Two Steps Forward

by Luana Ehrlich

  “I wouldn’t know whether you did or not. I’ve never heard it before, and I don’t know anything about Isaiah.”

  “He was an Old Testament prophet.” She gestured out her window. “Actually he was from Jerusalem; he would have been very familiar with the countryside around here, especially Beit Shemesh.”

  “I guess I should have thought of this sooner, but if you’d like, we could stick around here a few more days and do some sightseeing. I’m sure exploring the biblical sites in Israel is something you’d enjoy.”

  She shook her head. “No, let’s see if we can get a flight out of here tomorrow. We’ve accomplished what we came to do, and I’m anxious to get home. We can come back some other time and do some sightseeing.”

  I agreed with Nikki

  That turned out to be a good decision.

  A few hours later, I got a phone call from Carlton ordering me back to Langley immediately.

  PART FOUR

  Chapter 21

  Wednesday, May 22

  Nikki and I were able to get a flight out of Tel Aviv twenty-four hours after our visit to the Tzora kibbutz.

  Since our tickets required us to change planes twice, we were anticipating a long trip home before we even left Tel Aviv, but then the journey turned out to be even longer when our flight from London to Boston got delayed for several hours.

  That’s why Nikki and I were sitting in a departure lounge at Heathrow Airport at two o’clock in the morning when Carlton called me on my Agency sat phone.

  I walked over to an empty section of the lounge to take the call.

  “Clear,” I said.

  “Are you positive about that? I’m in RTM Center A, and we have you up on the Grid. You’re at Heathrow, right?”

  If Carlton had my sat phone up on the Grid in RTM Center A, I was either in some kind of trouble or my upcoming operation was about to go live a little earlier than I’d anticipated.

  “That’s right, but it’s two o’clock in the morning here in London, so there’s not a whole lot going on. I assure you, Douglas, I have an unobstructed bubble of empty space around me right now.”

  “Okay, but since your flight to Boston is about to be called, I’ll need to make this short.”

  “We haven’t heard a word about our flight, so you’re much better informed about it than we are. But then, we’re just the paying customers; they don’t tell us anything.”

  “You sound a little grumpy.”

  “It’s been a long day. Nikki and I are pretty wiped out.”

  “I’ve never heard you complain about having a long day before.”

  “I guess I’m out of practice after months of being on leave, plus, if you remember, I’m just wrapping up a ten-day honeymoon.”

  “I’d advise you to get used to long days again. The DDO has just put you back on active status.”

  “As of when?”

  “As of when you answered your phone. I’m sorry, Titus, but when you get to Boston, you won’t be flying on to Oklahoma City with Nikki. You’ll be on a flight to Washington, D.C.”

  I glanced over at Nikki who was sitting on the other side of the room with her legs tucked up under her and her head resting on the back of the seat. Her sweater was cradling her neck. When our eyes met, she gave me an understanding smile.

  I figured she knew my phone call couldn’t be good news.

  “Am I flying into Dulles?” I asked.

  “Yes. Chuck will meet you in Boston and give you a cell phone with your flight information on it, along with a suitcase. When you get to Dulles, there’ll be a driver waiting to bring you to Langley.”

  “I don’t suppose you’d tell me why I was taken off inactive status a few days early, would you?”

  “No, I would not. You’ll find that out when you get here, but you can probably guess it’s about Operation Invisible Target, which Veronica tells me you already know is the name of your next assignment. Naturally, I’d like to know how you managed to obtain that intel.”

  “What kind of spy would I be if I didn’t have some intel on an operation before I was briefed on it?”

  He chose not to answer that question. “Your briefing on Invisible Target is scheduled for later today, so I hope you’ll be able to get some sleep when you’re over the Atlantic. You’ll need to have your wits about you for this one.”

  “Not to worry. Sleep or no sleep, my wit is always about me.”

  * * * *

  Our flight was announced as I hung up, exactly as Carlton had predicted. No doubt his ability to make that prediction was not because he had predictive power, but because an analyst in the Ops Center was monitoring the computer systems at Heathrow.

  Carlton was good at what he did, but he wasn’t that good.

  Within an hour, we were winging our way back to the States. Since our plane was barely two-thirds full, Nikki and I had a row of seats to ourselves, which allowed me to have a whispered conversation with her about Carlton’s phone call.

  Although Nikki was noticeably disappointed I wasn’t coming back to Norman with her, she didn’t make a big deal about it, and I assured her I’d be calling her and Eleanor before I left the States.

  Both of us fell asleep a short time after that discussion, and we didn’t wake up until six hours later when we were thirty minutes out from Boston’s Logan Airport.

  Once she was fully awake, Nikki said, “I’m sorry you won’t be there to help me answer Eleanor’s questions about our trip, especially when she quizzes me about seeing her grandmother.”

  “What do you plan to tell her?”

  “I think I’ll just tell her she’s very ill, and that’s why she couldn’t come and see her. If she asked me anything specific about Lisa’s illness, I’ll give her a better description.”

  “Would you mind not telling her anything about our adoption plans? I’d like for the two of us to do that together.”

  “Oh, sure, I’d like that too. When do you have to contact Ms. Brooks about scheduling the emergency certification hearing?”

  “The first of June, but since I don’t know how long this operation will take, I’ll try to contact her while I’m still in the area.”

  “You really think you’ll have time to call her?”

  “I have no idea. Douglas is never very forthcoming about an assignment until he’s gotten every detail worked out. I could be in the States for a week or I could be leaving tomorrow. The same thing holds true for how long I’ll be gone. It’s impossible to tell.”

  “I know that must be very frustrating for you.”

  “Actually, it’s never bothered me that much before, but now that I realize how it’s going to affect you and Eleanor, I’m beginning to feel a little differently about it.”

  After the pilot came on the intercom and thanked us for flying with him, I reached over and took Nikki’s hand. “The guy who’s meeting me here at Logan expects me to be the last person off the plane, so I need to tell you goodbye now.”

  “I suppose he’ll have some clothes for you?”

  “Oh, yeah. He’ll have a carry-on full of stuff for me. I just wish you didn’t have to see about my suitcase when you get to Oklahoma City.”

  “I think I can manage your suitcase. I’m not so sure I can manage being without you, though.”

  “Yes, you can. You’re a strong woman. I wouldn’t have married you otherwise.”

  “I’m glad I didn’t know that on our wedding day.”

  After we shared a kiss, I said, “What was the verse you quoted from Isaiah? The one about God giving us strength and helping us?”

  “Isaiah 41:10.”

  “Okay, I might try to memorize it while I’m gone.”

  “Whether you do or not, here’s what you need to remember; God’s got this.”

  “Yeah, I can remember that. He’s got this.”

  I gave Nikki one last kiss, and then I watched her follow the other passengers down the aisle and disappear from sight.

  God’s got this.
>
  I was missing her already.

  * * * *

  Whenever the Agency used a courier to make a delivery to an operative at an airport, the courier was assigned one of two names, depending on gender.

  A male courier was given the name Chuck, and a female courier was given the name Charlotte. The courier was required to wear a lanyard or have some kind of name badge prominently displayed with his or her name printed in bold letters across the front.

  Carlton had already told me to look for Courier Chuck, but he hadn’t told me I should carry any specific item—such as a paperback novel, a foreign newspaper, or a wrapped gift—so Chuck could identify me.

  That meant Chuck had been given a photograph of me.

  Whenever an operative was meeting a courier who was using photo-matching identification, tradecraft rules dictated the operative should be the last passenger to disembark from the aircraft. The theory behind this rule was that most of the passengers would have left the area by the time the operative disembarked, and the courier would have an easier time making the identification.

  It didn’t exactly work that way when I came through the tunnel into the arrival area because I spotted Chuck before he spotted me.

  The first thing I noticed was a man standing in front of a wall-size mural of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. He was wearing black pants and a black leather jacket, and for a split-second, I thought he was part of the mural’s crowd scene, but then I noticed he was looking down at a cell phone.

  My eyes immediately traveled from his cell phone over to his name badge where Chuck was prominently displayed in big bold letters.

  The moment he looked up and saw me, he put away his cell phone and began wheeling a black carry-on toward a nearby men’s restroom.

  I followed him.

  Two other men were inside the restroom. One was in a stall, and the other one was drying his hands. Chuck, who never acknowledged me in any way, placed the cell phone on top of the luggage and stepped over to a urinal as the man finished drying his hands and walked out.

  At that point, I immediately picked up the cell phone, grabbed the handle of the carry-on, and left the restroom.

  Mission accomplished.

  * * * *

  After I opened up an app on the cell phone, I discovered two things; my flight to Dulles didn’t leave for three more hours, and, in the meantime, there was a room waiting for me at the Airport Hilton.

  A skybridge connected Logan International to the Airport Hilton, and when I walked across the bridge with several dozen other people, I figured everyone in close proximity to me was able to tell I hadn’t showered or changed my clothes for the past thirty-six hours.

  No doubt Carlton had anticipated this when he’d had Support Services schedule my flight for later in the day and told them to book me a room at the Hilton where I could clean up before my briefing.

  Anticipating such things was what made Carlton an excellent handler. Of course, there were plenty of times when I resented him handling me, but this wasn’t one of them.

  As soon as I got to my room, I opened up the suitcase Chuck had left me and removed a pair of navy dress pants, a white dress shirt, a pair of loafers, some underwear, a silver-striped tie and a toiletry kit.

  After putting the tie back in the suitcase, I took the toiletry kit into the bathroom and took a long hot shower. I was just about to shave when a cell phone started ringing.

  I knew it had to be the phone I’d gotten from Chuck, because both my Agency sat phone and my personal cell phone were on vibrate.

  The fact that it was ringing surprised me.

  Ordinarily, when a courier delivered a cell phone to an operative at an airport, he did so to pass along information and/or provide the operative with a boarding pass. Although phone calls could be made and received on the phone, that usually didn’t happen.

  When I picked up Chuck’s phone and looked at the screen, there was only a number displayed; no name.

  I accepted the call. “Hello.”

  “Titus?”

  “I’m sorry. You must have the wrong number. There’s no one here by that name.”

  “Titus, this is Veronica Paisley.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Okay, I know you’re being cautious, and I understand that. What if I told you I can repeat the order of the planets in the solar system only because you taught me a certain phrase?”

  “What’s the phrase?”

  “My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas.”

  “She was your very energetic mother; not your educated mother.”

  “Okay, whatever. At least you know it’s me.”

  “Oh, yeah, Vee. You’ve convinced me it’s you. The conversation you and I had about the solar system isn’t one I’ve ever had with anyone else.”

  She laughed. “And you’re the only covert officer I know who loves astronomy.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true, but I’m guessing you didn’t call me to talk about the stars.”

  “No, I wanted to give you a heads up about something before you get here for your briefing.”

  “You definitely have my attention.”

  “I know calling you on your courier phone is highly irregular, but I didn’t want to call you on your sat phone and have it show up in the phone logs.”

  “Is this about Invisible Target?”

  “Well, sorta. Yesterday, after the DDO approved the protocols, Douglas and I were discussing a problem I was having with the logistics of the operation, and when I told him I’d talked to you about Invisible Target, he asked me if you’d actually mentioned the name of the operation when I’d talked to you. I told him yes, but I didn’t tell him that I’d—”

  “That you’d been the person who told me?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I sorta figured that’s what happened.”

  “I had no idea this was a thing with him.”

  “Oh, it’s a thing with him all right. He doesn’t want his operatives having any preconceived ideas about an operation until he presents the protocols in the briefing. Since you’re relatively new to the Ops Center, I doubt if he would have been upset with you if you’d just told him I’d tricked you into telling me.”

  “I volunteered that information.”

  “But I shouldn’t have asked you in the first place. I took advantage of your unfamiliarity with how Douglas likes to run things, and I apologize for that.”

  She was quiet for a few seconds.

  “Well thanks, Titus. I wasn’t expecting an apology.”

  “If Douglas mentions it again, I’ll just own it. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay, I won’t.”

  A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us, and then she said, “I know you’re about to catch a flight, so I’ll let you go now. I’ll see you here in a few hours.”

  “You bet. See you then.”

  * * * *

  As I got dressed, I tried not to think about the phone call from Veronica, but I found it impossible. I still felt bad about how I’d treated her years ago.

  I decided if I got the chance, I’d discuss my behavior with her once I was back at Langley.

  I wasn’t exactly sure where she was coming from in regard to our past relationship, but the fact that she’d been able to instantaneously recall a conversation we’d had several years ago seemed to indicate she hadn’t exactly forgotten about it.

  There was something else bothering me about her phone call.

  Why did she feel she had to let me know she wasn’t forthcoming with Carlton about revealing the name of the mission?

  Since she’d been the director of an RTM Center for eight months, I couldn’t believe she wasn’t aware of Carlton’s secrecy issues and how he preferred to conduct an operation.

  Why would she lie about that?

  After boarding my flight to Washington, I decided I’d try to speak with Olivia McConnell, one of the other directors in the RTM Centers, and
see what she had to say about Veronica Paisley.

  Of course, knowing Olivia, I’d be surprised if she had anything good to say about her.

  Olivia seldom had anything good to say about anyone, much less another woman.

  Chapter 22

  The Agency driver from Support Services picked me up at Dulles International around noon and deposited me at CIA headquarters thirty minutes later.

  As I was exiting the SUV, he reminded me he was supposed to take the carry-on I’d picked up at the Boston airport and return it to Support Services. “Don’t worry,” he said. “If you left anything personal in there, they’ll make sure you get it back.”

  “Would you ask them to launder the dirty clothes first?” I asked, as I unzipped the carry-on and removed the silver-striped tie.

  He chuckled. “You don’t have to wear that thing today, do you?”

  “I hope not,” I said, stuffing the tie in my messenger bag, “but I suspect my boss wants me to impress some bigwigs today, so I may have to put it on until he realizes it’s not working.”

  “I hear you. Clothes don’t necessarily make the man.”

  “Tell that to my boss.”

  After entering the Agency’s main lobby, I felt a surge of excitement as I walked across the large granite CIA seal embedded in the floor. My excitement had nothing to do with seeing the emblem; it was knowing I was about to embark on a new mission. I got the same feeling every time I entered the building for an operational briefing.

  If that feeling ever left me, it was probably time to walk out.

  Today, however, I walked over to one of the security checkpoints where an officer verified my identity by means of a facial recognition scanner.

  After he handed me a Level 1 key card, he said, “Wait a second, Mr. Ray. There’s something else I need to give you.”

  After glancing over at his computer again, he scribbled a seven-digit number on a white card and handed it to me. “You know what to do with this?”

  I nodded and stuck the card in my pocket.