“I don’t remember dropping it,” Schwarz said.
“Kissinger might have taken it from your gear when you weren’t looking,” Kurtzman said.
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I asked him to,” Kurtzman replied. “You’ll need to log into your online bank account to acknowledge your payment and access your funds,” he told Schwarz. “But before you can do that, you’ve got to play your game.”
“What?” Schwarz asked. He switched on the phone. The candy monster game immediately loaded. “To tell you the truth, Bear, I’m kind of sick of playing it.”
“Oh, I figured you would be,” Kurtzman said. “That’s why I rewrote the application. You’ll need to complete all one hundred levels with a perfect three-halo score for each level before the phone unlocks.”
“But…Bear,” Schwarz complained. “That’s just…that’s just…”
“Cruel?” Kurtzman asked. “Swift and terrible, like my revenge?”
Schwarz slumped in his chair. He was silent for a moment. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Something like that.”
“Have fun,” Kurtzman said, wheeling his way out of the conference room. Price followed him, leaving Schwarz to his electronic fate. Once more, she had to try not to laugh until she was out of earshot. She caught up to Kurtzman farther down the corridor.
“Back to work for you, Bear?” she asked.
“And for you,” Kurtzman said. “Don’t try to make me believe you’re spending the night out on the town.”
“No,” she said. “Probably not. There’s too much work to do. Too many security threats to catalog. Too many international threats to stare down.”
“I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee,” Kurtzman offered.
“Bear?” Price asked. “Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it?”
Kurtzman stopped rolling and looked up at her. “The day I start second-guessing it,” he told her, “is the day I retire. Until then, I’m on the job. It’s who we are. It’s what we do. For as long as it takes.”
Price smiled and nodded. “For as long as it takes.”
“Come on,” Kurtzman said. “Play your cards right and I’ll buy you a microwave pizza from the vending machine. You know, for, uh, America.”
“Right,” Price said. “Lead the way.”
Laughing softly to herself, Barbara Price followed Kurtzman. There was work to be done. There would always be work to be done. Even if, one day, the powers that were wrote them off, told them to stand down, she couldn’t imagine any of the members of her team complying with that order. There would always be danger to fight.
And there would always be Stony Man Farm to fight it.
* * * * *
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First edition August 2015
ISBN-13: 9781460385272
War Tactic
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Phil Elmore for his contribution to this work.
Copyright © 2015 by Worldwide Library
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War Tactic Page 28