m not saying we need to leave E & E for good, there’s always going to be somewhere we can fit in, some way we can serve. I’m just saying that we’ve paid our dues. I’m saying that maybe it’s time we had a chance at a future.”
“I know where this is coming from,” Donald said. “This is about Sarah being pregnant.”
“It’s not just that, Donald. I wish I could say it was, but it’s not.”
“So adapt, isn’t that what you’ve always done?”
“This is adapting,” he countered carefully. “At the very least, my team is ready for a break.”
“Not yet, Noah. You can’t have one just
yet,” Donald said in his imagination, and there was something imploring in his face. “I’m counting on you. You’re the only one who can make my sacrifice worthwhile.”
Noah let out a sigh. “And you know that I won’t let you down.”
Donald smiled. “Now, that’s the Noah Wolf I know and love.”
The memory of Donald’s voice in Noah’s head, the conversation that ran through his mind, was so clear that he wanted to turn around to make sure Donald wasn’t really standing behind him. He half expected the man to be waiting to tell him he’d faked his death as part of a mission, or something else just as crazy, but Noah kept his face forward. He knew there was no one standing at his back.
He gave a tight, determined nod toward Donald’s casket, where it waited to be lowered into the ground. Whatever mourning Noah might need to do for Donald would have to be done later. Right now, he had a mission to complete. When that mission was finished, he might consider asking for that break.
After what he had recently been through, the thought of having a child grow up without either of his parents was something that left him feeling empty inside. There had to be a way to ensure it wouldn’t happen to his child, as it had happened to him. No matter what happened, he had to make sure that Sarah never went out on a mission again.
It occurred to him that it might not be realistic to have such hopes, but Noah was one who believed that nothing was impossible. His life almost seemed to be some sort of a testament to that fact.
