by David Archer
“I’m right here, Wally,” Neil said. “What you got?”
“Boss lady says you’re in London,” Wally said. “Get your tail end in gear and head down to the Quadcopter store. What you want is the new DJI Phantom Five, and you want the spare battery pack. That little drone has enough lift that you can wire the spare battery in, and if you add on a FLIR Vue Pro camera and plug it in, it will transmit both HD and Infrared video and its own GPS coordinates back to your phone from up to three miles away. Tacking on the spare battery will give you about an hour of flight time, so hopefully that will last long enough for you to keep track of where Camelot goes. If you hang back a mile or so, no one should notice you’re following them. Think you can handle that?”
Neil’s face was glowing with excitement. “Hell yes,” he said. “No problem at all. This’ll work.”
“Okay, then, call me if you have any problems. Hope it works out.”
“I’m sure it will, Wally, and thank you,” Noah said. “We’ll call if we need anything.” He ended the call and looked at Neil, who was already on his computer looking up the location of the store. “It’s almost five-thirty,” he said. “Do you have time to get it tonight?”
“Yeah, the store’s only about fifteen minutes away, and they’re open until nine.” Neal looked up at Sarah. “Hey, Sis, can I borrow the car?”
“Are you crazy?” Sarah asked. “Come on,” she said, “I’ll drive you.” She grabbed her purse off the bed and the two of them headed out the door.
Moose looked at Noah. “You okay with this plan?” he asked.
Noah nodded. “It’s the only one I’ve heard yet that makes any sense. With the drone, Neil can keep track of where I’m at without us giving away that I’m being tracked. The only question is whether he can control it well enough to keep it focused on me.”
Moose had pulled the computer over and was looking at the monitor. “DJI Phantom five,” he said. “He won’t have to. With this thing, he can simply tell it to follow whatever car you get into, and it will stay on you on matter what. Even dodges obstacles in its way.”
Noah blinked. “That sounds even better than the one the Delta force guys were using. They had to follow me manually with that one.”
“Yeah, well, what can you say?” Moose asked. “They don’t have Wally, and they don’t have Neil. Between those two, I think they could just about figure out a way to put us on the moon if they had to.”
Noah simply nodded.
Neil and Sarah returned an hour later, with Neil even more excited than before. He climbed onto Noah’s bed and spread out a set of tools, then began disassembling the drone so that he could add the spare battery to it.
“Ever seen a kid in a candy store?” Sarah asked. “That’s Neil, any time he gets near new gadgets. I had to keep reminding him of what we were there to get, or he would’ve bought out the store.”
Noah nodded. “That’s one of the reasons he’s so valuable to the team. He’s always got his eye on the latest technology, anything that might help us complete a mission.”
“So how are we going to do this, then?” Moose asked.
Noah reached over and grabbed the chicken bucket, fishing out the last wing. “I’ll take a taxi to the Elizabeth for the appointment, but I want you guys all in the car with Sarah and parked close by before then. You’ll need to be able to watch the door for when I come out, so Neil can get the drone in the air in a hurry. If it can follow a car, then hopefully it’ll be able to stay on whatever car they take me in to wherever we’re going. At that point, assuming you can find a spot that works, I want you to deploy yourself into position to cover me. If I come out in one piece, don’t worry about following me back. That will mean the meeting went well, so at that point I want you and the team to try to track where the councilmembers go.”
“Gotcha,” Moose said. “If we can figure out where they’re staying, you have a shot at taking them out right away, right?”
“That would be ideal,” Noah said. “At the very least, though, I want some way to start tracking these people. Maybe Neil can get photos of them as they leave the place, something we can run through facial recognition. Anything that helps us identify them is a mission goal at this point.”
Sarah leaned close to Noah. “But you’re not going to try taking them down during this meeting, right?”
“I sincerely doubt any opportunity will present itself. You heard the phone calls; Deanna plans to have security in place, and that means security that can protect them from me, I’m sure.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “Allison said this could turn into a suicide mission, but I don’t want to see that happen.”
“Don’t worry, Sarah, neither do I. I’m not going to sacrifice myself if I can possibly avoid it.”
Neil tinkered with his new toy for about half an hour, then began mounting the camera on it. “This thing is awesome,” he said. “With this, we shouldn’t have any trouble at all keeping track of where they take you. I’m gonna hang onto this puppy when we’re done here, I can think of a million ways it could come in handy in the future.”
“Just as long as it does what it’s supposed to do tomorrow,” Sarah said.
“It will. All I got to do is tap the car on the screen once we spot it, and this thing will follow it until its battery gives out. Somehow, I don’t think they’re going to take you that far away from where they pick you up. Considering they think their meeting is with the most dangerous assassin in the world, I think they’re going to want to get it over with as quickly as they can.”
Moose suddenly burst out laughing, and Sarah looked at him. “What’s so funny?”
“It just hit me,” Moose said between bouts of laughter. “They’re right, about meeting with the most dangerous assassin, but they aren’t meeting the guy they think they are. Adrian might have been good, but I think Noah could take him any day.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Noah said, “but the thing we always have to remember is that anyone, no matter how professional he may be, can make a mistake. Sooner or later, Adrian would have made one, too. I just have to hope I don’t make my big mistake during this mission. Something tells me we’ll never get another chance at these people if I botch it tomorrow.”
“So, don’t botch it,” Moose said. “You go in, you get out, and then we go after the bodies.”
“That’s exactly the way I’ve got it planned,” Noah said.
“Hey,” Sarah said, “I just had a thought. Do you think there’s any chance one of their people might have seen you getting out of the Jaguar yesterday? Or getting in it when I picked you up?”
“According to Catherine, Broussard didn’t have any accomplices with him, but you make a good point. For all we know, it’s possible he had someone out on the street, watching for my arrival and departure. Go back to the rental company tonight and tell them the car’s giving you some kind of problem, that you need to switch it out. Try to get something completely different, not another Jag. Maybe a Land Rover, something like that.”
“That’s what I was wondering. It wouldn’t do for someone to notice the same car sitting there close by, somewhere. I’ve got a red wig in my bag; I think I’ll wear that, too, cover up this blonde hair.”
“That’s another good idea,” Noah said. “The only drawback to having you as my driver is that you do attract a lot of attention. If Broussard or anyone else had a man watching, he probably would’ve noticed you.”
Sarah stuck her tongue out at him. “Come on, I’m not all that,” she said. “I just figured the blonde hair might be recognizable, that’s all.”
Neal looked up at her and grinned. “Blondes are a dime a dozen,” he said. “Blondes that look like you, on the other hand, are pretty rare. Any man who didn’t notice you would probably be halfway to being gay.”
Sarah blushed, but didn’t say anything.
Noah picked up his phone and glanced at it. “It’s almost seven,” he said. “Anybody hungry?”
>
“Not after all that chicken,” Moose said. “Neil?”
“There’s a snack machine down by the lobby,” Neil said. “I can run down and grab some chips later if I get the munchies.”
“Somebody mark today on the calendar,” Sarah said. “I think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard Neil say he wasn’t hungry.”
“Oh, I’m hungry,” Neil said. “I just don’t feel like going out for dinner or anything. Besides, we’ve got to leave pretty soon, if we’re going to go and switch cars.”
“True,” Noah said. “You should probably get started now, in fact.”
FOURTEEN
Neil collected his computer and the drone, then he and Moose walked out the door. Sarah looked at Noah for a moment, then kissed him passionately. “That’s to remind you that you want to come back alive,” she said. Noah held her for a moment, then let go and watched her walk out before settling in to watch television until it was time to go.
He was watching a local newscast when his telephone rang. He recognized the number as coming from Allison’s office.
“Camelot,” he said.
“It’s Allison. I just got the report from the people we put on the airports in Rome. The plane you were talking about left from Leonardo da Vinci airport at about six-thirty local time there. It will land at Heathrow in a little over an hour. There were eight people on board, all men except for one woman. She’s the only one that could be identified. Her name is Deanna DiPrizio, and she has no known political affiliations. She’s the CEO of Florentine Global, an export company that sends shiploads of containers all over the world.”
“Interesting,” Noah said. “Has the company ever been implicated in anything?”
“No, it never has. That may change in the near future, because CIA is opening a case file on them. If I learn anything more, I’ll do my best to let you know.” The line went dead.
At just after nine, Noah went down to the lobby, stepped outside and hailed a taxi. He had left his gun and cell phone in the room, knowing that there was no way he would be allowed to take anything with him to the meeting. He told the driver to take him to the Elizabeth Hotel and settled back to enjoy the ride.
The cab pulled up at the hotel at just ten minutes before ten. Noah paid the driver and slid out, then entered the hotel and went directly up the elevator. It was still five minutes before ten when he knocked on Broussard’s door. It opened only a few seconds later and Broussard, with his eyes on the floor, stepped aside to let Noah come in.
“I am supposed to frisk you and be sure that you have no weapons or tracking devices on you,” Broussard said nervously.
Noah turned to face him and nodded. “I expected no less,” he said. “Please do so.” He took off his jacket and tossed it on the bed.
Broussard patted him down efficiently, then went through the jacket as well. “You seem to be clean,” he said. “If I missed anything, our escorts will be certain to find it.”
“There was nothing to miss. I have brought nothing with me except the clothing I wear, and a little cash just in case I need to hire a taxi to get back to where I’m staying.” He sat down in one of the two chairs in the room and let himself relax. “Have you any idea when we’ll be leaving here?”
Broussard shook his head in the negative. “No. Only that someone will come for us sometime tonight.” He pointed to a tea service sitting on a sideboard. “Would you care for tea? Or we can order something from room service, if you prefer.”
Noah smiled. “No thank you,” he said. “I need nothing.”
Broussard sat in the other chair, and continued to avoid letting his gaze rest on Noah. “I want to ask,” he said, “will I find myself in danger, after this meeting?”
Noah cocked his head slightly to the left and looked at him. “I have taken a calculated risk,” he said. “The very magnitude of the assignment you proposed leads me to believe that there may be additional opportunities for me with your, shall we say, organization. You may find this hard to believe, but I do not wish to remain in this occupation for many years. I simply determined that my skills are the thing that will allow me to become wealthy, and I have been putting them to that use for some time. I have a financial goal set, and a few assignments such as this one could allow me to achieve it relatively soon. I am confident that I can compose enough safeguards to ensure that you and your superiors will not pose any danger to me in the future, one of those being that you don’t want me to pose a danger to you. With those assumptions in place, I feel that I can allow such a limited number of people to know my face.”
Broussard swallowed. “I assure you, you will have nothing to worry about with me. I hope to continue enjoying my life for some years to come, and I avoid situations that can put it at risk.”
Noah watched him for a moment, noting that he occasionally glanced up, almost as if it were involuntary. “So you’re part of this council?”
Broussard nodded his head once. “I am its most junior member. I only became involved with this organization about a year ago. Inadvertently, I might add.”
“Inadvertently?” Noah asked.
Broussard cleared his throat and then nodded again. “I was approached around that time to facilitate the sale of some arms. When the terms of the sale were presented to me, I realized that the weapons would be used in acts of terror, and stated that I wanted no part of it. My associates, however, can be extremely persuasive, and I found it necessary to reconsider my position.”
“Necessary? Or only prudent?”
Broussard looked around the room for a moment before he responded. “I would have to say necessary. I have a daughter, you see, the product of an indiscretion about ten years ago. It was not possible for me to be fully a part of her life—her mother, I’m afraid, was already married to someone else at the time—but I am permitted visitation and I contribute to her upbringing. All of this is done secretly, of course, in order to avoid any embarrassment to her mother’s husband. I am ‘Uncle Pierre,’ as far as she knows, but the other members of the Council somehow learned about her. When I attempted to avoid doing business with them, I was shown several photos of my daughter, all of them with crosshairs drawn over her face. The implication was clear; if I did not cooperate, she would be killed.”
Noah looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. “Necessary. Yes. However, this makes me wonder whether you believe in the ideals of the organization.”
Broussard turned and faced him squarely for the first time. “Some of their goals are good ones. Some of their actions are designed to make parts of the world a better place, at least for some people. I have learned, however, that there is no way to make all of the world better for all of the people. There are too many differences among us, too many cultures that simply cannot coexist in the same place.” He let out a deep sigh. “Then there is the problem of motivation. Even the loftiest of goals is tainted when it is motivated by lust for power or wealth.”
Noah shrugged. “The lust for power is a universal human trait. The same can be said of the lust for wealth, but it is a given that they come hand-in-hand. He that is wealthy will find that he has power; he who has power will find wealth coming to him. Do you not lust for them yourself?”
Broussard grinned sadly. “There was a time when I did,” he said, “but I have learned that financial wealth carries with it certain burdens. True wealth is not found in banks, but in the heart. Oh, sure, having financial wealth can make life better in some ways, but the burdens that come with it—the weight of responsibility, the necessity of constant effort to maintain that wealth—they drain the joy from life. As for power, the man who has it is as much its slave as its master. The use of that power imposes obligations upon the one who uses it, and failure to meet those obligations will result in feelings of guilt and despair.”
Noah chuckled. “My friend Broussard, you are a philosopher.”
Restart shook his head. “No. I am no philosopher. I am merely a man who has learned that every go
od thing has its dark side.”
* * * * *
Two blocks away from the hotel, Sarah, Moose and Neil sat in the Land Rover they had acquired two hours earlier. Moose was watching the front of the Elizabeth Hotel through binoculars, ready to signal Neil the moment Noah appeared at the exit. He had watched as Noah had left the taxi and entered the building, and now they were simply waiting for their team leader to be escorted to the place where the meeting would be held.
“How long has he been in there now?” Sarah asked.
“Not even half an hour,” Neil replied. “You might as well relax, Sis, he could be in there for hours yet.”
Sarah grunted as she adjusted herself in her seat. “I’m relaxed,” she said. “I just want to get this meeting over with. I don’t know what it is, but something about it has got me worried. I mean, come on, we’re supposed to just sit back while he walks into a meeting with some of the most dangerous people in the world. Where was that in the training manual?”
“Chapter 7,” Neil said, “section B. ‘Operations Procedures.’ That’s the part where it says when the boss has to enter a mission theater alone, the team has to stay ready for anything, but just wait for the outcome.”
“Well, it’s a stupid, sucky rule. What did you do, memorize the whole damn thing?”
Neil, in the backseat, stuck his tongue out at her in her rearview mirror. “Up yours. It’s not my fault I have an eidetic memory.”
“Knock it off, Neil,” Moose growled. “You know damn well why she’s worried. That’s not just her boss in there, that’s her boyfriend. Are you gonna try to tell me you wouldn’t be just as worried if that was Lacey going into this meeting?”
“I never said I didn’t understand,” Neil said. “I was just answering her question. She wanted to know where the rule was that said we have to wait, so I told her.”