by Mike Ryan
“What is it?” Parker asked.
“Date and time,” Cole said, looking at the partially torn piece of paper.
“Today’s date. One hour from now,” Parker read, looking at the time. “What’s the rest say?” she asked, trying to make it out.
“The Trojan…something,” Cole replied. “Could mean anything.”
“It’s gotta be a place. He was planning on meeting somebody there.”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s think. Trojan. Could be connected to USC somehow,” she reasoned. “Heath went there. That’s their nickname. Something he’s familiar with.”
“Well he’s got a leg up on us there.”
“No he doesn’t. Ryan,” Parker said.
“Huh?”
“Ryan would know. If it’s connected to USC, he would know,” she said.
Cole grunted, not really wanting to involve Turner in the matter. He also knew though that he probably was their best option. Parker hastily called Turner, knowing they didn’t have much time if Adams was supposed to meet someone there. Turner was happy once he saw Parker was calling. He liked talking to her and he assumed that after their talk the previous night that they had a good understanding of each other.
“Hey Alex, what’s up?”
“We need your help,” she told him.
“Well it’s about time. I’ve been wondering when you guys were gonna let me join you,” he said. “What do you need me to do? Meet you somewhere?”
“No. Actually, we just need you to answer a question.”
“Uhh, OK. Sure.”
“We found a piece of paper with a date and time on it and the words The Trojan…something. We assume it’s a meeting place of some sort. I thought maybe it was somehow connected to USC. Do you happen to have any idea what that means?” she asked.
“Is this connected to Heath, or something else?” Turner wondered.
“It could be Heath. Why?”
“Well if it had nothing to do with Heath I’d probably have no idea what they were talking about. But if it’s Heath…they’re probably talking about The Trojan Horse.”
“What’s The Trojan Horse?”
“It’s a burger restaurant. It’s about three blocks from the USC campus. Heath always used to love going there. Well, me too,” he told her. “It’s a pretty popular hangout spot.”
“That’s gotta be it! You’re the best. Thanks.”
“Well, I don’t like to…hello?” Turner asked, realizing that she’d already hung up on him.
“The Trojan Horse is a restaurant,” Parker told Cole and Jenkins. “Ryan said Heath used to go there all the time. It’s about three blocks from the USC campus.”
“Let’s go,” Cole said.
Chapter 10
The team got to The Trojan Horse just a few minutes before the scheduled meeting was supposed to take place. Jenkins and a few agents had joined Parker and Cole on the assignment. It was almost unprecedented that the FBI and CIA were working together so closely, but it was largely in part to the agents involved putting the mission first ahead of government red tape. They determined that Parker would go inside the restaurant and wait while the rest of the agents would set up a perimeter outside. If they saw Davis approaching, they would let Parker know he was on the way. Or if Davis got scared off, someone would be at every corner waiting for him and be able to nab him. Parker went inside the busy restaurant and was greeted by a hostess. She thought about just walking around the restaurant to see if Davis was already there but decided to just let the hostess seat her at a table. Parker told her she was waiting for someone and looked around on the way to her table. Once seated, she continued looking. It was a medium sized USC themed restaurant, with not too many obstacles in her way of viewing the other customers.
“Doesn’t look like he’s here,” Parker said into her watch radio.
“Just sit tight,” Cole replied. “We’ll keep an eye out.”
It turned out to be a long wait. Parker contemplated what she’d say or do if he walked through those doors. She hesitated the first time she saw him, something she never did. One of her strengths was that she was usually very decisive and didn’t waffle when making decisions. Though Parker couldn’t just wipe away the time she spent with Davis, his recent actions were making it easier for her to do the job she was sent there for. She was determined that the next time she saw him she wouldn’t hold back. She wouldn’t listen to his empty words and she’d remember that he tried to kill her. And Cole. After twenty minutes went by with no activity and no word from the agents outside, Parker was starting to get a little antsy. Although she was usually patient, she desperately wanted Davis to show his face. She was ready for this mission to be over. Especially with Turner seeing another woman, Parker didn’t want to be stuck there watching him go on date after date with someone else. She was ready to move on to somewhere else. An hour elapsed and it seemed pretty clear to everyone that Davis was not going to show. He’d either been tipped off somehow about the agents waiting for him or he never had any intention of showing up to begin with. Either way, it was a dead end.
“All right. I don’t know about you guys, but we’re gonna pull out of here,” Jenkins radioed.
“Thanks for the help anyway,” Parker replied.
“You got it. Need anything else, you know where to find me.”
“Ready to go or you wanna give it more time?” Cole asked his partner.
“We’re already here. Might as well give it another five minutes,” she replied.
Parker left once the five minutes was up, Cole waiting in front of the entrance for her. It wasn’t a total loss though. At least they had a connection between Davis and Adams. They went back to the apartment to see if they could put together how they knew each other, if they had prior contact somehow, or if Davis just reached out to whoever was nearby.
They studied Adams’ file for over an hour and tried to glue the pieces together but were unable to come up with a connection. Cole closed the file folder and sighed.
“There’s nothing in here that’s gonna get us closer to Davis,” Cole said. “For all we know he just picked Adams out of the phonebook.”
“It’s OK,” she told him. “Don’t worry. We’re still in business. We still have Nazarov tonight.”
“And what if we don’t get anything from him? Then we’re back at square one.”
“We’ll get something. We have to. He knows something.”
Cole’s computer started to light up, indicating a message was coming in. It was Burnett’s face that quickly came across the screen.
“How are things coming along?” Burnett asked.
“Well, we found no connection between Davis and Adams,” Cole informed her. “But we still have Nazarov that we plan on picking up tonight.”
“Good. Let’s hope you get something out of him or else your stay there might be coming to an end.”
“You’re pulling us out?” Parker asked.
“Possibly. It depends on what you get from Nazarov. If you get nothing then I don’t see what good staying there any longer will do.”
“Understood,” Cole said.
“We’ve also gotten word from our friends at MI6 that informants have told them about a secret meeting going down in England next week involving a rogue CIA agent.”
“You think it’s Davis?”
“We don’t know yet. It could be. But we have no way of knowing yet.”
“But what if it’s not and Heath is still here?”
“That will depend on what you learn from Nazarov,” Burnett told them. “If you get nothing, then where will you proceed next?”
“Umm.”
“Exactly. Then you’ll have nothing. I can’t have two of my top agents sitting there twiddling their thumbs while we wait for a lead to develop. We never believed Davis was going there to establish a home base. While his reasons for being there are unclear, we have always assumed he was just stopping there on his way to some foreign city, where he ca
n try to blend in. It’s quite possible, maybe even likely, that we’ll have more success tracking him down there. Do either of you disagree?” she asked, though she really didn’t want or expect either of them to.
“We understand the situation,” Cole said quickly, wanting to cut Parker off and not have her argue, just in case she disagreed.
“Good. Let me know when you have Nazarov.”
Cole looked at Parker, unsure how she was feeling about what Burnett just told them. He could tell that she was growing weary of the lifestyle they were living. Plus, being so close to Turner, he wondered if it’d be even harder for her to leave.
“You OK with that?” Cole asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just figured with Turner, maybe…”
“I told you, nothing’s happening between us,” she exclaimed. “Besides, he’s going out with that Marissa girl.”
“Want me to shoot…,” he began to say, before stopping when Parker shot him a look. “No, I guess not.”
“There’s nothing going on between the two of us and there’ll never be anything between us. It was just a weak moment of mine and I’m over it. Besides, getting out of here will be good for me. I don’t wanna start getting comfortable here.”
Cole looked at her with disbelief. He could tell she didn’t mean a thing she’d just said but was either in denial or just wanted to appear stronger than she actually was. Parker then went back to her apartment as the two tried to relax for an hour or two. Nazarov wasn’t supposed to be at the club until nine o’clock so they had a little bit of time. Cole took a nap. He knew they could have a long night and wanted to get at least a couple hours of sleep. Parker just went on her laptop and browsed the internet for a while, looking up news stories. She tried to keep abreast of what else was happing in the world just in case something happened that she might wind up being a part of eventually.
Once it was time to grab Nazarov, Parker changed into a more revealing outfit. She put on high heels and a short black dress with a plunging neckline. If anything would distract Nazarov long enough to get his guard down, it would be her. Parker met up with Cole outside his apartment and the two of them drove down to Whispers, getting there in plenty of time. When they got to the club, they parked in the back where most of the VIP guests went. They sat there for a few minutes, watching everybody that went in or out of the club. Cole was looking at everybody through binoculars, waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. As soon as it started getting crowded and the line formed, that’s when Parker went to work.
“There,” Cole pointed. “White strapless dress, brown hair, toward the end of the line. Sticking out of her purse.”
Parker quickly got out of the car and hurried over to the line. She immediately recognized the woman Cole had pointed out and headed toward her. When Parker reached her target, she grabbed the woman’s arm and spun her around. She opened her mouth and put her hand over it, pretending to be embarrassed, as her other hand grabbed the VIP pass out of the woman’s purse.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Parker feigned. “I thought you were one of my girlfriend’s that was supposed to meet me here. My friend Sharon told me she was gonna be wearing a knockout white dress and from behind you look exactly alike, which is a compliment cause you look absolutely fantastic in that.”
The other woman smiled at the compliment. “It’s OK. No problem. You really think I look that good?”
“Are you kidding?” Parker asked, moving closer to her. “If you’re looking for any action tonight, you are gonna get it wearing that. You’re gonna have to beat these guys off with a stick.”
“That’s the plan,” the woman beamed.
“Well you work it, girl. Oops. I think I see my friend over there by my car,” Parker told her. “Well it was nice to meet you. Have a good time tonight.”
“Thanks. You too.”
Parker quickly walked away and went back to their car and sat down.
“Smooth,” Cole said. “Real smooth.”
“Seemed like a nice girl. Shame I had to ruin her night,” Parker lamented.
“Part of the job. She’ll get over it. She can still get in the club. Just not the VIP part.”
“Yeah. I’ll wait a few more minutes before going in.”
Parker waited about fifteen minutes before going back to the line. She got to the front and presented her pass and got in with no problem. She got up to the second floor and was immediately immersed in a crowd of people, some drinking, some dancing. Cole told her he’d let her know as soon as Nazarov arrived. Parker hoped it wouldn’t be a long wait. Although she looked like she could fit in to the partying scene, she really didn’t like it very much. Much to her chagrin, she had to endure a couple men flirting with her, trying to pick her up with some bad one-liners. She really hated men coming on to her like it was some kind of game. She tried to stay in the background as long as she could and grabbed a table to the rear. She ordered a drink while she waited. She fought off the advances of three more men in the half hour she waited until Nazarov got there.
“We got action,” she heard in her earpiece. “Nazarov’s entering the building now. You should get eyes on him in a minute.”
Parker eagerly awaited their target’s arrival. She moved her head around to get her sights on him, trying to see through the crowd of people. It was tough to see anybody with the amount of people around her so she got up and moved around. She continually sidestepped people until she was able to see Nazarov. Parker walked up to him and pretended to bump into him.
“I’m so sorry,” she told him.
“No problem baby.”
“You’re a big, strong guy,” Parker said, feeling his arms. “Nice muscles.”
Nazarov smiled, happy to hear the woman gush over him. He flexed his arm for her. “You should see them without the clothes.”
“I would love to.”
Nazarov was a little taken back, not expecting the woman to come on to him so quickly. Parker leaned in so she could talk directly in his ear.
“I’ve been dying to get out of this dress all night,” she flirted. “How would you like to help me with it?”
“Sounds like an offer I can’t refuse,” he replied. He couldn’t wait to see what the beautiful woman had to offer underneath that dress.
“C’mon,” she said, grabbing his hand.
“Where we going?”
“My car.”
“Your car?” he asked, surprised.
“I always wanted to do it in a car. I tell you what,” Parker told him, kissing him on the cheek. “If we do it in the car first, you can take me anywhere you want after that. We can do it all night long and you can do anything you want to me.”
“Anything, huh?”
“Anything at all,” she said, kissing his neck.
“Sounds like a deal I can’t refuse,” he replied, getting aroused.
Parker led him down the stairs and out of the building, Nazarov hardly able to keep it in his pants with the promises of the gorgeous woman in front of him. He fondled her body the entire way as she led him over to Cole’s car. Cole had gotten out and was ducking behind the car next to them. Once he noticed Parker coming he revealed himself and started walking past them.
“Hey, good luck with that one buddy,” Cole told Nazarov as he passed him.
Nazarov nodded at him and smiled as he thought about the things he was going to do to the blonde. Parker led him around the car and embraced Nazarov and began kissing him. With Nazarov distracted, Cole came up behind him and used a stun gun, zapping Nazarov in the neck. Nazarov instantly passed out and dropped to the ground. Parker and Cole stood over him as Parker started wiping her mouth.
“What’s wrong with you?” Cole asked.
“Lousy kisser,” she replied, giving a nasty face. “Can’t believe I let this crumb put his hands all over me.”
“The things we do for the job,” Cole joked.
“Yeah, well next time, you can have it.”<
br />
“I’m not the right type.”
“How do you know unless you try?” Parker asked.
“No way sister, not me.”
They each grabbed an end of Nazarov’s body and put him in the back seat of Cole’s truck. With what Cole used on him, Nazarov would remain out for an hour or two. Then they drove him to a CIA safe house that was often used to either hide or question suspects and prisoners. Parker called Burnett to let her know that they’d acquired Nazarov and would begin their questioning of him shortly.
“OK. I’ll take the lead,” Cole said.
“No. I got this,” Parker objected.
“Now’s not the time to argue.”
“You’re right. It’s not. I’ve got this,” she sternly told him.
“This guy’s not gonna give us anything unless we’re ruthless. Brutal,” Cole said, not sure his partner was up to the task.
“I know. You’ve never seen how ruthless and brutal I can be.”
Cole was unconvinced that she was able to do what was necessary in order to make Nazarov talk, but was willing to give it a try. He was somewhat curious about what her version of ruthless and brutal was.
“OK. But I’m not giving you all night. If you don’t get anything out of him within a fair amount of time, then it’s my turn,” Cole told her.
“No problem,” she smiled.
Cole felt a little uneasy with how confident she was. Either she was too overconfident about it or she was about to unleash something he’d never seen before. Either way, he was eager to see what she had in mind. Cole drug Nazarov out of the car by his feet, letting his body drop to the ground, not really caring about whether it injured him or not. He then picked Nazarov up by his arms and threw him over his shoulder as Cole walked into the safe house. Parker had the chair set up for him as she put it in the center of the room. Cole leaned down and took Nazarov off his shoulder, setting him on the chair, Parker handcuffing their prisoner’s hands behind the chair. Nazarov was still knocked out, his head slumping forward.
“I think it’s time we wake our sleeping beauty up,” Cole stated. He walked over to their bag of torture goodies and looked over a couple bottles. He finally grabbed the one he wanted and walked back over to Nazarov. Cole opened the bottle and held it under Nazarov’s nose for a few seconds, letting the scent get into Nazarov’s system.