Pt. 10

Miriam watched the sun come up from the roof of Kermit's apartment building and debated her next move. She had spent most of the night with the ex-mercenary, analyzing who might be the killer's intended target. Kermit was still at it, searching on-line for anyone of importance that might be visiting the city that would fit the profile of the killers preferred victims. For Miriam, however, it was a short list. There were only two possible victims. One was a drug manufacturer with ties to politicians in the Baltic States. He had no great love of Western democracies and had been know to sway his allies toward relations with Red Cell, an extremely violent terrorist organization. The other was the son of a government official in China, one who had been known to associate with certain groups with ties to radical reformists. Both men had information that would be useful to Section, information they would quickly give up to the "Doctor". And both were just high profile enough that their disappearances would be too noticeable. Both men also fit the killer's profile, being young and handsome men. It could be either of them. "My money's on the drug maker." She mused to herself. "Red Cell has been behind too many disasters lately for Section to risk letting a potential source of information get away." She wondered, briefly, if her target had already acquired the body he would use to replace the man he put on ice, a body no one would come looking for. Once he was finished with the victim, even their own mothers wouldn't have been able to recognize them, a fact he had used to his advantage before. She calmly pulled out the Kermit's cell phone, which she had palmed during the night, and made a call.

"Yes?" a distant voice responded.

"I'm in position. Mathews is the probably target but there has been an added complication." Miriam reported.

"Yes, I know. Michael will be arriving shortly. His presence was…unexpected."

"Suggestions?" she asked, knowing there would be none forthcoming.

"Improvise." The voice replied. A sharp click alerted her to the end of the conversation.

"Why did I even bother to ask?" Miriam sighed. She stared out at the horizon for another minute, a planning formulating in her head. She tossed the cell phone on the ground and started back down to the street, disappearing quickly into the building.

Michael poked through the few things Miriam had left behind her with a sigh. The trip to this small town had been boring as hell, a situation that only served to put the agent on edge. Boring was not a good thing when you worked for Section. It usually meant the world was about to drop out from under you feet. Miriam's little games weren't making his life any easier. She hadn't left much behind her, certainly not anything that would have led him to her. Not that Michael had expected her to. Of all the agents that Jurgen had trained Miriam had been the most careful, the most devious. Even Madeline, their ever-watchful mission profiler and mistress of deceit, had been caught unawares by the nondescript young woman. He pulled his cellphone from his pocket and quickly connected with Burkhoff. "Anything?"

"There's a former Black Ops team leader on the police force - name is Paul Blaisdell," Burkhoff replied. "Also, There was another murder last night near a martial arts school in Chinatown. The owner's name came up in a general search of Section's databases."

"A terrorist?" Michael asked, his inflection doubtful.

"Nope. Just someone that Section has had their eyes on for a while. Names Kwai Chang Caine. He's been on the outskirts of some activities in the Intelligence Community for a few years. Not a terrorist, though. He's some sort of priest."

Michael filed the information away for future reference. "Anything else?"

"I'll let you know if anything else comes up." Burkhoff's voice dropped to a whisper. "What's going on Michael? Is Miriam operating on Mandatory Refusal?"

"Why do you think that?" Michael asked with a frown.

"Just the way Operations is acting. Oversight has been sending disinterested queries to Section about the bin Laden situation. Operations is fending George off with vague excuses. Neither of them seems terribly concerned about getting her back."

"Strange." Michael murmured, his eyes wandering over the meager contents of the room. "I will check in later." He flipped the lid of the phone closed and tucked it in his pocket, his mind racing. Operations had seemed determined to have Miriam brought in. His words had led Michael to believe that Oversight also wanted his elusive agent back. Yet neither side was putting up more than a token effort to find her. Michael wondered briefly what games the Section was playing with him then turned and quietly left the room.

Across town, Karl Mathews read through one set of a mound of paper work his drug company generated with a frown. His associates in Red Cell, the ultra-violent terrorist organization, had been making more and more demands on his research and development branch. Demands that were becoming harder and harder to hide. He read quickly through the memos sent to him by his unhappy research chemists. "I'll have to have a talk with someone about this." He thought to himself. "Someone's bound to notice all these purchases of potentially hazardous biological material, even if they were spread out over several months and numerous different labs. They'll blow my legitimacy right out of the water!" A sound at the door broke through his reverie. "Yes, David, what is it?"

David Chen, head of security for Mathews International, stood nervously at the door of his employer's office. "Mr. Mathews? There's been a problem with the plans for your meeting with Wei Chin. Seems his father has sent along extra security with him that he can't shake."

Mathews sighed in exasperation. "Then find a way for him to shake them. That's what I pay you for. Wei Chin's friends in the Reform Movement in China and my friends in Europe are eager to complete their transactions before his government put a stop to them. I've agreed to act as the broker for this little arrangement and nothing, not even Daddy's guard dogs, are going to stop me. Now go out there and make it happen before tonight. Or I'll be looking for a new head of security. And the police will be looking for your worthless carcass in the river." He dismissed the man with an abrupt wave and turned back to his paperwork.

Chen quickly backed out of the office, nearly falling over the deliveryman who was setting a package on the secretary's desk. "Whoa! Sorry, didn't see you there!"

"Not a problem." The middle-age man replied, adjusting his glasses back on the bridge of his nose. "People tend to think of postmen and delivery men as invisible. It comes with the territory."

Chen patted the man absently on the shoulder in way of an apology then started back to his office. Behind him, the nondescript man in the delivery uniform watched his retreat coldly, then smiled cruelly as he reached for the office door. The last round of the game was about to begin.