Point Blank SEAL

by Carol Ericson

She pushed through the revolving gate and loped across the outer parking lot toward the back of the mini-mall. As soon as she turned the corner of the first building out of sight of the prosthetics compound, Miguel rolled up beside her and she hopped into the passenger seat.

  Closing her eyes she tipped back her head. “Whew.”

  “You completely went off the rails. What happened? The mic even went out. I couldn’t hear anything that was going on after Angela caught you in the hallway. Are you crazy? I thought they’d captured you or something.”

  “Are you done?”

  “No, but you are. I can’t believe you went rogue on me.”

  She opened one eye and patted his corded forearm, where his veins stood out from his flesh. “The reason you couldn’t hear anything from the mic is because I left it there.”

  He slammed on the brakes. “Left it where?”

  “Right in Angela’s office.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Miguel eased his foot off the brake and the car rolled forward. “Damn.”

  “My sentiments exactly.”

  He picked up the silent receiver in the cupholder and gave it a quick glance. “Where’d you leave it?”

  “I slipped it onto her desk, near the phone. When she escorted me out of the building, she locked her door. You didn’t hear anything?”

  “I told you. I thought you’d been found out and the microphone compromised.”

  “I’m sorry.” She rubbed her knuckles along the top of his thigh. “I didn’t mean to worry you. It was a split-second thing. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere near those swinging double doors, so I took my next best option.”

  “Angela hasn’t been back to her office yet, or the microphone is broken.”

  “I don’t think so. I didn’t throw it on her desk. I plucked it off my strap, wiped it with a tissue to get rid of our prints and when she had her back to me I placed it very gently on her desk.”

  “She could find it, although she does have a messy desk.”

  “I noticed.”

  “Problem is, we can’t get too far away from her office. The transmitter won’t work back at the hotel—too far.”

  A scratchy noise came over the receiver and Miguel pulled over to the side of the road. He held his breath when he heard the sound of a door close.

  Jennifer whispered, “She’s back.”

  Miguel picked up the receiver to clear it from the cupholder and placed it on the dashboard.

  Jennifer hunched forward to stare at it.

  Angela sighed and clicked on her keyboard.

  Miguel said, “Might not be exciting, but at least the sound is coming through.”

  After a few more minutes of clicking, the phone jangled in Angela’s office and both Miguel and Jennifer started back from the receiver.

  Angela’s stern voice carried through the car. “Hello, Gus.”

  Jennifer glanced at him and he shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

  Angela continued after a brief pause, “Good. Did the footage show who let her in?”

  Jennifer tensed beside him.

  “She badged through? You’re kidding. You can track that badge, can’t you?”

  Jennifer reached over and grabbed his arm, and he said, “Of course they were going to figure that out, Jen.”

  “I just hope Maggie doesn’t get in trouble. I hope they believe that her badge was stolen.”

  Miguel put a finger to his lips as Angela started talking again.

  “Let me know as soon as you find out anything. If we have an employee letting strangers into the facility, we have a problem.”

  Angela paused again and then shouted into the phone, “That’s not your concern, Gus. Just do your job.”

  When Angela slammed down the receiver of the phone, Jennifer turned a pair of wide eyes toward him. “Wow, she was agitated.”

  “She runs that part of the facility, so it’s on her if it’s compromised.”

  Angela was back on her computer and Jennifer slumped in her seat. “Too bad she doesn’t talk to herself.”

  “This audio setup has a time limit. We can’t sit out here all day.”

  “It’s almost two thirty. Will it last the rest of Angela’s workday?”

  “It’s good for four hours, so it’ll die sometime between four thirty and five.”

  She shoved back her seat and wedged her bare feet against the dashboard. “It’s a good thing we had a big breakfast, although I could use some water.”

  He shook his empty plastic water bottle at her. “Easy for you to say. In addition to that big breakfast, you also had a bowl of noodles and a soda. I heard it all.”

  “Well, if I weren’t afraid to go back to the mini-mall, I’d get us a couple of drinks.”

  Over an hour later, Miguel shifted in his seat and massaged the back of his neck. “That could be all the excitement for the day.”

  Jennifer yawned. “I suppose this is what it’s like on a stakeout...or sitting on a rooftop watching someone through a sniper scope.”

  A knock on Angela’s door had Jennifer dropping her feet from the dashboard and Miguel clutching the steering wheel with nowhere to go.

  “Come in.”

  “Gus in Security said you wanted to speak to me.”

  Jennifer clawed at his thigh. “That’s Maggie.”

  “Did he say why?”

  Maggie cleared her throat. “Somebody stole my badge and used it to access the facility. Gus said you caught her.”

  Jennifer sucked in a breath and crossed her arms over her stomach.

  “I did. Brunette, hair about this long, medium height, brown eyes. How’d she get your badge?”

  “I—I don’t know. It was a woman?”

  Jennifer’s mouth dropped open, and Miguel raised his eyebrows at her and said, “What the hell?”

  “You didn’t see her?” Angela’s tight, low voice had a more menacing edge than her shout.

  “No. The last time I had my badge was when I went to lunch at the sandwich place in the mall. I thought I dropped it on the way over or back until I went to report it at the security desk and Gus told me someone had used it to enter the building. In fact, maybe I did drop it and someone just picked it up.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  Miguel found himself willing Maggie to keep her voice steady. “C’mon, Maggie.”

  “The woman who stole your badge was waving some card around and asking about a job. I told her she had to go through the dot-gov website for employment. She didn’t just randomly find a badge. She knew what she was doing here. I just wish I did.”

  “Did she explain to you how she got in?”

  “She lied and said she piggybacked. So, did you notice a woman around your table or behind you in line?”

  “Not really, but I admit to being careless with my badge and just stuffing it in my purse. Maybe this person knows our lunch spots and was waiting for an opportunity. I can’t tell you any more.”

  “All right. Has Gus shown you the video we captured of her entry?”

  “No.”

  “Go back to Security and have a look, and in the meantime, be vigilant.”

  “Of course, although...”

  “Although what?”

  “It just doesn’t seem like we were so hyperaware until...that one patient.”

  The silence in the room and in the car seemed to last forever until Miguel had to break the tension. “Uh-oh, Maggie.”

  “Have you been talking about that patient to anyone, Maggie?”

  “Of course not.”

  Jennifer snorted. “I like the indignant tone. Quite an actress.”

  “Yeah, but why is she lying about running into you a
nd where she had lunch?” He’d had a good feeling about Maggie, and she’d proved him right.

  Angela said, “Good because we might be getting more high-level patients like that here, and we need to practice the utmost discretion.”

  “I know that.”

  “Go talk to Gus and keep your badge more secure.”

  “I will.”

  The door snapped behind Maggie, and Miguel eased out a breath. “I wonder if that’s going to be it. At least nobody recognized you.”

  “You’re sure Angela saw my picture?”

  Miguel lifted a shoulder. “She had access to my file because that’s where I found it—in her office.”

  “Wait.” Jennifer held up her hand. “Angela’s making another call.”

  “Gail, it’s Angela Woodruff. We had an...incident today.”

  “Do you know a Gail?” Jennifer whispered again as if Angela could hear her.

  Miguel shook his head as he listened to Angela tell Gail about the mysterious woman who’d stolen a badge and was wandering around the facility.

  When Angela was in listening mode, Miguel said, “Gail is obviously above Angela in the food chain. Angela has an obsequious tone with Gail that she sure didn’t have with Gus or Maggie.”

  Then Angela said something that made Miguel’s heart stutter. “You think this has something to do with our missing patient?”

  He spoke through clenched teeth. “God, I wish I could hear the other side of this conversation.”

  Angela listened for what seemed like a long time and then replied. “I will. I will. I will.”

  Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Very accommodating all of a sudden.”

  Angela ended the call, or probably Gail ended the call, and the only other word they heard out of Angela was an expletive.

  Fifteen minutes later, the reception died. “Not very illuminating except for the name Gail, which I hadn’t heard before. I wonder if Angela’s going to have the guts to tell Gail about the mic when she finds it.”

  “If she finds it. She might just end up sweeping it onto the floor and Gail would be none the wiser.”

  “I suppose it doesn’t much matter if Gail knows about the mic. She knows the facility was compromised, but the mic isn’t going to tell them anything new. It’s a cheap device that can be ordered online. Any electronics store would carry it.” Miguel pulled away from the curb. “Now I have a name to give to Ariel.”

  Jennifer whipped her head around. “You’ve decided to work with her?”

  “I don’t think I have a choice. I have to trust Josh. We could try to contact Maggie again now that we suspect she’s on our side, but she may have been lying to cover her backside. Even if she is covering for you, I’m not going to put her in danger.”

  “If Josh vouched for Ariel, he must be confident that she can be trusted. She’s your best bet.” Jennifer tucked one leg beneath her. “When are you going to respond to her?”

  “As soon as we get back to the hotel.”

  Miguel made that happen sooner rather than later, spurred on by a desire to make contact with Ariel...and the grumbling of his stomach.

  When they got to the room, Miguel replied to Ariel’s message, mentioning the name Gail. She responded quickly with the words, On it.

  Jennifer looked up from watching the TV. “Nothing?”

  “She’s on it, whatever that means.” He stretched out on the bed beside her. “Can we discuss dinner?”

  “I’m not that hungry.”

  He poked her arm. “That’s because you had lunch while I was stuck in the car.”

  A phone buzzed and Miguel patted his pocket. “Not mine.”

  Jennifer twisted toward her phone charging on the nightstand. “It’s mine, but I don’t recognize that number. Who would possibly have this number?”

  Miguel leaned over her. “It’s a local DC number. Put it on speaker and answer it.”

  Jennifer grabbed the phone off the charger. “Hello?”

  “Karen, this is Maggie Procter. You know, from lunch today.”

  Jennifer turned a wild gaze on him and he nodded. Had they just gotten lucky?

  “M-Maggie? How’d you get my number?”

  “While you so cleverly lifted my badge out of my purse, I cleverly called my number from your cell phone when you went to fill up my drink.”

  Jen pressed a hand over her heart. “Your badge? I didn’t take your badge.”

  “You can stop with the pretense, Karen, if that’s even your real name. I know you took my badge and then used it to gain entry to my place of work. I just don’t know why.”

  “But you made sure to get my phone number using a sneaky method before you even knew your badge was gone? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “What doesn’t make sense is running into a woman in a DC restaurant and then seeing that same woman in a Maryland noodle shop—a woman very interested in my job. That’s why I got your number.”

  “I’m not sure what you think you know about me.”

  “I don’t know much, but I have my suspicions and I’m letting you know that I’m on your side if those suspicions are correct.”

  As the long pause stretched, Jen seemed at a loss for words, so Miguel prodded her hip.

  She took a deep breath and managed a squeak. “You are?”

  “I’m on his side, and I can help.”

  “How?”

  “Meet me for a cocktail. We can talk.” Maggie coughed. “If he’s with you, bring him along.”

  Miguel pinched Jennifer’s waist and shook his head. He didn’t want to confirm his presence here to anyone.

  “I’m alone. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Where are you staying?”

  He didn’t even have to lay a finger on Jen this time as she promptly responded. “I can meet you anywhere.”

  “There’s a bar in Georgetown, not far from Nick’s Grille. It’s called The Insider.”

  “I’ll find it. What time?”

  “Seven. I’ll be sitting at the bar, and I’ll save you the seat next to mine.”

  “Okay, I...”

  But Maggie had ended the call.

  Jennifer fell back against her stack of pillows. “What was that all about? How did she make me? I thought I was being so sly.”

  “Maybe she’s paranoid. Maybe she doesn’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Maybe I screwed up. She got my phone. How did I miss that?”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” He ran a hand along her arm. “You were probably so focused on getting her badge, you didn’t notice. And she was so focused on getting to your phone, she didn’t notice you’d pinched her badge.”

  “You’re not going to let me do this alone, are you? You’re going to find some way of being there.”

  “Of course.” He ran a hand through his long hair. “Maggie hasn’t seen me since the day I escaped. My hair’s longer, darker, I have a beard, I’m wearing glasses and I’m going to become a fan of the Nationals.”

  “Baseball cap?”

  “The gift store downstairs has a bunch of them. I can slouch a little and pretend I’m with a group of people, so I won’t stand out. I know that bar. It’s a popular sports bar and will be crowded at seven.”

  “Even if she does recognize you, she is on our side. She proved that today with Angela.”

  “We’ll see. I don’t want you to admit to anything at first. Let her talk. See what she has planned out.” He tapped his phone in his pocket. “I’ll have something new to tell Ariel when she gets back to me, and maybe we can work with Maggie. If Ariel’s involved, she can offer more protection for Maggie than I can.”

  Jennifer scooted off the bed and plucked at the material of her pants. “I’m going to change into so
mething more suitable for cocktails at a Georgetown hot spot. The downside to all this?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re gonna have to wait even longer to get something to eat.”

  “If it means ending this nightmare and getting my family back, I’ll gladly starve.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back down to the bed. “Be careful. If anything seems weird, get out. I’ll be nearby, but don’t look for me.”

  Putting her hands on either side of his face, she kissed him—and that was all the sustenance he needed.

  * * *

  JENNIFER SLID OUT of the taxi and smoothed her slim black skirt over her thighs. She puffed out a few breaths and entered the noisy bar. A Nationals game happened to be on several TVs around the bar and she grinned, thinking about Miguel’s new cap pulled low over his face. He’d fit right in.

  Her gaze swept along the bar and she raised one hand when she spotted Maggie sitting sideways on a barstool, one long leg crossed over the other.

  Maggie wiggled her fingers in response to Jennifer’s wave.

  Jennifer’s lips twisted. Great way for a couple of spies to communicate.

  On her way to the bar, Jennifer squeezed between the tall cocktail tables scattered about the room amid cheering Nationals fans. When she reached Maggie, the other woman raised a martini glass filled with a light pink liquid.

  “Since it’s just about impossible to get the bartenders’ attention in here, I took the liberty of ordering you a cosmopolitan—the best in DC, but then you’re not really a tourist or planning to relocate, are you?”

  Jennifer sat down and straightened her skirt. “What’s your game?”

  “Game?” Maggie clinked her glass against Jennifer’s, still sitting on the cocktail napkin in front of her, making the pink liquid shimmer in the neon lights above the bar. “It’s not a game. It’s life and death—Miguel Estrada’s.”

  Jennifer grasped the stem of the glass and sipped the martini, cognizant, as always, of the way alcohol soothed her jangled nerves. “What do you know about Miguel Estrada?”

  “I know he’s an innocent victim of some very bad people.”

  “Who are these bad people?”

  Maggie responded with a delicate lift of her brows. “I don’t have a clue. I only know something wasn’t right when he was there, supposedly recovering from his ordeal. The doctors were getting some strange orders, we all were, but we weren’t allowed to question them. Security was also heightened while he was there, but the facility wasn’t quite prepared for him, or at least his determination, because he escaped anyway.”