“I considered that but I feel that the security of the ship is with my team and ergo moves up my chain of command, which would be to you. So, it would be appropriate to get your input and have you direct what should happen next.”
“If we could move it, do you have any idea where it could go? I don’t believe that Lance is ready for anything to be moved to Colorado yet.”
Todd sighed. “No, I am really and completely out of ideas. If there was a simple solution, I would have offered it when I told you what concerned me.”
Captain Wagner laughed. “So, haven’t you ever had a superior officer who told you to never bring a problem without the solution to him or her?”
“Not personally. I’ve had a few friends who have suffered under that requirement. I can understand the reason why a superior officer would request it. But I imagine that it can become a crutch if you never hear about problems without solutions along with them. My best idea? I would ask Bethany Anne to fly it to some unknown location in the middle of absolutely nowhere and leave it there. That way, she’s the only one who could bring it back.”
“Todd, that’s a really good suggestion.”
“Well, since I didn’t have a poor solution to give you and then pull out my mediocre solution, I figured that I would go with no solution, and then give you this option.”
Captain Wagner looked over at the ex-Marine. “Have you considered going into politics?”
The Queen Bitch’s Ship Polarus
Frank was in love with his laptop. So long as he was in a secure area he could work from anywhere in the world. As evidenced by his working in the mess on the Polaris in the middle of the Mediterranean.
Eating ice cream.
The only thing he missed was having two monitors running, but he couldn’t stay in his room all of the time. He had noticed that the more time he spent in and around Bethany Anne’s group, the more he felt the need to be around people. Even if it was just being in the same room as them. Plus, he had noticed that he could have a calorie rich diet without harming his physique nearly as much as it had before he took Bethany Anne’s blood.
He pushed aside the empty bowl. Then he pulled over a second, now partially melted, bowl of ice cream.
His laptop beeped, which wasn’t unusual. He left the metal spoon in his mouth as he reached down to manipulate the keys, trying to find the tab on his dashboard that flagged a potential problem.
He finally found the tab and started reading through the information, his eyes growing a little wider as he read.
He pulled the spoon out of his mouth and set it in the bowl, then pushed the bowl away. He grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Nathan, asking him to join him in the mess.
He continued reading while he waited for Nathan.
Frank was first aware of Nathan arriving when he pulled a chair out from the table, startling Frank from his reading.
“What you got, Frank? Another update on the mess in Turkey?”
He replied, “I wish. No, we apparently have somebody over at Nellis Air Force Base checking out Patriarch Research and what’s going on there. The system found a request to raid their offices. The request is actually a couple of days old so I’m not sure what the status is right now. Do you know where Bethany Anne is? Wasn’t she supposed to go talk with them?”
“Yes.” Nathan looked down at his watch. “I imagine she’s in Las Vegas right now.”
Frank reached over and picked up his phone. “No time like the present to give her the bad news.” Nathan moved his chair over just a little bit in order for his voice to be picked up by the phone’s microphone.
Frank tried dialing Bethany Anne four times before Nathan reminded him that John and Eric were with her. He tried both of their phones as well, but wasn’t able to reach anyone. Frank was getting frustrated.
Nathan pursed his lips. “If they’re in the bunker, she won’t be able to receive any phone calls, it’s shielded. Unless John or Eric steps out of the bunker they won’t be able to get any messages either.
“Damn.” Frank slapped his hand on the table. “Do you have any other ideas how to get ahold of her? I can only imagine if they raid the building they might try to pick everyone up and then we’d be rescuing them from Nellis Air Force Base. It could take a while for the lawyers to get them out. I don’t think Bethany Anne would have the patience to just sit there.”
Nathan shook his head. “No, I can think of a dozen different ways that could go bad.”
Turkey
A much younger looking David looked around at the small town, pleased with himself. While the two military groups had been annoying, they had not been a challenge.
He had the trap set up as effectively as he could. He had the children for bait, he had the Nosferatu to hold their attention, and he had the backup attack to keep them here.
Further, if this trap didn’t attract either Michael or Bethany Anne, this part of Turkey would go up in flames. While that wasn’t his intention, David had always enjoyed a little chaos.
It was a little past midnight, and it would take at least two hours to travel to the next town. He started down to the car where his driver was waiting for him. This trap, he thought, was one of his best.
13
San Jose, Costa Rica
Michael looked down at the two Taser needles sticking out of his chest. He let them stay there, buzzing, while he looked at the frightened reporter who had shot him. “Was that really necessary?”
Tabitha turned to her left to see Giannini, mouth open, staring at Michael who should be flailing around on the ground right now. Tabitha reached out and grabbed the wires, yanking them out. She turned to Giannini. “Come on already! Use that reporter’s deductive reasoning, you halfwit! If we had wanted to hurt you, would we have met you in the middle of the freaking morning?” She dropped the wires.
“But,” she stuttered, “He’s, he’s one of them!”
Tabitha reached over to snap her fingers in front of Giannini’s eyes. “One of who? Neither one of us have been in San Jose before.” She looked over at Michael. “Have you?”
“Not in this century.” Tabitha didn’t know whether to take that as meaning in the last couple of decades, or the last hundred years. One thing that she was learning pretty quickly, these vampires could be incredibly cagy when they wanted to be.
Michael reached over and gently took the Taser out of the reporter’s hands. He wrapped the wires around it and gave it back to her.
Giannini was finally coming off of her adrenaline rush. “Then who are you? And how come the Taser didn’t affect you?” She turned to Tabitha. “And can you get me an interview with Bethany Anne?”
Tabitha glanced at Michael. “Well, the reporter’s back online.”
Michael looked around the street. Although it was still fairly early there was some foot traffic. “Why don’t we find a café where we can talk, and get off the street? Is there anything nice around here? Something with some good coffee, preferably?”
Giannini pointed down the street. “There’s a nice little café right down the block, to the right. I suppose we could go there. Does this mean I’ll get my interview?”
Tabitha started down the street. “Michael, can I have your coffee?” Giannini followed Tabitha.
Michael walked alongside Giannini. “Why would I give you my coffee?”
Tabitha said, “What? You can drink it? I thought your beverages needed to be a little bit more, um, how should I finish this?”
“You shouldn’t. I happen to love most coffees, excluding Starbucks.”
Giannini finally entered the conversation. “Starbucks? What do you have against Starbucks? I don’t think it is the best in the world, considering the price, but it is good coffee.”
“I am from a different era, I prefer the smaller mom-and-pop shops. I tend to patronize those when I can.”
Tabitha smiled. “Really? How often are you able to frequent coffee shops?”
“Not very often, especiall
y if I have to answer twenty annoying questions from my technical liaison every time I go out.”
“If you two are not part of the group that tried to kidnap me, how is it that you have hacked into my online account and entrapped me this morning?”
Tabitha turned around and started walking backwards. “Perhaps because you have a lot of information about someone who wants to remain unknown. As far as I know, they helped you, multiple times, and the way you repay them is by creating these secret notes? What are you planning, blackmail?”
“No! But my nose for news is good. And I smell a hell of a story. Do you have any clue what those people… things... were, that this group was killing a few months back? Those things were not alive!”
Michael spoke, “Technically, they were very alive. I have spoken with someone who is intimate with what was going on and I can verify they were living, not dead. These were not zombies.” Michael made a little circular motion for Tabitha to turn back around. Tabitha did so and barely missed walking right into a fire hydrant. She waved over her shoulder to let Michael know she appreciated his warning.
They found themselves in the little corner coffee shop a few moments later. They stopped talking as everyone picked up their cups and added their own cream or sugar as they preferred. Tabitha and Giannini both picked up a couple of morning breads as well. Michael paid for them.
They sat at a table near the door.
Now it was Tabitha’s responsibility to get Giannini thinking about the files. “So tell me Giannini, why is it you have all of these notes on our boss’s troops?”
Michael raised one eyebrow at her, his boss?
Giannini took a sip of her coffee, collecting her thoughts. “Have you ever seen a woman jump over twenty feet between buildings? And do this while carrying another woman on her shoulders? Not only have I seen it, I was the woman on her shoulders. Seconds later, her eyes were as red as blood. I looked down to see that she had been shot in the leg and she was still acting as if nothing was wrong! We were lifted by helicopter off of the top of the building. We travelled for over six blocks hanging by a rope. When we landed her eyes were normal again. I might be able to believe that I made a mistake about her having red eyes. But it looked like her leg was already healing. I would swear it. A normal human would have been crippled. I don’t care how much adrenaline she was running on she would have had to deal with that gunshot.”
Michael asked Giannini, “Can you describe the woman to me?”
“Sure, she had a European accent…”
“Gabrielle, not Bethany Anne.” Michael corrected.
Giannini looked confused. “Excuse me?”
“The woman who rescued you was Gabrielle, not Bethany Anne.”
Giannini was annoyed. “I know that. Why are you clarifying that for me? I know everyone that was on the trip, it’s in my notes. They didn’t hide their names from me.” She looked at Tabitha and Michael, trying to figure out their game.
Tabitha shrugged, she pretended to not understand Michael’s game either.
“I see.” Actually, Michael understood a lot. He had been sifting through her memories as she was replaying the event in her mind. Giannini wasn’t trying to do anything nefarious, but she was trying to land a huge story and she had locked onto the story of a lifetime.
Michael nodded minutely to Tabitha, who understood that he had enough information. Tabitha took over the conversation with Giannini and within five minutes had them talking about fashion on the streets of San Jose. A year ago Michael would have taken Giannini’s memories away from her. Now, while it was still an option, he was considering the ramifications of letting her keep them.
While the women talked, Michael stared out the window. What was the risk he was taking allowing her to know as much as she did? He thought about it for a while, considering the ramifications for her life and decided to give her information and trust. He brought his concentration back around to the two ladies and rapped his knuckles on the table, getting their attention. “Giannini, you have information that can be dangerous to you. If Tabitha here can find it, others can as well.” He put up a hand to forestall Tabitha’s interruption, continuing his conversation with Giannini. “There are those who will be looking for the information that you have, and what you are using for security will protect you as well as it has so far. Which is, to say, not very well at all. I will not threaten or harm you. I don’t have any need to do so. Should I choose to, I would be able to remove that knowledge from your possession.”
Let her figure he meant that Tabitha would take her electronic copies, if that made her feel better.
“That’s it?” Giannini was a little shocked that the meeting was already over. “What about my opportunity to speak with Bethany Anne? Do I get that chance, for you interrupting me this morning?”
Michael shrugged. “I’m not in charge of Bethany Anne’s schedule so I can’t speak for her.”
Tabitha interrupted, “She’s pretty cool, I’ll see what I can do to get you an interview. Give me your contact information and I’ll pass it on up the chain with a request. Also, let me write down a much better and more secure location for you to use. cajaarchivo.com sucks. Friends don’t let friends put secure documents on caja archivo.” Tabitha wrote down an IP address and page name. You couldn’t find this solution by using a normal naming convention on the Internet. It was a place by hackers, for hackers… and their friends.
Tabitha’s insouciance towards the chain of command was starting to wear thin on Michael. He was having his patience, never a strong point, tested pretty thoroughly.
He considered Bethany Anne’s effort to hide Tabitha’s becoming an addition to his team. Perhaps Bethany Anne’s plan wasn’t just to annoy him but, provide an opportunity to be around someone he needed, who might test him.
If it was Bethany Anne’s idea to help him work on his patience, Michael didn’t agree with her methods.
Once Giannini was out of the coffee shop, Tabitha asked in a soft voice, “How was that? Did you get what you needed?”
Michael nodded. “Yes I did. She’s your everyday run-of-the-mill reporter trying to get a big story to make her career. Like all big stories, if she’s not careful, this one could bury her.”
Tabitha leaned forward across the table. “You’re not serious are you? You don’t mean like, bury her, bury her, right?”
“Tabitha, what other type of bury her is there?” Michael returned her look, his face blank.
“Well, you could use it to mean overwhelm her. Like she’s not prepared to handle such a large story. Shit, Michael. Why is everything death with you?”
“Tabitha, if you had been alive as long as I have, you would have seen enough death that even the most heinous acts wouldn’t affect you. This world owes us nothing, this world gives us nothing, but this world will take everything if you’re not careful. Why would you get upset with me because I merely pointed out that she is working on a story that people could get killed for? Were you not on an operation in Miami where you could have been killed?”
Tabitha’s mouth tightened. “I wasn’t on that operation because I chose to be on the operation. I was on that operation because I was forced to be a part of the operation by your son Anton. Changing him, might I remind you, was a douche move.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Michael smiled. “So shall we discuss Kensington now? Let me understand the story. Then we shall decide whether or not you were in Miami strictly because of Anton, and having nothing to do with your own decisions.”
Tabitha tightened her arms together and stared out the glass, keeping her own thoughts for a minute. “Kensington fell into my lap, I thought. I was on the dark web in a chat room and had been approached by the company seeking firewall protection testing services. It was good money, and seemed like a legit operation. I should’ve known better.” She stopped staring out the window and looked at Michael, “I mean, who ever goes on the dark web looking for testing services that’s legitimate?�
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Michael shrugged, he wasn’t exactly sure what she was talking about. Oh, he understood enough from his conversations with Carl between the World Wide Web everyone talked about, and the dark web, or the websites where you get there by IP addresses. But he had no idea how to accomplish it.
She continued, “I was getting a little desperate to make my own money, enough to get myself a place to stay. I had been jumping from friend’s place to friend’s place, sleeping on couches and floors. Just the night before, I had a roach crawl across my arm. I was freaked out a little bit, okay? You would be too if you had a roach staring at you when you opened your eyes.” She grumbled to herself, “Well, maybe you wouldn’t.” She sat back in her chair. “When I finished the job, I got notified that I had been in a honeypot trap. I could either help them with a few more jobs, or they were going to give my information to the police. I freaked out, made some bad decisions, got myself into it worse and worse. At the end, they had been promising the Miami job was the last job we had to do. Ben and I talked about it later, we both think they would’ve killed us and their promise would’ve been true—it would’ve been our last job.”
Michael sat with his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hand. “So how do you feel about this job?”
Tabitha wanted to be upset with Michael. He was the person who made Anton live long enough to be such a huge problem in her life. Exhaling loudly, she considered her story. If she had rejected the original Kensington offer, she would never have ended up in Miami. How did she feel about this job? “Cautiously optimistic. Bethany Anne has shared enough with me that I realize that her team is the good side. The fact that she got rid of Anton is a big plus in my column.” With Michael staring at her so intently, she became aware, again, of just how good-looking the man was. She bit her lip and considered testing whether or not he was eavesdropping in her mind. She decided that, maybe, right now was not the time to test the tiger.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 118