Brad Thor - The Athena Project

Matthews was nearing the employee lot at Denver International when his cell phone rang. He answered the call through his truck’s Bluetooth system, half-expecting it to be Dean Pence with an unnecessary, last-minute pep talk.

“This is Ben,” he said into the truck’s microphone.

“You never called. How’d coffee go?”

It was Vicki.

“It was okay, I guess.”

“What’s that mean?”

“The guy’s kind of an asshole. That’s all. I’m just not in the best of moods.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Suffolk. “So you’re not going to ride for him next year?”

“I don’t know,” replied Matthews. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Vicki was quiet for a moment and he wondered if one of their cells had dropped the call. Just when he was ready to ask her if she was still there she said, “Ben, is everything okay?”

“Sure, why?”

“It’s not like you not to call me. You don’t seem yourself.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he said. “I’ll be all right. I’m just a bit nervous about going into the belly of the beast.”

“You’re going to do great,” she said. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get home and I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“Really?” he replied. “What is it?”

“I’m going to be naked. Completely naked.”

“Promises, promises,” he said, snapping out of his funk for a moment.

“Ooh, baby,” she purred. “I’ve got the hottest lingerie you’ve ever seen, my high heels, and the air-conditioning is turned all the way up at my place. You’d better hightail it over here after work. If someone else beats you to my bedroom, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

The woman was an incredible tease. “I’ll text you later,” said Ben.

There was silence on the other end.

“I’ve got to go,” he said as he pulled into the lot. “I’m running late.”

“I’ll see you tonight,” she tried to say, but he had already ended the call.

“Will he plant the devices where you told him to?” asked Peter as he grabbed Vicki Suffolk around her tiny waist and pulled her back into bed.

“Peter,” she cooed to her handler as she tossed the phone to the side. “If you’re not careful, I may lock you up and never let you leave. Maybe I’ll make you my slave for life.”

He buried his mouth in the nape of her neck and gave her a little bite. “Before we drift off into fantasy land,” he said, “let’s deal with our business in the here and now. Today Ben Matthews starts his new position. He now has much greater access at Denver International. Will he do what we’ve asked him to?”

“You mean will he do what I’ve asked him to?” she stressed, running her hands up the inside of his thighs.

“If I didn’t know better,” said Marcus as he leaned back and surrendered himself to her, “I’d say you were trying to seduce me.”

“Would you like me to seduce you?” she asked as she looked up from between his legs and licked her lips.

“I have to send in my report,” he said, trying to untangle himself from her.

“Am I in it?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she pinched him.

“Maybe,” he replied, grabbing her and kissing her beautiful face.

His answer made her laugh. “Really? Will you begin by talking about how much you love the front of me, or the back of me, which leads to how you both love and hate to see me walk away, right?”

Marcus pulled her on top of him and pressed his lips to her mouth. “I’m not going to tell them a thing about our physical relationship,” he said. “If word gets out about how incredible I am in bed, widows and divorcees from around the world will flock to me.”

“Peter!” she exclaimed, slapping his chest. “You are so vain.”

“What about Matthews?” he asked, changing the subject. “Is he going to get the coordinates we need to strike that underground facility, or not?”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” she replied. “I’ve yet to meet a man who wouldn’t do exactly what I wanted. Present company included.”

Marcus laughed, but his expression softened as he looked up at her. “You were made for this business, you know that?”

Vicki was thrown off-balance by his sudden tenderness. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to answer that,” she said looking down at him.

“How about, I wouldn’t be where I am without you, Peter ?”

She smiled and kissed his nose. “You’ve been very good to me,” she replied.

The man looked off out the window. He could see planes taking off and landing in the distance. He knew that with their attack, the world was about to change. Things were going to be dramatically different.

Suffolk laid her head on his chest. “What are you thinking about?”

“The two of us taking a nice long vacation when all of this is over.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “Let’s buy some land; better yet, an island. Let’s pick one way out in the middle of the ocean where no one will ever find us.”

Marcus caressed the side of her face. It was interesting that she had suggested buying an island, as he’d already picked one out. The world was about to be reborn and for some, it was going to be very, very bad. He wanted to be as far away from “civilization” as possible when it happened. He’d already made up his mind about taking Victoria with him, but first they needed to finish their assignment.

“I have big plans, my dear, but before we discuss those, let’s go through why we’re here one last time,” he said. “I want to be certain that none of the evidence ties back to either of us.”

TUZLA

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

TUESDAY

Gretchen Casey had conducted numerous base jumps in her time, but never off the top of an office building in the middle of the night with people shooting at her.

Both she and Julie Ericsson had packed Vonblon steerable chutes as reserves and they had worked perfectly, though they never should have had to use them. The women should have been able to drive right out of Kojic’s building, in Kojic’s car, with Kojic drugged up in the backseat. But as any operative knew, Mr. Murphy, of Murphy’s Law fame, had a way of insinuating himself into even the best-laid plans.

When the women touched down from their jump, Cooper and Rhodes were waiting for them. Gathering up their gear, they leaped into the car and made their escape. Examining her chute, Casey realized how close the shooters on the roof had come to hitting her. Several rounds had pierced her canopy. She had been very lucky.

The drive to Tuzla took three hours. Just as during most of their drive from the Slovenian coast up to Zbiroh a few days ago, it was dark and boring. Nobody spoke much. Casey and Ericsson were both disappointed at having lost Kojic. He had been their prisoner and their responsibility. It was an unfortunate accident, but the accident had happened because of carelessness on their part. It was a hard lesson to learn, and one neither of them would soon forget.

Camp Eagle was a black site the United States used to move and interrogate ghost detainees in the war on terror who were being kept off the books. It had a history of covert operatives moving in and out, and therefore the staff knew not to ask a lot of questions.

Casey and her team got something to eat at the Longhorn Café on base and then Gretchen told the girls to get some sleep. They didn’t all need to help her upload the contents of Kojic’s computer back to Bragg. She could do that on her own.