“What are you getting at, Tim?”
“What if there was no accident, Pam? What if the China trip had all been for something other than to determine who was leaking intellectual property? Perhaps I was drugged in China and remained drugged.”
“Well, that’s an awful long time to stay drugged, Tim.”
“Yes, it is, and Sebastian would need a lot of help and cooperation to make that happen.”
“Which is why you think I was in on it.”
“Yes, Pam. I don’t want to believe that about you, but...” He trailed off.
“But you wouldn’t put it past me,” Pam finished. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Tim?”
“I don’t want to think that you dislike me enough to do something like that to me, Pam.”
Pam paused for a second, then began to speak. “I don’t dislike you, Tim, and the last two days reminded me how much I enjoy having you around. You are very good company, and I always liked having sex with you because you really care about me getting off, and a lot of guys don’t even try.”
“So why do I feel like I’m about to get a big ‘but’?” Tim joked.
“Because you are, Tim. When you and I were both assigned to Langley, everyone used to refer to me as your mother. The other women would say things like, ‘What has your boy Timmy done now?’ Or ‘Go home and take care of Timmy.’ And then there were the ‘Your husband is just wonderful’ comments. I mean, I was living in your shadow, but what really pissed me off about you is how easy you made everything look.”
Tim had been semi-aware of how competitive Pam could be, but he never thought that she was jealous of his career. What was really stupid was Tim’s beliefs that Pam had been proud of some of his accomplishments. He supposed he’d been wrong.
“So why the hell did you marry me, Pam?”
“Because I wanted a guy, and I wanted to be married. Just about all women want to be married to somebody, Tim, but in this job, it’s hard to find someone to be married to. I dated a lot of guys before I ran into you again at Langley, but they all wanted me to quit the Agency.”
“Until I came along.”
“You’re a real good guy, Tim.”
Somehow, being a real good guy did not sound the same as being the love of someone’s life, but Tim let it go.
“Look, Pam, I’m sorry. I truly am. I had no idea I was doing any of this to you. I was just trying to get along in my career the best way I knew how. I had no intention of trying to make you look bad or, maybe more importantly, feel bad.”
Pam walked across the room and kissed Tim on the forehead. “I guess that’s all I really wanted to hear,” she answered. “An apology. Would you like to lie down with me here on your bed?”
“Sure, Pam,” Tim replied as he kicked off his shoes and lay down. Pam climbed onto the bed next to him and placed her head on his shoulder.
What a bunch of bullshit, Tim thought to himself. Why should he be expected to shoulder Pam’s career as well as his own? But his apology had seemed to satisfy her for the time being.
Tim found himself drifting off to sleep and thought about waking Pam so she could return to her own room but decided against that. If someone broke in intending to kill them, they would at least be easy to find.
Chapter 26
Morning came, and Tim woke up to see that Pam was still asleep next to him with her head on his shoulder. This was his wife, he thought. This was the woman who he had been married to for twenty-five years.
The fact that Tim had been away from Pam for the last two years was really not of any consequence. During their years at the Agency, they’d been apart for as long as three years. Since married agents could not be assigned to the same location, they were usually thousands of miles apart. Sure, they would meet up from time to time in romantic locales such as Paris and Rome, but they never seemed to live with each other for more than a few months at a time. Tim had thought that the safe house assignment would finally give them a chance to be together, but that was before China, the accident, and Sebastian Oak. It had never occurred to Tim that Pam did not love him until the previous night’s conversation, but now that he thought about it, Pam had rarely said that she loved him. Sure, there would be a “love you” here and a “love you” there, but never a conversation about what they thought of one another.
Tim heard a noise in the kitchen, which meant that the security detail was about to change. Tim figured that he should speak with Darrel before he left for the day. He gently elbowed Pam. “Hey, wake up. You slept in your clothes.”
Pam opened her eyes, turned, and looked at the clock. “Oh, my goodness. It’s seven.”
She got up and ran to her room. Tim heard the door to the bathroom shut and figured that Pam would be in there for a while.
He reached between the mattresses and pulled out the Glock 19 9mm, then laid it on the bed. He did not have a holster for the weapon and thought about asking Pam for one, but he decided that it would fit in his jacket pocket along with the two ammo clips.
Tim found some of his old clothes to put on. He placed the Glock in his jacket and yelled, “Pam, I’m going downstairs to speak with Darrel.”
After hearing Pam say something that sounded like “Okay, honey” in reply, Tim headed down to the kitchen.
Darrel was seated at the table filling out some paperwork. “Good morning,” Tim said. “How is our Commander in Chief today?”
“As far as I know, he’s doing okay. Nothing is happening at the hospital that would lead us to believe otherwise,” Darrel answered.
If the President had passed away, then there would be all kinds of movement at Bethesda Naval Hospital as well as around the city, so the fact that everything was quiet said a lot.
“Any more rumors about what might be wrong with the President?” Tim asked.
“No, apparently it’s still just something with his digestive system. I understand that the best gastroenterologists in the country have landed at Andrews Air Force Base.”
Tim was impressed with whoever Darrel was texting. Flying in world-renowned physicians to attend to the President would certainly be a huge piece of news.
“You could make some cash leaking that to the press, buddy,” Tim remarked, wishing instantly that he could take it back.
“We don’t speak or leak to the media, Mr. Hall,” Darrel said rather coolly. “We have integrity.”
“And I wish more people did in this town, Darrel. Please accept my apologies. I often try to be the funny guy in the room, which just ends up getting me into trouble.”
“Not a problem, Mr. Hall. I just wanted you to know that our guys don’t leak information, and if I ever catch a member of my team speaking with a reporter, that will be the last reporter they speak with.”
Tim was not sure how serious Darrel was, but decided not to pursue it. “So, Darrel, was there anything worth noting last night? Lost drivers looking for directions? Vehicles driving by the house slowly?”
Darrel frowned. “Are you and Mrs. Hall expecting an attack? I’m only asking because Mrs. Hall instructed me to look for the very same things.”
Tim thought about how to answer this, then asked, “How old are you, Darrel?”
“Twenty-seven, Mr. Hall.”
Tim nodded. “Mrs. Hall, I mean Pam and I, were in school together,” he explained. “We call it spy school, but that’s really not the official name or anything.”
“Sure, Mr. Hall.” Darrel was beginning to sound a little patronizing, as if he was speaking to his grandfather about the 1970s.
“Well anyhow, part of the training was about detecting threats, so they took a bunch of us to Richmond and paired us up. Pam and I were a pair. They placed us in this house and told us that we may or may not be attacked in the next 48 hours. Our job was to prevent that from happening. Pam and I were the only two students who passed. Everyone else did not.”
“So, what happened, Mr. Hall?”
“There was this old lady crossing the str
eet. Not in front of our house, but down at the corner. Well, there were these kids who seemed to hang out there every day, and two of them grabbed the old lady and started beating her. I mean, it was the most real beating you ever saw. I was about to go out there and do something—what, I don’t know. But Pam told me to stop and take a position at the backdoor. We did, and bam, the bad guys came in the backdoor.”
“So, was there a moral to all of this, Mr. Hall?” Darrel wondered.
Tim had to think for a moment and wondered what point he was trying to get across to Darrel. “The moral, Darrel, is to do what Mrs. Hall tells you. She is a much better spy than I ever was.”
Darrel just smiled at Tim and his pointless story. “Mr. Hall, we’re off at 9 a.m., so if the attack happens after that, the Charlie Team will have to handle it,” he answered.
Tim had hoped to convey some inspirational story about how things are often not how they appeared, but in reality, the reason Tim and Pam had passed that test was because Pam followed General Order number one, which said, I will guard my post and will not quit my post until properly relieved.
One of their instructors at Camp Perry was a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer who was a big believer in the General Orders, and Pam also took them very seriously. The fact that Tim and Pam did not quit their post because of the old lady was the reason they passed the assignment.
Pam came bounding down the steps dressed in a different weekend outfit—or, at least, different from yesterdays. Boots, tight blue jeans, and a blue and orange sweatshirt from the University of Virginia, where Pam had received her MBA. Tim had not been back to school since his recruitment, but Pam was a big believer in continuing education. Tim began to wonder if it bothered Pam that he had a Ph.D. from Berkeley. Like other things, school was just easy for Tim, and it almost never occurred to him that school was very hard for some.
“Good morning, Darrel. Did anything noteworthy occur last night?” Pam asked.
Darrel gave Tim a look, then turned to make an exit. “Mr. Hall will explain it to you, ma’am,” Darrel yelled as he closed the door.
Pam looked at Tim quizzically. “Is everything okay?”
“Basically, yes. The President is still alive, but Darrel and the A Team are getting off duty in about an hour and a new team will be arriving, perhaps with new orders from Langley concerning us.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” was Pam’s first response, but then she reconsidered her statement.
“Sebastian could easily countermand the orders from protecting the perimeter to securing the entire property, which would mean that nobody leaves, including us,” Tim said. “Pam, we’ve got to question the two doctors. They can tie everything together, which makes them...” He paused.
“Which makes them a liability,” Pam finished. “Goddammit! While you and I were sniping at each other about our relationship, Sebastian and Toby were heading over here.”
“I’m not sure about that, Pam. Sebastian and Toby were still in Baltimore as of 11 p.m. last night.”
“And you know this how, Tim?”
Tim hesitated for a second. “I spoke with Mary Ann last night,” he admitted.
Pam shot Tim one of her looks. “Oh, I get it. You have a little spat with the wife, and you’re on the phone to the girlfriend. You’re no different than all the other assholes I’ve met in my life.”
“Said the woman who told everyone that her husband was dead,” Tim sniped.
“I think you have that turned around, honey. I told you I was dead so you would leave me the fuck alone.”
Tim looked at the clock. It was 8:30, and the new security detail would probably be there by 8:45. If the new detail had orders that the property should be locked down, that would start immediately.
Tim turned to Pam. “Pam, if we don’t get out of here soon, the whole Tim and Pam are dead thing may well turn out to be true.”
Without a word, Pam ran back upstairs, then came back with her bag and a piece of paper, which she handed to Tim. The paper showed a picture of the home where the doctors resided along with its address.
“Here, you navigate,” Pam ordered, walking out the front door to confer with Darrel. Pam next unlocked the Mercedes 560, signaling that it was time to go.
“May I ask what you were speaking with Darrel about?” Tim wondered.
“I asked him to call or send me a text if the new security detail has any plans to change the security of the grounds. That is something you and I need to know before we come back here.”
Pam took a right from the safe house driveway toward US Route 15, turning on the GPS. “I need to go to 23456 Farwell Dance Road in Leesburg, VA,” she said.
“Stay on James Monroe Hwy for 5 miles,” the computer responded.
“Okay, thanks,” Pam replied.
“I don’t think the GPS needs to be thanked, Pam.”
“Courtesy is free, Tim, and it never hurts.”
Tim almost expected the GPS computer to agree with Pam.
“Here, Tim, open this bag and find what looks like a couple of cop badges.”
Tim opened Pam’s bag to find two rolls of duct tape and some coils of rope as well as handcuffs and what appeared to be leg irons. There were also two blue folders with the words United States Marshal Service embossed on the front. The first ID had a picture of Pam, but with the name Wanda F. Fairfax. He handed the ID to Pam. “Here you go, Wanda.”
Pam laughed. “The other one is yours.” Tim opened the ID to find a picture of a man with thinning blond hair. It did not look at all like Tim. The name on the ID was Robert C. Boiling.
“I don’t think anyone is going to believe I’m Agent Boiling.”
“You are Deputy Marshal Boiling, Tim, and I am Marshal Fairfax. Actually, I am a Special Deputy Marshal since I supervise a safe house the Marshals use from time to time, but that badge has my real name, which needless to say we will not be using today.”
“What about all of the duct tape, handcuffs, and leg irons?” Tim asked.
“Well, the duct tape and rope is from Home Depot, but all of the metal items are from the Marshals.”
“What about the whips and harnesses and ball gags and that kind of stuff, Pam?”
Pam quickly turned her head and gave Tim one of her looks. “I’m not a fucking weirdo, Tim.”
Tim thought that was debatable.
“In a quarter of a mile, turn left on Evans Pond Road,” said the GPS.
Pam made the turn, and Tim saw several large homes situated on two-acre lots. “It’s back here someplace,” Pam told him.
“Turn right on Farewell Road,” said the GPS.
“Gosh, what a name for a street,” Pam remarked. “If Sebastian and Toby got here last night, then we may be the ones to discover the victims.”
The gatekeeper shack for the gated community where the two doctors lived was ahead. A middle-aged man was inside, watching a small TV. He wore a rent-a-cop type uniform.
“Okay, Tim, let me do the talking,” Pam ordered.
“What happens if he doesn’t let us in?”
“Then the guy will spend the day in the trunk, Tim—but it won’t come to that. You were a covert agent, right? I would have thought you’d done this before.”
Pam pulled up to the gatehouse, saying, “Good morning. My name is Marshal Fairfax, and this is Deputy Marshal Boiling. We have a meeting this morning,” Pam handed their phony IDs to the gatehouse rent-a-cop.
“Who are you going to see?” the man wanted to know.
“If I tell you that, it would not be a surprise. The United States Marshal Service is not required to inform fugitives that we will be visiting; in fact, it’s against the law.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” the rent-a-cop said, opening the gate. “But that’s a pretty nice car for a couple of feds to be driving around.”
“A drug dealer forfeited this to us. It does make a very nice undercover vehicle,” Pam agreed.
“Okay. Have a nice day,” said the rent-a-cop, retu
rning to watching his TV.
“That took more time than I expected, and that guy came very close to getting arrested,” Pam said as she looked in the rearview to make sure the rent-a-cop was not calling the real police.
“You have arrived,” the GPS said.
Instead of stopping, Pam did a drive-by. “Only see one car. You don’t suppose they’ve gone to church, do you?”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Tim said.
Pam drove back around and parked about 500 feet from the house of the two doctors. They got out and began walking toward the large brick home. “I’ll take the front door, you cover the back, Tim.”
Pam was behaving like a real cop, which made Tim think that perhaps his wife had joined the wrong agency.
“You did bring your weapon?” she added, and Tim patted his right pocket. “Well, you better take it out. I don’t know what these two are capable of.”
Tim took out his Glock and held it in both hands, just as he’d been trained to do. He walked to the right side of the house and stopped. From this position, Tim was able to peer around the corner. Then he waited.
He could hear Pam gain entry to the house and speak to someone. Pam then came to the back door and called, “Tim? You can come in. They’re not home. The housekeeper says that they went to their office in Leesburg.”
Tim walked toward the sound of Pam’s voice and found her standing on the back deck of the home. “Come in,” she ordered. “I need you to speak with the housekeeper.”
Tim found a rather nervous Hispanic woman standing in the kitchen by the sink. She was visibly shaken, but she did seem to calm down some when Tim spoke Spanish to her. Their conversation lasted for almost two minutes, and Tim could tell that his wife was bothered by the fact that she did not understand what Tim was asking the woman. Tim then thanked the woman profusely but told her not to call her employers under any circumstances. The woman thanked Tim for being so understanding.
“Okay, Pam, let’s go. But the senora has been a big help, so you may want to thank her. Since courtesy is free.”
The Adults in the Room Page 18