Angels Mark (The Serena Wilcox Mysteries Dystopian Thriller Trilogy) (19 page)

Covert Coffee

Excerpt: Chapter 2

Serena Wilcox Bridges, known professionally as Serena Wilcox, toyed with the idea of eating another slice of loaded and greasy pizza. “I don’t eat pizza very often anymore.”

“We could send Jeff out to get you something else.
Taco? Burger?”

“No, it’s okay, but no pizza again for me for a while.” She had to admit it was fun to have American fast food again, but she would miss her favorite
Gasthaus dishes, like Rahmschnitzel; veal served with a mushroom sauce made by sautéing garlic and onions, adding red wine and heavy cream (Rahm), and allowing the sauce to thicken. Yet she felt her stomach complaining at the very thought of more rich foods. No, Rahmschnitzel would not be good after the jet lag, pizza, and kidnapping trifecta.

Serena surveyed the hotel room. It was pleasant enough, with its bland art in tasteful frames, its neutral walls, and strong smell of sanitizer, but she knew if she had a black light she would see the proof of thousands of revolting human secrets.

“When do you think my husband and kids will be told I’m okay? When can I talk to them?”

“I don’t know.”

“I want to help President Kinji in any way that I can, and I stand by that decision, but Penny told me that my family wouldn’t be left worrying about me. I’m not willing to put them through that.”

“Sorry, I don’t know. I’m just the bodyguard, and the butler I guess,” said Agent Estep as he cleared Serena’s plate away from the mahogany desk she had taken up residence in front of, having found a bit of personal space from the three men who sat in the small lounging area that contained a couch, a chair, an end table with a lamp on it, and two floor lamps.

All of the lamps were turned on, but even though the window blinds were closed, the powerful street lights in the parking lot outside the window illuminated the room, rendering the need for three lamps unnecessary. She appreciated the extra lighting – all the easier to see who she was dealing with.

Estep was a man in his early twenties; tall, dark and handsome; good looking enough to look like an actor, but humble enough to be refreshingly likeable. The only son in a family with five girls, Estep knew, respected, and enjoyed women, while also solidly bearing all of his father’s testosterone-grounded hopes for the future, fully and happily on his broad shoulders.

A man who was sensitive, funny, smart, and masculine who was still single? Not for long, thought Serena. “Can you get me in touch with Penny please?”

Serena caught Estep sizing her up, and he apparently deemed her to be trustworthy. “Yeah, I can do that.” He pressed a couple of numbers and gave Serena his phone.

“Penny? This is Serena. Yes, I’m fine. One thing though, you said that Tom and the kids wouldn’t be left worried sick, wondering what happened to me. Yes, I understand, but that was my one condition when I agreed to do this. Yes, I can see that. Alright, if that’s the best you can do. Thank you, Penny.”

Estep took his phone back and raised his eyebrows. “Well?”

“She says they’ll have to snatch Tom and the kids. It’s the only way to protect them, and the only way to give them a message about me. She said it would have been easier if we’d been together when you took me, but now they’ll have to do this separately.”

“I see. I have no information about that.”

“They won’t be brought here. Too risky that someone might follow them here. Best to bring them somewhere else.”

“Those guys are good. Your family will be okay, don’t worry.”

“Thanks Estep.”

“And I doubt you’ll be apart for long.”

“I hope not. When can I get to work?”

“I can brief you now if you are ready.”

“Yes, now is good.” Serena’s voice revealed her surprise.

“I know, briefings are usually not delivered by the butler, but I’m a little higher up on the chain than I’ve led you to believe.” Estep winked at her, a move that would have made a younger woman blush. Serena simply felt old and tired.

What am I caught up in? I should be home with my family, she thought. She wondered if anyone had checked on the dog to see if he needed fresh water. They didn’t get him an ISO pet microchip, jump through hoops for a USDA certified veterinary form to obtain a pet passport, and fly him all the way to Germany only to have him die of dehydration! Aloud she said, “Please fill me in.”

Estep folded his long lanky frame into the only available chair and pulled data up on his phone. “Look at this face. Ring any bells?”

Serena glanced at the photo. “Is it supposed to?”

“No, didn’t think you’d know him.”

“Who is he?”

“He is the man behind a lobbyist group. He’s not happy about new legislation on the table.” Estep pulled out a slim silver stylus and selected another photo from database. He placed the phone into her hand. “Do you know this face?”

Serena glanced at the photo, did a double-take, and studied the photo more closely. “I think I do. He’s older now than when I last saw him, but I think this is the same boy. I met him in Minnesota. He was a child prodigy, a computer genius, nice kid. What does he have to do with this?” Serena’s curiosity was now piqued enough that her fatigue was forgotten.

“Nothing, but we’ve been following him, and grooming him to be of help to us in the future.”

“I see. And the future is today?”

“Yes, we think so. He can help you find the people involved, track them via satellite and the typical footprints, and hook you up with any other technology you might need.”

“I understand. But I still have no idea why I’m pretending to be kidnapped. Why did I tell Ann – President Kinji – that someone would kill me? I thought you said that she specifically asked for my help, so why doesn’t she know what’s going on? And, by the way, I don’t know what’s going on either.”

“The President was warned by one of her staff that security has been compromised.” Estep stopped talking and stared at her face for a long moment. “Someone from the inside is involved.”

“Yes, I understand what compromised means.”

“That’s why she asked for you.”

“But why the kidnapping if she asked for me?”

“To protect the president.
We know she trusts you, and we respect her judgment. So we got you. And it’s in her best interest if she doesn’t know what you are doing on her behalf.”

“But aren’t you drawing more attention to what we are doing? How is this helpful?” Serena raised her voice to be heard over the vacuuming din coming from the housekeeping service in the room next door, and sharing the wall that the desk was bolted to.

Estep, with his deep baritone, did not need to raise his voice, but he did anyway. “Because the President has no idea that you are already working with us, she is protected from whatever happens.”

“She’s going to want to find me. I don’t see how this is helpful. Am I not getting something?”

“She has assigned our team to an operation to recover you, and that is all she knows. We’ll keep her briefed enough to occupy her, and anything you are doing meanwhile won’t touch her.”

“You do realize that I’m not an insider to anything, right? I solve mysteries, mainly over the computer. That’s all I can offer. I still don’t get all of this secrecy and drama.”

“It’s better that she think we’re looking for you than for her to be briefed on what you are doing, which is what she would be ordering us to do if she knew you were working on this. If her office is compromised, and we are working on that assumption, we need to protect the President from even herself. We vetted you out, and you held up, but we can’t do that with all certainty for everyone else that the President might think she can trust. So, if she doesn’t know anything, she can’t talk about it.” This was the most Estep had said at one time, and he said it without seeming to breathe.

“I see.
Smart plan. Did you come up with it?” Serena’s antennae were raised. Who had the authority to make decisions in the name of security that went over Ann’s head and without her knowledge?

“No it wasn’t me. I don’t go that far up the ladder, only a few rungs up from Butler.” Estep grinned, enjoying his Butler joke beyond its expiration date. Seeing no reaction from Serena, he quickly switched gears, erasing his smirk and resuming the blank-faced expression of a solid Secret Service Agent. “I can’t tell you who is in
charge, you’ll have to trust the process. I already spent way more time explaining why you are here than I expected to. From now on, ask fewer questions. Once we get you set up, you’ll have to work fast. We can’t stall her for more than a couple of days.”

“What happens if I can’t figure this out before then?”

“Operation Coffee will need a resolution. We’ll tell her we’ve found you, and go from there.”

“Operation Coffee?
That’s what she’s calling my rescue?”

“Yes.”

“I like it.” Serena smiled, basking in the glow of having an operation dedicated to her. “How did all of this start? Don’t leave anything out.”

Estep’s only response was to scowl at Serena. His handsome face was instantly transformed into that of an intimidating, flint-eyed thug – a side of him that his sisters and mother had never seen. He unfolded himself from the chair he had occupied for only a few minutes. “We have to move you.”

“Already?” Serena looked around the room, startled at the sudden turn of events. “You don’t think we are safe enough here?”

“My alert sounded.” Estep pointed to his ear, where a microchip was hidden, communicating with him at all times.

Serena grabbed her purse and hurried out the door. Estep was quickly met by a team of equally athletic and capable agents that swallowed the petite detective so completely that she was invisible from outside of the swarm. It was with this entourage that she walked from one room to another, shuffling along at a steady but manic pace.

Once inside the room, Estep took up position in an identical chair to the one he’d been in just moments earlier. “We are secure now. Let’s proceed.”

“What? We only moved up a floor. How is that more secure?”

“We won’t be staying in the same place for more than thirty minutes at a time. Keeping you moving is a precaution.”

“How can I get anything done if I’m moving around all the time?”

“Only until we get you to the computer lab.
You’ll stay there as long as it takes.”

“Is that why you brought me back to Minnesota? Are we talking about the same lab where I saw the boy in the photo? I remember his name is Nicholas.”

“Yes, same lab. Nicholas will be there when you arrive.”

“I didn’t realize the lab was still in use. I guess I assumed it would be shut down.”

“No, it was claimed by the agency.”

“Which agency?”

Estep raised his eyebrows.

“Asking too many questions?”

Estep growled.

“I’d like to talk to my family. When would that be possible?”

Estep stared back at her, his face void of all expression. Several seconds passed. Serena studied the framed art on the wall – same bland factory prints as in the previous room, same color scheme, slightly different subject matter. The paintings struck her as funny, and she looked away before she started laughing for no reason. She was feeling the weight of the jet lag, and fatigue from everything else too. She wondered when the agents would leave her alone so that she could sleep, if she could sleep.

“I’m here of my own free
will, I don’t see why I should be denied talking to my family and making sure that they are okay.”

Estep’s expression remained unchanged. His eyes didn’t even seem to blink.

“I am here of my own free will, right?”

“Define ‘free will’”, said Estep.

Buy COVERT COFFEE, book two of the Serena Wilcox Mysteries Dystopian Thriller Trilogy

View the trailer for
BLUEBIRD FLOWN
,
book three of the Serena Wilcox Mysteries Dystopian Thriller Trilogy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natalie Buske Thomas is a prolific author, public speaker and entertainer.

Natalie is also an artist
. She is best known for her oil painting
Savannah Reading in the Butterfly Garden
.

Natalie is part Irish and enjoys that culture. She resides with her husband and three children near the Twin Cities.

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Author Note:

Thank you for reading my Serena Wilcox Mystery
Angels Mark
. As the series changes and grows, and I change and grow, I invite you to share the journey with me on your favorite social media and through my website. I appreciate your support. Without readers like you my stories would stay on my home computer collecting dust.