by Cindy Dees
And before she could dive for cover behind the desk, Joseph Lockworth stepped fully into the room.
1:00 A.M.
T he file of S.A.F.E. documents crashed to the floor and Diana dropped into a defensive crouch. What a hell of an irony it would be if her own grandfather killed her.
He held his hands out carefully away from his sides. His empty hands.
She straightened cautiously but continued to stay light on the balls of her feet and at the ready. He might be silver haired and eighty years old, but she held no illusions about Gramps being an easy takedown. He’d been one of the toughest covert field agents in the entire OSS and its later iteration, the CIA.
Her grandfather said easily, “Hi, kiddo. How about we have that talk, now?”
She stared in surprise. “Now?”
“I think this is as good a time as any, don’t you?”
She laughed without humor. “I don’t have much else to do, I suppose, except go out there and die.”
He waved a casual hand at the door. “Don’t worry about that bunch. I can handle them.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what’s your price for that little trick going to be?”
She started as her grandfather laughed heartily. “You’re good for an old man’s heart. A real chip off the old block, you are. Just like your mother.”
“My mother?”
He nodded. “You two are both stubborn and wild and opinionated, and maddeningly lovable.”
She had a hard time imagining her haunted, silent mother being any of those things. “I’ll take your word for it. I’ve never seen that side of my mother.”
“And it’s a damned shame. But now that she’s better, you mark my words. She’s a pistol. She’s going to make your life a living hell.”
A genuine smile spread across her face. “I’ll look forward to that.”
Gramps nodded. “Yup. Just like her.” He changed subjects abruptly. “So. What’s this about S.A.F.E.? How did you find out about that?”
She sure as heck wasn’t telling him about Oracle. That was the last thing S.A.F.E. needed to find out about! “I did it the old-fashioned way. Months of investigation and legwork, and a bit of deductive reasoning. It took me a while to make the connection between Dunst, Q-group and S.A.F.E., but it all fell into place today. Along with the identities of S.A.F.E.’s members and their true agenda.”
He shook his head. “How’d you make the connection?”
That she was willing to tell him. It wouldn’t hurt S.A.F.E. to realize they couldn’t hide any longer, now that the rock they’d been hiding under had been turned over. “I analyzed the Q-group attack on Monihan last October. It matched up with a CIA training scenario too perfectly to be coincidence. So, it was an easy leap to figure Richard Dunst was training them. He was using his former CIA agent status to do a bunch of illegal arms deals with the Q-group in Berzhaan. It was in the news when Q-group took over that TV station in Chicago. When they tried to blow up Gabriel Monihan.”
Gramps nodded. “I actually fired him from the CIA before I retired.”
“When Richard Dunst got broken out of jail this morning, it was clear that someone with a whole lot of power and resources helped him. And that wouldn’t be the Q-group. They’re a shoestring covert op all the way.”
“Sound reasoning.”
“So, it became clear that a third party was in the picture. Someone pulling both Dunst’s and the Q-group’s strings. And that’s when I went looking for S.A.F.E. I intercepted someone on the Internet instructing Dunst to kill Gabe Monihan this evening. Again, it had to be someone with inside access to the highest levels of the government. I tracked down the e-mail address of the guy giving Dunst orders, and funny thing, I ran smack-dab into a CIA firewall on the Internet.”
“So, you put two and two together and fingered Dunst’s old boss at CIA, Collin Scott. And you just waltzed in here, broke into his office and found…what?”
Diana gestured at the papers scattered all over the floor at her feet. “I found it all. The entire S.A.F.E. dossier. And lest you think you’re going to get away with this, I’ve already faxed the entire file to the authorities.”
Her grandfather stared down at the papers in shock.
And then a slow smile spread across his face. He looked up at her in jubilation. “You did it!”
She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“You broke open S.A.F.E. We’ve been after these bastards for going on two years, and you did it in a single day! Simply amazing. Congratulations!”
“Who exactly has been going after S.A.F.E. for two years?”
“A group of…concerned citizens. A few people, highly placed in the government complex have been aware of a subtle force at work behind the scenes, pushing events in…dangerous directions. I’ve been helping them investigate who’s behind it all.”
That was a convenient story. “Not to be rude, Gramps, but you could easily be changing your tune to try and dodge the ton of bricks that’s about to land on S.A.F.E. Why should I believe a word of what you just said?”
He grinned broadly. “Bravo. You really are a Lockworth through and through.”
Okay, this conversation was just getting strange. She was barricaded in the CIA building, about to get thrown in jail for the rest of her natural life if she was lucky, and her grandfather was crowing about her calling him a liar.
“Tell you what, Pumpkin. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll get you out of this building in one piece-not under arrest-if you’ll go for a ride with me. I want to take you to meet someone.”
“To meet whom?” she asked cautiously.
“Someone you’ll believe when he tells you I’ve infiltrated S.A.F.E. on his behalf in order to expose it and take it down.”
“Why would I believe anyone you take me to?”
“Oh, I think you’ll believe this person.”
“And why should I trust you? You could just as easily take me to some deserted spot so more of S.A.F.E.’s thugs can kill me and feed me to the sharks. I’m not getting in any car with you.”
He nodded. “I commend your caution. You’d make a hell of a field operative. Good instincts. I’m going to reach into my pocket and get my cell phone. I’m going to do it nice and slow. Okay?”
She nodded once. And watched him like a hawk as he did exactly what he said he’d do.
“May I dial it?” he asked.
Another short nod.
He held the instrument to his ear for a moment. “Hello, it’s Lockworth. There’s someone here I’d like you to speak to. She’s reluctant to get in a car with me and go for a ride. Rightly so, I might add.”
He held the cell phone out to her. There was an outside chance it was a stun weapon of some kind. If she put it to her ear, she could be zapped and dropped. But, she was also curious just whom he could call on who would convince her to go with him.
She took the phone. Held it near her head but was careful not to touch her ear with it. “Hello?” she said cautiously.
“Hello. It’s Gabe.”
Her jaw dropped.
“Diana? Are you there?” His voice came as if from a great distance. Her grandfather was working with Gabe Monihan? Had Gabe played her for a fool all along?
“Diana? Talk to me. Are you okay?”
“Uh, yes,” she managed to mumble.
“What’s going on? What’s your grandfather talking about? What does he mean that you won’t get in a car with him?”
“Is my grandfather working for you?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact he is. And that’s classified information, by the way. Please don’t reveal it to anyone. He’s working on something extremely important for me.”
Gabe knew about the existence of S.A.F.E. or something like it and was using Gramps to smoke it out? And all of a sudden, the pieces started falling into place. This was the real reason why Gabe had insisted on it not being publicized before the election that the Q-group attack in Chicago last October had been aimed
solely at him. Why there was so much enmity between him and Wolfe. Why he’d been so willing to trust her-another Lockworth-on sight.
Good grief. Did this also mean that Gabe hadn’t felt any instant connection with her as she’d thought? Was his easy familiarity nothing more than an extension of his acquaintance with her grandfather? Had she read a great deal more into their bantered exchanges than was really there? Had he merely tolerated her as a favor to Gramps? Had she made a colossal fool of herself?
“Diana?” Gabe spoke worriedly in her ear. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry. I’m a little busy at the moment.”
“Doing what?” He asked that in a way that suggested he’d push until he got an answer.
“Well, I broke into the office of a high-ranking CIA official a few minutes ago. I’m barricaded inside it right now, and there are a couple of dozen security types outside who are jonesing to kill me. They’re trying to figure out how to break down the door as we speak.”
Gabe gave a snort of laughter.
But when she said nothing, he added in dawning dismay, “You’re kidding, right?”
“Sorry.”
“Jesus H. Christ, Diana. The CIA? What were you thinking?”
She laughed ruefully. “Well, the good news is I found out who’s been trying to kill you. I just faxed the entire dossier on the conspiracy to my superiors. If I live more than a few more minutes, I’ll ask to have it all sent to Owen Haas.”
“And the Attorney General, it sounds like,” he bit out.
“There’s only one problem,” she said.
“Only one?” he retorted. “It’s sounds to me like you’ve got several problems at the moment.”
She replied impatiently, “I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about you. I couldn’t find out who’s in charge of the whole conspiracy. It has to be someone way up in the government, though, based on the kind of information and resources they seem to have access to. You watch your back.”
“That’s what both of you Lockworth’s have been doing for me.”
“So Gramps is really on the up-and-up when he says he’s been investigating this bunch for you?”
“Absolutely,” Gabe answered firmly.
No hesitation. And that was a definite ring of truth in his voice. Well, okay then.
“So, are you President, yet?” she asked lightly.
“No,” he laughed. “But soon. Less than an hour.”
“Sheesh,” she groused teasingly, “Who’d have guessed this nation elected such a slacker? It’s about darn time you took the reins.”
“We’ll get there. One step at a time. Although, if you’ve busted this shadow group as wide-open as you say you have, my job just got a whole lot easier.”
“Not to mention that you might live to do your job now,” she added.
He waxed abruptly serious. “Exactly. I can’t thank you enough. So. What can I do to help you out of your current predicament?”
“I do have a way of getting into messes, don’t I?” she asked ruefully.
“Indeed.”
“Actually, Gramps seems to think he’s got it covered. How about we give you a call back if we get into a jam?”
“All right. But you call me if you need help, all right? I owe you an enormous debt.”
She winced at his words. Is that what she was to him? A debt? Her stomach roiled, more nauseous than it already was. She hung up the phone and handed it back to her grandfather.
“It seems I owe you an apology, Gramps.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Put that thought right out of your mind. You were doing your job. I completely understand. And frankly, if you hadn’t been cautious with me, I’d have chewed your butt.”
She had no doubt he would’ve, too. No wonder her mother had been wild and stubborn with this man for a father-in-law.
“Exactly how were you planning to walk me out of here past all those guys out there?” she asked.
“That’s the thing. We’re not going past them.” He nodded at the hidden door.
“Surely those guys out there know about that connecting door. They’ll have agents posted outside the adjoining office.”
“Well,” her grandfather drawled, “I had a little chat with the Director when I got here, and he arranged for there not to be agents on the door that opens to a separate hallway that runs behind the adjoining office.”
“We’re going to escape?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yup. Just like the good old days.” He was grinning like a mischievous six-year-old.
“What about the security cameras? The hallways are lined with them!”
“Not being monitored for the next-” he glanced at his watch “-four minutes. It really is time to go.”
“If those guys in the outer office figure out what we’re doing, they’ll shoot to kill! If-and that’s a big if-we manage to make it out of the building, they’ll put out an APB on us so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
“Nah. Think how foolish they’ll look when they finally get into this office and there’s nobody inside. You’ll have vanished into thin air. They can’t very well put out an APB on an invisible woman.”
Her eyes narrowed. “They won’t put out the APB because you’re going to take down Collin Scott, and they won’t want to draw any more attention to him and the reason for what happens to him than they have to.”
“Ah, my girl, you’d be a natural in the agency. Can I possibly tempt you to transfer over here from Defense Intelligence?”
“Not on your life. You can keep all these political games and maneuvering. They make my head hurt.”
He guffawed. “And that’s why you’re a conspiracy theorist, right? You like to think about simple, straightforward things.”
She grinned back at him. “Exactly.”
He knelt down and began picking up the scattered S.A.F.E. documents. “We’d better take this stuff with us, don’t you think?”
She knelt down and began helping him. “Definitely. We wouldn’t want there to be an unfortunate accident with a paper shredder.”
In a few seconds, they’d gathered up all the papers and stuffed them back into their red file.
“Better stick that under your coat,” her grandfather advised. “If someone sees you leave the building with a red file, you could get into big trouble.”
She replied dryly, “That will be the least of my problems if we’re stopped on the way out of the building.”
“True. Here. Put this on. Just in case we run into anybody in a hallway.” Her grandfather held out a light brown wig to her. It was a chin-length pageboy-shaped thing, not terribly different from her own hair, but its smooth shape and chestnut color were enough off that nobody would give her a second glance.
She tucked the last of her wavy, golden locks under it. “How do I look?”
“Not nearly as pretty as my granddaughter,” he replied.
“Let’s get out of here.”
She followed him to the hidden panel and stepped through it into a darkened office. Light and noise came from the other side of the door as some of the security team from next door spilled over into the outer office of this suite. She and Gramps moved quietly across the carpeted floor, toward another door on the opposite side of the office. Yup, just as she’d thought. Her grandfather moved with the grace and stealth of a cat. The old guy must have been something else in his prime.
She waited in the shadows behind him as he opened the second exit silently. He glanced both directions down the hall, then gestured for her to follow him. They slipped outside. She walked beside him, moving purposefully, but without undue haste that might draw attention to them.
They wound down hallway after hallway, moving ever farther from the front door and the fiasco behind them. They went down an elevator and stepped out into a small vestibule.
“If each of us doesn’t swipe an ID card as we leave, it’s going to set off an alarm. We’ll have to run for my car once we get out of here
,” he instructed in a low murmur.
“I can do you one better than that,” she murmured back. She fished Samantha’s ID card out of her coat pocket and dangled it from her fingers.
Gramps shook his head admiringly. “Lockworth, through and through.”
They duly swiped their ID cards and stepped out into a dim parking garage. Perhaps twenty feet away, a limousine lurked in a dark shadow, its long, sleek shape menacing. Pantherlike.
They moved over to it swiftly, and the rear passenger door opened from inside as they approached it. Someone was inside waiting for them? Startled, Diana ducked into the vehicle and slid across the leather seat to make room for Gramps, who was close behind her.
“Let’s go, Jens,” he said into an intercom before the door was even fully closed.
The vehicle pulled out smoothly while Diana’s eyes adjusted to the dark interior, lit only by a few small running lights along the floor. Not only was there one someone inside the limo, there were five someones.
She jolted as a voice said out of the darkness, “Hi, honey. Are you all right?”
“Mom? What in the world are you doing here?”
“You know us Lockworths. We stick together. I was with your grandfather when you called his hotel room. As soon as the call came in that you’d just gone into the CIA building, and we realized you were probably in trouble or about to be in trouble, wild horses couldn’t have stopped me from coming along.”
So that explained how Gramps had gotten to the CIA building minutes after she broke into Scott’s office. She leaned forward and squeezed her mother’s hand. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
Her mother’s startled gaze met hers and tears abruptly filled her mother’s eyes. The lady never had been slow on the uptake. Zoe saw her overture for what it was. And dang it if her own eyes didn’t start to fill with tears, too. Twenty-five years without a mother. And now she finally had one who’d worry over her and fight her battles beside her. The lonely little girl inside her was feeling better by the minute. As though she was growing up.
“I’d do anything for you, you know,” her mother whispered. “I love you so much, sweetheart.”
“I love you, too, Mom.” That was the first time she could ever remember saying that. And it felt good. Really good. As if her heart was opening up and blooming like a big, bright, overblown sunflower.
