by Gini Koch
“Nope, like you and Sheila, unable to make it due to my fab planning skills.”
“Ah. That’s too bad.”
“Yeah, well, I look at it as another close friend who missed my wedding race and the embarrassment thereof and count it in the win column. The President’s Ball should be nostalgic, though. We’ll be all dressed up and likely running for our lives.”
I saw Jeff pass a sign to Christopher, who turned to Amy. “You’ll look great, don’t worry. And I’ll be there to protect you.” This set them off on a little nuzzlefest, which I didn’t begrudge them. Though they definitely kept it at the G-rated level, presumably because Christopher’s dad and my mom were nearby.
Jeff nudged me and leaned down. “She’s jealous,” he whispered in my ear.
My mother was indeed in the room, as were many others, so I did my best to focus and not start rubbing up against him. “Why? What’d I do this time?” I whispered.
Jeff chuckled. “You didn’t do anything. And she’s not jealous of you so much as she’s jealous of Caroline’s relationship with you and with Reynolds.”
“Amy still hates Chuckie. Why would she care that Caro likes him?”
He sighed. “It’s complicated, but I think it’s because Caroline actually thinks as highly of Reynolds as you do, and he clearly likes her, and he’s just as clearly never liked Amy. The three of you are all friends, college friends, with a very different history and dynamic than she has with you, or Reynolds, for that matter.”
“Well, Amy could take a clue on that, you know.”
“Let’s adjourn this meeting of the Reynolds Fan Club before it really gets going, okay? Just telling you so you’ll understand if Amy’s acting strangely toward you or Caroline.”
“Is Caro jealous?”
“No. She’s worried, tired, stressed, angry, confused, and relieved that you, Reynolds, and your mother are here. And she’s definitely interested in Michael.” He sounded a little worried when he mentioned the Michael interest. “But she’s not jealous.”
“Don’t worry. Caro can handle a player. She’s not really into the idea of finding Mister Right and settling down. She’s not against it, but it’s not something she’s concerned about. Her motto’s always been, when it happens, it’ll happen.”
“Huh. Kind of like yours.”
“I suppose.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I just hope she finds someone as wonderful as I did.”
Jeff smiled and looked extremely pleased. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything we were interrupted by a really loud sound.
It was a sound I was somewhat familiar with, even though I’d never heard it in an A-C facility before—the sound of a fire alarm.
CHAPTER 46
JEFF STOOD UP. “EVERYONE, evacuation procedures!”
We had evacuation procedures? Apparently we did, since everyone other than me and Caroline seemed to know what was going on, and everyone including Caroline leaped up in what seemed like an orderly fashion. A-Cs grabbed the humans near them, and everyone headed toward the exits.
Jeff took my hand; I grabbed my purse and stood up. We took a couple of steps, but something was bothering me. I pulled my hand out of his. I sniffed. I smelled no smoke. I listened. I heard no crackling between the blares of the alarms. I looked around, saw no smoke.
“Why are you suddenly not willing to hold my hand?” Jeff asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t smell smoke. We’re in the middle of some kind of operation. I don’t like the coincidence.”
“There was a gas leak earlier,” Jeff reminded me.
“Yeah.” The alarms were still clamoring, so I didn’t figure I could hear Walter through the intercom. I took Jeff’s hand, but this time I dragged him along as I ran for the stairs. We headed up to the third floor and Walter’s rooms.
I breathed a sigh of relief—he was still in there. “Chiefs, shouldn’t you be evacuating?”
“Maybe. Walt, did you trigger the fire alarm?”
He gave me the “you so crazy” look. “No, Chief. The alarms go off automatically.”
“But there’s no smoke, no smell of smoke, all our food was prepared in Dulce, and I wasn’t cooking, so I doubt someone forgot to turn the stoves off.”
Walter looked doubtful, but Jeff was listening. “Walter, turn off the alarms, please.” He did so, and Jeff listened more closely. “I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary.”
“Not all fires will show immediately to our senses, Chiefs,” Walter said. “Besides, it could be in the basement or one of the top floors. I don’t think it’s good for you two to be at risk.”
“You weren’t exactly running off,” I pointed out.
“No, but my job is to be the last man to leave, in the case of any emergencies.”
“Let’s get out of here and figure it out once we’re sure the building is secure,” Jeff said.
“No. Something’s wrong with all of this.”
Jeff gave me a long look. “Feminine intuition?”
“I think so. I mean, there’s been a lot of extra ‘just one of those things’ going on, like roadwork and a gas leak scare. Suddenly out of nowhere we have fire alarms going off? When we’re in what would have to be the best maintained Embassy in the world?”
Jeff nodded. “Fine. Walter, start scans and have Dulce scan us as well. You stay here,” he said to me. “I’m going to check the Embassy.”
“Don’t go alone.”
Jeff kissed me. “Want you to stay with Walter.” With that, he was gone.
I decided not to spend the time muttering about how my spouse didn’t listen to me in a danger situation, mostly because Jeff could probably do that rant better than I could. Instead I chose to try to figure out what was going on.
Walter was engrossed and intent, so I did my best not to bother him. Which meant I could think or look around. It was me, so I looked around while thinking, to score the double, at least in my own mind.
Walter’s Mini Command Center was attached to his living quarters—similarly to how the nursery was set up in our apartment. It made it easier to understand how he, and Gladys, ever got any sleep—there were monitors, switches, microphones, and all sorts of impressive-looking apparatus all over the place.
Walter sat in a reasonably comfy chair at what I figured was the main console, in part because it was big and impressive and in part because it said “Main Console” on it. There was a small cot next to this, though I could see a real bedroom in the other part of his suite. The real bedroom had a smaller set of switches and monitors and such.
There were a variety of voices talking. Walter seemed to follow them all as he flipped switches, turned knobs, wrote things down, and replied back. He was doing it all at hyperspeed, not that I could blame him.
“We need to make sure the Pontifex’s residence is secure.” My baby and father were there; I didn’t want them running into the street for no reason other than to potentially get kidnapped.
“Pontifex’s residence is secure,” Gladys’ voice came over one of the feeds.
“Is everyone who was there secure, as in, inside and not getting snatched off the streets or something?”
Gladys sighed, and she put a lot of sarcasm into something that in reality had no syllables. “Yes, all personnel are inside, safe, and secured. I’m physically there, Co-Chief Martini.”
Oh. Right. She was. And per everyone Gladys was not only talented but extremely formidable. I’d still never met her in person. I still didn’t want to. Somehow, I felt that knowing what she looked like would either ruin my impression of her or scare the crap out of me. I was fairly certain Gladys could take me. She might even be able to take my mom. Maybe not me and Mom together though. So we had that going for us.
Someone over at the Dulce Science Center was confirming that they weren’t picking up anything untoward going on in the Embassy, which pulled me back into the moment. “My scans don’t show anything either, Chief,” Walter added. “Including ho
w the alarm was tripped.”
“Confirmed by all bases,” Gladys chimed in. “No sign of how the alarm was triggered or by whom.”
“By someone working against us,” Chuckie said from behind me.
I turned. He looked pissed and stressed. “What’s wrong? And why are you back inside? Did Jeff get you?”
“No. I realized you and Martini weren’t out with the rest of us standing on the sidewalk. It dawned on me that I’d reacted without thinking, I saw nothing looking, smelling, or sounding dangerous within the Embassy, so I came back in to see what was going on.”
“What is going on?”
Christopher arrived, Glare #1 going like there was no tomorrow and he really wanted to ensure it was his legacy to future generations. “You were right, Reynolds. I can’t find it anywhere.”
“You couldn’t find what?”
“I found nothing,” Jeff said as he joined us. “There’s not one thing out of place in the entire Embassy.”
“Oh, there’s something out of place,” Christopher snarled.
“I didn’t check the hidden level.” Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “The stress from the two of you is off the charts. Should I check that area just in case?”
“Don’t bother,” Chuckie said, jaws clenched. “They already got what they came for. And we’re once again screwed.”
“And,” Christopher added, “this time, it’s all my fault.”
CHAPTER 47
WE ALL STARED AT CHRISTOPHER for a long moment. “That was nicely dramatic. You want to share what the two of you are talking about?”
Christopher nodded. “The picture Nurse Carter had is gone. And I never read it. So we have no more information on the Dingo, his cousin, or anyone else.” He looked down. “I should have read it when you wanted me to, Kitty.”
I managed to refrain from saying something really obvious like “you didn’t pick it up before racing out?” because that was clearly a given. Besides, Christopher’s expression and body language said he was already beating himself up far more than I could ever manage.
Jeff nudged me. I got the clue. “It’s okay, Christopher. We’re used to working with less. I should have let Chuckie hold onto it until you were ready.”
“Enough of the pity party,” Chuckie said firmly. “Mistakes happen. So the fire alarm was tripped to get us out and let them grab the picture, presumably before White or another imageer could read it. Though I still have no idea how they know what we’re doing or saying.”
“Guess we’re lucky they let us finish eating.”
Jeff grunted. “A full stomach’s nice. Catching these assassins would be better.”
“Why are we assuming it’s the Dingo Dog and/or Surly Vic?” I looked at Walter. “How many people supposedly from the gas company were here earlier?”
“Three, Chief.”
“Huh.”
“Kitty, why are you saying supposedly?” Christopher asked. “They had all the proper identification.”
“You know, I really need to get all of you to a few movies or at least watching TV shows that were made in this century. One of the easiest disguises out there is to pretend to be a workman with one of the utility companies. No one wants to question too much if they’re worried their building’s going to blow sky high.”
Chuckie nodded. “They were alone in the building?”
“No, sir, Mister Reynolds,” Walter said. “I stayed with them the entire time. They tried to separate, to check things more quickly, but I wouldn’t allow it.”
“Good man. There were three of them, though, Walt. Was there ever a time when one of them was out of your sight, even if it was for a really short time?”
Walter’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know if we’d call it out of my sight, but when we were all in the ballroom, they were each in different parts of the room. I did keep my eyes on them, though.”
“But three is hard to watch, and while you’re looking at one, you can’t look at the others.” I looked up at Chuckie. “So they planted bugs, at least. And this was after we’d scanned everything and found all those bugs in my purse and on Mister Joel Oliver. I’ll bet we haven’t scanned for bugs since.”
Walter looked chagrined. “No, Chief, I haven’t.” Christopher hypersped off.
“No worries, Walt. Of all of us, you’re the only one who’s actually not screwing up.”
Christopher returned. “Found them, at least I think I have. I left them in place.”
“Good,” Chuckie said. “We’ll check them in a moment. Walter, can you describe the men who were here?”
“I can do better than that, Mister Reynolds.” Walter turned back to his main console, fiddled with some knobs, flicked some switches, typed something into his computer keyboard, and suddenly we had video.
“You video tape us?” Maybe it was some weird A-C thing, but I didn’t like it. The former Diplomatic Corps had liked doing that a little too much.
“No, Chief. But we have video at every entrance to the building. It’s standard practice for all Embassies, not just ours.”
“Just the entrances?” Chuckie asked, sounding mildly worried. “Nothing more?”
“Why wouldn’t that be plenty?”
Chuckie gave me the “duh” look. “Because most Embassies have video feeds on all their general areas. And this one should, too.”
Walter looked uncomfortable. “Ah, well…”
Jeff sighed. “My order, Reynolds. After what was found in that secret lab, I didn’t want any of us being spied on.”
Chuckie gave Jeff a look I could only think of as disgusted and long-suffering. “You live to make everyone’s jobs harder, don’t you? Mine in particular.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Jeff wasn’t snapping or snarling, but his eyes were narrowed.
“So, as opposed to ensuring the safety of this Embassy and everyone in it, you chose to remove one of the standard security elements every building in this city has installed, simply because video feeds were used against us a few months ago, and you didn’t bother to put any other kind of backup in place?” Chuckie sounded both angry and resigned. I had a feeling the migraine was trying to show up and join the party.
“Boys, don’t start.”
Jeff shook his head. “I hate saying it, but Reynolds is right. And, frankly, I should have run that decision by James and Tim—and you,” he added to Chuckie. “So, this one’s my screw-up. Walter, turn all the video feeds for all the public areas back on, please.”
While Walter quickly complied, I stared at the pictures our doorway cameras had caught. “Those guys aren’t Peter the Dingo Dog or Surly Vic. But they look familiar.” I considered. “Can someone get everyone else back inside, and get Len, Kyle, and Mister Joel Oliver in here, please?”
“I’ll get them,” Jeff said. “You two check out and dismantle those bugs,” he added to Chuckie and Christopher.
The three of them trotted off. “I’m sorry about the bugs, Chief,” Walter said quietly.
“Walt, they didn’t get to do whatever else they’d planned only because you refused to leave this Embassy unattended. I’m not joking, you’re the only one of us who’s actually doing a good job.”
He perked up a little. “Thanks, Chief. You’re not doing as badly as you think you are, you know.”
“Ha. I’m betting I’m doing worse than I think I am. But you know, we do persevere, right?”
“That’s the spirit,” Oliver said as he and the boys joined us. “I’ll be happy to give you some pointers about how to survive in this town.”
“Later. I’ll take your course. It can’t be worse than The Washington Wife class.”
“How is Darcy?”
I looked at him. He looked sincerely interested. “You’re kidding me. You know her?”
“Quite well.” Oliver shot me a small smile. “I imagine you’re driving her crazy. Carry on; it’s good for her. Now, what did you need from me and the young gentlemen?”
Kyle point
ed at the screen. “Those guys look familiar. But I don’t know why.”
“I do,” Len said. “They were driving the cabs that were after us yesterday.”
CHAPTER 48
“YEAH, THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. But they’re not wearing their fake beards.”
“Too obvious for the situation,” Oliver said.
“True, they were pretty lame.”
“But I agree,” Oliver went on. “That one was the one who spoke to you.” He pointed at one of the men on the video.
“He was the one in charge,” Walter confirmed.
“Do the videos capture sound, too?”
Walter shook his head. “There’s too much interference under most circumstances. We need different cameras installed if we want to capture sound, too. At least sound we can distinguish as more than a cacophony.”
“Great. Well, at least we have something, and faces are probably more important than voices right now. Let’s blow these up and get Mom’s and Chuckie’s people on the whole recognition database thingies.” I looked at the images as Walter did the picture captures and size increases. “These guys don’t look anything like the Dingo Dog or Surly Vic.”
“We know they’re not the same people,” Kyle said patiently.
“No, I mean they don’t look like they come from the same part of the world. Can someone get Nurse Carter in here?”
I heard a sigh behind me and turned just in time to see Jeff zip off. He was back momentarily, Nurse Carter in tow. She gagged a little from the hyperspeed and was then positioned in front of the monitors. We were back to Night at the Opera status. I took heart—the last time we’d had a ton of our own people shoved into a smaller room, we’d figured out what was going on.
I gave her the fast high-level “we’ve been infiltrated and are being bugged downstairs” recap. “So, we’re hoping you can identify our intruders.”
Nurse Carter stared at the pictures. “I don’t know them,” she said finally.
So much for that idea—even the Marx Brothers were letting the team down. I tried another guess. “Do you think they could be your countrymen?”