Chapter 38
“Have you decided if you trust us yet?” Colonel Beale sat in the airplane seat to Derek’s other side.
Abby took a careful breath before answering with, “No. At least not completely. Though it’s not like you gave us a lot of choice.”
“Or actual information,” Derek added.
Beale rubbed at her eyes. “I’ve never known so little going in.
In the past there has always been a precise military objective.
Rescue of a single civilian is not our normal bill of fare.
Stopping a war or an attack with a weapon of mass destruction is more typical.
Stopped a few presidential assassination attempts. ”
She and Derek glanced at each other. There’d been a spectacular debacle a few years back in Colorado when every post analysis newscast said the President should have died—but he hadn’t.
Had Beale been a part of that? No way to ask.
Time taught a lot of lessons and they exchanged a nod confirming that Beale just might be what she seemed.
She certainly seemed as authentic as anyone Abby had ever met.
Still, she’d like more than a feeling to go on.
“Why her? Who is Miss Watson anyway? Why did the Brits grab her? Are we about to start a war with one of our closest allies because of her? Without knowing any of this, it’s hard to know what to think.
Colonel, not to put too fine a point on it, but you sure you folks’ve got both your oars in the water?
We can’t imagine the only other thing that fits, you three colonels all going rogue. ”
That last evoked enough surprise on Beale’s features that Abby believed it caught her out.
Beale stared at the rear bulkhead of the C-5’s passenger cabin close in front of them.
“Going rogue? I’ve been accused of many things, but that was never one of them.
Trisha came close a couple times—very effectively I might add—but I never had the knack for that.
That’s one of the reasons I chose her as my second in command, she doesn’t instinctively adhere to the rules and regulations the way I do.
Mark too. We’re both creative in flight, but we like our boundaries.
It’s hard to tell what Michael is thinking at the best of times.
Asking his wife doesn’t help much. Though she’s a Night Stalker and is one of my closest friends, she’s as conversational as any Delta operator. ”
Abby felt the shock all the way down to her boots. Trisha had married Bill Bruce, a D-boy. Colonel Gibson had married a Night Stalker. Sure, the two teams worked together, but this was ridiculous.
Derek was grinning at her until she thudded a bootheel down on his toes. She didn’t bother being subtle about it.
“Miss Watson,” Beale might have smiled at Abby’s action, but it was too brief to be sure, “is a national-level intelligence asset. No one except her, and perhaps Dilya, knows what she’s been into.”
“Dilya?”
“Uh-huh.” A voice said from close behind her.
Abby twisted around enough to spot Dilya peeking between her and Derek’s seats from the next row behind them.
Emily waved her to circle around to join them. “Don’t underestimate Dilya based on her age or appearance. She’s as highly trained in clandestine services as you two are in military ones.”
“Except I started learning those skills when I was eleven and never stopped.” Dilya didn’t bother to blush or shrug as she sat cross-legged in the aisle beside Emily. Zackie climbed into her lap, licked Dilya’s face, then settled.
“She’s also thoroughly annoying. Never assume a conversation is private if she’s around—even if you think she isn’t.”
Dilya simply smiled at Emily’s scowl. “Or if Zackie’s around. I haven’t fitted her with a microphone but—” Dilya covered the dog’s ears “—for a Sheltie—” she uncovered them “—she’s plenty skilled.”
“Explosives or people?” Derek asked. “Or a bit of both?”
“People.”
Abby wondered just how expert the fluffy little dog needed to be to belong in this crowd.
“What Emily said about Miss Watson is a bit of an understatement. She carries the history of every major spy or spy ring, on any side, in her brain. All their techniques, most of what they knew, and much of what they learned. She’s as close to an encyclopedia of international spycraft as there is.
At least we hope so. They took her by force: one dead, one casualty.
” She looked down at Zackie long enough to dig her hands deep into the dog’s fur before continuing in a tight voice.
“What were they after that they couldn’t just ask?
All I know is that we need to get her back. ”
Emily nodded. “At any cost.”
“Oh…wonderful.” Abby wondered if it was too late to sign aboard Ricky’s lobster boat for a quick career change.