Chapter 7
It was cold and cramped in the dark interior of the Mazda Miata.
Efraim sat silently behind the steering wheel, intent on the restaurant they were watching. Francine couldn't find a comfortable position and she found herself moving herself, the seat and generally making herself uncomfortable.
"Francine, call Geiger and have him come pick you up. You could go home, you don't have to wait here." Efraim told her, his eyes never leaving the restaurant they were watching.
"No, I'll be fine, it's just that I've gotten used to the Explorer, all that room in the front."
"Not worried?" Her husband asked her, knowing she was.
"Yeah, I am. I wish we were home and that none of this was happening."
For the first time since parking the Mazda, Efraim looked at his wife. He leaned over and touched her cheek, wishing too that they were home and that none of this was happening in their lives. They deserved the seclusion that was a given to newlyweds. "Me too, Francine. It'll happen."
Francine tried again to find a spot that she could sit comfortably, the small car rocking with each movement she made. She was sure that they were the topic of conversation with the few pedestrians that passed them by. "How can you sit so still?"
"Iraq. I spent a lot of time sitting in holes in the sand watching and waiting."
"I missed you while you were gone." She could see the smile on his face.
He reached out and took her hand in his. "I missed you too. I spent a lot of time thinking about you."
"I thought about you too. I even broke into the Department of Defense computer to find reports that you had filed."
Her husband laughed softly, bringing her hand to his lips. "That's my girl!"
"I think I was falling in love with you then. But I was afraid."
"I would never hurt you Francine."
"I know that Efraim. I wouldn't have married you if I thought you would. That day you came back and you kissed me; I never wanted it to end."
"I saw a lot over there, how inhumane man is to man. When it started to get too easy for me to accept that I was part of it, I would remember you, looking into your eyes the day I left and I knew that there was something more important for me to believe in. I wanted to believe there could be an 'us'. And all I wanted to do when I got home was to come and take you in my arms and never let you go."
Francine leaned her head on Efraim's shoulder, her hand lying on his chest. She knew then and there that she would not passively sit by and let Carlson destroy this man or his family or her marriage. If Efraim was going to fight for them, so was she.
The door to the restaurant opened and out walked Jonathan Stone and Marcus Carlson. Efraim slouched as low in the seat as his frame would allow him, Francine did the same. They watched the two of them climb into a late model Chevy Caprice. Efraim flipped his cell phone and called Geiger with the information. Geiger would relay it to Lee and Amanda. They would switch on and off for this tail, being extremely cautious to not get tagged.
Efraim waited until the Chevy had pulled out and had traveled down the road a bit before he pulled out. Francine pulled out her cell phone and called Lee and Amanda, who would pick them up in ten minutes. She gave them the direction they were traveling in and got off the phone.
Staying behind the traffic leaving the area, Efraim was able to keep the Chevy in sight. He was glad they had taken the Miata, regardless of the discomfort. He was behind several high profile mini-vans, trucks and larger cars and he liked his placement in this parade.
"He's making the turn onto 21st Street, see?" Francine pointed to the turning Caprice, pulling her cell phone out and calling Geiger.
"Dave, he's headed towards George Washington University up 21st now. Can you get him? Good." She called Lee and told them their status.
"Lee says he might be staying in the Foggy Bottom area, and I agree. That's where he stayed before, at the Plaza Condominiums on 25th. He's probably gonna cross on I Street." Francine relayed the information to Efraim, shaking her head as she thought how close to their home Stone might be staying.
"I'm gonna try to beat him up there, I Street gets pretty congested with University traffic. Let's head up Virginia, then straight up 25th."
Efraim hit the gas and shifted the car, pulling as much speed as he dared out of the vehicle. He blew through several yellow lights, eliciting gasps from his wife to which he just grinned.
"Efraim Beaman, you're going to get a ticket!" Francine told him, holding onto the passenger strap as he took the corner on 25th.
"They have to catch me first, hon," he bragged, a wicked grin on his face as he slowed down some. He could see Francine smile and look out the window, shaking her head as she did so.
Francine's cell phone rang and she answered. "That was Dave, he say's they're just making the turn on 25th."
"You were right, babe. This area is pretty open down here, I'm gonna pass and park across the street. Hang on!" Efraim might a tight U turn in the street, killing the headlights as he did so and he pulled into an open space half a block up from the Plaza Condominiums.
They both slid down when lights came closer, slowing to stop in front of the condo. The passenger door opened and Jonathan Stone climbed out and walked to the entrance of the building without a backwards glance. Efraim pulled Francine into his arms and kissed her as Carlson left, telling her the last thing they wanted was to be spotted by him.
Efraim carefully looked up and saw the tail of Carlson's car pass by. He sat up, watching his rear view. As soon as the car was down 25th, Efraim started the Mazda and pulled out, without headlights and followed the Chevy
"Beaman, sometimes . . .!" Francine softly laughed, admiration in her voice.
"Yeah, well, Beaman, you like it just fine!"
"What are you doing Efraim?" Francine asked him, afraid he was doing what she thought he was.
"Following Carlson." He told her, his face once again the mask that fell into place when he was angry.
He was doing what she had feared. "Efraim? This isn't one of your better ideas."
"Francine, the Deputy Director of the CIA does not drive the hired help home after dinner. The DDOD has a chauffeur assigned to him. Why is Carlson out driving an unmarked CIA vehicle? Think about it Francine, this isn't right."
"What do you hope to find out by following him tonight?"
"Anything. I think he's playing fast and loose, meaning he has something that he's running with. I'm beginning to think that this is much bigger than just you and me. This feels like a major shake down, and a nasty one at that."
Francine sighed and pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to call Lee and Dave, we're going to need help." She hung up on Lee and looked at her husband. "You owe me for that chewing out I just received from Lee."
"I'll pay up hon."
"Yes, you will."
"I think I know where he's going. I remember reading in some background on him that he ran a domestic string out of Rock Creek Park."
"Don't you think that's rather obvious for a spy? Even for the CIA?" Francine asked, a rye smirk on her lips.
"Simple is always the easiest hon. Who would believe it could be that simple? You don't?"
Francine shrugged. He was probably right, he usually was. "Well, still, following him in here isn't going to be easy."
"You're right. Probably one of the reasons it's such a popular place for all us 'spy' types!" He told her with a shrug of his shoulders and a smile.
Francine laughed, shaking her head. "Why don't we park in the upper level and see what we can see from the high ground."
Efraim nodded and headed up. "Francine, in my bag behind you, pull out those night vision goggles that Lee swiped on his flight to Romania. And the night scope, we can both look."
Francine did as he asked, all the while mumbling about being caught with stolen government property in her possession. Efraim parked the car and Francine handed the goggles to Efraim. They both started scanning the lower parking area.
"I'm getting a reading in the North West corner of the lot. You have that?"
Francine turned the night scope in that direction. "Yeah, I've got two hot cars, one looks like a limo, the other looks like our boy. He's out talking to someone in the limo." Francine pulled her cell phone out and called Lee.
"He said he's in position outside of the park, he should be able to pick up the limo without a problem. He's calling Dave to tell him to help us tag team Carlson.
Efraim nodded, intent on what was going on below him. He carefully opened the door and climbed out, closing the car door silently. He walked over to the edge of the upper lot and disappeared into the trees. Francine had him on her night scope. He hugged the trees as he headed down, the farther down the grade he went the lower he got to the ground. Francine opened her door, leaving her cell phone behind and headed to the spot Efraim had started down the hill. If he needed help, she wasn't going to be far behind him.
She heard voices raised in anger below her. The night was calm and the voices carried easily. She didn't recognize either of the voices, and she couldn't see who was saying what. Francine used the night scope again, two men were struggling by the back of the limo. Scanning the ground in front of her, she was able to spot Efraim on his belly in the leaves about 100 yards in front of her. He had a clear view of what was happening below, so she sat down and waited.
Rummaging through her jacket pockets, Francine found the small tape recorder she usually carried. She hit record and held it up, hoping to catch the voices that still argued in the lot below her. With the night scope to her eye, Francine scanned the area below, quickly checking in on her husband, who had moved and was no where in sight. She heard car doors slam below her and engines start. Shoving the night scope into her pocket, she looked for leverage to get up from her crouched position.
She was grabbed from behind, a hand over her mouth and lips warm on her neck. Francine instantly relaxed as she knew Efraim had found her and was going to give her a lesson in surveillance and avoidance.
Efraim held his hand over his wife's mouth as he kissed her neck just below her ear. "What do you think you're doing out here in the middle of the night, Mrs. Beaman?" his breath warm against her ear.
Pulling his hand from her mouth, she answered in a whisper. "Waiting for my husband."
"You missed him coming back up the hill while you were looking for your tape recorder."
"Yeah, I guess I did. My husband has gotten very good at sneaking around in the dark."
"Yeah he is good, and right now he suggests we get back to the car so we can follow Carlson."
Efraim took Francine's hand and together they climbed to the top parking field. They ran hand in hand to the Miata and climbed in.
The light on the message indicator for Francine's cell phone was blinking. Checking her messages, she found Lee had called to say he was in position and waiting.
Calling Lee back, Francine listened to the phone ringing in her ear. Efraim went to start the engine and Francine put a hand out for him to wait. Lee finally answered his phone.
"Lee, has Carlson left the park yet? What about the limo? Okay, we're still here, I don't want to leave the park if Carlson hasn't come out yet. Alright. . .thanks."
Francine quickly punched in Dave Geiger's number. He answered immediately.
"Dave, we need you to come into the park and flush Carlson out. We can't be caught by him or we'll send this thing sky high. Okay. Thanks." Francine looked at her husband who was sitting back in the drivers seat, his eyes closed. She knew he was thinking about what he had seen and heard outside. "B? Dave is coming in, he's gonna make a loud racket and try to flush Carlson out if he's still in the park. We should be ready."
"Okay. I really want to get a bug on that car."
"We won't know what car he's using, he may switch them." Francine told him, trying to reason with him.
"Then we have to bug him." He said, as though it was the simplest thing in the world to do.
Laughter filled the car, bringing a smile to even Efraim's dour countenance. "Oh sweetie, do you really thing we'd ever get close enough to do that? B, come on!"
"We could do it." He said, pouting.
"Okay, I'll bite. How could we do it?"
"Surgical implant."
"Let's just schedule him! Why didn't I think of that?" Francine chuckled and looked at her husband. She smiled as she saw the disgruntled look on her husbands face. "Efraim. There is no way you'll ever get approval for that! Even Smyth would veto that idea, and no one would like to see Carlson hit the skids more than Austin Smyth."
"Alright." Efraim said, starting the engine as they heard the noise of a car horn and engine gunning. He slowly backed the car out of the space, and headed down towards the exit.
"Alright? Just 'alright'? Efraim Beaman, what are you thinking?" Francine's eyes narrowed in the darkened interior as she watched her husband.
"Nothing. Is that Carlson's car down there?"
"No. That's Dave. And you're not going to sidetrack me this easily Efraim."
"I kind of figured that hon. Francine, I just want to get him. I want to trip him up, I want to nail him before . . .before anything happens."
"You will," she told him, her hand resting on his arm. "We just need the time to put this all together."
Efraim nodded, taking her hand in his and lacing his fingers through hers. The cell phone rang and Francine answered it.
"That was Lee, he has the limo. He said Carlson came out in front of the limo, so we best get a move on it if we're going to follow him."
"No, it's not worth it now. Our best bet is to find out who is in that limo and find a way to approach them. Carlson is probably headed back to Langley."
Francine sighed, not liking the tone of her husband's voice. "Efraim, my faith is in you. Together we're going to take care of this. Please, don't get discouraged."
Efraim squeezed Francine's hand. She always had the right words, she knew instinctively what to say to him.
"Everyday I wake up and I wonder what bit of magic happened that you would fall in love with me. Everyday Francine."
"Oh Efraim."
"Come on, let's get that tape of yours back to the Agency and see if we can't boost the audio and find out who and what is going on." With a wink at his wife, Efraim hit the gas and peeled out of Rock Creek Park.
Efraim headed the car towards the Agency. He saw Dave Geiger's car pull in behind him. Francine gave a quick call to Lee letting Lee and Amanda know that they were going to the Agency.
Efraim parked and the three agents headed to Leatherneck's office.
"If Leatherneck isn't here, I can put that tape in and see what we can hijack out of it," Efraim held out his hand for Francine's tape recorder.
Geiger raised his eyebrows when he saw the small recorder, giving a rueful shake of his head when he recognized it from Romania. "That thing comes in handy, doesn't it, Francine?"
Francine nodded and smiled as she dropped her recorder in Efraim's hand. "I hope we can hear what they were arguing about, it sounded violent from my standpoint. B? Did you hear any of the content?"
"Nah, just voices, but not what they were saying. And you're right; it was pretty violent down there. I'm anxious not only to know what they were arguing about, but I also want to know who was in that limo. I have a feeling it's going to be important."
Leatherneck's office was locked, Dave pulled out his lock picks and opened the door in seconds. He shook his head as he swung the door open, allowing Francine and Efraim to enter the office. Efraim headed into the labs, Francine followed him. Geiger sat down at Leatherneck's desk and wrote him a note detailing his ten second entry into his office. Leatherneck wouldn't like it, but then, Geiger figured he was better at lock picking than Leatherneck was at building locks. He was sure he'd get a chance to break in again.
Leaving the note prominently on the center of the desk, Geiger got up and wandered into the lab. Efraim was setting up the voice enhancement program. Francine placed the cassette in the deck and sat beside Efraim as he entered the information into the computer. He sat back, pulled the headset down from the shelf and put it on his head.
Using the computer, he digitally reduced the noise in the cassette and enhanced the voices until he was able to understand what was being said. He hit the record button in order to make a new recording. Storing the information, he popped the original cassette and marked it, placing it in an evidence sleeve and handing it to Francine. She raised an eyebrow; but took the envelope and waited.
Efraim sighed and pulled off the headset, laying it on the work space in front of him. He looked at Francine and winked. She smiled back at him.
"What did you find? Can you hear the conversations? What about the identity of the man in the limo?" She asked him, leaning forward waiting his answer.
"Yeah, I got some of the conversation. Listen."
"Before you do that, I suggest you listen to this first."
The three agents turned at Lee's voice behind them. Lee, Amanda and another man were standing in the doorway of the lab.
"Senator Lang!"
