TKG08 WE WILL BUILD Rel 01 (24 page)

“God help him.”
 
Bobcat mused. “Sure hope that’s a Coke product.”

“It is, you beer snob.”
 
William retorted.

“Word.”
 
Bobcat confirmed.

“Do you even know what ‘word’ means?” William asked.
 
All he got from Bobcat was a large smile.

Bobcat turned to Jeffrey, “Ok, really though.
 
What’s this guy’s downside?”

Jeffrey answered, “He’s a British national who has a complete fixation on making things go faster.
 
I’m pretty sure he is going to fit in fine, but I need William to confirm he has the mechanical chops to work with you two especially and …” He focused on William, “Make damn sure he knows the safety stuff.
 
I don’t want someone going ‘too fast’ on the moon.”

“Just because one happens to be an adrenaline junkie,” Bobcat said, “doesn’t preclude one from being anal about safety.”

“Word.”
 
Agreed William.

“Now that’s just rude.”
 
Bobcat complained, “I completely stole that phrase from hip-hop culture and now you’re trying to steal it back.”

“How in the hell can you steal something back that wasn’t ever taken out of your possession?” William retorted, “It’s not as if I have ever failed in my ability to say ‘word’ jackass!”
 

“Hah!” Bobcat pointed at William who rolled his eyes to the ceiling then hung his head.
 
William reached around to his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, opening it to retrieve a twenty to hand to Bobcat. “I cannot believe you remembered that bet from two months ago.
 
Seriously?
 
Giving you that twenty was worth it just so I can call you a ‘jackass’ again!”

“Word.”
 
Bobcat said, smiling.

William just flipped him off then turned to Jeffrey, “I’m sorry about that jackass over there
 
and I’m more than willing to interview poor Michael Penn.”

“Pendergrass
,”
Jeffrey corrected.

“There is no fucking way,” Bobcat said, “That we are allowing another Pendergrass in the outfit.
 
We will have a great ceremony commemorating the shortening of his last name.”

Jeffrey looked back between the two men and just nodded.
 
He was sure he would find out ‘why’ no more Pendergrasses would be allowed, but he just didn’t have the time for that right now.

He turned to go back to his own office to discover when Mr. M. Pendergrass could have a meeting. And, whether Michael might be available.

Washington DC - USA

The next day, Barb had made it into work without any problems. She was getting ready to leave, when a note popped up on her work computer, the very one that should be secure enough to not have unexpected messages show up.

She started to read the message and her eyes widened slightly before she got a grip on her reflexive surprise.

The text said: “Found your messages and understand you would like to meet.
 
Your phone has been tracked and your accounts are tapped as well.
 
I am wearing a blue tie and am available for a discussion if you would perhaps join me for dinner?
 
Your favorite Chinese restaurant, I’m sitting in the back.”
 
She finished the note before a second popped up.

“P.S. The chicken fried rice is delicious!”

Ok, now that freaked her the hell out.
 
It wasn’t that she couldn’t figure out how he knew her favorite Chinese restaurant.
 
Her credit cards could tell him how often she ate there, but to know her favorite dish was downright stalkish of him.
 
Well, she presumed him, and who the hell was she to get all righteous on anyone ‘stalking’ someone?
 
It was her own damned job and if she hadn’t done it so well, she wouldn’t need this guy.

When this was over, she was going to have to sit herself down and think about her priorities.

She clicked the messages closed after waiting another minute to see if anything else popped up.
 
She grabbed the five special USB’s in the back of her drawer and slipped them into her pocket.
 
She left her laptop in the middle drawer and locked it like she always did whenever she left it in the office.

Barb stood and grabbed her purse. She wanted to stomp her feet in frustration
because she didn’t have a ‘go’ bag.
 
She didn’t have anything but a brush, some makeup and a mirror in her purse, along with two mints her phone and some gum.

Looking around a final time, she didn’t see anything that she absolutely had to grab.
 
She did spend a second to run her hand along the back of the chair she had taken from ’The Don’.
 

She grabbed her phone and took a few pictures of her office.
 
It wasn’t like she could take any of the physical items, but if this happened to be the last time she was here, she’d have a way to remember it.
 

God, she was so going to suck if she ever needed to be an operative.
 
Then again, she might be home by next weekend.
 
She shouldn’t get ahead of herself.

It only took a minute to get down to the parking garage, hop in her car and leave the building heading east to the restaurant.

For good or for ill, she was trusting her gut with this decision.
 
She sure hoped it wasn’t for ‘ill’.

Frank was enjoying his tea when he noticed Barb Nickers enter the restaurant.
 
The lady at the front waved to her in recognition and he watched the two of them chat for a moment.

He had been able to acquire a Pod to come to Washington relatively easily.
 
Dan didn’t require too many answers and since it was evening it wasn’t a problem getting to the area.
 
He had been required to land outside of the city proper and get an Uber to pick him up.
 

Well, let’s be honest ADAM had handled the Uber car ride.
 
The driver had been an elderly little lady who had talked about how she had three cats and a parakeet. It wasn’t quite the exciting spy story he had been going for.

However, she hadn’t questioned why he was at the old grocery store and she had been close by.
 
The long trip into the city was going to generate a substantial fare for her so she was very happy.
 
Frank was hoping that there would be a safe place to land the Pod inside the city if it got late enough.
For God's sake, he might have to be a spy while riding in a big yellow car. That would really screw with his image!

He had arrived at Barb’s favorite Chinese food restaurant and decided to have the Chicken Fried Rice.
 
He hadn’t had any in a while and it sounded good.

ADAM had hacked into the computer systems where Barb worked and sent the messages for Frank.
 
Right now, Frank could only communicate with ADAM via text.
 
The possibility that something might go wrong made it too dangerous to bring his laptop into town, so Frank had left it in the Pod.

It only took a moment for Barb to finish her conversation with the hostess and decide she was going to head to the back and meet with the man.
 
She smiled tentatively at the gentleman as he stood up and walked to her side of the table to pull out her chair. “Call me Frank,” She dipped her head in appreciation as he deftly managed her chair before returning to his side of the table.

Frank hadn’t even put the napkin back in his lap before Barb hissed, “Before we say anything else, how the hell did you know my favorite dish is Chicken Fried Rice?”
 
She looked down at his plate which was mostly empty.

Frank smiled at her, “I didn’t.
 
The chef of the vessel I currently live on doesn’t normally make Chicken Fried Rice and I’ve always enjoyed it.
 
Since I was back in town I thought I would eat it because I didn’t know if you were going to make the dinner or not.”

Barb sat back a little.
 
She had assumed he knew her food preference and … “Wait, did you say ‘back in town’?”
 
Frank nodded, so she asked, “Did you come here often or what?”
 

“I lived here.”
 
He replied as the waitress came up.
 
Barb placed her normal order and returned to the conversation.

“Really?
 
Wait … sorry. I’m just too freaked presently.
 
This isn’t my normal life right now.”
 
Barb stopped talking.
 
Willing herself to not say anything else while she was so out of her comfort zone.

“I understand.
 
I take it that the report you pulled together on TQB caused some issues?”
 

She nodded.

“I’m guessing, if you are reaching out to us, that whoever had you research the report is either scary or you don’t know who they are. I’m guessing you decided that what you
know
about us is better than what you
suspect
about them?”

She nodded again.
 
Wow, he thought, this lady can really keep her mouth shut.

“Did you figure out anything in this whole mess?” He asked.

She answered, disgust evident in her voice, “Yes, I figured out that they are using me as a cut-out.”
 

Frank’s face drew into a frown.
 
He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t someone who used innocent females as cut-outs. “That tactic is a real piece of work.”
 
He replied with some anger.

Barb looked around and was about to say more, when her Chicken Fried Rice arrived.
 
Frank kept the conversation light while she ate.
 
He was cataloging all the things he liked about Washington D.C. when she interrupted, “You really have lived here a long time. You don’t look that old.”

He smiled, “Really good genes?”

“They would have to be some very good genes.
 
One of the places you mentioned closed over fifteen years ago. And, you would have had to be a pretty interesting teenager to have visited that museum as a kid.”

“How about I admit to having some work done?”
 
Frank tried, smiling as if he had a good joke going.

She glanced at him a second time, but didn’t respond otherwise.

Frank’s phone buzzed.
 
Startled, he looked down to see a text message from John. ‘Hey Romeo, you have two shadows just entering the restaurant and a white van is circling the block.
 
How do you want to play this?’

Frank looked up at Barb while grabbing his teacup.
 
He took a drink and looked around, noticing two men in suits being seated at a table near the front door.

He had two questions - who were the ‘shadows’ and why was John here?
 
John should be near…

Oh … My … God. Bethany Anne was close by.

Looking at the two men who had entered, that was probably a good thing. It significantly improved the odds of them both remaining amongst the living.

The downside was that he would have to explain himself at the end of this whole thing.
 
Damn, now he felt like he was going to get called to the principal’s office just as soon as they got through this.

“What’s wrong?” Barb asked.

“Well,” Frank began as he placed his cup back on the table. “We have two uninvited guests who just arrived via the front door.
 
Both in dark blue suits, no ties.
 
Don’t suppose they are just good friends of yours that are checking out your date?”

Barb had been about to swallow when Frank dropped that comment and she spewed a little tea over the table as she started coughing, “Oh my god!” She exclaimed as Frank used his napkin to clean the tea off of his shirt and the table.
 
“I’m so sorry!” she said.
 
He noticed she still took a moment to glance over at the guys.

Frank’s phone buzzed again, “Pick up at back door for one, BA will come get you.”

“Dammit,” he muttered.

“I am really sorry!”
 
Barb repeated as she moved to his side of the table to help clean up the tea.