About Face

by Christian, Claudia Hall

“Spy storage,” Steve said with nod.

  They had met when she was five years old and Steve was a Green Beret. He’d taught she and Max martial arts since they were small. She knew his face almost as well as she knew her own.

  “Jesse here?” Steve asked.

  He tipped his head to the side to see if he could hear Jesse.

  “He’s helping,” Alex said.

  “That’s nice of him,” Steve said. “You know I can see him, sort of. The air kind of crackles. So I guess it’s more like I can sense him.”

  Alex smiled.

  “Like it does when you smile,” Steve said. “You and Jesse are cut from the same cloth. Max, too, of course.”

  “That’s a nice thought,” Alex said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Meeting tomorrow. I just got here,” Steve said. “As you can imagine, I’ve had my own issues with Admiral Ingram.”

  “He wants you out,” Alex said.

  “He’s been told in no uncertain terms that it’s not up to him,” Steve said.

  “CIA?” Alex asked.

  “Something like that,” Steve said with a grin.

  “Spies can be such great company,” Alex said.

  “Especially when they need you,” Steve said.

  “Or know where the body that you want to unearth is buried,” Alex said.

  Steve laughed.

  “Alright, I should leave you to this mess,” Steve said, but didn’t move from the couch. “Listen, I wanted to ask you . . .”

  “Yes?” Alex asked.

  “I was going through it on my way here,” Steve said.

  “That sounds ominous,” Alex said. “What were you going through?”

  “Your collection of goodies,” Steve said.

  “Goodies?” Alex asked.

  “All of the junk you’ve picked up on this adventure,” Steve said. “Card cases, journals, books in ancient languages . . . Some of it, you intentionally saved for reasons you don’t know yet. Some of it you found. But overall, it’s fair to say that you don’t know why you saved it or what it’s for. Is that right?”

  “Uh . . .” Alex said with a shrug. She started shelving another stack of books. “I guess so. I mean, I personally saved most of it. I just don’t remember why I saved it. I mean, I’ve been figuring out why I saved some of it. The card case indicates the sunflower. The sunflower is a compass rose. Stuff like that.”

  “But you have a few items that you still aren’t sure why you saved them,” Steve said.

  “That’s right,” Alex said. “Of the items I personally saved, there are only a few that I don’t know anything about. Two or three, maybe four.”

  “Would you mind spending some time with the items you’ve kept, but don’t know why?” Steve asked. “I know it’s a weird request. I just . . . It occurred to me that . . ..”

  He stopped talking. Tilting his head to the side, he seemed to be listening.

  “Someone else is in this house,” Steve said.

  “It’s probably . . .”

  “No,” Steve shook his head. “He’s breathing fast. Anxious? Excited — probably. I’ve smelled that cologne before. This is a killer. And . . .”

  Steve’s blank eyes looked at her for a moment before he got up. He went to the book shelf and quickly removed the shelves. He tucked himself into the shelving.

  “Be on guard,” Steve whispered.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Alex nodded at him. She slipped the safety off her handgun at her sacrum and gave the weapon to Steve. To pass the time, she started going through the pile on her desk. Minutes passed. Alex was about to tell Steve that he was wrong when the stairs groaned against the weight of someone.

  “Hello?” Alex asked.

  She stuck her head out of her door and looked up. Scotty, the contractor she’d met through Hank Zutterberg’s wife, was standing on the landing of the basement stairs. He was wearing a dark skullcap under a baseball cap, a heavy black jacket, and black jeans. His hands were hidden in the pockets of his jacket.

  “Hey, Scotty,” Alex said. She stepped out of her office. “How’d you get in?”

  “Leah asked me to check on you,” Scotty said.

  Even though her heart was racing, she made herself shrug.

  “I’m fine,” Alex said, in a calm voice. “Just cleaning up my office. We were looking for something. Does Leah have a house key?”

  Scotty gave her a vague nod.

  “What is this place?” Scotty asked, as he came down the stairs.

  To give herself fighting space, Alex moved another foot away from the door.

  “Rooming house,” Alex said. “My husband and brother bought it from a foreclosure sale. We’ve spent years working on it. Our family and some of our team live here.”

  Scotty looked around and nodded.

  “Where is everyone?” Scotty asked.

  “Most of them are in Oceanside,” Alex said. “The others are around . . . Why?”

  “Just seems like a big old house,” Scotty said.

  He flashed a false grin. Alex felt the world slow. She took a breath and then another. He was here to kill her.

  “I’ll show you around,” Alex said. Alex walked toward the laundry, where a loaded shotgun was held in place over the door by a fingerprint lock. “Bedrooms are down there. This is a sitting room, of course. We play video games here. When everyone’s here, this place is hopping with kids, team members, video game tournaments.”

  Alex gestured to the couch, chairs, and television. Her ears filled with sound of her own steady breathing.

  “There’s a gym down that hallway,” Alex said. She was acutely aware of the man behind her. “You’re welcome to stay. Do you need a place?

  “It’s big,” Scotty said.

  Alex had almost reached the laundry when she heard the sound of his hand brushing the fabric of his pocket. Jesse appeared in front of her.

  “Colt .32, Detective Special, 1970s,” Jesse said. “Probably something untraceable bought for this job.”

  Alex blinked her eyes rather than nod. She took a step forward.

  “Safety is off,” Jesse added.

  “Turn around,” Scotty said.

  Keeping her face neutral, almost bored, Alex turned around. She raised an eyebrow at the handgun.

  “What’s this?” Alex asked.

  “You’re going to give me the key,” Scotty said.

  “What key?” Alex asked. “To the house? You seem to have one.”

  The redhead’s face flushed. His neck arteries bulged under the weight of his racing heart. Alex forced herself to seem calm as she moved her feet and body to the ready.

  “What are we talking about?” Alex asked.

  He fired the handgun. Alex felt the bullet slice through the outside of her left arm. She grabbed her left arm. When she looked up, Steve Pershing was creeping out of her office.

  “That’s going to leave a scar,” Alex said, mildly. “Why don’t you tell me what you want, and I’ll tell you if I have it or not?”

  “I want the key!” Scotty said, between his lips.

  “I have a lot of keys, Scotty,” Alex said. “House keys. Car keys. Hell, I have two sets of house and car keys, now. Office keys. Keys to my parents’ house. My sisters’ and brothers’ keys. My husband’s family. Jeez, now that you mention it, I have keys to my husband’s parents’ farm in Scotland. Are you looking for a place in Scotland?”

  Alex shrugged. She saw his frustration rising.

  “Help me out here, Scotty,” Alex said. “What key are we talking about?”

  “Last year, you went to the Mogao Caves,” Scotty said. “You came home with a key!”

  “To translate ancient Xiongnu to Old Chinese?” Alex asked. “Seriously? The only person in the world that speaks ancient Xiongnu is Fong Song-Pershing. Do you know her?”

  The young man’s hand moved to shoot her again, and Steve attacked. Steve was an expert martial artist when he could see. Losing his sight had made
him a true master. Steve’s hands moved with swift precision while his feet worked with their own agenda. He was fast, lithe, and effective. Steve was able to disarm Scotty with one blow.

  But Scotty was no amateur. Once the surprise was over, he was able to regain his footing. He moved against Steve with practiced ease.

  Alex gawked at the fight. Her eyes followed the motion as if it were a demonstration.

  “Hargreaves!” Steve yelled.

  Shaking herself, her training kicked in. She ran to the laundry. She touched a button on the phone to call emergency and went for the shotgun. She was freeing the shotgun from the lock when Scotty pulled off his baseball cap. The light gleamed off a razor in the brim of the cap Scotty was wearing. He flicked the hat at Steve. The brim cut through the air toward Steve’s throat.

  “Steve!” Alex yelled.

  Steve leaned back just in time. The brim sliced through his right shoulder. Scotty pressed forward with the brim of the hat. Alex was just bringing the shotgun around when the sound of a single shot rocked the house. Scotty slumped, and Steve struck him with fast precision. Scotty fell onto the ground. Alex ran to check.

  Someone had shot through the floor with precision accuracy. A heavy person ran down the stairs. Holding the shotgun, Alex ran to the bottom of the stairs. She’d just put the shotgun to her shoulder when Raz turned the corner.

  “Alex!” Raz said.

  Taking the steps two at a time, he was down the stairwell and hugging Alex before she could say anything. His lips brushed her neck as he moved away.

  “Did I get him?” Raz asked.

  “In the shoulder,” Steve said from where he was leaning over Scotty. “I hear sirens.”

  “I called,” Alex said.

  “I did, too,” Raz said.

  “We’d better wake him up before they take him to the hospital,” Steve said.

  Steve slapped him across the face before weaving and dropping to his knees. Alex rushed to his side.

  “Poison,” Steve said.

  “Lie here and be very still,” Alex said.

  Raz slapped Scotty across the face. The young man roused and looked at Raz.

  “Who are you working for?” Raz asked in the young man’s face.

  Scotty shook his head.

  “What was the poison?” Raz yelled.

  “Poison?” Scotty asked.

  “In the hat!” Alex leaned into his face to yell.

  “I didn’t know about the poison,” Scotty said.

  “Why?” Alex asked.

  “Need the key,” Scotty said.

  “What key?” Alex yelled.

  Scotty shook his head as if he either didn’t know or couldn’t say.

  “Why didn’t you kill me in the water?” Alex asked.

  “I was supposed to, but Leah was there,” Scotty said.

  There was a pounding at the door next to the basement stairs landing.

  “Denver Police! Open up!” The police yelled.

  Raz ran up the steps to let them in. Alex leaned down to Scotty.

  “Why me?” Alex asked.

  “Just a job,” Scotty said. “Nothing personal.”

  “Bullshit,” Alex said. “Why would you take a job this risky over a better-paying, more-fun job?”

  “You killed my best friend,” Scotty said. “Kill two birds.”

  His eyes locked on Alex’s, and she felt the full measure of his rage and hatred.

  “I didn’t kill Hank, you moron,” Alex said. “The people you’re working for did.”

  Disgusted, she moved away from Scotty. The paramedics dropped down to Scotty and to Steve. She stayed with Steve until they took him to the Poison Control Center. Knowing the police would never let her go with Steve, she went into her office for her DOD identification. She gave them the shotgun. Alex pointed out where Scotty’s handgun and the poisoned hat had fallen.

  “Alex!” Raz said.

  Alex looked up to see them putting handcuffs on Raz. She showed them her DOD badge and explained what had happened. She had relayed the information a few times before the FBI arrived. Raz was out of handcuffs in minutes. Following Alex’s lead, they let the FBI take them to a secure by-the-day motel near Denver International Airport.

  While the lobby spoke of despair, the room was clean and functional. It had a single king sized bed with a sizeable dip in the middle and a scarred desk. They were told not to leave the room. Neither Raz nor Alex said a word until the door had closed.

  Alex went into the bathroom.

  “Alex, what about your office?” Raz asked.

  “Dusty and I decommissioned it when we went to Oceanside,” Alex said from the bathroom.

  “What about the broach?” Raz asked.

  “It’s not there. It’s in the floor safe,” Alex said. “Remember? We put that carpeting over it.”

  “And the bed.” Nodding, Raz let out a breath and collapsed onto the bed. “And a bed.”

  Alex went to get him a glass of water from the bathroom.

  “It has its own power supply and a separate alarm,” Alex said from the bathroom. “We’d know if someone got into it.”

  She gave him the glass of water. He looked at it and held it up, and she noticed for the first time that the water was yellow.

  “Sorry,” Alex said. “We’re not going to be able to check now.”

  “Too much attention,” Raz said. “Fuck.”

  Raz let out a breath and sat down.

  “I completely forgot we did that,” Raz said. “No wonder they were going to arrest me. I was completely freaking out.”

  “How did you . . .?” Alex asked. “Through the floor?”

  “I had this bad feeling,” Raz said. “So, I slipped into the house, like we’ve practiced. I knew I’d never get down there in time, so I listened to the movement and winged it. There was this sound.”

  He put his lips together and made a whistling sound.

  “The brim of the hat had a razor imbedded in it,” Alex said. “It made that sound when it went through the air.”

  “Something out of the 1920s,” Raz said.

  “Or the BBC,” Alex said. Raz smiled. “It was poisoned.”

  Raz gave a rueful shake of his head.

  “The whole thing happened so, so fast,” Alex said. “One minute, Steve’s talking about my collection of stuff. The next, he’s hiding in my bookshelf. Then he’s poisoned. I just had time to get the shotgun.”

  “Which we know takes 2 minutes and 25 seconds,” Raz said.

  “Right,” Alex said.

  “More bullshit to keep you from . . .?” Raz asked.

  “Still no idea,” Alex said. “You?”

  Raz shook his head. Sneering, Alex chewed on the inside of her cheek and walked over to the window. They had a lovely view of the cement wall of the parking garage next door.

  “How was Steve?” Raz asked.

  “He was able to identify the poison by its effects,” Alex said. “Something of the snake variety. They’d already given him the antidote by the time he’d left the basement. Hopefully, he’s okay. Did they take your cell phone?”

  Raz nodded.

  “Mine, too,” Alex said. “You should call Sami and tell her what’s happened. I’ll take a bath so you have some privacy.”

  “You don’t want to call John?” Raz asked.

  “Of all things, I don’t want to call John to tell him that I was almost killed,” Alex said.

  “Again,” Raz said.

  “Again,” Alex sighed. “It’s becoming a hobby.”

  “This one seems the most . . .” Raz said.

  “Ineffective,” Alex said. “Makes me wonder if Scotty had a contract at all.”

  “Why else would he do it?” Raz asked.

  “He’s pretty pissed at me.”

  “For?” Raz asked.

  “He said something about me killing his best friend,” Alex said. “In the moment, I assumed that was Hank Zutterberg, but . . .”

  Alex shrugg
ed.

  “You’re sure you don’t want to call John?” Raz asked.

  “He’s working,” Alex said. “His instructor is kind of a monster. He can’t take any phone calls. If I leave a message, John’s humiliated in front of the group. Plus, it’s pretty heartless to leave a ‘someone tried to shoot me’ voice message.”

  “I think you should call,” Raz said. “We can’t leave the room, and we don’t have cell phones or computers. We’re basically unreachable.”

  Alex looked at Raz for a moment before nodding. She went to the phone and dialed John’s phone service. After leaving a message, she went to the bathroom. She turned on the bath and then used the toilet. She stripped off her dirty clothing, closed her eyes as she passed the mirror, and stepped into the bath.

  She gasped when her arm hit the water. She’d forgotten all about the wound on her left arm. She longed to stay in the bath but the water was turning rose with blood from the wound. She got out of the tub. She grabbed a thin, small towel and tried to wrap it around her. As thin as she was, the towel barely covered her front. Sighing, she went out into the room.

  Raz looked amused and concerned at the same time.

  “I need to go,” Raz said. “Your sister’s bleeding on the rug.”

  He chuckled at something Samantha had said and hung up the phone. He looked at her for a moment before nodding.

  “This place really sucks,” he said.

  “It’s not like we can call our supportive bosses and get out of here,” Alex said. “Plus, I don’t have any money with me.”

  He shook his head.

  “Can I see your arm?” Raz asked.

  Alex showed him the gash on her arm. He poked at the wound for a moment before shaking his head.

  “Get dressed,” Raz said.

  “Wha . . .?” Alex started.

  “This is fucking ridiculous,” Raz said. “We’re leaving.”

  “I don’t have any money,” Alex said. She shook her head.

  “I do,” Raz said. “We’re getting out of here.”

  Alex looked at him for a moment.

  “God damn it, Alex!” Raz said. “What is wrong with you? You are a national treasure, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US military! There are more than four thousand people who owe their lives to you! That’s not to mention the hundreds of people who would show up to help if you asked. This hotel is disgusting, even for the people who need it on a day-by-day basis!”