“Every day that you were gone, she never stopped looking. Even when Jennings ordered her to let it go. She never did.”
“And now I’m back. And she’s here, in this bed.” Keene sat back and ran his hand through his hair. He’d known for some time now that Megan had done a number on him. And the weird thing was, he was okay with it. But now, sitting here, looking at her fighting for her life, he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Fear. He was afraid that she wouldn’t make it. That he would never have a chance to tell her how he felt about her. He looked back at Boz.
“When I lost my wife in that terrorist attack, it almost killed me. You told me you lost a wife, too.”
Boz nodded. “That’s right. I did. She got sick and they couldn’t save her.”
“So you know what I’m talking about.”
“I do.”
Keene looked back at Megan. “I don’t think I can handle losing her, too.” He felt Boz’s hand on his shoulder again.
“You haven’t lost her, Jon. She’s right here. And by God’s grace, she’ll recover.”
Keene felt the buzzing from the sat-phone in his pocket. “This is probably Jennings.” He pulled it out and answered. “Hello?”
“Jon, this is Quinn.”
Keene cupped the phone and mouthed, Quinn! Boz sat up and leaned in to listen.
“Hello? Are you there?”
Keene pulled his hand away. “Yeah, sorry. I’m here. Boz is here, too.”
“Good.” There was a hesitation. “I’ve been told to tell you it has begun.”
“Yeah, we kind of gathered that last night.”
“Yes, well, you need to know it’s going to get worse.”
“Quinn, I have no idea what you—He—wants us to do.”
“You have two problems right now. The first one is immediate. The Russian woman is headed to Washington. She is working for Gavin Pemberton. That’s who Megan and Eli were investigating. She’s the one who shot them.”
Keene gripped the phone tighter. Jennings told him he’d assumed it was Sokolov. Hearing it confirmed caused an anger unlike anything he’d ever felt to rise up inside him.
“I do not know why she is coming to Washington,” Quinn was saying. “But you know what she does. So if I were you, I would assume she’s coming for a job. Stop her.”
“Gladly,” Keene said.
“Second, General Chin is aware of the events of last night.”
“I figured he would be.”
“He won’t be the aggressor. But make no mistake, if he feels threatened, he will do whatever he feels he needs to do in order to protect his border. You must make sure Pemberton doesn’t gain control of the White House.”
“It seems to me that Governor Nolan is the problem.”
“Nolan is a mouthpiece. The only reason he’s even in the governor’s chair is because of Pemberton. If you remove Nolan, Pemberton will have another one waiting to take his place. It will do you no good to go after Nolan. Find Pemberton. He’s the one behind this.”
“And how do we do that? From what I hear, the man is a ghost.”
“The same way you found me. Look for him.”
Keene pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can’t He just once—just one time—just tell us? Like, ‘Hey Jon, go to this address. Pemberton’s waiting for you.’ ”
Quinn sighed. “You know that’s not how this works, Jon. You have the information you need. Find Pemberton and stop him. And find the Russian woman before she does any more damage. Before the president loses control over the people.”
The line went dead.
Keene looked at Boz. “We need to go see Jennings. Now.”
CHAPTER 46
Jennings was on the phone when Keene and Boz came in. He motioned for them to take a seat. Keene couldn’t tell who was on the phone, but it sounded like a heated discussion. Jennings finally said good-bye and forcefully hung up the phone.
“You two been over to see Megan and Eli?”
“Yeah,” Keene said. “Who was that?”
“SECNAV. He’s all riled up over last night. Says he’s got half his commanding officers scared to death that we’re going back to war with the Chinese. The other half is chomping at the bit to go.”
“And where is he with all of this?”
“He’s on our side. He knows as well as anyone there’s no way we could sustain a ground war with the Chinese. They have over a million foot soldiers over there. It would be a slaughter. Not to mention all the physical damage and the lives of Americans caught in the crossfire.” Then, “Any word on Megan and Eli?”
Boz shook his head. “None yet. But we’ve got more problems to think about than that right now.”
Keene took over. “Quinn called a little while ago. He says Sokolov is headed to DC. He doesn’t know why, but assumes—as we should—that she’s not here for sightseeing.”
“And we don’t know who the target is?” Jennings said.
“It’s a short list,” Keene said. “My money’s on Walker. Quinn said she’s working for Pemberton.”
Jennings pursed his lips and rubbed his chin. “I don’t think so.”
Keene was confused. “What do you mean?”
“Doesn’t make sense. Why would Governor Nolan do all that grandstanding about nominating him as the vice president, if Sokolov is just going to take Walker out. Talk about a screwed up mess, then. Nolan would have to try and move in and take the White House by force. Even Pemberton knows that would never happen. No, he needs Walker in that seat right now. It’s the quickest way to the White House.”
“Then who? You? Me? Boz? Who?”
“I doubt it. You’re not a threat to him. At least not in his mind. Me, maybe. But I doubt it. He knows if I get whacked, there’s probably six more just like me waiting to take my place. And if he has any clue about anything, he knows it’d probably be you. And that’s even worse.”
“Thanks for the encouragement,” Keene said.
“There’s more,” Boz said. “Quinn said that if Chin feels threatened, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his border. So you need to tell SECNAV Sykes that he needs to keep those boys in check. No matter what.”
Keene sat up in his chair. “That’s it. I know why Sokolov is here.”
Both Boz and Jennings looked at him questioningly.
Keene couldn’t believe that neither of them had got it. “SECNAV. She’s here for Sykes.” Keene could feel the adrenaline begin to pump. “Think about it. Sykes is in full control over the military. Yeah, he answers to Walker, but what if—just what if—he decided not to. How many of those men and women do you think would go against him if he turned on Walker?”
“Not many,” Boz said.
“Especially with half of them already wanting to go back to war,” Jennings added.
Keene was rolling now. It was obvious. “And guess who Nolan’s father-in-law is—”
Jennings smacked his hand on the table. “Jake Irving!”
“Irving?” Boz shook his head. “The former SECNAV is Nolan’s father-in-law?”
“That’s right,” Keene said. “And who do you think would be standing right there, offering his services to Walker, should something happen to Sykes?”
“That’s pretty slick,” Boz said. “I mean, you’ve got to admit, that’s a pretty solid plan.”
Keene was fired up now. Not ten minutes ago, he’d felt completely lost and helpless to do anything. Now, though, everything was different. He wasn’t lost, no way. The tables were about to turn. Advantage: Jon Keene! He turned to Jennings. “Where’s SECNAV right now?”
“He’s at his house. You just saw me on the phone with him,” Jennings said.
Keene stood up and grabbed Boz by the arm.
“Where are you going?” Jennings asked.
“We’re going to see an old friend. Call the SECNAV and ask him how he feels about fishing.” He saw Jennings already shaking his head as he turned to leave.
“No. No way. You’r
e not using the secretary of the navy as bait.”
Keene stopped and turned back around. “Kevin, we’ve probably got one shot at this, at best. We know who she’s coming for. And we know why she’s coming for him.” He turned back around and opened the door. “Either you call him, or I will. Besides, I’m not going to use him as bait. That’s what Boz is for.”
CHAPTER 47
Raleigh, North Carolina
Alex Smith was still lying next to Farid when her pager started buzzing beside the bed. A couple of years ago, she had found a young tech geek in Hungary who had wired this pager especially for her. It worked off a radio signal. Which, now, she realized, was one of the smartest things she had ever thought of. Initially, it was a security measure. By using radio frequency instead of cell signal, she could be reached anywhere in the world without being traced. Now with cell signal down all over the United States, she was glad she’d kept the little thing. She reached over and looked at the display. It was the same number Pemberton had called her from the last time. She threw the thing back on the table and got out of bed. She needed a shower.
Farid stirred beside her as she pushed back the covers. “Where are you going?”
“Shower. I can’t stay in this bed any longer.”
“You need to rest.”
She’d slept well last night. And she already felt a ton better. “I’m fine. Just stiff. A hot shower, and I’ll feel like a new woman.”
“What time is it?”
She picked her watch up from the table by the bed. “Eight thirty. I’m hungry. Why don’t you get up and go get us some breakfast?”
Farid got out of bed and began to get dressed. “There’s a coffee shop on the next block. What do you feel like?”
She told him what sounded good and gave him some small bills from her wallet. “That should cover it.”
He quickly checked her bandages and told her to be careful as she washed. “The hot water will be good. But it’s probably going to sting pretty bad.”
She smiled at him. “I’ll be fine.”
Farid left, and she went to the bathroom and turned on the water. She got undressed and stepped inside. Immediately she winced as the hot water began to run down her shoulder and over her side. But after a few seconds the pain started to subside and she began to feel reenergized.
Farid was back by the time she was done. He gave her injuries the once-over and redressed them. “Whoever worked on this must be a remarkable doctor.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?” She laughed.
“You can barely even tell you got shot.”
She rolled her arm around. “Yeah, tell that to my shoulder.”
They ate the croissants and cheese Farid had brought back and finished their coffee. After that, she shed the robe she was wearing and began to get dressed.
“What are you doing? Going somewhere?”
She picked the little pager up off the side table. “Pemberton called. I need to see what he wants.”
Farid looked at her with concern. “You still need a day or two’s rest. Whatever he needs can wait. Can’t it?”
She shrugged at him. “Don’t know. That’s why I have to call him.”
She finished getting dressed and grabbed a room key. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll just go to the lobby and call from the business office.” Farid’s face hadn’t changed. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
When they’d checked in a couple of days ago, she had taken a quick tour of the place. She chose this particular hotel for its layout, the same way she chose every hotel she stayed in. It had multiple exits on multiple floors. Some led outside to the street, some to different levels of the parking garage connected to the hotel, and some led through tunnels through the basement to the loading docks. And there were side entrances for employees.
Along with the multiple exits, it had resources. One of those resources was a business center. And though the computers inside were all but useless—given the problems still with the country’s Internet service—it had several telephones. The phones, she knew, were connected through the hotel’s mainframe phone system—meaning all calls went out from the central line. Should anyone be able to ever trace any call made from the hotel, it would only appear to have come from the front desk or one of the main offices, unlike calls made from the rooms of the hotel, which were always routed through a secondary circuitry that split the lines up individually by room.
The business center was empty—something else she expected. Though the people of this country were doing their best to put the pieces back together, business travel would probably be minimal for quite a while to come.
She used her room key to open the door to the suite. Inside, four small cubicle stations had been set up, separated by individual dividers. Each had a computer, with a piece of printer paper taped to the screen that said Out of Order. Next to the computers, a phone.
She sat down in one of the makeshift boxes and picked up the receiver, waited for the dial tone, and punched in the numbers. Pemberton answered on the first ring.
“Mr. Pemberton, this is Ms. Smith. You called?”
“I did. Can you talk?”
“Not here. But I can meet you, if you need.”
“I think that would be a good idea. There have been some new developments.”
She thought for a moment. She definitely couldn’t defend herself in a closed, isolated space. She wouldn’t be able to move like she needed with the injuries. So meeting Pemberton alone was out of the question. She had no idea what “new developments” meant, but in her experience, it usually wasn’t something beneficial to her. If Pemberton wanted to meet, it would have to be in a public place.
“Tell you what,” she said. “There’s a fast-food place on the corner of East Davie and Fayetteville. I’ll meet you there in, say, two hours.”
The line was quiet for a few seconds. “I had hoped to meet somewhere a little more private.”
I’m sure you did. “Yes, well, there were…complications with my last appointment. I think the fast-food place would be better for me.”
The line was quiet again for a few seconds before Pemberton came back on. “Fine. Two hours.”
She hung up the phone and left the room. In the elevator on the way back up, she thought about her situation with Farid. The smartest thing to do would be to take him out to the middle of nowhere and put a bullet in his head. That was what she should do. But that wasn’t going to happen. She had already given in to that fact.
So, then, what to do?
The doors to the elevator opened up. As she stepped out into the hall, a crazy idea popped into her head. She argued with herself the entire length of the hall, as she walked to the room. There’s no way, Alex.
Sure. It could work.
What are you thinking! Are you mad?
No, I’m not mad! But I’m not going to kill him, either.
This is crazy! You’re going to get yourself—and him—killed!
Maybe so. But at least I’ll be happy.
She opened the door to the room and smiled. “Hey.”
Farid was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. He had the television on and was sipping another cup of coffee. “Have you seen this?” he said, pointing to the screen.
“I caught a little bit of it last night. After you fell asleep.”
“This governor…Joe Nolan…has been on every news program all day long. He has really caused quite a stink. Do you think he could actually do what he’s talking about?”
She drew in a breath and let it out. She sat down on the bed between him and the television. She grabbed the remote and clicked it off. While she’d told him most of the details of why she was there and everything that had happened, she still hadn’t given him the grand scope of everything. It was time to do that now. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
Farid sighed and turned his head away. “Alex…please. Don’t do this.”
&nb
sp; She was confused. “Do what?”
“This…you know. Tell me that you have to leave. That we can’t be together.”
She started laughing. “Farid, that’s not what this is.”
“It—it isn’t?”
“No!” She reached down and grabbed his hand. “Not at all. Actually, quite the opposite. Listen, I’ve been thinking. What I do is dangerous. Obviously.” She pointed to her shoulder and her side. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead. And that got me to thinking. What if I had a partner, such as yourself, with your skills?”
“Partner?”
“Yes, think about it! We could travel together. I could take assignments. You could help out when I needed it. And if anything should go wrong…” She smiled. “Well, you’d be there to take care of it. Just like you have been.”
Farid let go of her hand. His eyes shifted away.
“Farid?”
“Why can’t you just stop? I mean, why can’t we just disappear? Go somewhere where no one would ever find us?”
“I thought about that, too. And here’s what I’ve decided. After this job, we can go anywhere you want. For a while. But this is who I am. Eventually, someone will come calling for my services. And when they do, I can’t promise that I won’t take the job.”
Farid seemed to think about it for a moment. “Would I have to, you know…kill anyone?”
“I would not ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“But what if that’s what you needed from me?”
“Then it would be up to you.”
Farid sat there, silent for a few seconds.
“Okay. I’ll do it. But you’re going to have to teach me how to do what you do.”
She leaned in and kissed him. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you everything you need to know. Starting now. Get dressed.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
“I have a meeting in a little while. You’re going with me.”
CHAPTER 48
Washington, DC
Keene picked Boz up at his house at nine o’clock sharp. He’d already been up since five and had been to the hospital to sit with Megan. The doctors didn’t have any answers for him. Megan was still unconscious, though her body seemed to be healing well.
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