13:58:31

  Shirin squeezed out of the diving pack and scooted it closer to the doors. She adjusted the face mask, took four deep breaths, then ducked under the surface and eased the hold doors open.

  Holding the diving pack outside the door she turned the dials on the rear oxygen tank, released a steady stream of gases and activated the torchlight on the shoulder. Aiming it carefully over the edge, she dropped the pack.

  Shirin leaned over the edge and watched the glow of the pack fall deeper and deeper into the abyss below.

  Perched at the open door, she watched the dark flashes of movement. Sharks. Following the falling pack. Now. Now. Now!

  Shirin burst back up to the air pocket, gulped in two breaths, then eased back into the water and out the doors into the open. She moved slowly, controlling every gesture, reached into the hold, pulled at the life raft, dragged it to the edge of the hold. She balanced its weight carefully, grabbed the rope secured to its end and slipped smoothly, slowly along the frame of the boat, over the railing, and reached the outside of the front fender.

  Shirin pulled herself up, hooked one leg over the fender, and climbed out of the water. She leveraged her foot against the submerged rail and dragging herself over the smooth, round compressed foam of the fender. Balanced, she slid and rolled completely out of the water and laid puffing on her side with her back rested against the hull of the cutter.

  A wave lurched against the side of the boat, crashed against the angled hull, and sprayed high into the air. The foamy white caps thumped into her, knocking her flat against the hull and ripped her away from her grip on the inside edge of the fender. She scrambled for a grip on either side of the smooth hull, found the stabilizer molding and caught herself from washing over the opposite end.

  She heard Ben calling her, glanced back while clearing the water from her face, and saw him crawling toward her.

  “No!” she screamed. “Stay there!”

  She checked the rope tethered to her wrist, checked the slack in the line, then inched backward one arm, one leg at a time.

  13:58:51

  Ben grimaced at the burning in his legs as he forced himself to push and stretch out across the back of the boat. He reached out, yelling for Shirin. She was only eight feet away. “Come on! Come on!”

  The back of the boat lifted on the crest of a building wave. He glanced behind him, back to the valley of water below, to Shirin. “Now! Shirin! Move! Come on!”

  The boat seemed to float, thrown in midair, then crashed down hard into the back of the wave ahead of them. He slammed hard onto the deck and lost himself in an avalanche of water.

  13:58:56

  Marcus Smith paced back to the communications room, focused on the smart phone cupped between his hands. He tapped out the commands, activated the proprietary application, and pocketed the cell phone.

  The clone and control software installed remotely into the General’s phone reactivated, then the over-ride and remote recording of his independently installed security monitoring cameras re-activated. The cameras complimented a suite of security measures the General had insisted on installing with his new appointment to the role. Randomized security sweeps scanning for listening and monitoring devices, sensor activates at the door and window, state-of-the-art electronic and old-school locking mechanisms and roving patrols after his business hours. Marcus grinned at the ignorance of the man, having invested so heavily in textbook strategies to monitor his workstation and office when he was not there. He hadn’t considered the risk of someone monitoring him when he was in his office. Dumb-ass.

  Still, the dumb-ass could be a pain in the ass.

  Marcus turned the corner, pushed the door of the communications room open, and barged between the two men. “Have you found her?”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Oceans and animals follow only one master: their true nature.”

  THE BOOK OF SEEKAY

  13:59:16

  Shirin ignored the water running down her face, squared her feet wide on the standing platform and pressed her back against the back panel of the cutter. She passed the end of the rope to Ben, crouched beside her as she pulled it in.

  The line pulled taught. She pictured the life raft wedged on the edge of the open hatch, tested the resistance of the rope and pulled at it. The rope pulled tighter, caught, moved an inch, then another. She looped her forearm around the rope and heaved it up, thrusting up with her legs and arching her back. She screamed against the resistance until the line went slack.

  Shirin leaned back hard against the boat, pictured the heavy life raft pack falling from the opening, firmed her footing and pulled in the rope's slack as fast as her hands could move. Hand over hand. Hand over hand. She puffed. Faster. Faster.

  The line pulled tight. She took the weight, strained against the pull of the pack and yelled out as the rope slipped between her fingers. She couldn’t stop the fall. Couldn’t pull it in. No, no, no, she pleaded.

  The line went slack.

  Shirin stared at it.

  Slack.

  Snapped?

  The pack?

  Lost?

  Shirin burst into action, reefing at the line, pulling it in long movements, faster and faster, hand over hand. She felt the line track against the water, resistance, drag. There was something still at the end of the line.

  A red buoy popped out of the water ten yards from the rear of the boat. A depth charged flotation device built into the life raft.

  “Yes!” She cried out. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Half laughing, she pushed herself to bring the line in faster.

  13:59:32

  Minister Anthony Lauder turned from the monitor as his assistant knocked and entered excitedly.

  “We found her, Sir. We found Executive Director Jordan.”

  He sat forward, “Where?”

  “An Agency black site. Warehouse district 45 minutes south of the city.”

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Lauder stood from behind his desk and paced toward the window facing south. He stared into the distance and smiled. “Did it come through official channels?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Who else knows?”

  “I’m not sure, Sir. Our source brought it to me first. I’ve wired them the payment with the understanding they share it with no one else.”

  Lauder nodded and turned to his assistant. “Then let’s keep it to ourselves for now. Is our source able to confirm further movements if they happen?”

  “No. They’re outside the loop now.”

  “We’ll need to know if they move her again.”

  His assistant stared at him. “Want me to hire a freelance? Discreetly, to monitor things?”

  Lauder considered his options. “No.” He turned back to the window. “Put a team of our investigators on it. I want an official chain of evidence compiled.”

  “You think she’ll run?”

  Lauder shook his head. “I think she’ll fight.”

  14:00:02

  Executive Director Jordan hung up the phone and cursed. Damn politicians. Like a pack of hyenas. Brave in a pack, cowards in a fair fight. And yet these men and women were the operational managers of the leading defense and intelligence networks in the country. In the world.

  She stared at the phone. Knowing it would ring. Knowing it would be another manager, another director, another politician masquerading as an organizational leader, demanding of her something she was unwilling to give. Blame.

  Initial reports from the Fed-services Building were painting a clear picture to the short-sighted, that one of her people had been manipulated into supporting access to a hostile force. Complicit in the deaths of government employees. What remained at the tip of the daggers unsheathed is to what end? What did they want? What did they access? Was their breach localized to Agency files only? Or had they accessed other services?

  Jordan knew in her heart, their intent, at least in part, was to cripple her team, to stop them from decapitating the leadership of the Clock. She still didn’t understand their vendetta against Shirin Reyes, but knew it had its place in the bigger picture.

  Until she knew more, until she understood the players better, she would guard her thoughts carefully. For the coming days, she would need to survive the storm, stay in office, and believe in her team. Believe in Shirin Reyes. Together they would find the last two names on the list, Tilo Apel and Ludwig Brenner. With their incarceration, the Clock would quickly be dismantled. Their associates, their network, would be scattered. She would find them all. No matter who they were, where they ran, or where they tried to hide. She would find them.

  14:00:21

  Shirin strained with the full weight of the life raft pack on the end of the line as the buoy floated to the side and she took up the slack. The orange edge of the pack broke through the surface, washed against the grilled platform, missed her left foot by inches and rested against the grill’s edge.

  Shirin crouched toward it quickly, leaned over its bulk, found the pull cord, yanked it hard and stepped back against the rear of the boat as a loud hissing sound came from the pack as it expanded and unfolded. Somewhere within the inflating raft, the whine of a battery powered air pump sucked and pushed at the air.

  Shirin held the end of the rope and pushed the inflating raft off the edge of the platform and watched it as the dark gray base of the raft filled and expanded out, a foot deep, fourteen feet in diameter. The side walls were raised, three feet tall.

  14:00:36

  Minister Lauder activated the internal lock of the expansive office and walked back to his desk. He removed a key from his pocket and disengaged the lock of his top desk drawer. He pulled it open, removed a cigar box from the back of the drawer, placed it carefully in front of him, stared at it for a moment, checked the time on his desk clock, and continued to stare at the box.

  14:00:43

  Shirin held the rope to the inflating life raft firmly wrapped around her left wrist and in her fist. She held her right hand out to Ben and felt reassured when he took it and braced himself against the back of the boat.

  She kept the edge of the raft close to the platform, turned to Ben and gripped him by the shoulder of his life jacket. “Ben. I need you to jump. Hard as you can. Wait. Wait.” She timed the wave building behind them and readied herself. “Wait… wait… Now! Go!” she pulled hard on the rope and pushed Ben out and up as he leaned off the back of the boat, out toward the raft, and pushed weakly with his legs.

  Shirin screamed in effort as she lifted him up and pushed out with her legs. The back of the boat bucked up, they were tossed high in the air, flying, then tumbled together in a heap on the edge of the life raft wall, bounced and rolled inside the raft as it rose over the platform of the boat, slid across its smooth hull, glided off its side and skimmed across the top of the waves crashing against the capsized boat.

  Shirin rolled off Ben and stared at the sky puffing for breath as the life raft continued to hiss as air was pushed into its compartments until it was fully inflated. She heard the whine of the motor reach its maximum pressure, then click off. She forced herself to roll over, scurry on hands and knees along the inside edge of the round life raft and reach for the control panel. She twisted the dial and fixed the settings of the auto-pump to Closed. From a side pocket beside the panel, she pulled a tightly folded reflective thermal blanket and shook it open.

  14:00:47

  Lauder opened the cigar box lid, flipped it back until it rested on the tabletop, looked at the modified cell phone laying in the molded foam interior, reached in and pulled it out. He turned it over in his hand, pressed and held the power button until the phone booted up.

  14:00:55

  Shirin placed the thermal blanket next to Ben, shivered against the bitter cold seeping through her flesh to her bones, and reached for the vest zipper and straps across his chest. “We have to get out of these wet clothes.”

  14:00:59

  Lauder watched the screen of the smart phone light up as the incoming call notification flashed with a blocked number. He answered on the second ring. “Yes.”

  “Secure?”

  He turned the phone over, pressed the activate button on the electronic device attached via hardware link to the smart phone’s motherboard. He glanced back at the display. The screen flashed green. “Secure.”

  “Loss of our asset was unanticipated.”

  Lauder smiled to himself. Atler’s death may have been unanticipated by the man on the other end of the line, but it was a death Lauder remained relieved and happy about. “Yes.” He replied in a monotone.

  “A replacement is being prepared. A local resource. On site.”

  “Understood. Happy to support.”

  “That won’t be necessary. She will make contact when operationally required. Code name: Lilac. Verification response: I prefer tulips.”

  “Understood.”

  “We understand you are monitoring the Executive Director.”

  How did they know so fast? “Yes.” He swallowed. “I thought it prudent to keep a team in place in case plans to neutralize Shirin Reyes were compromised.”

  The voice on the other end of the line paused before continuing. “The Executive Director is not in scope.”

  “Yes, of course. My interest is solely to apply pressure and disorientate her team.” Lauder lied with an efficiency and passion that surprised himself. “With enough pressure, her team will implode. I’ll pluck them off one by one. Executive Director Jordan will come out the other end with a medal and a promotion.”

  The digitally altered voice muted, then returned, its tone changed and unmistakable. Had they seen through him? Could they know what he was planning? “Be clear Minister. She is not in scope. Apply pressure, but she is not the target.”

  “The message is clear.”

  “Good. Continue as described. Once our primary is confirmed, all pressure ceases.”

  “Of course.”

  14:01:46

  The phone flashed red. Another call. Executive Director Jordan steeled herself and snatched it from its cradle.

  A female voice spoke gently. Jordan recognized it instantly. “Please hold for Director of Operations Isaac Jago.”

  “Thank you, Jenny.”

  “Welcome Ma’am. Putting you through now.”

  14:01:56

  Isaac Jago turned from the flashing lights of a nearby cruiser and answered his cell phone. “Jenny? Get through?”

  “Yes Sir.” His Executive Assistant spoke with formal brevity, yet her voice held a warmth that hinted at a sharp mind and an emotional intelligence few could appreciate. “I have Executive Director Jordan on the line. Patching her through now.”

  He waited for the click, glanced around, and spoke softly into the phone. “Sue?”

  “Isaac, you were trying to reach me?”

  He turned, and faced the chorded off street, and the looming Fed-services Building that cast him in a deep shadow. “Yes. I’ve had Jenny auto-redialing you. You’ve been busy?”

  “Funny.”

  Isaac paced further away from the line of cruisers. “You doing okay?”

  “As predicted.”

  “That good huh… let me know if I can help.”

  “You are helping.”

  He nodded. He could hear the strain in his boss’s voice, but didn’t want to point it out to her. “You were right. There are reps of every agency here. Panic is the word that comes to mind.”

  “Yes. Expected. Have you had any trouble?”

  “Nothing by exception. I’ve recalled all local agents on leave. Pulled in from downtime assignments. Reassigned from low priority projects. Our people have saturated every corner of this. The Feds are running point on the investigation, but we’re controlling the narrative so far. At least to a point.”

  “Cassie Walters…”

  “Yes.” Isaac didn’t dwell on the things he couldn’t influence or learn from. He couldn’t influence what happened to Cassie, couldn’t change the way she was manipulated, but he made a mental note to understand better the nuances of events that surrounded her level of compromise not being identified sooner. “Her involvement was leaked prior to our presence on scene. There’s not much we can do about that. Her accountability in this will need to be worked through, with the eyes of the world watching.”

  “We won’t hang her out like a spectacle. She’s one of us. She was put in an unimaginable position.”

  “Agreed.” He rubbed his jaw. “Sue, the vultures here they will need to feel appropriate actions have been taken to make those responsible, appropriately accountable. That will include Cassie, and depending on what the Feds find, Rollan and his team.” He paused, “If it is perceived we haven’t done enough, they will come after you.”

  “Yes. I know.”

  Isaac sighed.

  “Isaac, this is one of the reasons I need you on site. If there are lessons to be learned, if there are reparations to be made, accountability delivered, I want you to convene over them.”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  “Thank you Isaac. Now, you called me?”

  “Yes.” He turned back to stare at the Fed-services Building and recalled the internal layout as he recounted events as he understood them. “Investigators inside have confirmed, the Interrogation viewing rooms were breached. It looks highly likely they were a target. It’s where Cassie was found, and where we found Harvey, executed at one of the terminals.”

  “Were any of our networks was accessed?”

  Isaac ran through events quickly. “Likely. It’s an isolated location. It would have given them protected time. And you know, Harvey ran all local records for the team. Between Cassie and Harvey’s access levels, they would have unfettered access to some of our most sensitive files.”

 

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