by David Archer
“Yeah,” Neil said, nodding. “I would imagine that he’s going to spend the next day and a half just wondering if he’s even alive. According to all the literature, brain activity is pretty suppressed by TTX. There won’t be any detectable signs of brain activity, but he’s supposedly going to be at least marginally aware of everything that happens to him. I think that’s gotta make the victim wonder if it’s possible to be aware of your surroundings after you die, right?”
“That’s what I mean,” Sarah said. “Either way, fitting punishment.”
“Well, all we can do now is wait,” Noah said. He withdrew Randy’s iPhone from his pocket and handed it to Neil. “You want to make sure nobody can find this?”
Neil grinned and used a tool from his pocket to remove the back and take out the battery, then popped out a second part. “Most people don’t realize that this little gizmo has a capacitor in it that can keep the GPS working for up to four hours after the battery is removed. Right now, nobody in the world could find this phone. We can pass it off to Mr. Jefferson when the time comes. I’ll keep it hidden until then.” He rubbed his eyes and reached out to pat Noah on the shoulder. “I’m going home to get some sleep, boss,” he said. “I’ve got a hunch things are going to get busy in the morning.”
Neil turned and walked out the front door, and Noah took Sarah’s hand and led her toward the bedroom. They stripped and got into the bed and curled up together, and then Sarah suddenly began crying.
Though he had no idea how she was feeling, Noah understood that some part of her was experiencing a mixture of relief and guilt at the thought of Randy’s suffering. He tightened his arms around her and let her weep.
* * * * *
Noah woke at just before 8:00 a.m. and was already showered and dressed by the time his phone rang. The caller ID told him that it was Allison, of course.
“Camelot.”
“Something I thought you should know, Camelot,” Allison said. “I just got the word that Randy Mitchell was discovered dead in his apartment this morning. It seems nobody had been able to get him on the phone, so Jenny went by to check on him. Oh, and I got a cryptic email from Wally this morning saying that somebody seems to have made off with something special from his department last night.”
Noah nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. The way she was praising things told him that she was fully aware of what Noah had done, and that Randy was probably not dead after all.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Noah said. “Any idea what happened to him?”
“No, but it doesn’t really matter. I just thought you’d like to know since your team worked with his, recently.”
“Well, he was a good agent. What happens to him now?”
“Well, we don’t go into autopsies and such on our own people, simply because they are all expendable in any case. Funny thing, though, Wally’s email also mentioned that they are in need of a few cadavers for research purposes. Seems to me that Randy would volunteer, if he was able, don’t you think?”
“I think that would be an admirable idea,” Noah said. “It’s still a pity, though. Randy seemed like a pretty decent sort.”
“He had his good days,” Allison said. “Hopefully, this trip out to R&D will allow him to have a few more before he’s done.”
The phone went dead, and Noah slipped it back into his pocket. He had been standing in the bedroom when it had rung, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Sarah sitting up in the bed.
“Jenny found Randy’s body already this morning,” he said, “and Wally sent Allison an email that clued her in on what’s going on. He also added a request for cadavers for testing uses, so that’s where Randy is going. I’m sure Wally is going to have his people take care of him until this wears off, and Allison will probably have his new identity all set up by then.”
Sarah looked at him sleepily but nodded. “So now we just wait for the mole to contact you again?”
“That’s the plan. Somehow, I don’t think it will be long.”
Sarah nodded and fell backward onto the bed again. Noah left her to get a little more sleep and went to the kitchen to make coffee.
Neil tapped lightly on his back door about ten minutes later. “Saw your kitchen light come on,” he said. “Any word yet?”
“Yeah,” Noah said. “Allison called. Jenny found Randy’s body this morning, and Wally found a way to let Allison know what’s happening. As soon as they get done with the body at the morgue, it’ll be going out to R&D as planned.”
“Awesome. How bad is the coffee?”
Noah poured them each a cup and sat down at the table with Neil. Neil took a sip and made a face that said it wasn’t too terrible.
“So, now we wait again? See what the mole thinks about all this?”
“Yes. Hopefully, Randy’s death will look realistic enough. The only thing I’m concerned about is that he might wonder why the body disappeared so quickly. According to Renée, though, it’s not uncommon for the bodies of our personnel to end up out there, so it might not be all that surprising to him.”
They sat and talked for a few minutes, and then Neil followed Noah into the living room. Noah logged on to his computer, but there was no message waiting from the auto website. He logged off again, and the two of them were simply sitting there when Sarah came out of the bedroom, still dressed in one of Noah’s T-shirts.
“I just called Doc Parker,” she said, “and said I had a rough night and didn’t feel like coming in today. He said that was okay, so you might want to let Jackson know you won’t be coming. It feels like a good day to just stay home.”
Noah nodded and took out his phone, but before he could dial Jackson’s number, it rang. The caller ID told him that it was Allison calling once more.
“Camelot,” he said.
“Briefing at eleven. We have a mission, and I think this one calls for your particular abilities.” The line went dead.
Neil’s phone went off a few seconds later, and he got the same message. Sarah hurried back to the bedroom to grab her own and found a missed call from Allison, so she called back quickly and was told the same thing.
“So much for taking it easy,” she grumbled. “What time is it, anyway?”
“It’s almost nine,” Noah said. “We’ve got a little time.”
Sarah nodded and wandered into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with a cup of coffee of her own. She sat down beside Noah on the couch and leaned against him.
“Hold me,” she said, and Noah put an arm around her. She snuggled in against him and closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them again and took a sip of her coffee. “I thought they were going to leave us inactive for a little while.”
“Parker must have given you a clean bill of health,” Noah said. “I don’t know what the mission is, but Allison said it needed me. We’ll play it by ear, like always.”
Sarah picked up the remote and turned on the television, flipping channels until she found a talk show she liked. The three of them sat there and watched it, and when it ended at ten she got up and went to get dressed.
Neil waited until she was out of earshot and looked at Noah. “Boss? You really think she’s ready for the field again?”
“That isn’t my call,” Noah said. “I have to assume that Parker feels like she is, and I trust Allison to help me keep her out of harm’s way. We’ll just have to handle it however is necessary.”
Neil shook his head. “Well, I’ll do my best to keep my eye on her whenever you’re not around.”
Noah looked at him, and the faintest ghost of a smile crossed his face for a split second. “Thank you,” he said. “I genuinely appreciate that.”
CHAPTER TEN
The three of them rode together in Neil’s Hummer to the briefing and found Marco pulling into the garage just ahead of them. When they had entered the elevator together, Marco looked over at Noah.
“Guess you heard the news about old Randy, right? Bit the dust last night, I hear.�
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“Yes,” Noah said. “I understand it was a shock to everyone who knew him.”
Neil and Marco both had to stifle their laughter, but a quick glare from Sarah was enough to do the trick. By the time the elevator opened, both of them wore the sober faces of men who had just learned of the passing of a friend.
The doughnuts were in place like always, and each of them grabbed one as they entered the conference room. Allison and Donald Jefferson were already waiting, with Molly sitting in a chair off to the side.
“It’s good to see you all,” Allison said. “Sarah, how are you feeling?”
“I think I’m doing okay,” Sarah said. “The nightmares haven’t bothered me since the first few days, and I can tell you that Noah has made sure to give me plenty of good memories to focus on.” She smiled at her husband.
Allison nodded at Noah. “I’m sure he has,” she said. “Unfortunately, we had a request come in for an elimination that requires Noah’s ability to blend into any situation. This one is domestic, down in Arkansas. There is an organized crime ring that is impossible to break up, and the DOJ, in cooperation with DHS, has decided that its leadership needs to be removed.”
“The Department of Justice?” Neil asked, his voice high-pitched. “They actually ask for assassinations?”
“On rare occasions, yes,” Allison said. “Since we began operations, however, this is only the third such request we have forgotten. Does that surprise you, Mr. Blessing?”
“Well, yeah,” Neil said. “Scares the hell out of me, too. It was the DOJ who came after me when I hacked into the bank; I never would’ve believed they might just have me killed.”
“They wouldn’t,” said Donald Jefferson, a slight grin on his face. “American domestic anticrime organizations like the DOJ, FBI, and such will only resort to elimination when they become absolutely convinced that there is no possible way to successfully prosecute a dangerous offender. In this case, the targets run a regional organized crime ring that is so tightly controlled and loyal that they have been unable to develop any clear evidence that would stand up in court. In many such situations, they can be completely aware of who the offender is, even the types of crimes he may have ordered or even participated in, but knowing this and being able to prove it are two entirely different things. Courtroom procedures require a level of confidence in the evidence that goes far beyond what may seem obvious to an investigator. Defense attorneys, especially those who can command multimillion-dollar fees, are very good at convincing juries that the evidence isn’t what it appears to be, and witnesses can be frightened or eliminated. As a result, many organized crime figures have been arrested many times, but never convicted.”
“That’s not the exact problem in this case, however,” Allison went on. “Jimmy Morgan, the top man in this organization, is an extremely intelligent man who chose to turn his intellect toward building and expanding multiple criminal enterprises. His control extends to almost every form of organized crime, including drugs, prostitution, theft, fraud, extortion, murder—you name it, and he’s into it. In the past twenty-four years, sixteen different federal prosecutors have been, shall we say, dissuaded from pursuing charges against him. This is a man who has never even been arrested, and those who work for him never do more than a few days in the county jail and a little probation. The corruption in his domain reaches into every law enforcement agency and prosecutor’s office in nine counties in Northwest Arkansas.”
Noah cocked his head to one side. “If he’s that powerful, then he’s got people working for him who consider themselves almost as powerful. Won’t eliminating him simply invite one of them to step into his shoes?”
Jefferson picked up a remote and a picture appeared on the screen behind him. “This is Jimmy Morgan,” he said. “He’s forty-two years old and the de facto king of a large part of Northwest Arkansas. His organization refers to itself as the Morgan Mafia, and an interesting tidbit of trivia is that four different forays by big-city mob figures to try to take over have only resulted in a couple of dozen dead mobsters. Even the Sicilian mob is staying out of the area. We were contacted for a sanction because there have been reports over the past few months that Morgan is working with potential terror groups, using his operations to bring terrorists and materials into the country. He’s apparently unconcerned with what they might do, as long as they agree to stay out of his domain.”
“And he’s dumb enough to believe them?” Marco blurted out.
“Apparently, he believes he can control them, and possibly with good reason. Several known terror operatives have turned up dead in different places around his domain. They seem to have a tendency lately to get out of that part of Arkansas as quickly as they can.” He clicked the remote and a picture of a younger man appeared. “This is Ralph Morgan, Jimmy’s only child. As the heir apparent, it’s expected that he’ll be groomed to take over, and it appears he’ll be starting soon with one of the divisions already running. He’s known to be just as ruthless as his father, and it’s no secret that the entire community of Berryville, Arkansas, where they live, is pretty much terrified of the boy. He and a few of his cronies have either beaten or intimidated other local teenagers numerous times, and Ralph is believed to be responsible for at least two suspicious deaths. With the upbringing he’s had, he’d probably be even more likely to work with terror cells than his father, which makes him an even greater risk to national security.”
“Damn, and he ain’t nothing but a kid,” Marco said. “Sounds like he might be all set to take over if his daddy disappears.”
“That’s exactly how the FBI and DEA see it,” Allison said. “And there are probably a dozen of his father’s lieutenants who can step in if both of them are gone, and that’s why we feel we need Team Camelot on this one. It’s not a single elimination but may involve up to a couple dozen people. We’ve asked Molly to work with us on developing a basic mission plan, and she’s the one who decided that you’re the only team to handle this one. Molly?”
Molly leaned forward in her chair and looked at Noah for a second, then glanced at Sarah. “I’m really sorry to have to send you back into the field so soon,” she said, turning back to Noah, “but I’ve been studying everything about the Morgan Mafia for the last couple of weeks and they’re just too tight and secured for anything but a single operative in a blitz hit. That single operative, Noah, has to have your unique ability to focus. Anything else would lead to mistakes that would expose the mission and doom it, and the team sent out on it, to failure.”
She glanced at Allison, who nodded, then went on. “This is not going to be a quick or easy mission. Noah, you’re going to have to go into deep cover and infiltrate the organization. Successfully eliminating this threat to American security is going to mean getting yourself into the top ranks and being able to identify all of those capable of keeping it going once the heads are cut off. I’m estimating that, with your particular skill set and abilities, this will take anywhere from two to five months. At that point, you will have to develop a plan for eliminating them all within a very short time frame, probably within the span of just a few hours. Since it is highly unlikely that an opportunity to do so will present itself naturally, you will almost certainly have to orchestrate it.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute,” Sarah said. “Noah is going to have to go into this outfit and stay there for several months? How are we supposed to operate like that?”
“I’ve laid out a basic plan, but Noah will want to refine it,” Molly replied. “He will have to appear first, alone. That will allow him to make the first steps in infiltrating the organization. Once he has begun to do so, since he’s coming in as an outsider, it won’t be that surprising that his wife—you, Sarah, of course—comes to join him. When you do, your brother will come along with you. That will be Neil, of course, playing the nerdy computer geek. Marco will arrive separately, and it will be up to Noah to arrange a situation that will let the four of you live close and spend time together. N
eil will be responsible for intelligence and security, and I’m confident he can handle both. Marco is perfectly suited to pose as someone Noah could recruit into the organization or introduce to it, hopefully giving him an ally within its ranks.”
“What about identities, characterizations? If I’m supposed to infiltrate a criminal organization, I’m going to need a background that fits. It’s going to have to stand up to scrutiny, especially if they have corrupt cops who can check out our backstories.”
Molly nodded. “Of course, and we’ve already begun working on that. Noah, you’re going to be posing as a man named Rex Madison, who was recently released from federal prison where he served time on drug-related charges. The real Rex Madison died about five years ago in an accident, but we’ve reconstructed his history because he had a sister named Kate who happens to work for the FBI. She’s been in deep cover in Arkansas on this case for almost three years, but she’s not part of the criminal operation. She’s there only as an observer, though she has become pretty well-known in the area. Using her brother’s identity gives you an excuse for suddenly appearing in the community. When I asked her about it, she agreed almost instantly.”
“But you said her brother actually died. Wouldn’t there be public records of that, people back where he grew up who would know it, that sort of thing?”
“Kate and Rex grew up in a small city in Ohio, Zanesville. Absent father, workaholic and alcoholic mother, not a real good situation. Kate was apparently determined to make something of herself and ended up in the FBI. Rex, on the other hand, had a lot of problems through his teens and even did some time in juvenile detention centers. When he turned eighteen, he left town and never went back. Both of their parents are dead, Kate hasn’t been there in years herself, so when he was killed in a motorcycle accident she didn’t even bother to put a notice in the local newspaper there. Since she hadn’t talked to him in a long time, it wasn’t hard for us to wipe out the real history of his last few years and create the prison record.”