Couples
Chapter 101
Azra stares up at the sky. "It will be light soon. We need to find cover. We're still within the range of the Russians. And they have a lot more personnel and firepower than you saw at the compound where they were holding me. The army has encampments all through the Crimean Mountains, with stores of ordnance and vehicles."
Jack nods. "The agency suspected something like that, but the satellites weren't able to get a clear enough view to make a good estimate of Russian troop strength."
"Which is why I was here," Azra explains.
"The agency sent you in?"
"Military intelligence. I've been with them since 2009."
"I thought you died in 2009," Jack confesses.
"Everyone was supposed to think that – even you. I'm sorry. That's the way it had to be. I'd just made it to a tunnel the rebels were using when our rocket hit. An agent almost everyone thinks is dead is a lot more useful than a live one with a blown legend. And you know I was in special ops before I joined the agency," Azra adds.
"It was on the one page of your jacket I was allowed to see," Jack acknowledges.
"They picked me in part because of my languages – Urdu, Pashto, Russian, Ukrainian, and the others. My division dispatched me to infiltrate positions where the military needed actionable data. Russian operations in Ukraine were the latest in the series. But I got sloppy. I messed up drinking tea in an ethnic Russian village close to where you found me. For a second, I forgot about diluting the concentrate. I remembered the instant I lifted my glass. But it was too late. An elder spotted my lapse and turned me in."
"What did you have to go through before I found you?" Jack inquires softly.
Azra smiles in the dim light. "It wasn't that bad, Jack. They shot me up with Q-336, but it wasn't our enhanced version. I've been resistant to the old stuff for years. So I fed them enough useless truth to keep them hooked and threw in whatever misinformation I could. They will be chasing their tails for a while."
Jack grins in admiration. "Good for you!" He points toward a clump of trees and brush about a quarter-mile in the distance. "That should shield us from prying eyes, and I'll see what I can call in to pick us up. But it could take a while. My mission isn't on the books. Director's eyes only."
Azra shakes her head. "It was that kind of crap that almost got us killed at least four times I can think of. Never mind. My people know I'm in the area. They might even know you are. I should be able to get transport in, but they'll want us completely within Ukrainian-controlled territory, so a military flight won't seem out of the ordinary. If we take cover until nightfall, we shouldn't have trouble making it to the extraction point. I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep without being tied to a chair."
Jack gazes toward the growth of foliage. It will be as good a place as any to hunker down and get some rest. "I know the feeling."
"I like the sauce on number one better," Rick decides. "You don't feel the heat much at first, but then it catches up to you in the back of your throat. And it also has a touch of sweetness. That makes for an exciting combination."
Kate takes another taste. "It's like putting the best of chili and barbecue sauce together. I could eat this stuff on pretty much anything."
Rick quirks an eyebrow. "I'd keep it away from ice cream, but otherwise, I agree. And Lily attacked her meal with enthusiasm as well. Between her exertions with Belle and a full tummy, I think her eyes are looking a little heavy already."
Kate presses a finger to her lips. "Shh! Don't jinx it. But now that we've made a decision do we get to look in the envelope?"
Winking, Rick pulls it out of his pocket and peeks at the paper inside. "Hmm, I don't know if Auchincloss will be proud or upset."
"Why? Who won?" Kate demands.
Rick passes Kate the page with the revelation. "Christine. That sauce we loved so much was her creation."
As he finishes scanning through the listings on the last page in a folder, Rick rubs his eyes. "As far as I can make out, Calista had three possible Lorenzo business targets. For one, she was the inspector in a car refinishing business."
"That could be a cover for a chop shop," Kate points out.
"Or even a plain old car-theft ring." Rick guesses. "They could repaint the vehicles, swap out parts with the VINs, and voila, they put the car on the black or even grey market. But either way, they'd have paints and solvents around. Those are just the sort of items Calista would lean on. And the Lorenzos also have a janitorial service. There would be hazardous chemicals used for that kind of work as well. I know because when Alexis was a baby and again for Lily, I checked the ingredients and warnings of everything coming near this place or the Hamptons house."
"I'm aware, at least about Lily. I watched you do it. So, what's the third one?" Kate queries.
"Drycleaners. Hazardous solvents aside, interesting criminal opportunities there. They could tell a lot about people from their clothes, the quality and how often they wear them. It would be a good front to plan robberies. If the Lorenzos were using the shops that way, Calista might have sniffed around enough to catch on. Put those operations together with a janitorial service, and you could assemble nice little dossiers on the well-situated and well-fixed. Come to think of it, as long as they can get access to a property. They could raid the garages too."
Kate chews on the ends of two fingers. "Yes, they could. But I'm not sure I'm comfortable thinking of my husband as such a criminal mastermind."
"You have to figure out how to commit a crime to write about someone solving one," Rick reminds her.
"But you also have to figure out the flaws that make them solvable. So what were the flaws?" Kate wonders.
Rick gets the familiar faraway look that Kate recognizes from when he's figuring out a plot. "So, the Lorenzos want to rip off the rich and famous, but they're not interested in home invasions or burglaries. Those attract too much attention with too little chance of reward. So they plant their janitorial people long enough for no one to give much thought to their presence. They case the homes at their leisure. Perhaps a plant recommends the dry cleaner – or vice versa. Anyway, the family works out schedules, upcoming events, the whole enchilada. When the Lorenzos are sure the fat cats are away, they send in the rats to play. They grab the valuables they've previously spotted and boost the vehicles. Any prints they might leave are excluded because their people have been working on the property.
"But along comes Calista, who works for insurance companies. She knows who's been ripped off and figures out who had access. But instead of going to her bosses or the police, she decides to get hooks into the thieves. She just doesn't know that the Lorenzos are involved. But the Lorenzos know who she is. That's the fatal flaw in her scheme. The rest, you know."
"Right," Kate agrees. "The Lorenzos drown Calista and put her in the dumpster to frame Walker Buck. But where do they lure her?"
Rick grins his triumph. "The warehouse where they keep finished cars awaiting shipment. It's right near the East River."