III

Washington D.C. - Stone is sitting at a patio table at an Italian restaurant waiting for his cousin. He looks at his watch noticing she's a few minutes late but isn't bothered by it. Another minute or two later he spots his younger cousin Amberly walking towards the restaurant wearing green medical scrubs.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." She says as she walks up and gives him a big hug.

"No worries, it's good to see you!" Stone says as a waitress comes to take their drink order. After the waitress leaves Stone asks if she got settled into her house yet.

"Yup, I can't stand to have boxes sitting around so I've focused all my spare time to getting it done." Amberly replies as she looks over the menu.

"So how's married life so far?"

Having just recently gotten married, Amberly and her husband moved to Alexandria, VA when her husband was offered a job as administrator at Howard University Hospital.

"It's good, since my honeymoon it's been a little hectic just because of the move and starting our new jobs here." Amberly herself is a medical lab technician who works at the same hospital that her husband runs. "That's reminds me you haven't even met Jason yet have you?"

"No, no I met him on Thanksgiving at your mom's." Stone says correcting her. "I'm really sorry I missed your wedding though, I was two miles from the church when I was called away to Spain on assignment."

"It's okay I understand, but you still owe me a wedding dance!" Amberly says.

"Copy that."

Aside from Amberly the rest of Stone's family still lives in Springfield, IL, this is the first time he's seen her since Thanksgiving.

"I really wish I'd at least made it to the rehearsal dinner, but I'd just gotten back into town late that night, believe me I was really ticked when I was pulled on assignment again." Stone explains.

"So even though I'm in the same city now I assume I still won't see you very much, cause you'll be away on assignments?" Amberly asks.

Amberly and the rest of Stone's family knows vaguely what he does for a living since being out of the Marines; however for security purposes they do not know what agency he is with.

"Well I'm home quite a bit but there are times when I get called away for days or even weeks at a time. It just depends on the situation and how critical things are, one time I was in Finland for over a month. Most of the time my trips are short though, however when you factor in where I'm going, flight time, time zones and such it probably seems like I've been gone a lot longer than it does to me." Stone explains.

"Wow, the life of a secret agent."

"Ssh, it's secret for a reason kiddo." Stone says as the waitress comes back to take their order.

"So you basically travel all over the world." Amberly says once the waitress has left.

"Yup."

"Have you picked up any new languages since I've last seen you?"

Stone thinks for a second then replies negatively. With their jobs requiring them to travel often, Omega Sector requires all agents to learn at least three new languages within the first year of employment. It is suggested that they learn more depending on their field of work with the agency. Stone learned his required three as requested but continued learning another each year. Aside from English Stone is fluent in five languages; German, Italian, Russian, Arabic and Korean.

"Nope, last one I learned was Korean."

"I'm surprised you haven't learned Spanish or French yet." Amberly replies.

"Well I wanted to stay away from the norm. Besides if there are members on your team that speak languages you don't then you cover more of them that way." Stone explains.

"I guess that makes sense." After they finish lunch Amberly checks her watch then realizes she needs to get back to work. "I gotta go, call me sometime and I'll have you over to the house for dinner."

"Sounds good, lunch is on me then." Stone says giving her another hug.

As he sits back down to await the check he notices a man across the street staring at him. Having put his shades back on a moment earlier Stone doesn't give away any sign that he's noticed him. The man suddenly redirects his attention at the map in his hand, Stone remains facing slightly away from the suspicious person all the while keeping his eyes on him under the cover of his shades. Then Stone looks in the direction where Amberly was headed and spots her walking around the corner back towards the hospital. As he checks out the man again he can see no evidence that he has any interest in Amberly. A moment later the waitress returns to the table with Stone's visa and the check. He signs the bill then stands to leave heading in the opposite direction from where Amberly had left. As he walks towards his car Stone presses a miniature button on the right arm of his sunglasses. Then subtly he presses a button on his watch as he turns the face around to the inside of his wrist. As he continues walking the lower portion of his shades display the view from a tiny camera embedded within his watch. As suspected he can see the man is following him from the opposite side of the street! He continues walking giving off no indication that he knows he has a stalker. As Stone nears closer to his car he spots the man pull out a cellular phone. Stone gets in his '96 black Isuzu Rodeo and switches off the watch cam and turns on a similar camera hidden on the rear of his vehicle. A small monitor unfolds out of the console and displays the view. Stone pulls out of his parking spot and crosses the street putting the man back into view of the surveillance camera. Suddenly he notices a white Honda Accord pull up next to the stalker as he gets in. "Backup." Stone says to himself. As he comes to a stoplight he observes through the camera what looks to be a distinct conversation regarding himself between the stalker and the driver.

With headquarters only being a few miles away Stone drives in the opposite direction planning to make a wide circle of the area until he can attempt to get behind his shadow and follow them. Then he realizes even if he accomplishes this they'll likely spot him following. Stone gets an idea as he dials headquarters on his car phone via the speaker. A comms agent answers and Stone identifies himself with his access code only, then orders that the line be secured. He hears series of tones through the speaker indicated the line has been encrypted.

"Line is secure Sir." The comms agent says.

"This is Stone. I need a vehicle swap, I've got a tail on me. Swap scenario is cloak and dagger."

"Copy that Stone, any preference on the vehicle?"

"Yeah, bring the Viper from R&D, 13th and New Hampshire in fifteen minutes." Stone explains.

"We'll be there Sir, HQ out."

Stone leads the white Honda through the city finally losing it near the rendezvous point. He turns right on 13th Street from New Hampshire and pulls up right behind a large white cargo van. He steps out and tosses his keys to the agent as he hops on the Viper already sitting next to the curb. "Hurry they're not far behind!" Stone says putting on the helmet. The agent gets in Stone's Isuzu and drives it up the ramp into the back of the van. The agent quickly retracts the ramp as Stone rides back across New Hampshire Drive; he looks in the rear view mirror just as the van drives away concealing his car. Stone abruptly does a U-turn and as suspected seconds later the stalkers in the white Honda turn onto 13th assuming they've caught up with their prey. Within moments they pass the cargo van trying to find Stone's Isuzu. "Cloak and Dagger, this is Stone do you copy?"

"Affirmative Sir." Comes the reply through the helmet radio.

"Swap is a success, my target just passed you! Take my ride back to base I'm going to follow them."

"Copy that Sir, we'll inform HQ."

Stone tails the Honda for fifteen minutes as it continues to search the area for him. After giving up the search the Honda leads Stone to a run down motel on the east side of the city. He parks the bike behind the motel and grabs the remote from the console activating the shields. He watches the two men enter one of the rooms then sneaks around the backside trying to find the corresponding window. He takes the helmet off and puts his shades back on; then he slips off his watch and activates the camera holding it up against the window.

"When are Yuri and Philip due back?" asks the driver. Right away Stone realizes the men are Russian based off their accents, not to mention the fact that Yuri is a common Russian name. The original stalker tells the other man that their comrades won't be back until after six o'clock as he moves towards the window. Stone quickly withdraws the watch from the window to avoid detection. He places his right hand over the 9mm Sig holstered under his left arm but doesn't yet draw the weapon. He exhales a sigh of relief realizing that the man was heading into the bathroom. After hearing the stalker exit the bathroom he places the watch back on the windowsill to continue his surveillance.

"David where are the weapons?" the man says looking around the room.

"I left them in the car." David says sitting on one of the beds.

"Are you really that stupid? That's a stolen car we're using, not to mention the fact that for a moment we had found our target. What if he had followed us somehow?"

"Karl, how would that be possible? We lost him in traffic." David replies.

"Exactly, we lost him and for a brief second when I spotted him at that restaurant he looked right in my direction. He could have lost us on purpose then gotten on our tail." Karl explains.

"I never saw his car behind us, are you sure it was really him?" Karl retrieves his copy of Stone's photo from the air base in Russia.

"Oh great." Stone says watching through his shades as he realizes his suspicions are accurate. Krestov sent a team to look for him after all.

"Absolutely, it was him alright and right now we'd better find him. I don't want to return home to tell the Colonel that we failed."

"The Colonel knew this mission was a long shot, surely it wouldn't be that bad." David replies.

"Yeah but do you really want to tell him that we got lucky and found the man only to lose him?"

David tries to respond but nothing comes out of his mouth as he grasps the gravity of the situation he and his comrade are now in.

Obviously trying to contain his frustration Karl simply nods his heads towards the door. David takes the hint then goes to retrieve the weapons.

"Wait, we need to ditch that car anyway. "We'll pick up some new wheels then we keep searching!" Karl says. Hearing that Stone shuts off the camera as he runs back around to the side of the building. As Karl and David get back into the white Honda Stone puts the Viper helmet back on and contacts headquarters. He gives them the license plate number of the Honda and a quick description of the two Russians.

"These guys are members of the C.R.A. and the car is stolen. I think they're about to ditch the car but have D.C. police pick them up if they're spotted."

"Copy that Stone, do you need backup?" Agent Dyson says on the other end of the line.

"Not at the moment, I'll keep you updated, Stone out." Stone replies as the Honda drives away. He removes the helmet and leaves it on the Viper then walks to the motel office. He shows the manager his government ID and then asks for a key to the room. "They look Russian, sound Russian, if my picture doesn't give it away I don't know what does." He says entering the room. He quickly searches the room careful not to leave signs that it has been altered. He finds four small luggage bags that contain the men's clothes and personal effects. On the table he finds a laptop computer and a map of the D.C. area. He tries accessing the computer but finds it is secured by a login code and password. The only thing of any worthy note that he finds is in the nightstand drawer. Laying on top of the bible are four airline tickets for Key West, FL. "Flight isn't for two days but their not leaving the country," Stone pauses for a moment trying to make some sense of the lead. ". . .not yet anyway." Finding no other clues he places a small bug behind one of the headboards then leaves the room. He returns the key to the manager with explicit instructions to interact with the men as little as possible. "I would suggest that you have your housekeeping staff skip this room for the next two days." Stone explains.

"Not a problem there, they've had the do not disturb sign on their door every morning." Says the manager.

"Good, I'll be back." Stone returns to the Viper, unfolds the shields and rides back to headquarters. When he returns Stone walks right into Director Grant's office and asks to speak with him. As he's allowed to enter Stone explains the lead he acquired after lunch.

"They have your picture?" Grant asks.

"Yeah, looks like someone at the airbase was smart enough to snap a picture before I split." Stone replies. "As far as I can tell there's only four of them, looks like they're split up in groups of two searching for me. I planted a bug in their room so once they're all together me and my team will go grab them, with your permission of course."

"That's fine but they didn't follow your cousin did they?" Grant asks.

"I was concerned about that but I kept my eyes on her as she walked away and not once did he look in her direction. All the same I'll keep my eyes on her as best I can." Stone replies. "I don't want to worry her but I don't want to keep this from her either. Then again I can't really tell her what's going on can I?"

"Why don't you plant a tracer on her, she wouldn't even have to know. That way we'd always be able to track her if something happened." Grant suggests.

"Yeah but it would have to be on something she always has on her."

"You said she just got married, how about her wedding ring?" Grant adds.

"How would that work, without her knowing?"

"Good point." Grant replies.

"Perhaps I can plant one on her watch." Stone says to himself. "I don't like this idea on sneaking around behind her back. Maybe I'll just vaguely tell her what's going on and I can get the watch from her to affix the bug to it. She mentioned having me over for dinner soon, I'll ask her then."

"Whatever you think is best, now she's the only family you have in town right?"

"Yeah, I kinda wished she hadn't moved here for safety's sake but it was good to see her again." Stone replies.

"That's good, you should have family nearby." Grant adds.

"Well I'm gonna get to work on all this, thank you sir." Stone adds. After leaving Grant's office Stone heads to communications to see Agent Dyson.

"Hey Stone, did you find out who those guys were that were following you?" Dyson asks. Stone explains that's precisely the reason he came to see her then asks how long it would take to get live satellite image on a motel on the east side of town. She informs him it would only take a couple of hours as O.S. always has a satellite in orbit over D.C. "I'd just need clearance from Grant to redirect it where we want it to look."

"Put in the request, you'll get clearance. Grant knows what I'm up to." Stone replies.

"You still didn't tell me who these guys are?" Dyson says curiously.

"C.R.A." Stone replies.

"Whoa, Krestov really has it in for you doesn't he?"

"Looks that way, contact me the moment you have eyes on the location." Stone says handing her the address on a slip of paper.

Stone heads downstairs to R&D to see Weiss about a tracking device for Amberly. Like Stone all field agents are equipped with a personal tracking beacon so O.S. headquarters can always locate them in emergencies. Just as he'd hoped Weiss has one that could be affixed to a wristwatch. However Stone discovers Weiss would have to install it himself.

"It draws power from the main battery but it's hidden in plain sight so if she took it to a repair shop for a new battery or any other reason. No one would ever suspect it doesn't belong there." Weiss explains.

"Well I'd like to get it in there without her knowing but that doesn't look like it'll be possible." Stone replies.

"Well I can have it done in twenty minutes at most, if you decide to bring it in."

"Okay thanks Jack, I'll let you know."


That night at home Stone calls Amberly to check in on her, while on the phone he tells her he'll take her up on her dinner invitation. "Okay how about tomorrow night at seven o'clock?" She says.

"Sounds great, see you then." Stone dials headquarters next for an update on his lead. "This is Stone transfer me to Senior Comms Agent Dyson." He reaches Dyson and asks if she's got the feed operational yet.

"Just did but there's only two guys in the room, I thought you said there were four?" Dyson says.

"Wait one." Stone turns on his receiver for the bug he planted and listens in to the two radicals. He quickly realizes the two voices belong to the other two members of the recon team.

"Karl called while you were out getting food, he said he and David will be out late." One of them says.

"Why, did they find the target again?"

"Didn't say, guess he's not too keen on reporting the bad news to the Colonel. We should be out there searching as well Philip."

"It's dark out now, I really don't think they are going to find him tonight." Philip replies.

Stone switches off the receiver and goes back to Dyson on the phone. "Sarah, these two guys are the second team, they're not the same two that followed me today. Do me a favor and let me know the instant all four of them are in the room."

"Understood." Dyson replies.

Stone hangs up the phone and decides to call Hudson next; he brings him up to speed and tells him he's putting the team on alert for the next forty-eight hours.


The next morning he heads straight to the comms room, he finds Dyson is off for the day but that she relayed his orders to the next shift. Another comms agent informs him that around five am the four men were in the room together.

"I was just about to contact you but then the other two left." The agent says.

"Sounds like they're taking shifts, okay stay on it and make sure the next shift is informed of the situation." Stone replies.

"That was Dyson's order as well sir." The agent replies.

"Awesome."

The rest of Stone's day is uneventful; he spends an hour in the gun range and another hour in the training room. Even with Dyson's standing orders to keep watch on the motel he reiterates to the on duty comms crew that the targets are planning to leave the city the next day. "It's imperative that someone has eyes on this feed constantly!" he says. He heads home to change his clothes before going over to Amberly's for dinner. Instinctively he plans to bring a bottle of wine to dinner but then realizes since he might be going after the C.R.A. recon team he decides to bring dessert instead.

As suspected from the address she gave him earlier, his cousin's new home is only a few miles from his apartment in Alexandria. When he arrives she reintroduces Stone to her husband Jason. He hands her the cake he picked up and shakes hands with Jason. The three have dinner and talk for two hours. After dessert Jason gets a business call and takes it in his office, Stone seizes the opportunity to explain what happened yesterday after lunch. With as few details as possible he informs her about the men following him and that by all appearances they had no interest in her. Then he requests to borrow her watch so he can have a tracker installed in it.

"I don't want you to be worried but I'd feel better if I had a way to find you should anything ever happen. It was just blind luck that these guys found me the way they did, they still don't know my name or what agency I work for but they did spot me in public. You have no idea how glad I am that they didn't show any interest in you when you left the restaurant but I want you to be safe." Amberly simply smiles, removes the watch and hands it to Stone.

"I understand."

"Thank you, you wear this everyday right?" Stone says.

"Yes, just uh get it back to me as soon as possible. Jason gave that to me on our first Christmas together.

"Not a problem, my tech guy said he can install it in like twenty minutes. I'll bring it by the hospital tomorrow."

Just after twenty-one hundred hours Stone's cell phone goes off. He notices the number calling is from headquarters, "Sorry I have to take this." He answers the call and is informed by a comms agent that the other two radicals have arrived at the motel. "Call Hudson and have him and Shadow team meet me on the north side of the motel in twenty minutes! Also since these guys know what kind of car I drive I'll need a vehicle swap at 4th and Maine in ten, bring the Viper." Stone orders.

"Scenario code Sir?" the agent says.

"Swap meet." Stone says then disconnects the call. "Well I gotta go, duty calls."

"You be careful okay." Amberly says giving him a hug.

"Copy that, good to meet you again Jason." Stone hops in his Rodeo then opens the armrest storage compartment and retrieves his 9mm Sig snug in a shoulder holster. He drivers to the rendezvous point to find a lone agent sitting on the Viper near the curb. He parks his car in front of it as the agent dismounts the bike and hands Stone the helmet. "Take it back to base." Stone says putting on the helmet.

"Yes sir." The agent replies.

Stone starts up the bike then rides to the motel, he parks the bike on the north side where Hudson and the rest of the team are to meet him. Stone looks at his watch noticing he's a few minutes early. He switches the settings on the helmet to night vision to scan the area. After a moment he changes it to thermal and spots all four radicals still in the motel room. He then connects an ear bud to the helmet from the bug receiver before he turns it on.

"Okay guys we leave in the morning for Key West, we should be at the base by nightfall tomorrow night." Stone recognizes the voice as Karl, apparently the leader of the group.

"Man Colonel Even. . . . " Yuri is interrupted as Karl slaps him upside the head. "What the hell was that for?"

"You idiot don't say his last name out loud, only first names remember!" Karl says.

"What are you so worried about no one can hear us." Yuri replies.

"Did you forget the fact that we saw our target yesterday!" Karl adds.

"No, besides you lost him."

"Exactly, which means it's possible that he followed us! Just keep your mouth shut you never know who could be listening. These walls are probably paper thin." Karl says obviously dreading reporting his failure to his superior.

"Karl relax, just cause you said this guy looked at you doesn't mean he knew you were following him." Philip states. "By the way I think what Yuri was going to say is that the Colonel will not be happy when you submit your report."

"No kidding!?" Karl replies sarcastically. "I think we should split up when we go to the airport tomorrow and someone should keep watch through the night just in case."

"Very well, for now I'm going across the street to get some vodka." Philip says as he stands from the table. Before leaving he opens the briefcase on the table and pulls out a P-89 Ruger and stuffs it in his jeans behind his back.

Stone switches back to night vision as he watches Philip walk across and down the street and into a liquor store. Suddenly Stone hears the sound of a car behind him, he turns around and finds Hudson's 300ZX pulling up behind him. Stone removes the helmet and places it on the Viper as he engages the bike's shields. "Where are the guys?" Stone asks.

"I went ahead and deployed them around the building. I've got two of them on the south side of the building, the other two in the van up the street in case they make a run for it." Hudson explains as he hands Stone a bulletproof vest.

"You got any extra firepower with you all I have is my Sig." He asks putting on the vest over his shoulder holster. Hudson nods to the back of the car and pulls out a black bag. He opens it revealing two MP5 sub machine guns as well as tactical radios and a few other items. "You know I don't like these little ones with the fore handle." Stone says as he loads a magazine into the weapon.

"You ready?" Hudson says handing him two extra magazines.

"No, one of them is across the street in the liquor store." Stone says putting on the headset and checking his radio. "This is team leader, sound off."

"This is Watts, I copy. O'Bryan and I are in position on the south side."

"Drake here, Anderson and I are ready whenever you are."

Having already crossed the street Philip is making his way back up towards the motel from the south, suddenly he notices an armed man in full tactical gear staking out the motel. Philip sets down his purchase from the liquor store and pulls out a small pocketknife as he sneaks up behind the man. Hearing footsteps behind him Watts turns his head expecting to see O'Bryan but finds a husky Russian coming towards him with the knife. He doesn't get a chance to fire as Philip grabs the barrel of his standard MP5. Philip knees Watts in the groin then goes for the killing strike with the knife! However Watts grabs the hand holding the blade and is able to disarm the Russian of it. Still reeling from the blow to the groin Watts struggles with his adversary for control of the MP5.

On the other side of the building Stone and Hudson continue scanning the street looking for the last member of the group. Suddenly Stone hears rustling through the radio as he grabs the Viper helmet and turns on the thermal scanner. He spots two men struggling on the south side just as Watts yells for help into his radio.

"They're on to us, move in now! O'Bryan where the hell are you Watts is in trouble!" Stone says as Philip throws Watts up against the wall. Somehow during the impact a few shots go off from Watts' weapon.

"What the hell was that!?" Karl says bolting upright from his seated position. He looks out the window as he spots a dark van heading straight for the motel parking lot. "We're under siege!" Hearing that Yuri immediately goes to the weapons case and hands Karl the other P-89 as he and David both grab a Mac-10 Uzi. Karl and Yuri burst out the door firing on the van as Drake and Anderson attempt to move in. David shoots out the back window and crawls out attempting to escape through the foliage behind the motel.

Stone continues scanning the area through the thermal vision for a few more seconds and finally finds O'Bryan heading back towards Watts' position. At the same time he notices one of the radicals hightailing it out the back window. "There's a target moving out the back, Hudson and I are on him!" Stone says into his radio.

"Copy that, we'll stay on these two." Drake says hopping out of the van as Karl and Yuri open fire on them.

Meanwhile more shots go off as Watts and Philip fight for the MP5. Watts gets a knee in the kidney but counters with a hard right cross. Philip kicks the weapons out of Watts' hands as he falls to the ground. Watts goes for his sidearm but is tripped by the Russian. Philip stands retrieving his own sidearm and is about to shoot Watts when more gunfire hits the brick wall next to him. Philip ducks instinctively then takes off down the street! Watts looks to his left seeing O'Bryan running towards him having just saved his life. "Where the hell were you dude?" Watts says getting to his feet.

"Let's go before we lose him!" O'Bryan says grabbing Watts' MP5 from the ground and tosses it to him.

As they take off on foot after Philip Karl and Yuri are able to get to their car as they keep suppressive fire on the two agents from the van.

"Where is Philip?" Yuri says starting the car.

"Who gives a flying . . . " Karl ducks as oncoming fire hits the car next to theirs.

"And what happened to David? I thought he was right behind us." Yuri says racing out of the parking spot into the street in reverse.

"That moron went out the back window, he's on his own." Karl says shooting out the rear window to cover their escape. At the same time Drake and Anderson emerge from cover and unload their magazines onto the vehicle aiming for the tires. Unfortunately they only hit the rear fenders and tail lights.

"Back to the van!" Anderson states hoping they can maintain pursuit.

Stone and Hudson continue pursuit of David through the wooded area, finally they spot him a few yards ahead.

"Freeze!" Hudson yells. David spins around and fires the Mac-10 towards the two agents. Stone runs and tackles Hudson to the ground just milliseconds before the rounds would have mutilated his friend. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Stone replies as he stands and fires back with the mini MP5. They exchange fire with David a few times as he continues to make his escape. A few minutes later Stone loads his last magazine into the sub machine gun as he and Hudson split up in search for the Russian.

David continues running then comes to the end of the foliage as he steps onto a street. He turns around to see if the agents are close behind but doesn't spot them yet.

Seconds later Stone makes it to the street and checks both directions looking for the Russian but finds nothing. Then to his surprise he feels the muzzle of the Mac-10 come to rest on the back of his neck!