In Sheep's Clothing

by David Archer

  Neverland under attack. Go to ground until further.

  Sarah looked at Noah, her face in shock. “They're under attack?”

  Noah shook his head. “You know everything I do. Protocol says we duck low and stay there, so let's find somewhere to hole up.”

  “Boss, what?” Moose asked. “Shouldn't we get back and try to help?”

  “You read the policy manual, same as I did. In the event Neverland is compromised, all field agents are to stop whatever they're doing and find somewhere to lay low. They'll contact us when it's safe to come in.”

  “Holy geez,” Neil said. “What about Lacey, I need to call her. Moose, what about Elaine?”

  “No calls,” Noah said, “not right now. We don't know what's going on back there, and any phone calls into the complex could end up causing problems. If we haven't heard anything by tonight, you can call and check in with them, but you'll do it on burner phones. If they’re compromised, we don't need to leave a trail back to us.”

  “But, Noah...” Neil began, before Noah cut him off.

  “No calls, that's the protocol. Like I said, if we haven't heard anything by tonight, we'll get some throwaway phones and you can call both of them. For right now, we do things by the book.”

  Neil started to argue, but knew he wouldn't get anywhere. He flopped back in the seat and turned his face to look out the window, but not before Sarah saw the tears trying to brim over from his eyes.

  She glanced at Noah. “He's scared,” she whispered. “I think Lacey is his first girlfriend, he’s worried about her.”

  “I understand that,” Noah said just as softly. “We still have to follow protocol. I'll bend it for them later this evening, but for right now we're staying by the book.”

  EIGHT

  “We need a motel,” Noah said, “someplace inconspicuous and out-of-the-way. Neil, see what you can find.”

  Neil groaned as he picked up his computer from where it sat between him and Moose and opened it up. With its built-in broadband system, he had access to the internet from almost anywhere on earth. It took him only a few moments to locate a motel that would suit their purposes.

  “Two exits up,” he said listlessly, “there's a place called the Wagon Trail Motel. It's about two miles off the interstate, to the south. Looks about as inconspicuous as you can get.”

  “That'll do,” Noah said. Sarah nodded, and took the second exit when they got to it.

  The Wagon Trail Motel looked like it had seen better days, but it would suit their purposes nicely. Rather than being a single building with a lot of rooms, there were numerous cabins scattered around a five-acre lot. Noah went into the office and rented two of them, telling the desk clerk that they were interested in buying some property in the area and might want to stay a day or two.

  Their cabins were side-by-side, and they carried their bags into them before gathering in the one that Noah and Sarah would occupy. Unlike a normal motel room, the cabins included a small kitchen. Noah commented that if they had to stay a few days, at least they wouldn't have to keep putting up with restaurant food.

  They sat and talked for a little while, trying to guess what kind of attack might have taken Neverland by surprise, but they simply didn't have any information to go on. Neil continued to whine about wanting to call Lacey, but Noah wouldn't budge on the matter. They finally decided the only smart thing to do was get some rest while they could, so Neil and Moose went back to their own cabin.

  Noah and Sarah lay on the bed, and he kept an arm wrapped around her as she snuggled up to him. They talked for a few moments, but then Noah drifted off to sleep. Sarah lay and watched them for a while, envious for the moment of his ability to shut out everything else when he needed to sleep.

  When he awoke two hours later, Noah found Sarah still awake and watching. She smiled and crinkled her eyes when he looked at her, then pulled his face down for a kiss.

  “That seems like a nice way to wake up,” he said. “Did you sleep at all?”

  She shook her head. “Hmm-mm. Just been laying here watching you. I didn't know how long you wanted to sleep, so I just laid here.”

  Noah picked up his phone from the nightstand beside him and glanced at it. It was nearly one thirty in the afternoon, but there were no text messages or missed calls. “I guess it's time I got up. I was hoping we would have heard something by now.”

  “Me, too,” Sarah said. “Could I make a suggestion?”

  “Sure, Babe,” Noah said. “What is it?”

  “Let Neil and Moose call the girls. Assuming they're okay, both of their dads work for the head office. They probably know something.”

  Noah lay there and looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “I think you got a good point, but we need some throwaway phones. There was a sign on the road out front for a McDonald’s a few miles ahead. If the town is big enough for that, there’s probably a Walmart. Why don’t you run on in and get some burner phones, and maybe pick up something for dinner.”

  “Okay,” Sarah said. She kissed him on the end of his nose as she rolled off the bed and slipped into her shoes again, picked up her purse and slipped out the door. Noah heard the car start a moment later, and she drove away.

  He thumbed the speed dial icon for Moose and put the phone to his ear.

  “You guys awake? Okay, then get over here. I just sent Sarah to get some burner phones. It's time we find out what's going on, if we can.” He ended the call without saying goodbye, and there was a tap on the door only a minute later. “Come on in.”

  Moose and Neil stepped inside and sat down in chairs at the small table. Noah got up from the bed and went to join them.

  “I haven’t heard anything, so I’m sure neither of you have, either. Sarah is going to pick up something for dinner while she’s out, too. Soon as she gets back, you guys can make your calls.”

  “Damn, I wish she’d hurry,” Neil said. “If anything has happened to Lacey, I’ll go nuts.”

  “Lacey’s a smart girl,” Moose said, “and her daddy is one of the toughest men I’ve ever known. I think she’ll be okay. Elaine, too.”

  The three of them sat and talked for another half hour, until Sarah returned. She stepped inside with three bags, and handed one of them to Neil immediately. The skinny kid ripped it open to find two prepaid disposable phones. He passed one to Moose and then began ripping at the package on the other. It took them only a couple of minutes to have the phones assembled and activated.

  “Neil,” Noah said when Neil looked at him, “go ahead and call Lacey. Make sure she's okay, and then see if she knows anything about what's going on.”

  Neil's eyes lit up as his thumb flew over the dial pad and put the phone on speaker. They heard the one on the other end ring four times, and Neil was starting to panic when Lacey finally answered.

  “Hello,” she said cautiously.

  Neil gasped in relief. “Hey, honey, it's me! Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I'm all right,” she said. “Do you know what's going on?”

  “No, honey, we don't. I was calling to see if you might know something.”

  “I don't know a lot,” Lacey said. “I know somebody walked into the offices and just started blasting away. I heard there were seven dead, one of them was Jenny Atkins, the Dragon Lady's secretary. Ms. Peterson and Mr. Jefferson were both wounded, but I don't know how bad it is. They're in the hospital, but nobody is saying much of anything about it.”

  “Allison was wounded?” Noah asked suddenly. “Who's in command?”

  “I'm not sure, at the moment,” Lacey said. “I haven't heard anything more since it happened a few hours ago. I tried calling my dad, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. He was supposed to go to the office sometime today, but I don’t know if he was there when the attack happened or not. Oh, Neil, I’m so worried.”

  Noah glanced at Moose, who was holding his own burner phone in his hand. He nodded once, and Moose got up and walked outside, dialing Elaine's phone number.


  “Lacey, where are you?” Neil asked. “Are you at home?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I was off today, mom and I were going to go do some shopping this afternoon, but when this happened we decided to just stay home and wait.”

  Noah leaned forward. “Lacey, is anything on the news about this?”

  “Yes, but they're just calling it a random attack at the moment. The Kirtland police are actually some of our people, but they have to stay in their characters. The FBI is here, doing whatever they do. That's all I really know right now.”

  Noah nodded, and Neil took the phone off speaker. He moved to the other side of the room so that he could have some privacy, and Noah turned to Sarah.

  “Noah, who could have done this?” Sarah asked. “I mean, you don't think it was...”

  “We don't know enough to even make a guess,” Noah said, “but I wouldn't put it past Nicolaich. We know he's out there, operating on his own now. I'd have to say it's possible he blames E & E, and me personally, for his little regime falling apart. He's probably the only one I could imagine right now who would have the balls to make an attack like this, but we just don't know enough to even really speculate.”

  Moose stepped back inside, the phone to his ear. “Noah, Donald Jefferson is in critical condition at Kirtland Regional. Elaine says they don't know right now if he's going to make it at all. Allison Peterson was taken by life flight to Denver, nobody knows anything since then. Her secretary was killed in the attack, along with six other people. Doc Parker is in temporary command, but that's just because they can't find John Hackett. John is actually the number three, after Allison and Donald.”

  Noah nodded. “Tell her we appreciate it, and we hope the best for her father.” He took out his cell phone and dialed the number to Allison's office.

  “Brigadoon Investments,” answered a voice he didn't recognize. “How may I direct your call?”

  “Doc Parker, please,” Noah said.

  “And may I ask who's calling?”

  “Yes, tell him it's Noah Wolf.”

  The operator placed him on hold, but he was only there for a moment. Doc Parker's voice came on the line after only a few seconds.

  “What was the first thing I ever told you?” Parker asked, his voice gruff and challenging.

  Noah thought for only a second, then said, “You told me I was late, and when I said I was new, you told me that didn't matter.”

  “Very good,” Parker said. “Are you on a secure line?”

  “Yes, sir, an agency phone. I realize I'm breaking protocol but I'm hearing that we've had some losses up at the top. Is there anything I can do?”

  “Well, for right now, you can stay out of here. I'm not going to ream you for checking in, I wasn't going to wait much longer before I called you myself. I've got three teams down right now, and all the others are in the field and can't be reached. You're the only one I've got available right now. We're trying to figure out exactly what hit us, and then I need you to get on it.”

  “Yes, sir,” Noah said. “You said three teams are down?”

  “Oz and Unicorn are down for good, dead. Aladdin is alive, but he'll be out of the field for a while, may not ever go back out. Cinderella, Robin Hood and Hercules are out on missions out of the country. That leaves me you. I want you to stay low until I, or someone who replaces me, gives you the word to move. Wait a minute, belay that. I want you to stay low until you have a target to go after, whether you get it from us or find it on your own.”

  “Yes, sir. Sir, do you know if this has anything to do with Andropov?”

  “Oh, yes, he was your problem, wasn't he? We're actually thinking he may be involved, but we don't know if he's running the operation or not. We got hit in four places at once this morning, including this office, the Armory, R&D and the training classrooms. Those three attacks happened first and seemed to be distractions, trying to keep us from being ready for the big one that hit here. We've got a total of eighteen dead, more than fifty wounded, including some of the newest recruits. Don Jefferson was carried out of here with two bullets in his left lung and one in his head, but he was still screaming for a gun as they put him in the ambulance. I always said he was too damned stubborn to kill, and now I’m hoping I was right. Allison, she's in surgery in Denver. She was hit three times, as well, but she got the son of a bitch that shot her. No word yet on her condition. Just found out a few minutes ago that John Hackett bought the farm, so I guess I'm stuck with this job for a while. I've got Art Jackson subbing for Jefferson.”

  “I can't think of anybody better than you, right now, sir,” Noah said. “Would you let me know about Allison when you hear something? Other than that, I will await your orders.”

  "I'll do that,” Parker said. “Meanwhile, you got that bright boy, the skinny kid, what's his name? Blessing, that's it, Blessing. Put his ass to work, see if he can find anything on Andropov. And if you can track the bastard down, you are authorized to take him out. That also applies to any of his associates that might be involved.”

  “Yes, sir,” Noah said. “We'll get on it right now.”

  Noah looked over to where Neil was still talking to Lacey on his phone, and hooked a finger at him. Neil told Lacey he would call her back later and sat down across from Noah again. Moose had gone back outside after delivering his report, but he stepped in just a moment later and took his own chair.

  “They’ve got Allison in surgery,” Noah said, “but we don't know anything yet. Jefferson's in the hospital in Kirtland, apparently he took a couple in the chest and a hit in the head, but Doc Parker says he was still conscious when they carried him out. That could be a good sign. They found John Hackett, but he's dead, so Parker is in charge for now. Mr. Jackson is acting as his deputy.” He turned to Neil. “I need you to get online, see what you can find out about Nicolaich Andropov. I don't know the details, but Doc Parker seems to think that he was involved in this attack, and if he was, then I want to find him as soon as we can. We are authorized to act on our own and go after him.”

  Neil jumped up and ran out the door, but came back a few moments later with his computer. He plugged it in and turned it on as Moose turned to Noah.

  “What can I do, Boss?” Moose asked.

  Noah glanced at Sarah, who was busying herself with the little kitchen, then turned back to Moose. “Right now, I think the most important thing for you to do is try to help me keep things on an even keel. We’ve got to focus, Moose, try to either come up with a game plan on our own, or sit and wait to see what the home office has to say. Doc Parker didn’t seem to know when they might be back up to running properly.”

  Moose nodded. “Okay. I just want to be able to check in with Elaine, now and then, is that all right?”

  “Yeah, at this point I’d have to say it’s not a problem. They’re putting everything back together as quickly as they can and I’m certain security there is as high as it could possibly be right now.”

  Neil cleared his throat, and Noah looked at him. “Noah? You said Mr. Jackson is okay?”

  “Yes, he's helping Doc Parker run the show for right now, doing Mr. Jefferson’s job.”

  Neil turned and looked at him. “Would you mind if I take a minute and call Lacey back? She and her mom are worried sick, they haven't heard from her dad since the attack started.”

  Noah looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Be careful what you say,” he said. “You're not on a secure line, so don't give her too many details. Don't mention Doc Parker, just say that you got word that her father is okay.”

  Neil grinned and nodded, and hit the redial button on his prepaid phone instantly. Noah sat quietly as Neil became a hero to his girlfriend for letting her know that her father was alive and apparently well.

  Neil cut the call short and then got back on the computer. He was feeling a rage beginning to build within himself, anger at whoever had done this and caused so much harm and grief. He quietly told himself that it didn't matter who it was, Neil wanted his own c
hance to take a shot at them.

  “Hey, Noah?” Neil asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you get me a sawed-off shotgun? From everything I've read, even I can hit what I'm shooting at with that.”

  Noah cocked his head and just looked at the skinny young man for a moment. “Tell you what,” he said finally. “I'll see what I can do.”

  NINE

  Sarah had decided on spaghetti, which pleased everyone, and it was done in fairly short order. She scooped it out onto plates and set one in front of each of the three men before making one for herself and taking a seat at the table.

  “Be careful, Noah,” Moose said. “She’s acting domestic. I think that engagement ring must be too tight, it’s cutting off circulation to her brain.”

  Sarah backhanded him on his shoulder. “Shut up, jerk face,” she said. “Remember the emergency protocols? We’re supposed to remain in character. According to the file they gave me, I’m Rosemary Wingo, engaged to be married sometime soon. Gotta act the part, right?”

  Moose chuckled, and Noah simply turned and looked at Sarah. “Realistically, you’re right, but if we really were Wyatt and Rosemary, you don’t think I’d want you to wait on my friends, do you?”

  “You shut up, too,” Sarah said as she spun her fork in the spaghetti and shoved it into her mouth.

  Neil had spent the time before dinner hacking into every government database he could think of that might have a reference to Nicolaich Andropov. The man had been seen four times over the past two months. He was in Spain first, apparently negotiating an arms deal, then went to Rome for a week. No one seemed to have any idea what he was doing at the time, but then he turned up a couple of weeks later in London, where he was seen entering the North Korean embassy only days before that country escalated its efforts to rekindle the Korean War. He was almost captured there, but managed to slip away from his pursuers at the last second before they were ready to close in.

  The most recent sighting of him, though, had been in Los Angeles. He was identified by an FBI agent there on a security video, in the company of an unknown mercenary who was in the process of purchasing weapons. A raid was mounted to try to capture both of them, but it failed.