Chapter 31
The Saturday morning crowd looked rougher than Friday’s.
There had been some late nights out on the town, some breaking bad away from home, the closing down of some bars.
Along the mezzanine, the catering tables offering strong coffee, ice water, and orange juice were seeing plenty of business.
The noise grew as the attendees clustered around the food and drink.
There seemed to be only a few no-shows. Webb would be one.
He had sent a late-night text apologizing again for bolting from dinner and explaining that he was rushing back to Philly for an urgent matter.
Stuart settled into his same spot on the fifth row of the banquet room and was looking forward to saying good morning to Rae Claire.
They had parted last night outside the restaurant without so much as a handshake, but he was still curious about her.
Though they had little in common, they had enjoyed the dinner, the food, the wine, and the conversation.
He thought it would be worth the effort to try again, maybe lunch or dinner.
It was a long drive from Charlotte to Washington and a possible romance did not seem all that convenient.
And there were certainly far better-looking women at home, plenty of them.
He had thought about it in the shower and decided to keep an open mind.
Let the day unfold and gauge her level of interest. She had probably already crossed him off her list.
An odd request, at that time and place, but how could he say no?
He picked up his phone and followed her out onto the mezzanine.
Then he followed her up one level on the escalator, waiting for some explanation.
With each step he became more confused. They entered the hotel’s business center and walked to the glass door of a small conference room.
She opened it and said, “In here, please. Won’t take but a minute. ”
“What’s going on?” Stuart asked with a trace of irritation.
Webb was back. He materialized out of thin air, walked into the room with a big smile, and said, “Good to see you again.”
The three looked at each other awkwardly before Rae Claire said, “Let’s have a seat, shall we?”
Stuart didn’t budge but said, “Maybe, maybe not. What’s up?” He looked at Webb and said, “I thought you went back to Philly?”
“Stu, my man, nothing is as it seems. Please, give us a few minutes.”
“What about the seminar?”
“Do you really want to go back in there? Of course not. You don’t care about cybercrime and believe me, no one will miss you. We have something far more exciting to talk about.”
They sat down. Stuart tapped his fingertips together and glared at them. Rae Claire said, “Okay, we’re not here for the seminar. You’re not either. You were invited because we wanted to meet you and discuss a proposal.”
“We? Didn’t realize you guys worked together. It certainly wasn’t mentioned over drinks yesterday.”
With a nasty smile, Webb repeated, “Nothing is as it seems.”
“What kind of proposal?”
Webb said, “We do work together. I have my job and Rae Claire has hers, but they are not our real jobs.”
Stuart, wary but curious, glanced at his watch and said, “Okay. I’ll give you five minutes to clear up the mud, and if you fail to do so, then I’m out the door.”
Rae Claire said, “Fair enough.” She reached for a laptop on the table, which Stuart noticed for the first time. She pressed a key and looked at a screen on a wall. The faces of three young men appeared. Under the photos were names: Stockman, Snyder, Tanner.
She said, “These three guys all went to Paris with their new brides for their honeymoons. The three couples were kidnapped. Ransoms were paid by their families, and the brides came home. These grooms were not so lucky. We have good reasons to believe they are alive and are all being held by the same gang.”
Stuart stared at the three faces and said, “Haven’t heard about this.”
Webb said, “At least two dozen Americans were kidnapped last year, all around the world. How many did you read about?”
“I can’t think of any.”
“Precisely. These kidnappings are three years apart. The families were threatened to stay quiet, thus no media coverage.”
Stuart said, “This is somewhat fascinating, but what’s it got to do with me?”
Rae Claire said, “If I may continue. The kidnappers are quite good and have left behind few clues. Almost none. American and French intelligence networks have turned up nothing. We believe the three were taken out of France and are being held hostage somewhere. North Africa is the favorite, at least for now.”
Webb said, “Which narrows it down to about a zillion square miles.”
“Regardless of where they are, any type of search and rescue would be out of the question without much better intel. We think the captors are well armed, well trained, well educated. The leader, or at least the point man, speaks fluent French and excellent English, though neither is his native tongue.”
“Which is?”
“Arabic, with an accent that probably comes from Tunisia or Algeria.”
“May I ask how you know this?”
“We’ll explain later. Just hang on for now.”
Stuart shook his head and closed his eyes. Rae Claire and Webb exchanged nervous looks.
Stuart opened his eyes, glanced at his watch, and said, “Go on.”
“We are planning an operation to infiltrate the gang, or at least find them. We need a bride and a groom. Of course there are hundreds each year honeymooning in Paris, but we can’t use them. They have to be trained specialists.”
“You’re both looking at me.”
“The plan is to plant a couple who are so attractive to the gang that they decide to grab them. We, of course, will be watching with every tool in our kit. We pay the ransom, rescue the bride, then track the groom as he is taken away. If we’re lucky, he’ll join Stockman, Snyder, and Tanner. We then rescue them.”
Stuart shook his head and said, “Seems like a long shot, a very long one.”
“Maybe, but Stockman disappeared three years ago and we still don’t have a clue. There’s a measure of desperation here.”
“And danger.”
“Oh yes, lots of it.”
“How do you know these guys weren’t killed and their bodies dumped in the ocean?”
“Fair enough. Two months after Stockman was abducted, his wife got a video of him speaking to a camera and giving the date, which was accurate. Three months after Snyder disappeared, same thing. We have yet to hear anything about Tanner.”
“So, they were not only kidnapped, but they’re also hostages?”
“We think so.”
Stuart looked at Webb and said, “She’s doing most of the talking. Where do you fit in? Who’s in charge here? And, I’ve heard enough of the ‘we’ business.”
Webb nodded at Rae Claire and said, “She’s the bride, and she’s calling the shots. It’s her operation. I’m here as a member of the team.”
Stuart looked at him, then at her, and mulled this over. “Okay. At last count there were seventeen intelligence agencies at work in this country, and that’s just the ones authorized and funded by Congress. Right?”
Rae Claire nodded and said, “Seventeen sounds right.”
“Who knows how many secret little outfits operate off the books, so let’s not worry about them.
As far as I know, the only one authorized to conduct covert operations on foreign soil is the CIA.
Could it be that the ‘we’ you guys keep talking about is actually the CIA?
I know, I know, it’s against the agency’s rules for you to tell anyone who you really work for, but I’m close to walking out that door if I don’t get some answers. ”
Both agents would later debrief and agree that at that moment they knew they had chosen the right man.
Rae Claire said, “We’re both CIA, embedded within other government agencies.”
Webb said, “So, with that little disclosure out of the way, it’s time for a serious chat about confidentiality. We need your commitment to keeping this conversation completely off the record. It never happened.”
“Swear on the Bible? Sign a contract? Give my Boy Scout’s honor?”
“All of the above,” Rae Claire said.
“I can promise anything but how are you going to enforce it?”
Webb and Rae Claire looked at each other.
Stuart said, “Don’t answer that. I have enough sense to stay on the good side of the CIA. Sure it’s confidential, I’ll agree to that. But I haven’t agreed to anything else. You gotta long way to go and the more you talk the more questions I have.”
“And your next question is?” she asked.
Stuart took a deep breath and looked around the room. He looked at the three faces on the screen and said, “Those guys. Any idea why they were targeted?”
Rae Claire said, “Yes, some ideas. All three are lawyers who work for the federal government. Tanner is at Justice here in the city. Snyder was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa. Stockman worked for Customs in Portland. And all three had military backgrounds.”
“Sounds like more than a coincidence. Why Paris?”
“It attracts more American tourists than any other place and it’s the top destination for honeymooners. They tend to flock there.”
Webb said, “Plus, it makes sense with the North African connection. Ten percent of France is now Muslim and most come from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Goes back to the French glory days of colonization.”
Another pause as Stuart tried to understand. Rae Claire and Webb were content to wait. Stuart looked at her and said, “So you’re the bride and I’m the groom?”
“That’s the plan.”
“A real wedding?”
“Has to be. We’re assuming the enemy is quite thorough with its research.”
“What if you’re not my type?” he asked with a smile.
“Oh, I think that’s already been established. We’ll be acting, Stuart. Onstage playing our roles and reading from a script that’s highly fictional. But we have to be convincing.”
“So you know about my girlfriend?” He was staring at Rae Claire, who nodded slightly but did not respond.
“What’s her name, my girlfriend?”
Webb asked, “Which one? You seem to enjoy playing the field.”
“The current one.”
“That’s probably Mona,” Rae Claire said.
Stuart snorted and shook his head. “I haven’t seen Mona in a month. How long have you been digging?”
“Long enough.”
Slowly, Stuart stood, stretched his back, looked around the room, and asked, “Why me?”
Rae Claire said, “We’re getting there, Stuart.”
He picked up his empty cup and said, “I need some more coffee. Anybody else?”
They shook their heads. No.
He stopped at the door and said, “And I need to check on my stuff in the seminar room. I left my laptop on the desk.”
Webb smiled and said, “No worries. We’re watching it.”
A loud huff, a bewildered smile, then he turned the knob and mumbled, “I’m not believing this.”