Chapter III

Illya's flight was as uneventful as the entire mission had been. When they arrived at New York HQ, they were met in Reception by Napoleon and a man the Russian recognized as Matt Christie, Number Two, Section III. When the "hand – over" of the defectors took place in one of the conference rooms, Napoleon and Matt revealed the "true" purpose of the mission and praised their respective agents for a job well done. The South Korean agents were also praised for being so believable and informed that a positive report would be forwarded to Number One and the CEA of Asia. They were given tickets for a flight home departing in two days' time plus cash and Broadway tickets and keys to a modest but, comfortable hotel ten blocks from HQ.

After the agents departed, leaving Matt, Illya and Napoleon alone, Illya looked from one to the other and asked, "What has happened? I do not think the others noticed but, I could tell you were practically throwing them out the door."

Matt rubbed his forehead and suddenly looked very tired. "Slater Gray is dead."

The Russian was stunned. "What happened?"

"A heart attack," Napoleon answered, "Darla said he had come to visit her and she went to the Commissary to get them something to drink and when she returned, he wasn't breathing. She freaked out so badly, she had to be sedated. I didn't know until then that they had been dating for quite a while."

Matt said, "Slater had told me that he was falling in love with her." He swiped away a tear. "Sorry. It's only been a few hours and we're all still pretty much in shock in my Section. Slater was a well – liked boss."

Illya squeezed his shoulder in sympathy and said, "It is alright, Matt. Forgive me for being cynical but, I do not believe in coincidences. A man with no outward signs of health issues suddenly drops dead of a heart attack while he just happens to be part of a team trying to sniff out an infiltrator? What does Medical say?"

Napoleon stood up and walked around the table. "We thought about that, too. So far, the preliminary autopsy results bear out a heart attack. We won't have the results of the complete autopsy for at least a week."

Just then, Napoleon's communicator chirped. "Solo."

Mr. Waverly's voice came through. "Mr. Solo, are Mr. Kuryakin and Mr. Christie with you?"

"Ah yes, Sir."

"The three of you report to me immediately. Out."

Napoleon stared at the communicator a moment before the three of them began to move to the door. "Something's wrong; I know it."

Miss Rogers waved them into The Old Man's office with no preamble. They went in and sat while he looked at each one in turn. He looked wearier than Napoleon could remember ever seeing him. "Gentlemen, Agents Sanchez and Perez are dead. They were shot to death at the motel where they were staying in Texas. The timing of the killings eliminates all the agents that were with Mr. Kuryakin as "The Photo Ops Affair" had not started before they left for South Korea and they were dead before you returned to the US."

Napoleon's heart dropped and he closed his eyes. Those poor kids; just two years out of Survival School. I assigned that affair to them because I thought it was a good fit for their first mission as Section IIs. He opened them again to see Illya's look of concern pointed in his direction. I'm OK, he signaled back. The entire exchange took two seconds and went unnoticed by Mr. Waverly and Matt.

Illya stated, "Then we are back where we started."

Napoleon shook his head, "Not quite. Matt, can you find out what times Perez and Sanchez checked in and who they spoke to without going through Communications?"

Matt's brow furrowed as he thought. "Yes," he replied, "I can access their computer logs directly by having Section IV override their firewalls and access codes. I don't have the authority to give that order."

Napoleon looked at Mr. Waverly. "Sir?"

Mr. Waverly harrumphed and reached behind him for his microphone. "Miss Rogers, locate Miss Boyle and have her report to my office immediately." He put his mike down and said, "I have had enough of these leaks; Mr. Christie, you and Miss Boyle will work from this office."

Number One, Section IV Aoife Boyle reported to Mr. Waverly's office fifteen minutes later. Mr. Waverly swore her to secrecy, had her manually override the system and wait in Miss Rogers' office while Matt located and printed out the check in logs for "The Photo Ops Affair." She was called back in to reinstate the fail-safes when his task was complete.

Napoleon perused the log quickly and handed it to Mr. Waverly who read it and nodded. "This is quite damning but, I want a trap set to be certain."

Matt replied stonily, "Leave it to us, Sir. I have a plan."