Chapter VII

Seventy-Five!

The time difference between the arrival of Ellie and Devon from the Hawaii and Sarah's from Washington was a little over 40 minutes.

They had coincided as Ellie and Devon's flight had been postponed for the next day. The airline didn't give them any explanation as during a routine check after the landing they had found a technical problem that needed to be fixed.

Chuck, Carina and Lisa were now driving to the airport to pick all of them.

Carina and Lisa were driving ahead in Ellie's car, behind them, Chuck and two NSA people. A third car with more agents was somewhere behind them.

'Why is the con artist coming with us, Carina?' Chuck had asked, once they were about to set off.

'I can't leave her there alone, Chuck.' Carina replied with some irritation. 'She had eluded the police in several states for years. I can't take any chances with her."

"But she has this GPS track now, so...." Chuck wondered.

'Yeah, yeah, do you have any ideas how many ways there are, to deal with that?' she asked. 'You can start delving into the Intersect about that.'

Carina and Lisa didn't stay silent for too long once they had gotten into the car.

'Well,' Lisa started, 'Now what? Am I gonna be your babysitter for the rest of my life?'

'You're not helping yourself with that kind of attitude, missy.' Carina snapped at her. She pulled her mobile out, picked a number, and then showed it to Lisa.

'See that number? It's the detective division of the Alabama PD, in Birmingham. You want me to arrange a nice little rendezvous for them? With you, I mean?'

Lisa was thinking. 'You're bluffing.'

She knew Carina wanted something from her. She wasn't prepared to give up her independence. She could still see some options to get out of this ahead of her. She had eluded the authorities so many times.

'OK,' an emotionless Carina said and pressed 'connect'.

The mobile was on speakers so Lisa could hear the beginning of the conversation.

'Birmingham PD, Alabama, detective division, how can I help you?' she heard a pleasant female voice saying.

'My name is Fionna McKinley,' Carina had started, 'federal agent, DEA, please check it out with the local DEA representative before we go on.'

There was a silence for a couple of minutes, then the female voice said, 'Yes, Agent McKinley, how can I help you?'

'I need to talk to the head of your division, immediately.' Carina went on. She was watching the road ahead of her but could see with her peripheral how desperately Lisa was waving at her to stop.

She turned at her. 'Well, do I have your attention now?'

'OK, OK, ... what do you want?' Lisa was pouting on the outside, but was very worried now. She was just very good at hiding it.

Carina disconnected the mobile. "I'm warning you. This was your last opportunity to prevent my conversation with Alabama. Next time I'll be talking to them no matter what. You got that?' She sounded properly annoyed and menacing, she hoped.

'Yeah, what do you want from me, agent …?', Lisa hesitated.

'Carina. For you, I'm just Carina. When there are other people around I'll be agent Falcone. Within the DEA my name is Fionna McKinley, but this is a different business I'm into now.'

'For starters, tell me about your cons. What's with the pink club? You collect fees, what else, sell "original, ... authentic" merchandise?'

'Yeah, something like that,' Lisa admitted.

How many other cons? A Superman fan club?

'No, Spiderman is so hot now. Was.' Lisa sighed. Star wars, as always.

'OK, how much you conned so far?'

'I'm still new at this,' Lisa lied, 'about seventy-five grand.'

Carina took her cell again and dialed a number.

'No, no stop that, I'll tell you,' Lisa shouted, 'I have about 700,000 there, and three more accounts. Similar amounts!' She shouted. 'Stop it!'

Carina was still waiting on the phone.

'Wouldn't you turn it off now?' Lisa was yelling at her. "That was the truth, I swear!"

'I'm not calling Alabama.' Carina said.

"Hi dear, yeah do it now.' she said on the phone. 'Seventy-five. Yeah, just seventy-five. Over.' She hung up.

'What is this now,' Lisa inquired.

'Wait a bit, actually about 15 minutes, and you'll see. You'll like it,' Carina offered her an icy smile.

Carina already knew one of Lisa's bank accounts numbers but hadn't even tried to hack it. Even if she could, she would have left traces. She knew her limitations.

She didn't have to do it herself, however.

She had Dave, one of her NSA geek lovers. He assured her that he can withdraw all of Lisa's money and then return them back without being detected. The NSA had Trojan horses inside every government and bank institution servers but could use them only for official investigations, under court order.

Well, that's why Carina seduced Dave. He had written many of those Trojans and as every IT engineer had his own private back doors in those. Furthermore, the protocol required to check their vitality on regular basis. So it was a child play for him to do it.

15 minutes later Carina turned again to Lisa:

'See this laptop there on the back seat? Take it.' Carina ordered. 'Take it, take it, no need to be so shy.'

Lisa did it without further hesitating.

'Now open you bank account, the one where I sent you the money for the Vic." Carina said.

'Are you crazy? You want me to log here my name and password.' Lisa sounded really annoyed now. 'Do you really think I'm so stupid?'

'No, I don't. But I already know your name and password, dear. Type.' Carina pronounced slowly her name and password for her BoA account.

Lisa's eyes were wide open. 'How do you know that?

"Just open and see how much you have there now. I have a surprise for you.' Carina said, ignoring her outrage.

Lisa typed something and then clicked on the touchpad.

"Impossible," she exclaimed. 75 dollars. I have a total of 75 …., you said sometime ago on the phone that number. 75.'

No, you said 75 before that, when you were lying to me. That's why I left you with 75. Check your other accounts.'

Lisa was typing now faster than Carina had ever been able to.

'Wow,' Carina exclaimed. 'Your are one quite capable Reese Witherspoon with the computer. Have you, by any chance, been a nerd or something while at school?'

'Now, that's not any of your business.' Lisa snapped.

'Yeah, right.' Carina was shaking her head. 'None of my business.'

Lisa couldn't believe her eyes. In each of her other accounts there were only 75 dollars now.

She had already expected something like that after the first account but just hadn't wanted to believe it. But it was a fact of life now.

'OK, Carina, what do you want from me?' Lisa licked her lips, her voice was trembling.

'Do I have your full attention now, missy?' Carina started.

'Yeah, you know very well you do.' Lisa sighed deeply, still unwilling to accept the new reality.

'OK. What you saw at the restaurant is top secret. Very top secret. As a government agent I have two options. To hand you over to the department of justice so they decide what to do with you. But then they'll check your history, your con history, and use it against you. They may even decide to use it to send you in jail in order to keep your mouth shut there. In some very, very high security facility.' Carina waited for about 15 seconds.

'Are you interested in this option, so I go on with it?' Carina had continued.

'You know I'm not. What's the other option.' Lisa said nervously.

'The other legal possibility is what happened to me when I was younger than you – ... become an undercover government agent.'

'Thus,' she went on, 'the secret you learned will become part of your job. I can arrange that, I already talked with my boss about you. He agrees that we can try you. But he trusts my judgment on people and since I'll be training you, I'll be the one who'll have the final word.'

'And if I'm no good for this job?' Lisa inquired. 'What happens to me then?'

'The most important skill for an undercover agent is to act. Better than an actor actually. Actors have the time to prepare for a role, practice, etc. Oftentimes, we have less than a second to act out a role. It's the same a very good con artist does.... As you well know.'

She waited again for a minute, then added, 'Don't worry, I've already seen you in action. You're a natural. And very beautiful. After all this is very important for female agents, like it or not.

'Does it mean I'll have to sleep with people I don't like?' Lisa grimaced.

"Not necessarily, don't worry. For the department I'm recruiting you, that's not necessary.'

'And how can I trust you on all this?" Lisa went on, still hesitant.

"You can't, but you have no choice. With time, when you see that I keep my end of the bargain, you'll start trusting me. Any other questions?'

Lisa was thinking.

'How much time do I have to give you an answer?' she finally asked.

From the way Lisa was speaking now, Carina could see she was serious and not playing games. She had left her with virtually no choice, but that's how it was so often in the spy world.

She really loved that question. She, herself, had asked for time when they had offered her. Although she had already decided.

Lisa had virtually no choice, but still asked for time. She was a natural. Carina whistled in her head. Jackpot!

'When they offered me to join,' Carina had decided to open up a bit, 'I could choose when to give them an answer. I already knew I'd accept, but promised to tell them in a week. So I could carefully think it through.'

Carina looked at her watch.

'We'll be at the airport in about 25 minutes. So you have 25 minutes. Sorry, that life is a bit harder on you here. Don't rush with your answer. Think it through. Carefully.'

'C'mon, you know that I simply have no choice, Carina. Not in this case. I accept. When does my training start?'

Carina didn't answer that. She was watching the road ahead of her.

'Oh, of course, it had already started, right?' Lisa shook her head. 'All that was lesson one. Recruitment. How could I miss that?'

Carina smiled and turned toward her. 'See? I told you you're gonna be good at this."

'First, you shouldn't worry about your money.' Carina said.

She picked her phone typed some text and sent it.

You can check your bank accounts in 15 minutes again. Once you get into this undercover agent business, you'll realize what opportunities it offers you. Your con jobs are good only for the teen crowd.'

Lisa wasn't surprised at anything anymore. She had already seen that another world had opened up before her. 'Jackpot for me,' she smiled inside.

15 minutes later Lisa opened her first bank account. There were only seventy-five thousand dollars now.

'You promised …' She started.

"I didn't say I'll return all your money now. I still need to trust you fully first. The rest of your money will be very safe and sound for the time being, believe me,' she said thinking of her stockbroker. 'The 14 thousand I paid you for the Vic – consider them your first personal bonus from me.'

'Is this how it will be between you and me,' Lisa continued, agitated, 'you pushing me around all the time?'

'No, of course not.' Carina replied, trying to sound reassuring. 'First, I'm not that kind of person, and second I can see you are a strong personality, so it will never work. I need a partner, not a pawn. Don't worry about that. We're just too early in the game.'

Lisa was silent now.

'I saw you family history by the way.' Carina went on. 'Interesting. Once we arrive at the airport, there will be another really big surprise.' Carina smiled at her. 'Your mission is to play along and not give away anything from our conversation or that you're now my agent, I mean under my direct supervision, understood? Leave it to me to introduce you to Chuck.'

Carina sounded really ominous now. 'I already have an idea how to use you in some important government business but it's absolutely crucial that nobody knows you're part of my operation. You'll be gradually introduced to different part of it."

'OK, I have no problem with that.' Lisa said. 'By the way, I already know who you are picking up from the airport.' She said with an impish grin, watching how Carina would react.

'Oh, and who would that be?' Carina said, casually, but she could bet that Lisa did know.

'It's my cousin but you know that since you checked my history. And then Lisa said Sarah Walker's real name.

'I thought she was working for some international bank. But now it's obvious. With you and Chuck around, I can imagine ..... what international bank she is with.'

'I still can't believe it, ... uncle Jack's girl, .... a government agent.' Lisa shook her head.

'How did you find out" Carina asked and thought, "Wow, she is good, and that fast.'

'I lifted Chuck's mobile. Saw her picture there among other things. In a frame, with all these hearts. Read some of the messages. He is her boyfriend?'

'Yeah,' Carina nodded, 'that's how it is between those two. But listen. No more spying on Chuck. He is off-limits for you, understood?'

'Why, because of this database in his head.' Lisa asked innocently. What kind of freak show is this anyway? She had wondered about that ever since she had seen Chuck flash and blurt out.

'Yeah, something like that. This information is government property. Don't play with fire. There is a career ahead of you now, that will open all sorts of doors for you. Don't risk that, .... and your entire life, for something that's not worth it. OK?.

'OK,' said Lisa."Don't worry about that.'

'I still can't trust you, you must know that.' Carina said. 'If I find out that you play some funny game, you're finished. I'm sorry to be that blunt but that's how it is. You should blame yourself. I already took you DNA, so you are already in our database. You won't' be able to hide for long.'

Ten minutes later Carina was parking the car at one of the airport's parking lots.

They had gotten out of the car, stretching, when Chuck and the NSA agents arrived.

Once Chuck joined them, Carina started:

'Chuck I have two great news for you.' Carina smiled at him.'First, Cornelia/Lisa happens to be related to Sarah, cousins.'

"Oh my god, really? You? The con ..." Chuck couldn't believe.

Lisa nodded. 'Small world, isn't it. Jack and my mom are brother and sister. She and uncle Jack have been in the con business since children. Their father, you know. It seems to be in our blood. You know Jack?"

'Yeah, .... yeah, I met him once, here. We ..... umm, pulled a Lichtenstein, if you know what I mean. Well, it was a part of an operation, ... or sort of.' Chuck blushed at the thought that he was part of a con.

'Hahaha, good for you,' Lisa laughed out. 'A Lichtenstein! And how did it turn out?'

'I don't wanna remember, to tell you frankly,' Chuck knitted his brows. 'Not a good story in my book.'

They were now in the arrival lobby, waiting for Sarah to come out.

"Stay with your back facing the gate, so we surprise Sarah,' Carina suggested.

'Yeah, good thinking.' Lisa replied, smirking.

'Ah, the second news.' Carina said to Chuck. 'I talked to my DEA bosses and they agreed to offer her to work for the government. She'll be taking a course at Quantico soon. For now, she is with me, something like an intern.'

'This is the only way to avoid her detention' she went on ' ... for undetermined period of time, until the government and the lawyers decide what to do with her. None of us wants that, right?

'Consider her a rookie field agent, she'll be helping us.'

'Wow, ... wow, that's a really great news, congratulations Lisa.' Chuck wanted to shake her hands, or hug her, it didn't become very clear from his awkward gesture.

Lisa leaned toward Chuck and hugged him saying, "Thank you, agent ... Carmichael."

'Wow,' Chuck said while hugging her, 'You remember my agent name. Good." He gave her the thumbs up.

"Occupational hazard. I have to memorize every detail. It's part of my job. Was. Like a name, or a specific distance from a door, orrrrrr ... which pocket your wallet is in.'

Lisa stepped backward and raised her left hand. Chuck could see his wallet there.

'Aaah, con humor, got it.' Chuck smirked approvingly. 'You uncle pulled that on me. Now my DNA test analyzer confirmed to me – Ding, you and Jack are indeed relatives, 99.99% "positive".

'Wow,' it was now Lisa's turn to exclaim, 'is that how you fight the enemy, agent Carmichael? Charm them to death?'

Carina was sending her a really icy look. O-f-f l-i-m-i-t-s she signaled with her lips.

Lisa rolled her eyes. Well not on the outside, just inside her head as she was stepping backwards.

Sarah had popped out of the gate 20 seconds ago. The first thing she saw 30 feet away of her was a young athletic blonde hugging somebody. Somebody with a curly hair, forming unique shapes. Shapes that she happened to know so well. It was Chuck … her Chuck.

He saw her, smiled, raising her brows and waved at her. 'Heey, Sarah, there is a really big surprise for you!' He said full of excitement.

'Mission accomplished, Chuck. Now guess if I liked it.'

Lisa was still talking or pretending to talk to Carina, with her back facing Sarah.

'Guess who the crazy Reese Witherspoon impersonator turned out to be. Remember, ... last night, ... I told you about her.' he said.

At this moment Lisa turned around, smiled to Sarah and said, 'Hello cousin, missed me?'

Sarah had dropped her suitcase out of surprise. Her eyes were wide open, jaw was trying to hit the floor.

'Lisa, you were this girl with the Vic?' she was still unable to get her jaw back.

"I have to pay my bills, you know.' Lisa stepped forward to hug her.

'How is your international banking business, huh?' She shot back. 'You could have called and helped us one way or another."

'Hey,' Carina interjected before this conversation went any more awkward, 'let's go eat something.'

'Ellie and Devon will be out in about 30 minutes,' Chuck announced. 'We have some time to kill. Let's get a pizza, coffee, shall we?

They were all hungry so they headed to the nearest diner.

'Sarah and I have some business to discuss,' Carina said, staring at Walker. 'We'll be joining you inside in a couple of minutes, OK?'

Chuck and Lisa entered the diner, talking about something. Carina watched around to make sure nobody could hear them.

'So, you are fully briefed now, right?'

Sarah nodded. 'Yeah,' she said very quietly.

'Well, we have … ' Carina had started again.

xxx