He tried to stop me again as I walked away, but I didn’t let him. I hopped onto my bike and headed back to the hotel. Once there I spent some time on the computer, going over the recordings my bugs picked up and checking the cloned phones.
A little after lunch, Kemp made a call to Murphy, “Something’s happened to Tessa.”
“What do you mean? How do you know?” Murphy asked.
“I had her doing surveillance on that girl you were with last night. She should’ve checked in by now, but she hasn’t.”
“What the fuck Kemp? Why are you looking into her in the first place? What I do when I’m not around you is my business,” Murphy growled into the phone.
“You brought her around, and it can’t be a coincidence she shows up after the failed setup. If it were someone I brought around, you wouldn’t think twice about running her and doing a proper investigation. Her name is too clean. It has to be an alias. Not to mention when Tessa last checked in, your girl was meeting with Walker and his partner in an abandoned warehouse. You know I’m right,” Kemp reasoned.
Murphy sighed into the phone, “What’s the plan?”
“You’re supposed to meet her at seven tonight right? When you do, just slip her something to knock her out, and we’ll take her to the usual spot.”
“Got it,” Murphy said quietly.
I checked in on Walker’s phone, and saw he was back at his office. I found his office number, and headed to him. Once there, I avoided cameras and was able to make it to Walker’s office without calling too much attention to myself. I didn’t knock as I walked into his office. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t be sure someone hadn’t tapped your phone, especially after the Tessa incident.”
“How do you know it wasn’t your phone?”
“Because my phone is highly encrypted. Encrypted better than yours or anyone else’s in this government,” I stated, “We need to talk about what’s going to happen tonight.”
His brow furrowed, “What do you mean? What’s happening tonight?”
“I agreed last night to go on a date with Murphy. After Tessa didn’t check in, Kemp called Murphy and told him to drug me and take me to the usual spot. I can only imagine that means they’re going to interrogate me in an attempt to get something out of me, through any means necessary.”
“Fuck. What are you going to do? Why are you telling me?”
I rolled my eyes, “I figured you would want to know so you could set something up and catch them in the act. Plus if I wear a recording device, I can probably get them to confess to a few things.”
“I can’t get clearance to set anything up on such short notice. I would need at least a couple of days to run it through the proper channels.”
I pulled out my phone and called Daniel, “What?”
“Who are the people you know in the DOD? I can catch these guys, but I need clearance for a couple of guys I’ve met to conduct the sting.”
Daniel sighed, “Where are you right now?”
“DOD offices.”
“Okay go to office 230. I’ll call ahead and tell her you’re coming,” he said, disconnecting.
“Come on. Where’s Maverick?”
“He’s probably in his office.”
“Go grab him. We’ve got a higher up to see about setting up a sting,” he rolled his eyes, but did as I instructed.
Once he left, I got onto his computer and hacked into the security feeds, checking the halls for Kemp or Murphy. Once satisfied, I washed the hack from the computer system just as Walker and Maverick walked back in, “What are you doing on my computer?”
“Making sure we’re not blown before we start,” I said vaguely.
We made our way to the office Daniel gave me. I walked in, again without knocking, and was greeted by the smell of saltwater, causing me to smile. “Amaya. It’s good to finally meet you,” the woman behind the desk said. “My name is Amelia Weber.”
I shook her outstretched hand, “Seriously, how does everyone but me know you?” Walker asked in an annoyed tone, causing me to smile.
Amelia ignored Walker and kept her eyes on me, “Daniel gave me an overview of what you’re doing here, and we’re happy to help anyway we can.”
“I need them to have clearance to record anything I get from Murphy and Kemp. I’ve planted a few bugs on them, but I’ll wear one too, just in case for whatever reason their bugs aren’t present.”
“How and when the fuck did you get bugs on them?” Walker demanded, causing me to sigh and Maverick and Amelia to chuckle.
“Last night at the bar. I just slipped them onto various people, and boom ears everywhere,” I said with a shrug.
“I’ll get everything expedited. What time is this supposed to happen?” Amelia asked.
“I’m meeting Murphy for dinner at seven. He’s supposed to slip me something to knock me out, and then he’s supposed to take me to an unknown location. Kemp called it ‘the usual spot,’ so there’s a good chance they’ve done this before.”
Amelia nodded, “Got it. You’ll need to have a tracker.”
“Already done. I’ll get the guys access.”
Walker crossed his arms, “Why do you have a tracker?”
“I started wearing it after I was kidnapped and held for almost a week two years ago.”
He uncrossed his arms and stood a little straighter, “Wha-what happened?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Where are the ones that held you?”
“Dead,” I said, heading for the door.
“Can you keep it together when they take you?” Walker persisted.
I turned back to him, “I don’t just save troops. I more often than not go on missions to free people who have been kidnapped, and occasionally I allow myself to get kidnapped to get there. I can do my job. Just be sure you do yours,” I walked out of the office without giving him a chance to respond.
I stayed busy preparing for tonight until finally it was almost seven and I was heading to Giovanni’s. This time I took a cab, not wanting to leave my bike at the restaurant. Murphy was already sitting at the table when I walked up to the hostess stand. She led me to the table, where Murphy already had a glass of red wine waiting on me. I thanked the hostess before sitting down, “You already ordered? What if I didn’t like wine?”
“I figured I would hedge my bets. Not to mention this is a really good merlot. It would be criminal not to at least try it.”
I gave him a smile and grabbed the glass, sniffing it. I smelled the distinct scent of rohypnol, which was too faint a smell to be picked up by a human nose. I raised my glass to his, “To new friends.”
He tapped his glass on mine with a smile, “To new friends.”
I took a sip, “You were right. This is a really good merlot.”
He smiled, “Told you.”
We ordered and chatted about various things, and when it had been about fifteen minutes or so, I placed a hand on my head, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little lightheaded,” I played it up a little more, and he put on a mask of concern.
“Do you want me to take you home?” Murphy offered.
I nodded slightly, “That might be best.”
Author: Kailan Counahan 