The Trade (15 page)

"I couldn't help it. We didn't know where he
was going. I had to keep a close tail,” the tired looking agent
finished his explanation. Jay Calloway had seen him in his car in
the Holland Tunnel.

"He dropped a damn football on your
hood?"

"Yeah.”

"In ordinary circumstances you'd be off the
case,” the woman started.

"But...?"

"But we're tight on staff, you know it and I
know it. With the flu and vacations we can't get anybody else on
such short notice. I know it wasn't your fault. Not like Franky.
But we've got to be careful. Damn it all to hell people. Just a
couple of more weeks and we'll be done with this one, pass him on
to the internals. So you'll stay on. But be careful goddamn it,”
she finished. The final warning was meant for everyone.

The crew relaxed, settling in for the night.
"If we knew where he was going things would be a lot easier,” she
said.

"Yeah,” the crew echoed.

A plan started to form in the woman's
mind.

Jay Calloway slept late in his rented room,
finally emerging from the purportedly king sized bed that was
actually more like duke-sized and heading to the bathroom around
ten a.m. He showered long and luxuriously, his mind unintentionally
drifting back to his shower with Maria before he forced it to stop.
After his hot shower he dressed and packed and headed for the diner
attached to the hotel.

"I'll have the pancakes and an English muffin
and an orange juice and a diet coke please,” Jay ordered. The weary
looking waitress took his order and disappeared into the kitchen.
"She was friendly,” Jay said sarcastically. A few minutes later she
emerged with his food.

"Thank you,” Jay said.

"You're welcome,” she answered. "You from New
York?" she asked. Jay didn't expect the question.

"Well I live there,” he answered, trying not
to be too friendly with this stranger.

"I thought so. You a cop?" she asked.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"I dunno. You just look like a cop.”

"No I'm not a cop.”

"Your food alright?" she asked.

"Yes.”

"Okay, let me know if you need anything.” Jay
thought she said 'anything' a little peculiarly.

"Okay,” Jay answered. He felt relieved to
actually be able to talk to someone in complete sentences instead
of the angry, crazy clipped phrases of the city. A few minutes
later the waitress wandered back over. Jay noticed she had fixed
her hair a little.

"Everything okay?" she asked again, her voice
holding a whole new tone.

"Fine,” Jay answered.

"You're sure you're not a cop?"

"I'm sure,” Jay said. “I was sure five
minutes ago, and I’m still sure. I’m a computer geek on vacation.”
He put down his knife and fork and looked at her curiously. “Why
does it matter if I’m a cop?” he asked.

"You want to fuck?" the waitress asked,
leaning over to show him her floppy old breasts. Jay could smell 8
hours of waitress sweat on her. "Fifty bucks,” she added, looking
right into his eyes.

"No thanks, I've got to get going,” Jay
answered. He couldn't believe it.

"Twenty,” she bargained.

"No, thank you, really,” Jay stammered. He
took one last hit of his diet coke and made to go. He pulled a
twenty from his wallet and tossed it on the table. "That ought to
cover the breakfast,” he said.

"And everything else,” she said, desperate to
make the sale. Jay scrambled out of the booth, paid his bill at the
office and hit the road. Once safely behind the wheel a cold shiver
passed through his entire body as he thought about doing it with
the stinky waitress.
What is it with me and waitresses?

"Ugh,” he said out loud. "Tonia where are you
when I need you?" he joked with himself.

"I thought he was gonna shit,” the one man
laughed.

"No doubt,” the other added. They let Jay
drift a half a mile ahead of them on the interstate as they
followed his steady southwestern progress.

The remaining six hours of the drive passed
uneventfully for Jay and the unseen chase team. Jay stopped once
for gas, and twice for more diet coke and to drain his kidneys. By
the time the road started rising and twisting and lifting into the
foothills of the Smokey Mountains Jay had forgotten all about the
City and the tunnel and the hooker/waitress and all his secret
agent games. Checking frequently in the rear view mirror he'd
spotted no-one.

And so he relaxed, certain he had either
imagined the whole thing, or even if he hadn’t, that he’d left them
far behind…

Chapter

"Is this the head of the summit trail?" Jay
Calloway asked the Smokey Mountain National Park Service
Ranger.

"Yessir it is. You climbing alone?"

"Yes.”

"Oh?" the ranger asked, casting a
professional eye at the tenderfoot before him. “You think that's
wise?" the ranger asked.

"I'm going to stay on the trail. I told the
ranger at the visitor center where I was going and when I'd be
back. I think it'll be okay,” Jay explained. He felt like a
teenager with power tools under the close supervision of a nervous
parent. “I’m in really good shape. I’ve been training for three
months just to climb this trail.”

"Watch out for bears,” the ranger
cautioned.

"Bears?" Jay asked.

"Bears. They're usually pretty timid but you
never know. Keep an eye out and if they come for your food, just
give it to them and back away slow.”

Jay thanked the ranger and set out up the
trail filled with excitement and now some nervousness. He tried to
talk away the nervousness.

"I'm on vacation, it's a beautiful brisk
morning in the Smokey's, my cabin is great and I'm setting out on a
trek to meet my best friend, Rick Hewlett. Life is sweet,” Jay said
out loud. “Bears or no bears!” As per their agreement at
commencement, Rick and Jay were going to meet at 11:11 am on
November 11th on the top of Clingman's Dome. At 6,643 feet it is
the highest point in Tennessee and the third highest point east of
the Mississippi, only a few feet lower than nearby Mt. Mitchell and
Mt. Craig in neighboring North Carolina. Mt. Washington in New
Hampshire checks in at 6288 feet.

"I hope he didn't forget,” Jay repeated
several times. As the trail led up away from the autumn meadow,
Shedding Dogwoods, Tulip Poplars, and Cedar trees glistened in the
early morning dew. Jay faced a twelve mile trail that rose 5,000
feet to the summit. A thin mist hung in the air. These Smokey
Mountains receive more rain than any other part of the U.S. except
the Pacific Northwest. The evidence of the rainfall was
everywhere.

The rocky trail continued to climb. The trees
were so thick, even in November, that only rarely were there
openings in the foliage wide enough to give Jay a view of the
countryside. The higher he climbed, the more his breath was taken
out of him by the effort of the climb and the beauty of the country
and the increasing altitude.

Jay's mind drifted away from his blistering
feet to his college friend.

Maybe he's on the same trail
? Jay
thought. He stopped and looked and listened every fifteen minutes,
hoping to catch Rick's footsteps. There was no sign.

I wonder how he got to the top
? Jay
thought.
Maybe he's hiking the Appalachian Trail or something
cool like that
? After another hour Jay was 3/4 of the way to
the top. He sat down heavily to rest, putting his back to a tree.
The temptation to close his eyes and go to sleep was nearly
compelling. Only the thought of seeing his friend kept him
awake.

"Are you sure he's still up ahead? He didn't
turn off?" a sweating man asked.

"No I'm not sure,” an out of breath man
snapped back. Both men were soaked from their climb. Months of
surveillance had meant months of donuts and cigarettes. Too much
sugared coffee. Too little exercise. The two men who were supposed
to be tailing Jay were falling miles behind.

“
I thought we were supposed
to have some mountain climbers assigned for this trip?” the one
added.

“
Yeah, me too,” the other
replied.

Who the hell are those guys
? Rick
Hewlett wondered. Rick had been up in the observation deck of
Clingman's Dome since 5 a.m. He'd seen the sunrise. He'd watched
Jay arrive. Rick had zeroed his 75X binoculars on Jay's new
climbing shoes.

"He's gonna have blisters,” Rick chuckled
knowingly. He'd also noticed two cars pull up after Jay and had
watched as an attractive blonde woman gave orders to three out of
shape men. Shortly after Jay started up the trail, two of the men
had taken off after him. Whereas Jay at least had some water, a
compass, a map, and some food, these men were totally unprepared
for hiking.

Who the hell are those guys
? Rick
wondered again. He'd watched the second car as it left the parking
lot. It travelled in and out of the dense forest as it wound to the
top of the mountain. The car took a position where the end of the
summit trail could be observed.

What the hell is going on
? Rick
wondered.
I thought he took the MacKenzie Lazarus job, not the
damn CIA thing!
Rick hesitated for a minute then decided what
he had to do. Rick couldn't let Jay wander into the trap waiting
for him at the top of the trail. He had to warn Jay.

Rick packed up his binoculars and slipped out
of the tower unnoticed by the occupants of the parked car. Rick
eased through the forest then cut back over to the trail and headed
down to meet Jay.

"This could be tricky,” Rick said to
himself.

Chapter

Rick Hewlett kept working cautiously down the
trail. Moving quietly he heard Jay's labored breathing and heavy
footsteps just around the next corner. Rick stopped, placing his
finger against his lips in a shush-up position. Jay rounded the
corner, his head down. He was five feet from Rick before he saw him
standing there.

"Hey Rick...,” he started. Rick covered Jay's
mouth so he couldn't finish his sentence.

Rick leaned near and whispered, "Follow
me.”

Jay thought to open his mouth to ask a
question, but Rick gave him the shush-up signal again. Rick quietly
started away from the trail. Jay followed, trying to be as quiet as
he could.

"Just a few more minutes,” Rick whispered.
"Be extra quiet now.” The two friends went down a hundred yards to
a rock outcropping that overlooked the trail.

Rick whispered, "Quiet.”

"What is it? Bears?" Jay asked.

Rick just pointed down at the trail fifty
yards below. After a few minutes, the two sweating spooks came into
Rick and Jay's view. Rick waited until he figured the men were out
of earshot.

"Who are those guys?" Rick asked.

"I don't know,” Jay answered. "You tell
me.”

"They've been following you all morning,”
Rick said.

"What?” Jay couldn't believe it.

"And their buddies are waiting for you at the
top.”

"What?" Jay repeated.

"You didn't know?"

"No.”

Rick looked like he was trying to decide
something. "You took the job with MacKenzie Lazarus right? Not the
CIA thing or the Navy thing right?" Rick asked.

"Right. But the CIA just called me last week.
Why?"

"Are you in trouble or something?"

"No. Not that I know of.”

"Selling secrets to a competitor?" Rick
asked.

"No.”

"Hacking government computers again?"

"No.”

Rick shook his head and pulled his friend
further down the trail, questioning him as they went. A few minutes
later they stopped.

"Those guys are going to make it to the top
in about a half an hour and then realize they've missed you a few
minutes after that. They'll probably have to walk back down looking
for you. Or maybe the guys in the car will walk down. But I doubt
it. We ought to have a few free minutes. I'll walk down with you
most of the way but then you've got to let them find you again.
Pretend like nothing happened. Maybe we can come up with a way to
figure all this out,” Rick said.

"Uh... Rick?" Jay started.

"Yeah?"

"Nice to see you too," Jay said. Rick looked
over at his friend. The hardness and soldier like quality went out
of his face, the edge left his voice.

"I’m sorry Jay. Yeah it’s nice to see you
too.” Rick put his arm around his little buddy.

"He must've cut off the trail somewhere,” the
more out of breath of the two sweaty men said. “Maybe to take a
leak or take a dump or something.”

"No shit Sherlock,” the woman answered

"Well what are we gonna do?" the other sweaty
man asked.

"Head back down the hill to his car. We'll
pick him up again down there,” the woman said. The two men who'd
hiked up the trail looked beat. The woman looked them up and down,
disgust showed in her face. For an instant the men thought they
were going to have to hike back down the hill.

"Get in the car,” she said to them like you'd
say to a lost dog you'd tracked down five miles from home in a
rainstorm. “We’ll pick him up at his truck.”

"You've got to make it look like nothing
happened, like you suspect nothing,” Rick said. The order giving
voice was back. "Just ease on back down the trail. They've got the
blue sedan at the end of the lot. Make sure they pick you up
again."

"Why?"

"So we can give them the slip tomorrow like
we planned okay?"

"Okay,” Jay answered. "Uh Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"This isn’t quite what we imagined at
graduation is it?”

“
Not exactly.”

“
And, um, ah, you seem to
know a lot about this cloak and dagger stuff.” It was both a
statement and a question. Rick looked at his friend. He started to
say one thing and then stopped.