by Siegel, Alex
He unzipped the bag. "How much C-4?"
"Six ounces," she said. "The pole looked thick."
"Sounds right to me."
He found a block of C-4 in the bag. Using a knife, he sliced off a chunk of the off-white material. He dug out a detonator, a timer, and the other small items he would need to build a bomb. He put all the materials in his pockets.
His phone rang. The caller ID indicated it was Bethany. He answered, "Hello?"
"We have to apologize, sir," Bethany said in her soft, polite voice. "We've been awful."
"That's true, but apologies won't help us with the mission. I need to know if I can rely on you. Are you back in the game?"
"We'll do the best we can."
"That's not an answer," he said.
"This isn't easy for us either. The project is consuming all the resources in our minds and pushing out everything else. God keeps sending us text messages."
"I don't really blame you. I understand you're in an impossible situation. If I give you a small assignment tonight, will you be able to do it?"
"I think so, sir," she said.
"Expect a call in a half-hour." Aaron put away his phone.
Marina shook her head. "I suppose the good news is this can't go on much longer. God will demand a resolution."
"I hate to think about it."
They walked back across the huge parking lot to the casino sign. He assembled the bomb at the base of the support pole. The soft C-4 molded to the curved metal surface. He found some big rocks nearby and placed them around the bomb to help focus the blast. Finally, he set the timer for ten minutes.
They hurried off.
"How do you want to play this?" Aaron said.
"Nothing complicated," Marina said. "You chase me, and I'll do the lift."
"I love chasing you."
"And I love being chased by you." She blew a kiss to him. "Don't forget to get all red-faced and angry. That's my favorite part. There is a vein in your forehead that pops out."
"I'll try not to disappoint. Thinking about Jack should be enough motivation."
They crouched among the parked cars closest to the casino. The C-4 made an impressive thunderclap when it exploded, and broken rocks sprayed like shrapnel. There wasn't a lot of light or smoke. Car alarms went off all around. The sign didn't move.
"Fuck," Aaron said.
"Wait for it," Marina said.
Finally, the sign began to tip over. Metal groaned as it twisted and broke. The pot of gold at the top smashed down and crushed the roof of a car.
The response from the casino took a while to get going. Security was the first on the scene. They stood around in confusion for a few minutes before finally calling for reinforcements on their radios. Two police cars and a fire truck with flashing lights showed up next.
"Maybe we should've done something bigger," Marina said.
"Patience," Aaron said. "This will work."
A short time later, men in nice suits started coming out of the casino to inspect the destruction. Clearly, they were the executives. Aaron studied the growing crowd as he tried to pick out the top man.
Eventually, he spotted a tall, handsome man with brown hair. Two huge bodyguards bracketed him and made him appear small by comparison. He wore a simple brown suit made of slightly glossy material. Whenever he spoke, everybody else stopped talking and listened.
"That's our guy," Aaron pointed.
"I see him," Marina said. "He just oozes charisma. Are you ready to do this?"
"I'm very sorry."
"What?"
He slugged her in the face. When she looked up, she had a red mark on her cheek and a cracked lip. The effect was exactly what he wanted.
She wiped her bloody lip with the back of her hand. "That wasn't nice."
"You have to look like you've been in a fight, and we don't have any makeup. You can pound the shit out of me when we get home."
"It's a deal. I'm going now."
She ran towards the crowd around the sign. He waited a couple of beats and chased after her. She screeched hysterically and glanced back at him with a terrified expression. He roared in anger. Their feet slapped the asphalt as they sprinted at top speed. She aimed her body straight towards the man with brown hair like a guided missile. Aaron followed about ten yards back.
Marina ran headlong into her target without even looking at him. She acted as if she were too distracted to realize he was standing there. The bodyguards tried to deflect her but were a fraction of a second too slow. Marina and the man went down together. She was back on her feet and running again a second later.
The security guards finally got organized. Some of them intercepted Marina before she could get away. Other men blocked Aaron so he couldn't pursue her.
"Bitch!" he yelled. "Whore!"
"Stay away from me!" Marina screamed in a high-pitched voice.
One of the men in suits came forward. "What's going on here?"
Aaron didn't care for the royal purple color of his outfit. The man with brown hair was already drifting towards the back of the crowd and clearly didn't want to get involved.
"That woman cut in front of me," Aaron said. "I was waiting in line for a half-hour for a game. I went to take a piss. When I got back, she was playing."
Marina shook her head. "That's not true! The game was open."
"You saw me waiting."
"You were just standing there. I didn't know what you were doing."
"You stupid cunt!" he said. "I wasn't there to pick my nose!"
"Keep that fucking asshole away from me. He hit me in the face. He's out of control." She cowered behind a security guard.
The man in purple made calming motions with his hands. "Relax. I'm sure it was a simple misunderstanding."
Aaron shook his head. "No. She cut in front of me on purpose. She was waiting for me to get out of line."
"If you hit her, that's battery. I think you need to cool off in a jail cell. Officers, could you please arrest this man?"
Two cops came forward. Aaron broke and ran the other direction. He knew the police wouldn't shoot him in the back for such a minor offense, but they did chase him.
He sprinted down the block until he came to a gas station. He went around to the back, vaulted onto a dumpster, and climbed onto the roof. He watched from above as the cops showed up a few seconds later. They looked around in confusion.
Eventually, they split up and went in opposite directions. Aaron waited another minute before getting down from the roof. He circled back.
He had to find where Tawni and Sheryl were hiding. He could've used the locator app in his phone, but it was much more fun to do it the old-fashioned way.
He crept from car to car, always staying in the darkest shadows. Sweat beaded on his forehead. The weather was a little too warm for this kind of work, but it wasn't bad. At least the sun wasn't beating down on him.
Two dark figures were hiding behind a bush and watching the commotion. They had the slender bodies of beautiful women.
He came up behind them, making no noise at all. He didn't want them to scream in surprise, so he reached around from behind. Abruptly, he clamped his hands over their mouths.
Sheryl squealed. Tawni tried to elbow him in the ribs, but she didn't have a good angle.
"Hello, ladies," Aaron whispered. He let go of them.
"Sir," Tawni said in a tight voice, "I hate it when you do that."
"It makes you a better legionnaire."
Sheryl was scowling.
"Are you OK?" Aaron said.
"I'm having regrets about taking this job, sir. It's been a rough day."
"It hasn't been that bad."
"Let's see," she said. "Hours of harsh training. A suicide. Torture. Multiple murders. Then you scare the piss out of me."
He shrugged.
"What was the point of knocking down the sign anyway?"
"You haven't figured it out? I thought you were a master of deception and distraction."
"Marina ran into that guy... Oh!" Her eyes widened. "She picked his pocket. She took his wallet. Cool."
The police were interviewing Marina. She wiped her eyes and sniffled realistically as she spun her woeful tale. Her acting abilities always amazed Aaron. She had complete control over every detail of her body language. She could even produce tears at will.
Eventually, the authorities let her go. She headed back towards the casino at first. When she was half-way there, she turned and circled around in the darkness.
Aaron quickly backed away from Tawni and Sheryl. He climbed onto a pickup truck and laid down in the bed. He poked his head up just enough to peek at Marina. Trying to catch her off-guard was always a very difficult challenge. Her ninja skills were even better than his.
She walked behind a black van but didn't come out the other side. Damn it, he thought.
He patiently watched his surroundings. She had to reveal herself eventually.
He caught a glimpse of shifting darkness between two cars. He mentally plotted her location and probable routes. He picked a spot where he would have the best chance of ambushing her. Making no noise, he slipped off the back of the pickup truck and worked his way over there.
Marina didn't appear in the place Aaron had expected. He looked back suspiciously. A small foot wearing a green boot smashed his face, stunning him.
"That was for punching me," she said.
He licked his lip and tasted blood. "Fair enough. When did you see me?"
"In the pickup truck. You had a silhouette."
"Crap. Spending all that time in the casino really messed up my head. I'm not focused. Maybe I should meditate when we get home."
They walked over to Tawni and Sheryl.
Marina took a black leather wallet out of her pocket and opened it up. "Our prize," she whispered.
Aaron used his phone to take photographs of the identification inside.
He called Bethany. "I just took some pictures. Tell me about this guy." He put his phone in speaker mode so everybody could hear.
"Yes, sir," she said.
He heard the sound of keys clattering in the background. He knew it wouldn't last long, but having the twins back at their jobs felt great. There was nobody better.
"It's a false identity," Bethany said.
"I expected as much, but it's still an important clue."
"Give us a moment, sir. We have to run a deep search. Maybe we can figure out who created the identity."
"Take your time," Aaron said.
A tow truck had arrived. It was trying to drag the broken casino sign off the parking lot and out of the way. The fire truck had already left, and an evidence collection van had taken its place. The casino employees were leaving the scene of the crime a few at a time.
"It's a CIA cover," Bethany said.
"Huh? Why is the CIA involved in Chicago casinos? It doesn't make sense."
"The man's real name is Neville Cantrell. He was fired from the CIA six years ago and disavowed."
"Why?" he said. "And how can a disavowed spook still be using one of their identities?"
"No more information is available. All the records were purged when he was dismissed. His file was deleted. We're lucky we got that much."
Aaron didn't see Cantrell in the dwindling crowd near the broken sign. Apparently, he had already left.
"Cantrell must have a friend at the CIA," Aaron said. "Somebody gave him a false identity, and that person is getting paid. Look for a CIA employee with an account at Golden Spiral Investments, or one who received a lot of money by trading futures at night."
He heard the keyboard again. He idly wondered what kind of software she was using to perform her search. She had once mentioned she made extensive use of neural nets, whatever those were.
"Sterling Ford," Bethany said. "A senior manager with fifteen years of experience. He lives in Virginia."
Aaron grinned. "Send his file to my phone. I'll read it here."
"Yes, sir. That's all we can do for you tonight. We have to get back to the project now."
"I appreciate the effort. You've been very helpful. Thank you."
She hung up.
A moment later, he received a very large text message on his phone. It was hard to read the material on the small display, so he just skipped forward to the essential details. The words "TOP SECRET" appeared prominently.
"Wife and two kids," Aaron read. "He spent five years in Russia managing intelligence assets. The Russian connection keeps popping up."
Marina had a sour expression.
"What's wrong?"
"You know how I feel about the CIA," she said. "I have a history with that agency."
"What history, ma'am?" Sheryl said.
"Marina used to be a spy," Aaron explained. "Her career was legendary for several reasons, the way it ended being one of them."
"A real spy?" Sheryl stared at Marina with wide eyes.
Marina nodded. "I don't want to talk about it. The point is when I hear about dirty CIA agents, it makes me want to do truly horrible things to them. If I meet Ford, I can't promise all his body parts will stay in their original locations. Maybe it's a good thing I'm going home in the morning."
Aaron felt a rush of sadness. He had been trying to forget that fact.
He went back to reading the notes about Ford.
"Oh," Aaron said, "this is useful. He had a mistress. They broke up a year ago."
"That's in his file?" Sheryl said in a tone of surprise.
"The CIA likes to know all the ugly details about its people. It's a matter of security. I have the same policy."
He took out his wallet and flipped through the identification inside. He found a business card for a Chicago police detective. It was an identity he didn't use often but always kept in good standing. He had once been an actual police detective and had a special fondness for the profession.
He found Ford's home phone number in the notes and dialed it. Aaron put the phone in speaker mode.
A sleepy voice answered after several rings, "Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Sterling Ford?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Detective Frank Geyer," Aaron said, "Chicago PD."
"What's wrong?" Ford answered in a more alert tone.
"We have a dead body on our hands. A suicide. Her name is Holly Homes. I believe you knew her. She mentioned your name several times in her suicide note."
Ford took a long moment before he responded, "Yes, I knew her."
"How, exactly?"
"We were very close friends."
"I think you were more than that," Aaron said. "This is a messy situation. There is a baby involved."
"She has a kid?"
"Yes, Mr. Ford. A six month-old boy. He's in the hospital being treated for dehydration."
Ford took another moment to do some mental arithmetic. "Oh."
"The suicide note included some very sensitive details about you personally."
"Like what?"
"I'll let you read the dirt for yourself," Aaron said. "The press doesn't know about this case, yet, but it's just a matter of time. The department is full of blabber mouths. When this story breaks, it's going to be a scandal. I strongly recommend you take the first flight in the morning to Chicago. You'll want to be seen as a responsible man who is doing the right thing for his neglected son."
"Yes, of course. Thank you for the heads up."
"Here is my number." Aaron read the number off the business card. "Call as soon as you get in. I'll have somebody pick you up at the airport and drive you straight to the station. I want to interview you right away, then you can see your boy."
"I will," Ford said. "I'll buy the plane ticket right now."
"I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."
Aaron hung up.
Sheryl raised her eyebrows. "You're a despicable man, sir, but I have to admit, it was brilliantly played."
He yawned. "Let's go home and get as much sleep as we can. Tomorrow will b
e another full day."
Chapter Fourteen
Sheryl smiled as the minivan entered the parking lot of the Rosemont Tower Hotel. Floodlights illuminated the entrance and the lower floors. Darkness shrouded the upper stories, making the seamless brown glass almost black. It was a tower of beautiful mysteries, and she loved it. She had found her true home at last.
She was riding shotgun, and Tawni was driving. Aaron and Marina were holding hands in the back seat. They loved each other so much and so openly it made Sheryl jealous. She had never had a relationship like that, not even close.
Tawni stopped the minivan in front of the hotel. Aaron and Marina immediately climbed out and went inside.
Sheryl remained seated. "Where are you going now?"
"My house, of course," Tawni said. "The boss told us to sleep."
"You live near here?"
"About a mile away. It's a nice walk when the weather is good, but I don't have time now. I'll just drive."
Sheryl pursed her lips.
"Shouldn't you be going to bed, too?" Tawni said.
"It's been a tough, scary day for me."
"So?"
"Watching Aaron and Marina together reminded me of how good it feels to have somebody in your life," Sheryl said. "My hotel room is very lonely. I would like to hang out with you tonight."
Tawni just stared at her. The whites of her eyes were floating in a field of black skin.
"We don't have to do anything," Sheryl said. "Being friends is enough."
"I don't have a guest bed."
"I'll sleep on the couch."
Tawni rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'm lonely, too."
She drove off. Sheryl grinned.
The trip took only a couple of minutes. Tawni pulled into the driveway of a one-story house made of yellow bricks. The sloped roof peaked on the right side to create a lopsided architecture.
Sheryl followed Tawni to the front door. Instead of opening it right away, Tawni examined the three deadbolt locks.
"What are you looking for?" Sheryl said.
"Scratches," Tawni said. "Be quiet."
Eventually, she opened all three locks with a key. She drew a gun from under her jacket. "Stay." She slipped inside without turning on the light.
Sheryl felt a little silly as she stood alone in front of the house. Insects droned loudly all around her.