Poe (36 page)

“Transfer accepted,” the man said. “Ms. El-Hashim, you will come with us.”

As the woman was led away, Cooper walked over to Alex. “Nice working with you again. It’s…been too long.”

She gave him a quick smile. The truth was, being around him again had been better than she expected. Nice, even. The residual anger she’d felt over the last several years had receded. Maybe disappeared completely.

“It has,” she said. “Thanks. You know, for saving my life and all.”

“If you’d died back there, I’d be buried in paperwork. Nothing I hate more than that. I should be thanking you for staying alive.”

“Glad I could keep the writer’s cramp away.”

“Hey,” Deuce said, walking up and dangling Alex’s car keys in the air. “They moved your car here, so we can go. I mean, you know—
now
?”

“Good working with you, too, Deuce,” Cooper said, holding out his hand. “I’d trust you to have my back anytime.”

Deuce looked surprised by the compliment. He shook Cooper’s hand. “Thanks, man. You take it easy, huh?”

“You, too.”

Cooper turned to Alex. She thought he was about to hug her, but after an awkward moment, he held out his hand again.

“Keep in touch, Alex. I mean it.”

“I will,” she said.

Deuce took hold of her arm. “Come on, already. I want to get home.”

As they walked toward the parking lot, they heard footsteps running up behind them. Alex looked back to find McElroy heading their way.

“Hold on,” he said.

“Do we have to?” Deuce whispered.

“Do you want to get paid?” Alex whispered back.

“Fine.”

They stopped and turned to wait.

When McElroy reached them, he was slightly out of breath. “I meant what I told you when I first saw you back there. Great job. I know it wasn’t easy.”

“It’s what you paid us to do,” Deuce said. “Speaking of which, when can we expect the check?”

McElroy cocked his head. “The money is already transferred to each of your accounts.”

“Crap,” Deuce said under his breath. “You mean we didn’t have to stop?”

Alex felt the urge to elbow him in the side, but refrained and said to McElroy, “You’re welcome. Now, if you don’t mind, we’re pretty tired, so we’re—”

“Can I ask you something?” McElroy said.

“What?”

“Were you able to find out anything about your father?”

Alex frowned and shrugged. “No. She didn’t have anything beyond what you already told me.” Her father was personal business.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I took a chance. It didn’t pay off. But we got her for you. So…” Another shrug.

“Listen. About that. I might have some other projects coming up that you might be great for. Can I call you?”

“Sure. You can always call.”

“But what? That doesn’t mean you’ll answer?”

The corner of her mouth tilted up. “Hey, Deuce, didn’t you say something about going home?”

“Once or twice.”

“Mr. McElroy,” Alex said. “Thank you for the opportunity. We’ll show ourselves out.”

London, England
Two weeks later

“Zeta Five, clear
.”

“Zeta Six, clear.”

After the last watcher reported in, the surveillance van fell silent.

“I don’t think he’s coming,” Duncan said.

McElroy stared at the main monitor. “He’s close.”

“If you say so, sir.”

McElroy looked over at Duncan, his eyes narrowing. “I
know
he is. He’s gotta be. This is too tempting for him.”

He looked back at the monitor.

Alexandra Poe was center screen, still sitting at the table outside the Weary Horseman Pub in west London, as she had been for nearly two hours.

Once McElroy had listened to the taped conversation Poe had had with El-Hashim on the plane, he knew this chance would come. It would have been nice if the mic had picked up whatever El-Hashim had whispered in Alex’s ear, but it wasn’t the end of the world. At some point, Alex would use the information to contact Raven, so all McElroy had to do was keep an eye on her, and monitor her electronic communications.

The last part was actually easier than the first. Stonewell’s connection with the government gave McElroy access to eavesdropping methods ninety-nine percent of the population didn’t even know about. Following her every day was a bit more difficult. More than once she had lost her tail for hours on end.

Cooper would have been the best person for the job, but McElroy was worried about Cooper’s personal history with Alex, and thought it best not to test the man’s allegiances at this point. He had told him nothing about the hunt for Raven.

It was the electronic surveillance that finally paid off when, the day before, Alex suddenly booked a round-trip flight to the UK, leaving at midnight that night and returning the next afternoon. They already knew she had yet to take on another job, so the trip couldn’t have been tied to work. Which, in McElroy’s mind, meant she was making the journey for one reason only.

This was what McElroy had been waiting for, and he was more than ready. He and his team were in the air a full two hours before Alex even stepped into Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

While in flight, his techs back in the States pored through the data on Alex’s phone. Though they could find nothing pointing to a time and place for a meeting, they did uncover a Google Map search for the Weary Horseman. It wasn’t a guarantee of where the meeting would occur, but McElroy was confident enough to send most of his team to the pub to set up while tasking two of his men to follow Alex when she arrived in London.

And now, here they were—Alex, McElroy, his team.

All except Raven.

Where the hell was Frank Poe?

* * *

Alex checked her
watch again.

If she didn’t leave soon, she would miss her return flight.

Her father was already over an hour late.

She wondered, not for the first time, if maybe it hadn’t even been her father who replied to her e-mail. There was no way to know if El-Hashim had been telling her the truth. That’s why it had taken close to two weeks before she finally gave in.

Knowing she couldn’t actually e-mail him from her own account, she had driven around the city until she spotted an internet café, and used one of their terminals to create a dummy account to send the message.

She actually stopped and started over a dozen times before just writing:

Dad,
It’s Alex. Are you there?

As much as she wanted to check every ten minutes after that for a reply, she knew she shouldn’t use any of her own devices, so she limited herself to finding other random computer locations every four or five hours.

It was almost a full day before she received a reply. She was surprised when she saw it in her inbox, and stared at it for what seemed like an eternity before finally clicking it open.

Weary Horseman Pub. London.
4 p.m. tomorrow.

While there was no greeting or signature, there was also no question whether she would go.

But now it appeared she’d come all this way for nothing.

The waiter approached her table. “Another pint, miss?”

“No,” Alex said. “No, I think just the check.”

She paid with cash she’d exchanged at the airport, then stood up, took a quick look around, and pulled on her jacket.

As she dropped her arms to her side, her wrist brushed against something sticking out of one of the pockets.

She looked down, confused, and saw it was a white envelope. She started to pull it out, but stopped when she spotted her name on the outside, written in a handwriting she could never forget.

She scanned the other patrons sitting on the patio. Had one of them delivered it? No one was paying her any attention. Then again, she had been here for a while, so it could have been any of two or three dozen people who had slipped it into her pocket.

Feeling suddenly exposed, she went inside the pub and walked back to the WC. She entered one of the stalls and closed the door. Alone now, she removed the envelope and tore the top open.

There were three items inside: a piece of paper, and two field-box tickets for the Baltimore Orioles game the next day.

She unfolded the piece of paper. The handwriting was the same as that on the envelope.

One for you, and one for the little lieutenant. Wish I could go with you.
Enjoy the game.

The little lieutenant. The nickname her dad had given Danny.

* * *

Raven watched from
the backseat of his hired car as his daughter left the pub and flagged down a taxi.

She looked good. So grown-up.

And so very much like her mother.

A cab pulled to the curb, and like that she was gone.

He had hoped he would have actually been able to met with her, to tell her in person how sorry he was that he had left. But, as he’d feared, she’d been followed, and sitting down at the table with her was out of the question.

Raven looked down at his hand. In it was the third ticket to the ballgame.

He wouldn’t go, of course. It would have to be enough for now to know that he could.

One day
, he thought.
One day
.

He leaned toward his driver and said, “Victoria Station.”

__________

BRETT BATTLES
is the author of over a dozen novels and several short stories. His novel THE DECEIVED (part of his Jonathan Quinn series) won the Barry Award for Best Thriller. He is one of the founding members of Killer Year, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He lives and writes in Los Angeles. More info available at
brettbattles.com
.

ROBERT GREGORY BROWNE
is an AMPAS Nicholl award-winning, ITW Thriller Award nominated novelist, author of the bestselling legal thriller, TRIAL JUNKIES. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and makes his home in Southern California. More info available at
robertgregorybrowne.com

* * *

THE JONATHAN QUINN THRILLERS

Novels
BECOMING QUINN
THE CLEANER
THE DECEIVED
SHADOW OF BETRAYAL (U.S.)
/_/
THE UNWANTED (U.K.)
THE SILENCED
THE DESTROYED
THE COLLECTED
THE ENRAGED
THE DISCARDED

Short Stories
“Just Another Job”—A Jonathan Quinn Story
“Off the Clock”—A Jonathan Quinn Story”
“The Assignment”—An Orlando Story
“Lesson Plan”—A Jonathan Quinn Story
“Quick Study”—An Orlando Story

THE LOGAN HARPER THRILLERS
LITTLE GIRL GONE
EVERY PRECIOUS THING

THE PROJECT EDEN THRILLERS
SICK
EXIT NINE
PALE HORSE
ASHES
EDEN RISING
DREAM SKY

THE ALEXANDRA POE THRILLERS
CO-WRITTEN WITH ROBERT GREGORY BROWNE
POE
TAKEDOWN

STANDALONES

Novels
THE PULL OF GRAVITY
NO RETURN

Short Stories
“Perfect Gentleman”

FOR YOUNGER READERS

THE TROUBLE FAMILY CHRONICLES
HERE COMES MR. TROUBLE

* * *

ALSO BY ROBERT GREGORY BROWNE

THE TRIAL JUNKIES THRILLERS

Novels
TRIAL JUNKIES
TRIAL JUNKIES 2: NEGLIGENCE

STANDALONES

Novels
KISS HER GOODBYE
WHISPER IN THE DARK
KILL HER AGAIN
DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
THE PARADISE PROPHECY

Short Stories
“Bottom Deal”
“Nothing but the Cold Wind”