Lilburn unlocked his motel room and pushed open the door. The hour hand was coming up to five o’clock. Taking a soda out of the small refrigerator he unscrewed the top then flicked it in the direction of the kitchen sink, before sitting at the table. Removing the Sig Sauer from his belt holster, he laid it down on the Formica table top. He had to admit, he did like the P250. The old bloke from the arms room at Albany had done him a favor. Once the funerals were over he would repay Mac in kind. More than likely, a bourbon man. Maybe after the funeral services, Mac would appreciate someone sharing a drop or two — and it would take his mind off the fact that Evangeline would be on her way back to England. He looked across to the bathroom, and smiled. He had no complaints. Taking a long swig of the soda he put the bottle down and reached for the gun-cleaning kit. With the weapon ‘made safe’ he carried on with field stripping, cleaned the barrel, wiped the gun clean then applied a new coat of oil to the metal parts. The final act was pushing the full magazine home, which he did with the palm of his hand. The sound of a magazine settling into the housing was something unique and instantly recognizable to all those who bore arms. The sound the Sig made was no exception.
Before leaving for the meeting with Director Hall, Evangeline told him she was going to visit Director Lopez, who had been removed from duty pending an investigation. Lopez was confined to her apartment within walking distance of the Albany headquarters, and Evangeline thought she might need some company. Lilburn held the weapon in his upturned palm, carefully taking off any excess oil with a clean rag. His mind wandered back to Lopez. She could be a tough bitch, no doubt about that, and he was grateful he didn’t come under her direct command. It was mighty puzzling about her having a kid. Kind of sad, he thought, not admitting to anyone you even had a child. Obviously there was at least another person involved, a captor, someone holding the boy. It couldn’t have been any of the three known terrorists; they’d been constantly on the move and accounted for. That meant if the boy was still alive, there was at least one other Takfir in the operation. Hearing a noise outside his door, Lilburn swiveled on the seat, one finger lightly on the trigger, the other hand gripping the slide ready to cock the weapon. He waited.
“Yoo-hoo, Matt, are you there?”
Lilburn opened the door, which framed Evangeline in a form-hugging short black dress with a plunging neckline, accentuated by a string of glistening white pearls. “I thought you might like to take a lonely girl out on the town tonight.”
Before he had a chance to reply, Evangeline had pushed herself into his body, slowly grinding her hips, her lips passionately smothering his as her arms locked behind his neck.
This morning Lilburn had realized there were two sides to this woman: the professional who excelled in her field of expertise and the wild lover who morphed into an alpha sexual being. He was beginning to favor the latter. His hands moved down the small of her back, gently gliding over the dress following the contour of her body, then flowing outwards over her taut buttocks. Through the light fabric he could feel her cheeks move alternately, grinding herself into him. A surprised “Oh” broke his concentration.
Lilburn opened his eyes. Standing behind Evangeline was a woman holding a carton of milk in one hand. “Sorry, señor, señorita.” The embarrassed woman at the open door wasn’t sure what to do. “I forgot to give you milk this morning.”
Lilburn removed his hands from Evangeline’s rear and held one out to take the milk. As he did so, he could feel Evangeline bury her face in the side of his neck stifling a series of giggles. “Thank you.”
“Buenas noches, señor.”
The woman disappeared. Evangeline looked up at Lilburn with tears of laughter in her eyes. “Oh shite, busted.” She unlocked her hands from around his neck. Lilburn didn’t expect a hand to grab where it did next. “Want to shut the door, big fella?”
“I thought you wanted to go out?”
Evangeline smiled. “I thought I’d let you in first.”
Lilburn reached over and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. “Whoa, getting on for seven, you feeling peckish?”
“Hmmm. What’s for dessert?” Evangeline ran a finger down the middle of Lilburn’s chest and on past his navel. “Matthew! You’re all tuckered out.”
“You really are the living embellishment of a split personality.”
“I’m a Gemini, and I went to an all-girls school. We were quite frustrated little darlings. One must make hay while the sun shines — I really do believe that to be a most apposite expression.”
Lilburn ran a hand down her back. “I went to boarding school as well. With my brother Duncan.”
Evangeline shifted from her side and lay over Lilburn, propping herself up on her hands as she stared straight down at him. “Oh my poor boy, no girls. Were you also… frustrated?”
“You learn to live with it.”
“Keep your hand in, did you, Matthew?” Evangeline burst out in a fit of laughter then flopped back down on the bed. Lying on her back, she let out a deep sigh. “I went to see Suzanna Lopez this afternoon.”
“So how did it go?”
“She seems to control her anxiety very well I must say. I’d be utterly distraught in her situation. I can’t begin to understand the hopelessness she must feel. Now we have the virus secure at Plum Island, the terrorists have no reason to hold Robby or… to keep him alive. It’s just awful.”
“She’s one tough cookie is our Lopez. I feel sorry for the kid too. The leader of the cell, the one we know as Bomani — he’s hard-core and running loose. I hate to say it but I don’t hold much hope of her seeing her son again.”
“Is there nothing you can do?”
“The funerals for our guys are in three days. After that it looks as if I’ll be heading back east.” Lilburn skewed his head around to look at Evangeline. “So you fly back to London in two days time?”
“Yes, I dare say I’ll find it a bit chilly at Heathrow.”
The pair remained quiet for a while, deep in individual thought. It was Lilburn who breached the silence. “Director Hall told me this afternoon that one of the scientists at Plum Island died just before you got here.”
“Yes. Ian Bradley was my mentor while I was at Plum. He was a lovely man. I do wish I could have paid my respects to his family. It’s so sad — and so sudden.”
“Homeland was lucky to find you, there can’t be many people like you in the world.”
Evangeline sighed. ‘You’re right. There aren’t many with my particular skill set who are allies with the US…” Evangeline sat upright. “Actually, now that I come to think about it, Ian was a bit of a health freak, he was always very health conscious. I can’t believe he had a fatal heart attack, just like that. I mean, I know it does happen, even to fit and healthy people but… Oh I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting…”
“But what?”
“It never occurred to me before, but just then, thinking about Ian… I have little bits and pieces buzzing around in my head. Little things I can’t explain. I have no basis on which to suspect anything or anyone but…”
“There you go again — using the but word.”
With some surprise, Lilburn realized Evangeline was debating with herself whether or not to express her thoughts out loud.
“You know, the other night on the phone, when I put Suzanna on and she spoke to you about what she had done and she talked about her son being kidnapped…”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she talked about her boy, her boy Roddy. I thought it a bit odd at the time and, and well I brushed it aside, however…”
“I’m listening.”