Solemn Duty (1997) (38 page)

"You'll kill Eli, won't you?" Ashley was unable to hide her tears.

"No, Agent Sutton . . . Why are you crying? Ah . . . I see.

You have feelings for Agent Tanner. No, please do not be concerned. My business is only with Anderson. I can assure you that as long as Agent Tanner is not foolish, he will be released unharmed." Seeing the look in Ashley's eyes, he stepped closer. "Your Eli is not prone to foolish things, is he, Agent Sutton?"

Ashley forced herself to keep her eyes on him and shook her head. "He is not a foolish man, Mr. Devoe."

Jean Paul allowed himself a slight smile. "Then there is nothing for you to concern yourself about, Agent Sutton. I must bid you farewell now. It has been a pleasure meeting you.

Good-bye."

Ashley watched him until he disappeared up the stairs.

Feeling weak, she had difficulty turning to face the door to the small room. She knew Eli would do whatever he could to save Anderson. He would be foolish for all the right reasons. He was going to go into the alley ... she wiped the tears from her cheeks and took in a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, she rolled her shoulders back.

"Ashley, what's wrong?"

She opened her eyes and saw Sandy standing in the doorway with fear in her eyes. "Did he hurt you? Is he going to . . . ?"

"No, Sandy, I'm fine. I'm crying because I'm happy. Devoe told me we would be free tomorrow. He knows he can't stay any longer without being caught and is freeing us." Ashley took Sandy's arm and led her back into the room. "We're going to be fine. It's almost over for us all."

.

10:20 P. M. J. W. Marriott Hotel, Washington, D. C.

As Eli inserted the card to open his door, Ramona stepped out of her room and approached him. "Eli, I've been waiting on you-we have to talk."

Eli opened his door and shook his head. "Mona, I know what you want to talk about. Forget it, I'm going."

She followed him into his room and grabbed his arm. "Look at me, Eli. This isn't a game. Devoe will kill you. You can't talk or try to reason with him. He's fixated on killing Anderson, he won't let anything or anyone stand in his way.

He will do it, Eli. He will kill Anderson just as he did the others, and he'll kill you for trying to stop him."

Eli looked into her eyes and spoke softly. "I know."

"Then why are you going, for God's sake!" She threw up her hands and turned away. "I don't understand you, Eli. You know if you try to save Anderson, Devoe will kill you, yet you're going to try. It means you're going to die, Eli. Don't you care?"

Eli took off his crumpled blazer and hung it up. "I care, Mona, and I don't happen to think I'm going to die. I think at this time tomorrow evening I'm going to be sitting by myself drinking a beer in a dark place, trying to unwind from the op."

Eli looked at her and pointed at his head. "I can see it, Mona, right here. I can see the bottle of beer in my hand and I can hear the music in the background. Do you think I'm crazy? I'm not crazy, Mona, I just don't feel it's time for me to go under for the last time. Wish me luck, or pat me on the back and say 'Kill the bastards for me,' but don't come in here telling me I'm going to die. I don't need that"

Her eyes welling, Ramona reached out and softly touched his cheek. "I'm sorry, Eli . . . you're right. I'm worried about you, that's all. I . . . I ... care for you quite a lot and--" She began sobbing and covered her face with her hands.

Eli wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "Jesus, Mona, don't cry on me. You're the toughest gal I know.

Where's my old tennis partner, the one who gave no mercy to anybody?"

Ramona slowly backed away from him and looked into his eyes. "Stay with me tonight, Eli. Hold me and--"

Brad Brewer stepped into the doorway and came to an abrupt halt. "Oh ... uh, I'm sorry. I was just--"

Eli motioned Brewer in. "Where's the colonel?" he asked.

Brewer motioned over his shoulder. "He's rolling himself down. He asked me to come ahead and make sure the door was open."

Eli looked at Ramona and wrinkled his brow. "The colonel is staying the night with me. We're a team now and we--"

Ramona lifted her hand. "I understand. I guess I'd better get to bed, it's going to be a long day tomorrow . . . but I guess you already know that, Eli. Take care, I want you to drink that beer you saw in your head." She took a step, kissed his cheek, then left.

Brewer raised an eyebrow once she was gone. "I messed somethin' up, didn't I?"

Eli smiled. "A G-man mess somethin' up?"

Anderson rolled through the doorway and whistled as he looked over the room. "You FBI guys must get paid one helluva per diem. Look at that, they even turned down the beds and left mints. Eli, you want yours?"

Brewer patted Eli's back. "I'll pick you two up at six in the morning. Get some sleep, you're both going to need it." He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Anderson unwrapped a mint and raised his eyes to Eli. "You think you'll be able to sleep?"

Eli sat on the bed, took the mint from Robert's hand and popped it into his mouth. "I think I'm going to try. It's settling in, and I'm getting used to it now, kind of like walking point.

You know something is out there but you don't know where and when it's going to happen . . . you just know it is going to happen. It settles on you and you accept it" Eli quit chewing and looked into Anderson's eyes. "I've accepted it, Robert. It's out there and I'm ready for it when it comes."

Anderson nodded in silence.

Chapter 20.

4:30 A. M. I. W. Marriott Hotel.

Eli sat up in bed, fumbled with the light switch, and finally flicked it on. Mumbling, he got up and walked toward the door that someone was knocking on. He opened it and blinked. General Walker stood before him in camouflage fatigues.

"Morning, Tanner," the general said, then pushed the door all the way open and strode in, followed by two men and a waiter who was pushing a cart. The general clapped his hands together and barked, "Rise and shine, Team Tan, we're burning daylight, we've got work to do. Up, Colonel. First order of business is for you two to eat."

Eli let the departing waiter pass by him and turned to the officer. "General, we can't be burning daylight, it's still dark outside. My God, what time is it, anyway?"

Walker ignored the comment and question and motioned to the cart. "Eat, Tanner, you'll both need something in your stomachs. It will be your last meal for a while. It's only scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, but you'll need it"

Walker motioned to the other men, who cleared off the table and set down their cases. "These are technical support people from the Agency. They'll be testing and helping you insert the transmitters. While you're eating I'll go over the schedule.

You have eight minutes to finish your meal, then the transmitters will be inserted and we'll get a read from the command and control bird. O'Malley and Pullen are already airborne in the C and C, and we've tested the transmitters and they're reading them five by five. We want to test them again once they're inserted. Once that's done, we'll run another test outside and I'll brief you on the new accessories that O'Malley's tech people added to the van. Then we'll be escorted to Fort Myer to your staging area, where you will receive last minute instructions and await the call from Devoe to start the op."

Walker strode to the window and looked out at the dark sky.

"Weather conditions are good for us. It's going to be a hot day, but there will be enough clouds to keep the airborne C and C out of sight. You'll be happy to know the Secretary of Defense approved all our requests for support and even upped the ante.

We now have an additional strike detachment to allow more flexibility and quicker reaction time. We also acquired a special bird with infrared capability. Since the handoff site will probably be remote, the bird might be able to spot Devoe and his people from their body and vehicle heat signatures. Finding them before you arrive will give us plenty of time to position the strike force for a quick assault and also tell us where the targets are located and how many."

Eli raised his fork and spoke with his mouth full. "Sir, is there any chance we can take Devoe alive?"

Walker shook his head. "My people won't have time to read him and the others their rights, Tanner, or shout warnings. My people are trained to kill, and that's what they're going to do.

I'm getting ahead of myself, but remember what I told you yesterday. When my people come in, they're coming in fast. You both must be on the ground faceup so they can ID you. Don't panic when you hear gunfire and explosions. Now, getting back to where I was . . ."

Eli exchanged looks of disbelief with Anderson and looked again at the one-inch-diameter capsule the technician held out to him. The tech made an apologetic shrugging motion. "We coated them with butter so they would go down easier."

Eli took the lightweight capsule from the man's hand and held it up. "It looks like it's for a horse. What happens if this thing turns sideways when I try to pass it?"

"Swallow it Tanner," Walker said impatiently. "You can worry about that after the op. The C and C is waiting for a read."

Eli placed the blue capsule on the back of his tongue, shut his eyes and gulped.

Seeing that his companion was still standing and breathing, Anderson mimicked his motions but immediately grabbed a glass of water to wash it down.

Putting on a headset and attaching a small device to his fatigue shirt, Walker spoke into the small ball in front of his lips. "Command, this is Delta Six, transmitters have been inserted, how's your read? Over. . . . Roger. Outstanding. I will tell them. Be advised we'll be moving outside in two mikes.

Out."

Walker faced the two men. "Even from inside the hotel the transmitters are still reading five by five on their map displays.

They're good to go. Let's move."

Minutes later Eli stepped out the rear entrance of the hotel into the service area and knew without a doubt it was past the point of no return. Six FBI vehicles were parked end-to-end, with two agents standing by each vehicle, and directly in front of him was a white Plymouth Voyager. Walker strode past Eli and looked up at the dark sky, speaking into his mike. "Command, this is Delta Six. We are outside and preparing to depart for staging area. Do you have a good read on Team Tan? .. .

Roger. Outstanding. We'll be departing in one mike, out."

The general motioned to the van. "Let's move it. I'll ride with you to the Fort Myer staging area and explain how the radio works. The Agency installed an FM tac radio into the vehicle so you can communicate with the C and C bird."

Eli climbed in and sat behind the steering wheel as agents helped Robert into the front passenger seat. Walker sat in the back seat and leaned forward. `Transmitters are working fine and everything is good to go. Let three escorts proceed us, then pull in behind the third car. The rest will follow."

Eli shook his head as he started the engine. "General, I guess I should have told you, I'm not a very good city driver."

Walker leaned back in the seat and fastened his safety belt.

"The police won't pull you over today, Tanner. Time to move."

Thirty minutes later Eli sat behind the steering wheel of the Voyager in the deserted Fort Myer post exchange parking lot.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was almost six-fifteen as he listened to the general explain how the operation was being controlled from the airborne command post.

". . . and your transmitters are emitting a signal to the C and C that shows up as a small blinking yellow ball on their computer map displays. My scout birds will be directed by the C and C and keep a parallel course three miles away and out of sight while you two are on the move. They'll be flying low level and be alternated every hour with another bird so we can refuel and keep at least two birds in the air at--"

Eli's cell phone began beeping. He looked at the general, answered and held the phone slightly away from his ear so Walker and Anderson could hear.

"Agent Tanner, I am calling for Mr. Devoe. He apologizes but says you must collect Anderson and move to the following location. Be at Iwo Jima statue in no less than forty-five minutes. If you are followed, a bomb will go off in a Metro train station. Do you understand?'

Eli spoke slowly. "Yes, I understand. Colonel Anderson and I will be there." The line went dead, and Eli was about to speak when O'Malley's voice came over the van's radio speakers.

"Team Tan, this is Command. We monitored the call. Looks like we were right about him moving the time up. He's smart.

We are notifying Washington P. D. and park police to stay out of the area so there's no mistakes. Suggest you depart now to give yourself plenty of time in the traffic. Do you roger? Over."

Eli pressed the dimmer switch. "Roger, Command. And we will comply. Out."

Walker extended his hand to Eli. 'Tanner, I won't wish you luck because you and I know in this business luck is made, make some, Tanner. Just remember, shoot and move. I'll see you when it's over."

The general patted Anderson's shoulder then got out of the van. He shut the door, gave it amp, and barked, "Get movin'."

Eli backed into a space in the parking lot near the Iwo Jima statue and panned the other cars, wondering which one they would be told to switch to. Anderson eyed his companion and shook his head. "You weren't kidding, were you?'