Black Rose (17 page)

CHAPTER 44

Valentina was getting ready to leave her apartment to meet Gutenberg at the restaurant when her phone buzzed. She looked at the display. It was a text from Lucien, her handler.

She felt a wave of adrenaline ripple through her body. It was a prearranged emergency abort code. She was compromised, in immediate danger. It meant she had to run.

Now.

She'd dressed in high heels and a designer evening outfit from Dior for the evening. It wasn't the best outfit for going to ground. She swore under her breath, kicked off the shoes and dropped the clothes to the floor. She ran to the closet and pulled on black jeans, a shirt and a pair of boots. On the shelf was a leather belt pack with money, passports and a Glock G27. She clipped the pack onto her belt.

Valentina checked the Glock to make sure there was a round in the chamber. The pistol had the advantage of being small and light, with nothing projecting to snag the weapon in a pocket or a purse at an inconvenient time. Nine rounds of .40 caliber hollow points were more than enough. If she needed more, she'd be in trouble.

She pulled on a warm jacket and cracked open the door, the Glock in her right hand. It had been less than five minutes since Lucien had called. The hallway was clear. Valentina let her training take over.

You can't go out the front of the building. They'll have that covered. Same for the back.

She headed for the roof. One of the reasons she'd picked this building was for easy access to the roof.
A door at the end of the hall led to a stairwell. She opened it and stepped through. She held the heavy door so it wouldn't slam and shut it behind her.

The building was nine stories tall and her apartment was on the fifth floor. The stairs were brightly lit. She climbed with the easy movements of a predator, her footsteps barely sounding in the hollow space. A door slammed somewhere below. The echo vibrated up through the stairwell. Rapid footsteps sounded on the stairs, coming toward her. It sounded like two men.

Valentina reached the door leading onto the flat roof and went through. Gravel crunched under her feet. Overhead, the Paris sky was without stars. The brilliant glow from the city's millions of lights reflected from a canopy of low hanging clouds. There was a smell of April rain in the air.

The next building over was eight stories high, separated from hers by a narrow alley. It was an easy leap across the gap to the roof on the other side. From there she'd make her escape.

The footsteps coming up the stairs were close.
They'll be here before I can make the jump,
she thought
. If I make it before they get here, I'll be a target. Even if I get away, they'll know where I've gone.

She pocketed the Glock. Shots would only bring the police.

Valentina's voluptuous looks were deceiving. Her curves hid layers of powerful muscles. She stood to the side of the shed and waited. The footsteps paused, then gravel crunched as someone stepped onto the roof. She slammed the open door into the unseen figure with all her strength. The man cried out in pain.

Valentina came around the door like one of hell's dark angels. She let go with a vicious kick of her steel-toed boot into the fallen man's head. She felt the bones of his face shatter. He screamed. His partner raised a pistol and fired. The shot burned across her upper arm as she drove her stiffened fingers into his throat. He fell backward and rolled down the steps. The body came to rest on the next landing.

Blood ran warm down her arm but there was no time to treat the wound. Valentina turned and ran across the roof and leapt for the top of the building next door. She rolled as she hit, her jaw clamped tight against the pain of her injured arm. She came up moving and ran to the door leading into the building.

The distinctive two-tone wail of a French police car sounded in the distance, coming her way. A second siren joined the first.

Someone heard the shot,
she thought.

Valentina had the door open in seconds. She went down the stairs two steps at a time. She reached the ground floor, followed the hall to the back service entrance and disappeared into the Parisian night.

CHAPTER 45

The day after the fiasco with Valentina, Gutenberg was back in his château. He had Krivi on the secure line. They were talking about Brazil.

"The test has gone even better than we hoped," Krivi said. "Schmidt is quite pleased. The plague is spreading nicely. Brasilia has managed to confine the outbreak to the far North for the moment, but people will continue to die. The vaccine has proven effective. My laboratories are ready for production."

"When do you plan to announce the discovery?"

"Later today. There will be delays while the bureaucrats clamor for further testing and safety evaluations for human use. I anticipate that regulations will delay distribution in volume for at least six months."

"Excellent," Gutenberg said.

"How is our stockpile of the plague agent?"

"We have more than enough," Gutenberg said. "It will make the plagues of history pale in comparison."

"Have you heard from Kamarov?" Krivi asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. No, I haven't. I'm beginning to think something has happened to him."

"He has many enemies," Krivi said. "I'm surprised he's lasted this long."

"He has excellent security and government protection."

"Even the best security can fail against a determined opponent." Krivi paused. "You didn't call me just for an update."

"You know me too well, old friend. We have a problem. Valentina has betrayed me."

"Ah. For a younger man? I thought you were above that sort of thing."

"Another man in her bed would mean little," Gutenberg said, "though I do expect exclusivity from my mistresses. This is worse than that. She's been spying on me. Someone else is now aware of our plans."

"Thorvaldson told me your emails had been compromised," Krivi said. "That certainly is a problem. What have you done with her?"

"Somehow she knew I'd found her out. I sent men as soon as I discovered her treachery but she killed them. She's escaped."

"Killed them? The lovely Valentina? I never would have guessed she had such skills."

"She installed a program on my computer to monitor my correspondence. She's working for someone with sophisticated resources."

"One of your competitors?"

"No. Valentina was well-trained, she was armed and she was ready to kill in order to escape. She has to be working for a government. Whoever it is knows who we are. That means they are a serious threat."

"The others will be upset by this development," Krivi said. "Mitchell has expressed doubts to me about your leadership. He may try to use this to remove you."

"You didn't tell me Mitchell had approached you."

"I did not feel it was necessary. My sense was that he was exploring possibilities, sounding me out as a possible ally. I left him with the impression that I was open to persuasion. Personally, I think he's an ass."

Gutenberg laughed. "The fact that the Americans elect people like him to run their country never ceases to amaze me."

"He is very convincing in front of the cameras," Krivi said. "I could almost believe he was telling the truth if I didn't know better."

"An accomplished politician," Gutenberg said. "He may be an ass but he has been effective at furthering our goals. We don't have to like him."

"It is very easy for me not to like him."

"In any event, this spying cannot be tolerated."

"I have asked my man to find out who is listening in," Krivi said. "He said it will take a little time."

"But he can do it."

"Yes," Krivi said.

"Good."

"Perhaps we could draw them out."

"What do you mean?" Gutenberg asked.

"Because of your ex mistress they know we released the plague in Brazil. That makes us a threat to them. If I were them, I would want to remove that threat."

"You think they'll come after us."

"It's possible. They could target us individually but I have a better idea."

"Go on."

"Send me an email discussing our next face-to-face meeting as a group. They will be certain to intercept it."

"We have no such meeting scheduled," Gutenberg said.

"Whoever is monitoring you doesn't know that. If they think we are all going to be together and accessible it will make a tempting target. I thought your place in France might seem believable."

"You think they'll send in a team? Try to assassinate us?"

"Wouldn't you?" Krivi said.

"It's worth a try," Gutenberg said. His voice hissed with suppressed anger. "They are going to regret interfering."

"Have you chosen the target for the next phase?" Krivi asked.

"Let's wait until we find out who has been spying on us. Releasing the plague on their home ground would be fitting punishment for their arrogance."

CHAPTER 46

It was spring outside Elizabeth's office windows. The lawns at Project headquarters were turning green. The flowerbeds bloomed with new life and color. It was a beautiful day, the kind of day for leaving your desk and sitting somewhere in the sunshine. For Elizabeth, a day like that was right up there with one of Samuel Coleridge's opium dreams. The team was assembled in her office.

"We have a new mission," Elizabeth said. "Steph?"

Stephanie wore a light blue shirt that hung loose over black slacks. Elizabeth thought she might be putting on a little weight, but her clothes hid it well. As she often did, she'd chosen large gold earrings. A half dozen gold bracelets circled her left wrist. Her fingernails were painted a shade of blood red that matched her lipstick.

"Gutenberg sent a long email to Krivi Dass. He's called a face-to-face meeting of AEON's leaders."

"Where?" Nick asked.

"A villa in Normandy, near Caen. Gutenberg owns a boutique vineyard there. It produces only a few hundred bottles a year. Very high-end."

"What do you have in mind?" Nick said.

"It's time we ended this," Elizabeth said. "I want you to go to that villa and put AEON out of business, once and for all."

"You want us to kill them?" Selena said. "I thought we were the good guys."

"And they're the bad guys," Nick said. "They've started wars that caused the deaths of millions of people. They killed Adam. Those people we saw dying in Brazil, that's their doing. They gave up any rights to fair treatment a long time ago."

"I didn't say kill them." Elizabeth looked at Selena. "You can try and take them alive. We need to know where the rest of those plague samples are. We need to know what else they've planned, who they've corrupted."

"Director, you really think we can take them alive?" Ronnie asked.

Harker shrugged. "As I said, you can try. There are no rules of engagement if they resist."

Selena's expression showed her disapproval but she said nothing.

"These are important men, public figures," Nick said. "You know they'll resist. People are going to ask a lot of questions if they disappear. They'll have trained pros for bodyguards, probably ex special forces. We go after them at that villa, it's going to get noisy, fast. If we kill any of them, half the police forces in the world will be after us."

"Then you better hadn't get caught," Elizabeth said. "This one is completely off the books. No backup, no extraction. The president will not know about this mission. For this one you don't exist."

"It's not like it's the first time," Lamont muttered.

"I don't think you need to worry about noise," Stephanie said. "I searched through our satellite archives and found pictures of the villa. It's isolated. The house is surrounded by thick hedges on three sides. You could set off a bomb in there and no one would hear it."

"Inside, maybe," Nick said. "Sound carries a long way in the country. Let's see the pictures."

Stephanie clicked her mouse and a satellite photograph of the villa and grounds appeared on the wall monitor. The house was large with a slate roof. A high stone wall with a gate ran across the front of the property along the main road. A long, white gravel drive led straight and flat from the road to the house. Behind the house was a field with rows of grapevines laid out in a neat grid. There were several outbuildings scattered around the villa and another, larger building in back. A tractor was parked next to it.

"What's that building in the back?" Nick asked.

"It's where they crush the grapes," Stephanie said. "You can see an access road from the vineyard that goes right to it."

"The little old winemaker," Lamont said. "Makes me glad I drink beer, if guys like Gutenberg are the ones who make the wine."

"Pretty easy to figure out you drink beer," Ronnie said. "You really gotta work on that gut you're getting."

Harker cleared her throat, loudly. "Focus, please."

"We'll need the jet," Nick said. "Diplomatic papers to get our gear through customs. We can fly into Caen and drive from there. Steph, can you get us a floor plan?"

"I'll search the city archives at Caen. There might be something there. "

"It's not a good idea to go in there blind. That's a big house. It's going to have a lot of rooms."

"I'll task infrared surveillance on the villa," Elizabeth said. "It will tell us how many people are inside and where they are. The Pentagon has upgraded most of the satellite cameras with new technology. It almost makes the roof and walls invisible."

Nick nodded his head. "That will help a lot."

"What are we taking?" Ronnie asked.

"It's a straightforward mission, in and out. The usual stuff. Vests, MP-5s, with silencers. Flash bangs, night vision gear. Comm gear."

"C4?"

"No, but take grenades."

"Frags or offensive?"

"Both."

"Aren't all grenades offensive?" Selena asked. "I mean, it's not exactly a defensive weapon."

"Those are two different types," Ronnie said. "Frag grenades send shrapnel everywhere. Offensive grenades are small bombs with a five second fuse. They're good inside a bunker or a building."

"How do you tell them apart?"

"You're familiar with the frag type. The offensive grenades look like a shaving cream can. They're marked so you know what they are."

"Oh, that's helpful," Selena said.