Above Reproach

by Lynn Ames

  Peter, Lorraine, Sedona, and Justine rose from the table and followed Vaughn into the house. “Lorraine and Justine, if you don’t mind, I thought I’d put you in the cottage. There are two bedrooms out there, but you’ll have to share a bathroom.” Vaughn gestured to her left, toward the back of the house.

  “Works for me,” Lorraine said.

  “I’m easy,” Justine added.

  “I heard that about you.” Vaughn winked.

  “Be careful or I’ll start telling stories and you know I have plenty of those.”

  Vaughn feigned fear. “Peter, you and Sabastien can take the two rooms down that hallway.” She pointed to a corridor that split off from the living room to the right. “Take whichever room suits you best, Peter. Sabastien isn’t picky.”

  Finally, Vaughn turned to Sedona, who was watching her with that same unnerving intensity Vaughn noticed earlier. “I thought I’d put you in the room next to mine, since you’re the only one on the radar so far.” She was interested to note that Sedona didn’t show any outward reaction. “I’m sure you’re completely safe here, but I don’t like to leave things to chance, if that’s all right with you.”

  “It’s your house,” Sedona said. “You make the call.”

  Vaughn still didn’t know what to make of her. Sedona was either the coolest customer on the planet, or else she hid fear really, really well. Vaughn searched for a word to describe the way Sedona made her feel—discomfited came to mind. “Okay then,” she said. “This way.”

  There were three laptops, four twenty-three inch monitors, a mobile printer, a large-format color printer, and various and sundry other electronic devices spread over the large teak desk in Vaughn’s office.

  “I’m impressed,” Sedona said, as she surveyed the array of equipment.

  “What? Merde.” Sabastien rubbed the spot on the top of his head where he’d just slammed it into unforgiving wood. He extricated himself from underneath the desk. “Ouch.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sedona said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “You did not. I mean, you did but…”

  Sedona thought Sabastien’s blush was endearing. “If you want me to wait outside until everyone else comes—”

  “No.” Sabastien smiled sheepishly. “That is, it is not necessary. I am almost finished here.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  “No. I have got it within control.”

  Sedona chuckled in spite of her best effort not to.

  “I said something sideways again, did I not? Elliott is always correcting me.” Sabastien fiddled with one of the Ethernet cables. “What was it this time?”

  “The expression is ‘under’ control, not ‘within’ control.”

  “Oh.”

  Sedona perched on the side of the desk. “Where are you from?”

  “Originally?”

  Sedona noted that Sabastien continued to worry the cable. Sedona didn’t need to be psychic to know that he was more comfortable with equipment than with people. “Yes.”

  “Paris, France. But my father also had a place in Switzerland. Really, we travelled all over the world.”

  “Sounds exciting.”

  “More like exhausting.” Sabastien’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

  “How do you know Vaughn?”

  “That is a long story.”

  “I’ve got time.”

  Before Sabastien could answer, Vaughn appeared in the doorway. “You all settled in?”

  “Wasn’t much to settle,” Sedona answered.

  Vaughn had changed into a pair of worn jeans and a t-shirt. While the jeans fit her well, Sedona mused that she preferred the shorts Vaughn wore earlier—they showed off her well-developed quad muscles to perfection.

  “What have you done to my nice, neat office, genius?”

  “You told me to set up.”

  Sedona watched the dynamics between Vaughn and Sabastien. It reminded her of what she imagined it would be like to have a sibling. Vaughn treated Sabastien like a younger brother.

  “Listen, before everyone else gets here, there’s something you should know.” Vaughn stepped fully into the room and held Sedona’s gaze.

  “Okay.”

  “The president told you—”

  “Wait! Elliott, perhaps I should leave the room?”

  “No, Sabastien. Stay where you are.”

  Sedona wondered at the look of misery that crossed his face.

  “As I started to say, the president told you that he’d vetted you and reviewed your account of what happened the night of the incident at the NSA.”

  “Yes.” Out of the corner of her eye, Sedona watched as Sabastien literally crawled back under the desk.

  “Well, the computer expert the president referenced is that geek hiding like a coward under my desk.” Vaughn gave Sabastien’s backside a nudge with her foot. “You can come out now, coward.”

  Sedona turned this information over in her mind. That meant Sabastien knew a great deal about her, including details about her personal life, all of which would’ve been included in her personnel files. The NSA was notorious for its thorough scrutiny of employees. Every hire was required to undergo a rigorous background check, psychological screening, and interviews with multiple managers. He saw all of that.

  “I am sorry,” Sabastien said, wringing his hands. “I was not trying to pry. It was my job.”

  Sedona realized discomfort must be showing on her face. She smiled wanly. “It’s okay. I guess if someone had to rifle through my life, I’d rather it was someone I knew than some complete stranger.”

  “It feels a little weird, though. No?”

  “A little.”

  “If it is any consolation, your credit record is excellent.”

  Sedona laughed. “Gee, thanks. Good to know.”

  Vaughn cleared her throat. “In the interest of full disclosure, Sabastien called to talk to me about your case before the president asked me to help.”

  “I never revealed your name.” Sabastien’s face was bright red. “Honest.”

  “I believe you,” Sedona said.

  “He was upset because it seemed like you were in a lot of danger. He wanted my opinion as to whether or not you were okay.”

  “And?” Sedona tried and failed to read what was in Vaughn’s eyes.

  “I told him the truth. I didn’t know. But it seemed to me that you were resourceful enough to make it out of the building and get the information directly into the hands of the president. That’s no mean feat. So I suspected you knew how to handle yourself.”

  “I see.”

  “So you are not mad?” Sabastien asked.

  “You were looking out for me, right?”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  “Then how can I be mad?” Sedona looked from Vaughn to Sabastien and back again. “Will you excuse me a moment?”

  Sedona walked quickly down the hall and out onto the deck that overlooked the ocean. She grabbed the wooden railing and took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. As an employee of the NSA, she wasn’t privy to her own personnel file, so she had no idea how thorough the information was. Did Sabastien read her psych evaluation? Did he know about Rachel? Could he see her pain on the page? And if so, had he shared any or all of that with Vaughn?

  She wasn’t sure which was more disconcerting, knowing that Sabastien might have seen her life laid bare, or the possibility that he shared those private details with Vaughn.

  “You know—” The voice behind her startled Sedona. “Sabastien really was worried for your safety and well being.”

  “I’m sure he was.” Sedona continued to look out at the ocean. She wasn’t ready to face Vaughn just yet.

  Vaughn came along side her. “Whatever you’re thinking, you can stop now.” Vaughn placed her hand on the railing adjacent to Sedona’s, but refrained from touching her. “Sabastien didn’t tell me anything other than the circumstances of that night and the fact that you’d been in the field many
times. That’s all. I swear.”

  Sedona finally turned enough so that she could see into Vaughn’s eyes. She was telling the truth. “Did you get the sense that Sabastien knew a lot more?”

  Vaughn appeared to weigh the possibility. “I’ve known Sabastien a long time. He’s not a curious kind of guy. He does what he’s tasked to do. Nothing more. He’s no voyeur. People usually don’t interest him. It’s all about the data—the machines.”

  Sedona nodded. That jibed with what she had observed of him.

  “But I have to say, it’s the most worried about another human being I’ve ever seen Sabastien. When it comes to women, he’s a little like a child. I suspect he’s not your type, so if you’re not interested, please be kind and don’t break his heart.”

  Sedona stood there with her mouth open as Vaughn walked away.

  “Since we can’t be sure when the images Sedona saw were taken, I’ve asked Sabastien to get us some fresh images of Tuwaitha. Also, some additional footage from the area at the NSA where Sedona worked,” Vaughn explained as the team gathered around behind the computer screens.

  “You got into the NSA’s security system without setting off any alarms?” Sedona asked. She stood just to Sabastien’s right with her hand on the back of his chair.

  “I did.” Sabastien sat up a little straighter. “When I was in there for the President, I left myself a back hallway.”

  “Back door,” Vaughn said.

  “Quoi?”

  “Back door, Mr. America. It’s a ‘back door,’ not a ‘back hallway.’”

  “As you say.” Sabastien waved Vaughn away and returned to the task at hand, his fingers flying across two keyboards.

  “Okay. What are we looking at?” Peter asked.

  “As soon as I am done borrowing this Russian satellite, coming up on the far left, you will see an aerial view of Tuwaitha. The two right screens will be inside the NSA.”

  “You’re hijacking a Russian satellite?” Lorraine asked.

  “I prefer to think I am leasing it.”

  “How long before they notice?” Justine asked.

  “A minute or two at most.”

  “What do we need to key in on?” Vaughn turned to Sedona, who was paying avid attention to what Sabastien was doing. Her brow was furrowed in concentration.

  “I’ll know it when I see it, but I would focus on the two large buildings toward the back of the complex. The rest of the structures are for storage and administration.”

  “Okay, Genius. You heard the woman.” Vaughn positioned herself behind Sabastien’s left shoulder. She caught a hint of Sedona’s perfume. It was clean, fresh, and enticing. Vaughn moved farther away from her.

  Several images filled the two left screens. Sedona moved in for a closer look. “There,” she pointed to a spot on the second screen. “Can you get us a different view of that?”

  “I will try.”

  “If you can somehow get a ground view, or at least zoom in so we can distinguish what those trucks are and what’s on that rooftop…”

  Sabastien manipulated the mouse with one hand while clicking several keys on one of the keyboards. The view on the left monitor changed. As it did, a series of loud beeps erupted.

  “Merde.”

  “What is it?” Lorraine asked.

  “We tripped a sensor,” Peter explained.

  “On the satellite system?”

  “No. It is not coming from there.” Sabastien’s voice was tight as his fingers worked furiously at the keys. Within seconds, the screens went black. He sat back, sweat beading his forehead.

  “What just happened there?” Justine asked.

  “Somebody did not appreciate us poking around.” Sabastien said.

  “Why did the screens go black? Did we lose the satellite link?”

  Sabastien shook his head.

  “Someone on the ground blocked us,” Peter offered.

  “Yes.” Sabastien agreed. “But that should not have been possible.”

  “What are you saying?” Vaughn asked.

  “Whoever this is, they have very sophisticated equipment. Big bucks,” Peter said. “The ability on site to detect and scramble a satellite taking pictures from space.”

  “But I have never heard such a thing is possible,” Sabastien said.

  Vaughn had never seen Sabastien baffled by technology before, and his expression worried her. Peter, too, looked grim.

  “The technology’s been around,” Peter said, “but very few people know about it.”

  “Any idea who might be on the short list?” Lorraine asked.

  “Nope. All I know is that the price tag is exorbitant.”

  “How expensive?” Sedona asked.

  “More than the economies of many countries I could name.”

  “That eliminates some dissident Iraqi group as the source of the activity,” Justine said.

  “Unless they’re being backed by some other deep-pocketed source.”

  “Let’s worry about that after we deal with the more immediate problem,” Vaughn said.

  “What’s that?” Sedona asked.

  “We’re flying blind with no visual intel on Tuwaitha.”

  “I did not say that, Elliott.” Sabastien smiled a boyish grin. “I was able to capture some still images.” He turned as one of the printers spit out several sheets of paper.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The man sprinted out of the elevator and down the hallway, barely pausing at the receptionist’s desk to be acknowledged. When the receptionist nodded at him to go in, he burst through the heavy oak door. “We have something.”

  Disconcerting pale blue eyes glowered over the top of a pair of reading glasses. “After so much time, it better be good.”

  “I think you’ll be well pleased.”

  The expression in the man’s eyes hardened even more. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  “The new equipment you had installed worked. At 1345 yesterday the system detected an intrusion.”

  The man behind the desk showed no reaction except to put both hands on the desk, palms down, his fingers slightly curled. “And?”

  “It blocked access to the satellite.”

  “And?” The man leaned forward.

  “It registered the satellite and tracked the signal back to an address.”

  “Where?” Now the man was practically vibrating out of his seat.

  “A house on a remote island in the Caribbean.”

  “Who owns it?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We’re still tracking it down. We think it belongs to someone who doesn’t exist.”

  “But you have the address.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Give it to me.” The piece of paper in his hand, the man rocked back in his chair. “And it took you twenty-four hours to tell me about this because…”

  “Sir, we wanted to be sure what we had.” Sweat started to stain his underarms. “We didn’t want to bother you with a potential false reading. Also, we thought you’d prefer to know once we had more information about the owner of the house.”

  “You know what your first mistake was?” The man asked, his voice perfectly pleasant.

  “Sir?” The sweat trickled down his sides.

  “Thinking.” The man pulled out a World War II vintage .45 caliber Ruger with a short-nosed silencer.

  “Sir?” The pain lasted only a second.

  “Miss Vaughn?”

  “What is it, Michel?” Michel and his father did maintenance work and odd jobs for Vaughn. Michel often came over to talk to her. Vaughn liked him—a lot. He had a curiosity about the world and an innocent point of view she envied.

  The slight boy’s deep chocolate skin was slick with sweat and he bent over to catch his breath.

  “Remember,” he began, pausing to gulp in air. “Remember you told me and Papa always to keep our eyes open and to tell you if ever we saw or noticed anything out of the ordinary?
”

  “Yes.” Vaughn looked at Michel more closely. He was disheveled. Vaughn instantly surveyed the area around the front of her home and touched the gun tucked into the back of her shorts. “Where are you coming from?”

  “The airport. I ran all the way, as fast as I could.”

  Vaughn raised her eyebrows. The airport was three miles away.

  “I was bringing Papa something to eat,” he continued. “He was working his shift at the airport rental counter.” Michel sucked in another breath. “Six men. All white, all with mean faces. One with a scar. They rented two SUVs and asked about the road leading here. Three big bags. They wouldn’t let Papa touch them, but they seemed heavy.”

  Michel blinked his big, brown eyes at Vaughn. “Papa thought you would want to know, so he helped me slip out the back when the men turned away. He said to tell you he’s delaying them as long as he can and he disabled the GPS units in the cars and gave them bad directions.”

  “How long ago did all this happen?”

  “I came straight away.”

  Vaughn calculated that the group would be about fifteen minutes away, assuming they had GPS capability on their phones. Shit.

  “Did I do good, Miss Vaughn?” Michel’s chest finally had stopped heaving.

  She patted him on the head. “You did great, Michel. Your Papa too. Tell him not to take any more chances, okay? I want the two of you to stay inside until tomorrow. No exceptions.”

  “But Papa’s shift will not be over for another five hours.”

  “I know. Please, Michel. This is very important. Go right home, close the blinds, and don’t answer the door for anyone.” Vaughn could see the confusion in his eyes. She put her hand on his arm. “Do you understand?”

  He nodded.

  “Your Papa will be home soon. Go right now. Stay off the road and out of sight. Run up the beach, instead.”

  Vaughn turned to go back into the house.

  “Miss Vaughn?”