Kill The President's Women (Joe The Magic Man Series Book 2) (33 page)

Burrows knew Alice most likely said business to mean “Sexual fantasy with someone”. She patted her arm. “Never mind that, you and Joe did well. We know a lot more now thanks to Joe’s dream walking.”

“So what now?” Alice asked, feeling a little glum. “Do I go home or stay here on standby?” She couldn’t help the sarcasm.

“I should think they’ll want us to follow up on this Yasmina, when they find her. Let’s finish our coffee and go see what Agent Campbell has found out.”

Before they had had a chance to drink up, Campbell came hurrying back in and sat down. “As luck would have it, there’s only one Yasmina’s Drycleaners in DC. The owner is Yasmina Omrani – that’s her married name. She’s married to a man named Jamil and Homeland anti-terrorist unit knows about them.” The excitement was back in Campbell’s voice.

“So they could be operating the terrorist cell that intends to use the brothers.” Burrows said.

“Homeland thinks so and they’re trying to trace her now. They want us to go to DC, and if they find her, then they’ll want Joe to get in her dreams and find out where the brothers are and who their targets are.”

“Big ask,” Alice said without thinking, “but I’m sure we can do it.”

“Well I can tell you, that thanks again to Joe,” Campbell said excitedly, “Homeland has got something to work on, and they’re all over this Yasmina woman.”

“Well, we better pack up and move on,” Burrows said, getting up.

Alice felt the excitement slowly rise. “I feel like a bounty hunter.”

“It is kind of what we, as the FBI, do.” Campbell said sarcastically. “Let’s hope we get our men before they get to their targets.”

The drive was long and boring. Campbell and Burrows hardly talked and Alice felt caged and tired. When Joe popped into Alice’s mind for an update, she found she was getting better at this telepathic talking thing for she was able to give him a row over not reaching her straight away without any change in her facial expression.

Joe apologized and they both talked about the case and what they would do next if they were in charge. It broke the boredom for Alice and she had a good time with the conversation, just as if Joe was sitting next to her in the back seat of the car. A few weeks ago, it would have freaked the hell out of her but here she was…

It wasn’t until Joe said,
Oh, I like your story in the paper,
that she remembered she had meant to buy a paper first thing that morning but had forgotten with all the excitement. She asked Joe if the story was good and remarked that she didn’t know if the story had been released as she wrote it or if it had been edited.

Joe read the headline to her: MAN KILLS TWO OF THE JOHNSON FAMILY TO PAY FOR HIS WIFE’S MEDICAL CARE. He read part of the story to her and then left, saying he would check back later.

Alice smiled to herself; it was a good story.

They quickly found a hotel when they arrived and Campbell and Burrows left Alice in her room waiting for orders, while they retired to their individual rooms. Alice took the time to call John and they talked for about half an hour: about her write up in the papers (but not about the case she was working on), about how much they missed each other and how when the money from the FBI and the papers came in, it’d be worth the agony of not being together.

When she hung up, she stretched on the bed and waited. She expected a phone call to come in, asking her to meet both agents outside but the call didn’t come. Instead, after she had been in the room for a total of an hour, Burrows knocked at her door and Alice got up to let her in.

Burrows, before doing anything else, opened her notepad to help her with the names and then she proceeded to speak. “At the moment, Yasmina Omrani is getting more attention from Homeland than the President is getting from the Secret Service. Yasmina is 39 and she came here from Egypt when she was 8, with her parents. Her father, is Khalid Nassir, Khalid had a job working as a bellboy in one of the big hotels. He could speak three languages so it didn’t take him long to get a job behind the desk. He still works at the same hotel as the manager. We believe he was a hotel manager in Cairo before they came to the US.”

“He’s working for a hotel,” Alice asked a little puzzled, “and yet his daughter has a business here? It’s big isn’t it?... The drycleaner’s, I mean”

“I expect the father helped pay for that business, plus he gets her jobs from his hotel for her dry cleaning and maybe more, who knows.” Burrows turned a page in her book. “Anyway, her father has been on the watch list for a while now. He speaks out against the government at any given opportunity. Yasmina’s husband, Jamil also showed up in our database as a trouble maker.” Burrows put her note book down. “Yasmina has been married to Jamil for 12 years, and he works with her on the pickup and delivery side of the business as a driver. We’ve got an informant at the mosque were they worship at, and Jamil spread the word yesterday that he was going to visit his mother for a couple of weeks.”

“Did his wife go with him?”

“We have no idea, she hasn’t been seen around for about two days.”

“That’s because she went to meet Abdul and take the boy to a safe house,” Alice said, her mind racing away, trying to work it out. “I’m sorry… carry on.”

“Her father Khalid is still at work and we’re monitoring his every move. The NSA is analyzing every phone call, twitter message, e-mail and everything else that has been sent to him at the hotel or house over the last month. They’re doing the same with Yasmina and Jamil.”

“They can do that?”

Burrows went on, sidestepping Alice’s intrusion. “Over the last week or so, Khalid’s cell phone has been fairly quiet, especially to his fellow worshipers. We’re checking them out now.” She tapped Alice on the knee. “So are you ready to move into the hotel that Khalid works, and try and make contact with him? Frank Brubaker wants Joe to find out what he can from Khalid.”

“Hmmm, yes,” Alice was expecting some kind of plan for tonight, but not after being there for just an hour. “I’ve only half unpacked so I’ll just chuck my things back in the case and I’ll be good to go.” Alice asked the question bothering her. “Am I going to be the only in staying at this hotel?”

“Yeah, and we’ve got to come up with a reason why you’re in town; we don’t want to spook him. I should imagine he’d be naturally jumpy if he is involved with his daughter and these two boys.”

“Sightseeing, I could say I’m on holidays.”

“People normally book in advance.”

“Then I’ll call now to see if they’ve got a room,” there was smile that said, “I’m smart too” on Alice’s face. “I’ll say I booked another hotel but spotted an old flame of mine that I didn’t want to meet up with, so I got out quick before he saw me.”

Burrows gave it some thought and decided it was a good cover story if anybody wanted to know why she changed hotels. Not that it was likely to happen fulltime but Alice was getting into her role of spying. Burrows smiled back at her and with a nod, said, “Do it.”

It was getting dark when Alice went up to the
front desk; she was attended to by the smartly-dressed young man behind it. He signed her in and had someone take her and her little suitcase to her room, with no fuss at all. Alice wasn’t too worried that Khalid wasn’t at the desk because she was still waiting for Joe to reach her. Burrows had told her that if she had to call anyone, she must do it with her personal cell phone and nothing else. She was also assured that there were two detectives outside and if anything went wrong they would be in, in seconds.

“Knock, knock, anybody home?”
Joe sensed her uneasiness as soon as he entered her mind, just before midnight. He tried to relieve some of the tension felt by saying lightheartedly
. “Or should I call back later, Miss Medium?”

“Joe, thank God you’re here. I’ve changed hotels, I’m at the hotel where Yasmina’s father, Khalid works and they want you to get into his dreams tonight.”

“And this time, for God’s sake Joe, just go ahead and wake me up,” Alice added. “No matter what time it is, your latest girl will have to dream on her own tonight.” Alice felt awful after she said it but went on quickly. “I’m sure you’ll make it up to her another night. Campbell thinks we’re getting close but running out of time. Jamil, Yasmina’s husband told his friends he’s going away for two weeks, so Campbell thinks he’s gone to join his wife organize the bombings and it will more than likely be at least ten days before he comes back.”

“That’s only a guess, right? If it’s going to be that soon, then it means they’ve got their targets worked out for them.”

“Nobody knows for sure, that’s why they want you to grill this Khalid. He’ll be going off duty at midnight.”

“Yeah okay, so how are you going to make contact with him?

“I was thinking I’d go downstairs to the bar, have a look around and just bump into him like they do in those James Bond movies.”

“Make sure your Martini is shaken, not stirred.”

“What?”

“Never mind, let’s go find him.”

Alice did order a Martini, even though she didn’t get the reference by Joe, and while she was having a look around, she noticed Khalid was behind the desk tapping away on a computer. There were tourist brochures in the foyer just by the desk and Alice walked over to pick two up. Having done that, she sauntered up to the desk.

“Excuse me,” Alice said, waving her brochures.

Khalid got up and faced her with a broad, practiced grin on his face. He put his hands on the counter and leaned over, looking to see which brochures she had picked and expecting a question about them. “Yes Madam, how can I be of service?”

Alice put her hand on top of his and whispered shyly, “Could you please tell me where the ladies’ room is?”

Inside her head, Joe said,
Nice one
and jumped into Khalid’s mind.

Straight off the bat, Joe found out that Khalid didn’t like stupid women that couldn’t see the toilet signs so brightly displayed all over the hotel. Alice had told Joe to forget about his dream lover tonight and concentrate on Khalid and catching these bombers but he knew Khalid didn’t finish work until midnight so it was pointless paying him a visit until he was sound asleep. That would be around 2 or 3 am, giving him time for a quick visit to Jean the beauty queen.

*

Alone at home, Abel Lazarus had gone to bed a little earlier than usual, hoping Jean had too, to meet her dream lover Joe. He drifted slowly into Jean’s thoughts and found her in bed and half asleep. Jean was hoping Joe would come to her tonight, and if he did, she hoped they’d get to ask the captain how they played salmon jumping, and they’d also ask Sergeant Evans to join them so the four of them could show her how the salmon gets up the waterfall, not that it was hard to guess what would happen.

As Joe read her thoughts, he smiled because hooking up with Sergeant Evans wasn’t quite what Joe had in mind, but he didn’t want to disappoint her. Jean fell soundly to sleep, and found herself centuries back in England. She was daydreaming at work and the cook was shouting at her.

“You’ll rub a hole in that plate if you don’t stop wiping it!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My mind was miles away then.” Jean looked around and found she was helping to clear up the evening meal.

“I understand how you must feel; your husband was saved from a hanging for something he didn’t do and it bothers you. But he’s alive, that’s what counts.” The cook added in a concerned tone. “Gull, just finish up those plates and go see how your husband is coping.”

“Right, thank you cook.” Jean gave him one of her pleasant smiles, “My husband is alright, but it did scare him. And thank God the captain had a horse and got there in time.”

“Aye, and I expect you are grateful to the captain for that.”

Jean guessed the cook knew she was sleeping with
the captain, and he disapproved; it showed in his tone of voice. She pretended to not have heard his last comment but concentrated on wiping the dishes she had been handed. When she was done, she said thank you and good night to the cook and his helpers then she made her way to her tent which was only a short distance away. Jean was expecting to see Steve-e-Joe, Sergeant Jones and the captain all sitting around the campfire, waiting for her with big lustful smiles but Steve-e-Joe was sitting on his own.”

“Where is everybody?” Jean asked as she stood by the fire to warm herself.

Steve-e-Joe knew she meant the sergeant and the captain. “They’ve moved on,” he said, pointing with his head to where their tent used to be. “The captain had to go ahead with Lord Bedford and the other lords. Sit... I think they’re making more plans and we’ll be in York City in a couple of weeks.”

Steve-e-Joe could see the disappointment on her face so he added, “Don’t worry, the captain said he’d make sure our tent is pitched next to his when we get to the new campsite tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see.” Jean sat down and put her arm through Steve-e-Joe’s arm, snuggling up to him. “Just you and me tonight, then?”

Steve-e-Joe nodded as he stared into the dwindling fire.

“Did he leave Sergeant Jones here to protect us?”

“No, he’s gone with the captain.” Steve-e-Joe could see and feel the disappointment in her. “We’ll be safe enough, don’t worry. Sergeant Evans, Tom Thomas and William Williams were here earlier and they said if those sheriff’s men come back I’m to shout out, ‘On me, Sergeant Evans’, loud as I could and half the camp will be up in arms.”

“Sergeant Evans was here earlier?” Jean’s voice picked up a little. “Will they be calling back to see if we are okay?”

“No, they turned in early. They are scouting ahead tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Don’t sound so disappointed, you could do with a good night’s sleep too.” He stood up and offered his hand. “Come on, let’s have an early night.”

Jean couldn’t help but feel let down. Sharing a bed with one man was no longer what she had become accustomed to. In the back of her mind, she kept thinking Steve-e-Joe couldn’t be happy either, this was plain boring. So she hoped he’d surprise her by fetching Sergeant Evans to their tent to meet her.