CHAPTER EIGHT
The Merry Band got a group text from Mrs. Gage.
Carter is here. All hands on deck.
Kenann responded: Judy and Andy too??!!
Yes, dear. <3
Woo Hoo
It had been a month since they had all met together at the mansion. It was like a family reunion as cars pulled into the large gravel drive and others arrived on foot. Mrs. Gage and Granny stood on the front landing, holding hands and smiling broadly. There was a lot of hugging, backslapping, and, in Rough’s case, tail wagging and barking.
As the group jostled their way into the mansion, some with luggage, the noise level was cacophonous. Mrs. Gage and Granny, pausing again to survey the crowd, glanced at each other with pleasure. Message shared. All their chicks were under one roof again.
Everyone instinctively turned in to the parlor to the right, milling around, completing all the unfinished greetings. Not a prime target of welcome, Carter made his way to stand with Mrs. Gage.
“How have you been, Gabrielle?”
“I have been well, John. And you?”
“Oh, you know, parties all around.” He looked straight ahead, evaluating each interaction in the crowd.
Mrs. Gage grinned and thought, I do believe Mr. Carter has made a joke.
“Well, Mrs. Gage, will you call this meeting to order? No sense in embarrassing myself by even trying.”
“I am at your service, Mr. Carter.” She immediately and quietly took command of the room.
How does she do that? Carter thought.
Everyone found their spot. Blade plopped down on the floor in front of Andy and Judy, who smiled at each over his head. CJ Baer and Leticia sat in the background at the library table near the patio doors. Danny Mac and Kenann claimed the oversized lounging chair with Rough at their feet. Angelo pulled up a library chair to join the circle. Danny was pleased to see he was showing signs of feeling included. Granny sat on the other side of Judy and patted her leg. Carter and Jake stood at attention, unconsciously flanking the room like sentinels.
Mrs. Gage surveyed the room and smiled. She stretched out her arms, welcoming them back together. “Well, here we are again, dear ones. I’ve called for some refreshments, but while we wait I will turn the floor over to Mr. Carter.”
Carter turned to a side table at his back and retrieved a stack of leather-bound booklets. He gave them to Andy, who passed them around. Mrs. Gage sat on the arm of Danny Mac and Kenann’s chair, resting her arm on the back.
“What you have in your hands is our play and the cover story we will use across Europe.”
Judy made a sound deep in her throat. Andy pulled her ponytail.
Carter cleared his throat. “I know some of you think this unconventional cover is silly, but it suits our purposes very nicely. And, therefore, we will all embrace it with enthusiasm.” He looked pointedly at Judy, raising an eyebrow.
Her face was a mask but she dug her fingernails into Andy’s knee, where her hand lay.
Carter continued. “I met with my Washington team before coming to Memphis and was asked to brief the Security Council in return. Our operation is strictly recon at this point.” He turned to Mrs. Gage. “I need to meet with you regarding our itinerary and perhaps we can share resources?”
“I am always at your service.”
“Our goal is to infiltrate the high rollers in global commerce. As the saying goes, we are going to follow the money. They aren’t the ones carrying the automatic weapons, but many of them are financing unrest for their own purposes. If we can stop them, we can cut off the head of the snake.”
Granny spoke. “And hopefully this time, at the end of the day, there will be no blood spilled.”
Carter sneered at her. “Losing your nerve, Granny?”
The proverbial pin dropped in the room.
Granny simply raised her hand to stop Danny Mac, Kenann, and Judy, who had all risen off their seats. She stood herself and approached Carter very deliberately. “Mr. Carter, up to this point I have overlooked your disrespect and arrogant remarks. But since this is not my first rodeo, I will not tolerate it again. Do we understand each other?”
Carter knew he had made a tactical error. “Yes.” He paused. “Yes, we do.”
“You just see that you do, young man.” Her look pinned him to the wall behind him. She turned and resumed her place beside Judy.
After a pause that felt like a year to Carter, he finally found the spit in his mouth to continue. “As I was saying, we will be travelling in some distinguished but crafty circles. It is going to take all of your wits, as you did in Alexandria, to gather intel then reconnoiter and put the pieces together in order to find the patterns that we need.”
Kenann spoke. “When do we start? I got a government paycheck this week and I haven’t done a doggone thing. I don’t like charity.”
Carter interjected, “As you well know from past experience, you will earn every penny you draw.”
“Be that as it may, when do we start?”
“I need to confer with Mrs. Gage on final arrangements, but if all goes as planned we will be leaving in one week for Washington. The scripts in your hand outline the part each of you have been assigned. I need you to have your lines ready to go out of book by the first of December. We will be having a command performance for the duke and duchess of Cambridge on December 22nd.”
Blade sat up straight. “William and Kate!?”
Carter grinned down at Blade. “The very same.”
“Whoa!” Blade turned to look back at his mother. “Mom, can I go with them? Please!”
“Blade, you know we start homeschooling in January.” She smiled indulgently at him.
Mrs. Gage looked at Jake. She realized that had become her reflex, and that in itself made her uneasy. She would think about that later. She turned her attention to Blade’s mother. “Leticia? Would you consider coming with us and homeschooling Blade on the road?”
Andrew laughed and said, “Yeah, buddy, we need at least one token kid.”
Blade beamed at Andy.
Carter interrupted the revelry. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you remember I have final say in this operation.”
The silence could have been cut with a knife.
Cue crickets, Carter thought ruefully to himself. “So if Mrs. Daniels is agreeable, I would like to offer Blade a job.”
Blade shot out of his seat. “Really? What is my title?”
Very seriously, Carter responded, “Secret agent.”
“Sweet!” He whirled around and ran back to his mom and CJ. “Come on, Mom? Please?”
She looked up at Carter with a question in her eyes. He nodded. “We will think about it.”
“Mom!”
“We will think about it,” she repeated with that mom tone that said the discussion was over.
Carter regained the focus of the room. “Mrs. Gage has made arrangements for everyone’s property to be looked after while we are away.” He turned to Mrs. Gage.
“It appears we may have another home to monitor.” She nodded.
CJ had been quiet to this point. He had grown accustomed to keeping an eye on Leticia and Blade. He did not want to stop now. “Got room for one more, Mr. Carter?”
Carter appeared to consider this. “I anticipated this possibility, and if Mrs. Gage does not have you otherwise engaged, I would be happy to have you join us.” They both looked at Mrs. Gage.
She remained solemn. This was all business. “I can spare him on my other interests, John. That is agreeable to me.”
Carter replied, “That appears to settle it, then.” The others turned back to smile and welcome CJ aboard. Carter continued. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, while Gabri…uh Mrs. Gage and I iron out details of our venture, I suggest you begin a run-through of your lines.”
Mrs. Gage rose from the arm of the chair and went toward the door. She squeezed Jake’s arm in passing. It warmed him to know she was sensitive to him and his irritation that she
was leaving with Carter. That touch reassured him completely. He picked up his script and said, “Okay, fellow thespians, shall we begin?”
CHAPTER NINE
In a mountain village in Nepal, a woman walked out into the early morning sunshine. Long hair pulled back and tucked under a tan hat, she put her hands on her lower back and stretched. She walked across the road to the half wall separating the village road from the steep drop to the valley below. The sun shining on the mountains was deceiving. The rains would soon come. They should move on. She pulled her hat from her head, allowing her braid to fall freely down her back.
She sensed the man as he approached her from the isolated retreat tucked into the mountain behind her.
He said, “We should leave soon to beat the rains.”
“We leave when I say we leave.” She did not turn or acknowledge him in any way.
He thought how easy it would be to pitch her over the wall into oblivion, but he knew he would still not be free. He would never be free.
She turned and sat on the wall, still not looking at him. She said, “You are going back to the States.”
“Why?”
She slowly turned to him and spoke in measured tones. “Because I said you will.”
He did not respond but was proud that he did not break eye contact. She was a beautiful woman, but he knew her heart. Black as coal.
She sighed and slapped her thighs as if all was concluded. She rose and continued walking up the mountain road, calling over her shoulder, “You will be on your way by the end of the week.” She needed to think about her next steps.
* * * *
In another part of the world, a man lay awake on a narrow cot, staring at the ceiling. Pain had become his constant companion. How could he have failed so completely? He heard the sounds of the rest of the compound waking up. He had to pull it together and get out of here.
* * * *
Carter and Mrs. Gage stood gazing at a map of Europe spread out on the table before them. She pointed. “I have suitable lodgings in these locations. I can secure others as you need them. I also have some critical contacts in the social circles of Paris and Monte Carlo.”
Carter answered, “You will be compensated for the lodgings.”
“Don’t be silly. I have more money than Croesus.”
“You can’t be expected to do this for nothing.”
“And I am not. I do this for myself. It is fine, John.”
“You are a wonderful woman, Gabrielle.”
She looked down and appeared to be studying the map.
He said, “You don’t like to be praised, do you?”
“I am not without faults.”
“I have yet to see them.”
“I am…” she paused, “…a woman of many experiences. In truth I have mellowed. But I carry the scars of many sins.”
“Don’t talk to me about sins.” He laughed ruefully. “That’s Jake’s department.”
“Precisely. He may not feel so kindly if he knew all.”
Carter paused before he spoke. “Don’t underestimate him, Gabrielle.”
She tipped her head and looked at him, smiling. “You like him.”
“Don’t push it. He is a good man. And more generous than you are giving him credit for. But he is still a huge pain in my butt.”
She laughed. “Well, be that as it may, I shall continue to keep my own counsel on my past.” She changed tack. “So who are we going after, John?”
“There is no shortage of bad guys, as you well know. We will continue to maintain surveillance on the Order to see if they reemerge. As I shared earlier, we are going to try to sniff out the power brokers who are bankrolling the terror cells. It has become very lucrative to have these thugs on the payroll. We may need to pull in that flaky princess you know.”
“Pinky?”
“Yeah, and maybe her friend.”
“John Carter, you know good and well her name. Bridget is not a woman a man forgets.”
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled.
She laughed. “I’m sure they would be delighted to join us again.”
“Well, first things first. Let’s get this crew to D.C. and onto the stage.”
“I will have my people open the house there and make ready for our arrival.”
“Mrs. Gabrielle Gage, it is a pleasure doing business with you.”
Her dimples displaying prominently, she replied, “Likewise, John Carter, likewise.”
* * * *
The group downstairs was laughing as they read through their lines. They were remarkably good. Of course, all of them had learned to play different roles over the past several months, so it was not unreasonable that they could pull off the skill of seasoned actors. Kenann poked Danny Mac when he delivered a very snarky line at her expense. He laughed and she stuck out her tongue at him. Even Judy had to admit that this just might be fun.
* * * *
Kenann came to the “big house” to see Mrs. Gage the next morning.
Mrs. Gage beamed when Dawson announced Kenann.
“Good morning, dear. Come in, come in.” She reinforced this by patting the seat beside her on the couch. She was going over some reports of her varied interests and turned them over on the side table to preserve others’ confidentiality.
This did not go unnoticed by Kenann as she sat down beside Mrs. Gage. She marveled once again at this woman.
“What brings you here today, my dear?”
Kenann did not waste her time by small talk. “I have been wondering about something. What will happen with Rough when we leave?”
“Why, he will go with us, of course.”
“Really? How?
She chuckled. “Well, he may not be thrilled but people send dogs on planes all the time. But rest assured I have a lovely cocktail of medications that will ensure he enjoys the ride.”
“Oh, Mrs. G., you think of everything.”
“Well, he is obviously a part of our Merry Band of Misfits. No man left behind.”
Kenann impulsively hugged Mrs. Gage.
“Oh,” Mrs. Gage exclaimed in surprise. She patted Kenann’s back. “Besides, he is going to star in our play.”
CHAPTER TEN
They walked into what could only be described as a rotunda. No one spoke as they looked up at the painted frescos of impossibly blue skies and ethereal clouds on the ceiling and the grand marble staircase straight out of a neoclassical digest.
Jake was the first to speak. “Gabrielle, I did not think you could still surprise me.”
“Oh, mon chéri, you are so very wrong,” she replied and winked playfully at him.
“Whoa, Mrs. Gage. Is this all yours?” Kenann whispered in awe.
“It is all ours as long as we are in our nation’s capital, my dear.” She loved pleasing them this way. She took her wealth and property for granted, but seeing it again through their eyes was pure joy for her.
The group continued taking in the majestic surroundings while Kenann bent down and patted a very groggy Rough, who was feeling no pain after his flight from Memphis. Kenann chuckled as Rough plopped down on the marble foyer and rolled over on his side, breathing out a heavy sigh.
“Shall I give you a tour?” Mrs. Gage offered.
“I hope it comes with a map,” Judy quipped.
Just then a small thin man came running into the large entryway, straightening his tie and breathless. “Oh, forgive me, madam. I understood you were to arrive this afternoon.”
“It’s fine, Jemison. We caught earlier flights. It is entirely my fault for not phoning you. These are a few of the dear friends we spoke about.” She quickly introduced Judy, Kenann, Jake, Angelo, and Granny James. Andy and Danny Mac had gone with Carter to the CIA Headquarters. Blade, Leticia, and CJ had decided to join the group after Blade finished his fall semester. She continued, saying, “Jemison is my friend who opens the house and makes all things perfect when I am in town.”
He beamed. “You are too kind, Mrs. Gage. Wi
ll you be wanting lunch?”
“That would be lovely. Nothing too complicated. We will settle in first, though.”
“I took the liberty of having your bags sent to your respective rooms when I knew you had arrived.”
Mrs. Gage turned to the group. “See what I mean?” Everyone laughed, including Jemison. “Let’s defer our tour till after lunch and perhaps the boys will be back. Shall we?” She gestured to the marble stairs.
Kenann looked at Judy mischievously. “Race you to the top!”
They were off, spurred on by the laughter echoing behind them.
* * * *
The disgruntled man disembarked at the Memphis airport. He was met by an equally agitated gentleman bearing a Spanish accent.
“She is gone. Left just this morning on a flight to Washington, D.C.”
“How did you not know this before now?”
“I have followed her as you asked. And this morning I followed her to this airport.” He stuck his chin out in defiance.
“Who was she with?”
“Many people. All traveling together.”
“Holiday?”
“I don’t know. She spends lots of time at rich woman’s house. Maybe holiday with the rich woman?”
“This is turning into a fool’s errand.”
“But better not fail.”
“You’ve got that right. Come on, Miguel. Let’s get on the next flight to D.C.”
* * * *
Andy and Danny Mac did not arrive at Mrs. Gage’s home until that evening. Judy and Kenann had been watching for them from an upstairs window. They had giggled and played dress up, doing their hair and makeup all afternoon. When the men came through the door, they looked up and what they saw stopped them in their tracks.
Judy and Kenan were standing at the top of the grand staircase. Each with their hand on opposite banisters, looking like the sirens of the 30s. Under the slinky, sexy, ice-blue gown, Judy tapped her toe. One, two, three, and in sync both women started slowly down the stairs. They had practiced for hours, laughing each time one of them tripped or got out of step. This execution was flawless. Kenann knew she did not have the glamorous beauty that Judy possessed but was deeply gratified to see that Danny Mac never took his eyes off her and her low-cut red gown.
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