“Playing you?” Anya asked. “Should we do one more lap around the lake?” she said.
“Fool me once,” Jake replied.
“Fool you once,” Anya repeated. “What does that mean?” She asked. “There’s an English saying: ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’”
Anya thought about that a moment. “Very clever. We have a similar saying in Russian: ‘Umnyz celovek dvazdy na odni i te ze grabli ne nastupit.’ ‘A clever man won’t step on the same rake twice.’”
“Ah, yes, exactly the same meaning. There is sort of another English saying, ‘Quit while you’re not ahead.’ He added, “not.”
Anya smiled. “Then I think it’s time for us to have our lunch,” she said. “What do you think?”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Jake answered.
ANYA AND JAKE WERE seated at the smallest table. Anya could sense Jake’s eyes on her. What woman didn’t enjoy being admired? Even if I’m working it, playing the innocent coquette. From his backpack, Jake produced a small gift wrapped package when they were first seated.
“For me?” Anya asked, displaying excitement.
Jake nodded affirmatively.
“That was so kind of you. Thank you. May I open it now?”
“Yes, of course.”
She made a spectacle of removing the ribbon and the paper wrapping. She opened the box and eyed the four round chocolate bonbons. “I love chocolate. I have to taste one,” she said. “But just one, I don’t want to spoil my appetite.” She delicately lifted one of the chocolates and allowed it to pass slowly through her lips. “Hmm, cherry centers, my absolute favorite. But you shouldn’t have gone to the trouble,” she lied. “Would you like to have one too?”
Jake declined. “They’re for you. And it was no trouble at all,” Jake said. “I was picking up a computer cable at a store on the way here. The candy store was next door, and the sales lady was kind enough to offer to gift wrap the box for me.”
“Well, it was very nice of you just the same. I will enjoy the other three this evening all the more because of the source and the thought behind them.”
“How did you know to pick this place?” Jake asked Anya.
“Mr. Google helped me. It was actually quite easy. In Russia, we have the same kind of search engines. The one most popular is called Yandex.”
After they had ordered and were waiting for the food to arrive, and perhaps to break the silence, Jake said he liked to read suspense thrillers and asked Anya what kind of books she most enjoyed.
“Well, I like mysteries, too, but romance novels are my number one favorite,” Anya replied. “I am particularly fond of The Lady With The Little Dog by Anton Chekhov. I have read it several times.” On the heels of her tacit reference to romance, Anya conspicuously allowed her hand to settle on the table where Jake could not help but see it. Would he notice? Would he take the bait?
If the placement of her hand had registered, Jake didn’t show it.
After their meal, Anya ordered tea and Jake followed suit.
There was another lull in the conversation. Jake filled the silence. “This has been really nice, Anya, thank you for suggesting it, but I’m afraid I have a boatload of work waiting for me this afternoon.”
“Boatload?” Anya said.
“It’s an English expression that means a lot. In this case, a lot of work.”
“Oh, I get it. But you haven’t told me what kind of work you do.”
“That’s a bit complicated,” Jake said. “Perhaps we can save that for our next visit. But I do have another English saying for you. Would you like to hear it?”
“By all means,” Anya smiled. “I think I just shared one with you first—‘by all means.’”
“Yes, you did, very good. Here’s mine: ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’”
Oh, that’s an easy one—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Do you know what it means?”
“Sure, Romeo and Juliet were about to part, and they were sorry about that.”
“Yes, but why did Juliet say the sorrow was sweet?” Anya asked.
“Well, because …” Jake paused. “I guess I don’t really know.”
“Because,” Anya explained, “Juliet observed that their parting reminded her that they would be meeting again. And to her, the thought of meeting again was sweet. So, she meant to say that their sorrow was … sweet.”
Jake nodded in agreement.
The waiter brought the check and set it down on the table next to Jake. He reached for it. Anya playfully slapped his hand and took the check away from him. “This was my invitation, and my treat.”
“But a lady always lets the gentleman pay,” Jake said.
“What makes you think I’m always a lady,” Anya replied, hoping Jake got the message.
Jake smiled and let Anya take the check.
AUSTIN AND BAKER, JR. sat nursing their drinks in the nondescript Georgetown bar. “With the impeachment vote due out of the House next week, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to go over our stories one more time,” Austin said to Baker, Jr. Hard to arrange an off record with the old man. Unfortunately, the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. Have to make sure that father and son understand how POTUS needs to play his response.
“I get it, and so does my dad,” Baker, Jr. said. “Fake news, outrage, political chicanery on the part of the Democrats, an insult, a waste of taxpayer money. Yada, yada, yada. Am I missing anything?”
“You are,” Austin said, trying his best not to show that he was losing his patience. “It’s not what POTUS says, but how he says it, how he sells it. Not angry, not returning fire with fire, but playing the martyr card. POTUS has to rise above the fray, come across as the victim here.”
“I understand,” Baker, Jr. said, “but you know as well as I do that there’s no controlling my dad. He has a mind of his own. He doesn’t listen very well. When he’s sitting there with his smartphone keypad in his hand early in the morning and gets himself all worked up, there’s just no controlling what comes out of his fingers.”
“I can’t emphasize this enough, Dustin,” Austin said. “If we’re going to pull this off, POTUS has to tow the mark. He has to exude reasoned leadership, that he is the chosen leader. This is not about convincing those in your dad’s core constituency—that’s the easy part. It’s a matter of convincing those who are on the fence that they should accept our plans. You’ve got to impress this upon your old man.”
“I’ll do my best, but don’t ever let my dad hear you refer to him that way.”
JAKE DROVE STRAIGHT BACK from his lunch date with Anya to the sanctity of his Maryland Starbucks. Slowed down by the Friday early weekend traffic, he didn’t arrive until shortly after dark. He would need at least two hours of practice time to be sure he had the Mossad technology down pat.
Leah had weekend plans for the family, himself included, a command performance. He would return on Monday for his next visit to Cipher’s computer. He booted up his pristine new anonymous laptop and opened the Mossad software. It was good that he had allowed for this dry run.
Mossad’s engineers seem to have thought of everything. It works beautifully, but it takes some serious practice and getting used to. Good that I thoroughly get my arms around it before primetime with Cipher.
LEAH WAS DOZING DOWNSTAIRS with a book in her lap when Jake entered the townhouse. She looked at her watch. It was after ten o’clock. “Nice evening?”
“Wow, Sis, can’t remember the last time you waited up for me to get home. Good thing I made curfew. Just catching up with some friends. And it was okay, nothing special.”
“Anyone I know?” Leah asked.
“Nope, don’t think so.” Jake hated the nosey third degree. “See ya in the morning.” He went off to his room before Leah could continue.
AMIR HAD MADE IT safely out of Kazakhstan as he had wisely researched and planned some years in advance, and was now resting in Barbuda. He would give himself two days
to adjust to the time change before taking the short flight into Bermuda, where he would allow himself a few days’ vacation. When have I last had a vacation? He was beginning to relax for the first time in days. After that, he would fly to Dulles and find Jake. JK will be very surprised to see me, yes?
CHAPTER 34
December 15, 2019, Two Days Later
CASSIE READ THE TEXT over one more time.
HEY, JK. COACH HAD TO CANCEL SCHEDULED PRACTICE ROUND TOMORROW. WANT TO MEET FOR 18 AT MY PARENTS’ CLUB AT 8 A.M.? CASSIE.
She added the club’s name and address and hit send.
JAKE’S TEXT ALERT SOUNDED. He opened his cell phone and read Cassie’s text. He knew he had a date at the Maryland Starbucks, but hell, it could wait a day. Not really, but how often do I get a chance to play a round of golf with a pro?
He fired back a reply:
SURE THING, CASSIE. THANKS. SEE YA THEN. BETTER BRING YOUR A GAME. JK.
Better bring your A game? Ridiculous. Might work with one of my buds, but a pro?
Jake found Frank sitting in the family room. “Can I borrow your clubs tomorrow?”
“Sure. Just a work day for me. They’d just be sitting in the closet, gathering dust.”
“Thanks. I’ll take good care of them. Good thing I didn’t have to ask Leah. I would have had to fill out a questionnaire, in triplicate.
CHAPTER 35
December 16, 2019, One Day Later
JAKE ARRIVED AT CASSIE’S parents’ club at seven o’clock, and carried Frank’s bag out to the driving range. Cassie was already there hitting balls. Oh shit! What’d I get myself into? “Morning, Cassie. I see you’re taking this seriously.”
“Hey, JK. Out on the course is the easy fun stuff. This is where the real work gets done.”
“I see. So, how many strokes are you going to spot me?” Jake asked.
“How about a stroke a hole, match play, and I’ll play from the tips with you. A $1 Nassau to make it interesting? Two down, automatic press?”
My God, being hustled by a high school kid? Guess ya grow up fast out on the tour. “Uh, sure,” Jake said. Too late to back down now.
Cassie smiled. They shared a cart and played the 18 holes in three hours. Cassie drove, probably because she knew the course. What a treat to play a great course, and in only three hours. All Jake ever got to play was poorly maintained public links that usually required between five and six hours a round.
Turned out, that one stroke a hole wasn’t nearly enough of an edge for Jake because Cassie almost never made a mistake, and Jake almost always did. Still, conveniently for Jake, he finished down only one hole a side. That meant he owed Cassie $3. He paid up. Geez, first Anya busts my balls jogging, and now this. Not sure how much more my male ego can take. To make matters worse, I think Cassie was carrying me. She’s sure good. And she’s as polite and fun as she is talented.
He wasn’t sure what Cassie had in mind for the afternoon, but he didn’t want to leave it to chance. He decided to strike preemptively. “I have some chores to run this afternoon, but I have time for lunch if you do. My treat.”
“Lunch is great, but you can’t spend your money at the club. It’ll have to be my parents’ treat this time. Is that okay?”
Man, I’ve been had all the way. A free round of golf, let down easier on the course than I deserved, and now a free lunch. “I guess, just as long as I get to reciprocate while we’re both still in town.”
“Anytime,” Cassie answered.
JAKE CARRIED FRANK’S CLUBS into Leah and Frank’s townhouse mid-afternoon. Just as Madison came out of the kitchen with a soft drink in hand.
“Hey, JK, you’ve sure been practicing a lot of golf. I saw you heading out early this morning with Dad’s clubs.”
Something told Jake he really didn’t want to get into his golf outing with Cassie. Something else told him he might get into more trouble if he didn’t. “I had a last minute chance to play 18 this morning with Cassie. You were right, she shellacked me. It wasn’t even close. Plus, she emptied my wallet.”
“Sick, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Madison quietly said. She put on a light face, but Jake was puzzled, especially when she disappeared without wanting to know anything more.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t? And Jake hadn’t mentioned anything to Madison about his lunch with Cassie after their match—or what Cassie had told him.
MADISON WAS ON THE phone as fast as her legs carried her to her room. “Rat Stinker!” she said.
“What?” Cassie answered.
“Don’t you ‘what’ me,” Madison said. “I told you to stay away from Jake. He’s my uncle, for God’s sake! Actually, he’s more like my brother. And you don’t even tell me that you guys are now dating.”
“Don’t be silly. We already hashed that out. Besides, all we did was play golf.” Cassie paused. “And have lunch.”
“That’s all! You better tell me all about it, right now, and don’t leave out a single detail!”
“Well, he parred the first hole. I birdied it. Then—”
“You know that’s not what I mean, Ms. Webber,” Madison said.
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, Ms. Lotello, but that’s all there was. Times seventeen more holes and a couple of cheeseburgers. Oh, and we did share an order of fries. As sexy as you could imagine! But I’m sorry to say he was a perfect gentleman. What did you expect?”
“You have that backward, Ms. Webber. What did you expect?”
Actually, the thought of Cassie and Jake together is kinda dope, just as long as she doesn’t know I think that.
THE ENTIRE CLAN HAD dinner together that night, the Lotellos and the Kleins. The big topic of conversation was Jake’s round of golf with Cassie. More accurately, it was the big topic of conversation among the men. Frank and Charlie wanted to know all about it—the golf. Madison didn’t say much, but Jake thought she was dialed in, in her own way. Leah was also kind of quiet—for Leah.
“I didn’t think I was that bad of a golfer,” Jake said. “Cassie showed me how wrong I was. But it was just great to get to play with someone that good.”
After dinner, Jake helped with the dishes and then sidled off to his room—where he thought long and hard about what Cassie had told him about Anya toward the end of their otherwise pleasant lunch. Why had Anya lied at Thanksgiving when she said to everyone that she loved playing golf? Worse still, why did she lie to Cassie later that evening about her family? Could Cassie have misunderstood Anya? She must have.
CHAPTER 36
December 17, 2019, One Day Later
JAKE WAS FEELING BEHIND schedule. Enough slacking off. While Leah was still asleep and unaware of his absence, by nine o’clock, Jake was already ensconced in “his” Maryland Starbucks, sipping on an Oatmeal Cookie Protein Shake and focused on his dedicated anonymous laptop.
Jake booted up his new laptop, the one with the Mossad software installed on it. Employing the protocols he had previously used, he was shortly hacked into Cipher’s computer and past his password once again. He quickly found the outwardly empty folder labeled “GL.” He opened it. It still looked empty.
He “pointed” the retrieval component of the software at the target GL folder. He confirmed to the software that this was the folder he wanted to restore. He was asked to specify a beginning date, and chose “Inception.” The software activity light changed from red to green, and showed approximately ninety-three minutes remaining until completion.
This was what worried Jake. That the software was not stealth, no surprise, given the long distance remote nature of the process. There was no way to speed up the operation, and nowhere for Jake to hide while the recovery was doing its thing. The good news was that there was data to be restored, or the software would have estimated much less time remaining, down to zero if it detected no retrievable data.
This was precisely why it was imperative that Jake made the drive to Maryland in order to hide his true IP address. Jake’s anxiet
y was still on high. He ordered a Carmel Latte decaf in the hopes of quieting his nerves.
CIPHER WAS ALERTED THE moment the hacker was back on his machine. This time, the bastard was not in and out as quickly as before. Cipher went to work. If the perpetrator remained on board long enough, Cipher would have a chance to trace the hacker’s whereabouts, perhaps even the culprit’s actual identity. Two can play at this game.
Forty minutes elapsed—the hacker was still on board. Cipher’s software told him the intruder was somewhere in the United States. Why am I not surprised? The culprit was still engaged. So was Cipher’s tracing software.
Another thirty-five minutes went by—the trespasser remained on board. Cipher felt vulnerable. He wasn’t used to the feeling of not being in control. He didn’t like it. What the hell can he possibly be doing? As soon as I identify him, his ass will be mine, wherever the fuck he is. Cipher’s software continued searching. His location was narrowed to the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Another eighteen minutes—the prowler was gone. Cipher’s software had narrowed the his location to Maryland. Shit! Not good enough. I needed another ten or fifteen minutes.
Cipher immediately sent a text:
HACKER BACK! ON MY COMPUTER NINETY-THREE MINUTES. TRACKED HIS LOCATION TO SOMEWHERE IN MARYLAND. I NEEDED HIM ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES TO LOCATE HIM PRECISELY. NO IDEA WHETHER HE WILL RETURN.
He heard back in less than five minutes:
YOU DON’T KNOW WHO HACKER IS, BUT HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. HE’S OBVIOUSLY INTERESTED IN YOU. THINK OF WAY TO ENTICE HIM TO RETURN.
Cipher sent one more text:
WILL TRY.
JAKE REPLICATED THE FOLDER identified as “GL” on his anonymous laptop. It had a fair amount of data, but it was in a foreign language. Of course. What did he expect?
JK's Code (Brooks/Lotello Thriller Book 4) Page 11
