A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! This chapter was such a pain to write, I don't know why. That coupled with Xmas & New Years Eve made it take extra long. I'm still not too satisfied with it, but I guess it's just more of a set-up chapter, maybe? Anyway, here it is. I think there will be about 1-2 more chapters left after this.
Oh, if anyone's interested in how I imagine Evelyn to look, there's a link in my profile. The actress is Li Bing Bing.
**Reviews help me chug along, so if you haven't yet I'd appreciate your input. Especially those who have favorite or story alerted, I'd really love to hear what you think. Thanks to all who have reviewed and shown this piece some love so far!
Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: alas, not mine
Chapter Ten
Pounding a rhythmic cadence on the floor to ceiling glass windows of the airport lobby, the rain was matching Annie's mood. She had never been a fan of it as it made everything more difficult to do, not to mention made everything wet and her hair frizzy, but she really could really use some sun right now.
Jai glanced over at her, lost in thought, staring at the water spattered windows, and heard her sigh.
"What did you expect? It's Seattle." Jai responded as he gave the Hertz clerk his confirmation number.
"Well…it can't rain all the time." Annie replied.
"It's not always gloomy here, contrary to popular belief." The overly cheery sales clerk chimed in.
"Guess we'll have to take your word for it." Jai responded as the clerk handed him a set of keys.
At least the area where they kept rental cars was covered and they wouldn't have to brave the precipitation until arriving at the Chong's home. Annie hoped they wouldn't have to put up with it at all, silently praying for it to subside by then.
As the two of them cruised along in the blue Prius, GPS chiming in every so often, Annie was in awe of the luscious landscape, despite the rain. Majestic evergreens, snowcapped mountains, shrubs and brightly colored flowers, it had quite the calming effect. She was so mesmerized by all the natural beauty Jai had to call her name out twice before she noticed.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. The scenery is just incredible…" She said, still amazed.
"Yeah, it is something isn't it?" He hadn't seen so much green in a while.
"I'll say."
"So, Miss Rachel Warner, we're almost there. You ready?" Jai teased, using her cover name.
"Yep, let's do this Mr. Dev Singh." Annie replied cheekily.
Jai jumped off the 520 and they made their way into a nice suburban neighborhood. A minute later the blue Prius entered a quiet cul de sac and pulled into the driveway of a modest ivory paneled house with brick red trim. The front yard was small but well manicured and it only took them a few steps to reach the door. The rain had actually abated and they were both grateful, Annie especially.
She looked over at Jai in his red polo and dark wash jeans and then took a glance at her own attire; flats, khakis and a three-quarter sleeve cardigan over a plain tee. It was strange working a mission in such casual clothing but they were supposed to be Young-Jae's new co-workers and Microsoft had a casual dress code. They had to look the part and she didn't mind being in something more comfortable than the usual pant or skirt suit and towering louboutins.
Jai rang the doorbell and they could hear the chime echo inside the house. According to the hospital Young-Jae's wife worked at, her shift didn't start until 3pm so she should be home. A minute or two later there was a shuffling of feet and clicking of locks. A petite Korean woman in a gray velour sweatsuit opened the door. She eyed them suspiciously and kept the screen door closed.
"Can I help you?" She asked in a slight Korean accent.
"Hi, Mrs. Chong? I'm Rachel Warner and this Dev Singh. We work with your husband at Microsoft." Annie responded cheerfully, getting right into character.
"We were wondering if he'd like to join us for breakfast." Jai added.
From the incredulous look on Mrs. Chong's face they knew she wasn't quite comfortable having two strangers at her front door claiming to work with her husband.
"Ah I'm sorry. My husband is not home." She made a motion to reach for the door to close it, but Annie, thinking fast, spoke up before she could.
"Oh! Did he head to the office already?"
"Ah…no." She paused to contemplate whether or not divulging more information was a good idea. "He is away for a conference."
"I thought that was next week? Is he in Washington DC? Jai asked.
"Yes..." The fact that they had an idea of where he was seemed to put her more at ease.
"Huh…we must've gotten the dates mixed up. That's not good. I was supposed to meet with him about the glitch issues before the presentation on Thursday. Shoot. I'm sorry Mrs. Chong, do you know how I can reach your husband in DC?" Annie asked, hoping her act was convincing enough.
The petite woman's eyes darted from Jai to Annie before she disappeared from view for a quick second and then appeared again, pen and pad of post-its in hand. She scribbled something down, peeled off the sheet and unlocked the screen door so she could hand the paper to Annie.
Across the country in Tech Ops, everyone was listening in on this conversation between Jai, Annie and Young-Jae's wife.
"His hotel phone number. I can't guarantee he will pick up though." Auggie heard Mrs. Chong say.
"Oh, that's ok. Thank you so much. We're sorry to have bothered you this morning, have a good day." Annie replied.
When Jai and Annie were back in the privacy of their rental car, Auggie assumed from the slamming shut of multiple doors, her voice crackled in his ear.
"We've got something. Hotel and room phone number." Annie finally decided to talk. Hopefully this was a sign that she wasn't quite so mad with him anymore.
"Awesome. Let's hear it."
"We were on the right track last night. He's at the Vista International. Area code 202-448-1800 extension 5660." Jai interjected.
"Good job." Joan tells them as she considers the next step. Obviously with the new information they could easily figure out which room Young-Jae was in and try to apprehend him for questioning, but who could she send off to the hotel? He seemed harmless according to records and Evelyn's recollection, but people are not always as they seem.
Time is always of the essence at the CIA and Annie and Jai were still in Seattle. It would take them at least a couple hours to get back. They couldn't all just sit here idly waiting. She glanced over at Auggie typing away and Evelyn, leaning on his desk watching. Those two were probably the best operatives she had ever come across but one was now blind and the other wasn't even employed by the agency anymore. Go figure. Plus it would be careless of her to even consider Evelyn; she was the object of this hacker's interest after all.
"Joan. He should be in room 660." Auggie called out. "Who're we sending in?" Auggie was always on top of things. Despite his annoying disregard for chain of command sometimes.
"Annie, Jai – Barber will be arranging for your flight back to DC ASAP. He'll update you once it's all set." She glared at Barber, who immediately got up and went to work on his laptop.
"Auggie, check if there has been any recent activity since last night."
"That's not going to work."
Evie's voice startled Auggie and his fingers paused. She had barely said a word since they arrived in Tech Ops this morning and he almost forgot she was standing so near. She scooted closer, leaning towards his screen, and consequently, him as well. So much for being in the zone and momentarily forgetting his relationship woes.
"Did you catch that re-direct command? It's back a couple lines." She whispered, trying not to call his oversight to anyone's attention.
Auggie scrolled back and found what Evie was referring to. Damn. How'd he miss that? He thanked her quietly and felt her pat his right arm briefly in response before returning to her original post.
Recalling from yesterday how Evie uncovered the elusive encrypted IP, Auggie went straight to work using her method, scrapping his previous venture.
How many other things had he missed before? He was good at his job, practically unmatched, and yet here was Evie, with a brilliance that gave him a serious run for his money. She was making him doubt his prowess but he felt a need to impress her, prove to her that he was a formidable whiz kid too.
"This morning, a couple hours ago, there was access to information regarding the Bloomingdale area." Well look at that. How many people could perform a complex multi-platform algorithm they had only seen done once before, successfully and on the first try?
"Bloomingdale? My brother lives there…" Evelyn said, worried and completely oblivious to Auggie's achievement. Guess it was going to be a silently victory.
"Ok, we need to get to the Vista now. Hopefully he's still there. We'll send a couple agents to your brother's home as a precaution. Since Jai and Annie won't be back anytime soon, Conrad you're going in on this one." Joan ordered.
What in the world was Young-Jae up to? Why was he looking up Bloomingdale? Did he get himself involved with something bad? What did she have to do with anything? All these questions raced through Evelyn's head. She remembered Young-Jae as a soft-spoken, caring man who was beside himself with worry about the illegal measures he had taken against the North Korean government. He was just a lowly technician for the "Supreme Leader" that accidentally discovered information which unsettled him, but it also gave him hope. He saw it as his chance to flee the destitution that was life above the 38th-parallel.
She knew there was absolutely no way Joan was going to let her go with Conrad to find him, but Evelyn couldn't just hang out in Tech Ops while these agents she didn't even know, hunted him down. She knew Young-Jae was a good man, even if he might've gotten mixed up in something unscrupulous.
"Joan? Can I be excused for a moment? Had a little too much coffee this morning."
Joan nodded and Evelyn walked out of Tech Ops and through the doors of the DPD towards the restrooms in the main hall, all the while covertly assessing her surroundings. Sneaking out of the CIA was going to be tricky, but she had weaseled out of similarly secured places before.
Evelyn punched the keys on her blackberry as she bounced along in the passenger side of the taxi cab. "Stomach not feeling well. Might be in here for a while : ( text me if u need ne thing." Hopefully her message to Auggie would prevent them from getting suspicious about why she was taking so long in the john.
It was little more complicated than she had expected, and she was a slightly rusty from being out of practice, but nevertheless Evelyn was able to slink her way out of Langley unnoticed, for the time being. She had shrugged off her blazer before the cab arrived and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders instead. Now, as they neared the Vista International, Evelyn shook her hair out of the ponytail it was in, applied some plum colored lipstick and donned a pair of sunglasses. Hopefully the crude disguise would be enough for her purposes.
As Conrad rolled the service cart down the 6th floor hallway, he hoped the black too-short dress pants and overly snug white dress shirt with accompanying vest, wouldn't rip and pop open like he was the incredible hulk. At least he didn't look as completely ridiculous as he felt. Being extremely tall and muscular was very rarely a negative thing, but at this moment, it was since they apparently didn't make these uniforms in tall.
He slowed down the squeaky cart as the number 660 came into view. He knocked politely and waited like a good…what did they call these room service people anyway? Room service delivery men? After several moments, the heavy door slowly opened and a middle-aged, slightly balding, Korean man with glasses popped his head out.
"Room service."
"Ah…I did not order room service."
"Are you sure?" Conrad picked up the fake request on the cart, looking confused. "It says room 660." He said, showing the order to Young-Jae.
"That must've been a mistake."
"Oh. Sorry about that. May I borrow your phone so I can notify concierge?" Conrad hoped the man wasn't going to refuse.
"Um, ok sure."
Conrad thanked him and quickly scanned the room as he stepped inside, searching for the phone. It sat on a desk in the right hand corner of the room. He picked up the receiver, punched some random numbers and pretended to speak with concierge about the mix-up. Young-Jae stood next to the bed, watching. After hanging up, Conrad approached Young-Jae, all smiles before swiftly catching the Korean man's right arm in his.
"I'm sorry Mr. Chong, you're going to have to come with me."
Young-Jae's eyes widened in fright and he panicked. Faster than Conrad could react, Young-Jae grabbed his laptop bag with his free hand and smacked Conrad in the head with it.
"Son of a bit…" He didn't even get a chance to finish the profanity before he was kicked hard in the shin and fell to the floor. Reflexively, he let go of Young-Jae's arm and the surprisingly nimble Asian man bolted for the door. Conrad hobbled after him, screaming into his earpiece.
"He ran into the hallway! Fucking kung-fu'ed my ass."