by David Archer
Noah looked at her for a moment, then leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “I have a temptation for you,” he said.
“Oh, no,” she said. “We are a little too close to my due date. I know the doctor said it’s going to happen any day, but as much as I want this kid out of me, I know that the longer I go before delivery, the healthier the baby will be.”
Noah nodded. “That wasn’t the temptation I had in mind,” he said. “I was thinking of that big bowl of banana pudding Beatrice made for dessert. I’m pretty sure there’s enough left for us to have some.”
Sarah grinned. “Okay, now you’re talking,” she said. “You want to go down to the dining room for it, or should I bring some up here?”
“Let’s go down.” He got to his feet and took hold of her arm, and the two of them went down the stairs together.
* * *
Neil dropped everyone off at Heathrow on time, and the Gulfstream was in the air before he made it back out of the airport complex. He would be waiting in London until Team Aladdin arrived later that day, but he was determined to go and have breakfast right away. There was a restaurant not far from the airport where he could get his favorite eggs and bacon, the real American kind, and then he planned to catch a nap in the van to make up for the sleep he had lost getting up so early.
He had just gotten his breakfast when his phone rang, and he saw that it was Noah calling.
“Hey, Boss,” he said. “I was going to call you in a bit to let you know everybody got off on schedule.”
“Good,” Noah said. “And I just got another call, from Catherine Potts. Aladdin won’t be coming today after all—it seems Allison has them doing something for her. You can come on home.”
Neil grinned into the phone. “Best news I’ve heard all day,” he said. “All right, I’ll be there before too long.”
* * *
“Thank you for coming,” POTUS said as Allison stepped into the Oval Office. “You can have a seat, but this shouldn’t take very long.”
Allison grinned at him as she settled herself into the wingback chair in front of his desk. “I wouldn’t think so,” she said. “How long does it take to say I’m fired?”
The president arched his eyebrows at her. “What makes you think I’m going to fire you? Do you think I’m stupid enough to waste talent?”
Her grin stayed in place, but she cocked her head to one side in curiosity. “If you’re not going to fire me, then I’m not sure what this meeting is about. Care to fill me in?”
“It’s about the fact that we still have enemies, and some of them don’t do us the courtesy of exposing themselves so that everyone can see just how evil they are. One of my predecessors was smart enough to see that, and established you as the head of the new organization he created to deal with such situations. Unfortunately, the people can’t see the need for folks like you, folks who can understand what needs to be done and do it without whining and crying.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk. “Allison, I need you back where you were, making sure our enemies are eliminated when we need them to be.”
“But how? E & E has been shut down, and we told Noah to put together a smaller version for when it’s absolutely needed. I can’t exactly go back to Kirtland—it’s taking everything we can do to handle the damage control back there as it is.”
“Let’s talk about Noah for a moment, shall we? Noah is an extremely intelligent man, and his mind works like a computer, which is why we thought he might be the best man to take over for you. What we forgot, though, is that while he can make a logical decision, he is not capable of seeing the human side of the equation. That’s what you could do: you could see the necessity for taking someone out, while at the same time understanding what had to be done to make it not only effective, but humane.”
“I disagree,” Allison said. “Noah is quite humane. I’ve seen him risk his own life more than once in order to protect innocent lives, and he’s even gone to extremes when a mission involved children, making sure they were abducted before the assassination so that they could survive and be given new lives away from their family situations.”
“I’m not denying that he has compassion, even if it is based on a logical interpretation of the situation. What I’m saying is that you bring something to the table that he can’t, and I’m pretty certain he would agree with me.” He shot her a grin. “Allison, don’t fight me on this. It’s a good move, for all of us.”
She shrugged. “All right,” she said. “Tell me what you have in mind.”
“Simple. I need you to disappear and become someone else. Create a situation in which Allison Peterson can cease to exist, and you can start over with a new life. That new life will begin in the UK, because your boy Noah has been pretty busy. He’s setting up his own abbreviated version of Neverland over there, and he’s doing it right under the noses of the people around him. I want you to go take over running it, just the way you used to.”
“Noah built it,” she said. “Don’t you think he might object a little bit about letting me just come in and take over?”
The president laughed. “If it was anybody but Noah Wolf, I might think so, but not him. He’ll see it just as logically as I do, and it will probably be a relief to him. Even if he thinks he can do the job, he still won’t argue because the man knows how to follow orders.” He shook his head and grinned once more. “Allison, it’s a good move. Just go along with it, please?”
She scowled at him, but it was good-natured. “Fine,” she said. “How do you want me to handle this? My demise, I mean.”
“If I know you, you’ve already got it figured out. I’ll tell you this much, though: it wouldn’t break my heart if you could use it to hit back at GW and their supporters. Any ideas on that line?”
Allison grinned, and the president of the United States was suddenly reminded of a cat stalking a canary. “I think I just might have one,” she said. “After all, there’s supposed to be some responsibility in journalism, right?”
* * *
The flight took just over eight hours, and touched down at Dulles International Airport at just after ten a.m. Washington time. The two teams disembarked and each went their separate ways. Ralph and Team Pegasus went to the Enterprise desk to rent a car, while Marco led the way to the Hertz counter that was just across the hall. Each team rented an SUV, and both of them were driving out of the airport within thirty minutes after they arrived.
“Should I contact Wally’s people?” Diana asked as they drove into the city. “What do we need from them?”
Ralph shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said. “If they really are trying to catch us, I’m going to go on the assumption that anyone who might provide us with weapons is being watched. Since our target needs to die in a non-suspicious manner, I don’t think having a gun is going to help anything. What you might do is find us a hotel; I don’t want to use the one we arranged for from England, it could be compromised. We want something that wouldn’t stand out as a place for international agents to choose for a room.”
“Okay,” Diana said. She picked up her phone and Googled hotels and motels, and a moment later she handed it to Ralph. “How about this one? The Carriage House Motel. The place is on the outskirts of the city, toward Baltimore, and it’s about as nondescript as you can imagine. Looks like a fairly safe area, but this place has definitely seen better days.”
“That’ll work fine,” Ralph said after a single glance. He used his own phone to call up directions to the place while Diana reserved three rooms. She and Ralph would share a room despite her insistence that they weren’t lovers, as would Tommy and Benny. JC would get one of his own, simply because he didn’t sleep well with others in the room.
A quick text message to Noah to let him know they had arrived received a response only a moment later. Proceed with mission, it said. Ralph showed it to the others, to a random chorus of sighs and groans.
The motel definitely had a lower-class appearance, but t
he rooms were clean and in decent repair. As soon as they were in their room, Diana flopped back onto the bed and let out a sigh.
“Okay, Pegasus,” she said. “How do we plan to handle this?”
“The simplest way,” Ralph said. “We find Senator Mitchell and look for a chance to get close. When we find one, I’ll pop my little pills and find an excuse to make contact. All I have to do is touch some part of her skin with the stuff on my hand, Wally says, and we can be gone before it even starts to take effect.”
“And if we get arrested? What then?”
“We ride it out, at least at first.” He climbed onto the bed, straddling her and grabbing her wrists to hold her down. “On the other hand, I don’t want you getting popped with the rest of us. JC and I will handle the mission—I want you and the other guys to stay out of sight. If we get arrested, all I want you to do is make sure Noah finds out, then do whatever he tells you.”
She sneered at him. “Come on, Ralph,” she said. “I’ve done time, you haven’t. Besides, it will probably be easier for a woman to get close to Mitchell than a man. Let me take point on this one. Don’t be all macho and protective—I can handle it. If I do get arrested, I’m going to be a lot safer in there than you are, and it’ll mean you are out here if Noah decides to go for a rescue mission. I feel a lot better about me being locked up than you.”
“No way,” Ralph said. “I’m in charge, so we do this my way.”
Diana glared at him for a second, but then she shrugged. She suddenly swung her legs in a scissor-like motion and Ralph found himself underneath her. She had his own hands pinned down now, and grinned at him.
“Fine,” she said. “Now, why don’t you just shut up and kiss me?”
* * *
Across the city, Marco took charge of getting them checked into the hotel he had arranged before they left. At the Marriott Downtown, he and Renée would share a room while Esmeralda and Cody shared another. Their reservations were waiting when they arrived, and it took only moments for them to get settled in.
Once they had put their bags in their rooms, they gathered in Marco’s room and sat down at the table, which happened to have four chairs. Marco looked at Esmeralda and gave her a wry grin.
“You’re in charge,” he said. “Have you laid out a plan yet?”
“Yes,” Esmeralda said. “I’ve made arrangements to make it look like I am a courier for a law firm in the city. They tend to use the secretarial pool for couriers, so I appropriated the identity of one of the girls who’s known for sleeping with her bosses in order to get ahead. I got into their computer system and sent her an order to deliver some papers to Senator Clark this evening, but she thinks he’s waiting for her here. When she arrives, she’s supposed to wait in the lobby for him to approach her, then go with him to his room.”
“But he’s never going to show up?” Marco asked.
“Exactly,” Esmeralda said. “As soon as Senator Clark is dead, her law firm will be notified and it won’t take more than a few seconds for them to decide they don’t want any connection to him or his death. She’ll be told to forget all about the meeting and deny that it ever was arranged if she’s asked.”
“Smart moves,” Renée said. “You’re right, they’re going to want to put as much distance between themselves and Clark as they possibly can. That girl will have to make sure she keeps her mouth shut, or they may just shut it for her permanently.”
“I’m aware of that,” Esmeralda said. “On the other hand, I deliberately chose a girl who has a number of secrets in her head already. I think she will be smart enough to do what’s necessary to protect herself.” She looked at Marco again. “I’ve set up a printer in my room to create the necessary ID and documents, and I’ve already placed a call to Senator Clark suggesting that we meet somewhere privately, since the files I need to give him are considered rather sensitive. He’s working on a proposed bill to regulate certain firearm accessories, and I told him that the firm had come across information about how gun control opponents will be working against him. I used some suggestive language to make it seem that I find him attractive, and he suggested we simply meet for dinner this evening at his hotel. I plan to let him think he is seducing me, so that he’ll want to get me alone for sex. During the seduction, I should have a chance to apply the poison, and then I simply have to wait for it to take effect. Once he is dead, I will leave the hotel and report to Noah, and then we can wait for further instructions.”
Marco’s eyes went wide. “You plan to move that fast?” he asked. “What are you going to do if Noah is right and DHS agents move in to arrest you?”
“I’ll cooperate,” she said. “Of course, I will escape at the earliest possible opportunity, and if that happens I will make contact with you. In the meantime, should it happen before I complete the mission, you’ll need to look for another opportunity to eliminate Senator Clark.”
Renée crossed her arms. “I think you’re moving too fast,” she said. “Whoever is watching over him is going to expect something to happen pretty quickly, so it might be better to wait a few days.”
“I don’t see the logic in waiting,” Esmeralda said. “From what Noah was told, Senator Clark is planning to reveal more information this weekend. Ralph is probably going to take a few days to watch Senator Mitchell’s schedule in order to choose the best time to approach her. Eliminating Senator Clark tonight should cause heightened security for Senator Mitchell, but that will become lax after a couple of days. By the time Ralph is ready to move, her guards will be back to thinking their job is simply routine.”
Marco, Renée and Cody all looked at one another, and then back to Esmeralda.
“Okay,” Marco said, “that makes sense.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s only eleven thirty right now. I’m starting to feel like lunch would be a good idea. Anybody else?”
“I could definitely eat,” Cody said. He looked at Esmeralda. “How about you?”
“I don’t need to eat,” she said. “I do so sometimes for appearance’s sake, but I don’t see any reason to do so now. The three of you can go on, and I’ll go back to the room and make sure all of my paperwork is in order.”
She got to her feet and left the room without another word, and the three team members looked at one another again.
“It’s like Noah had a sex change,” Renée said. “She acts a lot like him.”
“Yeah,” Marco said. “They both run on logic, so that accounts for it, I guess. Come on, there’s a restaurant downstairs, and I’m hungry.”
* * *
Esmeralda stepped into her room and then sat down at the table there, in front of the printer she had set up. Her computer brain had been in constant contact with the printer so she actually knew that it had already completed its work, but she needed a moment alone, anyway. She sat there just as a precaution, in case Cody suddenly came into the room.
Inside her head, that computer brain of hers was active even as it appeared she was almost comatose. Within nanoseconds, the process she was working on was completed and a highly encrypted communication was established through her direct satellite connection, linking directly to Noah’s subcom.
“Cinderella to Camelot,” she sent silently out of her electronic thoughts.
“This is Camelot,” Noah’s voice came through. “Cinderella, report.”
“We arrived on schedule and are all in place,” Esmeralda said, the impulses flowing through the satellite internet network without any need of her speaking aloud. “Pegasus chose different accommodations than what was previously arranged. I have made contact with my target and have scheduled a dinner meeting for this evening. I anticipate my mission being completed before ten p.m.”
“Very good,” Noah said. “Continue to monitor the situation regarding surveillance on the targets and report any developments to me.”
“Understood. I will be in touch.”
She continued to sit there without moving until the rest of them returned from lunch an
hour later. At that point, she had already decided what she would wear and how she planned to arrange her appearance, but that could wait. When Cody, Marco and Renée checked in with her after eating, she suggested they might want to get some rest before the mission began.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Marco said. “Something about flying from England back over to the States always makes the jet lag worse for me. You’ll wake us up when it’s time to get ready to go?”
“Certainly,” Esmeralda said. “You guys go ahead and get some rest. I think I’m going to lie down for a bit, myself.”
She stretched out on the bed, lying on her back, and closed her eyes. She didn’t actually sleep, of course, but she had begun to enjoy these times of simply relaxing. It would be almost four hours before she needed to start getting ready, and she might even get the chance to have one of her little “dreams” when she reactivated herself.
Some of them were interesting. She shut down and let herself drift, fully aware that she would reactivate instantly when the timer she had set inside her head went off.
She was standing in a department store, and she was looking at the manikin in front of her. The dress the manikin was wearing somehow appealed to her, but she couldn’t quite determine why. She reached out to touch the fabric and felt it gently, noting that it seemed soft and thin. The flowers printed on it were randomized, and she couldn’t see a particular pattern in the design, but still it appealed. She had just decided to buy it when her eyes flew open.
The timer had gone off, and it was time to get up and get ready. She quickly subcommed Noah to let him know that she was preparing to initiate the mission, then got to her feet and went to take a shower. Cody was asleep, so she left him where he was until she came out twenty minutes later wrapped in a towel. She wasn’t particularly worried about modesty, but she had been programmed to conceal her nudity in most situations.
“Cody? Time to get up.”
He opened his eyes and looked at her, and then his eyes went wide. “Yeah, okay,” he stammered. “You want me to go wake the others?”