Deep Allegiance

by David Archer

  “But we still lost Dawson,” Jenny said. “He’s the one who actually killed Mr. Jefferson.”

  “He’ll surface again,” Noah said. “A man like him can’t stop doing what he does.” He looked around at the rest of them. “Neil, when the guest list gets to us, I want you to start going through it. Find out everything you can about everyone who was here tonight. Anything that looks the slightest bit off kilter, I want to know about it.”

  “You bet,” Neil said.

  Noah turned to Marco. “You need to stick with Renée. She’s going to be pretty upset about all this, I imagine. You’ve got to keep reassuring her that we know it wasn’t her fault, that she wasn’t willingly participating in Dawson’s scheme.”

  “I can handle that,” Marco replied. He got up and left the small room they were using to go and sit in the embassy clinic with Renée. He wanted to be there when she came out of the sedation the doctor had given her.

  “What about me?” Jenny asked. “What can I do, Noah?”

  Noah looked her in the eye. “Keep your knives sharp,” he said. “I suspect you’re going to be doing some interrogation before long.”

  He left the room and walked outside the embassy, took out his cell phone and called Allison. It was nearly midnight in Sydney, making it just before eight a.m. back at Neverland.

  Allison answered on the first ring. “Camelot, report.”

  “Renée was subjected to chemically enhanced psychological brainwashing,” he said without preamble. “At the reception tonight, she attempted to murder Patrick McNealy. We were able to prevent it, and we had Dawson in our grasp for a few seconds, but he was able to escape. He had killed our liaison and replaced him, using a mask. It’s what enabled him to get close enough to Renée to give her the trigger phrase that activated her programming.”

  “Dear God,” Allison said. “How is she doing?”

  “She’s under sedation at the moment,” Noah said. “I think it would be best to send her back as soon as possible, and I want Marco to go with her.”

  “I concur,” Allison said. “Let’s let Parker deal with her. What about Spear? Were you able to identify him?”

  “Not yet,” Noah said. “Going on the theory that he did show up at the reception as planned, I’ve assigned Neil to go through the guest list and look for anything out of the ordinary.”

  “And what about Dawson?”

  “I don’t know that we can locate him again right now,” Noah said. “He’ll surface again eventually, and I’ll be happy to complete this mission when he does.”

  “Well, hell,” Allison said bitterly. “This has turned into a disaster, Noah. Are you sure you’re not still a little off your game?”

  Noah was unfazed by the rancor in her voice. “I seem to be functioning normally,” he said. “Normally for me, that is. There were variables thrown into the mix that were impossible to anticipate, and we are all doing the best we can. I have no intention of letting Dawson get away with what he did to Mr. Jefferson, but as you have reminded me several times, Spear is the primary objective. I would like to get as much assistance on trying to identify him as we can, and whatever help we can get in keeping him from leaving the country.”

  Allison was silent for a moment, then let out a sigh. “You’re right, of course. I’ll get CIA and NSA involved. They can watch the airports and seaports around Sydney, try to spot him if he makes a run for it. Have that guest list transmitted to me as soon as possible so that I can share it with them. Anyone on it who tries to leave the country will be considered suspect.”

  “That was my idea, as well. I’ll have Neil send it to you as soon as we get it.”

  “See that you do,” Allison said, and then the line was dead.

  Noah walked back into the building and found Neil and Jenny standing in the hallway outside the clinic.

  “I got the list,” Neil said. “I just need to get back to my computer.”

  Noah nodded. “You two head on back to the hotel,” he said. “I’ll be there shortly. Oh, and Allison wants you to send her a copy of that list immediately.” He turned and stepped into the clinic and headed toward the room where Renée was under the doctor’s care.

  Marco looked up as he entered. Renée was still sleeping, but Marco was holding her hand.

  “Need me?” Marco asked.

  “Not just yet,” Noah said. “When she wakes up, I want you to take her directly to the airport. The two of you are getting on the Gulfstream and going back to Neverland.”

  Marco’s eyes went wide. “Hey, come on,” he said. “Boss man, you know I need to get my hands on that son of a bitch. After what he did to her, I want to rip him apart.”

  “I understand, but it’s highly unlikely we’re going to see Mr. Dawson again on this mission. You are emotional, Marco, and that’s not going to help me. Neil, Jenny and I will concentrate on finding Spear; you concentrate on helping Renée get past this. Between you and Doctor Parker, I think it should go pretty well.”

  Marco stared at him for a second more, then his shoulders slumped in surrender. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I get you, boss.” His Cajun accent was strong, as it always was when he was stressed out.

  “I think it’s for the best, Marco,” Noah said. “She needs the best care we can get her, and that’s going to be back home.”

  Marco nodded. “Anything you want me to tell Sarah?”

  “Just that I’m always thinking of her,” Noah said. “I think she knows that, though, and I tend to call her at least once a day.”

  * * *

  Noah arrived back at the hotel half an hour later to find Neil and Jenny in his room. Neil was drinking coffee and sitting at the table with his computer, but Jenny was sprawled on the bed, sound asleep.

  “Hope you don’t mind,” Neil said. “She was dead tired, but she didn’t want to leave me. Gary went on to his room and said he would see us in the morning.”

  “It’s not a problem,” Noah replied. “Are you finding anything?”

  “I got three possibilities at the moment,” Neil said. “One of them is Leonard Garfield, the Intelligence Liaison under Ambassador Jamison. He’s actually CIA, of course, but there are some serious blank spots in his record and a couple of them correspond to when Dawson was completely off the radar. Could be they were meeting somewhere secret so that Garfield could give Dawson his orders.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time a CIA operative went rogue,” Noah said. “On the other hand, those guys are under a lot of scrutiny. Who else you got?”

  “Antonio Moretti. He’s the commerce attaché for the Italian Embassy. Like Garfield, he’s been out of sight more than once at times that correspond with Dawson also being in the wind. The fact that he made a beeline for the airport also looks a little suspicious, but he was scheduled to return to Italy for a couple of weeks.”

  “Forward that information to Allison,” Noah said. “Who else?”

  “The last one that looks a little strange to me is a guy named Julio Rodriguez. He’s with the U.S. Embassy, just a low level clerk on the surface, but he does an awful lot of traveling. He’s been out of the country eight times in the last five weeks. His most recent trip was to Atlanta, so he’s a definite possibility.”

  “And is he still here in Sydney?”

  “He’s at the embassy right now. I gather he’s actually staying to help the police with their investigation, but I’m not sure in what capacity.”

  “If he happened to be Spear, that could put him in the position to make sure suspicion doesn’t fall on him. I think I might pay him a visit in the morning, try to get a feel for him.” Noah looked over at Jenny. “I think maybe it’s time we both get some sleep of our own,” he said. “You can crash here with her, and I’ll take the couch.”

  Neil shut down his computer, then nodded. “Sounds like a good idea.” He got up and moved over to the bed, then laid down on it in his clothes beside Jenny.

  Noah walked over to the couch that was on the opposite side
of the table from the bed and sat down on it, then took out his phone. He hit a button and put it to his ear.

  “Noah?” came Sarah’s voice. “How’s it going?”

  “Not as well as I’d like,” Noah said. “Marco and Renée are on the way home, you’ll probably see them in the next day or so. Something went wrong and Renée is going to be seeing Doctor Parker for a while.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Sarah said. “Was she hurt?”

  “Not physically,” Noah said. “I can’t go into it over the phone, but her deep cover job blew up in our faces. Marco will fill you in when he sees you.”

  “And you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Noah said. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”

  “Me, too, baby,” she said. “I was hoping you might call today. Is everything all right with your mission?”

  “No, but we’ll cope with it. I think we’ll be able to pull it off before it’s over.”

  They talked for a couple more minutes, and then Noah put the phone away and lay down on the couch. He was asleep only seconds later.

  The very first rays of sunlight coming through the window brought Noah to full wakefulness in only seconds. He sat up on the couch and stretched, then made his way to the bathroom to take care of morning ablutions. He came out a moment later and gathered clean clothing, then went back in to get a shower.

  By the time he came out again, Gary, Neil and Jenny were sitting up at the table. Neil had already made coffee in the little pot provided in the room, and Jenny poured a cup for Noah.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Neil? Anything new?”

  “I got a message from Molly,” Neil said. “Apparently, all three of my potential suspects have checked out and been cleared.” He looked disgusted. “Back to square one, I guess.”

  “Don’t get discouraged,” Noah said. “We’ll find him. Why don’t you two go and get cleaned up, and then we’ll head downstairs for breakfast. I want to go back to the embassy today and speak with the ambassador and Mr. Montoya. Maybe one of them could have a little insight into our problem.”

  Neil nodded and finished his own coffee, then Jenny followed him out the door.

  Noah turned to Gary, who had not spoken a single word so far that morning. “Gary? Are you doing okay?”

  Gary shrugged. “I feel like I should have figured out what was going to happen a lot sooner,” he said. “We already knew, because of the doppelgänger they created for Renée, that Dawson was experienced with disguises and masks. I should’ve expected him to be posing as someone else, and it didn’t occur to me until it was almost too late.”

  “At least you spotted him when it counted,” Noah said. “I didn’t get the chance to ask you, but what was it that tipped you off?”

  Gary grinned sheepishly. “A stage actor like me is always looking for little details that could be used if I have to play a character, little things that make a character seem more real. When we met Mr. Wentworth yesterday, I happened to notice that he had an old tracheotomy scar at the base of his throat. It occurred to me that a scar like that would make almost any character more believable, because it would be difficult to imagine someone pretending to have had such a procedure. When I bumped into Dawson disguised as Wentworth, my eyes automatically went to the scar—and it wasn’t there.”

  Noah nodded. “So you knew it couldn’t be Wentworth that quickly.”

  “Couldn’t be,” Gary said. “Scars don’t go away, and there’s no makeup that will cover them completely. Besides, Wentworth didn’t seem embarrassed by it, so it would be illogical for him to have covered it up. I knew it had to be a mask, so when I grabbed one little spot that didn’t stick properly, it came right off.”

  “And it’s a good thing you saw it,” Noah said. “At least we were able to confirm that Dawson was behind what happened.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Jenny and Neil had gone back to their own room and showered, got dressed and returned within half an hour. When they knocked on the door, Noah and Gary simply stepped out and walked with them to the elevator.

  The hotel had a breakfast bar as well as a restaurant, but Noah decided to go with the quicker route. The three of them gathered plates of eggs, bacon, mushrooms and hash browns, then took it all to a table that sat in the corner. Jenny set her plate down and fetched coffee for the four of them.

  “Careful,” she said. “It’s very hot.”

  “Pretty strong, too,” Neil said. “I’ve had strong coffee before, but this stuff could pick me up and carry me off.”

  Jenny grinned. “Don’t worry, pookie, I’ll protect you.”

  Neil gave her a mock glare for the nickname, then turned to Noah. “Do you honestly think the ambassador could have some idea who Spear might be?”

  “Probably not directly,” Noah said. “I’m just hoping he might know something about some of the other people who were present last night, something that might give us a lead. Same for Montoya; he might’ve observed something that will help us get back on track.”

  “That would be great,” Jenny said. “I’m beginning to get an itch for interrogation.” She shot the men an evil grin, and Gary shuddered.

  “Sometimes, Jenny, you can be terrifying,” Gary said.

  “You might get your chance,” Noah said to her. “Somebody like Spear probably has quite a few people working with him. At least some of them might be in the embassy, and if we can identify any strong possibilities, I’m inclined to let you take a shot at them.” He leaned toward her, his gaze stern. “However, we won’t resort to your more extreme techniques unless we are certain of who we’re dealing with. The idea is to scare some information out of them, not cut it out.”

  Jenny stuck out her bottom lip. “Spoilsport,” she grumbled, but then she looked at Gary from the corner of her eye. “Come on, Noah, you know I have to let my dark side out now and then. I haven’t had the chance in a while, and it’s starting to build up.”

  “Just keep it under control for now. With any luck, you’ll have a target before long.”

  They talked about simple things while they finished eating, then went out to the car they were using and headed toward the embassy. Noah didn’t bother to call ahead, but the security staff recognized him and passed the four of them through without any delays. They were ushered directly to the office of the ambassador, who was still wearing the same clothes he’d had on the night before.

  “Mr. Rogers,” Jamison said, shaking Noah’s hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

  Noah raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that,” he said. “I wanted to check in and see if you might’ve come up with any new information.”

  “My security detail is working hard, but I’m afraid I don’t have anything to report at the moment. To be honest, I was hoping you might have something to tell me.”

  “We’re still working on the assumption that our quarry was here last night,” Noah said. “Are you aware of just who our target is?”

  Jamison shook his head. “I’m afraid they don’t let me have the details,” he said. “Plausible deniability and all that. Mr. Wentworth was your man, and he kept things pretty close to the vest.”

  “I understand. The man we are looking for is essentially an international crime lord. He has arranged assassinations and even terror attacks in the past, and most of them are orchestrated in such a way as to get him some sort of power over governments and their agencies. Of all the people who were present last night, who would you suspect might be the biggest power players?”

  It was Jamison’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Power players? My goodness, Mr. Rogers, that would be just about everyone. The biggest, however? I would probably say that you should look at Dermot Calloway. Well, perhaps him and Charles Olson. Calloway is a ranking member of the Australian intelligence community, but he’s also one of the wealthiest men in the country, and maybe the world. I know he’s got a lot of interests scattered throughout the global community. Olson is an American expatriate living here in Austral
ia, but he’s almost as big as Calloway in global business ventures. If any of the people I know could fit into the category of major power players, it would be those two.”

  Noah nodded. “And were either of them present here at the embassy last night?”

  “They both were,” Jamison said. “Believe me, you can’t have any kind of diplomatic get together without those two showing up.”

  “Is there anyone in particular they tend to associate with here at the embassy?” Noah asked.

  “Not in particular, I don’t think. I mean, they know everybody here. I couldn’t single someone out and say they spend more time talking to this one or that one.”

  Neil had his computer open on his lap and was typing, and he suddenly turned around to show the monitor to Ambassador Jamison. There were two photos on the monitor. “Is this the pair you’re talking about?”

  Jamison leaned forward and squinted a bit, then nodded. “Yes, that’s them.”

  Neil looked at Noah. “Olson is scheduled to fly out this morning, headed for Berlin. Calloway is supposed to be going to Melbourne for a business meeting this afternoon.”

  Noah looked at the ambassador.

  “Well, Mr. Calloway has interests all over Australia, lots of businesses. I have to say that’s not out of character for him. As for Olson, I really don’t know a lot about how much he travels. I just know that he does. This could be something he’s had planned for weeks, for all I know.”

  Noah said nothing and only looked him in the eye for a moment. The ambassador seemed uncomfortable under his gaze.

  “Mr. Rogers, I’m not sure what it is you’re looking for,” he said. “Maybe if I knew more, I could…”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more than I already have. The man who got away last night, Dawson, works for the man we were looking for. That’s who gives him his orders and assigns his targets. Such a man would obviously be powerful, and that’s why we think it could be one of the power players who were here last night.”

  Jamison looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure I completely understand, but I probably don’t want to. There might be a couple of other people here who could give you more information than I can. You can talk to my security chief, Captain Reynolds. Oh, and you might speak to Jorge Montoya. He was always in Wentworth’s shadow, so if there was any connection to his office, Montoya might know something.”