by Tom Haase
She heard Scott talk to Gerti and then he said, “OK, we’ll be ready.”
They all agreed to this new mission. They needed to recover that icon, which remained the only course open to her to possibly settle the debt with Schultz. Now that became her focus and she hoped it would be able to settle her debt. The only person who had seen the icon was Matt. She needed to get back in touch with him. She dialed and his phone rang.
“Matt, calling as I promised. Is it too late to accept your invitation for dinner, say tomorrow evening?”
“I always like the way you are so direct.” He laughed. “That would be great. Where are you staying?”
“I’ll be at Scott’s place in Alexandria. We’re flying in today and I’ll need time to freshen up after our late arrival tonight.”
“No problem. I’ll pick you up at seven. I remember where he lives. Did you find anything on that picture?”
“Let’s discuss it tomorrow and by then I may have something.”
“See you tomorrow. Cheers,” Matt said and hung up.
Bridget quickly packed her few items purchased since her rescue from Schultz’s claws. She reached the door when her cell rang. Looking at the number on the display, she recognized Jonathan’s cell. McGregor’s sharp wit, gracious social manners, and Scottish accent all combined to impress her from their first meeting in the Iraqi desert during the war. She recalled his handsome face and gray eyes, although she couldn’t remember the exact color tone clearly.
She pressed the talk button and said hello.
“Hello, Bridget. It took a little time to find out about that icon in the picture you sent. By chance, do you know where it is? I know you said it disappeared, but I’m wondering, based on your interest, if it has reappeared.”
Bridget heard the words, but thought the intent behind them contained something unsaid. Jonathan is up to his old tricks, flew through her mind.
“As far as I know, it’s still missing.” She decided to be forthright in order to get any information from him that might help. “You said you would call when you had something. Did you find out about that icon?”
“Actually, I did. Where are you now?”
“I’m just leaving for the States.” Instantly she regretted saying this. She wanted information from him, not to be giving him something.
“I propose we meet. I assure you I’ve no plan to try and steal the icon if we are able to find it.”
“Whatdoyou mean, we?” she blurted out sounding like one word.
“I think this should be a joint effort. We can assist one another to find it and recover it. You are owed some assistance by me from our previous encounters. There are things about that icon you don’t know and you don’t know its history. I do. In the end, I only want to examine it, nothing more,” Jonathan said.
“I don’t know. We don’t have a great track record working together.” Bridget switched the phone to her other hand, opened the door, and left the room. She needed to get downstairs to meet the others.
“I know, but I want to make up for that. If we work together, I think I can fix some things. No promises other than I’ll try.
“Do you really have information about that icon?”
“Yes. I’ll meet you in the States to tell you what I have,” he said.
“Let’s meet the day after tomorrow in Washington, as I’m busy tomorrow getting home. I’ll call you then.”
“Agreed. I’ll wait on your call.”
After ending the call, she realized the pursuit of the icon had just become really complicated. She held no idea how complicated it could get from this point on.
18
Savannah, Georgia
Michael Alexander Alexandrovitch, aka Mike Alexandro, entered his condo apartment feeling weary from his international travels. He turned off the advanced security systems that protected his privacy and headed for the bar. His usual double shot of vodka made him feel better. On the refill, he sat down and admired his lucky charm resting on the mantel. The sight of the icon always made him feel a little religious. He was brought up in the Russian Orthodox faith and still held onto it in his own way. He crossed himself and thanked the virgin for getting him home safely.
His visit to Uncle Dmitri’s in the Squamish Valley had been interesting, both from a family perspective and the insight he gained into what his uncle wanted him to do. There would be a new replacement for the man he lost. After they concluded the business part of his visit, he’d spent two more nights at the luxury home with a different woman each night. He never allowed himself that pleasure in Savannah. There were too many prying eyes, so he maintained a rule to go somewhere else to engage in such activities.
The day before he returned, he did go on the Sea to Sky gondola ride. From the top, he took in the beauty of the entire valley and appreciated the uniqueness of it. The night he spent in the airport hotel in Vancouver before his early morning flight allowed for some recuperation from his frolicking. In his opinion, any type of commercial flying bordered on boring, tiring, and downright unpleasant.
While taking the last sip of his second drink, the business phone rang. He hadn’t taken it on the trip, as he didn’t need any interruptions during his few days off. The buzzing of the phone now brought him back to the reality of his situation and the pressure that Dmitri put on him to increase sales. Currently, he managed twelve to thirteen million per year with an operating cost of only about eighteen percent. Dmitri wanted him to substantially increase the profit. He answered the phone. Perhaps it could be the new security man Dmitri sent him to replace the one lost in Roanoke.
"Can I help you?" Mike asked.
“Mr. Alexandro, when will our shipment be here?” said a rather belligerent and loud voice he recognized as Ashil’s from the Roanoke event.
“Ashil, I want to remind you that you have to put down fifty percent now and to this day you have not done so. When will it be delivered?"
"You said we would get a discount. When do we get it?" Ashil asked, continuing his previous tone.
"The discount will be applied to the second half of the payment. These are upfront costs that I need to cover my purchases.” Mike successfully attempted to match the tone of the caller.
"That is not acceptable, Mr. Alexandro."
"Ashil, I have other buyers who would love to pay me the price I quoted you for these weapons. If you are not interested, say so now and I’ll move on to another motivated party. While we're on this topic, I believe you need to increase the number of transactions we engage in or I will have to spread my business to others." Mike decided he would wait to see what the man said. These homegrown jihadists flashed tons of money from somewhere. They could afford to purchase more and pay more. The time arrived for him to start pushing.
"Mr. Alexandro, your money for the first half of our payment will be delivered to you at the usual spot in your city on your request. I will have to discuss your request for increased activity with others. Could you tell me exactly when our shipment will arrive?" Ashil requested.
More like it. Mike knew he had them over a barrel, as Dmitri made sure no other Russian would engage in his business east of the Mississippi. He reminded himself to be glad he’s in Dmitri’s family, because he ruled one of the largest crime syndicates in Russia.
“Before I talk about your shipment, did you carry out the other task I contracted you for? It’s a simple pay back for the men we both lost.” Mike waited expectantly for a positive answer.
“I regret to say our men failed and they are both dead.”
“What? You blew a simple operation? You had his home address. How could they screw it up?” Mike demanded.
“That agent is cut from a different cloth. He is very good and we underestimated him. But don’t worry, I have another colleague who will take care of him soon,” Ashil said.
Mike wanted to strangle the bastard. Ashil's incompetence threatened Mike's business and Mike himself. Uncle Dmitri would be furious. He had the intelligence from his
source that they needed to avenge the death of his security man and they blew it. He calmed himself and did his best to return to a normal business tone.
"Your shipment will be released to you after I receive final payment. You can reduce the amount you owe me at that time by twenty percent. Please let me know the decision on increasing your purchases when I call you," Mike said.
"We will." The man disconnected before Mike could say anything more.
Impertinent little bastard.
I’ll have to deal with him, but not the way he thinks.
19
Washington D.C.
Matt arrived at Scott’s place right at seven. He saw Bridget waiting in the entrance and after waving, she walked out to his car. The beauty of this woman with dark red hair struck him even at a distance. She stood six inches below his six-foot-two-inch frame and her figure would be the envy of any Hollywood female lead. Matt remembered one of his soldiers saying that when she entered a room her breasts appeared before she did. He did remember them.
“Hi, Matt,” she said after opening the door. “Great to see you again.” She reached over and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
“Same here. Any preference on restaurants?” he asked.
“Let’s walk down King Street and pick a place as we go.”
He nodded his agreement and headed for the center of Old Town Alexandria. Ten minutes later they were walking down the street and picked a new place neither had been to before. The waitress seated them at a window booth overlooking a small park next to the Potomac River.
They spent the meal talking of old times and the adventures they experienced in the army. Matt concluded with his tale of the raid in Virginia and his quitting the FBI, but didn’t mention the events of the previous night. On her part, Bridget told Matt about her adventures, including the episode with Schultz, ending with her departure from Greece.
“I have one other thing I need to tell you to get you up to date,” she said. “I contacted Jonathan McGregor for help in identifying the icon in the picture you sent. He has information and will be here in Washington tomorrow to tell me about it.”
“Do you trust him after what you told me about the two times he sort of one- upped you?” Matt asked.
“No, but if he has the information you need, I’ll be glad to listen to him.” She took a sip from her drink. “What about you? You quit the FBI yesterday. What are you going to do?”
Matt waited for this question. After spending most of the previous night trying to decide how best to respond. He looked down at the table for a few seconds.
“Come on, give. I know you. You’re up to something. Tell me,” Bridget said.
“Actually, I have a proposal,” he said and stopped.
“Don’t you think it’s too soon?”
He chuckled. “Not that kind of proposal.”
“Okay, give.”
“You’ve held a government security clearance in the past so when I say this is compartmented information at the highest level, you know what that means?”
“Of course. If I ever talk about it, I’ll spend years in a fed pen.” Bridget looked around to see if anyone listened.
Matt decided the time arrived to reveal his plan.
“I want you to come and work with me on a project. You remember when we successfully completed the mission in Saudi to stop the nuclear detonation and what the president offered us for accomplishing it?”
She nodded. She followed his every word now. He could tell he’d grabbed her attention.
“We have the same opportunity again. The director wants me to put together a secret team to carry out covert operations for the bureau that are off book. I can’t use anyone in the FBI except my one-person contact, but we would have all the assets of the bureau at our disposal through her. Based on what you’ve told me, you’re looking for a way to make money for your debt problem. Are you interested?”
“Are you going to pay me five million dollars?” she asked with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Wish I could, but I have a plan that might get you what you want. We worked together as a team years ago. I think together we can form a new one with great potential. Understand, I’m legally an FBI agent, but to the world, I’m not. So, the bureau’s rules are not a ring around my neck.”
“How do you think I can solve my problem?” Bridget asked.
“First, are you in or not?”
“You always were one for directness in an operation. Is that what we’ll be doing, conducting operations? If so, what’s the target?”
“You haven’t answered the question. To get read in on the op, I need a commitment.”
“Okay, I’m in. But there are conditions. This will be a working relationship. We’ll be equal partners and you share all with me. No holding anything back. Agreed?”
“Damn, you drive a hard bargain.” He paused for a few seconds, then said, “I agree.”
“What’s our target?” she inquired.
“First, we get you outfitted with some weapons as we might need them. Let me tell you why.” He relayed the events of the previous night. “I don’t want to sugar coat it. This could well be dangerous. Our target is a Russian who is selling arms to homegrown terrorists. I have some video of him I took during the raid. We’ll look at it tomorrow. I’m staying at a safe house instead of my apartment after last night.”
“That makes sense. I still don’t see a lot of money in this. Admittedly, I don’t have anything else that might solve my problem right now.”
“I think I may. First, I need you to get the information from Jonathan. We need to know all we can about that icon. I have a feeling it’s the key to this first op for the S.O.E.”
Bridget nodded. Her lips stretched up in a wide smile and then she said, “I can’t believe this.”
“I feel the same but I want to assure you, we’ll again be going into the line of fire, into harm’s way as they say.”
20
Alexandria, Virginia
Bridget felt like she might have a new lease on life. After the defeat she’d suffered in retrieving the Crown of Thorns and then the subterfuge that cost her the Bible of Constantine along with losing her job at the university, this might be something she could do. She needed all of those losses reversed so she could move forward. What Matt now offered her would serve as a lifeline and she intended to take it.
Matt prepared to stand up from the table, but he first looked out the window. She started to follow his gaze, but before she could, he reached over, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her towards the floor. At that same second the glass shattered as a bullet went screeching over their heads.
Bridget rolled towards the side wall and crawled around the corner. She heard Matt right behind her. When they were out of sight of the window, she stood up.
"Stay here. In one minute, go and get my car. Here are the keys," he said. “Keep your cell handy.”
“Damn, Higgins. You haven’t forgotten how to show a girl a good time. You must quit treating me like a prim and proper damsel.”
She received a quick smile and watched him head toward the front door, pulling out his weapon, before anyone else fully realized what happened. She waited until he departed. Then, along with all of the other now terrified restaurant patrons, she dashed towards the exit.
* * *
When Matt looked out of the restaurant window, a truck turned the corner beside the restaurant and its high beams illuminated a figure standing in the park area opposite him pointing a rifle. At that sight, he instinctively reached over and grabbed Bridget, dragging her down. Now he needed to go after the shooter. Once they reached safety behind the wall and were not visible through the window, they had stood up. He needed her help in a plan that rapidly formed in his mind.
After he told her to get the car, he ran outside to pursue the man. He estimated the shooter had a ten-to-fifteen second lead on him. Matt also guessed he would be trying to escape as fast as possible.
On
exiting the restaurant, he saw the shadowy figure running deeper into the park. Matt gave chase and ran as fast as he possibly could. Running immediately after eating that delicious meal probably slowed him down but he pushed ahead with every ounce of strength he could muster.
The man ran out of the park and onto a track beside the Potomac River. The lights along the path made him visible. He dressed all in black, with black hair, and carrying the rifle in both hands. The man approached an area of blackness in which Matt feared he would lose him.
Pulling his gun up into firing position, he exhaled a deep breath, took aim, and fired at the target. The man fell landing face down. Matt rushed to where he lay. From the distance of about ten feet he could see the man still moved.
"Freeze. I've got you covered. Any movement and I’ll put another bullet in you."
The man ceased all movement. Matt approached cautiously and bent over, and pulled the rifle away from the man who now suffered from a wound to his right thigh. Matt reached down to roll the man over.
"Why did you shoot at me?" Matt asked.
"Go to hell." At the same time he said this, a knife appeared in his hands swinging towards Matt's throat.
With the speed and force of a jackhammer, Matt used the butt of his weapon against the right temple of the man's head. The shooter went unconscious.
Matt dialed Bridget.
“Come to the south side of the park. Keep this line open.”
“Wilco,” came Bridget’s reply in military response. She indicated receipt of the order and would comply.
Matt picked up the man in a fireman’s carry and moved to the edge of the park and the road where he hoped to see Bridget any second. A car approached and blinked its headlights.