Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (34 page)

She was small and short, and would have been
a rather plain-looking girl if it were not for her Gothic style.
She wore her hair dyed jet-black, shaved about two inches up on the
sides and back, with the rest hanging coarsely down to the small of
her back. The hair was a stark contrast to her pale complexion. The
black eyeliner that she wore around dark brown eyes gave her a
gaudy, mysterious look. She was perversely proud of her seven
piercings. Two in each ear, two in her nose, two in her lower lip,
and a tongue stud. She wore a black tee shirt and black overalls. A
pair of black combat boots completed the costume.

Chris Montgomery, the deputy director of the
Atlanta field office, stood behind her. He was also staring
intently at the computer's monitor. At five eleven, he was showing
the inescapable signs of his 61 years. His eyes were weathered
gray, and accented by deep crow’s feet. His hair, the same color as
his eyes, receded more with each year. The moderate spread around
his middle betrayed him to be a man who had long ago given up on
most physical activity. He was dressed casually in blue jeans and a
peach polo shirt.

To Montgomery’s right stood his assistant,
Simon Pew. The young man had been with the agency since 2004. His
enlistment in the Army, which included a short stint in its elite
Delta Force where he had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and most
recently, in South Korea, had ended when he was approached by “the
company” and opted to join their ranks. He stood five foot nine
with black, closely cropped hair and green eyes. He had been
dressed a bit more formally than his superior, in a gray business
suit, but the events of the past couple of hours had him shedding
his jacket and paisley tie, throwing them unceremoniously on the
floor.

The screen was split into sixteen views of
the underground complex. They watched as Bravo team carried out the
various tasks necessary to remove evidence. The team members had a
row of unconscious forms lined next to one another on the floor,
preparing to take them to the garage for transport.

Over the past few days, Toni, Montgomery,
and Pew had waited patiently for the waking of the clone, anxious
to see the results of the decades-long experiment. They had watched
as the commander and his “twin” had some kind of psychotic episode.
They had heard Covington’s call for flash flood, the code that
would initialize the cleaners. They had watched their screens
helplessly as Rob and the clone were taken from the facility before
Bravo, who had been delayed by a car accident during the storm,
could arrive. They had witnessed the unfortunate demise of one of
the Air Force security guards at the hands of Bravo, and the
gassing of the persons left in the lab. They had heard Covington's
report of the truck accident and of the death of one of the NCIS
agents. But none of it concerned Montgomery as much as the death of
Captain Benny Walsh. Things were not proceeding as planned.

Montgomery turned away from the desk and
rubbed his face. He had been assigned to project Pine Tree when it
was moved from Canada to Georgia. Pew had been approached by an
operative of the North Korean government, known to him from his
time in the Army. Back then, Pew had let it be known that he was
available for extracurricular activity, so long as the price was
right. The North Korean operative eventually approached Pew and
asked him to return one of their citizens, as well as a few of his
companions, to his homeland. Pew's plan required the involvement of
Montgomery in order to be successful. In return, the two were to
receive a life-altering sum of money and a one-way ticket to the
non-extradition country of their choice.

Montgomery had spent thirty-two years in the
CIA after the Navy. His career had cost him three marriages and
alienated him from his four children. He had attempted to buy their
affection, but that had only resulted in the draining of his
savings account. Since he had only four years left until
retirement, the prospect of living off of what little the
government would provide him for his service fueled his enthusiasm
for the idea.

He was now beginning to regret that
decision.

They were caught off guard and mournfully
ill prepared when the situation inside the bomb shelter
deteriorated so quickly.

“Anything?” he asked Toni.

She popped her gum, and then answered, “No.
Nothing since Covington picked up Rigby.”

Montgomery considered the girl for a moment,
pleased with his choice in hiring her. He’d had enough time in his
position that the agency took little interest in his recruiting
practices or choice of candidates. This was her first operational
assignment, but the events that had taken place thus far were
exactly like those she had trained for. She reported the deaths
with as much emotion as she would have used reading a grocery list.
The woman had little regard for the people involved. That was how
Montgomery had disciplined her.
We don't get emotional.

But that was of little comfort to him as he
considered the situation. There were at least four people dead. One
of the primaries was missing, along with Doctor Phillips. One of
the other primaries was in the wrecked semi truck that had Air
Force personnel crawling all over it, and Don Cook and Jimmy
Bennett had been whisked away to the hospital. His
well-orchestrated plan had shattered into a million, million
pieces. Worst of all, it seemed that somehow his superiors in
Virginia were also aware of what was happening.

“What about the major’s car?”

Toni shook her head. “No. They must have
found the tracking device. There's been nothing since I lost the
GPS signal.”

“Simon, a word please,” Montgomery said.

The men stepped out of the room into the
business office of their “front.” When they were out of earshot,
Pew whispered, “Walsh is going to be a problem.”

“I know. The agent, too. This was supposed
to be a simple sweep and clear, and it just got very high
profile.”

“Too many things went wrong. We were
unprepared,” Pew replied.

“You're telling me.” Montgomery rubbed at a
kink in his neck. “That idiot Covington.”

“What do you expect? He's not a
professional. He wasn't trained for this kind of thing, but he was
all we had to work with.”

“I still didn't expect
this
.”

“Should we call Bravo team off?” Pew
asked.

“Are you forgetting who we're dealing with?
Those aren't CIA operatives down there. They already have the
professor. They can't be called off.”

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? Are you out of your mind? They
are gonna crucify us. Either Langley or the Koreans. Take your
pick!”

Pew let Montgomery take a few deep breaths
before he spoke again. “Bravo isn't in communication with anyone
but us, so neither party knows anything yet. We’ve got some time to
cover our tracks.”

Montgomery pointed toward the back room.
“That girl in there knows that four people are dead, and that two
of them were murdered!”

Pew smiled. “We trained her to expect that.
She's not going to do or say anything that we don't want her
to.”

Montgomery knew he was walking a tightrope,
but now it was fraying on both ends. “We'll have Rigby eliminate
Covington, or the other way around. Then we can implicate
them.”

Just then, Toni's cell phone rang. A moment
later, Montgomery's own phone vibrated. The display showed the 703
area code of Langley, Virginia. He opened and quickly closed the
flip phone. “Bad signal.”

Pew's own phone rang. “Langley,” he said.
“We can't all have a bad signal.” He answered the phone.

Montgomery watched as Pew listened, glancing
at him occasionally. “No sir. I haven't gotten to the office. Is
something wrong? Yes sir. I'm pulling into the parking lot now. Let
me get inside and I'll call you back.” He hung up before the person
on the other end could object. “An analyst was monitoring our
feed.”

“They know,” Montgomery said
matter-of-factly.

“Relax, I planned for this.”

Montgomery looked at him in disbelief. “You
planned for
this
?”

“Let's take it one step at a time. We can't
do a thing about Cook and Bennett. We know Doctor Phillips and
either Tyler or the clone are in the major’s car and are heading
south.”

“Why would they go south?” Montgomery
wondered aloud. “Why not go to the local authorities?”

“Well, they may have seen Covington, an Air
Force sergeant, kill Walsh,” Pew speculated. “And then they find
themselves in a car chase with persons unknown? They probably don't
know who they can trust. My guess is that they have friends or
family somewhere down in that part of the country.”

“Who?” Montgomery asked. “Phillips doesn't
have any family in the country at all and Tyler's people are in
South Carolina.”

“We'll get Toni on that. In the mean
time—”

“Deputy Director!” They were interrupted by
Toni.

“What is it?”

“That was Director Casas in Langley, sir.
She wants you to call her ASAP.”

“What did she want?” Pew was playing
ignorant, stalling.

“She said they have been monitoring the
situation in the lab and she wants to know what you're doing about
it.”

“What have you heard from the assets?”

“Alpha and the remaining Charlie are
proceeding south behind the major’s vehicle.”

“Why would Tyler and Phillips go south,
Toni?”

“I don't remember reading anything about
Phillips having anyone in that direction, but there was something
in Tyler's file about Apalachicola.” She turned around to face them
as the two stepped back into the office, “But there's a really big
variable here.”

“What do you mean?” Pew asked.

“It depends on who Doctor Phillips has in
the car with her,” said Toni. “If she has Tyler … well that's one
thing. But if she has the clone—”

“I'm not following you,” Montgomery
said.

Toni, unlike her superiors, had studied the
details of the operation during her long hours of doing nothing but
monitoring the activity within the facility. “If she has the clone,
well, the clone won't have any memory except for maybe a week at
most. That means that its only memories will be of Tyler's last few
days before they scanned him. It won't know anything outside of the
laboratory. It'll be lost. Phillips would be the one making their
travel decisions.”

“How do we find out which one is with her?”
Montgomery asked.

“Until we're sure, I think we have to assume
that she has the real Tyler with her.”

“I need to know if either one of them has
any friends, family, a house, some land, a car, or a favorite
petting zoo anywhere in the region where they're heading,” he
demanded, “but I think it's doubtful they'll continue in that
direction. They’ll probably head to a naval base or South Carolina.
What about Bravo?”

“They've secured the facility and are
preparing to transport.”

Montgomery put his hand on the seat back of
her chair and studied the screen. “Which ones?”

“The chimps, Professor Yeoum and Doctor
Tiong.”

“The chimps?” Montgomery asked
incredulously.

“Why would they take the chimps?” Pew
asked.

“Probably because Tyler and the clone aren't
there,” Montgomery reasoned, “but why Tiong?”

“If they've taken the chimps, then they'll
need him to take care of the animals,” Pew reasoned. “What about
the others in the lab?”

“All but one of the Air Force personnel, and
the NCIS agents, are alive and secure,” Toni reported. “They're
tranqued and being moved outside. They should be found in a day or
so.” She smiled widely, unable to contain her excitement. “I can
see why you guys like your jobs so much. I mean, it's been really,
really boring up to this point, but now”—she closed her eyes and
held her arms out wide—“this stuff is so cool!”

Montgomery sighed. She was far from the
professionals that he had worked with before. But then again, that
was one of the reasons he’d recruited her. There were three things
she did well—logistics, research, and following his orders. And now
he was depending on her for information to track the fugitives. He
needed her, at least for now.

Montgomery sat on the unmade bed in the
corner.
At least we have Yeoum, Tiong and the chimps
.
They ought to be worth something.
  He looked at the
girl again. “Turn Alpha around and send them back to the safe
house. Tell them to sit tight there. As soon as you can establish
secure communication with Rigby, I need to talk to him.”

“Gotcha.”

Montgomery turned to Pew. “I better call
Casas and give her a status report.”
There were many ways to
spin the facts
.

COVINGTON RAN AS FAST
and as far he
was able toward town, stopping when he finally saw a set of
headlights in the distance. His shoulder was throbbing from the
wound he had suffered in the exchange of gunfire with Rob, but he
was relieved that it had passed through the meat, missing tendon
and bone. He staggered out on to the road and began waving down the
unsuspecting driver.

The man saw blue lights flashing on the
horizon and assumed that there had been an accident. Upon seeing
the rain-soaked man wearing an Air Force uniform, he meant to pass
him by and let the emergency crew provide the stranger with
assistance. But when the sergeant fell on the road in his path and
lay very still, he knew that he was trapped. He rolled to a
stop.

“Great! Now if I don’t help the cops’ll
arrest
me
.” Grabbing a flashlight that was stowed under his
seat, he got out. Tentatively, he approached the prone figure.
“Hey, buddy. You alright?” When there was no response, he took a
few more steps. “Hey man, help’s on the way. Hey, can you
hear—”