by C L Rowell
“So, what do you suggest I do? I have no interest in dying, getting kidnapped, or having this information fall into the wrong hands.”
“Nor do I.” His tone was no longer rude and abrupt, “Are you staying in town by any chance?”
“We aren’t, but we can rent a room if we need to.”
“We?” The suspicion was back.
I fudged, “I brought my boyfriend and my dog with me.”
“I see.” He sighed. “No, don’t get a room for my sake.”
“Okay.” I heard the knob jiggle, and someone pounded on the door. “Crap! Someone’s at the door. I have to go.”
“Wait—how far away are you?”
“The Starbuck’s up the street so…two, three minutes tops?”
“A young couple with a dog?”
I shrugged, “Ish.”
“Pardon?”
“Youngish.”
“Under fifty?”
“Yes.”
“Like I said, young,” he harrumphed. “Start walking this way. I’ll figure something out. Just be ready for anything.”
I opened my mouth to ask him for specifics but I could tell from the silence, he’d already hung up. Sighing heavily, I flushed the toilet, sprayed a spritz of perfume to hide the fact that I’d done nothing but take up space, and unlocked the door. I smiled at the irate lady waiting to get in, whispered an apology, and hurried to the counter to order. Two Caramel Frappuccinos and a bottled water in hand, I headed for the door and motioned for Todd and Butch to follow.
12
Millie
∞∞∞
“I thought you got lost,” he hissed in my ear. “We were getting ready to storm the bathroom.”
Butch woofed his agreement as he eyed the condensation-covered water bottle.
“Sorry.” I casually pulled a foldable cup from my purse and opened it, filling it with water for Butch as I looked around. “Here you go, buddy. Drink up.”
“Have you decided what we’re doing?” He kept his voice low and his head down.
“Yes, we’re going to stroll back toward the car, acting like a couple of lovey-dovey tourists who don’t have a care in the world.” I shook the cup out and shoved it in an outer pocket of my bag, “Follow my lead and be ready for anything.”
“Okay, but I thought…” He eyed me, obviously full of questions. I didn’t know any more than I’d told him, so I ignored the unspoken words dangling in the air between us and grabbed his arm.
“Shh! Just do it.” I leaned my head against his shoulder, and we strolled back in the direction we’d come from, arm in arm, keeping it slow so his limp was barely noticeable. My heart was pounding with the uncertainty of what was coming, though. I had no clue what to expect. What if I panicked and froze?
As we drew even with the address in question, the door flew open with a bang, rebounding off the brick wall behind it, and a vaguely familiar-looking older man barreled out—plowing right into me and the hand holding my coffee. The impact knocked me into Todd who tensed but didn’t even stumble. I gasped and froze as the icy beverage filtered through my clothing and reached my skin, startling me.
“Hey, careful there!” Todd thrust his shoulders back and stood tall, looming over the older man with a protective scowl on his face.
After I got past the shock of the iced coffee my first concern was for Butch, but he simply sat on the concrete and grinned, wagging his tail, observing the silly humans but completely unconcerned. I felt some of my tension drain out at his laidback reaction and nudged Todd before he could embarrass himself or me. “It’s okay. Cool your jets. Accidents happen.”
“I’m so, so sorry!” Mr. Donaldson stared in abject horror at the coffee stains blossoming on his snow-white dress shirt and my blouse, “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine.”
“This was totally my fault. I take full responsibility,” he insisted, his voice carrying loudly, “Please, step inside and use the facilities to clean up a bit.” He opened the door for us, and I dragged Todd inside, keeping my cold sticky shirt pulled away from my stomach as I did.
“Thank you.”
Once we were clear of the entryway, our eyes adjusting to the dimmer interior, I heard the distinctive snick of a lock engaging. My stomach dropped. I hoped I hadn’t screwed up and placed my trust in the wrong person. The only thing that kept me from a full-blown panic attack was Butch’s continued calm. I trust my dog implicitly, so if he felt we were safe, I figured we had to be okay.
Slipping around us, he added in a much quieter voice, “There, now we won’t be disturbed. I apologize for what happened, but I couldn’t come up with anything else. It was actually my secretary’s idea to accidentally on-purpose bump into you like that. I hope I played my part convincingly. I’m not much of an actor.”
“I think you did great,” I assured him.
“Good.” I could see the tension leaving his shoulders. “Send me the cleaning bill for your clothing and I’ll reimburse you. You didn’t get burned, did you? I’d feel terrible if you were injured because of my actions.”
“No, luckily it was an iced drink.”
“Whew, glad to hear it.” He placed a hand on his chest over his heart and gave a quick shake of his head, chuckling. “Follow me. I’ll get you some wet wipes, and we can talk.”
“Is it okay if my dog comes, too?”
“Yes, of course,” he turned back, holding out his hand to be sniffed and accepted before rubbing Butch’s head. “I love dogs—sometimes I think I like them more than people.”
“Me, too,” I agreed, following him down a dimly lit hallway and liking him a little more than I had.
He led us to a large airy office with an executive desk on one side and a grouping of leather chairs and a matching couch around a wood and glass coffee table on the other. Turning toward the couch and chairs, he handed me a container of wet wipes and motioned, “Please, have a seat. You’re safe in here. After our meeting I’ll have my secretary take you out the back way and drop you at your car.”
I turned to glance at Todd, pleasantly surprised. “Thank you!”
He flapped his hands like he was waving away my words. “Don’t mention it. I’ve been at this location for going on twenty years. You’d think I’d be familiar with the norms of the area, but it never once occurred to me to wonder about those vehicles across the street until you said something. Of course, that entrance is hardly ever used, but that’s no excuse for my negligence. When you get to be my age it isn’t often that you get to learn something new, but you taught me a valuable lesson on how easy it is to become complacent with your surroundings.”
“Did you happen to notice when they first showed up?”
He studied Todd with a wary frown. “I’ve seen them out there for about five, six months now, I guess. I was curious at first but when nothing ever came of it…” He shrugged and turned to me, dismissing him. “I believe you said you have something for me?”
“I do.” I pulled the wrinkled envelope from the depths of my purse. “My brother showed up at my house, unannounced, a little less than three weeks ago. He looked like he’d just been released from a prison camp where he’d been fed a diet of nothing but water and moldy bread. He was afraid for his life and insistent that I was the only person who might have a chance to deliver this into your hands—and that you were the only person that could stop the act of terror this refers to from happening.”
He opened the envelope with a fancy gold and silver letter opener and inspected the contents. He pulled out a CD disc, a portable hard drive, and several sheets of paper, spreading them out on the table. His voice distracted as he read the first page, he murmured, “I hope he didn’t put too much confidence in my abilities.” After reading a bit more, he inhaled deeply and blew out a sharp breath. “Wow! Okay, let’s get you back to your vehicle so you can be on your way. Thank you for delivering this. I will do my best to be worthy of your brother’s faith in me.”
“Can you t
ell us anything about this?” Todd entreated. “Miles died for the contents of that envelope.”
“I’m sorry,” he shook his head, regret filling his eyes. “My hands are tied. I’m not even sure I’m authorized to have this, but the less you know the safer you are.”
“Yeah, tell that to those goons out there.”
“If they’re smart, they’ve probably already left to report their failure to their superiors, so they can receive their punishment. You slipped past them and your part in this is done. They fumbled their attempt to stop you and have no reason to pursue you any further.”
“What about you? What if they storm in here and attack you?”
He smiled and patted my arm. “This place is as secure as Ft. Knox. They aren’t getting inside these walls very easily. No, the game of cat and mouse has progressed to a game of chess now. Go home and put all of this out of your mind. Carry on with your life.”
He led us across the hall and placed us in the care of his secretary, a sweet white-haired lady that reminded me of Santa’s wife. Introductions were made and she took over. Moving quicker than her size and age suggested she was capable of, she led us out a smaller door at the very end of the hall, and into a private parking lot where she unlocked a late model Honda Odyssey.
“Where did you park, dear?” She glanced at Todd in the rearview mirror. After he told her the address, she took off through the automatic gate, pausing to confirm it closed behind her first.
Much faster than we left, we were back at the Accord. We thanked her, loaded up in the car, and waved goodbye before we turned one way as she turned the other. We set a course out of the city and didn’t stop until we were back in Roanoke. It didn’t feel like we’d walked out of our hotel room a scant handful of hours earlier. It felt more like a lifetime ago.
13
Todd
∞∞∞
After we checked into the hotel and settled into our room I stepped outside where I’d have a bit more privacy. I walked over to an empty bench in the middle of a deserted dog walking area, took a seat, and pulled out my phone. “Call Lieutenant General Miller.”
It rang several times and I was just about ready to give up and try again later when someone picked up. “Wolfe…I was starting to wonder if the worst had happened.”
“Then, you haven’t heard the news?” I lifted my cap and scratched my head. “Miles Masterson is dead. His car went over the edge in the mountains on Interstate Seventy west of Denver.”
“I heard. I meant I thought something had happened to you. Why did you take so long to check in?”
“I was busy. I had to help his sister carry out his final wishes.”
“I thought you said his sister was dead.”
I grimaced, feeling my cheeks heat up. “Yes, I did say that, didn’t I? Miles didn’t want her existence topside getting back to the wrong people, so I did my part to keep his secret.”
“I’m offended by the implications in that statement.”
I leaned back and stretched my feet out in front of me, crossing my legs at the ankles. “Don’t be. You know as well as I do that walls have ears. I didn’t, and still don’t, know who was after Miles and the information he had. I couldn’t risk saying anything.”
“But you can now?”
“I can. The information he had has been delivered to the person he intended it for.”
“That wasn’t your job, son. Your job—”
“My job was to find Miles and persuade him to turn himself in to you. No disrespect, but my job ended when he was declared dead. After that, I was free to seek out and help his sister—which I did, sir.”
“You didn’t think we might want the information she had in her possession?”
“You didn’t say anything—”
“Don’t play dumb. You’re a Marine. It’s beneath you.”
“I’m not playing dumb, sir. Miles wanted the information turned over to Mr. Donaldson, so that’s who we turned it over to.” There was absolute silence on the other end of the line—so much so that I thought we might have been disconnected. After several seconds of soundlessness, I cleared my throat and asked, “Lieutenant General Miller, are you still there, sir?”
“Do you refer to Harvey Donaldson?”
“Yes, sir, that’s him. Why do you ask?”
“Late fifties, borderline overweight, silver hair, office on 97th Avenue in our nation’s capital—that Harvey Donaldson?”
“Erm…yes, sir, that’s him. Is there a problem, sir?”
“Is there a problem? Hell no, there’s not a problem. You’ve accomplished the impossible, Wolfe—performed a fucking miracle. He’s the best goddamn hacker the government has on its payroll, but it’s next to impossible to get a face-to-face with him. He’s freakishly private, paranoid as hell. How did you accomplish it?”
I laughed. “It wasn’t me—I had nothing to do with it. Millie did it—well, actually, Miles was the instigator. She just followed his instructions.”
“Yes, but how?”
“She called his office.”
“Huh. That’s it? She just called?”
I explained how it went down, about the vans, the coffee, everything. He was practically speechless through it all. I decided to capitalize on his silence and hop off the phone before he found his voice.
“Well, that was all I called for. I just wanted to check in and let you know what was going on. If you don’t need anything else—”
“Actually, I do. I need you to come to my office for a debriefing.” I dropped my head when he said those dreaded words. “It won’t take long. There are a few folks who will want to hear everything straight from you, and I’ll have you write up a report while it’s still somewhat fresh in your head for our records—”
“And then I can resume my life and you people will leave me alone?”
Hearty laughter boomed over the phone’s speaker, “Yes, you have my word on it. After this, we’ll lose your number and you’ll never hear from us again.”
“And will you also tell me who the mysterious they are now that the danger is practically over? I think you owe me that much after we put our lives on the line.”
“I…uhh…well, uhh…you see—” I held my tongue and let him sputter unimpeded for a bit. When Millie poked her head out of our room looking for me, I waved, still silent. I grinned as Butch took advantage of the opening and wiggled free, forcing her to chase after him as he bounded over to see why I was taking so long.
“Are you going to be much longer?” She pouted, pressing her fingers against her stomach. “I’m starving and you’re taking forever.”
“No, not much longer. Give me five more minutes.”
“Five whole minutes?” You’d think I said twenty-four hours the way she was carrying on.
I laughed out loud. “Call in an order at the Waffle House as soon as you get back to the room. I’ll detour by and pick it up on my way back. Deal?”
“Deal.” She beamed. “Come on, Butch. Let’s go order dinner!”
I watched her hips sway as she picked her way across the grass barefooted on her way back to the room, going slower once the crisis was over and Butch was safe. I didn’t realize I’d lowered the phone to my shoulder until muted shouts finally caught my attention. I raised it back up to my ear, chuckling. “Sorry, sir, but I was a little distracted. What were you saying?”
“I said I’ll tell you what I can when you get here.”
I shook my head. “That’s just more double-talk, another way of saying what you think I need to hear to get me there. Once I arrive, you’ll simply reiterate what you’ve been saying the whole time—that it’s classified and I don’t have the proper clearance. I know the drill, sir, and that’s not good enough anymore. I’m no longer beholden to the military. I’ll mail you a written report of everything I remember, and we’ll call it good.” I prepared to pull the phone away from my ear and disconnect.
“What if I said Miles Masterson isn’t dead?”
> I sat up straight. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Report for debriefing as requested if you want to know more.”
“Sir, if you’re lying—”
“I’m not.”
A different type of silence filled my ear and I knew we’d been disconnected that time. I felt numb as I crossed the parking lot to the Waffle House to pick up our order. Miles wasn’t dead? I knew I had to get back to the room to tell Millie.
It seemed to take forever to get our order ready, but I finally collected the containers and headed back to the hotel. I was forced to move slow and cursed the necessity as delicious smells surrounded me, making my stomach rumble. I had to keep all of my focus on the two drink cups and the three Styrofoam containers beneath them or they’d tip. I knew the consequences of letting myself get distracted, though. If I had to go back and tell her I dropped the food—fuck. I snorted. She’d kill me for sure.
As I got closer, the familiar sound of Butch barking penetrated my concentration. I cursed under my breath, hoping he didn’t get us thrown out on our asses before we nightfall. Then I heard something that sent shards of ice down my spine and froze me in my tracks—Millie was screaming! I raised my eyes and scanned the area around our room. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. One of those shiny black vans with smoked-out windows loomed over my rental car, brazen as fuck, and two suits had Millie by the arms in an attempt to drag her out to it. How the fuck had they located us? She was giving them hell, kicking and thrashing. A bloodied Butch rushed in every time he sensed an opportunity, attacking the suits and hindering their progress. As I watched, one of them released Millie and drew a gun, pointing it at the dog. I didn’t even think. I tossed our order to the ground and took off running.
“Hey!”
Four heads jerked up in unison. The guy with the gun transferred his attention from Butch to me. That was his first mistake. Seeing his chance, Butch darted in and clamped down on the guy’s upper thigh. That suit screamed loud enough to shatter glass and dropped his weapon, using his fingers to try and pry Butch’s teeth loose. That was his last mistake. In the struggle, Butch shook his head, ripping through an artery in the dude’s leg. Judging by the spray of blood, Suit B would bleed out before an ambulance could even arrive. I wasn’t even a tiny bit sorry for him.
