CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I know you don’t want to think about this but…” started Marissa.
“No!” yelled Joey and Christopher at the same time. Marissa put her hands on her hips and frowned, staring at the two men while the others just smirked.
“You didn’t let me finish,” she said.
“I know what you’re going to say and no, we will not use you as a decoy to bring them in. You have no clue what this man is capable of. We’re good, honey,” said Christopher, “but so is he and he’s old as fuck and experienced.”
“So, we’re just sitting here waiting for him to pop his head out of a gopher hole? That doesn’t make any sense. We have to do something that will draw him out further.”
“Uh, excuse me,” said Professor Mills. “Since it was me that started this mess, perhaps he’d emerge to speak with me.”
“He’d kill you before you were ever able to speak to him,” said Gator. “You have nothing to offer him any longer, except the possibility of where Marissa is located. Even then, he’s arrogant enough to believe that he can find her on his own.”
“But we have to try something,” said Mills. “I want to help resolve this. Marissa and the others deserve to have a life where they’re not hidden. They’re brilliant students and have much to offer the world.”
The men stared at one another, then Joey turned to River.
“How far is the FBI willing to go on this? Will they go as far as we need them to go?” he asked.
“Maybe. I know they didn’t want me using my ‘rogue family ways’, whatever the fuck that means. I think if we could get them to help us just locate him. They might be willing to step back after that if we let them have the arrest.”
“River, I know you’re not na?ve, son,” said Patrick. “They won’t kill him. They’ll take him in, question him to death, and release him to his own country on the guarantee that he won’t enter the U.S. again. It’s all political bullshit.”
“Look, I’m not na?ve. I know how these things work. All I’m saying is that’s the way we could get them to help us. Our tech and comms teams are amazing but you have to remember that the feds have thousands of men and women working these clues every day.”
Ham looked at Jak and Gator, all of them turning to give that ‘look’ to one another.
“What are they doing?” whispered Red to Joey.
“Communicating.”
“It’s late,” said Rush. “Let’s get some sleep and we can start first thing in the morning with a fresh perspective. No one enters the hut unless they’re one of us, or the MPs outside.”
Everyone moved to their beds, Marissa and Joey pushing theirs slightly closer together. It wouldn’t allow them to snuggle, but they could hold hands and whisper to one another.
“It’s going to all work out,” he smiled at her.
“I know. I know because you’re here and I trust you more than anyone else. I’m just scared. All these people, our family, here and risking their lives for me. There has to be a better way.”
“Get some rest, babe. We’ll talk more in the morning. For now, we’re all safe.”
Marissa woke to sunlight streaming through the windows along the top of the hut.
She could hear whispers and murmurs, but nothing too loud.
Smelling coffee, she stood and moved toward the counter with the coffee pots.
As she poured the black heavenly liquid, she turned to see all the men standing at the door of the hut, MPs standing outside.
“What’s going on?” she asked Dana.
“One of the MPs was killed last night. Someone tried to get into this hut but didn’t get very far.”
“Damn! When? How? How did someone get on this base?” she asked.
“We think he or she was already here,” said Bo. “We’re not sure. What I know is that MP was a good young soldier with a wife and baby at home.”
“This has to stop. I don’t care if I am at risk, we have to stop him. Let me be the decoy. I’ll draw him in.”
“No!” yelled the group of men at once. She just glared at them, then Christopher walked toward her, hugging his daughter to his chest.
“Honey, there’s something else happening here,” he whispered. “Someone here is a traitor.”
“Dad, that’s not possible. We know everyone here. They’re our team or Joey’s team. I trust them,” she said. Christopher nodded.
“He does as well, and so do we. Which leaves one person.”
She frowned at her father glancing around the room. Professor Mills. Gator and Joey walked up to them and smiled.
“Just act as if we’re having a family conversation.
Smile,” said Gator. “You wanted a chance to draw out Vasily, well we’re going to give it a shot.
With Mills. Sit with him and have breakfast. If he talks to you, talk back but don’t give him any specific information.
He told us he didn’t have a phone, and we didn’t find one, but he clearly has something. ”
“Okay,” she nodded. “Okay, I can do this.”
“Marissa,” said Joey, squeezing her hand. “Don’t leave this hut with him. Do not go outside with him.”
“I know. You’ll all be here, right?” she asked.
“We will. We’ll be near the door, pretending as if we’re still trying to figure out what’s happening.” She nodded, moving toward the table for breakfast.
“Good morning, professor,” she said smiling at him.
“Oh, good morning, Marissa. Crazy night, huh?”
“I guess. I slept through it all. A lot moving around in my brain and I’m trying to find a way to get it out,” she grinned.
“Well, you could always write it out or type it out,” he smiled. “You always were my best student and certainly one of the fastest most accurate typists I’ve ever known.”
“I prefer a computer,” she grinned.
“Still,” he said with a heavy sigh, “we could just talk as if we were in class. You could express your thoughts and ideas to me.”
“Maybe,” she said taking a bite of the eggs placed before her. “I’m thinking that this might not be my passion. I mean, its caused so much trouble that maybe I need to change the direction of my work. I’ve always been interested in improving food formulations.”
“That’s ridiculous!” he nervously laughed. “You were made to be a weapons chemist. A brilliant mind like yours could control nations.”
Marissa stared at him, cocking her head.
“That’s an interesting choice of words,” she said staring at him. She noticed that his hand was beneath the table but didn’t dare look. With her own hand behind her back, she signed to the others that he was holding something beneath the table.
“Just a phrase. Probably not timely,” he said. She nodded.
“So, did you see the amazing light show last night? All the meteors streaking across the sky?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, I did,” he lied. Suddenly Rush, Connor, and Ham were standing over the professor.
“That’s interesting, professor. There wasn’t a meteor shower last night. In fact, no one was supposed to leave the hut. But you did, didn’t you?”
He started to stand but got nowhere. While Rush pushed on one shoulder, Connor pushed on the other. Ham gripped the hand below the table and found what they suspected he held. A recording device. But it wasn’t an ordinary recording device.
“For a man who doesn’t like technology, this is pretty fancy,” said Ham. “Looks like just a regular old-fashioned cassette recorder but it’s not. It’s a transmission device.”
Joey took the device from Ham and spoke into the small speaker.
“Sorry, Vasily. Looks like you struck out again.”
“No. No, you don’t understand,” said Mills. “I had to!”
“No, I don’t think you did,” said Rush. “I think you were working with Vasily all along and you let Creek take the fall for you. Real manly thing to do. Hide behind a woman.”
“You gave those instructions to all of us,” said Marissa. “You assigned those things to us because you knew what could be accomplished by them. Not Vasily.”
Mills glared at the woman, realizing even he had underestimated her intelligence.
“We were partners in this. I was to be head of his ministry of health and science.”
“You would have been dead before you ever landed in Russia,” said Connor.
“Vasily doesn’t cooperate with anyone or partner with anyone.
He’s a megalomanic. He wants all the glory, all the praise, all the fame but doesn’t want to do the work himself.
You’re a dead man.” Ham stared at him and nodded, gripping his upper arm and pulling him toward the MPs.
“One way or another you’re a dead man. Either by Vasily, the MPs, or us.”