Kate moved slowly toward him, motioning Jay to stay back. “Who are you and what do you want?”
“I’m a friend of Skydiver’s.”
“Tell me Skydiver’s real name,” Kate said.
“Peter. Can I get up now?”
Jay walked toward him when she saw Kate wavering. “It’s okay, Kate. It’s Kevin,” she said, when she was close enough to see.
“Okay?” Kevin asked, still sprawled spread eagle on the ground.
“Okay,” Kate replied grudgingly.
When Kevin stood up and brushed himself off, Kate narrowed her eyes. “I’ve seen you before. You were at Albert Park.”
Kevin nodded. “I’m the one who left you the knapsack under the bench at 7:00.”
“He picked me up at the airport and brought me to you,” Jay said to Kate.
Kate finally relaxed her stance and lowered the gun to her side.
“Welcome. Sorry about the greeting.”
“That’s all right, mate. I’m glad you’re being careful. If you weren’t, Peter’d have my hide. Speaking of which…that’s why I’m here.”
Kate stiffened. “Has something happened?”
Kevin shifted from foot to foot. “Not yet.”
“What does that mean?” Jay asked.
“Man, I can see you two are trouble together.”
“You’re stalling,” Kate said. “Spill it.”
Lynn Ames
Kevin pointed to the picnic table. “Can I sit down?”
“Of course,” Jay said, as she pulled Kate over to the table with her.
“I had a call from Peter just a bit ago,” Kevin began hesitantly.
“You’re wondering if you should filter the information—don’t,” Kate said, her voice determined.
Kevin shrugged. “That’s the way I had it figured, but somehow I’m thinking our friend Peter would be less than happy with me.”
“He’s not the one sitting in front of you holding a gun.” Kate smiled as Kevin’s eyes widened.
He scratched his stubble. “Well, you do have a point there, love.” He tucked his feet underneath him. “All right, here’s the skinny…” Kevin told them about Peter grabbing Englert and the truth about the president’s condition.
“So are they going after the president?”
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. Peter had made him swear he wouldn’t tell Kate about Barbara or the swap.
“Spill it,” Kate ordered. “I can see there’s more.”
“They are going after President Hyland, right?” Jay asked.
“I’m sure they are, love, but not just yet.”
“Why not?” Jay was indignant.
“There’s something else they’ve got to do first.”
“Like?” Kate asked.
“You’re a tough one, mate, I’ll give you that.”
Kate merely tapped her fingers on the table.
Kevin sighed. “Seems like when Peter sent your friend Barbara to Denver, some operatives followed her.”
“Why in the world did he send her to Denver?” Kate asked, perplexed.
Kevin shifted uncomfortably again and sighed. “When Peter saw Jay at the funeral, there were five operatives in the room. He was afraid they would spot her, so he needed a distraction. He sent Barbara to Denver because that was the last place he had rigged an ATM transaction by you.” He looked at Kate. “He never figured she’d be in danger.”
“Danger? They just followed her, right?” Kate asked, her pulse quickening.
“Not exactly. They nabbed her when she got home—wherever that is.”
“It’s all because of me,” Jay whispered.
“No. No, Jay. It’s not. They picked her up because they figured she could lead them to me.” Kate took Jay’s hand.
Kevin nodded.
“Yes, but she wouldn’t have had to distract them if it hadn’t been for me.”
The Value of Valor
“They’d probably already been watching her.” To Kevin, Kate asked,
“Did she know anything?”
“No.”
“Where is she now?” Kate’s voice was deathly quiet.
“That’s why Peter isn’t going after your president just yet. He’s going to trade Dr. Englert for Barbara.”
Jay groaned.
Kate shook her head. “It’s a suicide mission. They’ll never let her go alive; she knows too much. And they’ll kill Peter and Englert, too. I’ve seen what they’re capable of.” Her body was vibrating with tension. “It’s a trap.” She stood up and began to pace. “Peter’s too smart not to know that.” She looked at Kevin. “Why are you here?”
Kevin couldn’t look her in the eye. “Peter wanted me to be sure you girls stayed safe.”
“He doesn’t think he’s going to make it.” Jay’s voice was a whisper.
There was silence for a moment before Kate let out an exasperated growl. “What does he hope to accomplish?”
“He wants to get Barbara out alive.”
“By sacrificing himself? This is madness!”
“He hopes it won’t come to that.”
“Is he going in there by himself?”
“He’s got a guy named Max working with him.”
Kate nodded. “Max is a good man. But still—it’s not enough.” She paced back and forth one more time. “I’ve got to go back.”
“Kate.” Jay jumped up.
“None of this would be happening if it weren’t for me. It’s my responsibility. I can’t sit here and hide away knowing that my friends are putting their lives on the line for me.” She looked deeply into Jay’s frightened eyes. “I can’t, honey,” she said quietly.
“Where you go, I go.” Jay set her jaw.
“Jay…”
“No, Kate. We’re in this together.” She squeezed Kate’s hands.
Kevin cleared his throat, feeling like a voyeur. “If you’ll excuse me for saying so, I’ve been charged with the job of keeping you both safe.”
“You’re not going to stop us,” Kate said forcefully.
Kevin laughed. “I can see that. What I was actually going to say was, if you’re going, I’m going.”
“Kevin…”
“Nope. I agreed to do a job, and by golly, I’m going to do it.”
“We’d better get a flight.”
Kevin put a hand on Jay’s arm as she moved to go inside. “No need, love. I’ve already rented a charter to get us to Sidney. After that, a buddy of mine who flies planes for Flying Tigers is going to let us hitch a ride
Lynn Ames
with him. We’ll make a fuel stop in L.A.—then directly on to D.C. He shrugged, blushing. “I sort of figured it would go this way.”
“When do we leave?” Jay asked.
“The charter’s just waiting for us.”
“We’d better get going then,” Kate said. “What time was the exchange scheduled for?”
“Midnight tomorrow night, East Coast time.”
Jay bit her lip. “What time will we get there?”
“It’ll be tight,” Kevin said.
“Then there’s no time to lose.” Kate was already on her way inside.
The Value of Valor
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
eter and Max quietly, grimly went about readying themselves for P the meeting. Assembled on the living room floor were four Glock Nines, two Sig Sauers, two tiny microphones with transmitters, and two survival knives. There was also one bulletproof Kevlar vest—the only one Peter owned. Peter handed it to Max without comment.
“Boss…”
“Don’t argue with me; this is not negotiable.”
“I don’t feel comfortable…”
“They’re not meant to be comfortable,” Peter broke in.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Either you wear it or I go in alone.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.”
Max clamped his mouth shut.
Peter looked up from loading ammunition. “Last chance. I can’t ask you to do this, Max. In fact, as glad as I am to have you at my back, I wish you wouldn’t do this.”
Max looked Peter in the eye. “I’m in.”
“Okay. Let’s go over it one more time. We get to the site an hour ahead of time to check out the setup and see what they’re up to. I call five minutes in advance to ensure Barbara is alive.” He ignored the pang in his gut those words caused—this was business now. “We make them give us Barbara before we turn over Englert.” He looked at Max. “You hold Englert back out of sight until I tell you it’s a go. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“As soon as you give me Englert, I’m going to give you Barbara. Get her out of there and to the car as quickly as possible.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll cover you and be right behind you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, boss. I’ve got the vest, I should be the one on cover duty.”
“You’ve got the vest—you’re Barbara’s best chance.”
“I don’t like it.”
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“You don’t have to like it, Max. That’s the way it’s going to go, okay?”
“Yes, sir. You don’t really intend to give them Englert, do you?”
“I’m going to try to hold on to both of them.”
“We need his testimony to prove all this. Who would believe it otherwise?” Max asked.
“That’s why we made the videotape of him this morning.”
“Just in case.”
“Exactly.”
“Would it be admissible in a court of law?”
“I don’t know—but it’s better than nothing. Okay. It’s time.” Peter squeezed Max’s shoulder. “If I haven’t said so yet, what you’re doing here…well, it means a lot to me. Thanks.”
“Like I said, why would I let you have all the fun? I’ll even buy the beer when we’re done.”
Peter laughed. “You’re on.”
“Let’s roll.”
It was impossible to hear inside the cavernous jet, so Kate and Jay simply snuggled together and tried to sleep. When that failed, Jay took out a pen and a pad of paper and began to sketch the outline for a story she titled, “The Hijacking of America—a Truth Stranger Than Fiction.”
As she wrote, Kate looked over her shoulder, taking the pen and filling in details where required—even adding a couple of quotes. She kissed Jay on the top of the head and yelled in her ear to be heard.
“Planning to send this to Trish?”
Jay nodded. She yelled back, “I’m thinking I’d better deliver it in person, though. Otherwise, she might have a heart attack.”
Kate laughed. “Good point.” Her smiled faded. “She was really torn up about you—thought it was her fault for letting you go.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“That’s what I told her, but…”
“I can’t wait to set her straight.” Jay fell silent, thinking about what it must have been like for her editor to know she died while on assignment.
She and Trish were more than co-workers—they were friends. She would go see her as soon as this was over.
Kate looked down at the paper in Jay’s lap. The story ended for the moment with the conspiracy, leaving the outcome for later. She hoped beyond measure that they’d all have a chance to see that outcome through.
Peter sent Kevin to protect them; that told Kate he truly didn’t expect to survive the encounter. She was not at all surprised that he would go through with the exchange to save Barbara—that was so typically Peter.
The Value of Valor
He’d been in plenty of tight spots in his lifetime. She knew he had never feared death; she imagined that he didn’t fear it now. He was probably more concerned that he would no longer be able to protect her. That, too, was typically Peter.
Well,
she thought,
it’s my turn to protect you, Technowiz, whether you
like it or not.
She looked at her watch for what seemed like the thousandth time since they took off from L.A. It was 11:06 p.m. on the East Coast. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, wondering if they could possibly make it in time.
Peter circled around the Lincoln Memorial one more time. So far, he’d counted three operatives. He found it hard to believe there weren’t more, but if there were, they were well hidden. Perhaps this might go better than he expected. He checked his watch—almost time to make the phone call. His stomach flipped—it usually did before a dangerous mission—but this time was different; this was personal.
He walked back to where Max and Englert sat in the car on an adjoining street. Max got out when he saw Peter coming and locked Englert in the car.
“Everything okay here?”
“Yeah, boss. You?”
“Still three confirmed, fanned out like a triangle. I didn’t see Barbara, but I didn’t expect to yet.”
“You still want to go with the revised plan?”
“Yes.” When Peter saw the setup on his first pass, he reconfigured his plan. There was no way in his mind to avoid a head-on confrontation.
“I’ve got to come up the middle, but I’ll try to angle to the south side as much as I can.”
“Right. The Gettysburg Address side.”
“Yes.” Peter shook his head, marveling at how a man with Max’s abilities could be so directionally clueless. “You back me up from the north side—the inaugural address side, behind the second operative—
after
they’ve had a chance to see me and scan the area. Wait until they’re fully focused on me. We’ll both have a clear line at the third guy once you get in place.”
“You sure, boss? Without me directly at your back, it leaves you vulnerable.” Max was thinking that it also meant he couldn’t shield Peter from fire with the Kevlar vest.
“Yes. You have the envelope I gave you?”
“Yes. I’m to give it to Barbara in case…”
“Right.” Peter didn’t want to dwell on his note to Barbara. “Time to make the call.”
“Grayson.”
Lynn Ames
“Put her on.”
“Peter?” Barbara asked.
“What color are Jay’s eyes?”
“G-green.”
“Good girl. I’ll have you out of here before you know it,” Peter promised.
“If you’re done, Mr. Enright, we’ll see you in five minutes.”
Barbara was seated, shackled, behind the statue of Abraham Lincoln, emancipator of the slaves. The irony was not lost on her, but her mind was focused elsewhere. Peter had asked her about Jay’s eyes—in the present tense. Peter never said anything by accident. He was telling her that Jay was alive. Could it be? She thought back to Kate’s funeral. She’d been talking to Peter, telling him something, when his attention was suddenly diverted. It was right after that that he gave her the instructions to go to Denver.
That was it!
Her heart soared. Peter saw Jay and knew he had to do something to distract these fools before they saw her, too. That was the point in her leading them on a wild goose chase. Barbara closed her swollen eyes. She felt better knowing the whole story; she only hoped she’d live long enough to see Jay again. Her stomach threatened to revolt.