by David Archer
She turned to Jefferson. “Donald? What do you think?”
Jefferson chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, then leaned his head to the left. “It's quite possible that Noah is correct,” he said. “It does seem that somebody left some big clues, and made sure we had a way to get to the girl's location. If that's true, then I have to say that the whole thing may have been nothing but a fishing expedition. If the Russians got wind of what we're doing, here in our outfit, it's quite possible that this was set up specifically to draw us, or some of our people, out into the open.”
Allison looked at him. “Do you suspect that Habib might have been in on it?”
“I have my doubts about that, mostly because he acted genuinely like a frantic father. That doesn't mean that someone else in the Mauritanian government might not have been involved.”
“The Prime Minister,” Noah said. “According to President Habib, he only discussed it with the Prime Minister and our ambassador. If the PM was part of it, he could have been the one to suggest not letting the CIA get involved. If they didn't want any of the standard agencies involved, then it was a pretty safe bet that the president would turn to us, right?”
Allison was nodding. “I think you hit it,” she said. “We were called in on this one, even though we don't normally get involved in anything investigative. The others do all the snooping work, and we just go in to clean up the messes.”
“And that leaves the question of how they might have found out about us,” Jefferson said. “Who in the intelligence world would know enough about us to be able to tip them off?”
Allison shrugged her shoulders. “There are a few people at Langley, and a few at DHS, maybe even a few at NSA. We’re talking about people with the highest possible clearances, though, people who would be highly unlikely to ever give out anything like this.”
“Somebody did,” Noah said. “Or have we pulled off enough missions that it would become obvious we exist?”
“Not likely,” Allison said. “Most of our missions look like genuine accidents, or natural causes. It's a very rare case when we actually want anyone to know that the target was assassinated. Normally, we just want them to go quietly into that good night.” She shook her head. “I'm afraid Noah is correct; somebody has sold us out.”
“There's something else,” Noah said. “Last night, Sarah and Neil and I all went out to the Sagebrush Saloon for dinner, and when we got back, my door had been unlocked. It was open just a tiny bit, even though I locked it securely when we left, but I couldn't find any sign that anything had been disturbed.”
Allison's eyes went wide. “Good Lord, Noah, why didn't you call it in last night?” She turned to Jefferson. “Get somebody out to sweep that house, today! Noah, did you discuss anything about the mission after you got back home and inside the house?”
“Only briefly,” Noah said. “Sarah asked if I thought there was any chance that Nicolaich might have tracked us down, and I mentioned his name when I said I didn't think so. I had considered the possibility, at that point, that we may have been sold out even before this mission began.”
“I think we have to consider that possibility now,” Allison said. “I'm going to demand a security shakedown of everyone outside of our organization who knows anything about us. We'll find out who it could've been.”
“Just a question,” Noah said, “but can we be certain it came from outside our organization? Is it possible someone inside might have tipped the Russians off?”
“I sincerely doubt it,” Allison said, “but we won't discount the possibility until we're sure. I think that everyone is going to be taking a polygraph test. We'll get that set up, and let everyone know.”
Neil and Moose had been whispering in the background together, and they suddenly sat forward. “You know,” Neil said, “it's possible that the setup wasn't before the mission. If the Prime Minister was in on this, then the president probably told him about meeting with Noah, so he would've had a chance to let the Russians know about it. It could be that finding Pendergrast so easily was just a fluke, one they didn't expect, but it gave them a way to tail us. If they followed Noah all the way to Russia, and let him get away with taking the girl back, then they could also follow him all the way back home. That could explain the break-in at his house.”
Allison looked at Neil for a moment, then turned to Jefferson again. “Donald, I'm afraid it's going to be up to you to try to get to the bottom of this. We need to know what's happening, and we need to know as soon as possible. I'm leaving it in your hands, because I'm going to be leaving today for DC. I plan to sit down and ask the president exactly who knows that we exist.”
ELEVEN
Since they were already in Kirtland, Noah and the team decided to get in a workout. They drove out to Allie Town, the area on the outskirts of Kirtland where most of the E & E facilities were located, heading to the PT field. Jackson, the PT instructor, smiled when he saw them all piling out of Neil's big yellow Hummer.
“Come for a run?” Jackson asked as he shook Noah's hand.
“Yeah,” Noah said. “We thought we'd come down and see what your newest batch is like. Got anyone that can give us a run for our money?”
“Nah, all I got is a bunch of pansies this time. You want to run with them, or go out on your own?”
Noah, Moose and Sarah all decided to run the parkour course on their own, but Neil, who for all his long legs couldn't seem to run very far, headed into the gym. It was state-of-the-art, with many of the finest exercise machines. Neil enjoyed lifting weights, so the gym was more his speed.
The other three set out at a jog, not pushing themselves too hard. Their run took them downtown, as always, and Moose and Sarah enjoyed the looks of startlement on the faces of the people they passed. Most of those people were accustomed to the intrusions, believing that the runners were athletes preparing for competition, but they still found it annoying.
Parkour, of course, is the science of getting from one place to another by using every obstacle in your path to help you move more quickly than usual; they ran through stores, office buildings and even leaped from roof to roof. As a workout, it was intense and satisfying, but it also kept them ready and able should they ever have to pursue a target or flee from attackers.
The run lasted a couple of hours, ending back at the PT field. Neil was already finished with his own workout and was sitting on a bench outside, nursing a soft drink. Moose and Sarah collapsed onto the bench beside him as Noah went to the vending machine to get drinks for the three of them.
“It just ain't fair,” Moose said. “It's all I can do to breathe, and he ain't even winded.”
“That's because he does this almost every day, when we're around home,” Sarah said. “I gave up trying to keep up with him. I come running with him a couple of times a week, but most of the time I stay in bed while he does this.”
“Hey, I can run steadily like this for two solid hours, and all I do is run this course once a week. I figure that's good enough; if somebody can catch me within that two hours, fine, then, we'll just fight it out. I don't need to be able to run for a week straight.”
Sarah accepted the bottle of Coke from Noah and clinked hers against the one he gave to Moose. “I hear ya,” she said. “Besides, I don't plan on having to do any running on foot. If I have to race somebody for my life, I want wheels under me and a big engine.”
“At least you can run,” Neil interjected. “I make it about fifty yards and my feet forget which order they're supposed to operate in. All of a sudden, my left foot will try to take two or three steps in a row, while the right foot is sort of waving in the breeze. You know what happens then?”
“Yeah,” Moose said. “You end up on your face, and we all laugh.”
Neil glared at him. “You do realize, don't you, that I'm a genius? That means I can devise ways to kill you in your sleep, and you won't even see it coming. Keep picking on me, I dare you.”
“He isn't picking on you, Neil,” Sa
rah said. “He's just trying to tease you so that you'll keep working at it until you get better.”
“Nope. I'm picking on him.”
Noah stood a few feet away, just watching the repartee. A part of him wanted to be able to join in the banter, but he didn't want to have to plan out his comments. Since they knew about his emotionless nature, they would realize that he was faking it. Noah yearned to know what it felt like to truly be part of their friendly camaraderie.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out to see that the caller was Donald Jefferson. “Donald?”
“Just got the report from the sweep team,” Jefferson said. “Your house seems to be clean, no bugs or any other kind of electronic equipment. I had them look for unknown fingerprints or any other sign that someone had been in there, and they found nothing. Are you certain you locked the door behind you?”
“Yes, I'm sure I did,” Noah said. “It's possible it didn't latch all the way, I suppose.”
“Well, I guess we'll just have to go with that for the moment. Let me know if you find anything else, or if anything like this happens again.”
“I will.” Noah ended the call as Moose, Sarah and Neil started walking his way.
They climbed back into the Hummer and headed home, dropping Moose off at the office building so that he could pick up his car. He and Elaine were planning a short, romantic getaway. With the debriefing finished, they would have at least a few days to enjoy before another mission might call them back to action.
Back at Noah's place, Neil decided it was time for him to do some housekeeping in his trailer. Sarah said it was about time, since Neil was the consummate bachelor; his kitchen had more empty pizza boxes in it than pots and pans, and there were probably dirty clothes scattered from the front door all the way back to his bedroom. She made a comment about his housecleaning skills and got his middle finger as a response.
She and Noah went straight to the shower, ready to wash off the sweat of their exercise, but that led to exercise of another sort. An hour later, the two of them made it to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Sarah opened the refrigerator, but nothing in the leftovers looked either appealing or edible, so she closed it and opened the freezer.
“Corn dogs okay?” Sarah asked, and Noah nodded. She set the oven to preheat, then took the box out of the freezer and put five of them onto a cookie sheet. “You want french fries with them, or we could just do chips?”
“Chips is fine,” Noah said. He reached up into a cabinet and pulled out a big bag of rippled potato chips and set them on the table, then stood and watched Sarah for a moment as she poured two large glasses of iced tea.
Sarah turned around and caught him watching her. “What?”
Noah shook his head. “I don't know,” he said. “Sometimes—sometimes I just like to watch you as you're moving around. I can't explain it, it's not like I'm watching you in a sexual way, it's just—appealing, maybe.”
Sarah stood and stared at him for a moment. “Is this something new? Have you watched girls like that before?”
Noah hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “No. No, I don't think I have.”
She shrugged. “Well, maybe it's a step in the right direction.” She walked over to him and reached up to put her arms around his neck, clasping her hands behind it. “I like watching you, sometimes, too. You move so purposefully, like you can't stand the thought of wasting a motion. It's very appealing.”
Noah cocked his head slightly, looking down at her face. “You're the first girl I've ever been with who really knew what I am, at least since I was a teenager. Molly used to tell me that I was doomed to be lonely, because I'd never find a girl who could deal with it, but I don't know what it feels like to be lonely. Being alone never bothered me, and when I had a girlfriend it was just sort of a different situation. She was right, though, and it never lasted very long. No matter how I tried to pretend to be normal, I'd make mistakes that would upset them, and when I couldn't explain it, they'd leave.”
Sarah grinned. “That was different from us, though,” she said. “I do know how you are, and it's not like we're married or anything. I started this because Queen Allison made it clear that we weren't allowed to have any normal relationships outside the agency, so being with you seemed like a compromise. No strings, no emotional attachment—all I wanted then was the comfort of having somebody touch me, and hold me.” She brought her hands down and put them around his back, drawing him closer to her and laying her head against his chest. “Am I going to ruin things if I tell you that it's different, now? That I'm here because I want to be, because I want to be with you?”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Ruin things? What do you mean?”
Sarah stood there and held him for a moment, then leaned back slightly to look up at him again. “I'm not like you,” she said, “I do have emotions. Is it going to cause problems between us if I'm—if I'm getting attached to you? Emotionally attached, I mean?”
“It doesn't cause a problem for me,” he said, “but you have to know that it doesn't change anything on my end. I still don't have any way to return those feelings. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't seem to have them inside me.”
“I know,” Sarah said softly. She rose up on her toes and brushed his lips with hers. “I didn't want to feel anything, it just sort of hit me one day that I did. You may be a robot to everybody else, but to me you're just the most incredible man I've ever known. I won't rub it in your face, I won't tell you I love you or anything like that, don't worry. I just needed to let you know, so that if you wanted out...”
Noah looked into her face, his expression as blank as ever. “I don't want out, but sooner or later you're going to.”
Sarah grinned. “Maybe,” she said. “But until then, I plan to enjoy being with you as much as I can. That okay?”
“That's okay,” Noah said.
The oven beeped to say that it had reached the right temperature, and Sarah let go of him to turn and put the corn dogs into it. She set the timer for eighteen minutes, as it said on the box, and the two of them took their glasses and walked into the living room to find something on the television. Noah found an old episode of Star Trek, and they watched until the timer went off.
Noah paused the television as Sarah went to get their lunch. She was back a moment later with all of the corn dogs on a single plate, carrying the bag of chips under her arm. “I figured we could just eat in here,” she said.
“Sounds good to me,” Noah said. He picked up a corn dog, dipped it into the puddles of mustard and ketchup she had put on the plate, and took a bite while she opened the bag. He picked up the remote and started the program again.
The show ended and they started a movie, a recent action flick with a lot of older action stars. Sarah watched intently, enjoying all of the violence and action, while Noah paid close attention to the way the members of the mercenary team interacted with each other.
When the movie ended, they flipped through the list of movies and programs, looking for something else to watch, but didn't find anything that caught their interest. Instead, they decided to go for a walk in the surrounding forest. Both of them enjoyed being out in nature, watching the wildlife and discussing the things they saw. Noah noticed when Sarah's fingers entwined in his own, but didn't say anything.
It was almost six by the time they got back to the house, and they were looking at options for dinner when Noah's phone rang.
“Hello,” he said, and he heard Allison's voice.
“Camelot,” she said, “I need you in my office in one hour. Is Sarah with you?”
“Yes, she's right here.”
“Bring her along,” Allison said, and then the line went dead.
Noah turned to Sarah. “Allison wants us at her office in an hour. You need anything before we go?”
Sarah's eyes were wide, but she shook her head. “No, I'm good. Maybe we can grab something to eat on the way.”
Noah nodded, and they went out the door
and got into his Corvette. The drive into Kirtland only took about twenty minutes, so they stopped at one of the taco shops and went inside. The place had an all-you-can-eat taco bar, with a selection of meats and toppings so that they could make their own tacos. They made their plates quickly and sat down to eat.
Thirty minutes later, they were parked in the garage under Allison's office building, and rode the elevator up to her floor. Jenny, her secretary, was already gone for the day, but there were lights on inside. Noah tapped on the door and heard Allison call out, “Come in.”
They stepped inside, and Noah was surprised to see no one else there. Allison was fumbling with some papers on her desk, and pointed at the chairs in front of it. “Sit,” she said. They sat, and waited for Allison to finish what she was doing. It took her another minute or so, and then she looked up at them.
“Sorry for the sudden roust,” she said. “I just made a whirlwind flight to DC and back, and I learned a couple of things you need to know. It seems that the Mauritanian Prime Minister may well have been working with the Russians. NSA and CIA both picked up chatter that indicates he was likely involved with the plot to use the girl against President Habib. They've got at least eight clandestine meetings between him and the Russian ambassador, Pavel Gregorich, over a three-month period leading up to her disappearance. In at least one of them, the topic of discussion was the alliance the Russians have been pressuring for, and Ndiaye was heard saying that the only thing standing in the way was the president's opposition.”
Noah shrugged. “Well, we beat him,” he said. “You don't think they'll try to use the girl again, do you?”
Allison shook her head. “Very doubtful,” she said. “And this doesn't really pertain to us, anyway, except that it seems you may well have been correct when you said the whole thing seemed too easy. Our intelligence analysts are examining the possibility that this entire situation was contrived with the sole purpose of drawing E & E out where the Russians could find something leading back to us.”