Flu
Chapter 114
As satisfied as a cat with cream on its whiskers, Kate floats on the surface of the water. "I'm not sure I want to go back to the city if we'll have the chance to do that again by staying."
"I'm with you on that," Rick considers, "but." The grinding of heavy machinery drowns out his words. "Talk about ruining the mood," he shouts over the din. "The salvage crew must be trying to winch the boat, or large pieces of it, off the sea bottom. He swims to the side of the pool and pulls himself over the edge. "Maybe it is time to head back. Perhaps when we settle in, we can play a recording of gentle waves or something to get our vibe back."
"It's an idea," Kate agrees, mounting the ladder. "If you want to tell Alexis, I'll tell Martha."
Rick scrubs thick terry over his damp skin. "Sounds like a plan."
Jack takes in the furnishings of his hotel room in the East Campus complex. A reasonable assortment of electronic bells and whistles is at his service, but he has his own secure uplink among the other toys in his go-bag. He grabs a satellite image of the roof of the building. Agapov isn't up there yet, but that doesn't mean he won't be. The smart thing for Jack to do is get a hamburger or something, get comfortable, and wait.
Maksim stares up at the East Campus edifice. It's bigger than it looked in the pictures. The roof will provide several perspectives on the campus below. That in itself could be a problem in terms of spotting his targets. Unless he finds a way to tag them, he could be looking in the wrong direction at the wrong time and miss them entirely. He tries to visualize the configuration of nearby structures.
Faculty House is just south of the East Campus building. As he recalls, it has, among other things, inviting dining facilities. For professors returning from near-drowning and debriefing, it would be an attractive destination. He can blend in with the staff and find a way to attach some tiny remotely activated trackers he's had success using on past missions. Once he does, he'll know exactly when they'll be in range, but far enough away for him to escape undetected. The scenario will be much like picking off an enemy agent tagged by an associate, except that he'll be his own associate. The walk to Faculty House isn't far, not far at all."
Relieved to be off the road, Rick pulls into the garage under the building housing the Castle loft. The traffic between The Hamptons and New York City was even heavier than he'd anticipated. He couldn't begrudge Kate her rest stops, but they made the drive take that much longer. He's looking forward to raiding whatever is left in the fridge and vegging out.
Alexis checks her watch. "We're just going to make it. During Kate's last potty break, I called Holly and told her that I'd like to do my regular lesson tonight if she can still fit it in. Actually, she was glad to get the call because she heard a little about what happened at the Hamptons and is worried about her wedding plans. She should be coming over in about 20 minutes to get whatever information we can give her."
"Which isn't much," Kate observes.
"Apparently, we know more than the media put out," Alexis reports. "Anyway, we should move it and get upstairs."
"So much for raiding and vegging," Rick mutters to himself.
"So, do you think the government or whoever was there will be finished cleaning up by the wedding?" Holly wonders.
Kate gently pats the violinist's arm. "It looked like they'll be done before that. A large team was on the beach, and they were working hard."
"They can't take too long anyway," Alexis adds. "The wreckage will be swept away by the currents, and the tide will wash the debris, at least anything not really big, off the beach. Seawater and sunlight break things down, too. They need to relocate whatever they recover."
"In any case, the investigators stuck to the beach," Rick remarks. "They didn't set foot on our grounds. If need be, the guests can stay away from the sand. And if anything is still going on down there, we can put up a tent, so they aren't distracted by the view. In that neck of the woods, canvas pavilions grace celebrations of one sort or another all the time. A store in the village even specializes in renting them."
"See," Alexis interjects, "your wedding will be fine. Better than fine. It will be fantastic. So if I'm going to help play you down the aisle, we'd better work on my technique."
Holly's lips slowly upturn. "Of course. Let's get to your lesson."
The dining room at the Faculty House is closing down for the night, and Maksim has seen no sign of the W.H. Harvey scientists. Maybe some agency put them up, or they returned to their own homes. In any case, so far, he's striking out. His handler isn't going to be pleased, but there's nothing he can do about that. In the morning, he'll scope out Fairfield Center, where the biological sciences are headquartered. He can still find a way to tag his targets if they show up there, and the rest of his plan won't have to change much. Or at least he hopes not.
A message flashes on Jack's secure phone. "Debriefings completed. Subjects returning to city a.m." Agapov's targets are out of range for the moment. Nothing is going to happen that night. Jack stretches out on the bed, which accommodates him with a few inches to spare. He considers making the trip to Broome Street, but by now, his family will be asleep or at least in bed, unless Richard stays up late writing. Either way, they won't be indulging in any activities he can observe. Maybe he can look in on them tomorrow or the next day, depending on how quickly he can grab his target. He doesn't expect capturing Agapov relatively unharmed to be easy, but then if the job were easy, The Company wouldn't have assigned it to him.
Kate fits her bottom into the curve of Rick's spooning body. "Do you really think Holly and Mark's wedding will work out OK?"
"Why shouldn't it?" Rick asks. "Mark is one of the best managers the restaurant world has ever seen. If the caterers screw up, he'll know it in a second and make them fix it. Chef Auchincloss has already approved the menu. With a little assist from Alexis, Holly is in charge of the music, and Mother got her favorite set dresser to take care of the flowers. Besides, every vendor in the Hamptons knows that they could end up as very thinly disguised failures in my next book if they don't come through. What's more motivating than the power of the pen?"
Kate wiggles against him. "The power of the bank account, or at least the credit card."
"If necessary, I've got a handle on both." Rick splays his hand over her belly. "Ooh! The Peanut is practicing to join a soccer team, or perhaps a ballet company. Either way, powerful legs – like Mama."
"You weren't a slouch in the pool this afternoon either. We're going to have a great kid, aren't we?"
Rick curls around her. "To me, whatever The Peanut is like will be wonderful."