Balance (57 page)

“Michael … do you trust me?”

The question surprises him,
“Yes,
of course … what are you up to?
”

“I can make this Meg’s last operation, but there
’
s collateral fallout.”

“How?
W
hat fallout?”

“Michael, I can’t tell you how.”

“What do you mean you can’t tell me the ‘how’?”

“Because Michael, you and I
,
are the fallout and if you know the
‘
how
’
it could be far worse for both of us
, and Waters
.”

“But Rena, you would know.
W
hat happens when Takada questions you?”

“He won’t question me.”

“How can you be
sure?
”

“I’m sure
.
… I need to do this
, Michael
.  Meg is in this mess because of me.  I can
no
t have her death on my
hands
. 
However
, this is
your
decision
…
y
ou’re the one who’ll be punished. 
Also understand … y
ou will not be suspected in her escape.”

“Then
,
why would I be punished?
” He
asks,
confused
.

“Michael, I can
’t tell you.  Please understand,
for me,
I’m trying to make this right.”

Offering
no response, Michael lies
ther
e
trying to figure out her plan, knowing he never will.  He’ll have to ride along, trusting her as he always has.  He pulls her naked body on top
of
his, gazing into her amazing eyes, for the first time
i
n weeks, sparkling.  He kisses her.

“With my life … a
lways
.
”
H
e whispers
.

The
Whitemire associate arrives and
enter
s the
deserted
tenement
.

Waters
,
concealed outsid
e, al
ert
s
the team.

S
t
ationed undercover in the park,
Rena
,
positioned
on the lawn
,
has
a clear
line of sight to
the
sewer
access
.
S
he practices yoga and T’ai Chi
, providing
her a
legitimate
excuse
for being in the center of the
green
for an extended
period
.  If
the detail
got
long
, she c
ould
take a
jog
around the
property
,
returning quickly on
Waters’
signal.
 
C
oncerned
Whitemire
or
her associate may remember them from
the
restaurant;
Rena
wears a sprite-cut blonde wig and
workout
clothes.

Located d
eeper in the park
behind Rena,
using the shrubbery and tree
s
for cover
,
Michael
provide
s
sniper support in the event of an unexpected
development
.

Meg
loiters
in the square
surrounded by
the three
elite
apartment buildings
,
moving
from shop to shop
,
wait
ing
for intelligence from Michael
or
Rena
.
W
hen Whitemire returns
, Meg will
follow to her apartment
.

Rena
,
stretching
,
acquires the man
as he
exit
s
the tunnel
.  He walks
casually
into the park,
taking a seat on a bench, to Rena’s surprise
,
a short dist
ance from her location,
t
oo clo
se
for
her
to
provide intelligence without risk of discovery
.

Michael
,
recogniz
ing
Rena’s predicament,
takes over, relaying
to the team
from his vantage point
, all he can see transpiring
.

After a short wait
, a woman dressed in running gear
jogs
up
to
the park bench
.
The healthy looking brunette, mid-thirties,
feigns stretching,
b
eing far more obvious then Rena;
who looks to be an expert in T’ai Chi and yoga
.

Rena repositions to a meditative pose, allowing her to focus
on the meeting
, trying to overhear their conversation.
 
T
he
woman
tell
s
her associate
the
only piece
s
the client requires
are
the access codes.  The
associate
explains
the client will only finalize payment if she brings the codes herself.
 
V
isibly
upset
,
she
reiterates, per the contract
,
direct contact
between parties
…
was explicitly forbidden.
H
er
complete anonymity was
mandatory
. 
He
explains
;
her anonymity has made the client
anxious
.
Concerned
she could flee
with payment before
verifying
the program,
t
he client wants her on
-
site for a trial run
.

Rena
waits, meditating,
still unable to
report anything
she’s
over
hearing
.  She now understands
Whitemire is a contractor,
a
comp
uter programmer
that
has built
and completed a program for a client
.  The
program must be very important
since the client requires her for finalization.  If
this program is what everyone’
s after,
Rena
suspects
Whitemire’s
clie
nt will kill
her
once
validated
, preventing her from
re
creating it for
any
one else.

“The exchange seems to be getting heated.  The primary is
clearly
upset about something.” U
nable to hear the conversation
,
Michael
informs the team
what he sees
.

Mr. Black interrupts the communications.  “Michael wait for my order, a command to terminate the primary has been given.  Rena you are to apprehend the secondary.”

Michael
responds
, “What? 
R
epeat those orders.  I thought you said to terminate the primary.”

“
Affirmative
.”

Rena
realizes
Takada knows what Whitemire’
s
creat
ed
.  He must assume
the program complete and the man
, a
contact between the client and Whitemire.  Takada is going after the completed program
.

“Michael, tell me when the woma
n looks to
withdraw
.”  Mr. Black
instructs
.

T
he conversation
appearing
to
wind d
own,
the woman
,
visibly agitated
,
starts to
look around, preparing to
leave.
 
Michael responds by touching his ear bud, once, the sound of the single ‘thump’ relaying
to all the field team and
back to the
Bunker
.

“Proceed Michael
.”
Black orders
.

Rena opens her eyes and
turn
s
her head
,
look
ing
directly at the
couple
.

Whitemire notices the young
woman
on the
lawn
gaze at th
em.
L
ike a rabbit she bolts
. 
A
divot
in the
grass
in front of the park bench
explodes.  Michael missed.
  R
un
ning
as fast as she can,
Whitemire
get
s
in under the trees and over-
growth, making another shot impossible.

“Michael, reposition at the far end of the park, outside the square.  Wait for
Meg’s
signal
before taking her.  Meg, she’s a brunette in blue running gear, look for her.  When you feel
she’
s committed to a
building, give Michael the go ahead.”  Rena commands, jumping up.

Whitemire’s associate,
completely
unnerved
by the sudden
unexpected
activity
,
turns and
breaks for the sewer
access
.

Rena
gives chase
, waiting for h
im to enter the
tunnel
.  She swears
then
dislodges
the
bud from her ear
, letting it fall to the ground outside the entrance.
 
R
ac
ing
inside
,
she
catch
es
the man fifty yards in
, throwing him against the wall.
  In a single fluid movement, s
he
removes
a sm
all knife from under her jacket,
and
w
ithout
saying a
word
,
shoves the
blade
into
hi
s bicep.  The man screams in agony
.

“
I’ve only got seconds to talk, so no bullshit. 
Do
you understand?” Rena letting her ‘fierce’ loose in order to get her point across.
  She needs to acquire the information as quickly as possible.

“Yes.” the man whimpers.

“What does the program do?”

“It’s … it’s a virus
-worm
used to attack
banks.  It
siphon
s
funds and play
s
havoc on records, impossible to trace.”

“Oh my god, that’s his play.
” She mumbles to herself.  Refocusing on her captive, “
Who has the finished program?
” She
demands
, realization pushing into her mind like an approaching storm
.

“
Some
banker
s
, they want to use it to amass a fortune and destroy
an Elite
.  That’s all I know.  I’m just the program manager.”

“Are there
copies?” Rena asks.

“No
,
she programmed remotely onto the client’s secure server to guarantee no duplication.”

“Are you sure?” Rena asks, an idea forming
rapidly
.

“Yes
,
absolutely.”

“
She sounded like she intended
to
give you the access codes
.
 
Did she
give t
hem to
you?
”

“Yes, yes … here.”  The man hands Rena a small micro-storage device.

“Has
the client
ever met Whitemire?
”

“Who?”  The man looks
confused
.

“The woman.
W
hat’s her name?” Rena realiz
es
Whitemire
did
such a
n
effective
job concealing herself
,
Takada had only gotten a false
identity
.  That’s why he couldn’t locate her.

“Anderson, K
rista
Anderson.”

“Listen, this program can never see the light of day … ever.  This woman has no idea what she
’s
created.  You will follow my lead.  You will take me to the client.  Do not tell anyone about this conversation, not even the people I work for.
  Tell no one about this storage device.
  Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

R
emoving the knife from his arm,
Rena
drags
Whitemire’s associate
back to the
entry and retrieves her
ear bud
, left discarded on the ground
.  She
inserts it into her ear,
just in time to hear Meg
give Michael the signal.