In Sheep's Clothing (20 page)

“Okay, Babe, it’s time to shake our tail.”

Sarah grinned, then rolled down her window and stuck her hand out into the air. “Just waving bye-bye,” she said, then pulled her hand back in and powered up the window. A moment later she made a hard left turn and gave the turbocharged Hemi engine its head.

The car shot forward as if it had a JATO rocket strapped to its tail, and the Crown Victoria was hopelessly left behind within three blocks. Sarah weaved around a semi truck and then tapped a button to change the silver car to yellow just before braking hard in order to take an on-ramp for I-495. Noah watched in the visor mirror as the Crown Victoria sailed past the ramp in a vain attempt to catch up to the elusive silver Chrysler.

Sarah dropped her speed to eighty-five miles per hour, keeping up with the traffic on the loop highway. They would have to make their way around most of the Alexandria/Annandale area to get to I-66 for the rest of the trip to their destination.

“That was awfully easy,” Neil said. “Would you expect them to be better at following someone?”

“Not really,” Sarah said. “They were hanging back so far that it was easy to put some distance between us. They were trying to keep their eyes on a silver car more than two blocks ahead, they never noticed a yellow one going up the on-ramp. If I’d had this car back when I was running blocker for my dad, we never would’ve gotten busted.”

Neil and Moose looked at each other, and Moose shrugged. “What’s that mean, running blocker?” Neil asked.

Sarah laughed. “Unless it was absolutely necessary, Dad didn’t want me actually stealing a car myself. Instead, he’d give me something fast and flashy and I’d use it to keep the cops off his ass. I’d get in front of them and slow down, weave around so they couldn’t pass me, and he’d get away with whatever car he had just snatched. As soon as he was out of sight, I’d shake the cops the same way we just shook those idiots.” She twisted her face into an irritating grimace. “That’s how I got caught and ended up at E & E. We tried it one time too many in San Francisco and the cops caught on. I was driving a new Mustang and they managed to get one ahead of me. He T-boned me in the passenger side, but my dad saw it in the rearview mirror and came back to see if I was okay. He was surrounded by the time he got out of the car and they tased him, then stuffed him in a squad car and took him to jail while they were still waiting for an ambulance for me. I woke up the next day with tubes sticking out of me and my leg in a cast, and Allison was sitting there looking at me. She told me that if I would join E & E, she would see to it that my dad didn’t do any time and would be offered a big-money job using his skills to help the FBI fight interstate auto theft. I agreed, and as far as my dad knows, I died in that wreck.” A single tear made its way down her cheek. “Anyway, if I’d had this? They could have kissed my ass!”

All three of the men were silent for a moment, but then Neil reached up and patted her shoulder. “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way,” he said, “but I’m pretty glad you did get caught. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have you to make sure we get where we’re going in one piece. I don’t think anybody could outdrive you.”

Sarah smiled again. “Mario Andretti, maybe, but I think he’s dead. Isn’t he dead?”

“Just a minute, I’ll tell you—nope, he’s not dead, he’s just old.”

It was almost seven thirty when Sarah pulled up to the gatehouse at the JSOC Compound, and two Marines carrying M4 rifles stepped out and flanked the car. Noah rolled down his window.

“I’m here to meet Squadron A. Pass code is 14 Alpha 5-9 Zulu Charlie.”

“Your name, Sir?” the guard asked.

“The name is Camelot,” Noah said.

“Yes, Sir, you’re approved for entry. Please follow the blue stars on the roadway, they’ll take you directly to the TOC. There’s a Colonel Abrams there waiting for you now.”

The guards stepped away and the large steel gate slid open. Sarah put the car in gear and moved forward, keeping it down to the fifteen-mile-per-hour speed limit that was posted.

There were red, white and blue stars on the road, each apparently leading to a different part of the compound. Sarah followed the blue stars onto a curving road, and fifteen minutes later they arrived at a large concrete building. Another gate opened as they approached, and a soldier in fatigues directed them to a parking area.

“Neil,” Noah said, “bring your computer.”

As they got out of the car, a woman in an army uniform stepped out of the building to greet them. “You must be Camelot,” she said to Noah. “I’m Colonel Jennifer Abrams. I don’t know who you are and I don’t think I want to know, but JSOC says I am to extend you every courtesy and assistance possible.”

Noah stuck out a hand and the Colonel shook it firmly. “Good to meet you, Colonel. For now, you can call me Wyatt. These folks with me are Rosemary, Jimmy and Lenny. I imagine we’ve arrived a little before Captain Hayes, am I right?”

“I’m afraid so. I haven’t been briefed on what this is about, so I’m not going to ask any questions. However, I’ve got to tell you, I get a little concerned when Delta Force gets called into town. My understanding is that they are to answer to you and you alone for the duration of whatever operation you’re running.”

“Yes, that’s my understanding as well. Since you haven’t been briefed, I’m going to assume that I’m not supposed to tell you all the details, but I can hopefully relieve your nerves a little bit. This is a fairly simple operation with the goal of catching a single individual. I don’t believe that anyone outside the operation is in any danger, if that helps.”

Colonel Abrams smiled. “It actually does,” she said. “Around here, our biggest fear is some sort of mass destruction event. All of my kids live around here and work in DC, so when I heard Delta was coming in, it was all I could do not to panic.” She suddenly lost focus and put a hand to her left ear, where Noah could see an ear bud with a curling wire going down into the collar of her jacket. “Roger that,” she said. She looked back up at Noah. “The buses just came through the gate. We’ve got a briefing room all set up for you inside, if you care to follow me.” She turned without another word and led them into the large structure.

Colonel Abrams showed them into what almost looked like an empty warehouse. There were several dozen chairs already set up, and a speaker’s podium with a microphone at the front of the room. A table on the side held several large coffee urns along with many boxes of doughnuts. Neil let out a yelp of excitement and headed for the table, with Moose right behind him.

Noah turned to Sarah. “Rosie, would you get me a cup of coffee and one of those doughnuts? I’d like to speak to the Colonel for just a moment.”

Sarah blinked and went to do as she was told. Noah turned back to Colonel Abrams.

“Colonel, I appreciate your assistance on this. I’ve never worked with Delta Force before. Is there anything you can think of I need to know, before they get here?”

The Colonel smiled at him. “I’ll give you the same advice that was given to me the first time I had to deal with them. These men are among the best of the best, but they are trained to follow orders. The only thing they ask is that whoever is giving those orders knows what he’s doing. Something about you tells me they don’t have to worry about it, this time. You’ve got an Army bearing about you.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Noah said, “but I’m afraid my military record is classified.”

Colonel Abrams nodded sagely. “You know, it’s funny,” she said. “You remind me of a young sergeant who was all over the news about eight months ago. He had the same blond hair and blue eyes as you, but your nose and chin are different.” She looked into his eyes for a moment, but then dropped her eyes to the ground. “As Forrest Gump might say, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

N
oah kept his face straight and said nothing as Sarah slowly approached him with two cups of coffee and a couple of doughnuts on a napkin. It was taking both hands to carry it all and the look on her face told him the coffee was very hot. He met her partway and took one of the cups from her, then relieved her of a doughnut. He had just finished eating it when two buses pulled up outside and Colonel Abrams led the seventy men of Squadron A into the building.

A man with longish brown hair and beard looked at Noah and raised his eyebrows. “Camelot? I’m Captain Hayes.”

Noah extended a hand. “I’m Camelot, but you can call me Wyatt. They set us up with coffee and doughnuts. If you and your men want to help yourselves and then settle in, we can begin the briefing.”

“Yes, Sir,” Hayes said. He turned toward the table with the refreshments, where his men were already helping themselves. “All right, you mooks, get the goodies and take a chair. Five minutes, snap it up.”

It actually took almost 10 minutes, but finally everyone was sitting down and looking at Noah. Neil had found a digital projector and connected his computer to it, and Colonel Abrams had produced a table and chair for him. Once everyone was seated, she and the soldiers who had set up the room walked out the door, closing it behind them.

Noah nodded to Neil, and the screen on the wall behind him suddenly lit up with a photograph of Nicolaich Andropov. The photo was one that the CIA had managed to get of him a month earlier, showing him with an eye patch and a jagged scar on his left cheek.

“The man on the screen behind me is Nicolaich Andropov, a former director of wet work for the SVR in Russia. For the past several years, he used his position to allow him to gather incredible amounts of information, a lot of which was designed to force political figures to cooperate with him at his discretion. He was behind an attempt four months ago to force the government of Mauritania to enter into an alliance they didn’t want. To facilitate that plan, he arranged for the abduction of the daughter of the president of that country. My team was sent in to find the girl and recover her, which we did. In the course of doing so, I killed Vasily Andropov, Nicolaich’s youngest son. Nicolaich then used his SVR forces, in violation of Russian law, to attempt to exact revenge against me. He abducted one of my team in an attempt to draw me into a trap, but I was able to recover her and we escaped with our lives. Unfortunately, Nicolaich also survived.”

Noah stepped out from behind the podium and leaned on it with his elbow. “Several days ago, a team of mercenaries attacked a small town in Colorado. Their aim was to inflict damage on the organization that I work for, as part of yet another plan of Andropov’s to seek his revenge against me. Our investigation has led us here, where he had apparently been planning to either abduct or murder one of my childhood friends. He is currently running a team of hired guns who seem to be doing little more than surveillance. They had been watching my old friend, but I let them see that I was in town and their efforts seem to be more focused on myself, now. My team and I cornered three of them earlier today and learned that Nicolaich will be making an international phone call to Russia at just about 11 tomorrow morning.

“My intelligence officer,” he said, pointing at Neil, “is prepared to trace that call and determine the location from which it was made. My plan is to divide you into response teams that can be dispersed around the metro area, so that at least one team can hopefully arrive at that location before Nicolaich can get away.”

He stood there for a moment, just looking over the men in front of him. “It is absolutely imperative,” he said at last, “that Nicolaich Andropov does not escape. This man is a master of manipulation; if you get the shot, take it. Any attempt to take him alive will only increase the possibility that he will escape, and we cannot allow that.”

The men were silent, staring at the photo displayed on the screen. Each of them, Noah knew, was committing every detail of Andropov’s face to memory.

“As I mentioned earlier, Nicolaich has a team of mercenaries working with him. It is highly unlikely that you will find him alone, and it is possible that he may even have innocent civilians in the area, potential hostages. I expect you to make every reasonable attempt to avoid or minimalize collateral damage, but the elimination of Nicolaich Andropov must take precedence over anything else. This man has set himself up as a power and weapons broker, and he is in possession of enough extortable knowledge to topple governments or start wars. He presents an even greater danger to the world than Osama bin Laden ever was, and absolutely must be eliminated if at all possible, even if it means endangering civilians. Any questions?”

Captain Hayes, sitting in the front row, stood up. “Sir, how many teams do you want to set up? My men can operate well in three-, five- or seven-man teams.”

“Five-man teams would probably be ideal,” Noah replied. He looked at Neil and nodded, and a Google map of the area appeared on the screen. “We need to position five teams in DC itself, two in Alexandria, two more in Arlington and we’ll space the others out around the perimeter of the area. I’ll need a line of communications through you, Captain, to each team. As soon as we have a location, the nearest teams will immediately move to converge on it, and the rest can move in to assist as possible.”

“Yes, Sir. As soon as you’re done with us, we’ll move to strategy planning and start getting this set up. You said this call is scheduled for 11 AM?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then we’ll bunk down here tonight, and I’ll have the teams in place by six. This facility has a number of vehicles, and we brought our weapons with us. It won’t be any problem to have them on station by six AM. As for communications, I’ll give you a special secure cell number that you can send a text message to. That message will go to every team at the same instant. If you send a street address or GPS coordinates, their phones will instantly tell them how far they are from that location and offer them directions. With the spacing you seem to have in mind, there should be two or more teams within only a few minutes of any spot within that region. The closest team will take lead, and the others will coordinate with them.” He handed Noah a small handheld radio receiver. “This is set to our secure channel, it will let you listen in when things start happening.”