Rogue Asset (Book 3 of the Wade Hanna Series) (12 page)

“I’d like to walk past this restaurant on our way back to the hotel. I’ll come back some other time to get more familiar with the area. I like to know precise distances between critical points. You have been very helpful. I want to thank you for the tour. I think I have a pretty good orientation of things now.”

“I’m glad you found it helpful. You can call me anytime through Mr. Leopold’s secure line.”

After dinner, they started walking back to the hotel taking a route that included passing the DiBoise Restaurant. Wade used the time back to the hotel to ask more questions.

“Can you brief me on public transportation options and schedules around the area?”

“Certainly. I can even drop off a public transportation schedule at your hotel if that would help.”

“That would be great.”

It wasn’t all about the assignment. The men talked about life in general as they leisurely headed back to the hotel, each enjoying the other’s company. Returning to his room Wade listened at the door and checked the position of the paperclip before inserting his key. He was relieved to find no one had intruded or was waiting for his return.

Chapter 12

Washington, D.C.

After Megan received Wade’s recorded poem, she became suspicious that he might be trying to send a different message. There might be a possible alternative meaning to the words of fond sentiment. She immediately transcribed the tape for further analysis.

Megan knew Wade put a lot of thought into his poetry. A few verses didn’t sound quite right to her. It was not so much the words he used but the way he said them. It was certainly different than anything he had sent her in the past.

After reading it over several times, she saw the potential for double meaning but couldn’t figure out the contorted message. She chided herself that she might be overanalyzing Wade. Perhaps there was no hidden meaning at all; he was just trying to express his feelings for her in a different way. It all might be just his playing with words. He loved reading poetry and was always experimenting with words.

What if all this was nothing more than his expressing kind thoughts to her? Megan’s bright analytical mind and intelligence training wouldn’t leave it at that. She needed to find someone who could read sentiments as code.

The next morning Megan called her friend, Beverly, at the Pentagon.

“Hi, Bev. It’s Megan. I don’t know if I told you, but I think Wade may be off on that covert assignment that came out from the New York office.”

“I remember. The one missing all the protocol.”

“That’s it. I think he’s out of the country now. He left me a strange message on my machine in the form of a poem. I think it may have a double meaning.”

Beverly didn’t take long to reply, “How strange and interesting at the same time.”

“He writes me little poems from time to time. I’m sure this one may have another message in it. I just can’t figure it out.”

“That’s so romantic that your man writes you poems.”

Megan had paused before she responded, “He’s a very special guy. I love the poem; I just think he may be trying to tell me something else. Perhaps he’s trying to tell me where he’s going or something about his assignment. It’s driving me crazy not being able to figure it out.”

Beverly thought for a moment, “Maybe Rob can help.”

“Really? I didn’t know you and Rob were still together.”

“It’s on and off. He a great guy but he lives in another world.”

Megan remembered that Rob also worked at the Pentagon. “I know Rob was working in encryption and all that computer math stuff.”

“Yes, you know he’s got a master’s in theoretical math from MIT. I shouldn’t complain. He’s always around when I need him. My last boyfriend tried to date my best friend while he was dating me. What a creep.”

“You’re kidding. That’s horrible.”

“Rob’s not like that. He just forgets a lot and is a little strange around people that don’t know him. I’ll ask him tonight if he has some time available. Maybe we can all have lunch together soon to see the poem.”

Megan didn’t hesitate in her reply, “That would be great.”

Two days later the three were all having lunch at Wilma’s Deli, conveniently located near the Pentagon. Beverly and Megan had spoken about Rob before, but Megan had never met him in person. She quickly saw what Beverly meant about him.

Rob was a tall, lanky young man with uncontrollable, frizzy, reddish brown hair hanging down covering most of his horned rim glasses. He dressed like he was still in junior college. He held his moderately unkempt appearance and awkward demeanor with some academic pride.

Megan knew others at the Pentagon twice his age with some of the same traits. Most of the men were quiet types. Megan felt she needed to carry most of the conversation.

“How do you like working at the Pentagon?”

Rob looked at her strangely. His mind was overanalyzing her question before responding.

“It’s good, just like a college campus. They pretty much leave us alone to do our thing.”

“Thank you for coming. As I was telling Beverly, my man Wade is on a mission. He had to leave quickly before we could speak. He left me a poem on my answering machine. I don’t understand it completely. I transcribed it so I could show you a copy.”

Beverly looked at the menu as Megan passed out copies of the poem.

Rob became immediately fixated on the poem while Megan continued, “I’m not sure but knowing Wade I think he might have been trying secretly to tell me his mission or where he is but I couldn’t figure it out.”

Rob remained fixed on the paper. After reading the poem, Beverly looked up with a smile saying, “It’s a beautiful poem, even if it doesn’t contain a secret message.”

Looking at Rob, she continued, “I wish I received poems like this.”

Rob broke his intense stare at the poem. Looking back at Beverly after her comment registered, he blushed, and turned to Megan, “As Beverly will tell you communicating with people isn’t one of my strong skills.”

The two girls smiled at each other. Rob returned to concentrating on the poem. This time the tightened lines in his forehead were showing. It was obvious he was reading something in the poem beyond the sentiments it expressed.

Beverly broke the silence looking at Rob. “We’d better order if you’re going to get back to work in time. Would you like the chicken salad sandwich?”

Without looking up from the paper, Rob replied, “Yeah.”

Beverly and Megan ordered salads and started talking about work-related gossip leaving Rob to his concentration.

Finally, Rob’s head popped up with a dazed look in his eyes. He spoke like he had returned from a distant trip to space. “I think there may be a couple of messages to this poem.”

Megan was quick to get to the bottom line. “What do you think he’s saying?”

Rob stared over Megan’s head as though he couldn’t see it before responding.

“The first clue is the nymphs playing in the fountains. I think that deals with either location or assignment. When you combine that with the waves, my first guess would be somewhere in middle Europe.”

He paused, thinking to himself before continuing, “I need to do more research on fountains, but I think most of the fountains that deal with nymphs are in that part of Europe. Now that I think about it, that reference might also refer to the type of assignment.”

He had thought further before he continued. “Nymphs playing in the fountain could refer to a rogue agent that has been turned, perhaps against our interests.”

He paused again, this time looking at the ceiling before he spoke. Megan and Beverly sat there wondering who or what part of space he was communicating with.

“I think the gold and silver chests buried in the sea may relate to a there being a large money transaction. I also need to do more research on ‘prey under the nets’. That could mean more about the assignment or location. Can I take the poem with me?”

Megan was already in awe and quickly spoke up.

“Of course you can.”

The waitress approached the table with lunch. After plates had been in place, Megan expressed her appreciation and admiration for Rob’s assistance.

“I can’t thank you enough. You are unbelievable about how much you read into that poem.”

Rob looked at Beverly for approval before responding. His face was a little red from the compliment.

“Not a problem. This is what I do every day. Try to figure out puzzles like this.”

Megan quickly responded, “Thank God we have people like you at the Pentagon.”

Rob returned to staring at the poem. More ideas came to him. He thought about encryption and how most meanings meant something else. Beverly had grabbed his attention before he drifted too much further into space.

“That was great honey. Now eat your sandwich or we will be late.”

After a bite of his sandwich, Rob stared out from the table as though trying to focus on a mysterious point outside the building. Beverly gave Rob a nudge on his arm to bring him back. She encouraged him to eat his sandwich. Rob took another bite.

When they finished their lunch, Beverly turned to Megan saying, “I have to get him back to work.”

Turning to Rob she said, “I’ll drop you off honey.”

Rob nodded while extending his hand toward Megan thanking her for lunch.

As they left the table, Beverly got closer to Megan, out of earshot of Rob.

“I’ll keep on him and let you know if he comes up with anything more.”

After Rob’s comments Megan’s mind was reeling with some ideas. She replied to Beverly.

“I appreciate that. In the meantime, I’m going to do some of my own research. He gave me some great ideas.”

Megan and Beverly exchanged hugs as Beverly started walking towards the parking lot with Rob. By the time Megan got back to her office, research juices were already flowing.

With Rob’s comments, Megan had an idea of how to trace Wade through his travel schedules. Her department had special access to commercial flights and passenger lists that were not available to the public.

That afternoon Megan called in her two assistants and instructed them on a new assignment.

“I want to know the whereabouts and travel details of a Wade Hanna from the time he left Greenstone, Alabama, on the 15
th
of the month through today.”

The two researchers divided the task and went back to their desks. The next day her associates assembled at Megan’s desk for an update. Each associate had a schedule in front of them, but Megan saw the confused looks on their faces.

She asked both of them the same question allowing the two associates to decide who was going to answer first.

“What did you find?”

The young female associate replied first, “We show his leaving Atlanta on a Continental Airlines flight to Los Angeles on the 15
th
. He changed airlines to Alaska Airlines and departed from Los Angeles on Flight 2015 that arrived in Vancouver, Canada, on the same day at 2:25 pm on the afternoon of the 15
th
.

Megan briefly examined the schedule her team had assembled before following up with a question. “Okay, so we have him in Vancouver. Did he clear customs in Vancouver?”

“Yes,” responded the male associate.

Megan followed with the next question. “Is he still there?”

The female associate replied, “No ma’am.”

Megan looked up quickly, “What do you mean? Do you show him on any flights leaving Vancouver?”

The associate responded, “No, ma’am. We don’t show him leaving on any domestic or international flights out of Vancouver until the 20
th
.”

Both associates had troubled looks on their faces. Megan was confused about why they seemed confused.

“Okay, where is he now?”

“We don’t know, ma’am.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“We show his leaving Vancouver and returning to Los Angeles on the 20
th
then flying from Los Angeles to Atlanta and taking a commuter flight from Atlanta to Alabama on the same date.”

“You mean he’s back at his home in Alabama?” Megan was now in the same confusion boat. “What? Let me see what you have.”

Reaching for their documentation Megan turned the associate’s documents around and pulled them towards her. The documents showed not only flight schedules but that Wade had cleared customs in both directions. If she believed the documents, he was back at home in Alabama.

It showed airline transfer confirmations and schedules with all the matched flight numbers and boarding schedules. Megan looked up from the papers in disbelief. Thinking aloud she responded, “If you believe these, it means he’s back in the U.S. in Alabama. Something’s not right. I would have heard.”

Possible options raced through her mind as Megan stared through her associates.
Is he still undercover in the U.S. or somewhere else? Could his assignment have used military transport and avoided commercial flights? If his mission is undercover, he is probably using another identity. Could the Agency have retraced his steps purposely leaving a trace back to Alabama to cover his tracks? That would be brilliant but means his assignment is probably very dangerous.

Megan looked up realizing the two associates saw her staring at them. She quickly brought herself back to the moment.

“The team did fine here. I need to do more digging and will let you know if I need additional research. Thank you very much for your work.”

The two associates left Megan’s office with her desk covered in paperwork and flight schedules from their research.

Two days later Megan received a call from Rob. He had been researching the contents of the poem further. He wasn’t much for small talk and got right to the point.

“I’m pretty sure one of his stops was either Italy or Switzerland. His assignment includes a major money transaction for valuable goods or weapons. I’m leaning towards weapons because of the reference to prey.”

Megan was again shocked and amazed by what Rob could read into that poem. She simply replied, “That’s amazing, Rob.”