Karimi fumed as he said, “They still want to credit U.S. technology for most of the things which our evidence proves this Missy McCrea and the others are responsible for. While they can see this girl was indeed involved, they think her role was merely as false propaganda. All those magazine articles about her fighting along with the Special Forces? Being wounded? Merely stories to hide what the U.S. was really doing. Her being there the night Rodriguez disappeared? Again, merely as a distraction and not much more than that. Even her dancing on those videos? Probably some of that was trick photography rather than being real.”
“Well, they’re interpreting the circumstantial evidence differently. That’s why they’re insisting you demand more from your spy.”
“Pancholi will not be happy with this. I have to wait until he calls me since we no longer have any way to contact him. But, once he sees his payment is only ten million, that will probably be fairly soon.”
Tabish said, “You heard them warn about not trusting him. They seem more worried about your spy revealing our plans to the U.S. than they are about your demons.”
Karimi stared at Tabash. He was finally noticing all the references to himself, such as “your spy” and “your demons”. His mood darkened even further. “If my spy decides to go sell his information to the U.S. because we didn’t pay him the agreed amount, it will not be my fault. I explained how his providing us with all this information in advance was proof he could be trusted. But, now? If we don’t pay? That’s out of my hands.”
-----
Rafe Santiago said, “You have a message from Missy McCrea, Carlos.”
Carlos looked up from his desk and waved for Rafe to come in. After Rafe had done so and closed the door, Carlos asked, “What does she say?” He and Missy had arranged for secure communications back and forth, back when he was helping her take down Rodriguez but they hadn’t been sending many messages since then.
“She’s asking if you know or maybe have met with a man who might be calling himself Arvind Pancholi. Or, he may be using an alias. She included a photo. It’s Pancholi.” Rafe handed him the message and the photo.
Carlos read the entire message and looked up. “He’s a witch? She says if we’ve met face-to-face, he definitely knows I’m a Shifter. Fuck! She’s saying he’s a former CIA agent but has been selling information to WIJO. Information from that traitor Philip Arnold. Son of a bitch! That bastard wasn’t here looking for Arnold. What the hell was he doing here?”
Rafe smiled and said, “Since she’s asking, I’m betting he must have found out whatever he was here looking for. If you recall, he did ask about her. Right at the end … he mentioned knowing she helped with Arbogast being grabbed, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember. We should check with Pablo. Since this Pancholi wasn’t here looking for Arnold … and since Missy is checking with us … whatever he was really after must be causing her some backlash. Send Missy a message explaining what we know and telling her we’ll be checking further into all this.”
Rafe nodded and said, “Consider it done. And, what about Pancholi? I hear he’s still in Bogota. He likes shacking up with one of our girls … calls herself Maria … he’s been paying her for exclusive service.”
“Well, let’s go pay him a visit. Bring Pablo along. My guess is whatever this Pancholi learned he somehow got from Pablo.”
-----
Arvind Pancholi logged off and then cursed. His account only showed a deposit of ten million rather than twenty-five million. Those rat bastards were shorting him? He looked at his watch but, due to the time difference, he doubted Karimi would still be in his office. He’d have to call when it would be morning over there, which wasn’t for several hours yet.
He glanced at his watch again and noted it was Friday the thirteenth. He wasn’t superstitious but even so, he considered this a bad omen. While he’d known there was a risk to his being paid when he’d sent Karimi all those files, there simply was no way to have revealed enough evidence to be convincing otherwise. The classic Catch-22. And, the information he’d provided had certainly been valuable. They’d deposited ten million. They probably wanted to negotiate further. Typical.
He had planned to spend the evening with Maria so he finished up and then headed over to her place. The celebration wouldn’t be quite as good as what he’d been hoping but he could use his time with her to help deal with the frustration he was feeling towards WIJO.
When he stepped out of the elevator on her floor, he noticed right away that another supernatural was nearby. It wasn’t a witch and he was pretty sure it must be Carlos. Okay. He could handle him. If he tried to leave, Carlos probably had some of his people nearby, ready to interfere with that. He continued to Maria’s door and let himself in, using the key she’d given him. “Hello, Maria. Who else is here with you?”
He didn’t wait for her reply but walked into the living room area of her suite. Maria was sitting there, looking very nervous. And, as he’d guessed, she was not alone. Carlos, Rafe and Pablo were all there. Carlos was seated but Rafe and Pablo were standing behind him.
Carlos said, “Mr. Pancholi, we need to discuss some things. I’m afraid you misrepresented yourself during our last meeting. You are no longer with the CIA and you are not looking for Philip Arnold. I think you need to explain. Take a seat.”
Arvind said, “If you have brought any of your people with you, are they all fully aware of just what you are, Mr. Mancini?” He doubted Carlos had shared his secret with very many others. He hoped he maybe could take advantage of that.
Carlos chuckled and said, “Missy tells me you are able to sense some things about me. Are you threatening to expose me?”
“Ahh, so you indeed do know Missy McCrea. I was pretty certain that was the case.” Arvind looked over at Pablo and, once again, he could sense the man was extremely nervous. “Your man Pablo seems to be quite afraid. Just mentioning her name seems to be causing him some distress. Whatever did she threaten him with?”
Pablo was unable to just continue standing there. He exclaimed, “She’s a demon! She threatened to turn me into a frog. She turned Carlos into a huge cat. She makes objects fly, she makes lightning strike, she comes straight from the fires of hell!”
Maria found all this extremely confusing and quite terrifying. She asked, “Is it okay if I just go lie down in my room, please?” She kept looking from one man to the next, knowing she was completely helpless. But, they all simply ignored her.
Arvind looked at Carlos and laughed. “A huge cat? How interesting!” He looked at Maria and asked, “Don’t you want to see your boss become a cat? If you leave now, you might miss all the fun!” He laughed some more.
Rafe had moved up next to Pablo and now forced him to take a seat in one of the chairs.
Carlos said, “You are playing a dangerous game, coming here, making threats, interfering with my operation …” He glanced at Pablo and added, “Going to my people behind my back.”
Arvind wasn’t worried but at the same time, he didn’t want to make Carlos his enemy or fight with him. While he could quickly control the fluids in others, making them boil or freeze or stop flowing, he could only do so for one person at a time. And, he really wasn’t sure what would happen should Carlos decide to Shift. Thus, attempting anything on either Carlos or his second-in-command, Rafe, was probably not in his own best interest.
“I think I’ll leave then,” said Arvind. “No more games, no more interference. If that’s okay with you, Mr. Mancini?”
Carlos said, “Actually, that’s not okay. I’d prefer for you to remain. Right here. In this lovely suite. You can even have Maria stay with you, if you’d like. Or not. But, I’m afraid your leaving is not an option. Not just yet.” He hoped he could keep Pancholi under house arrest until Missy sent someone down to deal with him.
Arvind raised his eyebrows and said, “I’m leaving. Sorry. And, if you try to stop me?” He didn’t really want to hurt Maria so he looked at Pablo. Yes, he could make his
point by demonstrating with Pablo. He had already drawn plenty of energy within himself back when first entering the room. He extended his arm and pointed at Pablo.
Pablo suddenly gagged and convulsed, writhing horribly in his seat. No coherent sounds came out and then, blood began flowing. It flowed from his eyes and ears and nose, all at once, with his body showing more evidence of the agony he was experiencing.
Maria screamed and Rafe pulled out a pistol which he aimed at Arvind.
Carlos yelled out, “Put it away, Rafe. I don’t want him killing you as well.” He was amazed at just how quickly poor Pablo had been affected and figured his friend Rafe might never get the chance to use his gun if he didn’t stop him right away. He had made a mistake in coming here. He’d seen what Missy and Tracy were capable of. He should have known better than to confront a witch the way he’d done with Pancholi.
Arvind said, “I’ll leave now, even though it’s not okay with you. And? If you have others outside? They too will join Pablo over there. In hell.”
Pablo had finally stopped moving. It was quite obvious he would never move again. He was very dead. Maria, meanwhile, was in shock and had started sobbing uncontrollably. Carlos and Rafe didn’t move a muscle, obviously impressed with what Arvind could do.
Arvind slowly backed his way towards the door he’d used to enter from. He opened that and stepped outside the suite, closing the door behind him. He went over to the elevators and waited until one stopped and opened for him, all the while keeping close watch on Maria’s apartment. No one appeared and he got into the elevator and went down. No one interfered with his leaving the building and when a taxi stopped for him, he returned to his hotel. It was time to check out and leave Bogota.
Back in Maria’s apartment, Carlos went over to Maria and slowly pulled her up and walked her into her bedroom. She collapsed on the bed and he left her there. He said, “Stay in here until someone says you can come out.” He then closed her door and returned to deal with what remained of Pablo.
Rafe looked up at him and said, “I guess I should be thanking you for ordering me to stop. Otherwise, I’d probably be dead just like Pablo here, right? Shit! Witches! I never would have believed this if I hadn’t seen it.”
Carlos nodded sadly and said, “My fault. I never should have tried anything. Send my apologies to Missy. I’m sure this Pancholi will have left the country before anything can be done. Let’s get some people up here to dispose of Pablo. And, find someone who can hold Maria’s hand until she’s okay.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dec 14, 2019
The Army-Navy game has often been referred to as “truly one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports”. As Missy marched out with her classmates onto the Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, she indeed was experiencing all the excitement and energy which being part of a great spectacle entailed. The stadium had seating for almost seventy thousand and would be getting completely filled for this game with hundreds more crowding inside and standing.
Missy sent one of her mental messages to Mike. This is it! It’s time for my regiment … we’re marching out there right now!
After falling out for formation at oh-dark-thirty back at the academy, she and her company had started boarding their buses at seven that morning. Their arrival in Philly had been a little after ten. Finally, just after noon and still three hours before kickoff, the USMA Corps of Cadets March-On had begun. The academies alternated each year and it was Army’s turn to be first; the Brigade of Midshipmen from the Naval Academy would be going second. The pomp and pageantry for a rivalry which had been going on for more than a hundred years was now officially underway!
Mike was watching the game along with John and Troy. They were at his apartment back in Medford, Massachusetts in front of a large flat screen TV. It was too early, however, for any TV coverage as yet. Before the game started there would be these academy march-ons, interviews with various generals and admirals, as well as many other events which he and the guys wouldn’t be seeing. Of course, from “listening” to Missy all morning, he was able to explain things to the others. And, he knew she was really amped up.
Missy was bursting with pride as she marched out with almost four thousand other cadets, all wearing their dress gray uniforms, their full length wool overcoats and their gray service caps. The overcoat capes were all worn flipped back over each shoulder. Like all the other women, she had her hair tied back in a tight ponytail knot. Their company formations were eight abreast.
Once all thirty two companies were in place on the field, with everyone facing in one direction, they soon were removing their caps in unison and yelling out, “We are Army! Sink Navy!” Then, they donned their caps once again, did an about face and gave a salute which they held for several moments.
This was followed by the academy’s “rocket yell”, given with appropriate arm waving. The crowd cheered them on loudly in appreciation for the great enthusiasm so evident amongst the cadets. Then, Missy and her classmates all marched back off the field so Navy could have its turn.
After the Midshipmen had similarly marched on, demonstrated an equal amount of enthusiasm and marched back off, there was the Prisoner Exchange. Mike and John knew all about this tradition, of course, but it was all new to Troy. When Mike relayed what Missy was telling him and announced how this was now happening, Troy wanted to know what it was all about.
John chuckled and said, “Where else would you find students swapping schools for an entire semester just for a football game?”
Mike explained, “Yeah, during junior year, a dozen or so Midshipmen and Cadets from each school get to spend a semester in enemy territory attending the other academy. They’re supposed to get a taste of life and experience training from the viewpoint of their brothers-in-arms. This supposedly fosters mutual respect and opens the gates of communication between rivals.”
“Wow! Unbelievable!” Troy shook his head and added, “Only in the military would anything like this ever happen.”
John said, “Right! And, so this year’s prisoners just got marched out to the center of the field in this formal ceremony where they got exchanged and reunited with their classmates. Now they can watch the game from their own side of the stadium.”
Mike laughed and said, “Yes, but then they’ll be returning to the wrong academy later to finish out the rest of the semester. Believe it or not, Missy thinks it would be really cool if she somehow were selected for this next year.”
Just then, the pre-game TV coverage came on and they managed to watch as the Army Ranger and Navy Seal parachute teams landed out in the center of the field. And then, just as the two football teams were coming out for their warm up drills, there was a flyover by four Apache helicopters followed by four F-35 jets. Missy told Mike to assure the others that all this was an experience which they really needed to be there in the stands, like she was, to fully appreciate.
Right when Army was preparing to kick-off to Navy to start the one hundred twentieth game between them, Mike heard Missy tell him, Hey, I can see the president! He’s not that far away from where I’m sitting.
Sure enough, the TV announcer was explaining how it was traditional, when US presidents came to the game, for them to spend half the game sitting with one side and then the other half sitting on the opposite side. The camera briefly flashed to where the president was now seated with Army and then quickly returned to follow the flight of the ball which had just been kicked deep into the end zone. Navy opted not to attempt any return and instead chose to start on their own twenty-five yard line.
Although Navy had been dominating the number of wins over the past twenty years and thus had more overall wins, Army had been doing well in recent years. With another winning season this year, Army had already been selected for a bowl game even if they lost to Navy. But, none of those other games mattered as much as this one did.
Navy managed to score first, kicking a field goal, but then Army scored a to
uchdown to end the quarter in the lead. Both teams scored field goals in the second quarter, so the score at halftime was ten to six with Army still ahead. Army’s offense managed to dominate the time of possession and thus their fans in the stands began getting very optimistic.
Halftime entertainment was filled with cheerleader presentations, patriotic songs and included a huge American flag which was unfurled and spread out across more than half the field. Missy kept sharing her thoughts with Mike but he kept most of those to himself. Meanwhile, John and Troy debated whether they should have tried going to the game, in spite of how little time they’d have been able to actually see Tracy and Sally, due to how strictly regulated everything was for the cadets all during their stay in Philly.
Mike joined in the discussion and announced, “Next year, I’m going. Let’s all agree to be there, no matter what. I want to share this experience with Missy even if I don’t end up seeing her at all. Just our being there in the stands rather than merely watching it on TV … that’s what will really matter.”
The second half got underway, with Army receiving the ball and starting a nice drive. But, Navy stopped them and then went all the way down the field to score a touchdown and take the lead. Army fans were soon cheering again, however, once their team came right back and managed to get to the red zone, threatening to score for sure. Unfortunately, when Army’s quarterback suddenly got sacked during a play-action maneuver which went nowhere, he lost the ball and the turnover gave Navy a chance to protect their lead and possibly extend it.
At the end of the third quarter, Navy was almost within field goal range and attempted a deep pass which, had it not been intercepted, would have given them another touchdown. Instead, Army took over. And, as they had done for most of their games that year, they let Mitch Cooper carry the ball again and again, gaining yardage each time in spite of how Navy tried to defend against his running.
Army ended up victorious, twenty-four to thirteen, after once again dominating time of possession throughout the last quarter due to Mitch and their running game along with some key stops by Army’s defense. After the game, in accordance with the long standing tradition, the teams met in the center of the field and sang each team’s alma mater, first to the fans of Navy’s losing team and then to those of Army’s winning team.
Missy's Operation Lily Pad (Missy the Werecat Book 6) Page 16