The general nodded, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. “It appears he bought the man’s vehicle as well.”
Kong shook his head. “The team tailing him must be having a field day with this.”
“Cleary took a circuitous route but appears to be heading south. Our people have three vehicles on him, rotating in and out to keep him from getting suspicious.”
It was a strategy that worked well. The three vehicles stayed in communication the entire time. The lead car would follow at a distance for a while, then get off at a ramp or side street to avoid being identified as a tail while the next car took point. Rinse and repeat.
“Any idea of his destination?” Cleary’s primary residence, where he’d been staying up to now, was just outside DC. If he kept heading south, he might end up right in their backyard.
“Not yet. We’ll know more once he lands.” General Davies’ eyes went from person to person. “This is good news, folks. Cleary will be working under the assumption he was successful in losing any tails placed on him. He’ll think he’s in the clear and drop his guard. This is when we get him.”
August looked in his rearview mirror at the heavy morning traffic behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. Free at last. He’d paid an exorbitant sum for the truck he was currently driving but the anonymity it afforded him was worth it. At least it was a newer model and he hadn’t had to settle for someone’s ancient junker.
Pairing his phone with the vehicle’s system, he made a call. The house’s caretaker answered on the second ring.
“Jim, I’ll need the house readied for my arrival.”
“Of course, Mister Cleary. Will you be entertaining? Shall I stock enough for guests?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.” He had no desire for company. “Depending on traffic, I should be there in a few hours.”
“It’ll be ready.”
Disconnecting the call, his eyes were drawn to one of the roadside signs that advertised the amenities available at the next exit. A Target. Not a store he’d normally choose, but he would need clothes and toiletries. It wasn’t like he’d been able to pack a suitcase for this trip. Not if he’d wanted his plan to work. Engaging the turn signal, he changed lanes.
A little laugh escaped him as he imagined whoever had been watching him, scratching their heads, wondering how he’d given them the slip. If the whole ordeal hadn’t been so inconvenient, he might have enjoyed this cloak-and-dagger business.
Kong had been called away by General Davies according to someone named Matt who had brought Katherine breakfast. It was disappointing because she’d been looking forward to a little more time with him before she had to go to work. And kisses. She’d wanted more kisses.
Matt also told her that Kong said he’d call her later if he could. She stared at the phone on her desk and released a long, drawn-out sigh. She had it bad.
Distracted, she was startled when ORION’s voice broke the silence. “I just received word from the doctors that three of my soldiers have passed their psychiatric evaluations and have been cleared to return to active duty.”
“That’s excellent news. Who?” She’d bet it was one of the ones she’d almost gotten to smile.
“Chet, The Captain, AR-WCU1, Anthony, The Seargent, AGB-WCU5, and Franklin, The Major, MR-WCU2.”
ORION including their names in that report showed improvement. The AI used to only refer to the soldiers by their rank and Resurrection identification number which consisted of an abbreviation of the branch and unit they’d been in before being taken into the Resurrection program, their upgrades – all of them currently being WCU or Weaponized Combat Unit as they hadn’t created any other designations before being shut down – and the order within a specific rank that they’d been upgraded. Katherine still needed to look at her cheat sheet to identify the first abbreviation. Her finger skimmed down the list she kept taped to her desk for quick reference. AR stood for Army Ranger, AGB stood for Army Green Beret, and MR was Marine Raider.
Katherine was thrilled. She might need to make them another pan of brownies to celebrate. Maybe some cookies too. “I’ll send an update to my liaison.”
She made quick work of it, basically writing verbatim what ORION had told her. God forbid she added anything that might be interpreted as unprofessional. That first chastising message she’d received from her government contact still annoyed her. Since when was being friendly and pleasant unprofessional? Whatever.
This was great news though. There were fifty-two Resurrection soldiers, and before today, only Grady Carter had made a full recovery from what had been done to him. Chet, Anthony, and Franklin could now be added to the success column, and more would follow soon no doubt. Lisa, for one. Katherine was sure she’d seen the lieutenant’s lips twitch as if she were fighting a smile the last time she’d visited.
“What will that involve?” Katherine asked ORION curiously. “Active duty, I mean. They won’t be deployed to some warzone, will they?” Those soldiers had just gone through hell. Cleared or not, they didn’t need to be thrust immediately back in.
“For now, they’ll join teams from Black Bay on suitable missions and I will monitor their responses to assess for myself that the doctors are correct.”
Katherine nodded thoughtfully. One of them might be assigned to Kong’s team. A team that, if she was reading things correctly, was looking into her father.
She glared at her phone, not because she was waiting for it to ring, but because she was tempted to pick it up and call her father to chew him out for whatever shit he was up to.
And that, right there, was why Kong couldn’t give her any details.
Katherine pushed away from her desk and stood before she did something stupid. Her father made her so mad sometimes. She needed to go outside, get some air, clear her head, maybe take awalk, and stretch her legs. She was just about to say as much to ORION when her phone rang. Katherine dove for it. “Hello?”
She cringed, hoping it wasn’t her liaison who would surely light into her for not answering her phoneprofessionally.
