Finding North (39 page)

Alex stopped walking. She
waved for Raz and Troy to head home. Raz gave a “What?” gesture,
and she pointed to the phone.

“
Yes, sir,” Alex
said.

She turned in place and
started back to her office. Raz jogged back and took her duffle bag
from her. She smiled her thanks while she waited out the Admiral’s
rant. She went down a flight of stairs and started down the cold
hallway where her office was located.

“
Are you out of the
parking lot?” the Admiral asked.

“
Yes, sir,” Alex
said.

“
In the hallway?” the
Admiral asked.

“
Yes, sir,” Alex
said.

“
Stay there,” the Admiral
said.

Alex stopped walking and
leaned against the cinderblock wall. She waited through a series of
clicks while the Admiral changed to a more secure phone.

“
Good work retrieving your
target,” the Admiral said. “Fong and Ji were not to leave the
country.”

“
Yes, sir,” Alex
said.

“
They eliminated the rest
of his team,” the Admiral said. “Any idea why they disbanded the
team?”

“
None,” Alex said. “The
younger target has severe, life-threatening injuries. We were
fortunate that he survived the trip. He would not have survived a
plane change, so the pilots switched planes rather than the
team.”

“
Good thinking,” the
Admiral said.

“
Our host,” Alex
said.

“
Yes,” the Admiral said.
“I’ve received a report which says the younger target has survived
his first round of surgery and that his father is with
him.”

“
That’s very good news,”
Alex said. “I’m relieved.”

“
Yes,” the Admiral said.
“Fort Leonard Wood, five o’clock. Don’t be late.”

“
Yes, sir,” Alex
said.

“
Bring the kids,” the
Admiral said. “I haven’t seen my Godchildren in a
while.”

“
The husband spoke with
the Afghan,” Alex said.

The Admiral gave a heavy
sigh.

“
And?”

“
It went better than
expected,” Alex said. “The Lebanon solution helped.”

When Joseph’s adoptive
son, Alex, was an infant, he was at the center of a tricky hostage
situation involving his grandparents. Alex’s solution was to bring
the child to the US. In agreeing to the plan, the child’s
grandfathers — one a powerful Imam and the other a powerful
Christian cleric — made the first agreement which would eventually
lead to years of peace in Lebanon. Alex’s code name for the boy who
bore her name was “The Lebanon solution.”

“
Better bring the husband,
too,” the Admiral said. “While you’re at it, bring Rasmussen. I
want to hear about this goddamned NYPD partner.”

“
Yes, sir,” Alex said.
“Shall I bring dinner?”

The Admiral laughed and
hung up the phone. Alex sighed. She would meet her boss’s boss at
Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to review their last missions. Since
Dom’s assistant was killed in Paris, she and the Admiral had met in
person whenever she briefed him or he had something he needed to
relay to her. It was the only way she’d been able to keep him in
the loop while keeping their conversations private.

She’d have to wake Zack to
get him to fly them and round up Trece to be her bodyguard. So far,
the three of them had managed fifteen private conversations in
almost six months. Hopefully, today’s visit would go off without a
hitch.

She unlocked her office
door and stopped in the waiting area. Someone had been smoking
cigars in her office. She made a disgusted face. She looked up at
the ceiling while she weighed her options. Making a decision, she
walked toward her office. And then she smelled the beer.

Alex looked at her watch
before picking up the phone on Sergeant Dusty’s desk and dialed
Australia.

“
Sir, Lieutenant Colonel
Hargreaves,” Alex said.

“
What’s he done this
time?” the Major General asked.

“
Broke into my office,”
Alex said.

“
Cigars?”

“
And beer,” Alex
said.

“
I’ll talk with him,” the
Major General said.

“
Permission to use deadly
force, sir,” Alex asked.

The Major General laughed
and hung up on her. Two for two. She’d managed to vaguely amuse the
head of the United States Special Operations and his Australian
counterpart.

Her office door
opened.

“
What’d he say?” asked the
large, red-haired man known as The Monk.

“
He said I could kill
you,” Alex said.

Ethan Samson Fitzgerald
tipped his head back and laughed. He looked like he’d just come off
a long mission. His hair was a wild, red, curly mess and his beard
long. His pants were torn in a way that made it look like his
muscular thighs had torn through the fabric. His shirt was sweat
stained, and he had beer foam in his beard. He gave her his most
charming grin, and she grimaced.

“
Did you have to smoke?”
Alex asked. “Here? In my office? I’m going to catch hell about if
for months. This is a . . .”

“
Non-smoking building,”
The Monk said. “Yes, I know. But, I couldn’t exactly meet you at
home. What would the husband think?”

“
That you stink?” Alex
asked.

“
He might just see how
much you fancy me,” The Monk said. “Irish Republican — a Kelly, no
less — might just end an old Pict like me.”

Alex laughed. The Monk
held out his arms, and Alex let him hug her. He laughed and kissed
her cheek. He was called The Monk for his ability to work
complicated assignments by himself. Of course, his solitude had led
to his capture on more than one occasion.

“
What do you want?” Alex
asked.

“
You’re unusually cranky,”
The Monk said. “Rasmussen falling down on his job? Should I step in
as your personal gigolo?”

“
Very funny,” Alex said.
“We just left China, and I have to get to Missouri.”

“
Meetings?” The Monk
nodded.

“
Missouri,” Alex said.
“Doing my
job
in
China.”

“
Did you ever think we’d
be the ones widening our arses in meetings?” The Monk shook his
head.

“
Last few years, I haven’t
been all that sure I’d make it at all,” Alex said.

The Monk hugged her until
she protested.

“
No, really,” Alex said
when he let her go. “Why are you here?”

“
I was assigned to kill
you,” The Monk said.

In one fluid movement,
Alex jumped back and pulled her handgun.

“
I was joking,
Hargreaves,” The Monk said with his hands raised. “Jeez. What’s got
you so wound up?”

“
I don’t like being
threatened,” Alex said.

“
Even by your old mate The
Monk,” he said.

Scowling, Alex holstered
the handgun and pushed past him to get in her office.

“
Sorry,” The Monk said. “I
didn’t mean to . . . I don’ know, Alex. I’m an
arsehole.”

She nodded.

“
I finished your whiskey
while I waited,” he said.

“
There are two glasses
here.” Alex pointed to two glasses sitting on her long conference
table.

“
That’s why I’m here,” The
Monk said.

Alex turned to look at
him.

“
I was in the bush with
someone you know,” The Monk said. “He told me a story
that . . . I thought you should hear.”

“
Who?”

“
Hank Zutterberg,” The
Monk said.

Alex pulled the handgun
again. The Monk took a step toward her, and she flipped off the
safety.

“
I know he can be
difficult,” The Monk said. “But, you’ve got to hear him
out.”

“
Why?”

“
For
your
sake, mostly,” The Monk said.
“He says he’s in trouble, and I believe him. I brought him with me
because I’d be surprised if he survived the week.”

Alex raised her
eyebrows.

“
You’re not the only one
who wants to kill him,” The Monk said. “I took a chance you’d be
here without Mac Clenaghan or Olivas.”

“
He doesn’t want to see
them, either?” Alex asked.

“
It’s not that,” The Monk
said. “
You
need
to hear his story.”

“
Where is he?” Alex
asked.

“
Toilet,” The Monk
said.

Alex looked at the
bathroom door.

“
He’s being set up,” The
Monk said.

“
What?”

“
You just have to hear him
out,” The Monk said. “I thought I’d take a shower while you talked.
When I’m done, I’m taking him home with me. Safer
there.”

“
Why are you his
babysitter?” Alex asked.

“
Because I know what it’s
like to have everyone against you,” The Monk said. “To be alone.
He’s alone now, and in trouble. It’s a kind of hostage taking by
rumor and inference. It will likely end in his death.”

Alex rubbed her
head.

“
Plus he’s family,” The
Monk said. “
My
family.”

Alex scowled.

“
Will you listen?” The
Monk asked.

“
No,” Jesse appeared next
to The Monk. “No. Alex — don’t do it.”

Alex’s eyes flicked to
Jesse. She blinked to indicate that she’d heard him.

“
Can I get rid of you any
other way?” Alex asked.

“
Not a chance,” The Monk
laughed.

“
Fuck,” Jesse continued in
Spanish. “Let’s roll out the lies.”

The Monk laughed and
tapped on the bathroom door. Hank Zutterberg opened the door. He
was dirty and thinner than she remembered.

“
Did you get Ji?” Hank
asked.

“
I did. His mother, too,”
Alex said. “He’s in Yokohama. Looks like he’ll survive.”

“
Ji’s safe?” The Monk
asked. “Now there’s some very good news — and a fine start to your
chat.”

The Monk pushed and
prodded Hank out of the bathroom before going in and locking the
door behind him.

“
Hank,” Alex
said.

“
Alex,” he
said.

“
Have a seat,” Alex said.
“I’ll make coffee.”

She ground fresh beans and
set up the drip coffee maker.

“
I don’t like this,” Jesse
said. Alex nodded.

“
We drank all of your
whiskey,” Hank said.

“
How likely is that?” Alex
grinned.

Alex took a fresh bottle
from the air conditioner.

“
We have to hide it
because there’s technically no alcohol on the base,” Alex
said.

“
How do you get away with
it?”

“
This whiskey belongs to
the Fey,” Alex said. “It’s his.”

For the first time in all
the years of knowing Hank Zutterberg, Alex noticed him actually
smile. Not a big smile, not a laugh, but a small, private
smile.

“
You always had a way of
working the angles,” he said.

“
Dick,” Jesse
said.

“
Childhood training,” Alex
said.

He smiled.

“
I won’t ask you about
your family,” he said. “Or insult you with polite conversation. I
know what you think of me.”

“
What do I think of you?”
Alex asked.

“
I’m a lazy crybaby who is
endangering your missions and your team,” Hank said. “How’s
that?”

“
I’ve heard that opinion,”
Alex said.

“
And you?”

“
Honestly?” Alex glanced
at the bathroom door. “I don’t know. The evidence looks pretty
clear cut.”

He opened his mouth as if
he were going to say something.

“
I don’t like it when
everything lines up,” Alex said. “Usually means that good people
are going to wind up dead for no reason.”

“
So I have a
chance?”

“
I promised Ethan I’d
listen,” Alex said.

“
Ethan,” Hank smiled. “Not
many people know his name.”

“
You do?”

“
We’re related,” Hank
said. “Same great-grandmother.”

Alex nodded and walked
back to the coffee maker. She set out mugs and waited for the last
drops of coffee to fall into the pot.

“
I’m standing here
wondering what to say to you.” Alex glanced at him. “How did we go
through the hell of SF training together and not know each other at
all?”

“
You were always with
Jesse,” Hank said.

“
You were such good
friends with Enrique Garcia.” Alex didn’t bother keeping the
contempt from her voice.