Monster (53 page)

“Pete has to be with a woman named Nancy Tamara everywhere outside the office for the time being, Ansa,” McDaniels explained. “She was involved in something which would make it a little uncomfortable for us to deal with in a setting outside of work. Once this latest business is over perhaps things will change.”

“Nancy sold out the United States and her friends for money,” Reskova added. “If I had found out she knew anything about a certain warehouse tragedy she would still be going to prison even after this latest operation ends.”

Ansa nodded, a sad look coming over her countenance. “We are very familiar with people selling out, as you say, everything they believe in. Many times their actions ended in the deaths of innocents. Let us talk of this no more.”

“Kay, I noticed you’ve been adding Christmas decorations to the front of your house,” McDaniels changed the subject. “If you put up anymore they’ll be able to see the house from orbit.”

“My Father is in competition with our next door neighbor.” Suraya ignored Rasheed’s gesture to keep silent. “We are in the lead because of our attached collectibles shop. We have received many compliments from our customers.”

“Kay,” Rutledge said happily. “You’re in Christmas light competitions, huh? Wow, what…”

“Never mind, you,” Rasheed cut her off. “I simply wanted to do my part as a local shop owner to make the holiday festive for my neighbors and customers. I could not help it if one of my neighbors decided to upstage me. As Suraya pointed out, once I finished decorating our collectibles shop, he saw the futility of his copycat pursuits.”

“Oh, he was copying you, huh?” Rutledge asked mischievously.

“Of course, he simply aped my careful decorative choices.”

“Bad Pa,” a newly awakened Little Cold blurted out and then giggled happily as everyone laughed in surprise.

“I didn’t know the baby was talking already.” Reskova hugged the little boy in her arms.

Rasheed sighed heavily. “My wife and daughter have taught the Little Cold disrespectful phrases whenever he hears my voice raised at any time.”

“Oh… Kay…” Rutledge laughed, trying to get her breath.

“Silence,” Rasheed ordered. “I do not want…”

“Bad Pa,” Little Cold repeated, setting everyone off again including Rasheed.

“What timing,” McDaniels said, “and in English too.”

“They wish for all to understand each time my son chastises me in public.” Rasheed picked up Little Cold from Reskova. “Getting him to stop has been difficult. I will have my payback. It will not be pretty.”

“Do not think for a moment to teach my Little Cold anything of an annoying quality,” Ansa warned quickly, seeing the look on her husband’s face.

“Oh no, my dear, I would not dream of such a thing.”

* * *

As the group discussed the Marines McDaniels worked with and how well they had been doing since returning, Reskova’s cell-phone rang. She smiled apologetically before walking into the kitchen. Reskova heard Aginson’s voice.

“Diane?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Source right on target. We have confirmation. Sorry to bother you like this but I need you to come in.”

“Can I bring Cold with me?”

“I’m afraid not… at least not at this time. Where are you now?”

“I’m at Rasheed’s house with Cold, Barrington, and Rutledge.”

“Good, tell them to keep their cell-phones on. I’ll see you when you get here. Come straight to my office.”

“Yes, Sir.”

After Aginson went off line, Reskova returned to the living room.

“I have to meet Aginson at the office,” Reskova explained as she put her coat on, gesturing for McDaniels to stay seated. “For some reason, the Director doesn’t want you in on this yet. He said for all of you to keep your cell-phones on.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

Outside in the frigid air, McDaniels held Reskova’s hand as they walked to her car. Pausing in front of the vehicle, Reskova turned and embraced McDaniels.

“Something wrong or something right, Red?”

“It’s good news. Hasib was right. I’m going in to find out how right before helping decide what our next move is. Can you get a ride home?”

“Sure.” McDaniels gave Reskova a last kiss goodbye. “Tonight was really nice.”

“It sure was.” Reskova opened the driver’s door and slid in. “I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“We’ll be ready. I think Kay might have to sit out any operations tonight though. He’s about three sheets into the wind I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry about it. I doubt we can move on anything tonight.”

* * *

McDaniels watched Reskova drive away. Barrington, Rutledge and Rasheed joined him on the sidewalk.

“What do you think, Colonel?” Barrington asked.

“Probably best to call it a night, Tom - especially you, Kay.”

“How was I to know the world would again need Kumar Rasheed to save it on Christmas Eve?”

“Sober up, Kay. We’ll save the world tomorrow.” Rutledge hugged Rasheed. “Want a ride home, Colonel?”

“Stay tonight, my friend. You can ride in with me early tomorrow if I am to save the world on Christmas Day. Otherwise, I will give you a lift to the Boss’s apartment.”

“I’d take you up on the offer, Kay, but I have to take care of Dino. He loves the apartment but Dino needs to get out a couple times a day. I’ll squeeze in with Tom and Jen if they don’t mind. I’ll sit crosswise in the back.”

“Trade with me, Jen.” Rasheed fished his keys out of his pocket. “I will drive your mini-car to the office tomorrow while you drive the SUV.”

“Mini-car?” Rutledge protested. “Everything’s a mini to the Cold Mountain. Anyway, I’ll take you up on it, thanks.”

Riding toward Reskova’s apartment with Barrington driving Rasheed’s SUV, Rutledge twisted to face McDaniels in the backseat.

“Have any plans for after we confirm everything on Mero, Cold?”

“Plans for what, Jen?”

“You know what.” Rutledge waited for Barrington’s support.

“What Jen means, Colonel, is Mero might…”

“Let’s drop this. Mero will do what he does. We’ll do what we do. Hopefully everything will work out for the best. I’ll go overseas and shut down the money funnel. Case closed.”

Barrington and Rutledge exchanged uneasy glances.

McDaniels exited the SUV when they reached Reskova’s apartment.

“Thanks for the ride. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Colonel,” Barrington replied.

“I hope Diane gets back to the apartment tonight, Cold. Merry Christmas,” Rutledge added with a wave.

“Me too.”

* * *

Dino met Reskova at the door with McDaniels at nearly three thirty in the morning.

“Merry Christmas, Red. Do we all have to go back in today?”

“Merry Christmas, Cold.” Reskova wrapped her arms around McDaniels. “No, we came up with a way to proceed. We won’t have to go in until tomorrow. Although Mero is really disturbed over his missing three assassins, he still knows nothing as to how or why they disappeared. Mero was in touch with al Zoubi twice in the last twenty-four hours. We were able to confirm the location Hasib gave us for al Zoubi and get a satellite photo of him during one of the calls.”

“Why didn’t they just send a Predator in there and take him out with a couple of Hellfire missiles?”

“Same as always.” Reskova pulled McDaniels toward the bedroom. “They believe he’ll have a treasure trove of info at the camp.”

“He probably does. Sometimes though, we ought to take what we can get.”

“And the nation of Syria, whose border we would be crossing to get to al Zoubi?” Reskova grinned at McDaniels as she took off her clothes.

“No one cares about our borders, including the President.” McDaniels allowed Reskova to slap his questing hands away. “Why should we care about Syria’s?”

“They’re going to send you in, Cold. If I were in charge, I’d use a bunker-buster tactical nuke on them just for an object lesson but…”

“I know, I know…” McDaniels pushed Reskova gently onto the bed. “I’ll deal with it. Let’s get some sleep before the sun comes up.”

“Sleep?”

“Eventually.”

* * *

Donaldson woke instantly at the first ring of the phone by his head where he lay next to Tamara in her bed. He shook Tamara awake. Pete handed her the receiver, noting it was nearly two o’clock in the morning, the day after Christmas. Tamara answered groggily, while Donaldson helped her sit up. Tamara tensed when she heard Mero’s voice.

“Can you meet me, Nancy? I will send a car for you.”

“It’s…it’s not even two in the morning,” Tamara managed to say in a hushed voice. “I…I’m not alone.”

“Ah, good, good, I have heard you were doing well with the Special Ops man. All the more reason I need to see you right away. If he wakes, tell him you have to visit a sick relative or something.”

Tamara paused for a moment before acknowledging. “Okay, I’ll be out front, walking same as the last time in fifteen minutes.”

“Very good.” Mero ended the call.

Donaldson took the receiver from Tamara and hung up the phone, making a quieting gesture. Tamara slipped on her robe. She followed Donaldson into the bathroom where Donaldson had set up a safe room. He closed the door before splashing his face with cold water.

“Mero’s having me picked up again in fifteen minutes,” Tamara told Donaldson as he toweled off his face. “He told me to tell you if you woke up that I had to visit a sick relative or something.”

Tamara put her arms around Donaldson, hugging him tightly.

“Can you follow me, Pete?”

“We can’t take the chance this time, Nanc. Did he say anything about the info you left him at the drop?”

“No.”

“He probably wants to talk over something about that.” Pete immediately thought this impromptu meeting was about Mero’s three missing soldiers and whether Tamara had heard anything about them. “C’mon, you better get dressed. Let me follow up with our surveillance unit. I’ll make sure they have someone tailing you.”

“I’m scared, Pete. After what Mero said about Reskova I’ve been thinking whenever he gets through with me he’d arrange to meet with me like now. The only difference is I’ll just disappear.”

Pete cupped Tamara’s chin in his right hand, trying to look as reassuring as he could. “You’re probably right, only we’re going to be through with Mero before he gets through with you.”

“Okay.” Tamara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Merry Christmas, Pete.”

“Merry Christmas, Nanc. It’s the day after officially.”

Tamara let her robe fall to the floor.

“Jesus, you’re beautiful,” Donaldson whispered.

“Want to make me late?” Tamara asked hopefully.

“Go get this over with. After you get back we’ll exchange gifts all day.”

“Promise?”

“Get going before I throw the free world into chaos,” Donaldson ordered, spinning Tamara around. He gave her a smack with his open hand on her bare bottom.

Donaldson opened the apartment door later for Tamara. They embraced without speaking before Tamara hurried out. Pete watched her walk down the hall. He shut the door and within a minute was speaking to the agent monitoring the calls into Tamara’s apartment.

“Dave, you get all that?”

“We’re in position, Pete. I’ve spoke to Tom already. He told me Director Aginson called AD Reskova in last night. She’s at the office with him. The Director will coordinate immediately with her.”

“That’s the second night Aginson’s called her in. I wonder if he had a head’s up on this call from Mero. What do you think they have cooking?”

“Above my pay-grade,” Dave answered. “I checked Nancy out as she reached street level. She’s coming through loud and clear. If you want to monitor, just…”

“I already have her dialed in on my laptop,” Donaldson interrupted. “I know you’re busy with coordinating this so I’ll let you go. Talk to you later.”

“Right.”

Donaldson walked over and sat down at Tamara’s desk where he had set up his laptop while Tamara dressed for her meeting. He accessed the encoded audio feed from Tamara. After adjusting the sound level Pete could hear her breathing and the sound of footsteps on the snowy walk. The approach of a vehicle, Tamara’s sharp intake of breath, and the sound of a van’s sliding door opening, confirmed Mero’s people had arrived to pick Tamara up.

“Get in,” a gruff voice ordered Tamara in heavily accented English.

The sliding van door closed abruptly, followed by silence. Only the sound of the van moving along the streets came through Tamara’s audio pickup. Fifteen minutes later the van stopped. Donaldson heard doors opening and people shifting out of the van. Another car door opened.

“Hello, Nancy,” Mero’s voice greeted Tamara. “Please, get in. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“No problem, Sir,” Tamara replied, her nervousness only slightly apparent.

Donaldson heard Tamara get settled inside the car. After the car engine was started, Donaldson heard it rev a little as the driver pulled away from where the vehicle had been stopped. A few more minutes passed in silence before Mero spoke again.