The Mason Walker Bundle 3

by Alex Howell

  Clara then answered for him, “The real question is—what is he doing with those contacts?”

  Jason nodded, “Exactly. And if you are willing to join me… Bright and early tomorrow morning, the two of us are going to go down to that farm to find out.”

  It was then that Kyle looked Jason in the eyes and awkwardly asked, “Just the two of you? Would you guys consider a threesome?”

  Upon hearing this, Jason’s mouth dropped right open. Clara knowing that Kyle was prone to incredibly awkward statements that simply “came out the wrong way” immediately went to defend her clumsy friend.

  She explained to Jason, “He means for the stakeout! That’s what he means by threesome! He wants to know if he could come along for the stakeout!”

  Jason letting out a disgusted, “Ugh…” nevertheless wasn’t quite buying the accidental slipup.

  And as Clara stared at Kyle’s half drunk, mischievous face, she suddenly wasn’t so sure either. ‘Well—if it was a slipup… Maybe it was more of a Freudian slip than anything else.’

  She shuddered at the thought. Regardless of what the intent was, Jason was quick to shut Kyle down as he told him, “Sorry bud, but this is official CIA business.”

  THE NEXT MORNING, OUTSIDE THE GATED COMMUNITY “OAK PINE ESTATES”

  Clara and Jason are parked on a side road behind a service vehicle, watching the traffic coming and going from Gatewood Farms. Jason tried to recap his partner on the situation, and pointing to the photo on the tablet he had powered up on his lap, he told her, “Okay, so his name is Patrick McCafferty and his been with the agency for quite a few years—decades in fact.”

  Clara looking at the man’s profile ventured to ask, “So…. Has he given you any indication in the past that he would stoop to such a level?”

  Jason shook his head, “No—not really. Mostly he was just a normal guy…”

  Clara was staring off into space, when Jason brought her back to reality by yelling, “It’s him!”

  Clara Walker against her better judgment, then started her car and took off in pursuit. Hitting the road, she was careful not to let her prey know that he was being followed. But right when the were about to catch up to the man’s car, Clara blew right through a stop sign fate intervened in the form of red and blue lights from a trailing state trooper.

  James seeing the police lights blaring behind him groaned, “Oh crap….”

  Clara flustered, asked, “What should I do?”

  To which Jason hissed, “Pull over… what else can you do?”

  Clara pulling to the shoulder muttered, “I don’t know…. Flash my CIA badge….”

  To which Jason countered, “Forget it.”

  The two then waited in silence for what seemed like a quiet eternity before the police officer walked up to the driver’s side of the vehicle. Shining a flash light at both Clara and then at Jason, the officer greeted them with, “License and registration?”

  Clara hoping that she had thought to put copies in her new car, rummaged through her glove box until she finally dug out the appropriate paperwork. Nervously handing them over to the police officer she asked, “Is everything alright sir?”

  To which the officer snorted, “I don’t know… you tell me… is there a glitch in your car’s AI driver or something?”

  To which Clara replied, “No—not that I know of.”

  The officer pointing behind them at the stop sign they had just passed through, declared, “Well your AI certainly didn’t recognize that stop sign back there—that’s for sure!”

  Clara knew that there was no point in arguing, sighed, “Alright… just give me the ticket.”

  The officer slightly amused at her defeatist approach grinned, “Well I didn’t say I was going to give you a ticket… Actually, how about I just give you a warning and you promise not to do it again?”

  Clara agreed, “Sure thing officer.”

  The officer then glanced over at the silent Jason, and advised him, “And get her to have her AI driver checked out—maybe something is wrong with it.”

  Jason nodded, “Yes sir—will do.”

  The officer then motioned for them to move on, telling them, “Okay, be safe!”

  16

  You’re the Boss

  THE FOLLOWING DAY, AT THE AGENCY

  Clara Walker arrived at work early. It was going to be a few more hours before Jason arrived. Meanwhile she was seated at her cubicle going over her records. She was deeply immersed in the file on Patrick McCafferty when she heard a familiar voice behind her, announce, “Hey Clara, there is someone I would like for you to meet.”

  She turned around and saw Director Wayne Sikes standing behind her with an unfamiliar face. She didn’t know the woman but she was soon introduced. Wayne Sikes motioned toward her and told her, “Clara, I would like for you to meet Anna Frederick, she is going to be your new immediate supervisor.”

  The woman smiled at Clara but something in her disposition seemed a bit frigid and cold. Nevertheless, Clara clasped her extended hand and offered, “Nice to meet you Ms. Frederick.”

  Anna warming up a little bit, entreated her, “Please—call me Anna.”

  Clara smiled back, “Okay then—nice to meet you Anna.”

  Anna then pointed toward an open file Clara had on Patrick McCafferty. Anna having an obvious reaction to seeing the name of this former CIA agent being pulled up, immediately demanded, “Hey! What are you doing with that?”

  Clara nearly jumped at the discovery, since she had halfway forgotten that the file was out. Clearing her throat, she answered in the best way she thought possible.

  She told her, “Oh uh—Pat’s file was just a good case study for operative’s who have went to the other side.”

  Anna asked, “Went to the other side?”

  Clara nodded, “Yeah… If I’m going to want to catch people that are involved with or contacting international terrorist organizations—his is a good example to read through.”

  Anna not seeming at all happy with the situation, let out a terse, “Hmm—really.”

  And then motioning to Sykes that it was time to go, the two walked in the other direction and left Clara alone. Carefully tucking Patrick’s file into her desk drawer, Clara contemplated the possibilities.

  It was just then that she received another intrusion, this time immediately above her computer space. She heard a familiar booming voce announce, “Hey Clara, I got this for you.”

  She looked up to see Jason Holmes dangling a coffee cup over her work station. She read the caption embossed on the cup, it read, “Clara Walker, Property of the CIA.”

  Taking the cup from his outstretched hand, she faltered, “Uh—thanks.”

  To which Jason chided her, “Clara why do you seem so unsure of yourself—getting your own CIA mug is a grand tradition around here.”

  Clara raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

  Jason nodded, “Yeah, I got mine when I started here—it’s like getting your wings.”

  But Clara looking at the phrase, “Property of the CIA” she wondered out loud, “What’s the property of the CIA—the mug or me?”

  Jason answered honestly, “A Little bit of both—these mugs aren’t given to fly by night agents, only to those who plan on staying on with the CIA for the duration of their careers.”

  Clara weighing it all out in her mind shrugged and placed the mug on her desk next to an old picture of her long-deceased mother Bree. Looking at the picture of her mother she stated, “I guess we’ll take it as a good sign then.”

  Jason not seeing her line of sight, inserted himself into her offhand remark, by telling her, “Yes we will!”

  Jason then paused before inviting her, “But for now—how about lunch? I hear they got some good Sushi downtown and I’d like to give it a try.”

  Clara realizing that the mountain of data that she was sorting through would still be there upon her return, acquiesced, “Sure.”

  ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER IN THE PARKING LOTr />
  As they headed toward Clara’s car, Jason asked her, “Are you sure you don’t want to take my car Clara?”

  At which Clara laughed, “And face your chronic road rage? I don’t think so.”

  So it was that the two of them hopped into Clara’s self-driving little jeep and hit the road in search of a downtown sushi joint. As they hit the freeway, Clara programmed her car to play some traveling tunes, as she asked her companion, “So what’s the name of this place again?”

  To which Jason answered, “Sticky Rice.”

  Jason then added with a grin, “The rice sticks to your ribs and the sushi is so fresh it crawls back out of your mouth.”

  Clara laughed, “Sounds like my kind of place.”

  Clara was looking forward to a relaxing break with her colleague, and most certainly did not consider this friendly encounter to be a date by any means, but as always, she felt that Jason was most likely looking for something a little more.

  Just about every time she turned around, she could feel him watching her with eager and expectant eyes. And it wasn’t that things were completely one sided, Clara did indeed enjoy his company and couldn’t help but feel some pretty serious chemistry between them, but knowing what had occurred the last time she was in a serious relationship, she couldn’t help but be cautious.

  It was her own boyfriend after all that had betrayed her trust in the most despicable way possible, attempting to sell her out to a sex trafficking ring. What most young women have gone through with their ex’s certainly pales in comparison with Clara’s ordeal, so it was certainly understandable that she was trying to take it slow.

  Nevertheless, Jason wasn’t one to hide his growing interest in her. And this too, was perhaps why Jason was a good fit for her at the moment, because other would-be suitors would have been thoroughly rebuffed by now and moved on, yet Jason doggedly continued his quest to get to know Clara.

  Even though these deep passions ran through both of them, they were determined to keep it light. A feat that Jason achieved by attempting to lightheartedly sing along with the song playing on Clara’s radio.

  As “Creep” a Classic rock song from the 1990’s by the band “Radio Head” blasted through Clara’s car speakers, Jason began singing along. In a goofy, horribly bad, nasal tone, he crooned “But I’m a creep… I’m a weirdo… What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here…I don’t belong here...”

  Clara couldn’t help but laugh at the impersonation, as she wryly remarked, “Really?”

  Jason scrunched up his face, and joked, “Yeah… I just feel so awkward and out of place Clara…Everybody knows I’m the biggest reject at the agency.”

  Clara knew that this wasn’t true since it was a known quantity around the office that Jason was not only popular with most of the other field agents, he was also known to be quite a lady’s man.

  A fact that always made Clara wonder why he didn’t give up chasing her and go after some of the much more receptive women that pined after him. She considered that perhaps it was just the fact that she played so hard to get that made her so irresistible to him.

  It was while these thoughts roiled around in her mind that Clara happened to notice a vehicle that was following her bumper awful close. Clara hissed, “What the heck…. Freaking tailgater….”

  “What’s that?” Jason asked.

  Clara again repeated, “Whoever’s behind me here… is right on my ass… tailgating me like crazy.”

  Jason then turned around and saw what she was talking about, as he muttered, “How in the hell…. I thought most self-driving cars disabled the ability to tailgate along with all other aggressive driving habits. What the hell is this?”

  Clara not liking the other car’s aggressiveness responded, “I don’t know but I’m going to get rid of them…”

  She then switched her car to a semi-manual state and hopped over into the next lane. She thought that the space she left behind her, and in front of the other motorist she had just passed was too small for her tailgating antagonist to utilize, but she was wrong. The tailgating offender squeezed right between the two with what could have only been a preprogrammed AI glide, calculating the move with just inches to spare.

  The car seemed literally glued to their bumper now. Clara stared in the rearview mirror to see if she could recognize anyone in the vehicle, but the windows were completely black with tinted. She didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but she also knew that she didn’t want to find out.

  So, taking her training with her dad to heart she endeavored to give her tailgater the slip. Her dad had shown her the most classic way of shaking a pursuing tailgater, was to fake them out. Because if someone is doggedly pursing you either as a manual driver or through an AI driven program, they will be actively trying to anticipate and mimic all of your movements.

  If you go to the left, they will go to the left, if you move right, they will predictably follow and move right. But if you can just make them think you are moving right but in reality, move left, you can trick them, and hopefully shake them from your trail.

  So it was that as they neared the next exit, Clara slightly jerked the steering wheel as if she were going to move back into the right lane, but instead she held back at the very last minute as the pursing vehicle took the bait. The tailgater leapt out to the right where it thought Clara was about to go. Clara meanwhile slammed on the brakes causing her pursuer to overshoot her position and careen forward several miles ahead.

  With just a narrow opening before oncoming traffic would make the feat impossible, Clara then hit the gas and crossed over three lanes to the exit. Her pursuer far ahead of her, had already passed her by and with the threat of oncoming traffic had no choice but to keep on going northbound as Clara hurtled into downtown Baltimore out of her stalker’s grasp.

  She and Jason were mostly silent during the entire nail-biting encounter, but as they slowed down to a side street in Baltimore’s bustling downtown, they both took a breath and Jason took the time to give his congratulations. He looked at Clara with even more love and affection as he exclaimed, “That was incredible! You’re like a race car driver! I’ve never seen anyone with moves like that!”

  Clara and Jason made it as far as the Sushi bar’s parking lot, before they both decided that they had long lost their appetite. As Jason explained to Clara, “Look we just shook off whoever was following us, we don’t know when we might be free of surveillance again, so we might as well follow our lead.”

  Clara as if reading his mind, responded, “Are you thinking about conducting a raid on your old instructor Patrick McCafferty?”

  Jason nodded, “This just might be the best shot we have Clara—I think we should take it.”

  Clara silently agreed as she pulled out her phone and texted the coordinates Kyle had given them for Patrick McCafferty’s house, into her car’s onboard AI driver. And with that—they were off!

  17

  Inside the World of Patrick McCafferty

  Patrick McCafferty was well near 70 years old when he came into the crosshairs of Clara’s investigation. He was an old hat intelligence operative who had tried to retire from the agency on two separate occasions—but he always came back. Now he was officially listed as a part-time auxiliary officer, relegated mostly to training new recruits and some background work.

  But his globetrotting days of cavorting with terrorists and despots was supposed to be over. And yet Clara had uncovered a treasure trove of recent contacts and leaks to extremist groups all coming from McCafferty’s country estate just outside of Baltimore, Maryland.

  Patrick certainly did live out in the boonies there wasn’t much in the way of neighbors nearby. But fortunately for Clara Walker and Jason Holmes there was an old abandoned slaughter house just a couple blocks away. Not exactly the most ideal place for them to hole up, but it would suffice.

  She parked her car by a huge stockade of row upon row of old rusted out pens. As the rusted cages rattled in the wind, i
t seemed like something out of a horror movie, but at least it was something that could hide their car. From here Clara and Jason walked down a side road that would lead them right to the back of Patrick McCafferty’s property.

  As soon as they reached the perimeter Jason instructed, “Alright let’s stop right here a minute.”

  Clara unsure of what he was trying to do, questioned, “What—why are we stopping?”

  To which Jason responded, “Need to check for laser lights…”

  Prompting Clara, unsure of what he meant, to inquire, “What?”

  Instead of immediately answering, Jason simply reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of what looked like sunglasses and slapped them on his face.

  “What are those?” Clara asked.

  To which Jason responded, “Oh—just a little something to help me see in the infrared.”

  Jason then looked down at the ground, and within his infrared lens he could clearly see what he only suspected earlier. Jason announced, “Just like I thought, invisible laser beams for a security system are crisscrossing this whole area.”

  Jason then paused before continuing, “You trip one of these wires and old Patrick would probably get an alert to his phone and come running.”

  Jason as if suddenly realizing that he was about to infiltrate his old friend and mentor’s property, lamented, “Oh Patrick old buddy, you were the best—just what have you gotten yourself mixed up into?”

  Jason then took a small plastic bag out of his pocket, with a white powder inside. Seeing it Clara asked, “What is that?”

  To which Jason responded, “Salt.”

  He then liberally sprinkled the salt over the trip line, allowing the outline of the laser to be seen. The laser reaching just above average knee height, could be easily stepped over if you simply knew where it was. As such Jason himself stepped over before reaching his hand out to Clara and beckoning her to take it, saying, “Come on, let me help you over.”