Saint Peter's Soldiers (A James Acton Thriller, Book #14) (16 page)

The man
chuckled. “Yes, Professor, that is possible. Have you told the authorities
where the phone is?”

“No.”

“The
truth, Professor.”

“I
haven’t. I swear.”

“Why not?”

Acton
decided this was one instance where following the man’s instructions might
actually prove useful. “Frankly, I don’t know who to trust. Very few people
knew we would be there and it was police that were with the man who took the portrait.
Telling them isn’t exactly high on my priority list.”

“And
just what is high on your priority list now?”

Acton
frowned. “It’s changed.”

“I
should think so. Your focus now should be the wellbeing of your parents, and
nothing more.”

“Agreed.
What do you want from me?”

“Your
silence.”

“You
have it.”

“Good.”

Acton
sat in a chair, squeezing his temples as he tried to control his exasperation.
“What now?”

“Now we
will wait to see if you keep your word.”

Acton
froze then sat up. “For how long?”

“That
depends on whether or not I feel you are to be trusted. Right now, I am
inclined to not believe so, after the stunt you pulled.”

“I’m
sorry about that. Please don’t take what I did out on my parents. They’re
innocent in this.”

“Which
is exactly why you will do as you are told.”

“You
have my word.”

“I trust
I do. To that end, we will be keeping your parents for a little while, just to
make sure you truly are a man of your word.”

“How—?”

“How
long? Perhaps a few days, perhaps a few weeks. I really can’t say. I
will
say that as long as you maintain your silence, they will be kept alive. You
will find, Professor Acton, that we think in the long term. The
extreme
long term. Your silence must be permanent.”

“It will
be. My only concern is my parents.”

“They
will be safe. Do not break your word, Professor, or I will begin releasing your
parents. One body part at a time.”

CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

National Clandestine Service Chief Leif Morrison checked his watch
and groaned. He closed his eyes, dropping his elbows on his desk and giving his
scalp a massage. He was exhausted.

Time
to go home.

It had
been a quiet day. At least for his job. There had been over a dozen terrorist
attacks around the world, though none high profile, none involving America or
its allies. Just a typical day when Islamic fundamentalists were so well funded
by supposed allies.

Today
had been a good day, but with his wife visiting her sister, it had been a
chance to catch up on paperwork. And it was now past midnight.

Definitely
time to go home.

The
phone demanded his attention and he sighed. He hit the intercom button. “Yes?”

“Sonya
Tong, urgent.”

“Put her
through.” Sonya was one of Chris Leroux’s team. Leroux was one of the best
analysts he had, and was turning into one hell of a team lead now that he had
his sea legs under him. And for one of Leroux’s analysts to be calling
directly, something major had to be happening.

The
phone beeped and he picked up the receiver. “This is Morrison.”

“Chief,
I’m sorry to disturb you, but, umm, I wasn’t sure what to do.”

Morrison
frowned, the young woman clearly flustered, so whatever she had stumbled upon
must be very serious. “Why don’t you just tell me what has you so concerned.”

“Umm,
well, you know how we’ve been monitoring law enforcement reports for anything
to do with certain, umm,
key
personnel?”

Morrison
smiled slightly, the CIA monitoring for thousands of people. “You’ll have to
narrow that down a bit for me.”

Sonya’s
voice dropped to barely a whisper. “I mean Chris and the others, you know,
involved with the Assembly.”

Morrison
immediately bolted up in his chair, Sonya finally having his full attention.
The Assembly had been a thorn in their side for several years, an ultra-secret
organization that had apparently existed for decades if not centuries, with
their fingers in so many pies it was impossible to get a bead on them.

Until
just a few weeks ago when they had caught a lucky break.

Up to
that point his prize analyst Leroux had been under constant watch by a
protective detail, Morrison fearing the Assembly might try to take him out due
to his investigation.

But they
had gained leverage, leverage that appeared to have worked, the Assembly threat
gone to ground as far as they could tell.

Yet he
wasn’t a fool.

So he
had ordered the monitoring to continue, watching for any reports that might
suggest the Assembly was moving on their problems, not the least of which was
Leroux. Though it wasn’t limited to Leroux. It included one of his prize agents
and an archeology professor, James Acton, along with his friends and family.

“Continue.”

“I just
monitored a report that says Professor Acton’s parents might have been
abducted.”

“What?”

“A
neighbor reported seeing two men forcing them into a vehicle less than an hour
ago.”

“Jesus
Christ! Wait right there!” He hit the
Hold
button then dialed another
number.

“Dispatch.”

“Team
Sierra-Foxtrot-Four-One, have them secure their targets, now!”

Leroux and White Residence, Fairfax Towers, Falls Church, Virginia

Chris Leroux collapsed on top of his girlfriend and best thing ever to
happen to him, Sherrie White. It had been a marathon session of lovemaking,
touching upon more surfaces of their small apartment than he could have
previously imagined. He
loved
it when she came back from assignment, her
job as a CIA agent taking her away too frequently. He hated that she’d have to
leave, but the rewards when she returned were worth it.

He tried
to catch his breath as her own lungs heaved under his weight. He moved to get
off her when she reached behind her and grabbed his waist. “No, I want to feel
you on top of me.”

He
smiled, pressing his cheek against her back, closing his eyes. He loved the
feel of her skin on his, their sweat dripping off their bodies, the mix of endorphins
and pheromones exciting him in ways he had never known possible before he met
the love of his life.

It had
been a couple of years now since they met, she a CIA agent sent to test his
loyalties with the ultimate temptation.

Her.

But she
had failed, or he had succeeded. The perspective was a glass half-full or half-empty
thing. She had developed feelings for him and requested reassignment, a request
that had been denied, it too late to insert someone else to test him. She had
been forced to go through with the deception, and he had resisted her. But the
betrayal, once discovered, had cut deep and he had returned to his apartment,
broken.

But his
high school buddy and CIA Special Agent had forced the two of them back
together, and they had never looked back, their relationship still strong,
their sex lives even more incredible now that the security detail had been
lifted, the Assembly no longer a threat.

It meant
freedom to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, without worrying
about some security detail seeing something, or worse, barging in.

“You
were an animal.”

He
smiled at Sherrie’s gasped words. “You bring out the animal in me?”

“Wasn’t
that from a song?”

He
shrugged. “Dunno. Probably. I’m not very original.”

She
pushed herself up, and turned around, her bum on the back of the couch,
wrapping her legs around his shoulders as she stared down at him. “A few of
those moves were pretty original.”

He
looked away, embarrassed. “Saw that last one in a movie.”

“Disney,
I’m sure.”

He
chuckled. “Oh, of course.”

She
grinned. “Now I know what you do when I’m away on assignment.”

“Porn
and video games. I am the modern male.”

“Well,
you’re doing something right, baby.”

Somebody
hammered at the door, startling Sherrie. She yelped, falling backward and landing
on the floor, her arms slamming down in a martial arts move designed to take
away some of the force.

But it
was loud.

The door
burst open and Leroux whipped around, Mr. Happy swinging in the breeze, still
at half-mast as his former security detail rushed in, the team lead coming to a
halt, raising his hand to block the sight.

“Are you
two okay? We heard somebody yell.”

Sherrie
stood up, not bothering to cover herself, any modesty hammered out of her as an
agent. “That was me. You scared the shit out of me.”

“Out of
us,” said Leroux, slapping his hands over his withering region. “Umm, what are
you doing here?”

Sherrie
tossed him a cushion and he let it drop to the floor in front of him, catching
it meaning he’d have to expose himself again. And that assumed he actually
caught it, his athletic skills never quite up to par.

Always
last picked for the team.

Though
not anymore.

He led a
team of nine of the most talented analysts at the CIA, was respected by his
supervisors and his staff, had an incredibly gorgeous girlfriend, and had been
under fire without shitting his pants.

That was
a life turnaround if there ever was one.

Sherrie
slapped a pillow over his crotch.

“Director
Morrison has ordered us to take you to a secure location.”

“Why?”
asked Sherrie as she put on a robe, loosely tying it in front.

The
agent frowned. “We believe the Assembly might be making their move.”

Kane Family Residence, Albany, New York

 “And what do you think I found?”

Dylan
Kane shoveled a forkful of scrambled eggs in his mouth while those gathered
around the table shouted out guesses, all wrong. To his family he was Dylan
Kane, Insurance Investigator for Shaw’s of London, his job one of jetting
around the globe, busting insurance scams and fraud attempts.

Of course,
it was all bullshit.

And he
hated having to lie to them.

Especially
his father, who had a serious hate on for the insurance industry.

“Horses?”

He
looked at his Aunt Ida. “Umm, no. Cars. Every single car he had reported lost
at sea.”

“How did
he think he’d get away with it?” asked his mother. “I mean, didn’t he think
someone would look in his own garage?”

Kane
shook his head. “You wouldn’t believe the idiocy I come across. In this case,
he was in some heavy debt to some loan sharks in Macao—gambling—so he decided
to pretend to ship his cars to London, paid a ship captain to steer into a
storm and have the cargo containers dumped overboard so he could claim the
insurance. Then he’d sell the actual cars to settle the debt. Only problem was
he didn’t know how to unload the cars, and his creditors would only take cash.
I arrived before he had a chance to move them.”