Chapter Twenty-Six

Roll With It

It had been a long, restless night. From the looks of it, everyone agreed. Nora sat with the agents in the conference room, everyone looking as anxious and high-strung as she felt. Hughes paced as he started going over their plan. "Now, Ghovat wants the dress because it's been tagged with a security device. We cracked the thread this morning. It's holding the holographic code of the latest European currency seal."

Nora and Peter shared a knowing glance. "We're using a counterfeit code," Hughes continued. "We're hoping he won't be able to tell the difference, but if he does, this could go south fast."

Peter sighed. "We're putting this girl's life at risk," he said, voice thick.

Hughes regarded him evenly. "We could be putting the entire monetary system of Europe at risk," he countered. "Guess who wins." That didn't sit well with Nora; it was almost cold. The good of the many over the good of the few, she thought. It wasn't an ideal she agreed with.

Hughes was back to going over the plan. "I'll be running point, we'll have eyes in the air, plain clothes on the ground. Cruz, Jones, you're with me. Burke, you know what you gotta do."

Peter nodded. Nora noticed a distinct lack of her in the plan. She raised her hand. Hughes glared at her. "Caffrey, put your hand down," he sighed. She raised it more insistently. "Put it down!"

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, ignoring his threatening tone. "I was just wondering where I'll be."

"On a coffee run," he snapped. Nora opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "You're not even supposed to be here." She shut her mouth. "Any questions?" No one said anything. "Then let's get into position."

The agents started moving, scrambling to get everything in place. Nora grumbled. Peter gave her a warning look, but didn't have time to talk to her; he needed to get ready.

Technically, she did go on a coffee run, like Hughes had ordered. Technically, she wasn't breaking any rules. He didn't tell her she couldn't join them in the surveillance van after getting said coffee. Oh, sure, it was implied, but he really should have been more precise with his orders. Besides, there was no way Ghovat hadn't already made the municipal utilities van.

She knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" No one answered. Then the door swung open, revealing a very angry Hughes. She grinned.

"Get in," he growled. "Close the door." She did. She squeezed in, taking a seat as far away from angry Hughes as she could. Then it was a waiting game.

Peter was on the screen, waiting. They had ears on him. They watched him pull the phone out of his pocket, examining the screen briefly before answering it. He started signaling with his fingers as he spoke to Ghovat.

"He's signaling us," Lauren's voice said over her microphone. "5-5-5-3-1-4-7."

Hughes nodded. "He's giving us Ghovat's incoming phone number. Get me a trace."

Jones was already working on it. "Yup," he said, typing away. "I'm on it."

Nora smiled. "Good, Peter." Peter continued his conversation. Then he took off running.

"Everybody, stay where you are," he shouted, puffing as he ran. "Stay where you are!"

"Everybody hold your position," Hughes barked. The plain clothes stood down. "We still got him on GPS, right?"

"Yeah," Jones confirmed. They no longer had eyes on him, but they could still hear him.

Suddenly, they heard Ghovat's voice faintly over Peter's wire. "Go get the dress." Nora listened, hardly breathing. "If you'll notice, Agent Burke, I've added a little fashion accessory of my own to our model friend here. The belt is lined with plastique." Ice ran through Nora's veins. "I dial a number here, and she goes boom."

It's detonated with his phone…she thought, the seed of a plan beginning to sprout in her mind. Ghovat continued. "Give her the dress. Toss it. Please, don't try anything. I have five bars and free long distance. I can be very far away and still cause you pain."

Hughes' jaw was tight. "Let him walk," he ordered. "Even if he's bluffing, we can't take the chance." Nora's faith in him was restored, a little bit.

Nora pulled out her phone and dialed the number Peter had signaled to them. It rang, and Ghovat answered. "Yes?"

"Hey!" she greeted cheerfully. All of the agents' eyes snapped toward her. "Is this Steve? You never call me anymore," she feigned a hurt tone. "Was it something I said?"

He hung up. Nora stood. She could get to him. "Keep calling him!" she ordered. "Jam his phone so he can't trigger the bomb. Keep calling him!" They all pulled out their phones and began dialing.

"Cruz, stay with Caffrey," Hughes ordered. "Everyone else, keep dialing." She jumped out of the van.

She ran. Lauren ran after her. She flew past Peter and Tara. Peter stared after her, bewildered. "We're jamming his phone," she shouted. "Hurry up and get the belt off of her!"

She caught up to Ghovat. He was frustrated, knuckles white where he clutched his phone tightly. "Hey, Steve," she called, coming to a stop a few feet away.

If she was being honest, that is where her plan ended. She knew Lauren had been running behind her, but the agent hadn't yet caught up.

Ghovat spun around, pulling out a gun. Yep, sounds about right, she thought. Maybe I was a little hasty.

"Now what?" he asked. She didn't answer. Nora knew better than to hope he would be against shooting her, in public, in broad daylight, with a dozen FBI agents in the vicinity. Luckily, Lauren had finally caught up.

She was running at top speed and barreled into him, tacking him to the ground and knocking his gun from his hand. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs, wasting no time in restraining him. Nora grinned. "That is pretty damn charming," she admitted.

She left Ghovat to Lauren as several other agents came up to help her, and returned to where Peter and Tara had been. She watched as Peter ordered everyone to clear the area and tossed the belt as far as he could, shielding Tara with his body. It didn't go off.

Nora walked up to them, her heels clacking on the pavement. They looked up. She grinned at Peter. "Aw," she teased, "look at you, being all heroic." She offered them each a hand and helped them up to their feet.

"Yeah," Peter admitted, somewhat sheepish. "Well, people are going to write songs about this." Nora laughed. Peter returned his attention to Tara. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. She looked very pale and trembled slightly, but the danger was gone. She was going to be fine. Nora gave her a hug.

"I took down Ghovat," Nora told Peter proudly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She nodded. "All on your own?"

"Well," she said shiftily, "Lauren might've helped a little." Peter laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. "So, really, it was a team effort."

Peter stared at her for a moment, beaming. "Way to roll with it."